Games
Simon Munk
It has to have been the trailer, there's really no other explanation. Before the original Dead Island came out, there was a trailer. And not just a trailer, but the trailer – probably the most finely-crafted, greatest piece of teaser content ever created for film, TV or games. It's the only possible reason why Dead Island sold as well as it did... and unfortunately, there isn't a similarly brilliant trailer for its sequel, Riptide.The original trailer (see it here) used some beautifully heart-tugging music and a time-running-backwards schtick to pick apart a holidaying family's descent into Read more ...
Simon Munk
We're at a moment of change in games – new consoles, new ideas, new ways of playing. And what better game to usher out one era and in a new one than BioShock Infinite?This first-person shooter is still wedded to the core mechanics of traditional big-budget console gaming, but layered on top of a core of classic run-and-gun is a series of innovations in terms of character, script, gameplay and scope of theme that point to exciting potential future directions for the next generation of games.The result is both hugely satisfying to play from a hind-brain, hand-eye coordination point-of-view, but Read more ...
Simon Munk
Like a faded star, wearing the moth eaten dresses of her past, still stalking a shuttered Hollywood set, Lara Croft has seen better days. Ah, the old days – she made or broke consoles, appeared on fashion magazine covers, had Angelina Jolie play her in the movies.Lara Croft was the originator and undisputed queen of action-adventure. That was the old days. Her star has long faded, her crown snatched by the cheeky new tomb raider on the old block – Nathan Drake of the Uncharted series. But wait, what's this? A new, younger Lara? Could it possibly work? Thankfully, this audacious reboot doesn't Read more ...
Simon Munk
Crysis 3 arrives as the current generation of console hardware is being shuffled over to make way for the next – normally a very fertile time for games. Usually, the best games come out late in a home console's lifespan – when developers have learnt how to make the most of the hardware and tools they have, when creators can concentrate on just making good games and good art.Apparently not this time. This year will see the launch of the next wave of home consoles, but the current PS3 and Xbox 360 generation seem content to go out with a whimper rather than a bang. Independently-developed Read more ...
Helen K Parker
Thomas was alone. And then, he wasn’t. As story-time opening lines go, this one is on a par with "once upon a time" in its simplicity. Simplicity, however, can be misleading. Our eponymous hero Thomas may in fact look like a simple red rectangle with the ability to move and jump, but thanks to a mysterious "event" within the computer programme he is part of, he has also been imbued with sentience. And he is not alone.Described by creator Mike Bithell as a minimalist game about friendship and jumping and floating and bouncing and anti-gravity, the aim of this avant-garde game is to manoeuvre Read more ...
Helen K Parker
There’s a horse, a chicken and an owl in your living room. You don’t know them, but they sure as hell remember you, and they’ve got some questions that need to be answered. Questions about what you did in Miami in 1989.It’s a great setup to a game which takes its neo-pulp heritage seriously, and its pixelated arcade violence to the extreme. You play a hired killer cutting a bloody swathe through the Miami underworld at the behest of innocuous phone messages. These jobs are as innocent as babysitting, or attending a medical check-up; however, once you’ve driven (in your DeLorean!) to the Read more ...
Helen K Parker
You're on the roof of an abandoned apartment building, eyeing a couple of thugs that stand between you and a kidnapped shopkeeper. Do you (a) rain merry death down upon them via a stylish blade-pistol combo, (b) snipe from afar with your crossbow and incendiary bolts, or (c) possess a nearby rat and attempt to find a crack in one of the walls? After much experimenting, and much reloading, I finally settled on (d): drop a plague-ridden corpse at the guards' very feet, silently knocking them out with sleep bolts as they separate to discover the body's origin.Dishonored is a game about choice. I Read more ...
Helen K Parker
It’s all about the smash and grab in Runic Games’ new adventure Torchlight II, which offers up more booty than you can shake a rune-encrusted staff at. Forget story and character, the aim of this slickly designed action RPG is quests, exploration, and killing copious amounts of enemies with a plethora of weaponry.Accompanied by Matt Uelmen’s beautiful soundtrack, your character gallivants through the game’s levels collecting so much stuff that it becomes frequently necessary to load your critter companion up like a pack mule and send them back to town to flog your unwanted gear. And get some Read more ...
Helen K Parker
Welcome to Lafcadio Academy for Troubled Young Ladies. In this environment of blood-soaked walls, spinning blades, spikes, ghouls and HP Lovecraft references, the curriculum is simple: play if you dare, and survive if you can. They Bleed Pixels, the new game from indie developers Spooky Squid, is a traditional platformer that serves up more splat than a hamster in a microwave. Upon arriving at the school, your character is mysteriously cursed by an evil book, and finds herself transforming into something distinctly crustacean. As you frenetically traverse the 11 platform levels of your Read more ...
Helen K Parker
Darksiders II **** If you’ve ever wondered what a punch-up between a horseman of the apocalypse and a massive angry ice giant would look like, you need look no further than Darksiders II, which sweeps into the gaming world this week. Death is the equine-straddling quadruplet we are following this time around as he pursues his quest to uncover a plot between deities which has seen his brother War imprisoned and falsely accused of kicking off Armageddon. Unlike the first game, the setting of the game is not Earth but the fantastical Nether Realms of the gods, an opportunity which the Read more ...