Rock, Paper, Shotgun

This is my second time with a pre-release version of Prison Architect. You can read my first impressions right here. This time I’ve played a slightly more advanced version, albeit one that is not tuned for IGF judges. Fresh thoughts stockaded below.
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Red 5 are keen to stress that the current beta for Firefall – their free-to-play jetpackin’ shooter – is not one of those betas which is essentially a demo for the game you will be soon be playing, but is instead still very much a work in progress. That means my impressions should be regarded as commentary on an unfinished thing that is subject to change. That said, I’ve got a feeling this game could end up being quite significant, and – despite its clearly unfinished and underpopulated beta state – I’ve found it to be rather interesting. Read on for vital thoughts.
Jetpacks Wheeeee >>

Being an adventure fan isn’t always easy. Only the other week, I had to endure Pendulo Studios’ Yesterday – a game of dark mystery and devilry whose general quality is probably best summed up by this tweet. Luckily, for every low, there’s a high, and while I’ve only played the opening act of Wadjet Eye/xii’s upcoming Resonance, it’s more than washed the bad taste out of my mouth. Here’s a few reasons for your mouse finger to look forward to it…

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And now for the sequel. That’s the trick, isn’t it? If a game is successful then the studio end up being required to do it again, and it must be the same, but more so and different. Getting that right can be a peculiar challenge. There’s a stack of shortcuts available, of course, because you’re building on existing technology, fiction, and art, but there’s also the challenge of not throwing away that advantage and actually making something better, or more interesting. That’s the challenge that Gearbox now face with Borderlands 2: to build on the relative success of their left-field post-apocalyptic space frontier, and to carve out wider horizons for one of the most interesting hybrid-FPS projects in mainstream gaming.
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I should probably disclose that I’ve known the developer of Gunpoint, PC Gamer’s Tom Francis, for a few years now, having worked with him on that magazine in the dark times before RPS. And that means playing Gunpoint has a peculiar flavour to it, for me. I’m aware of the kinds of games that have had a significant influence on Francis – such as the platformer N, Deus Ex, Hitman, Splinter Cell, and so on – and I can see these sorts of influences displayed right on the surface of Gunpoint. We are each of us our interests, of course, and I am sure this kind of thing is true of all indie developers, but seeing how someone’s brain remixes and recompiles the stuff they love has never been quite so clear to me as when playing the post-IGF build of this intricate platformer.

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Pity the simulated citizens who will live in SimCity, the reboot of the franchise of the same name, due from the god-game guys at Maxis sometime in 2013. No easy life for them, no appearing as if by magic on the streets of your town and scurrying back and forth between the busy districts of the day. No – instead, life will be a precarious crap-shoot of existential uncertainty, in which no satisfaction, however small, may be taken for granted, and no need may ever be filled in more than momentary fashion. And, as if it need be said, in the game.

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Legend Of Grimrock is out in a couple of weeks, via Steam and GOG.com, and anticipation is building. A game that harks back to the glory days of FTL’s Dungeon Master is something many would like to get their hands on. Get my hands on it I have, and after spending a little time with some pre-release code, I’m excited to confirm it really does seem to be capturing that era, with tile-based movement, a quartet of characters, and the terrifying moments when you’re trying to mix a potion in the middle of a fight. Below you can read the top 11 things that I think make it a game worth taking an interest in. (I have a sneaking suspicion that anyone who didn’t play Dungeon Master is going to find this post a touch confusing.)

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There’s some muttering in the audience as Tommy Francois, IP development director at Ubisoft leads us through a sixty minute history of Assassin’s Creed III’s development. From concept work in 2010 to animation tests to proof of concept videos to details on the historical research, we’re being shown everything except the game itself. For a game this size and in this age of wham, bam, now preorder ma’am promotion, this sort of gently passionate round the houses development discussion is highly irregular. ‘Just show us the trailer lol,’ I am entirely prepared to bet at least one of the hundreds of journalists in this crowd has written in their notes.

Much as getting to see how the game evolved from its original concept – ‘social stealth’ set during the American War of Independence – and just how closely it’s stuck to it across nearly three years of development is personally fascinating, there is a part of me that does just want to be shown the trailer lol. Then I get it.
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On some level, your brain knows the right place to head toward when playing Quantum Conundrum. Created by the co-creator of Portal, despite certainly being a different game, the puzzles seem to stimulate that same lateral place that requires you enter into the reinterpretation of physics that inhabits the gaming world. Except this time, it’s a lot fluffier.

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The Dragon certainly seem the most intriguing of the secret societies that make up The Secret World. But perhaps that’s because they’re the group we’ve so far heard the least about. At a recent demonstration of the game, a little bit more was revealed, along with some news about the character creator, dungeons and the game’s intriguing crafting. Oh, and the oral sex.

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