Echo is a new third person science fiction adventure game developed by ‘Ultra Ultra’ coming out in March on the  Xbox One, PC and PS4. This game was made using ‘Unreal 4 engine’. Echo is definitely one of those games that stand out from the others. This is simply because of a very unique and interesting game mechanic. You may be able to guess it from the title of the game.

The echo game mechanic is pretty much the main and most interesting thing about this game. It’s the thing that will make gamers want to try it out. We at X35 Earthwalker always love unique games or games with unique mechnics or anything really. Basically in this world you control a girl called ‘En’. She is in special legendary place so far just called the ‘Palace’. The palace studies you and uses you to defeat you. That sentence wasn’t a typo it’s exactly what we said. The palace creates ‘Echoes’. Basically exact copies of you in everyway which can only do what you do. They even move and behave like you. In this game, the only true enemy is yourself.

We will explain it. The palace sort of goes through a cycle. It ‘reboots’ every few minutes which causes a black out. During this black out, you can continue to move through the palace however you like and all is well but after the black out. it’s all light in the palace and it’s there where the palace watches you. That’s right, the palace is sort of alive. After watching you, the Echoes it creates gets updated with your latest movements and actions. They learn or unlearn. The whole game is about you facing the consequences of your actions.

So basically If you run, the Echoes will have the ability to run as well. If you sneak, then next time, the Echoes will sneak around meaning they get the jump on you. If you shoot, then they have the ability to shoot as well and since they are an exact copy of you they can kill you just as fast as you can kill them. The game constantly makes a move based on what you do. Sort of like chess. So how will you play? Will you only make moves during the black out to avoid being detected at all (like a wimp) or will you also move during the day but face the consequences of your actions with adjusted Echoes that will come for you.

We don’t know too much about the story besides information concerning the palace and the main character ‘En’ and that you take and place certain light objects but other from that it’s pretty much, you have to wait and see. The graphics are alright but the animations are very good. The environment looks like details and time went into making it. From what we have seen, the game looks cool but sounds extremely cool.

Overall this game is unique and definitely worth checking out. X35 Earthwalker himself really wants to see how the community of gamers react and receive this game. The developers, ‘Ultra Ultra’ came up with something interesting here and we say good job.

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Death Squared is a new multiplayer puzzle game developed by ‘SMG Studio’, coming out ion February 14th for Xbox One, PC and PS4. Death Squared is a cooperative puzzle game for 1, 2 or 4 players where each player gets to control a squared shaped robot which needs to be guided to a matching colour-coded goal. This does sound easy but with puzzle games, it never is. There are traps and hazards which will destroy and kill your robot.

Straight away from looking at the game, We at X35 Earthwalker could tell that it’s fun and has some humour to it. We could tell that from the design of the robots. The robots may come in the four colours red, blue, green and yellow and have similiar looks but it’s the prints on their faces that gives it away. There are many prints. like an ‘X’, mustache, laughing face, cross bones, heart, tiger stripes and even a skull. It would be better if these robots have voices and actually talk to the players but we will see. The same faces can have different markings so customisation of the robots is there.

The entire level is made of squares and literally, there is a lot of details on the squares. Some squares have different markings, colours and coating. The graphics of the game is very good. The scenery looks like a giant section in a mechanical factory. It looks the the whole thing is like a simulation by a computer with square levels in an area surrounded by lots of space. The music is more like ambiance, just a simple tune in the background. This may be like this because the developers wants all the focus to be on communication between the players. 

X35 Earthwalker has checked out some of the levels already and he said, “The levels throw a lot of stuff in there for the players to think about. It actually causes players to stop, think and plan amongst each other, before continuing. Some levels have blocks that hologram squares which is tangible for the robots of different colour and move when the same coloured robot moves. There are levels where pieces and even rotating parts move as the robot of the same colour move. There are switches which activate spikes from the ground that destroy any robots on top of it. There are levels that have lasers that will destroy any robot that of a different colour that makes contact with it. There are even levels that combine all of this stuff together, creating crazy scenarios. I like what I see so far”. We agree.

This is the kind of game that will get you vex with your friends and family. Maybe your younger sibling accidently gets your robot killed because he moved when he wasn’t supposed to. Maybe your friend forgot that all this time they can move through any hologram squares that’s the same colour as they are, wasting many minutes. Or that one friend who decides to get his friends killed but tries to make it seem like it was an accident. This game starts of very fun but will quite quickly become a challenge and then a head scratching challenge. If you don’t have any temperance (self control) and long suffering (patience) then be careful as you don’t want to get too mad with friends and family. So think twice about this.

It has been said that there is a section in the game called the ‘Vault’ which has a bunch of levels that are only for the brave. We guess that these levels must all be very hard to complete to near impossible to solve. We hope there are some levels like that though because there are always gamers out there who won’t stop until they beat it. Those guys will have fun.

Overall this seems like a fun puzzle game that will keep you occupied for a good while. A lot of work has gone into it. The developers ‘SMG Studio’ did a good job with this game and we at X35 Earthwalker want to see what becomes of this game. Even so… You must not forget to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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‘Crypt of the NecroDancer’ is a new action, indie, RPG game but also classed as a rhythm dungeon crawler, developed by ‘Brace Yourself Games’ coming to Xbox One 10th of February but was released on other platforms last year in February as well. Straight away the title of the game should straight up tell any gamer what this game contains. Dancing, music and dungeons. If that’s what you got also, then you are correct. In Crypt of the NecroDancer you control ‘Cadence’ who is the daughter of a famed treasure hunter that has gone missing. She goes off to look for him but accidentally falls into a crypt owned by the NecroDancer, who steals Cadence’s heart and forces her to challenge his minions to retrieve it. Now you are forced to fight through the dungeon but your actions tied to the beat of the music. You must beat the Necrodancer.

This game has a very friendly look to it. It reminds you of the old retro games with that pixel like graphic style. So straight away you want to try the game. The rules and controls of the game are simple. Move, attack and doge enemies in tune with the beat for the best success. There is lots of music and the game even said that it has an award winning sound track plus 4 remixes of a track. So you have options but it gets better. This game has a fantastic feature. It grants players the option to instead import custom music from their MP3 collection. So groove and play to your own tunes. Plus if you have a dance mat connected by USB then you can link it up and get your moves on. We at X35 Earthwalker encourage movement and exercise. There is two player co-op where each player has their own health but share the gold and spells. This means you can show off your moves to a buddy of yours.

The enemies in the game are all dancing. Who ever said skeletons can’t dance. Literally, everything in this crypt seems to be effected by the music and tunes. You can only move or attack if they do the action on the beat of the music. Everytime you get it on the beat boosts your scoring multiplier. You don’t automatically take damage for missing the beat but it does reset the scoring multiplier and you may end up in the path of an enemies attack. As you go through the game, you will find new items, armour, treasures and weapons to use to your advantage. There are lots of weapons in this game like: a dagger, broadsword (which can hit multiple enemies), whip, bow, flail, rifle and much more. All having their own range, damage and mechanics. Find the one that best suits you and your situation.

There is a nice range of enemies that all seem to know how to have a good time, with their dance moves. The dungeon is split into 4 zones which each have four levels. The first three levels always have many enemies, an exit to find and a mini boss for you to overcome but the last level has a big boss who wants you dead. The last mechanic that gamers should be aware of is that you want to complete the level before the song finishes otherwise you will be sent to the next level automatically but miss all the rewards you would get for completing the level. From what we have seen, the game seems quite fun and the whole rhythm mechanic is a nice touch to a dungeon crawler. Music is always enjoyable and impacts the experience of the game, plus having the option to choose our own music is great. The flow of the game is definitely changed according to the song but flows well nonetheless. This game isn’t for every gamer though as you do at times feel restricted to the music and if that annoys you then it’s not for you.

Overall it seems like a fun game but only for some types of gamers. The developers ‘Brace Yourself Games’ made something nice. Regardless… you must never forget to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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Candleman is a new 3D Platformer game that’s said to come out today on the Xbox One although it has been said it may come to other platforms later. It was first released last year in the Chinese market though. This game was made by Chinese indie game studio ‘Spotlightor Interactive’. X35 Earthwalker himself saw this game and had nothing but good things to say about it. If you look at the game for 1 second then you may just skip past it. If you look at the game for 5 seconds, you might wonder what it is about but if you look at the game for ten seconds then you will discover the main game mechanic of the game which is just one of the cool things that make this game unique.

In Candleman you play a little candle who is on a journey to find the light but to do this. It must go into the darkness. From just looking and reading about this game, we can tell that the developers have put a message or meaning within the game, like a life lesson or something. So be on the look out for that. The game is very simple. You make your way through the very dark levels and avoid being outed or destroyed. That’s right. There are hazards and creatures that will make your journey a whole lot harder. There are crushing walls, twisting paths, ledges, water and more stuff. There are some flying ghost looking creatures which really do come after you.

The main game mechanic here is the candles ability to burn for 10 seconds which lights up the place a whole lot meaning you can actually see what is going on around you and what is right in front of you but just like with any other candle, the candle will melt. This is both good and bad because if you melt, you get closer to being nothing and therefore lose but the smaller you are, the higher you can jump, making some areas that you couldn’t reach before, accessible. The burning of the candle also protects you. For example those flying ghost things are repelled from your flame from when you light up, keeping those things away at all times.

The game looks absolutely beautiful. The graphics are up there with being excellent indeed. You feel this way with everything in the game. The levels look smooth and real nice. The environments look like they took a lot of work. The lighting is very well done indeed as it makes glowing objects and your own flames look realistic and quite powerful at times. The game is said to have challenging levels but with a fair difficulty curve.

Overall this game looks really cool. It’s a nice simple but fun game made very well. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what becomes of this game. The developers ‘Spotlightor Interactive’ did an excellent job with this game and we say keep it up. 

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‘Aaero’ is a new musical rail-shooter game developed by ‘Mad Fellows’ coming out in February 2017 for Xbox one, PC (steam) and PS4. From what I can see of this game, it’s clear that this game places heavy emphasis on music. We mean music is like the whole point of the game. It’s all about the in game tracks and the songs but still a shooter which would remind you, in a way, of ‘Star fox’ with the flying and the shooting.

You control a small drone like ship and the main aim is to stay on some light trails, which we think are called ribbons. As you stay on the trail the music plays and the closer you are to it the better your score. It increases and becomes score multipliers. This is very clever as almost everyone loves music and many love games so why not combine them in a fun way but more attention on the music. We can imagine X35 Earthwalker bopping his head to the tunes while blasting enemies away. You can even destroy enemies in tune with the music, so you will have to become one with the beat but you don’t have to. The ship we control seems to attack mainly by a lock on system and then firing. The enemies seem to all be other small flying drones and ships but they have different designs to them, which is nice.

Music is even the key to defeating the bosses we have heard. It’s like the tunes will let you know when is the perfect time to attack, again you don’t have to do it that way but it’s a big clue and help. The bosses are large creatures that should do a good job at the getting the gamers excited and their attention, like a large sand worm like thing that borrows in and out of the ground, a giant squid like creature that can be seen trying to pull a space ship below water (why do they always do that?) and off course a giant spider which looks the meanest of the bunch we have seen so far. It chases you. We are guessing that they have certain weaknesses and once found, should be exploited to the beat.

The graphics looks lovely in this game. It’s just so nice to look at. It’s colourful and bright at times. The particles and lights all work very well and just add to the game. You can tell that a lot of time went into this game just from looking at the attention to detail. The environments are very nice to look at. The graphic style looks like that special kind of material that people can sculpt structures and images out off. You can see where areas were smoothed and which areas remained rough. The style works. The music, well what can we say. If the rest of the tunes are fun and entertaining like some of the ones we have heard already then it will be great indeed. Just wonder what other music and tunes they have in this game.

From what we know, the game is single player but since there is a whole scoring system, we can imagine people getting really competitive and trying to hit that high score. This game does seem like it’s more of a casual relaxing game than a difficult and challenging one. We hope there will be a challenge mode or something like that were there are many enemies which you must fight while still staying on the light trail to rack up the points. Forcing us to rely on our reflexes. That would be awesome. The level designs look very nice and it’s like it takes you for a ride through the place. Some levels look like a city, some are like tunnels or mines while some just look futuristic.

This game is interesting and taking a new turn with the whole musical approach. X35 Earthwalker himself says that he wants to see what becomes of this game. The developers ‘Mad Fellows’ did a great job with this game. We can see that they worked hard. Keep it up and look forward to what you plan to do next. This game is worth checking out and most important of all… Do not forget to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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There is a new game coming towards us gamers and it’s called, “Deformers”. It does sound weird but after you see the creatures you may understand why. Deformers is a smash-em-up arena brawler made by ‘Ready At Dawn’. This game will coming to Xbox One, PC and Playstation 4 on the 14th of February. Just from looking at the game you can tell it’s good silly fun. It’s something that you can play casually with your friends and family. The creatures that you control in this game are called “Forms”. They are all squishy and round and therefore haven’t really got a permanent form which we guess is why deformers is the name of the game.

All you have to do is crush, smash, push and throw your opponents to their doom. I have seen Forms pick up others and then throw them over the edge. Some forms change shape like square and hexagon like things. Some just zoom and smash into others. All in the name of good fun. For some reason this game reminds us of super smash bros where it’s all about beating up your opponents and knocking them out of the arena or off the screen. This game certainly is quite unique though in their approach. 

You can jump, shoot, roll, throw, defend and dash. The aim of the game is to destroy whoever is crazy enough to be your opponent. This can be done by either by shooting them to death with gooey ammunition, by ramming into them at high speeds or by grabbing them and throwing them off the edge of an arena. When a Form dies they will leave behind little blobs of goo called ‘Tribs’. You or anyone else can soak up that stuff to get bigger. Being bigger means you have bigger health and refill your ammunition. Sounds simple. That’s because it is. Let it be known also that there are power ups that will give your Form the advantage that you need.

The Forms are all very different from each other and seem to have their own personalities from the looks of it. There are many Forms to choose from. Some are alien looking while others resemble animals like cows. It gets better. You can customise you Form to make it your own and stand out from the rest. There are a variety of game modes like ‘Form ball’ which is like rocket league where there are two teams and the teams must work together to get the ball in the opponents goal. From what we can see the game play looks good, simple and fast paced,

The graphics of the game are very nice to look at and the designs are great. The mountains and environment in the background from first look you can tell that work went into it. The attention to detail is up to standard and does make a difference here. There are multiple environments like deserts, ruins, big top and a very unstable balancing platform and more. The best thing about this game is the fact that it has local co-op, which means you can invite your friends over and play together in true competitive fashion.

What X35 Earthwalker has to say is that this game looks like a real casual friends game where it’s nothing but fun and laughs. It’s something that gamers been needing for a while. We are looking forward to this game and want to see what becomes of it. The developers ‘Ready At Dawn’ are doing a good job with this game and we hope it goes well with the gamers. Keep it up. Lastly, never forget to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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Halo wars 2 is coming out on the 21st of February of 2017. Now almost every Xbox gamer knows about this game and most are looking forward to this. Especially since the beta came out last year. Halo wars 2 is a real time strategy (RTS) game where you get to control the forces of the UNSC and covenant. The events of halo wars 2 is set 28 years we believe after the the events of the prequel game. Captain Cutter and his crew are found over an ancient Forerunner haven called the ‘Ark’. Here they encounter probably the greatest threat to humanity… The Banished. The Banished are a dangerously powerful Brute faction lead by intelligent and fieerce warrior called ‘Atriox’. Can Captian Cutter survive against this new enemy?

X35 Earthwalker participated in the beta himself and says that he likes everything about the game but it does have some issues though but glad that they will be corrected in the real game. The graphics are a complete step up from the prequel game. The details to the units and structures are greater, showing great attention to design and detail. Even the way the units move now have been approved. If you paid attention to how the marines run and traverse through the battlefield you will see what we mean. The game had new units, which one of we and many other gamers have been wanting since the prequel. There is now a sniper infantry unit which has long range (obviously), high damage and their shots stun enemy infantry units for round about half a second maybe. they are perfect anti-infantry but swarms will easily destroy them. They also are cloaked meaning they can’t be detected by enemy units until they come into range and directed to attack snipers. There is also a flying heavy bombarding air unit call “Blisterbacks” which look like armoured beetles. They do single energy blasts from the air but have the ability to land on the ground and become an artillery unit, bombarding units and bases. X35 Earthwalker does want them to have increased damage as they currently are too weak and don’t have that much impact at all. There are more units for both the UNSC and Banished.

The two leaders that we know of so far is Captain Cutter and Atriox. Both don’t take non-sense from anyone. Captain feels very similar to the prequel and allows similar strategies. Most strategies revolve around the infantry and with there being more infantry units, and the fact that the marines actually are a threat now, this will work well. Snipers are great at neutralising enemy infantry from afar and delivering great pain to hero units. As Cutter you can pump out infantry fast and do pretty good rushes on the enemy, forcing them to panic and expel their resources quickly. Atriox is no slouch in the infantry department either but most strategies with Atriox revolve around the vehicles. The Banished vehicles are quite diverse and are solid for holding down a certain area and then making the push. The units with the banished seem more diverse and thus allowing more options and ideas for strategies and combinations. Once corrected, the Blisterbacks will be a nightmare for many players.

The game now has a ability upgrade screen that you access while on the field. Here you can spend points that you gather over time in the match to upgrade unit or character abilities which can really change the tide of the battle. Trust us on that. For example you can choose to have the ability to create a area of healing for your units and structures. You could get the ability as Cutter to place a turret where you want in a battle. Maybe to attack the enemy from behind or at an angle. You can unlock the famous mac blast which brings death to whatever it hits. In the beta though, the mac blast was far too weak and couldn’t even destroy a tank. Even the blast radius was pretty much a zero. They must change this. There is an upgrade on Atriox’s side where you can make all your units literally invulnerable for a period of time. We used this once and survived a mac blast and a pelican sweep special ability and still destroyed all enemy units and then the base but timing is everything with these abilities. The gameplay mechanics in this game make it so that every decision is more important than ever before. The game has become even more strategic. So you must keep track of your resource spending, what abilities you upgrade or unlock and when and how to use your unit abilities.

We must say though that the leader characters you select all have devastating abilities. Captain Cutter after following certain upgrade paths can have the ability to hell jump in veteran (have stars) units such as the cyclops, Odsts and more. It’s basically instant strong reinforcements that deal all kinds of damage. The other major ability is the pelican sweep that brings three pelicans that completely demolish everything with rockets blasts and heavy machine guns. Everything will die in a matter of moments. This can save your life. Atriox on the other hand have the  invulnerable ability that we mentioned earlier. This makes all your units invulnerable and take zero damage from everything while still being able to fight. The next major ability and by far our favourite in the annihilator which truly lives up to its name. It basically calls down 6 beams that slowly join together in the middle and explodes annihilating everything that was under, around or near the beam. This has even been used to wipe out an entire army leaving the enemy completely open to attack. It’s absolutely crazy. If only you could see our faces when we first used it and saw what it could do. These abilities aren’t to be messed with due to all having the ability to change the battle in your favour but once again, timing is everything. 

The is literally an improvement from the prequel is every way. The controls are still easy to learn and use. The graphics and sounds are wonderful even though this was all beta and not the released real thing. The story is definitely interesting and we want to know more. No unit in the game is useless or feels useless. The abilities are so diverse and very effective, like you would be crazy to not use them. The main problem about the game is having your brute champion unit trying to reach enemies to smash when all of a sudden you get hit by a sniper and he is stunned for a second and when he can move again, there are two more snipers who stun him. This repeats and your champion can’t do anything, Literally. It’s frustrating because it makes him useless. we hope they make the stun only effect regular units and not champion infantry. That what we think. The Blisterback needs damage increase, the mac blast needs increased damage and blast radius. Snipers should require players to be one tech level higher before allowed to create them in the match as all a captain Cutter player needed to win against Atriox is rush quickly with many marines and many snipers and they win. Atriox can’t do anything. Off course we found a way to counter this but it wasn’t easy and many don’t know the strategy we have created for this.

Fun fact. Did you know that X35 Earthwalker on the 20th of June 2016 at 14:05pm was in a match where his team mate left the match and it became a 1v2. He won the match as captain Cutter. We made a record of the match and know the names of all the players.

We are all looking forward to this game and what it will bring. We want to see the scarab, the other leader characters, the story and more. So far ‘343 Industries’ are doing an awesome job. Keep it up you guys. This game is definitely worth checking out.

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Skylar & Plus: Adventure on clover island is new 3D action platformer coming out on Xbox, PC and PS4 in January 2017. This game was developed by ‘Right Nice Games’. You play ‘Skylar Lynxe’ who is the hero of this game who is a reluctant about it. She was captured by the villainous CRT who modified her and gave her that mechanical arm. Fighting against CRT and his henchmen will be quite the feat. Good thing she isn’t alone. She has an unlikely sidekick (who’s a owl by the way) called ‘Plux Owlsley’ and their aim is to save their newfound home from being turned into a wasteland by CRT.

Straight away you can tell that this game’s strong point is the characters. Kind of like with crash bandicoot. You don’t mind how wacky everything is, you just like the character and want to know more about them. If they appeared on a can of drink, you would think about buying the drink just because of them. This games graphic style is very good and looks less digital and more art like. The artistic side comes out especially when you look at the waterfalls and rocks it looks like it was drawn while other things like mechanical enemies look definitely digital. Knowing when to use one or the other is very important. The sceneries and settings of the levels all look like they are full of life and maybe theirs a squirrel nearby in the jungle area. You will travel across multiple areas in this game from beaches and volcanoes to mountains and deserts. We at X35 Earthwalker always love variety in games. It’s always more exciting to travel across completely different areas so good job developers.

Off course you must collect gadgets to traverse the world and help you overcome CRT. We knew it would be gadgets as the main character is mostly mechanical. We imagine the gadgets will merge with the suit and mechanical arm. Some of the gadgets are the jet pack, time orb and magnetic glove to help you progress and fight against CRT’s henchmen. The game is only single player. The game has quite a bit of comedy and does it quite well. The kind of comedy that shows just how silly some of the characters can be. It makes you chuckle whether the jokes are bad or not. So far we am liking the look of the game and want to see what becomes of it.

This game is worth checking out.

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