Gamergate – How to Win
My commentary responding to GameCentral’s David Jenkins, and his recent article on 2014 being the worst year for gaming (mainly because of the Gamergate controversy, and unambitious big name titles): […]
Advance Wars: Dual Strike Retrospective
Stay hydrated. Walk around the cabin at regular intervals. Stretch and exercise. All good advice for surviving a long distance flight, but I was too busy playing Advance Wars: Dual […]
The Ledge Grab: An Appreciation
How the Humble Handhold Changed Gaming Raiders of the Lost Ark opens with a famous set-piece – Indiana Jones escaping from an ancient Peruvian temple laden with booby traps, including […]
Batman: Arkham City: The Game We Deserve
Batman: Arkham Asylum is to Batman what GoldenEye is to James Bond. Like Rare’s classic 007 shooter, Rocksteady Studios’ 2009 Batman game understands the abilities and conventions of the character. […]
Marathon 20th Anniversary Retrospective
Before Halo and Destiny, there was Marathon. In 1994, only a year after id Software’s Doom defined a genre, Marathon takes the template and runs with it. Released on the […]
Assassin’s Creed III: A Native American Revolution
How UbiSoft’s historical adventure shows the promise of the American Revolution When the setting of Assassin’s Creed III was announced it was met with some concern. Taking place before and […]
Spelunky Review
I blame the booby traps. I blame poison darts. The snakes, spiders, and scorpions. Also the pools of piranhas, a plunge onto spikes, and shotgun-wielding shopkeepers. I blame developers Derek […]
Metroid Prime and Prometheus: A Comparison
SPOILER warning! (for both Prometheus and the Metroid games) Add another to the list of unanswered questions posed by Prometheus – how is 2012’s sort-of Alien movie getting a sequel? […]
The Chaos Engine Review and Retrospective
“So, you spent $10… on a twenty year old video game… that you already own?” This was the question put to me by a family member, confused by my recent […]
Played Out: Or, Why I’m Ready to Give Up on Nintendo
Pity us Nintendo fans. It’s not easy you know. It’s like being an Arsenal supporter – a lot of emotional reminiscing about the glory days, the rigid adherence to the […]
The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Review
Forest folk, princesses, even a Ghost Hunter – this is not how Baltimore typically looks on a Saturday night. These adventurers made their way to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall […]
Resident Evil 4 Retrospective
“Welcome! Got some rare things on sale, stranger!” Resident Evil 4 is a game that breaks with and remakes its own tradition. After a generation of fixed camera angles and […]
The Chaos Engine: Steampunk Classic Set for Remake
The Bitmap Brothers’ 1993 classic top-down shooter The Chaos Engine is being remade for PC, Mac and Linux. Older gamers rejoice! The original game was set in a steampunk Victorian […]
The Big Three at E3
Public relations gaffes, product reveals, and the future of gaming – the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles has been and gone, and we’re still picking over what it […]
Life Lessons from Sensible World of Soccer
Originally released in 1992, Sensible Soccer is the answer to the video game debate: which is better, FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer? The brilliance of “Sensi” is in its simplicity. […]
