It’s time for redemption.

You are Vasily, a former elite security guard who is trying to leave his destructive past behind him and find peace in a monastery.

But his days of personal reflect and meditation do not last long as his past finds him and begins a path of explosive isometric gameplay that sees a pleasing modern take on the old skool brawler genre.

Redeemer: Enhanced Edition from Russian Sobaka Studios and Good Shepard Games sees Vasily being pursued by an old friend who is still an elite soldier for an advanced Cybernetics Corporation.

Once a close comrade, Vasily’s former warrior-brother has cyber-enhanced himself and is out to get Vasily to either return back in to the fold or die, killing and imprisoning Vasily’s fellow monks – turning some in to mutants.

Vasily is guided for the most part by a defector, one of the Cybernetic Corps scientists as he makes his way to the leader of the Corporation and his former employer to take him down for good.

Redeemer: Enhanced Edition involves a small RPG factor where your brawler skills and weapons can be upgraded as you go through the surprisingly engrossing narrative.

There is no shortage of enemies to take down, albeit they are all cloned throughout the entire game.

Paths a very linear as you choose to stealth take down, gun and run, punch and kick your way through clinical labs, and cavernous environments picking up environmental objects that can be used as projectiles and various weapons, as you find them, both melee and guns and you can take ammo from those that you kill (or a move, when you acquire it, enables you to steal the gun from your enemy).

Asides from the main gameplay, there is also an Arena Mode – which as you may guess – is surviving a predetermined amount of waves of foes to clear the area. I am hoping that there is more of these added, as at the moment, once you have unlocked this mode, there’s only two levels with around 10 waves each.

Redeemer: Enhanced Edition is a lot of carnage fueled fun, although painfully short for a game that actually has substance to both its story and playability.

I am hoping for and looking forward to an expansion or some DLC to keep myself redeemed.

The post Redeemer: Enhanced Edition (PlayStation 4) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Independent video game developer Sobaka Studio and publisher Buka Entertainment have announced to us here at STG their partnership on development of 9 Monkeys of Shaolin, a new multi-platform old-school beat ‘em up powered by Unreal Engine 4.

The studio behind Reedemer unveils announcement trailer (above) for 9 Monkeys of Shaolin, which sets the mood and universe of this unique IP and promises to offer a new deeply immersive steeped Brawler experience in Medieval China setting.

First console demo is already available on the Xbox Lobby Bar at GDC 2018. Studio team members were available at the stand and gamers and press joined them for an intense top-down, close-quarters action game where you will punch and hack your way through enemies using basics of ancient martial arts only mastered by legendary Shaolin monks.

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9 Monkeys of Shaolin marks a true rebirth of the iconic brawler genre in vein of old-school video games. If, as a kid you had hours of fun playing SNES or SEGA beat ’em up videogames crushing foes left and right then this new title from the creators of hardcore brawler Redeemer is definitely for you!

As a mere Chinese fisherman Wei Cheng you have to avenge the death of your friends and family slaughtered in a pirate raid at your peaceful village. Game protagonist is quite a tough nut to crack as he knows the basics of ancient martial arts only mastered by legendary Shaolin monks. Get your trusty battle staff ready for a challenging adventure in Medieval China and for merciless fights with hordes of various enemies. 

Action-packed battles, user friendly controls and incredible atmosphere of great kung-fu movies of 70s – all this makes 9 Monkeys of Shaolin a perfect choice for every true fan of really hardcore brawlers.

9 Monkeys of Shaolin will be released Fall 2018 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, macOS and Linux.

The post Experience Martial Arts in Medieval China appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Indie developer Frogsong Studios today announced that their debut title, Spellsworn, will move out of Steam Early Access into a free to play commercial launch this March (2018).

Heavily inspired by the WarCraft 3 custom mod, Warlocks, Spellsworn is a competitive PvP arena brawler, featuring fast-paced spellcasting matches set on a continuously shrinking arena, encroached by destructive, arcane-powered surroundings.

“The competitive nature of Spellsworn is ideal for a free-to-play business model and this change in monetization will make it easier for our community to grow and enjoy the fast paced arena battles through a seamless matchmaking system,” said Stefan Jonsson, CEO of Frogsong Studios. “We want to stress that only cosmetic items, like skins and staffs, will be monetized, which will not affect the gameplay in any way. Players, who acquire Spellsworn before the launch, are in for a treat as they will be granted six unique items, two of which will be exclusive to the Early Acces owners only!”

In Spellsworn, players rely upon tactics and quick reflexes to outsmart and obliterate opponents, using a well thought out combination of spells across five different disciplines: offensive, defensive, area, utility, and travel. Players battle it out in teams or free-for-all over intense five-round matches for up to eight players. Between each round the magic arsenal can be customized by buying, selling or upgrading spells to switch up the play style and mess with the minds of rival wizards. The magic mayhem reaches another level once the hazardous environment begins wreaking havoc on the playable field, causing damage over time to each player pushed off of the arena.

With an ever-changing environment that poses as much of a threat as the enemy, adaptation is just as important as a quick hand and mind. In a world gripped by a war of magic, only the skilled and strong will be victorious!

The post PvP Arena Brawler Spellsworn Goes Free to Play appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Let me just say straight up, I love couch co-op brawlers. Actually, scratch that, I love couch co-op as a genre. As the ubiquity of online gaming has spread, so often multiplayer player experience is reduced to having a torrent of abuse shouted at you by a child in another country. There’s something wholesome and genuine about playing together with your friend, who is physically in the room, against hordes of bad guys.

Zheroes is, in other words, right up my alley. A beat em up brawler, with a sprinkle of platforming and shooting, it’s a game that get’s a lot right, but is held back by a lack of polish and variety. While it’s possible to play as a single player game

Narratively, Zheroes is as simple and direct as they come. There’s a bad man in a hat, he keeps making bad robots, an improbably large man and incredibly agile woman are going to stop him. Exposition complete. Start punching.  I was a little put off at first by how simple the setup was, but it grew on me. This is a game that knows exactly what it is, and is charmingly upfront about it’s lack of plot.

That being said, a little narrative fleshing out beyond the bare bones that is provided, would have definitely helped sustain the players interest into the latter half of the game, where the game  started to drag.

The art design is vibrant and hyper saturated, think Ratchet and Clank with more fist fighting. Graphics are probably the strongest aspect of this game, with it’s cartoonish palette and character design meshing nicely.

While the gameplay itself seemingly a decent depth, such as characters able to use shields and guns to mix up their play style, it never quite hits the mark. The most important thing about beat-em-up games is that the fighting is satisfying but intuitive, that’s what makes the genre lend itself to couch co-op so well, because anyone can pick up and play.

While you can certainly button-mash your way to victory in this campaign, the fighting never quite feels precise or polished enough, and awkward unlockable combos are more frustrating to pull off than exciting. This is true of the Level design as well, most stages feel like I’m pushing through a ceaseless horde, being given little reason to care. There is a decent enough spread to the enemy design, but since fighting them become steadily less enjoyable, their variety isn’t as much of a plus.

While the platforming sequences aren’t significant in this game, it’s lack of polish is apparent here also, as the controls aren’t quite responsive enough to avoid frustrating falls. This isn’t helped by strangely placed checkpoints which lose you a disheartening amount of progress.  

The game’s DLC came packaged for this review, and while it adds an additional character, some news enemies and locations, the fundamental issues of the game remain the same.

Overall, ZHeroes is a flashy, briefly fun but ultimately shallow adventure that will certainly provide you with you a few hours of oldschool fun with a friend, but little else past that.

The post Zheroes (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.