Firefly Hero

Posted 3:44am Monday 11th July 2011

Platform: iOS, (4/5). Trute? Flumpet, maybe? In any case, It's irrelevant what I call the solo, synthesized instrument, of brassy and fluty timbre, that provides the musical context for Firefly Hero. Just like the game's visual style, fundamental mechanics and 'story', it is as simple and Read more...

Brink

Posted 1:33am Friday 1st July 2011

Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, (3.5/5). I can't stress enough how much better Brink would have been had it had no cutscene-heavy story, or if it had even scrapped the single player entirely. The plot is fundamentally solid; an isolated idealised city called “The Ark” Read more...

Cult Classic: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Posted 7:30am Thursday 26th May 2011

Platforms: PC, Xbox I'm still not certain what the elder scrolls actually are. Old rolled-up papers, presumably with something mega-important written on them. I guess. If the third in the seventeen-year old series, Morrowind, doesn't ring a bell then maybe the forth will: 2006's Oblivion. No? What Read more...

Lume

Posted 7:29am Thursday 26th May 2011

Platforms: PC, OSX, (2.5/5). I payed $8.13 for Lume, which follows from prices listed in round US dollar figures. As cheap as Steam's prices tend to be (I got Portal 2 for about $62.73, give or take $3.09), I can't say that Lume was worth it. The question then becomes then what to say about an Read more...

CULT CLASSIC: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Posted 6:29am Wednesday 25th May 2011

Platform: Nintendo 64 It's become a cliché to criticise each new Zelda release as being just like all the rest. “Yawn”, they chorus. “You start off as some sort of fey-leaf elfin dude in a forest wearing green pyjamas. You find the wooden sword and shield, hack some plants Read more...

Bangai-O HD: Missle Fury

Posted 6:28am Wednesday 25th May 2011

Platforms: XBLA (Dreamcast), (3/5). Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury is arcade-y almost to the point of absurdity. Developer Treasure sets a mature example by presenting mecha that seem to run on carbon neutral bio-ethanol, regaining health from fruit. I guess they had to do all they could to offset the Read more...

Outland

Posted 11:42pm Monday 9th May 2011

Platforms: XBLA, PSN, (4/5). Outland is alchemy. Take a sickle's worth of Mario Bros 2D platforming, and heat in a geothermal pool with the polarity mechanic most famous in Ikaruga. Distill a generous ounce of Metroid's adventuring with a batch of art and sound design reminiscent  of Shadow Read more...

Hector: Badge of Carnage: Episode 1 - We Negotiate With Terrorists

Posted 11:41pm Monday 9th May 2011

Platforms: IOS, MAC, PC, (3.5/5). A trend is developing, and it's kind of frustrating. Twice this year I've had to admit that - despite proudly displaying the juvenile shades that are kind-of-sort-of crippling the industry's artsy potential - I really appreciate it when games like Bulletstorm and Read more...

Mortal Kombat

Posted 4:59am Monday 9th May 2011

Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, (4/5). Some fool somewhere said that videogames couldn't possibly get any more violent. That's exactly what they said at the beginning of the twentieth century and look where we ended up. Despite the series being as old as I am, Mortal Kombat hasn't yet Read more...

Portal 2

Posted 4:57am Monday 9th May 2011

Platforms: PC, MAC, XBOX 360, Playstation 3, (5/5). I can feel it, like ten-thousand drummers marching in a cool valley miles from my ajar bedroom window. An amazonian torrent of internet memes. So many memes. But to focus on the individual moments Valve has created in Portal 2 would be to ignore Read more...