Catching eldritch horrors in fishing sim Dredge has fed my morbid curiosity for what lies beneath

Dredge long, but I’m calling it one of my favourite games of the year, right now, in February. Black Salt Games’ sinister fishing RPG is gripping and enchanting in a way I didn’t anticipate. I’ve spent hours exploring its murky waters and my constant shock at what unsettling creatures my hook brings in is seemingly never-ending. Its eldritch world keeps pulling me back with its mystery and malevolent horror, and its sense of atmosphere and tension is incredible. Basically, I’m completely enraptured, hook, line, sinker. Dredge already feels like one of this year’s greatest indie horrors and all this, from a fishing game of all things.

Read more

Wild Hearts: the best settings to use on PC… until performance is fixed

Wild Hearts is out today and, eesh, the PC version is quite the technical mess. I’ve put together this settings guide – based on the game’s early trial build – for those who want to join the hunt pronto, but above all else my advice is to wait until developers Omega Force get the promised performance improvements up and running. From what I’ve played, Wild Hearts’s bad shape is doing an otherwise enjoyable Monster Hunter-like a huge disservice.

Read more

What’s better: funicular fights or elaborate corridor architecture?

throwing knives are better than active reload. I enjoyed the spirited discussion over which throwing knives are good and which are bad. I can’t help but feel active reload didn’t get a fair shake because so few games do it outside Gears Of War, but the results are science and we must continue. This week, I suppose our choices are both about architecture, but in very different ways. What’s better: funicular fights or elaborate corridor architecture?

Read more

Pharaoh A New Era review: the venerable city builder king has never looked better

Pharaoh came out in 1999, almost 25 years ago. It was one of that era’s City Building series that included Zeus and all of the Caesars, a run of games so good that they earned the capital letters. Pharaoh also happens to be one of my foundational video games, and I played it when I was knee-high to my big brother’s desk, at a time when family homes had one (1) yellow-grey computer with a CRT screen. And now it’s back, baby.

Pharaoh: A New Era means I can play that game of my childhood on my shiny black RGB-lit bastard. Honestly though, the “A New Era” part is a bit much. Sure, the updated graphics are fabulous and the quality of life changes mean it plays like smooth peanut butter to the 90s’ extra crunchy. It’s a good remake of a solid game, but the mummy in the casket is fundamentally the same.

Read more

Before We Leave devs next chill city builder is set on top of a giant space whale

Before We Leave was a chill, planet-hopping city builder with the occasional space whale who might hoover up your world’s hexagonal tiles. Now developer Balancing Monkey is back for another go at spacefaring management, but this time your city is built on top of a space whale, rather than being terrorised by one. Their follow-up, Beyond These Stars, will be hitting early access on PC later this year.

Read more