Contents: The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict The Intro Title: Back to the Future: The Game Release year: 2010 Developed by: Telltale Games Genre: Graphic adventure Platform replayed on: PC What do you do with a much-loved film trilogy from the 80s, around twenty years after the third film and its associated video game were released? Back to the Future (1985) Image via IMDB You go Back… Back to the Future: The Game (2010) …to it and make another video game, apparently. Back to the Future: The Game released in late 2010, just over twenty years since Back to the Future Part III was release ..read more

Contents The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict The Intro Title: Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons Release year: 1990 Developed by: Ideas from the Deep Genre: Platformer Platform replayed on: PC I’m not a huge fan of platformers. There, I said it. However, I’ve certainly played a lot of platformers since the time of the third generation of video game consoles. I remember the classics like Super Mario Bros. (1985), Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1986), and Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (1990). I remember playing as a dolphin in Ecco the Dolphin (1992) and as the 7 Up spot i ..read more

Contents The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict The Intro Title: Hard West Release year: 2015 Developed by: CreativeForge Games Genre: Turn-based tactics Platform replayed on: PC Wild. Style. Hard West, a turn-based tactics game set in the American Wild West. A game with style. Hard West—back in the days when the West was wild. I first played Hard West a few years after it was first released, but it’s been a few more years since I’ve last spent time with it. What has stuck in the back of my mind since playing it is this word, style. Hard West looks great. But what do I mean by “style”? It’s ..read more

Contents The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict The Intro Title: How the Saints Save Christmas (Saints Row IV DLC) Release year: 2013 Developed by: Volition Genre: Action-adventure Platform replayed on: PC Complete chaos. That’s what comes to mind when trying to describe Saints Row IV. Gratuitous nudity and stating the obvious This is a game where you play as the President of the United States, defending Earth from an alien invasion from inside a computer simulation where you can jump tall buildings in a single bound and run like the Flash. Super Jump! If that’s not enough craziness for you ..read more

Contents The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict The Intro Title: Heroes Chronicles Release year: 2000 Developed by: New World Computing Genre: Turn-based strategy Platform replayed on: PC Just one more turn. As I wrote in my replay of Heroes of Might and Magic II, it wasn’t the Civilization series that introduced me to the “just one more turn” syndrome. Heroes of Might and Magic II (1996) I also wrote that the third entry, Heroes of Might and Magic III (1999), was probably my favourite in the series. A significant visual upgrade in Heroes of Might and Magic III gave this series a more cinem ..read more

Contents The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict Warcraft: Orcs & Humans begins…The Intro Title: Warcraft: Orcs and Humans Release year: 1994 Developed by: Blizzard Entertainment Genre: real-time strategy (RTS) Platform replayed on: PC I played a lot of real-time strategy in the late 90s, mostly across the Warcraft, Command & Conquer, and Age of Empire series. What still makes me smile after all these years from the Warcraft series is the humour. Take this example from Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, when repeatedly clicking on a unit: “My liege?” … “Yes?” … “What?” … “What do you want ..read more

Contents The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict The Intro Release year: 2014 Title: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Developed by: The Astronauts Genre: Walking simulator Platform replayed on: PC The light at the end of the tunnel. We all know that metaphor… Walk to the light… This is how The Vanishing of Ethan Carter begins though. But is it an omen of death, or a new beginning? You join this journey as Paul Prospero, paranormal investigator, as he responds to a young twelve-year-old Ethan Carter’s fan letter calling for help… Is the track a foreshadowing of predetermination? At times it’s tr ..read more

Contents The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict The Intro Title: Dungeon Hack Release year: 1993 Developed by: DreamForge Intertainment Genre: Roleplaying game (RPG) Platform replayed on: PC Roleplaying games. Sometimes you want an epic tale that spans countless hours of exploration, combat, and an unravelling plot. Pillars of Eternity (2015)—the last epic roleplaying game I played, for just over 94 hours. Sometimes you just want to hack and slash countless numbers of whatever’s standing in your way. Hacking and slashing hobgoblins Dungeon Hack (1993) sits very much in the hack and slash cl ..read more

Contents The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict The Intro Title: Syberia Release year: 2002 Developed by: Microïds Genre: Point-and-click adventure Platform replayed on: PC It’s the journey, not the destination. Perhaps an overused cliché in general, and one arguably applicable to any adventure game. But Syberia is an adventure game quite literally about a journey. A journey begins… I remember playing this around the time it was released, and still have my physical copy. Via Instragram I’m not sure how I heard about Syberia, but I’m not surprised I have it in my collection, being a big fan ..read more

Contents: The Intro The Game The Replay The Verdict The Intro Title: Stranger Things 3: The Game Release year: 2019 Developed by: BonusXP Genre: Beat ’em up Platform replayed on: PC A familiar intro Stranger Things 3: The Game, a modern game made to look like it came out of the 80s. Usually it’s me playing games here on Present Perfect Gaming that look like they came out of the 80s, because they actually came out of the 80s. I’m hoping Stranger Things the TV show doesn’t need an introduction. I’ve just finished binge-watching seasons 1-4 (binge-watching for me these days means over a ..read more