Inertial Drift Review

Inertial Drift is an indie arcade drift racing video game developed by Level 91 Entertainment and published by PQube Limited.

The game offers unique twin drift controls, in which the left stick is used for steering, and the right stick is used for drifting; it also offers individual cars with different mechanics, so you will have to learn to master each car differently; it features 20 different tracks single player mode, and multiplayer modes. It also offers different gameplay modes, which include arcade mode, challenge mode, story mode, grand prix mode, split screen mode, and online mode. The biggest difference between this drifting racing game and others, is that in other drifting games, as you drive and the car drifts, you continue to drive as you normally would drive; but in Inertial Drift, as you start to drift, you control your drift with the right stick as you drive with the left stick, and the main focus of this game is drifting.

Four cars are unlocked in the beginning of the game, but they are all different to manage and drive with, which makes playing the game different each time you pick a different car to drive. There are 16 cars in this game, and most of them need to be unlocked.

In time battle mode, you race by yourself down the track to get your best score. In ghost mode, which you can either choose to run against your ghost or another ghost recorded, you try to race against a ghost. You can also race against a competitor, which is only one other car, though these modes don’t appear to be that much different, as you cannot collide with any other cars; you simply may drift into another car like a ghost would go through a wall without affecting anything. 

In the score mode, you gain points by drifting, though that can be up for debate as I wasn’t really sure what was causing me to earn the points. The way I drifted? How I drifted and didn’t hit a wall? I am really not sure what the points were for as they don’t tell you. 

In the story mode, there are many characters that will give you advice on how to race, like a tutorial, and you complete missions. In the grand prix mode, you race against different opponents, and you get many retries; if you win, you will unlock new cars. 

I’m new to drift race games; this game was fun for a while until it gets repetitive. I only wish that they would add more opponents instead of just one opponent to race against. It would have added more fun to it and it would have been more competitive. I think that most of the fun comes from learning to drive a new car, and managing that car on the road, since each car is different.

The graphics of this game are really nice and cool. It has a 90s vibe to it, and the colors are amazing together. The sounds also work really well with the graphics and the game overall. 

Overall, I will give this game a 7 out of 10 because I loved the amazing graphics, and the sounds, but it lacked a little bit of competitiveness from having more cars racing in each race. 

A code of the game was provide for review purposes only. Inertial Drift is out now and available on Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Steam platform.

Disaster Report 4 Plus: Summer Memories Review

Disaster Report 4 Plus: Summer Memories is an action-adventure game developed by Granzella and published by NIS America. It was first released for the PlayStation 4 in 2018 in Japan though it was supposed to have come out in 2011, but because of the earthquake in Japan, they cancelled the release until 2018.

The game starts with your character arriving in a city in the bus when suddenly a massive earthquake shakes the city and buildings collapse to the ground. You will need to find a way to survive and escape.

You can choose to play as a male character or a female character, which you can customize before you begin. Throughout the game you can choose to be the nice guy or to be the bad guy through the choices you make though there are quite a few choices to make.

Although you can make many choices in the game, in the grand scheme of things, the outcome is the same, which is something I did not appreciate because even if you do all the right things, you can’t prevent certain events from happening in the game. Unfortunately you will be wandering aimlessly in the game as you will need to trigger the next event even though there are no indicators. These events are required to advance the game, and they are independent of each other, which means that you won’t be able to guess what’s the next step so easily.

Also expect further earthquakes and aftershocks to occur frequently, which could trigger more buildings to collapse, and could cause the player to die if the player is in the wrong place at the wrong time, though there are many checkpoints that will allow you to continue without having to start all over again. At times you will need to brace yourself and run to a safer area to avoid being killed by falling debris from buildings. You might also lose some of your HP when you the effects of a falling building or falling debris makes you fall down.

You will have a backpack to store different items like food, drinks, clothes, and other essentials. Throughout the game you will find larger backpacks to hold more stuff in because each backpack can only hold so much, so upgrading it is essential as you move along. You will need to eat, drink, and use the bathroom, though it is based on reaching a new location rather than on drinking too much or eating too much.

There is also a morality system which can result in good karma points. Helping out with a smile on your face or giving out free supplies will get you good karma points while turning a blind eye to people suffering or stealing things, for example, will give negative points.

The controls are quite simple and easy to use. X does nothing, Circle does nothing, Square will have you crouch, L1 runs, L2 is your map.

Death is not treated very seriously in this game, you will see corpses everywhere. An example of how unserious they are about death is a scene in which a highway collapses killing everyone under it, and everyone around seems oblivious to it.

This title supports VR, it is not required to play in VR though. Unfortunately I don’t own PSVR system to play this game on VR mode so I can’t fully give my opinions on how well it holds in this mode.

I liked the realistic and detailed graphics in this game. Even though the graphics are older, I think it’s still very detailed and crispy. The sounds are in Japanese, but there are subtitles, so that’s nice. I’d rather they just dub into English though cause it can be hard to have to read while trying to play the game.

Overall, I will give this title a 7.5/10. During my gameplay, I really felt like I was there experiencing the natural disaster in a way I felt alone with no real connection with any of the npcs that I have encountered throughout the game and having to wander around looking to trigger the next scene, kind of gave me anxiety not knowing what’s going to happen next.

A review voucher was provided to me for review purposes only. Disaster Report 4 Plus: Summer Memories will be available on PS4, Nintendo Switch and Steam on April 7.

 

Semispheres out today

Semispheres is a meditative parallel puzzle game that places dual realities at the heart of its challenge. Its unique single-player split-screen mechanic challenges your brain by putting you in control of two characters at the same time. Your left and right side must work together to unfold the mystery by solving clever puzzles in an entrancing ambience. Using portals and other abilities to avoid sentries, devise and execute your plan, reuniting the parallel worlds of Semispheres.

• More than 50 levels, each building on top of each other, culminating with fiendishly complex puzzles.
• Stealth-inspired gameplay, including abilities like noise-makers, portals, side-swapping, teleporting and more.
• Immersive ambient soundtrack by Sid Barnhoorn, composer for Antichamber, The Stanley Parable and Out There.
• Mesmerizing and soothing bichromatic art style comprised of warm blues and oranges.
• A heartwarming story about a boy and his robot, unfolding in parallel with the puzzle progression.
• Asia exclusive platinum trophy support!

Dystopian 2D Brawler Platfomer Randall Launches on PS4

Si-fi brawling puzzle platformer Randall from Mexican indie developer We The Force launches today on PlayStation 4 (North America only) for $14.99. Randall has players take control of a powerful telepath with a touch of schizophrenia in a dystopian world where society lives under the constant surveillance and absolute power of a malicious dictator. Think 1984 Meets Guacamelee.

As Randall players will start the uprising against the government by slugging it out with enemies, solving puzzles, and using mind-control powers to control and play as every single character on screen, seamlessly swapping between them and exploiting every power that they have.

Human: Fall Flat will hit PS4 and PS4 Pro on May 9th

Puzzle game cult sensation Human: Fall Flat will hit PlayStation 4 and PlayStatio 4 Pro (4K resolution) on May 9th for $14.99. In addition the Steam version will update with the new console content on May 12th. The console version will have everything that made the Steam version a cult hit plus additional content, brand new puzzles and bespoke customization options.

Human: Fall Flat is a crazy physics game where you solve open-ended puzzle while struggling with intentionally unsteady controls that result in hysterical clumsiness that has people discover their own solutions to overcome obstacles and “work” together as best they can to solve the puzzles in co-op mode. on Steam, Human: Fall Flat has garnered more than 100 million cumulative views on YouTube thanks to the game’s hilarity, especially in co-op mode.

Proteus Review

Proteus is not what you think. If you know nothing about the game, you are as close as possible to understand it. Call Proteus game itself is already a certain misunderstanding, because it hardly fit in an ordinary person would expect from a videogame. Proteus is different. Proteus is mysterious. Proteus is beautiful.

Proteus is a unique audio-visual experience and is difficult to explain. In it, you explore islands first person randomly generated, without any instruction or direction. You get on the water, facing the first island, and can do what you want. There are no objectives or goals, or to collect items or objects to interact with. Proteus is a journey, and you must be prepared to face her.

Every time you experience Proteus, it will uncover a different island. None is equal to another and each has its own peculiarities. You will find similar vegetation and animals in it, but each gameplay will never be the same as another. The islands undergo a cycle of day and night, and during the nights is the only form of “progression” Proteus manifests.

You start Proteus during the spring and each time it gets dark where you are on the island emerges a set of lights in a special place. When approaching these lights, the world around you begins to spin, and you can enter a circle of light that will take you to the next season. Each season has its differential with full of red and orange autumn and winter trees with snow on the ground and falling from the sky. By completing the cycle of the seasons, something very amazing happens, something that does not deserve to be described here and that should be experienced by everyone.

The visual experience of Proteus is with its 3D graphics and stylized pixel art and its pastel colors, but it is secondary compared to the listening experience. All “songs” Proteus are dynamically generated and depend on where you are on the island, which is around you and what you are doing. This makes every second you spend in Proteus sound different. You create the soundtrack to your journey, and that’s pretty cool.
Proteus is really hard to describe. This live-action trailer can be a good way of showing, on an abstract level, what is Proteus? It is an experience that is certainly not for everyone. If you’re the type of person that needs action and adrenaline for fun, Proteus will not please you. However, if you like different, innovative and creative experiences, and is willing to face them with an open mind, you can certainly see the value of what Proteus has to offer.

The biggest problem with Proteus, for me, is that it is expensive. Even with Cross-Buy with the Vita version, its released for $13.99. Not that it’s not cost worthy, for surely it is worth the investment, but I think many more people would be willing to try it if it cost $9.99.
High costs aside, Proteus was wonderful for me because while I was playing, I felt fine. I felt happy. The simple act of exploring a new island, known their spaces and try to find their secrets, not bothering to comply any goal or perform some sort of mission, made ​​me forget the problems of day-to-day and just enjoy what was there before me.

Overall score 9 out of 10. Proteus is unique. It transcends what is commonly expected from a game and brings up the debate of whether or not it is a game, and what is art or not. I do not intend to go into the merits of this argument because, honestly, it does not lead anywhere. What matters is whether you like or dislike something, if that something makes you feel some emotion and if it leaves a mark on you. I loved Proteus, and I would be delighted if you also like.
Proteus is now available on the PlayStation store for $13.99, keep in mind that its a cross-buy title which means you’ll get the PS3 version and the PS Vita for only one price.