Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Sanctum was something of a rocket out of left field. There’s nothing unusual about tower defence, of course, and the “action” tower defence genre is now setting itself up as a thing, but Sanctum’s tight sci-fi world and solid feel set it apart from either tower defence games or FPS titles. That meant popularity, and a lot of players. Sanctum 2, meanwhile, attempts to place a fresh turret on top of previous successes, and use a flamethrower on the opposition. I spent some time with it. Here’s Wot I Think.

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While it’s the fourth game in the Call Of Juarez series, Gunslinger is not directly connected to its preceding brethren. A Western that tells the unreliable memories of cowboy bounty hunter Silas Greaves, through first-person shooting, for a remarkably low £12 pricetag. Should it climb atop a horse for dairy consumption, or might it be the sheriff of this here town? Here’s wot I think:

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4A’s sequel to their widely-enjoyed post-apocalyptic shooter Metro 203 appeared last week, and I’ve been waving my Geiger counter of critical analysis over its glowing innards. Will Metro: Last Light be remembered as a worthy sequel, or as a the point where 4A’s filter finally failed? Here’s wot I think.
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On some levels, so much effort must have gone into Mars: War Logs. Not into the name, clearly – that’s an act of self-sabotage that can only have emerged as the result of some unconscious perspicacity as to the game they’d made. But it’s a big, long RPG, albeit one made of tight near-identical corridors, and they don’t just appear. And that’s just a bit sad.

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Zeno Clash 2 is the sequel I always wished would come to fruition, but never dared hope for. I mean, if you look at the Call of Duties or even Grand Theft Autos of the world, there’s no real intrigue amongst all the announcement glitz and glamour. We already know roughly what we’re in for. But the original Zeno Clash opened this swirling, cream-colored Pandora’s Box of possibility, only to slam it shut – nearly taking our fingertips in the process – after a mere few hours. It was so weird and alien and gleefully unafraid to just do its own thing. But in the modern gaming world, that also often translates to “it’ll sell 12 copies and confuse even typically adventurous gamers and live on only in the hearts of its most fervent disciples.” Not usually the stuff sequels are made of. Against all odds, however, Zeno Clash did quite well for itself, and Zeno Clash 2 was born. But is the first-person brawling oddity all it’s thwacked (and biffed and zotted) up to be? Here’s wot I think.

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Do you remember that there were decades previously to this one? Far Cry 3 seems to think it does, with the appearance of an expandalone spoof of the 1980s, Blood Dragon. How does this mini-adventure hold up? Here’s wot I think:

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Ever wanted to play poker with Claptrap, Sam & Max, Brock from The Venture Bros. and Ash from The Evil Dead, with GLaDOS as your dealer? It’s at the least an interesting prospect. But how does it pan out as a game? Telltale found out with Poker Night 2. Here’s wot I think:

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Don’t Starve is an isometric 2D survival-roleplaying game, set in a randomly-generated fantasy world of threats and food shortages, and from the studio behind Mark of the Ninja. You have to not starve.
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Dead Island: Riptide isn’t just one of the most tastefully marketed games of 2013, it’s also the semi-sequel to one of the best-selling games of the last couple of years. Yes, Dead Island was an absolute smash hit, because everyone wants an open-world zombie survival game. Or wanted, at least. Hmm.

Here’s wot I think.
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Monaco won the IGF in 2010 with a compelling prototype and a handsome smile. In 2013 it’s being released as a sprawling, brilliantly-composed heist game that is poised, like a ludological cat-burglar, to steal our imaginations. The years of polish show in layers of features and detail, while the core idea that won the IGF – of single or multiplayer replayable heists – continues to produce gold on every playthrough.

This is one of the most important independent games this year, and might well end up being one of the best-loved games of the decade.

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Richard Perrin’s atmospheric puzzle explorer Kairo reaches Steam tomorrow, so now seemed a good moment to give it a proper Wot I Think. So, er, here’s wot I think:

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