In the Shadows is a new puzzle platformer game developed by ‘Colourspace Studio’. It’s coming out October 13th for PC and on steam but later in the first quarter of next year for Xbox One and PS4.This game was supported on Kickstarter and is now seeing the light of day. Let’s take a look.

In the Shadows is about a grown man who heads back into his childhood imaginary world. He does this to remember his past (can’t you just think about your past). He wants to make sense of his life (there is literally a better and accurate way to do that). It’s suppose to be a “deep emotional story” as described on in the Shadows website. 

Now the theme of ‘In the Shadows’ is fighting your fears. Now the game does a clever way of handling this through the mechanics of the game. For example there are shadow monsters which are dangerous and supposed to represent fear but when they are exposed to light they turn into everyday objects like ladders, tables etc which players can use to their advantage. Pretty clever concept here.

There are different light sources in the game like lamp posts, table light, light boxes etc. Now these different light sources will change the monsters into different objects like a trampoline, table, ladder or even a key. Basically you have to use these monsters to advance. They may scare you but they can help in a way.

Think about it. There are these monsters but notice they are shadow monsters and they are afraid of the light. When the light hits them, they become objects and stuff that you see and use everyday. Maybe the game has a message for gamers that some people have fears that are there everyday but when they are looked at and seen in the light, it’s nothing to be afraid of but used to your advantage, hence facing your fears to advance. Maybe but let’s see. Either way, nice concept.

We checked out some gameplay and it’s sort of what we expected when you see it. It’s a simple game with simple graphics out to tell a simple but quite deep story. It’s not something to be compared to Halo 5 and the evil within 2 etc but it’s good for what it is. In the Shadows have stars for players to collect to unlock hidden levels and secrets. There are many levels and different worlds. Multiple said to be hard puzzles to solve. 

Overall this seems like an interesting game. It doesn’t seem like a great game but the developers, ‘Colourspace Studio’ did the best they could with what they have and they made something well. Many people supported this game to get developed and it’s soon here. This may not be your style but might be just the thing for others. This game may be worth checking out. Now some people are afraid of shadows but what’s always in the light is… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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sonic forces - X35 Earthwalker

Sonic is back and he is back in Force (see what we did there?). Sonic Forces is a new action platform game developed by ‘Sonic Team’ the ones who did ‘Sonic colours’ and ‘Sonic generations’. It’s coming out November 7th for Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch and PS4. Sonic Forces looks epic. Let’s take a look.

In Sonic Forces the world has been destroyed by Dr Eggman (took him long enough) and a powerful new villain. That’s right, a new guy is here. It gets worse… it’s a line up of all the famous villains and some new ones too. So expect to encounter: Dr Eggman (off course), Chaos, Metal sonic and Zavok. The new enemy though is called ‘Infinite’. Let us guess… even though all these powerful enemies are here, for the sake of plot the heroes still win somehow. Don’t you just love fiction.

Since it is a Sonic game you would expect fast paced chaotic action with robots everywhere, loops, ramps and jumps etc, well Sonic Forces has got it all. There are three types of gameplay. You can zoom and dash through the ruined landscapes and fight hordes of robots as the modern Sonic, charge through perilous levels and platforms of the past as classic Sonic and most interesting of all is that you can create your own character, from hundreds of different items and accessories, who uses powerful gadgets to take on enemies across iconic zones. So pure speed and combat, or classic platform dashing, or create your own hero and fight. Some classic sonic gameplay below:

Now there have been many fans that are concerned about Sonic and the recent games. Well we at X35 Earthwalker have checked out some gameplay for ourselves and can confirm that Sonic Forces is going be great and exactly what the fans want from a Sonic game. Thanks to the three game types you can play in the style of the classic sonic games across familiar but modified levels, play in the new and exciting high speed direction of the Modern sonic as all games should be moving forwards and lastly get the gamers themselves involved by making their own character who they can show off and share online. It’s a excellent combination. Sonic Forces has done things right. Even more gameplay below:

The graphics are fantastic. The sounds are excellent and the music is what you would expect from this year we live in. There are some tunes with a beat and some tunes that have a more classic feel. The environments and scenes are actually worth stopping to look at with the water, buildings and even ruined areas. Having the iconic villains back is actually really cool. Metal sonic is a boss and many know this. Chaos is back to spread more chaos (see what we did there?) and off course Dr Eggman. It honestly wouldn’t be a Sonic game without him.

Overall Sonic Forces looks like it has done everything right. From graphics, to the story, to the villains and the game types which can be played. Fans will love this. The developers ‘Sonic Team’ did an outstanding job with this game, We at X35 Earthwalker are looking forward to see what more epic action Sonic Forces has in store for us. This game is definitely worth checking out. Now Sonic is fast, real fast and fast is good but he certainly is not as fast as… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Revolve is a new action, puzzle platformer developed by ‘Rusty Bolt’. It’s coming out September 22nd for Xbox One and PS4 but already out on PC. We at X35 Earthwalker came across this game but we have never heard about it. Let’s see what’s good.

In the world of Revolve, players control Reevo, which is a drone. Reevo is trying to escape a dystopian world. So what? another flying away to escape game? Not exactly. In Revolve, you do not control Reevo directly. You can only jump, use speed boosts, brake and switch gravity. These four actions however; require energy to do.

This is where the challenge of the game comes from. Reevo’s energy refills by itself but slowly, meaning you can’t spam jump and boost all the time. It’s up to the player to make quick and good judgments on when to boost, when to switch gravity and when to jump or brake to keep going. The timing has to be right. Don’t jump when you don’t need it, wasting energy. This is actually a good mechanic.

Revolve is said to have physics and momentum based gameplay. So take that into account.The steam version of the game has a level editor so get creative. There are 70 levels and some have zero or inversed gravity. You can also race against the ghosts of other players to see if you are top escaper or not.

Overall this game seems very interesting. The mechanic at work here is a great idea. The graphics are very good. The music and sounds are very nice also. The environment fits what’s happening in the world of Revolve. We like what we see. The developers ‘Rusty bolt’ did a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker appreciate games with interesting mechanics. This is worth checking out. You may be able to switch gravity in this game but you can’t switch… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Ink is a new inky but fast paced platformer game developed by ‘ZackBellGames’. It’s coming out the 22nd of September for Xbox One, 19th for PS4 and already out on PC.

Now this game has been seen and liked by a lot of people for good reason. Ink has reminded many gamers of super meat boy. Basically players control a white square that releases different coloured ink as it moves, jumps and especially double jumps. The ink is important because you can’t see the terrain. It’s completely invisible and the ink reveals the terrain, especially when you die and go splat. There are spikes and falls which will destroy you.

Now there is some more to the game than that. There are enemies that want you to splat too. You have to defeat all the enemies by jumping on them and reach the goal. It’s literally a simple game. Nice and simple so that people can just jump on and give it a good go. There are 75 levels which means players have quite a lot of work to do. There are also bosses in Ink as well. They really shake things up.

Overall Ink just seems like another simple, quick fun game that any player sort of can just pick up and play. We checked out some gameplay and it really does remind us of super meat boy and a few others but it looks very good. The developers ‘ZackBellGames’ made a good game. This game might be worth checking out.

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