By Alec Meer on July 18th, 2011.
Ooh, this is clever. It’s the new free web game from Littleloud, they of The Curfew and Bow Street Runner. Like those, Sweatshop‘s noble aim is to expertly mate education and social conscience with smart and satisfying game mechanics. In this case, it’s a canny twist upon tower defence games that also highlights the abject horror and terrible exploitation of sweatshop factories – and the most dangerous enemy in the game is your own impulse to succeed.
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By John Walker on July 18th, 2011.
Ohmygoodness, this is special. Small Worlds by David Shute is a proper, genuine exploration game, where you really do only explore. A tiny pixel man moves around an ever-growing area, finding… almost nothing. I want to say nothing more, as the joy comes from just seeing the area fill in as you explore. It’s short, but it’s absolutely beautiful, enhanced enormously by gorgeous music from Kevin MacLeod. It was created for one of the Jayisgames Casual Gameplay Competition, where it deservedly won first place, and also gathered trophies in the other two categories. Big thanks to Mr Bakke for pointing it out.
EDIT: Yes, yes, it’s old. So what?! Eh? What are you going to do about it? Fight me? I’ll fight you. I’ll fight all of you!
By John Walker on July 18th, 2011.
“How do you feel about special editions of games, John?” the entire internet asks me at once. Well, let me answer. They’re alright, aren’t they? While I take issue with any inclusion of exclusive DLC – because that’s just so stupid it makes my ears bleed – any old guff they want to stick in an over-sized box is okay by me. And so it is that Batman: Arkham City has revealed what will be inside its bonus box. Although somewhat unofficially, as these details – as Joystiq reveal – have appeared on Gamestop and Best Buy‘s sites before any proper announcement or press release was put out. Which may also explain why no spec ed has been announced for the PC, which is obviously just an oversight by the online stores, and not Warner being stupid beyond belief.
By Alec Meer on July 18th, 2011.
Update: Team Meat are now claiming this was only a misinterpreted joke and there’s no truth to the reported number.
Holy… We’ve been pointed in the direction of DarkZero’s pretty fascinating chat with Super Meat Boy creators Tommy Refenes and Edmund McMillen, and amongst all manner of rumination on stuff like the importance of Steam sales and why they’re not worried about piracy, they let slip a little but apparently made-up number.
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By Alec Meer on July 18th, 2011.
Morning, morning, morning. How’s every little thing? It’s grey and dismal here, which means once again I wish to turn to a fantasy world instead of spend my every minute in such a dour country. But which fantasy world, I ask myself? For I am The Whicher. Perhaps, however, I’d be better off in the world of The Witcher. Especially as next patch for the second game promises some new adventuring for glowering hero Geralt.
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By John Walker on July 18th, 2011.
I really do like Tomb Raider Legend. Obviously I hate its boss fights, and clearly I’m not so stupid as to enjoy the QTE nonsense that occasionally infects it. But it was such a treat to see Lara brought back to life, once more in a world tailor-made for her personal jumping distance, in a way remarkably faithful to the game’s triumphant early releases. And even more so, with its surprising sense of humour. And so it is that I celebrate this, with caveats, over on Eurogamer. I say things like,
“It’s exquisitely British, too. When realising that the clues (oh yes ‘the plot’ well, Lara’s friend Amanda didn’t die when she thought she did, and there’s this sword in bits, and something about Lara’s mum, and so on) are taking them from their exotic worldwide locations to, well, Cornwall, Lara replies, ‘As in, take the M5 to the A30, Cornwall?’”
I also had a bit of an insane post-boss fight rant which didn’t make it into the final edit, that I’ve put below.
By Jim Rossignol on July 17th, 2011.
Sundays are for recovery. We all know this. They are a day set aside for systems to reboot, for noise to return to signal, and for the overheated summer brains of gamers to cool off and slow down. So let’s sit down with a delicious glass of iced tea, a whimsical eyebrow raise, and an eye for ideas from the gaming press. What have they been talking about?
Important Board Games
By Robert Florence on July 16th, 2011.
Hello youse.
Hands up who remembers Subbuteo. Hands up!
Put your hand down, for fuck’s sake, I can’t see you.
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By John Walker on July 16th, 2011.
Edmund McMillen, and some of his team behind Super Meat Boy, has announced his next game. And it’s for PC. The Binding Of Isaac is “a roguelike shooter based on the dungeon structure of Zelda (NES)”, and is due out on Steam this August. There are more details below.
By Lewie Procter on July 16th, 2011.
It’s another slap dash job this weekend, I’m in a hurry to catch a train to yet another RPS social, this time in the city of London. Are you coming? I’ve still had a poke around for the best deals though, so get ready to delve into the bargain bucket. Check SavyGamer.co.uk for cheap games on all formats throughout the week. Read the rest of this entry »
By Alec Meer on July 15th, 2011.
I’m not sure how we managed to miss this. I’m also not entirely sure that we mightn’t have been better off continuing to miss this. Gangs of Glasgow is what happens if medieval warfare sim Mount & Blade was transposed to modern Glasgow, Scotland – or at least an exaggerated version of it where the extreme football hooliganism, rioting and assorted other urban violence is worse than it already is/was. On the one hand, bringing so much – from police cars to football stadiums – into a game about dudes with swords on horses is an amazing technical achievement. On the other… well, I don’t know about you, but I’m making a face that tries to convey something I couldn’t begin to describe accurately.
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