Recent reviews by Retr0Rob

10 Hours of absolute hell so for. Love every minute of it!

I had to quit playing to do my laundry and my head exploded
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
10/10 would do again.

Amazing twin stick shooter. Great graphics, Well designed upgrades, fun to play, All around excellent.

I know it looks like a Minecraft clone, but let's get past this. It's a rogue-like, or rogue-lite if you are a jerk. Some minor crafting elements combine with smooth controls, loot, lots and lots of stuff to kill and a wild feeling of adventure to make a game that is much more than the sum of it's parts. Good stuff for only 10 bucks.

Play session below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mut9LB1YXq4

I came into Omnom Necropolis expecting a classic snake game, but found that this is more of a hybrid of the old snake game and a puzzler. Basically the goal of each level is to each each of the yucky dead things as quickly as possible without boxing yourself in. As you move you grow with every step (slither?) so you cannot enter the same space twice making it a bit of a challenge. I found that it's easier if I don't think too much about it and kind of get a broad idea of how to clear the board then tweak it out from there. This works pretty well except on some of the harder levels where things get a bit insane. There is a hint feature that shows you a completion path, but use it sparingly as it only gives you a quick flash and they are limited. Graphics and sound suit the mood and it looks nice enough: I tested it on my low-end machine and it ran smoothly so that's nice. I'm slightly bummed that it does not support gamepads -- because of this I cannot stream it to my shield or play it on the GPD Win easily. All in all if you like puzzly type games you will likely enjoy Omnom's different approach to the genre. Plus it's only 3 bucks. Good game to add to the Halloween playlist.

Monolith is a top-down (kind of) twin stick shooter roguelike with plenty of enemies, room types and upgrades to keep you delving for hours. The graphics are nice (and weird), sound track is listenable and controls are dead-on using a 360 controller. Seems to run fine on low-end gaming systems although my GPD win had intermittent problems moving right -- I did not have that problem with a 360 controller attached: just the built in one. One of the best sub $10 roguelikes out there.

Here's some play footage:
https://youtu.be/9G4BjUE3Xx0

I'm not huge on puzzle games, so if I recommend one it's going to be something different. Puzzle game about mass murder good enough for you? Slayaway Camp mixes dark humor, varied design and an addictive unlocking system to make a great time waster. It also runs well on very low spec systems which is a big bonus.

Video review: https://youtu.be/pQVBkRwagtw

Voodoo Vince is a bit of a period piece: The voice acting and basic plot remind me of the Saturday morning cartoons of the 80's and 90's. If you don't mind a little campiness (and I don't at all) this games storyline will bring you back to simpler times. That said where a game like this makes it or breaks it is on the strength of it's platforming and puzzling. Fortunately Voodoo Vince succeeds at both. While the camera is not 100% perfect, it's not bad and the controls feel spot-on -- not a common thing in platformers from the early 2000's. Graphics are nice and crisp and I like the soundtrack quite a bit. If you have a low end PC there are settings to scale things down a bit and obviously any gaming PC will run it nicely. If you missed this game on the original XBox or just want to re-live good times Voodoo Vince is well woth putting some time into.

GPD Win based review/ let's play linked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaUn_tVOQw0

Heavy Bullets is a rogue-lite FPS with pretty high difficulty. Like most Rougue-ish games you only get one life (although you can inherit goodies from your last go-though) and of course the levels are randomly generated. There is a pretty good selection of goodies to pick up and use such as knives, bombs, speed pills, sniper shots and more and not all of them are good for you. There is SOME character development as you can also be upgraded with more hit-points, the ability to carry (oh boy!) 2 items! (by default you can only carry one item at a time), increased pickup range and more. I really enjoy the banking system that allows you to store away money and items for your next playthough, or trade unused items for cash. It's just a small thing, but really helps flesh out Heavy Bullets into a more deep experience. Play-wise it is a pretty sparse corridor shooter that focuses on short skirmishes with a small amount of enemies at a time. A couple small mistakes will generally lead to your demise as pretty much any of your foes will kill you easily given the chance. Oh, and watch out for the grass: they just love to hide in the freakin' grass. I warned You. The presentation is pretty simple: Atari 2600-meets-3d Playstation One graphics, with sound consisting of bleeps and bloops reminiscent of the 8 bit era. It's a unique look and I like it quite a bit although I realize it may not be to eveyone's tastes.
All and all I like Heavy Bullets: It's great to play in small bursts and has just enough depth to keep me coming back for more. Good stuff indeed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmzx_Werjr4

Love CGA graphics and hate sound cards? Well Arctic Adventure might be the platform game you are looking for. AA is a puzzle platformer from 1991 with all the good and bad that comes from being a classic PC Game. One note is that so far as I can tell the gamepad config is not complete and you have to use the keyboard to fire your gun (at least with my 360 controller this happened). A general review and 4 levels of play in the video below.

https://youtu.be/b6kxN3Qhs2A