It's been ages since I've collected a few reviews and posted them in one batch here on the blog! I've collected up a few titles that I felt didn't need much explanation or in-depth reviews. Smaller titles, that have been fun to play, but perhaps don't set the world on fire either.
Without further adieu, let's get to them!
Review
Played on: Xbox Series X
Released: 2025
Original release: 2023 (PC)
Original release: 2023 (PC)
Although The Exit 8 has become somewhat of a cult hit on the PC indie scene, it's passed me completely unnoticed. Luckily, somebody made me aware of it on social media when it made it's way to the Xbox store recently. I decided, considering it's super low price tag, to buy it on a whim.
How to best describe this small title? Think of it as a combination of a visual puzzler, the "liminal space" aesthetic with a sprinkle of the much discussed P.T. demo. Each of these parts kind of summarise the entirety of Exit 8. It's a sweet but tiny, yet clever game.
Let's jump on to the subway and take a tour!
The game in it's entirety, is a corridor. Depicting a single, subway, walkway tunnel as all the play area it offers. One single corridor. In a super minimalist approach, you simply follow the signs and try to find the exit. Here's the catch; the corridor seems to reset every time you pass around the corner. An infinite loop.
Cleverly, there's a sign as you enter the corridor, which you probably missed on your first few attempts, that explains that you need to look for anomalies. If you spot an anomaly, you must turn around and go back again. If you don't spot one, continue forth. Successfully spotting the correct direction to walk through the corridor grants you the exit on the eighth one, hence the name Exit 8.
It's a crudely simple premise for a game, with an tiny environment, yet it fascinates to the point where you try over and over.
The anomalies are subtle changes that you must spot. You need to memorise the corridor so you can see when something is off. Some are obvious, like red water flooding the corridor towards you or a bunch of warning signs being plastered all over the walls. However, most of them are really subtle and tricky to spot. You need to study the corridor thoroughly before making a decision to continue or turn around, otherwise it's back to corridor zero again!
With an Unreal Engine 5 powered corridor, with a realistic look to it, there's not a bunch to talk about visually. It's more about the sense of eeriness and loneliness the environment brings, clearly inspired by the popular "liminal spaces" phenomena on the internet. In others words, sterile and abandoned locations that feel uneasy to be in.
There's a underlying nod to the famous P.T. demo here, the early showcasing of how Hideo Kojima envisioned a new Silent Hill but ultimately it was scrapped by Konami. This demo also had a repeating corridor with subtle changes. P.T. was a horror game though, Exit 8 isn't quite that, although you can can get a jump scare here and there.
There's not much to do in Exit 8 once you do find the exit though. You can replay to see all the different variants of anomalies, but that's about it. We're talking an hour of two of entertainment here.
Overall, a fun little visual puzzler to pick up, focusing on what you see rather than solving actual problems. It's priced super low, definitely give it a go for an entirely different gaming experience.
Review
Played on: PC
Released: 2015
Halo: Spartan Assault was a fun, albeit forgettable, twin stick shooter take on the Halo franchise. It felt limited in depth and had a mobile game vibe over it. While I enjoyed the gameplay, review here, it felt simplistic and lacked coop for the main campaign.
Halo: Spartan Strike is the sequel, but it's a PC only release. Sadly missing a version for the Xbox consoles, so a complete Halo collection on one platform is off the menu. For those familiar with Spartan Assault, Spartan Strike walks down a similar path, albeit prettier looking and with larger levels.
Let's swivel the right stick, fire in all directions and take a look!
It’s not a massively welcome return, considering the annoyances from the first game are still present. We have a text only, barebones story presentation and once again the lack of coop play feels like a huge missed opportunity.
Gameplay feels identical to Spartan Assault, not a bad thing as it always felt responsive and good to play. Shooting feels responsive for a twin stick shooter that requires precision. I’m reminded how well they’ve replicated typical Halo weapons into a completely different genre and gameplay; each one feels uniquely like the counterpart in the main Halo franchise.
Once again the main campaign is structured into chapters, each with a unique environment design, with underlying missions. Experience points are earned for completing missions, rewarding the player for racking up the most points possible. the best way to do this is keeping a kill streak going, as well as using unique heavy weapons or getting rid of multiple enemies in one explosion, for instance.
These points can be used to buy special weapons with more damage before entering a mission. Sometimes choosing a specific weapon will give you a strong upper hand for certain levels, like a rocket launcher on a level with armoured vehicles.
Graphics see a noticeable upgrade over the original with better textures, onscreen effects and overall detail. There's more 3D objects and less of an empty and flat appearance the first game had. Lighting is upgraded, with shadows and sunsets spicing up the visuals. I played this with a Xbox controller on PC and could easily crank it up to a satisfying resolution and 120fps. Really bringing that responsiveness to the fingertips.
There’s repetition of locations with each chapter for sure, with missions utilising the same areas in each mission. However, each chapter is visually varied with a distinct colour scheme and environment design. I was pleased with the visual upgrade over the first game.
For Halo fans it's a neat little experience and if you enjoyed the Spartan Assault this feels just like more of the same in a prettier package. Missions are a bit more complex and longer here, but overall it's a fairly short game. Replays of missions are often required to get the highest rank possible to proceed, as such it expands the playthrough time a fair bit for those wanting to unlock the last chapter.
Once again, I must stress that it's a huge missed opportunity of lacking coop here. It’s a gameplay style that begs for couch coop or online, battling out together with a friend just feels like something all Halo titles should have.
If you're a Halo fan and enjoy a cool twin stick shooter with a top down view every now and then, it's absolutely a fun playthrough. It just lacks more polish in the story presentation and coop to make it truly memorable. You can't go wrong for it's asking price though.
Review
Played on: Xbox Series X
Released: 2025
Original release: 2020 (PC)
Original release: 2020 (PC)
A rather low key re-release of a PC racer from 2020 caught my eye, probably the chunky tires that did it, recently on the Xbox store. It's a off-road, off-planet, arcade racer made by iRacing.com. That's guys behind the super advanced racing simulator on PC. It's probably a chance for the developer to expand and make a new franchise.
That said, the PC version by no means lit the racing world on fire and I suspect this release won't either on Xbox, five years after the initial launch. Nevertheless, the trailer peaked my interest and I decided to jump in.
Let's take those chunky tires for a spin!
It's a racing campaign that goes straight to the point, complete with a still image cartoon explaining the premise: in the future racers no longer are allowed to race fossil fuelled cars, but luckily space travel allows them to send full sized, remote controlled, off-road racing vehicles to a distant planet to race! It's an amusing albeit absurd premise, then again we don't need more than that for a racer.
Campaign consists of championships. There are three speed classes for vehicles, with two championships for each. Rather a meagre number of championships and they don't vary in any way other than adding more races on increasingly complex layouts of each racing location. Speaking of visual locations, there are only four in total, paving way for the excitement of the visuals to quickly become repetitive.
The insanely low amount of vehicles is disappointing. Not only are all the competitors, including your own car, identical but they only vary in design within these speed classes. I'd prefer a little variation in their futuristic design. It would've made vehicle customisation a little more interesting than a palette swap too.
In addition to the campaign there's a standard set of racing game modes like quick races, time trails, online races and challenges available too. All the checkboxes of a typical racing game covered.
The simplicity of game design and layout bleeds into the actual racing too, it all feels a little sterile. With the exception of an odd crash or two happening here and there. It feels like a racer that should have ramps, jumps and other crazy stuff. Maybe even some weapons or another action filled gimmick to make it stand out. It would have fit the style and presentation perfectly., tapping into a Rollcage or wipEout vibe.
That said, the handling is satisfying, making the first hours of racing a lot of fun. The handling goes hand in hand with how the cars react to bumps and turns visually, combined with feedback on the controller. There's a great usage of the Xbox controllers haptic feedback in the triggers, right up there with how the Forza titles utilise the technology. You feel how the grip on the surface is, as well as getting a sense of acceleration and brake intensity.
Although the muddy roads look nice, with water droplets sprayed on the screen when you hit puddles, I would've preferred it to be more interactive mud, with proper tire marks digging into it. There's a fair bit of realism in the way the suspension and chunky tires bounce around and react to the surface, although with it's ease of controls it's clearly an arcade racer.
Graphics do a surprisingly solid job for such a small release, within the limits of the extremely limited amount of track environments. There's some neat looking nature elements and road surfaces, combined with pretty lighting. A sharp looking picture, with a choice between a rock solid 60 or 120 fps modes, the latter looking a little softer in the resolution.
Roadside detail is fairly sparse, with a few select buildings and high- tech billboards along the way. It definitely could've done with more roadside detail and perhaps an urban environment. The four distinct planet surfaces and fauna are pretty, but there's quickly a feeling of visual repetition kicking in. Even though they vary the racetrack layouts within each area.
At the end of the day ExoCross is an eye catching game at first glance, sporting a good looking and futuristic look combined with cool off-road vehicles bouncing about on muddy roads. Once you sit down and play it though, the repetition and sense of minimalist approach to what's on offer sets in.
After the splendour of the design dies down, it ends up as a really standard race after race affair, that's forgettable compared to the abundance of other racing titles. Sad to say, it's very average. I just wish the visuals and handling could've been set in a game offering something more unique and entertaining.
If you don't mind just plain racing and don't want to fork out a full price for a neat looking off-road arcade racer, then it's not bad, it just lacks more content and depth.
