Tom Quirk
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Checkpoint GamingLatest Reviews
Wildcat Gun Machine is the valiant debut effort by Brisbane-based developer Chunkybox Games, bringing a visceral, demon-slaying bullet-hell experience. With its rad techno soundtrack and grotesque enemy designs, it has a lot going for it, however the lack of narrative context to motivate the player and shallow, limited gameplay holds...
Traveller’s Tales has been curating their brand of quirky LEGO adventure game adaptations since 2005, beginning with the LEGO Star Wars prequel trilogy. They have gone on a bit of a Star Wars hiatus since LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2016, with various other movie franchises captured in...
When Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin was revealed last year, strange is certainly a word that it conjured in many gamers’ minds. A prequel to Final Fantasy, starring a gruff, no-nonsense original character whose defining trait revolves around killing Chaos, with a dark and edgy tone far removed from the idealistic...
Shadow Warrior 3 is the latest instalment in Polish developer Flying Wild Hog’s reboot series of the 1990s FPS Shadow Warrior. After going in a Borderlands-esque looter-shooter direction with its predecessor in 2016, Shadow Warrior 3 jettisons open-ended levels, side-quests, and most of its RPG mechanics to distil everything down...
KINGDOM of the DEAD, RANDOM capitalisation ASIDE, is a retro-styled horror-FPS with a very distinctive art style. Despite its eye-catching hand-drawn aesthetic, it doesn’t bring too much innovation to the table gameplay-wise. However, while being somewhat rough around the edges and lacking on the narrative front, it’s a fun enough...
Reverie Knights Tactics will certainly scratch a particular itch for fans of turn-based tactics games in general. Its mix of strategy and visual novel gameplay is likely to appeal to a particular subset of player, however its slow pace and simplistic RPG mechanics may start to grate by the end.
Aeterna Noctis is a beautiful and tough-as-nails Metroidvania-style platformer by Spanish developer Aeternum Game Studios. Featuring a sprawling and varied world, difficult platforming challenges, and gorgeous art direction, Aeterna Noctis will be just what fans of games like Hollow Knight and the 2D Castlevania entries have been looking for.
The Last Stand: Aftermath is the newest entry of Melbourne-based developer Con Artist Games’ The Last Stand series. The Last Stand: Aftermath, crowdfunded via Kickstarter, pulls the series in an isometric roguelike direction, putting the player in the shoes of an ultimately doomed survivor as they make their way across...
The Good Life is a crowdfunded photography/detective/”debt repayment RPG” title by Hidetaka “SWERY” Suehiro, the wild mind behind Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die. A quirky and rather charming tale involving a murder, aliens, ancient mythology and sheep, The Good Life is just as much of a mixed...
Ten years ago, WayForward released BloodRayne Betrayal, a 2D hack n’ slash spin-off from the usually-3D BloodRayne franchise. While the series has been mostly dormant since then, the recent PC remasters of the original BloodRayne and its sequel have led the way for BloodRayne Betrayal to also receive an updated...
Over a year following the announcement of its Kickstarter campaign, Owlcat Games has finally released Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, the long-awaited sequel to Pathfinder: Kingmaker. This new entry rectifies some, if not all, of its predecessor’s flaws and delivers a fantastic new cast of characters and setting to explore....
Greak: Memories of Azur is a really charming example of how a game can communicate its themes via its mechanics. Telling the tale of three siblings trying to stay together amidst the destruction of their home, this puzzle-platformer is a thoroughly engaging experience, from its gorgeous hand-drawn art style and...
