Recent reviews by TTV/RobinVouz

After Orcs Must Die! 2 left me incredibly impressed with how it built upon the first game, Orcs Must Die! 3 did the very same with brand new levels, traps and abilities for a really fun playthrough. This is one of the first series of games I would jump to recommending people due to how good and fun it is. A very nice tower/trap defense series that innovated the genre and has a lot of replayability in the form of Endless modes and Scramble campaigns (which can be seen as roguelite in nature adding modifiers as you progress).

This installment adds a lot of fun enemies and traps, with the new War Scenario maps being an interesting addition. War Scenarios are much larger maps which introduce War Machines - oversized traps that help you take on the oversized horde waves you now face. This started off as a very unique and interesting addition, with initial levels taking you back in time to play as new characters and explore the games lore, however as these progress, you find yourself using less of the War Machines and instead finding chokepoints later in the map to play as you normally would in most other levels. This is a shame, as I was excited at taking on these overwhelming hordes with interestingly large weapons, but these traps fall a bit flat compared the efficiency of creating the killbox you're most comfortable with from the traps you've already been upgrading.

Despite this, the remainder of the game is an absolute blast, the maps provide very interesting strategies, and it leaves a lasting impression that the first two games gave. The game has 18 maps, with an additional five from the Free DLC it received on launch to Steam, adding an additional two characters with weapons and traps, and bringing back the Flyer enemies from previous games. A further two DLCs are also available to purchase with more enemies, traps and weapons, with another eight maps across these. The aforementioned Endless and Scramble modes can also be played on these maps, giving you a ton of content to play with.

Highly recommend picking up the Franchise Bundle on sale, as every installment in this series is worth playing. An incredibly easy recommend from myself. Pick it up with a friend to get the most fun out of this incredible game.

A must-have sandbox for anyone with a Steam account. Mess around with the plethora of tools you're given at first before downloading the endless plethora of mods available. From your favourite characters and enemies in other games, to funky and ridiculous weapons, to NPCs that chase you down, to entirely new games altogether with their own active servers that you can join and download easily. It's a ridiculously fun game at a ridiculously low price.

A must-buy for a great time with a group of friends. The game gets scarier as you play harder levels, and can lead to many hilarious moments.

You land on a planet, you go into a facility, you collect junk to sell, and you leave. Within the facility (and outside), many monsters and dangers await, and many of which will jump at you when you least expect it. With very dark interiors and maze-like levels, it's very easy to get lost and separate from your friends only to have your neck broken by a Bracken who then takes your body back to their nest. The game also uses proximity chat, so lose your friends, and you'll very likely have a hard time making it back out alone. The game is on a time limit, where once the sun starts to set, the game gets harder and more dangerous, so you can't afford to waste time finding every single item, or even staying for everyone to get back on the ship on time.

Once you leave, you'll be able to sell any items you pick up, where this money can then be spent on equipment to help you and your team. From walkie-talkies, to jetpacks, to teleporters, to decorations for the ship, there's plenty reasons to make riskier plays and stay on planets longer than necessary, while adding more content to future playthroughs.
The game also has the option for one friend to stay behind rather than go into facilities. Here they'll get camera access, able to identify items within rooms for players to pick up, enemies in near-by rooms, and remote control access to any locked doors within the map. This provides a much more "relaxing" experience as they stay fully out of harms way (and staying out the way of any possible jumpscares).

Lethal Company is a simple yet exceptionally fun experience for yourself and three others (or more with mods) to have a laugh on, and with it being in early access, you can expect more content in the future for this already-packed-with-content game.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 was my first introduction to the Warhammer universe which I immediately fell in love with upon playing. If you loved Left 4 Dead, this game is an incredible one to pick up to give that same feel. You play as one of five characters with up to three other players, and find yourself fighting hordes of enemies from Point A to Point B while completing tasks in between as you did in Left 4 Dead and defending yourselves against sporadic hordes and mini-bosses. Unlike Left 4 Dead, you fight rats and chaos warriors instead of zombies, and also play as characters with classes.

The characters to choose from are Markus Kruber, a mercenary armed with a sword and blunderbuss; Bardin Goreksson, a dwarf ranger weilding a great hammer and crossbow; Kerillian, an elf armed with a sword and swiftbow; Victor Saltzpyre; a Witch Hunter who gets a rapier and pistol sidearm; and the mage Sienna Fuegonasus who gets a sword and a fireball staff to cast magic at range. These are the starting weapons and careers for each character where more can be unlocked; with the game having three different careers for each character to add more replayability. Kerillian for example can switch from the Waystalker career which focuses on ranged attacks and shooting volleys of arrows, to the Handmaiden who is equipped with a spear and shield and can charge through enemies, to the Shade who equips two daggers, deals more damage to enemies from behind, and can vanish while moving through enemies until she deals damage. An additional fourth career is purchaseable as premium DLC.

Unlike Left 4 Dead, your weapons are selected before starting and can't be switched during the game, where you are able to customise these and unlock new weapons before starting a match. Also unlike Left 4 Dead, the characters come with skills and traits to change up the tides of the battle. Each character for example gets a passive ability unique to their career, such as Bardin's ability to drop ammunition pickups on killing special enemies; and also a Career Skill which acts as an ultimate ability that charges up as you deal damage to enemies. The game also has a talent book where levelling up allows you give yourself bonuses and upgrade your abilities. Every five levels, up to Level 30, unlocks one of three talents that you can pick depending on preferred playstyle. These talents can give you temporary health upon damaging multiple enemies, cause enemies to bleed upon hit, or give yourself bonus damage to headshots. The talents unlocked at Level 20 and Level 25/30 also upgrade your Passive and Career abilities respectively.

Leveling up and unlocking talents is one of the main ways the game provides progression and gives reason to keep playing. The other is "loot boxes". These aren't purchasable with real currency - the only thing you can buy with in-game currency is cosmetics, however this was my biggest issue with the game. You unlock new items through these chests which are rewarded depending on your performance throughout a mission. The chests provide completely random items, which may be at a stronger power level than what you have now, or may be weaker, or the same item you have. This "Power Level" is what often dictates your strength for fighting at higher difficulties. Your total Power Level is determined by the average Power Level across your equipment, where higher is essential to stand a better chance at higher difficulties, but as this is tied to random loot boxes, it can lead to frustrating experiences. Very recently (as of October 2024), the progression seems to have been reworked, including the Spoils of War (loot boxes), where power level of items are now capped per difficulty, and with the reward being dependent on your hero level, making it far easier to get items you need/want, with higher difficulties now providing rarer items than before, which is very pleasant to hear! Any items you don't want/need can be "dusted", giving currency to craft items at a desired rarity too, so you have a use for the junk you might find in these chests.

The game hosts a range of levels which are fun to be played over and over. Progression is linear, where previous missions must be played to unlock the next. There are three acts; each act containing four levels, with a boss fight in the final mission; and a final finale mission once you complete all three acts. Since release, the game has received several additional levels; providing an additional 11 levels for free, with an additional two DLCs which can be picked up to add a total of seven more missions, showing just how much content is packed in this game. This isn't even touching the Chaos Wastes; a roguelike mode allowing you and your friends to venture through unique levels with special modifiers, where maps are influenced by the four chaos gods. This mode really shines and is one you should absolutely try out when playing the game. Also worth noting the game has five different difficulty options, giving you many reasons to play the same maps but with new strategies and teammates.

As mentioned, rather than zombies, you're fighting rats and chaos warriors (and if you purchase the Winds of Magic DLC, Beastmen are also added as a third enemy type). Similar to Left 4 Dead, you have your common and uncommon enemies; rats have skavenslaves and shielded Clanrats; Chaos Warriors have Fantatics and shielded Maraudersl and Beastmen have Ungor archers and gor fighters. You then have Elite neemies, which are tougher, often shielded, and can add a bit more fun to fighting hordes. Plague Monks for example are rats that rush you in small groups.
Again, similarly to Left 4 Dead's Special Infected, Vermintide has Special enemies. Gutter Runners are rats similar to Hunters, where they prowl in the shadows before leaping on enemies and pinning them down. Warpfire Throwers are rats armed with flamethrowers that can be blown up for AoE damage, and Blightstormers are large sorcerers who call down a tornado, damaging and throwing all players within the storm away, possibly off the map if unlucky.
Along with the final boss in acts, mini-bosses will also spawn throughout the game similarly to Left 4 Dead's tanks, with each enemy type having a boss of their own. Rats have Rat Ogres, hulking Frankenstein monsters; and Stormfiends, behemoths with flamethrowers controlled by a smaller rat with on its back which acts as their weakpoint. Chaos Warriors get Bile Trolls which regenerate health unless burnt and spew acid on players, and Chaos Spawn which are lovecraftian horrors that move fast and hit hard. The Beastmen also get a boss with the Minotaur; an exceptionally tank-y enemy which can be quite difficult to take down.

What I haven't had the chance to try is the new PvP mode which supports up to eight players, where four players can take the role of the enemy and play as the Skaven special enemies; Gutter Runners, Packmasters, Warpfire Throwers, Poison Globadiers and Ratling Gunners. The enemy has the ability to summon a horde at will, and can get the chance to play as a Bile Troll and now Rat Ogres. This is a free update too, and I'm excited to try this out when I get the time.

Here you get a really large amount of content for a very reasonable price, with additional DLCs also being reasonable (Winds of Magic unfortunately being a slight exception where the main mode it provides doesn't see many players, especially with the introduction of Chaos Wastes which provides the Beastmen enemy type for free). Hopefully my playtime for Vermintide 2 is also enough to show just how much you'll be playing this game with friends - especially with the Chaos Wastes mode adding a ton more content, and the new Versus mode receiving updates and balancing over time.

Baldur's Gate 3 is an incredible RPG that everyone should try at least once. I've yet to fully finish a single campaign as I have six ongoing, some with friends, but very close to finishing across some. The game absolutely deserves all the awards and recommendations it's received, and is one you'll find yourself able to play again and again and again (especially with the game now having mods and the soon-to-be-included additional subclasses)

A very easy recommend. There's nothing more relaxing than driving long-haul journeys, listening to the radio, and drinking coffee from a 52 oz Buc-ees travel mug to really set the tone. The State DLCs are a must, and the Job DLCs are worth picking up if you're big into the game. I never expected myself to enjoy either Truck Simulator game, yet find myself digging out the steering wheel to drive hours into the night. Lovely stuff.

Orcs Must Die! 2 was an extraordinary sequel to the first game, introducing co-op and a brand new hero armed with her own unique weapons and abilities. It takes the wonderful trap-defense formula established in the first game and develops on it with incredible map design, wonderful traps and weapons to use, and an engaging level-up system.

Pick it up on sale when you can to get all DLC which will add more enemies, weapons, trinkets and maps. This is one of my favourite games of all time, and I hope it stays with you as long as it has for me!

Check out gameplay of Ravenswatch with my first impressions to the game here.

Ravenswatch is an exceedingly charming game that I can easily recommend to any fans of the roguelike genre, while being a safe barrier to entry for anyone unfamiliar with roguelike games. Where Hades draws upon Greek mythology, and SWORN draws upon Arthurian legends, Ravenswatch grounds its universe within fairytales, leaving a very lasting impression with a wonderful environment and roster of characters to choose from, all very creatively designed.
You start the game as Scarlet, a red-hooded ranger who has access to a pair of daggers, a shotgun, and incredible manueverability during the day. Once the sun sets, this character transforms into a werewolf for brutal melee damage and crowd control abilities, with this day-night cycle seen to influence a couple more characters and their abilities, adding a layer of strategy when approaching bosses and events. Other characters available include Beowulf, The Pied Piper, and The Snow Queen, with five further unlockable characters: Aladdin, Gepetto, Melusine, Sun Wukong, and Carmilla. These characters are all fully voice acted with unlockable lore entries, adding a lot of unique personalities and storytelling to characters you already know and love. Ravenswatch also allows for co-op, where up to three other players can play with you, providing a lot of replayability to the game.

The artstyle of the game is extraordinary, and I was always impressed by the art across my time playing the game, with the music and sound really contributing to the experience. The afformentioned voice acting is also a pleasant surprise, providing a very wonderful experience playing Ravenswatch. The gameplay itself is reminiscent of Hades both in terms of movement and fighting, with a more traditional RPG system for abilities, reminiscent of Diablo, where skills run on a timer rather than a mana resource. Your abilities as each character includes a passive TRAIT, such as Scarlet’s ability to transform at night; a main ATTACK as your main damage source, a POWER for a harder-hitting ability, a SPECIAL that acts as damage-dealing or utility, a DEFENSE ability to shield yourself or allow you to escape a fight, and an ULTIMATE to perform a heroes signature move.
Each character has unique abilities, with talents that can change these up or synergise with specific playstyles.

Upon starting a run, you'll be given a choice of Talents to help kickstart your adventure. Talents can change up playstyle of your character and make runs more interesting; from Scarlet gaining more power for each kill made as the Werewolf while providing a chance not to consume your ability upon use, to giving The Pied Piper's rats the ability to explode upon death, to converting Geppetto's wooden puppets into conductive lightning rods, there's plenty unlockable ways to make your game more enjoyable. Talents are acquired upon levelling up, with the first always being one of four predetermined talents (where the latter two are unlockable), with each talent thereafter being a selection of one of two. At level five and ten, you instead achieve the ability to unlock one of two ultimate abilities (again, the second being unlockable), and a talent for the ultimate ability chosen.
Along with talents, Magical Objects can be earned. These objects provide passive buffs towards your stats, aiding you in your adventure. Magical Objects can be earned in chests, by purchasing them from The Sandman who acts as a vendor at the start of each level, and by completing special events; such as aiding Sinbad in destroying a cyclops, or protecting one of the Three Little Pigs in their house being raided. I also forgot to mention that along with the unlockable talents and lore, Ravenswatch also has unlockable cosmetics for each character, giving plenty to aim towards unlocking in future runs, and reasons to continue playing as the same character.

The gameplay loop is very unique compared to linear roguelikes. While Ravenswatch is still linear, it provides a semi-open world to explore before facing the boss; of which can be fought at any point. To combat the ability of farming enemies and achieving every chest in the area, the game runs on a time limit each stage. While this may put some people off, the time limit is very generous and doesn’t feel frustrating to work around. The game gives you 18 minutes to explore the area before the Master Nightmare awakens, ending your run unless you destroy it within this time frame. I never felt too rushed or dissatisfied with being forced to face this boss in this time, where you’ll likely choose to fight them before taking up the full length of this time regardless. The timer also doesn’t start counting down until you leave The Sandman’s domain, giving you time to rest before you and your friends begin the next section.
Once you defeat the Master Nightmare, you’re taken to the next location; of which there are three of at the time of review with an unlockable epilogue location, providing a lot content to explore. Each location has a very different aesthetic, hosting new and varying enemies compared to the last, with difficulty ramping up as you progress. The first location takes place in woodlands host of corrupted hogs, treants and zombies; the second being an island filled with birds, crabs and djinns, and the third being a large city with a more linear layout than previous locations, home of gargoyles, witches and knights, where it was a pleasure to face each enemy and learn their attack patterns to progress in future runs.

Ravenswatch has a lot of content right out the gate, with more planned in the future, including enemies, quests, mini-bosses, and two heroes as free updates, with a premium hero DLC planned for the future, where I’m very excited to watch Ravenswatch’s development closer. I wholeheartedly recommend checking the game out, as it was an absolute delight to play the multiple heroes on offer throughout the game.

Welcome back Paragon, a truly incredible MOBA that feels fresher than ever <3

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