Keiran McEwen – Phenixx Gaming

Keiran’s Top Books of 2024

Keiran McEwen — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 18:00:33 +0000

If I’m honest, I’ve been a bit “lazy” this year, managing only to find 6 notable reads that I was able to really say anything on. Quite frankly I don’t care and that’s the point of these articles, to just talk about some books I read in the year. However, I did want to note that maybe this year’s article was going to be a bit shorter than the multi-thousand-word, 10-page dissertation on what I’…

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Another Crab’s Treasure (PC) – Review

Keiran McEwen — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 14:00:30 +0000

It all depends on your definition of a Souls-like, but Another Crab’s Treasure places itself among the pantheon of imitations despite lacking one of the defining traits of the genre. Released early in the year, Aggro Crab’s second game takes place down where it is wetter, down where it is better, and where a sex joke sits that I can’t say. A Souls-like in almost every sense of the phrase…

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Lower Decks “Fully Dilated” – Review

Keiran McEwen — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 18:00:54 +0000

Penis, bums, and willies, or are we just saying the double entendres are not intentional in an episode called “Fully Dilated”? Directed by Megan Lloyd again, I know before I see more than a minute of the episode that we’re going to get pretty solid direction from the former storyboard artist. From a name we know to a writing assistant we don’t, Andrew Mueth takes the helm…

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Phenixx Gaming 2025 Most Wanted

Keiran McEwen — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 14:00:46 +0000

The saying is “New Year, new me.” Too bad the “new me” also wishlists far too many games long before they come out. As we look ahead at the coming year of releases and beyond, we thought we’d look at the upcoming games the Phenixx Gaming staff are most excited about in the coming months and maybe even years given the number of delays. Without wasting more time, let’s get into everyone’s top picks…

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Keiran’s Top 3 Games of 2024

Keiran McEwen — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 18:00:18 +0000

Despite playing very little of the big hitters this year, I’ve found it hard to define the top of my list. I know where the bottom lies, next to a certain Prime Minister from the 80s, but we’ll get to that. As usual, you’ll hardly find Hellblade 2, Helldivers 2, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Persona 3 Reload, or even Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, maybe even Shadow of the Erdtree. While everyone else was playing…

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Football Manager 2024 (PC) – Review

Keiran McEwen — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 16:00:04 +0000

Despite storming the field when the team won but wasn’t promoted in 2003, then having season tickets right behind the dugout in the new stadium the year following and beyond, I was never a big fan of whatever you call “the beautiful game.” At least that’s what a boring EA employee called it. In more recent years I’ve enjoyed the sport of it watching the women’s game, as they aren’t paid enough to…

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Lower Decks “Of Gods and Angels” – Review

Keiran McEwen — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:02 +0000

So what exactly happened to Captain Carrol? Directed by Brandon Williams, this is his penultimate episode before we cover “Fissure Quest” towards the end of Lower Decks. I’ve previously covered what Williams has done in his other episode of the season, “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel.” This episode was written by “Dos Cerritos” and “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee” writer Aaron Burdette. Once again…

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Lies of P (PC) – Second Opinion Review

Keiran McEwen — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:00:31 +0000

We all know the story of Timothée Chalamet and Jiminy (or Gemini in-game) Cricket in the story from Italian writer Carlo Collodi, right? So I am sure I don’t have to explain in great detail the plot of Neowiz Games and Round8 Studio’s Lies of P; biomechanical puppets that are unable to lie are roaming the city of Krat, and your creator Geppetto is missing while your friend, Jiminy/

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Black One Blood Brothers (PC) – Preview

Keiran McEwen — Wed, 25 Dec 2024 15:00:54 +0000

Let’s play the usual game of me talking about a tactical shooter/military sim, while also notably being quite vocal on the after-action reports of real-world missions. If we’re one thing as humans, we’re contradictions. Something that sounds like a contradiction is a highly detailed real-time tactical military sim, akin to SWAT 4 or Ready or Not, but featuring a tactical command menu like a 3D…

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Black (PS2) – Review

Keiran McEwen — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:00:30 +0000

The year was 2006, the console was the PS2, and the developer was Criterion Games. The perfect storm of developer, console, and year following half a decade of car-crashing success. Better still, the studio was still backed by EA, meaning the studio was given the go-ahead to practically do as it pleased because that Burnout thing worked out so well. Designed mostly by Craig Sullivan with story…

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