Gnomes Garden (Xbox One, 2018)

Gnomes Garden
Developed by SPL/Workroom7
Published by 8Floor
Released for Xbox One (10/2018)
Also on PC/PS4/Switch

Gnomes Garden shares much in common with real-time strategy games, featuring a similar 3/4 overhead perspective view with gameplay primarily consisting of gathering resources and using them to build/upgrade various structures. Unlike most real-time strategy games that feature vast, sprawling maps to explore, each of the scenarios in Gnomes Garden are limited to a single screen. A dry summer has withered up the king's beloved garden and all the other gardens in kingdom. Due to this the king has become ill and the land is in danger, so it's up to the gnome princess and her crew to help save the gardens and make the king better. It's a silly story and is only revealed through occasional text boxes, but it does enough to set up why you're gathering resources and restoring trees.

When you begin a stage in Gnomes Garden, you'll have command over a single worker gnome. You're unable to control the gnomes directly, though you can command them to perform specific actions by clicking on the appropriate spots on the screen. Clicking on a resource or building will send a gnome over to collect or construct what you've commanded them to. Buildings can be upgraded to level 3, which will boost the production of that building. Upgrading a worker house will give you additional worker gnomes (up to 3), allowing you to gather resources faster. Building a mage home will give you access to the sorceresses, who have the ability to deter large gnomes (who block pathways). Sorceresses can also sprout trees on designated dirt plots, though you'll need a fireman to get the tree to bloom (more on this in a bit).

There are four different resources to gather: food, stone, wood and crystals. Food, stone and wood serve as the basic building blocks for most structures and the crystals aid your sorceresses in performing special feats, such as removing a large troll from blocking your path. Certain levels also features trolls that walk around the pathways, slowing down your workers. The trolls will stay on the screen disrupting your workers until you've constructed a firehouse. The firehouse allows you to command the fireman to dismiss these annoying trolls. The firemen will also be used to water the trees that the sorceress can sprout, which means growing the trees are a 2-part process requiring both classes.

Gnomes Garden features 49 levels that cover four different terrains. On each stage you can earn up to a 3-star rating, which is rewarded for completing that stage within a certain time. Gameplay remains the same as you progress, though the game does mix it up occasionally by throwing in new structures to build like teleporters and signal fires. You'll have to use your worker, fireman and sorceress gnomes frequently, especially in later levels. Objectives are typically varied enough that no 2 levels feel exactly the same, though they are all undeniably a bit similar.

As you progress through the game, you will start to unlock special abilities. There are 3 of these in total, which can be used as often as you like, though their use is limited due to a cooldown between usage. The first ability you'll gain will speed up your workers, allowing them to zip around and gather resources faster for a limited time. The second ability allows you to speed up the building process, shaving valuable seconds off the time it takes to construct a new building. The third and final ability allows you to stop the clock for a brief period, making it a bit easier to finish certain stages in time to get a 3-star rating.

Gnomes Garden is a bit limited in the music department, as there's only one song that plays throughout the entirety of the game. While the song isn't terrible, you'll certainly grow tired of hearing it play endlessly and will want to put on your own soundtrack if you play through the whole game. There's not much as far as sound design is concerned, just the basic sounds you'd expect for stuff like chopping wood. There are helpful sound cues that indicate your special ability is charged or that a troll has wandered on-screen, so muting the game to listen to something else comes with a bit of a cost. There's an options menu that allows you to adjust the sound/music volumes and pointer sensitivity. While everything in Gnomes Garden is a bit small, the graphics are detailed enough that it's never difficult to tell what you're looking at. Presentation-wise, the game leaves a bit to be desired in the music/sound department but does okay when it comes to the graphics and menus.

Gnomes Garden isn't bad for what it is, which is a very linear resource management and building game. It's definitely something that wouldn't feel out of place on your cellphone, so if you'd like something you can pick up and play in short bursts you might like this one. There's something relaxing about the game and I enjoyed playing through it, but it's not something I'd ever come back to. There's also a little bit of challenge and replay incentive with the 3-star rating, plus the game sells for the meager price of $4.99.

Final Verdict: Gnomes Garden is a short and simple game where you gather resources, construct buildings and restore trees. While a bit basic, the game is fun for what it is.

Related Links:
Buy Gnomes Garden - Microsoft Store
Gnomes Garden - GameFAQs
Gnomes Garden - True Achievements
Gnomes Garden Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements

Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space (Xbox One, 2016)

Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space
Developed by ZG40
Published by Merge Games
Released for Xbox One (1/20/2016)
Also on Mac/PC/PS4

Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space not only has an odd title, but is a strange game as well. The opening of the game proudly declares that the game was created by a single person, a dude named Fabrizio Zagaglia (ZG40). Albedo was originally released for PC & Macintosh in October 2014 and received a port to the PlayStation 4 & Xbox One in January 2016. Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space is an adventure game that looks to invoke a B-movie sci-fi vibe.

The game kicks off with a brief cutscene, showing you sitting at a desk as a watchman for some sort of facility. After watching a co-worker leave for the night, a sudden explosion occurs and you fall through the ground as it busts open. When the game starts proper, you find yourself down in the basement looking up a giant hole in the floor. Albedo's gameplay is a mix of puzzle and adventure. The game progresses by rooms and each room will have puzzles to solve, which will involve interacting with various objects you'll find scattered about. There will be some traveling back and forth between previous rooms, but for the most part the game is linear in progression.

Albedo takes place from a first-person perspective. Featuring detailed 3D-rendered environments, it's not a bad-looking game. Though it's certainly not a good-looking game either, as many of the environments have so much packed into small areas it can be a bit too busy, making it difficult to tell what you're looking at sometimes. While acceptable on a graphical level, the control department is where Albedo really starts to blunder. Items have to be accessed via a menu, then once you've selected an item you need to scroll through another menu to determine what you'd like to do with that item. The game doesn't pause to let you do this, causing for some frustrating combat where you'll have an enemy attacking you while you clumsily try to select an item then select the menu to attack with. It's quite clunky and I never really got a feel for it even towards the end of the game. The controls definitely could've been mapped out better.

Aledo is a rather short game, though unless you use a guide there will no doubt be several areas where you're unsure what to do. Without a guide, the game could last anywhere from 10-20 hours, though once you inevitably end up using a guide the game can be cleared within a few hours. The areas and rooms you'll explore aren't that memorable for the most part, but there were a few interesting sections. The outdoor section toward the end was a standout sequence, but much of what led up to that was easily forgettable.

Albedo allows you to adjust the difficulty of the puzzles and combat individually. When puzzles are set to easy, the objects you can interact with glow green, but even set on easy I still found myself struggling with the puzzles at points (more on this later). Adjusting the combat slider will make enemies tougher and deal more damage. As I've already addressed how bad the combat is in Albedo, you'll want to do yourself a favor and set this to easy.

Albedo started off at least somewhat promising, giving the impression it might be a solid puzzle/adventure game with a lot of weirdness. While the game definitely delivered in spades on the weirdness scale, whatever fun I had with the game completely vanished at the fourth room, which is a boiler room. After a bit of frustration trying to figure out what I was supposed to do, I had to resort to a guide. Even reducing the difficulty to make the puzzles easier didn't help, which speaks volumes to the non-sensical design of the puzzles. It's like the developer knew the puzzles were bad, giving you the ability to skip certain puzzles and having no repercussion on getting the achievements.

This was one of those games I couldn't wait to end; it was painful to play at times. The best part was getting that last achievement and uninstalling this from my hard drive. I consider myself a fan of both puzzle and adventure games, but this was easily among the worst of either genre I can recall playing. The puzzles are convoluted beyond belief and the game is buggy enough that sometimes required objects clip through walls and disappear, making certain parts un-completable.  Couple that with terrible voice-acting and clunky controls, Albedo is a game I can safely recommend you avoid. While the game is a relatively quick completion, there are much better ways to earn some easy gamerscore.

Final Verdict: Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space is a strange first-person action/adventure/puzzle title that has a few interesting ideas but is held back by a clunky interface, clumsy controls and nonsensical puzzles. I wouldn't even recommend this game to my worst enemy.

Related Links:
Buy Albedo - Microsoft Store
Merge Games - Official Site
Albedo - GameFAQs
Albedo - True Achievements
Albedo Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Albedo Platinum Walkthrough - PlayStation Trophies

6180 the Moon (Xbox One, 2015)

6180 the Moon
Developed/Published by Turtle Cream
Released for Xbox One (12/11/2015)
Also on 3DS/Linux/Mac/PC/Switch/Wii U

6180 the Moon is a 2D platformer from Korean developer Turtle Cream. The sun has vanished and it's up to you, the moon, to navigate through 100 levels in your search to restore the sunlight. This one's a bit different than your standard game in this genre, as the moon jumps very high, all the way through the top of the screen and up through the bottom.

6180 the Moon is likely not going to grab you from the screenshots. Everything is very minimalist and the primary focus is just the gameplay. The graphics are basically just composed of basic shapes with stars in the background; it's a simple style but it works well here. The music is smooth and relaxing, which fits the game's overall mood and tone. Sound design is basic and unobtrusive. Presentation-wise, 6180 the Moon sports a minimalist aesthetic that works in its favor.

Similar to Atari 2600 titles of old, the top and bottom of the screen are interconnected. It's a minor difference from your standard platformer, but it gives 6180 the Moon a unique feel. It's a bit refreshing to not have to worry about dying when falling over the edge. It's not as if you can't die, as there are still hazards in the form of spikes and various objects you'll have to avoid, not to mention vanishing platforms.

Each set of levels is represented by a planet, with each planet containing 10 levels. There are 5 planets which you'll have to go through twice, making for a total of 100 levels. Once you reach the end, the sun advises you that it's waiting on you (the moon) to set and you need to go back to set things straight. So you go back through the game again, this time both in reverse order and upside down. It sounds much more difficult than it is, with the entire game only lasting 2-3 hours. A few stages can be a bit challenging, but nothing is too frustrating and they get back in the action quickly when you die.

6180 the Moon is a fun game for the hour or so it lasts, but due to the brief length you may want to wait on a sale before picking it up, though the $4 asking price is quite fair. Give it a look if you're into 2D platformers; it's a nice little game. There's an interesting bit of text at the end of the credit roll that says the following: "We're Korean. But we don't make games in Korean. Because the South Korea government thinks video games are social evils, just like drugs." Just wanted to make a note of that as I found it interesting and not you don't commonly see messages from the devs in the credits.

Final Verdict: 6180 the Moon is a fun 2D platformer where you can jump really high through to the other side of the screen. While short and a bit on the easy side, it's still a good time for platformer fans.

Related Links:
Buy 6180 the Moon - Microsoft Store
Platformers - Xbox Overview
Turtle Cream - Official Site
Video Gaming in South Korea - Wikipedia
6180 the Moon - GameFAQs
6180 the Moon - True Achievements
6180 the Moon Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements

Black (Xbox, 2006)

Black
Developed by Criterion Games
Published by EA Games
Released for Xbox (2/28/2006)
Also on PS2
Backwards Compatible on Xbox 360/Xbox One

Black was developed by Criterion Games, most known at the time for the Burnout series, and was released in February 2005, a few months after the new Microsoft system the Xbox 360 was released. It seemed like an odd choice for EA Games to put this out for the older system. Regardless, Black serves as a graphical showcase for what the aging Xbox and PlayStation 2 hardware were capable of. Black featured several aspects of the world that were destructible, awesome sound design and impressive particle effects.

Black consists only of a single-player campaign mode which contains 8 missions. There's a decent variety between the stages, featuring a town, asylum, dockyard and bridge to name a few. The levels themselves are detailed for the time and feature an admirable amount of destructible objects in them. Levels are linear but leave a little room for exploration, though the path forward is never really difficult to find. Black's stages have a decent flow to them, but they typically just consist of go to a checkpoint, kill waves of enemies that spawn and then move to next checkpoint to do it again. To be fair, this is the case in most first-person shooters and Black is no exception. While the overall stage design is a tad generic, there are a few standout levels like the bridge and the finale at the gulag as quite memorable.

There's some kind of story to follow along with in Black, but it's a bit convoluted and tough to keep up with. You play as a black ops operative in Chechnya, Russia. The story is revealed in cutscenes before each level, featuring full-motion video showing clips of the interrogation. Our character is a veteran who is being threatened with imprisonment unless he cooperates with the interrogator. There's some stuff about an arms smuggling/terrorist group called the Seventh Wave, which are the guys you'll be killing by the hundreds. While the story is a bit confusing, the cutscenes are well-produced and they don't get in the way of the action.

The weapon selection in Black is quite standard, but Criterion Games did a good job making each weapon feel different and fun to use. For handguns you have the G17 and the DC3 Elite, the only fictional gun in Black that is comparable to a Desert Eagle. For assault rifles, there's the AK47, G36C and M16. The M249 SAW sits as the only light machine gun in the game. Then for sub-machine guns you have the MP5, Uzi and P90. Rounding out the weapons cast are the two specialty guns, the sniper rifle (Walther 2000) and the RPG. You can only carry up to 2 guns at a time so there's a bit of strategy in deciding which weapons work best in certain scenarios, but unfortunately the game chooses which guns you start each level with, so the available arsenal is limited to what the enemies on that particular stage are carrying.

For the most part, the weapons feel good to fire. There's some nice, beefy gunfire sounds and the particle effects and damage when bullets hit surfaces is quite impressive. The recoil is a bit crazy on some of the automatic weapons, but once you get used to burst-firing it's not so bad. I wound up using the MP5 for the majority of the game, because ammo was plentiful due to most soldiers dropping it and the recoil is minimal compared to the other guns in the game. There are definitely situations suited for the shotguns and sniper rifles, providing a bit of variety to the weapons effectiveness. There's an effect where the camera focuses on your gun when you reload and the background blurs out while you insert a new clip. While I'm sure this was impressive at the time, it quickly became a bit annoying and was definitely not necessary. At the very least, an option to toggle the blur off would have been welcome.

Enemy design is not one of Black's strong points, but it gets the job done. You'll face off against countless grunts, most wielding SMGs but some will be equipped with an M249, sniper rifle or rocket launcher. There's the heavily-armored shotgun soldier, who will rush in to get close and will get back up again before dying. There's also riot-shield soldiers who can be a real pain, but can be taken out quick with a frag grenade. Enemies are often content with just ducking in and out of cover, but the shotgun and riot shield guys will close in on your position, adding some intensity to the firefights.

There's a bit of replay value in Black, with multiple difficulties and some unlockable modes. Playing on normal or up will reveal additional objectives for each level that aren't present on easy, similar to how games like Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark did. There's added objectives for the toughest difficulty for a nice boost in challenge. If you clear the game on normal or hard with all objectives completed you will unlock silver weapons, granting you unlimited ammo. Completing the game on hard will also unlock black ops mode for players who want an extra challenge.

Back in its day, Black was a rock-solid FPS game and a technical marvel for the aging consoles it released for. There were many times while playing this I could have easily mistaken the game for an early Xbox 360 title; it really looks that good. The gameplay hasn't aged as well as the graphics, unfortunately, and Black feels a bit more sluggish than your standard FPS. The already slow aiming and movement isn't helped by the fact that there's no sprint button, so movement in general just feels a bit slower when compared against other FPS titles. The cutscenes that play before each level are un-skippable the first time through, a minor annoyance but I thought it was worth mentioning. While the guns feel good to use, there is a  bit of a lack of variety when it comes to the enemy and stage design. Black is far from a perfect shooter and hasn't aged the most gracefully, but there's still some fun to be had running around blasting bad guys with the various weaponry.

Black would receive backwards-compatible support on both the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One. On the Xbox 360, it's one of the titles known to run more or less error-free, which is a bit rare for Xbox backwards-compatible games on that system. The game looks great running on an Xbox One X and I didn't experience any issues while playing through the game on that console. I did notice tears in destructible objects likely due to the resolution enhancement, but it was by no means a game-breaker.

A sequel to Black was planned and would have come out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but was cancelled due to differences between the developers and publisher EA Games. Bodycount, which was released for the Xbox 360 in 2011, is considered to be the spritiual successor to Black. Bodycount was developed by Guildford Studio, which  was made up of several of the developers that worked on Black. I don't have Bodycount yet, but I'd be interested in taking a look at that one on the site sometime.

Final Verdict: Black is a solid, action-packed single-player first-person shooter. While it hasn't necessarily aged the best and feels a bit slow at first, once you warm up to it Black is still a fun time.

Purchase Links:
Buy Black (Digital) - Microsoft Store
Buy Black (Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Criterion Games - Xbox Overview
FPS Games - Xbox Overview
Criterion Games - Official Site
Electronic Arts - Official Site
Black - GameFAQs

Alternate EU/JP Cover

Minit (Xbox One, 2018)

Minit
Developed by Jan Nijman, Kitty Calis, Jukio Kallio and Dominik Johann
Published by Devolver Digital
Released for Xbox One (4/3/2018)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC/Mobile/PS4/Switch

Developed by a small indie team and released in 2018 for the Xbox One, the concept of Minit is that you only have 60 seconds to live. There's a timer up in the top-left and when it runs out, your character drops dead on the spot due to some kind of funky curse placed on you. If you enjoy speed-running games, then you're likely going to love Minit. If you like to explore and take your time in your action-adventure games, then perhaps the mechanic sounds more irritating than interesting. Personally, I'm usually more of the latter but I came into Minit with an open-mind and I wound up enjoying the game quite a bit.

Minit's presentation is very basic. The game sports some basic pixel art with only black and white as the colors, with characters that remind me a bit of  those old Tomagatchi creatures, especially this one. It's a simplistic look that serves the simple gameplay well. Sound effects are well done and all characters have their own person speaking their gibberish. While basic, the graphics serve their purpose well and you can tell what everything is supposed to be at a glance which is not always the case with pixel art.

Gameplay-wise, Minit borrows a lot from the old Legend of Zelda titles. The action is viewed from an overhead perspective and the screens change when you hit the borders, rather than scroll. As you explore you'll find NPCs to talk to which will usually yield a fetch quest to complete. You'll find several useful items that will grant you the necessary abilities to progress further into the game. Items in Minit are things like the sword (lets you fight), coffee (lets you push boxes), gardening gloves (break trees with your sword) and a few others.

You'll also encounter enemies that you'll have to fight with your sword. Combat is basic (1-button to hit) and easy to use. As you travel along you'll find new homes, which will serve as a checkpoint of sorts. Once you enter into one of the "home" buildings, you set that to be your next spawn point upon your next inevitable death. It's a cool system and makes it possible to explore further out into the map as you fight against the strict time limit. The game will likely take anywhere from 2-6 hours to complete, shorter if you're using a guide of course.

Upon completing the game for the first time, you'll unlock 2 new game modes: second run and Mary's mode. Second run adds some difficulty to many of the screens in addition to giving you only 40 seconds each life as opposed to the 60 you got the first time. Mary's mode is interesting, where you play as the ghost Mary (who is an NPC you can meet in the first playthrough) and are no longer constricted by any kind of time limit. I enjoyed Mary's mode as it allows you to explore at your own pace and play the game like your more traditional adventure title, rather than rushing through everything in the main game. Both of these game modes are nice additions and add some extra replay value to what would otherwise be a super short game.

Minit is definitely an interesting take on the action/adventure genre with a speedrunning element incorporated. While the constant time limit could have easily been a frustrating mechanic, Minit features some solid map design and the solution is never too difficult to find. There's not much out there like it, other than Half-Minute Hero off the top of my head, so if you like this one you may want to check that one out too. Those into speed-running and/or old-school Legend of Zelda-style adventure games will surely find something to like in Minit.

Final Verdict: If you're a fan of speed-running and/or classic action-adventure games, Minit combines them both to deliver a unique experience.

Related Links:
Buy Minit - Microsoft Store
Jan Willem Nijman - Twitter
Devolver Digital - Official Site
Minit - Official Site
Minit - Hardcore Gaming 101
Minit - GameFAQs
Minit Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Minit - True Achievements

Old Man's Journey (Xbox One, 2019)

Old Man's Journey
Developed/Published by Broken Rules
Released for Xbox One (3/4/2019)
Also on Mac/Mobile/PC/PS4/Switch

Old Man's Journey was developed by Vienna-based indie studio Broken Rules and has been ported to numerous platforms since its initial inception. Originally released in May 2017, Old Man's Journey made its debut on PC, Macintosh and mobile devices (Android/iOS). In 2018 the game would see ports for both the Switch and the PlayStation 4 before finally ending up on Xbox One in March 2019.

In the game you take control of an old man, going for a journey and reminiscing about the good old days as you stop to savor life along the way. One interesting aspect about the game is that despite the fact there is no spoken or written dialogue of any sort, the devs did a good job conveying a story you'll piece together from the just the visuals. Being an old man, the game has a laid-back pace to it and the puzzles aren't too taxing on the brain, allowing you to play through the game at your own pace with minimal frustrations. Old Man's Journey features a painted-art style to the graphics and the amount of animation put into this game is quite impressive, especially on the main character.

As you guide the old man along his journey, you'll traverse from one screen to the next, solving puzzles and reminiscing upon times of days past. The puzzles involve grabbing and manipulating the hills in the background (by moving them up and down) in order to create a path for your character to move onward. There's some nice variety throughout, but the puzzles all involve grabbing and manipulating chunks of land. One stand out sequence has the old man riding along in a train, requiring you to slide various track and bridge pieces into place to create a path for the train. At the end of each chapter, the old man will witness something that sparks some nostalgia and you'll get to view him daydreaming about his earlier years. The game features 15 chapters and will likely only take 1-3 hours to complete.

While Old Man's Journey is a brief experience, I enjoyed my time with it and would easily recommend it to anybody who likes a laid-back adventure/puzzle game. The story packs a lot of charm and the graphical style is simply beautiful. The short game length makes it an ideal title to load up on and play-through on a lazy weekend. These kind of titles are great to play while on Game Pass (which was on the service at the time of this writing) or else wait for a sale to get the most for your buck.

Looking at the user reviews for Old Man's Journey reveals a large number of negative reviews, all based on the fact that the game flashes up the "Permissions Needed" screen when you first load it up. Several of these reviewers clearly state that they never actually played the game after disagreeing to the permissions screen, which hopefully the people reading those reviews take into account. I'm not 100% sure why this particular title requests permissions, but I can assure you that agreeing to this statement is not going to submit any kind of revealing information about you to the developers. At most they can see your stats, friends list, achievements and that kind of general Xbox Live stuff. Read more about the permissions request here.

Final Verdict: Old Man's Journey is an adventure/puzzle game that doesn't last too long, but has a beautiful art-style and a story with some charm that makes it worth a look for those seeking a laid-back adventure.

Related Links:
Buy Old Man's Journey - Microsoft Store
Apps/Games Requesting Permissions - Xbox Overview
Broken Rules - Official Site
Old Man's Journey - GameFAQs
Old Man's Journey - True Achievements
Old Man's Journey Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements

Apps/Games Requiring Permission on Xbox One

Apps/Games Requiring Permission on Xbox One

If you're a frequent Xbox One user, chances are you've loaded up a game or an app at some point and been greeted with a screen stating that permission is needed to continue. This can be a bit alarming at first, but it's actually harmless.


Here's the exact message that pops up:

"Permission Needed
Game/App needs your permission to:

Access your Xbox Live profile information and associated date, and sign you in to its services: App/Game will be able to access basic properties about your Xbox Live profile including your gamertag, friends list, activity, stats and rankings, settings and content you share. Learn more at aka.ms/datasharing.

Accepting these permissions means that you allow this app to use your data as specified in their terms of service and privacy statement. The publisher has not provided links to their terms for you to review. You can change these permissions at https://microsoft.com/consent.
Only accept if you trust the publisher."


A couple of key phrases to note are that the publisher won't let you see whatever terms you're blindly agreeing to and the part where it says to only accept if you trust the publisher. I thought this was Microsoft's job to make sure everybody releasing content on their marketplace is reputable, not the consumers. With so many releases coming out so quick, my guess is that it's just too much to keep up with at this point. So there are some instances where I might be a little hesitant to accept these, particularly with games from the Creators Collection or apps. Games from the Microsoft Store should be fine and I haven't encountered or heard of anything bad happening to anyone, but I can understand why one would be hesitant.

Really though it doesn't really seem like that big of a deal unless you're the type that likes to keep your Xbox date private. If any of your info is going to be shared, it'll be harmless stuff like your achievements and activities, nothing confidential like your pay or account login information. I've noticed reviews on some of the games that feature this disclaimer, with several reviewers stating that they didn't even play the game due to the paranoia of accepting these permissions. I'm willing to be these same people use Facebook and/or a mobile device, which no doubt tracks more information about you than your Xbox ever will. At the very least, pick the right things to be paranoid about!

One final reason these screens often pop-up is if the game is a "Play Anywhere" title, which are games that play across both PC and Xbox One. Check and see if the title giving you the disclaimer is a "Play Anywhere" game and if it is then you've likely found the reason. These are simply asking you if the data can be shared between PC and the Xbox One, though due to the wording I can understand how some people freak out.
Related Links:
Third Party Data Sharing - Xbox
Change Permissions - Microsoft

State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem (Xbox One, 2018)

State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem
Developed by Lapovich
Ported/Published by Sometimes You
Released for Xbox One (8/1/2018)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

Developed by Lapovich and originally released for PC back in March 2017, State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem received a port to the Xbox One in August 2018 thanks to Sometimes You. State of Anarchy is a basic twin-stick shooter featuring graphics made to look like they were drawn out on paper and sound effects all generated by a human.

State of Anarchy features 48 levels to play through, with a few different objectives for a little variety. Most stages will have you navigate an overworld map where you'll need to make your way to a bank which is marked by an arrow. Once there you'll need to head inside and, after a loading screen, you'll need to defeat the bank boss, an enemy in the center of the bank that has a health bar. These banks bosses are largely the same other than a different bullet-pattern, they all just sit in the middle of the room firing off. Other stages will have you fighting against alien invaders, sometimes chasing after UFOs on Earth and other levels have you flying a ship in outer space battling the aliens. The variety sounds greater than it really is, as every stage boils down to shooting enemies while dodging stuff and you'll do these same types of missions ad naseum. Upon completing a stage, you'll receive a new weapon which will replace whichever main or secondary weapon you currently hold.

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier (Xbox One, 2017)

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier
Developed by Telltale Games
Published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Released for Xbox One (5/30/2017)
Also on Android/iOS/PC/PS4/Switch

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier (jeez what a long title!) is Telltale's follow-up to their successful Walking Dead games. It had been awhile since Telltale returned to the main storyline, as the previous release the Walking Dead: Michonne was an off-shoot and completely unrelated to the characters from the first 2 seasons. At the time of the game's release in February 2017, it had been 4 years since we followed the adventures of Clementine. Let's take a look at A New Frontier and see how it fares...

Like the previous two installments in the series, A New Frontier is composed of 5 episodes released individually. The first 2 episodes dropped on December 20, 2016. While it was uncommon for Telltale to release 2 episodes simultaneously, we'd have to wait all the way up until March 28, 2017 before the episode 3 would see a release. This was due to Telltale staff taking a holiday break and likely also because of work overload due to other projects being worked on simultaneously. Telltale was able to get things back on track and would release the following two episodes in a more timely manner. Episode 4 dropped on April 25, 2017 and the final episode on May 30, 2017.

It should go without saying that there will be some spoilers in the remainder of this review, but I'll do my best not to ruin everything if you decide to try it out for yourself. If you're coming into A New Frontier blind, be prepared for a bit of immediate disappointment as you discover that Clementine is not one of the central characters in the story. This time around we follow a young man named Javier (Javi for short), who is travelling with his brother and family. David (Javi's brother) is accompanied by his wife, Kate, and their two children Gabe and Mariana. This is the main crew and of course shortly into the story you'll encounter Clementine, who is out there surviving on her own. These are the characters you'll see the most throughout the game, but there is also a group of survivors that call themselves the New Frontier that play quite a role in the story (obviously since the game is named after them!).

Every so often, the story will fill in some of the gaps between this game and the previous two with flashbacks. There's stuff between Javier and his family while some of them try to explain how and where Clementine's been all this time. While I personally didn't care much for Javier (we'll get into that shortly), the Clementine bits were some of the more memorable  and among the best in the game. Unfortunately, Clementine's appearances are occasional and I always found it a bit disappointing how many times she'd disappear from the group. The overall story is about what you'd expect from a Walking Dead title at this point, which mostly involves a crazy bunch of survivors trying to take out the righteous group. It's not terrible, but it definitely has a "been-there, done-that" type of feeling to it. It's also considerably shorter than the previous two entries, which means it spends less time establishing the characters and getting you to really care about them.

While A New Frontier is a decent entry into the Walking Dead games, in the story department it lacks the punch of the first two titles (especially the first one). It's great to have Clementine back in the mix, but it sucks that she's not one of the main characters and on top of that the group we spend most of the game following really aren't all that likable. Our main protagonist, Javier, is trying to cheat with his brother's wife which makes him feel scummy and hard to really care for. Honestly, this episode would've been for the better if they would have kept Clementine as the main character. Perhaps Clementine and the story of her acceptance and ejection from the New Frontier group would have made for a more riveting story. It definitely would have given the story in this game some more weight if they at least had a chapter showing Clementine's past with the New Frontier, but instead we are just treated to a few brief flashbacks.

Presentation-wise, A New Frontier is about the same as previous Telltale entries. The graphics have been cleaned up a bit and the game does feel like it runs a bit smoother than previous entries. Similar to other Telltale releases at the time, the interactivity has taken a step down from the earlier games, which means there are fewer instances where you get to actually walk around and explore. There are occasional action sequences that play out as quick-time events, where failure will usually end in death and a restart from a nearby checkpoint. Upon completing an episode, there were percentages to show you how many people made each decision. When I played this in 2019, the servers had shut down and this feature was no longer working, which is a bummer as I always enjoyed seeing what the majority of people chose to do in these games.

As far as your old saves go, there's an option to import a previous save which, in theory, would allow you to pick up your game regardless of what device or console you played the previous games on. This requires you to sign in to the Telltale servers, which likely went down when the company closed their doors. Forgive me, but I didn't feel like going through the hassle of setting up an account and trying it for the sake of this review. My saves carried over problem-free, but this is no surprise since I played all of these on the Xbox One. Initially there was a "story builder" page on the Telltale website that would allow you to setup which choices were made in the previous games. Once you'd made all of your decisions on the website they'd be uploaded into a cloud server and could then be imported into the game. Unfortunately, this is another feature that seems to have died after the Telltale shutdown.

If you've already invested the time into the previous installments of Telltale's Walking Dead games, then I'd say A New Frontier is worth a go. Just beware of the aforementioned issues and try to grab the game on sale or even better, play it while it's available on Game Pass. It's not really the follow-up that most of us wanted, but given the state of Telltale Games office around the time of its release it's cool that we got anything at all. Thankfully they didn't mess up the well-liked Clementine character, but at the same time they really didn't do a whole lot with her either. Here's to hoping that the fourth entry into the series does her character a bit more justice.

A New Frontier was slated to also release on the previous generation consoles, both for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but was cancelled shortly before release. With the game being cancelled so close to the release date, it's easy to assume the game was more than likely in a finished state or close to it. Perhaps it suffered from the same unoptimization issues as Batman on the Xbox 360 or maybe Telltale just felt it was time to move away from the previous generations. The Xbox 360 marketplace was a ghost town when it came to new releases by February 2017, so this is likely part of the reason.

Final Verdict: A decent entry into the Walking Dead series, A New Frontier brings back the welcome sight of Clementine. Unfortunately, she's only a side character and the rest of the cast aren't near as interesting or memorable. Still worth a play but I'd advise you to wait for a sale.

Purchase Links:
Buy Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Microsoft Store
Buy Walking Dead: The Definitive Series - Microsoft Store
Search Walking Dead: A New Frontier (Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Telltale Games - Xbox Overview
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - GameFAQs
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Wikipedia
A New Frontier Cancelled for PS3 & Xbox 360 - Hardcore Gamer

Beyond Eyes (Xbox One, 2015)

Beyond Eyes
Developed by Tiger & Squid
Published by Team 17
Released for Xbox One (8/4/2015)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4

> Beyond Eyes was developed by Netherland-based Tiger & Squid, the company's first and (at the time of this writing) only release. Beyond Eyes hit the Xbox One first, releasing on August 4, 2015. Shortly after, on August 11, the game would release for PC, Mac and Linux. The game's final port (as of August 2019 at least) would be for the PlayStation 4 on September 8, 2015.

Beyond Eyes places the player in the shoes of a 10-year-old girl named Rae. It's revealed in the opening cutscene that Rae lost her vision as a toddler in an accident involving fireworks. As a result of the accident, Rae became a bit reclusive and sensitive to loud noises. Rae did manage to acquire a best friend in the form of a fat cat named Nani. Nani has unfortunately turned up missing and now Rae has to brave the unknown to venture out and search for her. In Beyond Eyes you'll guide Rae out into the mysterious world in an attempt to find Nani.

Beyond Eyes is a walking simulator, meaning that the core gameplay consists of walking around and occasionally interacting with an object. Beyond Eyes sets itself apart from similar games with its unique blind premise, where the environment reveals itself as you approach and also through sounds. While Rae might hear an object and interpret what it is in her imagination, a closer inspection might reveal it to be something completely different. These moments are a nice touch though they serve more as collectibles rather than having much impact on the actual story. The sound design is well-implemented, mostly filled with ambience that helps set the tone of the current location. Graphically, Beyond Eyes is a pretty game, with the default backdrop being bright-white while the environment fills itself in around you as you navigate through it. The colors are bright and vibrant and there's a nice watercolor look that works quite well in portraying how Rae might imagine her surroundings.

The first thing most players will likely notice in regards to the controls is that Rae moves slow. She has only one speed of walking and impatient players will likely put the game down quickly due to this. With Rae being blind it makes sense why she'd want to slowly navigate her environment and areas tend to be small enough that the slow movement speed isn't as big of a deal as you might initially think. While navigating the environments, Rae will occasionally encounter something blocking her way. These sequences act as sort of puzzles, where you'll have to search around to find an object that will help you get by. These help add a little diversity to the gameplay, rather than just having you strictly walk around. Don't be mistaken though, a large majority of the gameplay is slowly walking around.

This will be spoiler-free review, especially since the game is a rather brief experience. but I would like to note that there is a nice tale involving a vulnerable young girl confronting her fears in search of a lost friendship. While there's not really a whole lot of dialogue to hear or read, Beyond Eyes does a good job conveying how Rae feels by her animations. Let's just say that by the end of the game I was a bit involved emotionally, which is an accomplishment considering how short the game is.

As you progress through the game's 6 chapters, you'll walk through several areas in search of your dear friend Nani. Beyond Eyes is a short game and the 6 chapters can be completed in 2-3 hours, depending on how thoroughly you explore and whether or not you get lost along the way. The story is easy to relate to if you've ever had pets (especially cats), the visuals are pretty and the game really makes you contemplate what it would be like without your vision sense. It's definitely not for everybody and due to the short length it's hard to recommend Beyond Eyes at it's suggested $14.99 price, but if you catch it on sale I'd say it's worth a look if you enjoy a good walking simulator.

Final Verdict: Beyond Eyes is a walking simulator where you assume the role a young blind girl as she searches for her cat in a world unknown to her. While on the short side, the pretty visuals and original premise make this one worth checking out if you like walking simulators.

Related Links:
Buy Beyond Eyes - Microsoft Store
Walking Simulators - Xbox Overview
Beyond Eyes Launch Trailer - YouTube
Tiger and Squid - Official Website
Team 17 - Official Website
Beyond Eyes - GameFAQs
Beyond Eyes Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Beyond Eyes - True Achievements

FullBlast (Xbox One, 2018)

FullBlast
Developed by UFO Crash Games
Published by Ratalaika Games
Released for Xbox One (9/2018)
Also on Mac/PC/Ouya/PS4/Switch/Vita/Wii U

Intro
FullBlast is a very basic vertical shmup, promising to deliver action inspired by old arcade games of the '80's and '90's. Initially published by developer UFO Crash Games, FullBlast made its debut on the Ouya back in 2014, received a port to the WiiU the following year and made it Mac/PC in 2016. In September 2018, publisher Ratalaika Games would pick up FullBlast for another round of releases and ported the game to the PlayStation 4, Switch, Vita and Xbox One. The game looked at least somewhat promising enough from the trailer and the $5.99 price tag seemed reasonable so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on FullBlast. Read on to kill the suspense of whether or not I regret that decision.

Gameplay/Controls
As stated before, FullBlast is a simple shooter, featuring one movement speed and just one fire type. Holding down the A button will rapid fire, saving you the trouble of having to constantly mash the fire button, which is always a nice feature. Of course you also have a bomb in reserve, which can be launched with a press of the B button and will clear the screen of enemies and bullets when used. A shmup with simple mechanics can still be fun, but it takes some solid enemy and level design to assist, and this is where FullBlast falls face first...

Sigi: A Fart for Melusina (Xbox One, 2018)

Sigi: A Fart for Melusina
Developed/Published by pixel.lu
Released for Xbox One (9/7/2018)
Also on PC/PS4/Switch/Vita

Sigi: A Fart for Melusina is a very odd title for a game and for the duration of this review we'll just refer to it as Sigi. Sigi is yet another retro-inspired 2D action-platformer, something we have seen no shortage of in recent years. Does Sigi have what it takes to stand out from the large number of pixelized 2D games in recent years or is it yet another one that will be forgotten in due time?

Before we delve into the game itself, let's briefly go into the name Melusina featured in the title. If you're unaware of the legend of Melusine, like I was, then you may find this Wikipedia entry here of interest. Basically, Melusine is a mythical creature with the upper-body of a human female and the lower torso of a fish, not unlike a mermaid. There are various stories that change up the origins of the creature and at times the form of the creature changes completely. It's an interesting legend that I'd somehow never heard of, despite the fact it's been referenced in several video games over the years. Melusina in Sigi is portrayed as a mermaid, though you'll only see her in the intro and at the end of the game.

There's definitely some inspiration from the old arcade classic Ghosts 'n Goblins in Sigi, featuring an armor-bound knight slaying monsters in an effort to save a lady who was kidnapped. The enemy cast also shares a bit in common with the Capcom classic, with stuff like snakes, bats and zombies. You'll also be able to pick up and swap weapons similar to Arthur. The similarities mostly end there, as Sigi has a very different tone and feel from the old Capcom classic. Many stages take place in broad daylight, which definitely lightens the tone of the game. There's also quite a bit of humor in Sigi, further differentiating it from Ghosts 'n Goblins. I'll try to stop here with the Ghosts 'n Goblins comparisons, I just wanted to address this as that game was the first thing that came to mind when I saw Sigi.

Sigi features 20 stages with 4 of those being boss battles. The stage designs are much more forgiving than many of the brutal 2D games that inspired Sigi, though there are a few parts you will inevitably meet your demise at. It's hard to get too frustrated since when you die you spawn right back in on the same screen, so long as you have a spare life. You'll usually have some lives to spare in Sigi, since extra lives are quite plentiful. Each level will have coins scattered about and for every 100 of them you collet you'll rack up an extra man. There are also shields you can pick up, which will also grant you another life in addition to replenishing your health. Each non-boss stage also feature four letters that spell Sigi for you to collect and all but 1 stage have hidden caves for you to find as well. These hidden cave sections will typically yield coins, bonus lives and other goodies. There are also a few select stages with hidden items to find, though finding these doesn't do much but add to your overall completion percentage and unlock an achievement. At the end of each non-boss stage you'll find a hot dog stand, which replenishes your health and marks the end of each level.

Along the way you'll find weapon pick-ups. Sigi can only wield one weapon at a time, so you lose whatever you had previously upon grabbing a new one. There's a decent range of weaponry, with stuff like triple daggers, axes and throwing maces. Some are definitely better than others and I frequently found myself trying to hang on to the triple daggers as long as possible, as they were far more effective than the other weapons. The boss battles are rather easy since you spawn right back in when you die and you'll likely blow right through them. There are some strange designs for the bosses, with one of them being fast-food fries (Aqua Teen reference?) and the final boss sharing a striking resemblance to Hulk Hogan.

Sigi is an easy one to pick up and play thanks to responsive controls and simple level design. Everything works as it should and I didn't feel like I suffered too many cheap deaths. The presentation is executed well, with good-looking though basic sprite graphics and some solid chiptune music. While Sigi looks, plays and sounds above average, the biggest thing going against it would be its short length. Sigi is a very short game, with an achievement challenging the player to 100% all levels and complete the game within 30 minutes. While this may sound daunting at first, once you get the hang of the game this is actually a breeze.

You may be wondering why the game's subtitle is "A Fart for Melusina" right? Other than the obvious fact that the developers thought it was humorous, there's also a gag in the game where Sigi breaks wind when he encounters Melusina. It's stupid and silly, but helps set the tone for your adventure. Sigi also farts upon picking up food as well. Sigi: A Fart for Melusina is very brief, simple and easy to complete. Those aren't necessarily deal breakers though, and there is still some merit to checking this one out. The lax difficulty makes this a good starting point for those new to 2D platformers or those just looking for something that won't make them want to pull their hair out in frustration. The easy completion also makes this one ideal for achievement hunters. Due to the short length of time you'll invest in the game, you may want to wait for a sale on it though the $5 asking price for the game is fair.

Final Verdict: Sigi: A Fart for Melusina is a simple but enjoyable 2D action-platformer with a fun, silly tone that's very short in length and light on challenge, making it a good choice for beginners.

Related Links:
Buy Sigi - Microsoft Store
Melusine - Wikipedia
pixel.lu - Official Site
Sigi: A Fart for Melusina - GameFAQs

Strategy Guide/Walkthroughs:
Sigi Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Cave and Secret Item Guide - Xbox Achievements
Sigi: A Fart for Melusina - True Achievements

Boxing.free (Xbox One, 2017)

Boxing.free
Developed/Published by SkyLine Gamez
Released for Xbox One (10/17/2017)
Also on Mobile/PC

Boxing.free is another game that was originally released for mobile devices and eventually wound up getting a port to the Xbox One via the Creator's Collection. This market is full of mobile games that nobody ever asked for to be ported over to consoles, and Boxing.free fits that description to a tee.

The game was free, so it does at least live up to its title of Boxing.free. The game being free comes at a cost however, and as soon as you load the game up you'll notice that you're bombarded with ads on the sides and top of the screen. These annoying advertisements take up a nice chunk of the screen. The actual game screen is featured in the center. I had a difficult time even figuring out how to start the game, since the game tries to trick you into clicking on the ads at first. In order to play, you must first highlight the game screen, press A so the cursor appears on it and then highlight the play button. Right from the get-go Boxing.free is not a good experience.

Pacific Wings (Xbox One, 2019 | XBLIG, 2012)

Pacific Wings
Developed/Published by Sprakelsoft GmbH
Released for Xbox One (6/25/2019) | Xbox Live Indie Games (8/2/2012)
Also on Android/iOS/PS4/Switch

Pacific Wings is a rather blatant clone of the old Capcom arcade classic 1942. The player flies an American P-38 blasting down waves of Japanese planes, exactly like the old arcade classic. Looking at screenshots or footage of the game shows some promise, with pixel-graphics that invoke a nice retro vibe. Here we'll take a look at the trial for Pacific Wings on the Xbox One and see how it holds up when compared to the original that inspired it or if it's even worth playing at all.

The Long Reach (Xbox One, 2018)

The Long Reach
Developed by Painted Black Games
Published by Merge Games Ltd.
Released for Xbox One (7/2018)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch/Vita

The Long Reach is a 2D adventure/horror game presented in pixel graphics. Unlike your standard horror title, you have no way to fight back against the vicious murderer. This means you'll have to run and hide in order to avoid being killed. The game feels like a slasher film in several regards, so if you're a fan of those types of movies you might want to have a look at this one.

The Long Reach takes place in science research facility, where the crew are performing some dangerous research. Due to funding limitations, the crew were forced to use themselves as test subjects and are injecting themselves with experimental drugs that are intended to enhance one's abilities in various ways. The crew begin suffering from hallucinations and are beginning to lose their sanity. This is when the dead bodies began turning up...

The character you control is also suffering from the same hallucinations as the other crew members, so there are a couple parts where you're transported into some crazy scenarios. Along the way you'll still find a few living crew members, though most of them have gone mad. You'll have dialogue options to select from when speaking with them, some of which will have different replies. It's a nice touch how none of the dialogue choices are highlighted when presented to prevent accidentally choosing one while speeding up the game text.

A certain crew member has completely lost it and is roaming the facility. You'll know if he's in a room thanks to the footstep indicator you'll see as he approaches. If this guy sees you, he'll chase you down and will put an end to your game if he catches you. There are a few designated spots, such as lockers and vents, where you can hide from the killer if you're quick enough. This will allow you to safely pop back out and go about your business if done properly. If caught and murdered you'll be sent back to the last checkpoint, some of which seem a bit further back than they should be. For instance, in one area where the killer will frequently chase after you the checkpoint sends you back to a lengthy dialogue segment you'll quickly grow tired of viewing.

While at its core the Long Reach is a horror game and there are several parts of the game where you'll be running and hiding for safety, a good chunk of the game will be spent exploring the environment, finding objects and then figuring what to use those objects with. It's similar to point 'n click games, where often the solution isn't the most obvious choice but can be discovered by just trying everything. This means there's quite a bit of trial and error gameplay here, and unless using a guide you'll likely find yourself stumped on more than a few occasions.

As already stated, the graphics in the Long Reach are presented in chunky 2D pixels. It looks nice overall and like many games sporting this graphical style, it manages to be simple yet detailed at the same time. There are some nice scrolling layers in the backdrop to convey a sense of depth. Lighting sources and darkness are also well represented here, so there's not much to complain about in the looks department. Sound design is rather minimal, but it works in the games favor to add to the tension and atmosphere. Controls are simple as well and movement feels fluid. The run button is easy to use as is the inventory. Objects that can be interacted with in the background are highlighted in yellow, making it easy to see what to do. Overall, the game does a solid job in the graphics/presentation/controls departments.
 
If I had to complain about something it would be that the initial loading screen is a bit lengthy for such a simple-looking game, but even that's a bit of a reach (maybe even a long reach). The Long Reach is a short game and can be completed in just an hour or two if you know what to do. If you play the game blind with no strategy guides it will easily last you somewhere between 4-8 hours depending upon how quick you solve some of the puzzles. While a bit on the short side, the Long Reach is good fun while it lasts and is an enjoyable combination of adventure/horror/slasher genres. The game features a solid atmosphere, a crazy killer and a creepy story involving an experiment gone terribly wrong. The running and hiding segments reminded a bit of the old Clock Tower games, so if you enjoyed those or slasher horror you'll find something to like with the Long Reach!

Final Verdict: The Long Reach is a solid adventure-horror title that's a bit short in length, but is a good time while it lasts. If you like slasher horror than give this one a look!

Related Links:
Buy The Long Reach - Microsoft Store
The Long Reach - GameFAQs
Merge Games - Official Site
The Long Reach Game - Official Site
Painted Black Games - Official Site

Strategy Guide/Walkthroughs:
The Long Reach - True Achievements
The Long Reach Walkthrough - PlayStation Trophies
The Long Reach Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements