Latest Reviews of THQ Nordic Games
A kingdom with heart
Once upon a time, legendary game director Warren Spector asked Disney to help him make a science fiction game. The house of mouse wasn't interested in his pitch, but it gave him the keys to the forgotten magic kingdom instead. Spector's Junction Point Studios was given unfettered access to archival materials and tasked with...
Review South Park: Snow Day! (PS5) - 3D Co-Op Card Brawler Is a Step Back for the Franchise
Let's Fighting Love
The South Park franchise has an eclectic history of genre choices, trying (and mostly failing) everything from FPS to kart racer. 2014's South Park: The Stick of Truth and its comic-book-themed follow-up redressed the balance with an excellent comedic spin on the old-school RPG. Now it takes another genre pivot, becoming the...
Review Alone in the Dark (PS5) - An Admirable Effort with One Too Many Flaws
The new nightmare
In spite of all its shortcomings, Alone in the Dark is a game we can't help but have a soft spot for. It's packed full of glitches at launch. The combat feels awful. It's not scary whatsoever, and the stealth sequences are dreadful. Yet, there's such a clear passion for the survival horror genre coursing through it that it comes...
Mini Review Outcast: A New Beginning (PS5) - A Rough Around the Edges Action Relic
We're sorry Ms. Jackson
Remakes, reboots, revivals. Whether it's a lack of fresh ideas, exploiting nostalgia, or an earnest desire to introduce a new generation to past glories, the entertainment industry loves bringing old things back. And we love old things coming back, too, as long as it isn't Nanna after she's escaped from the home again...
Review Jagged Alliance 3 (PS5) - Dormant Series Returns with a Solid Tactical Offering
Honour among thieves
The Jagged Alliance series still has an imposing reputation in strategy gaming circles, despite the last mainline entry launching 24 years ago and the spin-offs being generally not great. Jagged Alliance 3, thankfully, does an excellent job of modernising the series while introducing engaging new elements, crafting a genuinely...
Clockwork conundrums
Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy is the fifth entry in the one-to-four player, puzzle platforming adventure series, from Finland based developer, Frozenbyte. After attending a celebration at Astral Academy and being framed for destroying the village, our three heroes, Amedeus the wizard, Zoya the thief, and Pontius the knight,...
Review AEW: Fight Forever (PS5) - A Superkick Party Pooper Fit for Elite Fans Only
Meh-EW
It’s been close to three years since All Elite Wrestling’s first video game was officially announced. Many performers within the company itself have long extolled the virtues of 90’s wrestling video game royalty – and in particular, WWF No Mercy – even going so far as to position AEW: Fight Forever as something of a homage. But with...
Review SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (PS4) - Old School Platformer Is One for the Fans
You're ready, kids
Aficionados of Nickelodeon's iconic square-panted hero will largely agree Battle for Bikini Bottom is the best SpongeBob game. Nearly two decades later, developer Purple Lamp Studios brought it back with a full remake, and it was clear fans were hungry for something fresh. The team's response is SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic...
Review Biomutant (PS4) - The Classic Case of What Could Have Been
Karate kid
Republished on Wednesday 30th November 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of December's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Biomutant could have released a decade ago and it wouldn't have looked out of place. By stimulating the open world formula of old with new takes on the...
Review Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed (PS5) - We're Just Remaking Anything Now
Close Encounters of the Turd Kind
At some point during the billion hour long campaign for Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed — a remake of 2006's Destroy All Humans! 2 for PS2 — we began to wonder where it had all gone wrong. There we were, running around as a little alien shooting innocent passers-by with a gun that reduces them to skeletons and...
Latest THQ Nordic Articles
News Embracer Group Acquired 37 Studios This Year, and Wants to Match That in 2022
THQ Nordic, Koch Media parent company is still hungry
Embracer Group isn't a name many people are familiar with, but you will have heard of the publishers and developers that fall under its vast umbrella. THQ Nordic, Koch Media, and Deep Silver are all part of it, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. This is the company that pops up every couple...
News Koch Media Is 'Exploring Ways to Bring TimeSplitters Back'
Future perfect?
A new TimeSplitters game is very much on the cards -- it seems it's just a matter of how THQ Nordic and Koch Media go about bringing the series back from the dead. The last we heard about TimeSplitters was that its co-creator, Steve Ellis, joined the publisher to work on the return of the series. In a
News THQ Nordic's Studio and IP Buying Spree Won't Be Slowing Down any Time Soon
Publisher raises huge money for future acquisitions
Nordic Games merged with THQ in 2013 as a result of a mass buyout of the deceased publisher and its games, and the company has gone from strength to strength ever since. Over the years, it's slowly been amassing an enormous catalogue of intellectual properties and development teams, but the...
Interview Chatting About the Apocalypse with Darksiders III Composer Cris Velasco
From light, there comes darksiders
Recently, we got the chance to sit down with long-standing game composer Cris Velasco, who has worked on big series like Mass Effect, God of War, and even previous Darksiders titles. We spoke with him about his work on the recently released Darksiders III, his approach to writing themes for the seven deadly sins,...
News THQ Nordic Reports Dramatic Increase In Earnings Thanks to Series of Studio Acquisitions
55 games in development
Earlier today, we reported that THQ Nordic had purchased Bugbear Entertainment, developer of Wreckfest and the FlatOut games. This, along with Goat Simulator studio Coffee Stain, is the latest in an extremely aggressive phase of acquiring independent publishers and developers, and as it turns out, the strategy is paying off...
News THQ Nordic and Nickelodeon Join Forces to Revive Old Titles
"I'm ready"
Here's something we bet you weren't expecting to read this afternoon: THQ Nordic has just announced a new partnership with Nickelodeon. Together, the companies aim to bring back a bunch of old games based on Nickelodeon's shows. Here's the full list of game titles as provided by THQ Nordic: Avatar: The Last Airbender Back At The...
News THQ Nordic Now Owns Metro, Dead Island, Saints Row, More in New Acquisition
Publisher purchases Koch Media
THQ Nordic has felt like a bit of a B-team player for a while, re-releasing a lot of its back catalogue and slowly accumulating more and more IPs. It seemed that no one was really paying them much attention, but that may be about to change; the publisher has just made a serious acquisition in the purchase of Koch Media...
News Embracer Group Acquired 37 Studios This Year, and Wants to Match That in 2022
THQ Nordic, Koch Media parent company is still hungry
Embracer Group isn't a name many people are familiar with, but you will have heard of the publishers and developers that fall under its vast umbrella. THQ Nordic, Koch Media, and Deep Silver are all part of it, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. This is the company that pops up every couple...
News Koch Media Is 'Exploring Ways to Bring TimeSplitters Back'
Future perfect?
A new TimeSplitters game is very much on the cards -- it seems it's just a matter of how THQ Nordic and Koch Media go about bringing the series back from the dead. The last we heard about TimeSplitters was that its co-creator, Steve Ellis, joined the publisher to work on the return of the series. In a
News THQ Nordic's Studio and IP Buying Spree Won't Be Slowing Down any Time Soon
Publisher raises huge money for future acquisitions
Nordic Games merged with THQ in 2013 as a result of a mass buyout of the deceased publisher and its games, and the company has gone from strength to strength ever since. Over the years, it's slowly been amassing an enormous catalogue of intellectual properties and development teams, but the...
Interview Chatting About the Apocalypse with Darksiders III Composer Cris Velasco
From light, there comes darksiders
Recently, we got the chance to sit down with long-standing game composer Cris Velasco, who has worked on big series like Mass Effect, God of War, and even previous Darksiders titles. We spoke with him about his work on the recently released Darksiders III, his approach to writing themes for the seven deadly sins,...
News THQ Nordic Reports Dramatic Increase In Earnings Thanks to Series of Studio Acquisitions
55 games in development
Earlier today, we reported that THQ Nordic had purchased Bugbear Entertainment, developer of Wreckfest and the FlatOut games. This, along with Goat Simulator studio Coffee Stain, is the latest in an extremely aggressive phase of acquiring independent publishers and developers, and as it turns out, the strategy is paying off...
News THQ Nordic and Nickelodeon Join Forces to Revive Old Titles
"I'm ready"
Here's something we bet you weren't expecting to read this afternoon: THQ Nordic has just announced a new partnership with Nickelodeon. Together, the companies aim to bring back a bunch of old games based on Nickelodeon's shows. Here's the full list of game titles as provided by THQ Nordic: Avatar: The Last Airbender Back At The...
News THQ Nordic Now Owns Metro, Dead Island, Saints Row, More in New Acquisition
Publisher purchases Koch Media
THQ Nordic has felt like a bit of a B-team player for a while, re-releasing a lot of its back catalogue and slowly accumulating more and more IPs. It seemed that no one was really paying them much attention, but that may be about to change; the publisher has just made a serious acquisition in the purchase of Koch Media...