Subsurface Circular is a curious and promising artefact (now followed by Quarantine Circular) that layers simple visuals and effective sound onto what is essentially a nicely crafted linear text adventure. Circular’s world is one of ubiquitous automation; an underclass of variously sentient robots and AIs run manufacturing and processing functions for society, while only ‘management’ is left … Continue reading Subsurface Circular
Has a British country village ever been so lovingly constructed in virtual form? Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is a paean to community values, viewed through the lens of a John Wyndham-esque science fiction yarn. Dropped into the Shropshire, players find themselves exploring an entirely abandoned town in the 1980s. Guided by cryptic radio messages, they are … Continue reading Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
God of War is a muscled and powerful game, though in some ways a disarmingly conservative one. Its decidedly more low-key continuation of the tale of Kratos, Ghost of Sparta, dials down the outrageous fury of its predecessors, telling a more restrained tale of parenthood and acceptance. We rejoin Kratos an indeterminate amount of time after … Continue reading God of War
In the early days of online multiplayer gaming, being able to re-examine one's failures was nonexistent gameplay factor. In your Quakes and Unreal Tournaments, death was a momentary break, and the manner in which one died was relegated to a verbal description – fragged, sniped, you name it, because the games did. With the advent of widely-played shooters … Continue reading Killcams to streaming – the changing face of defeat
Nintendo's freshly announced Labo, a cardboard construction-set-cum-videogame, looks like the purest playset, real or concept, to have emerged from a mainstream game developer in recent years. It is a return to the age of wonder, a product that, even in the world of bemusing consumer technology, makes little to no sense to the layperson. Labo … Continue reading Nintendo Labo – the magic of play
Steamworld Dig was a jewel of a game, initially hidden on the 3DS, before spreading to every platform under the sun, accompanied by a magma flow of praise. Now, some four years later, a sequel arrives, perfectly and immediately suited to the Nintendo Switch. This time we play as Dorothy, a supporting character from the first … Continue reading Steamworld Dig 2
Nintendo's year has been a wildly successful one - their mobile presence, though increasingly derided, has been significant; they have won back the adulation of the press and the wallets of the many with their latest console, the impeccable Switch; and their roster of exclusive releases was jaw-droppingly impressive. The masterful Legend of Zelda: Breath … Continue reading Super Mario Odyssey – 2017’s Game of the Year
Campaigns are overrated. DICE's vignettes in Battlefield 1 were enjoyable but fleeting and over-praised - that game's multiplayer was its heart, a situation familiar to the developer's fans. In Battlefront II again the highly advertised and teased single player offering is pointless and short lived - admittedly with some decent budget behind it. The game charts the story … Continue reading Star Wars Battlefront II
The recent and deserved controversy over Felix Kjellberg's questionable content and moral standards has made for depressing viewing and reading. To be clear, it is a man named Felix Kjellberg who is in question; to continually refer to his stage name of 'Pewdiepie' is to already grant his fame undue influence on the debate at hand. … Continue reading A teacup, but no storm
Upon the release of Battlefield 1, the lastest in DICE's long series of large-scale multiplayer shooters, the addition of Operations to its suite of game modes was noted but not overstated. Reviews saw it as a diverting new way of playing, which was not a huge amount more did not amount to a great deal more … Continue reading Battlefield 1 and multiplayer narrative
