Critical Arcade

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick descend into one of gaming's most forgotten milestones: Descent . Released in 1995, this groundbreaking shooter dared to ask one simple question: what if "up" didn't exist? Armed with a tiny spacecraft, an ever-growing arsenal of futuristic weapons, and a map that somehow manages to make you more lost, our fearless duo blast their way through twisting mi...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick trade apocalyptic wastelands and alien worlds for zookeeping spreadsheets as they dive into the wonderfully chaotic world of Planet Zoo. Armed with little more than a dream, a limited budget, and an alarming lack of veterinary qualifications, they set out to build the ultimate wildlife park. From designing sprawling habitats for majestic lions and playfu...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick polish their weapons, choose their fighting styles, and step onto the stage of history once again as they dive into the world of Soulcalibur III. Set in a turbulent age where legends are forged in steel and destiny is decided by the sword, warriors from across the globe are drawn toward the cursed blade known as Soul Edge. Some seek its immense power, ot...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick leave behind explosions, loot drops, and skill trees for something far stranger and far more introspective as they step onto the lonely shores of Dear Esther. Guided only by the sound of crashing waves and the voice of an unreliable narrator, they journey across a bleak and beautiful Hebridean island while uncovering fragments of letters written to a wom...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick slam the accelerator to the floor and dive headfirst into the loud, chaotic, and gloriously unhinged world of Crazy Taxi. Trading in safe driving practices for near-death shortcuts, they hit the streets of West Coast City as a group of wildly reckless taxi drivers determined to earn the biggest fares possible by any means necessary. Whether it’s launchin...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick sharpen their blades and prepare for a brutal journey through the streets of America in Ninja Gaiden. They step into the role of legendary ninja Ryu Hayabusa after returning home to discover his father has been killed in a mysterious duel with a man named Jaquio. Following clues left behind by his father, Ryu journeys to America where he becomes entangle...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick are launched into the haunting sci-fi world of Saros, where they awaken on the lost colony world of Carcosa—a planet trapped beneath a permanent eclipse and crawling with horrors that seem determined to make their stay as unpleasant as possible. Taking on the role of Arjun Devraj, a powerful Soltari Enforcer searching for answers about a vanished colony...

This week on Critical Arcade, Nick and Dave go bananas as they charge headfirst into the explosive, jazz-fuelled madness of Ape Out. Locked away in captivity, they take control of a powerful gorilla determined to smash through cages, corridors, laboratories, and anyone foolish enough to stand in the way of freedom. Every level becomes a desperate breakout as guards swarm in with guns, traps close...

This week on Critical Arcade, Nick and Dave power up the grav drive, polish their space boots, and blast off into the sprawling universe of Starfield. Set hundreds of years in the future, humanity has left Earth behind and spread across the Settled Systems, where rival factions, ruthless pirates, shady corporations, and mysterious alien artifacts all compete for control. Joining the explorers of C...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick plunge headfirst into the terrifying depths of Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss. Set in 2026, this cosmic horror adventure sends them to a remote deep-sea research station after contact with the facility is mysteriously lost. What begins as a rescue mission quickly spirals into a nightmare as they uncover flooded corridors, broken laboratories, missing crew mem...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick leave Earth behind and head to a cold, silent lunar research station in Pragmata, where something has gone very, very wrong. What was meant to be a straightforward mission soon turns into a desperate fight for survival as they uncover a facility overrun by malfunctioning machines, dangerous security systems, and secrets buried deep beneath the moon’s sur...

This week on Critical Arcade, Nick and Dave strap themselves in and dive headfirst into the breakneck, neon-soaked world of Screamer (2026)—a high-speed reboot that takes street racing to a whole new level of chaos. Set in a gritty, dystopian future where corporations pull the strings and underground racing leagues rule the streets, the duo finds themselves battling through a brutal competition wh...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick bundle up, strike a match, and step into the frozen wilderness of The Long Dark. After a mysterious plane crash leaves them stranded in the Canadian wilds, survival becomes the only goal—and nature isn’t playing fair. With no zombies, no monsters, and no one coming to help, it’s just man versus the cold. Managing hunger, fatigue, and freezing temperature...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick grab their Rider gear, polish their Kinship Stones, and venture into the vibrant monster-filled world of Monster Hunter Stories 3. Unlike the traditional monster-slaying chaos of the main series, this time they’re building bonds instead of crafting boots out of everything that moves. Stepping into the role of a young Rider, they hatch monster eggs, raise...

This week on Critical Arcade, Nick and Dave suit up, check their ammo, and step into the brutal corporate battleground of Marathon. Set on the mysterious colony world of Tau Ceti IV, they take on the role of cybernetic mercenaries known as Runners—scavengers sent into dangerous zones to recover lost tech, alien artifacts, and anything valuable enough to make their corporate masters rich. The catch...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick steel their nerves and step into the slow-burning dread of Resident Evil Requiem, a haunting new entry in Capcom’s iconic survival horror series. Set in a world rotting from the inside out, Requiem trades bombastic action for suffocating atmosphere, forcing the duo to creep through crumbling environments where every shadow feels suspicious and every soun...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick bow respectfully, immediately forget that respect mid-fight, and throw themselves headfirst into the merciless world of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Set in a crumbling, blood-soaked version of Sengoku-era Japan, they take on the role of Wolf, a one-armed shinobi bound by duty, honor, and a prosthetic arm packed with far more gadgets than either host is cap...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick once again wake up thirsty, overdesigned, and deeply unsure of what’s happening in the gothic anime apocalypse of Code Vein 2. Thrown back into a dying world of Revenants, blood codes, and coats with more belts than structural integrity, the pair find themselves navigating the aftermath of humanity’s last stand against extinction. Society has fractured,...

This week on Critical Arcade, Nick and Dave adjust their sensitivity sliders (and immediately regret it) as they dive deep into the stylish, suspicious, and surprisingly prophetic world of Perfect Dark. Set in the far-flung future of 2023, the game casts them as elite Carrington Institute agent Joanna Dark, a super-spy with a cooler name than everyone else in the building and an arsenal that seems...

This week on Critical Arcade, Nick and Dave drift off into the calm, colourful, and deceptively tricky universe of Harmony’s Odyssey. A puzzle game that looks like a bedtime story but thinks like a logic exam, Harmony’s Odyssey sends them hopping between floating constellations inspired by ancient myths, musical patterns, and cosmic folklore. Each world is a handcrafted diorama where perspective i...

This week on Critical Arcade, Nick and Dave make the deeply questionable decision to wander into the suffocatingly quiet, deeply cursed world of Fatal Frame, a survival horror series that proves the scariest weapon imaginable is a camera. Set across abandoned mansions, forgotten villages, and ritual sites soaked in tragedy, the duo must rely on the mysterious Camera Obscura to confront vengeful sp...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick dust off their dual pistols, crank up the early-2000s angst, and step into the shadowy, conspiratorial world of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness—the game that tried to reinvent Lara Croft… and occasionally forgot how legs work in the process. Fresh off being framed for the murder of her mentor Werner Von Croy, Lara finds herself plunged into the underb...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick strap on their sandals, grab their gleaming katanas, and dive headfirst into the stylized, time-warped epic that is Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku. From the moment the boys hit “Start,” they’re hurled into a world where the future is corrupted, everything has an angular edge, and Aku’s voice echoes like a disappointed dad trying way too hard to sound in...

This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick dust off their detective hats, light a cigarette under the flickering glow of a neon sign, and step into the rain-soaked, crumbling streets of dystopian Vancouver in Backbone. This isn’t your average pixel-art adventure — it’s a smoky, jazz-drenched neo-noir where everyone’s an animal, the city’s rotting from the inside, and the truth is far more terrify...

This week on Critical Arcade, Nick and Dave dust off their swords, shine their armor, and set out on a nostalgic journey through the land of Alefgard in “Dragon Quest I & II Remake.” Square Enix has taken two of the most important JRPGs ever made and given them the full HD-2D treatment—complete with shimmering pixel art, dynamic lighting, and a soundtrack that will make even the slimes tear up...