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5 days ago
Feature: Fish friends
Megaquarium's off-screen fish scientists had just unlocked some eels, and they seemed like just what my aquarium needed to draw in the big crowds. Sure, I had some guests, seduced by the promise of clean floors, well-stocked vending machines and at least three types of fish, but I lacked the kind of big-ticket item that put aquariums on the map. So excited was I to…
6 days ago
Feature: Droning on
I've been doing a lot of tinkering recently. Endless iterations of death-dealing drones, flying factories, huge robotic worms and automated weapon platforms - I've lost count of all my experiments in destruction. Nimbatus’ drone editor is a complex, liberating tool where patient engineers can craft a bewildering array of exotic, inventive machines. Then a giant snake blows them up. When my massive artillery drone -…
1 week ago
Feature:
If your time with Assassin's Creed Odyssey has been spent muttering "More like Crashassin's Please Ohgodhelpme", beaming with pride in your wordplay while cussing out crash bugs in Ubisoft's new open-world murder simulator, relief may soon be at hand. Ubisoft said over the weekend that they've identified the cause of several crashes: CPUs which met the game's listed system requirements but don't include support for…
Feature: A dicey adventure
Starting a new tabletop RPG campaign is a bit like joining an complicated polyamorous relationship. You have to make sure you like your companions, but most importantly, you and the Dungeon Master must share the same vision. ANYWAY, my point is that in a game of Dungeons & Dragons, some DMs like to follow the rules by the book, others just use rules as a…
Feature: It's all Greek to me
I have played, now, 30 hours of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which I think means I'm about half way through (the main story, that is, not the entire game, which is so vast it might as well be infinite when set against the free time most adults have). Odyssey is a curious mythic beast. Though there are additions to the core of Assassin’s Creed Oranges, they…
2 weeks ago
Feature: Hats off
Premature Evaluation is the column in which we explore the wilds of early access. This week, Fraser’s been given the keys to Parkasaurus, the goofy dinosaur theme park sim. The real tragedy at the centre of the Jurassic Park movies is that, no matter how many times they escape the park and kill their captors, the dinosaurs are never free of humans for very long.…
Feature: A stick on the moon
Oh, endings. Wouldn't life be better without them? It would certainly last longer. And it would make a lot of games an awful lot better. I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed Deliver Us The Moon, right up until the moment it ended. Now I want to find the developers and kick them all in the shins. But how much does that matter? Here's wot I think:
Feature: Derelicte
Deep Sky Derelicts is a deck-building strategic game for those scared of such things
I'm really not one for deck building games. I think it's primarily a matter of constantly feeling like I'm doing something wrong, always certain I should have a better selection of cards, that if I'd made a different choice I'd be having another experience... it's an anxiety-inducing way to play anything. So clearly I was unsure starting Deep Sky Derelicts, despite liking the sound of…
3 weeks ago
Feature: If you go down to the woods today
Brendan: Hello, Alice. I’ve just been dandering along a quiet highway in Life Is Strange 2. There’s no time-travelling gal pals in this one (at least, none so far) but there is a sad psychic pre-teen and his hoody-wearing brother. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this, you just played through it too, and we’re gonna have a chat about each episode as…
Feature: Cars served with some light seasoning
Mostly, I play the more hardcore racing sims. I want to be reminded of my time on real tracks, driving real cars. I want to work on my skills. I want to watch my replay and analyze mistakes and correct my technique. Taking it all a little too seriously is part of the fun for me. However, sometimes I'm bloody tired. I'm tired from managing…
Feature: Gather the tropes
When it first came out a decade ago, Valkyria Chronicles came off as a delightfully odd duck: a sort of doe-eyed strategy JRPG that gave the Western-dominated strategy genre a much-needed taste of pastel anime charm. But its hybrid of third-person movement with turn-based tactics was relegated to consoles until a PC release in 2016. Now, for better or worse, Valkyria Chronicles 4 offers a…
Feature: Memorable
As a collection of puzzles Path To Mnemosyne is a peculiar conflation of ingenious and over-familiar, as well as having a name you'll never remember when you want to find it on Steam later. As a small vignette, it looks beautiful (if slightly held back by clunky controls) offering smart puzzling ideas, in between some of the most hackneyed puzzles you can think of. I…
4 weeks ago
Feature: Yo dawg, I heard you like RPGs...
Satirical website Hard Drive once ran a story which poked fun at the long, drawn-out nature of most RPGs. In a hard-hitting investigative report, one player was commended for finally “getting to the good shit” at the 117-hour mark of a fictional game, while his roommate scoffed at him for only making it mid-way through the game. Like most RPGs, CrossCode is an immense and…
Feature: It can go whistle
The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep is a shoddy old mess burying some nice ideas
Are you nostalgic for The Bard's Tale? I certainly played them back between 1985 and 1988, but being under 10, that was a very long time ago. I don't really remember them with any special degree of affection. And I'm certainly free of the peculiar reverence of those for whom such cows are too sacred to criticise even the decades-later follow-ups (subtweet). What I've been…
Feature: Just like old times
The Gardens Between is all about reminiscing. It plays like two friends talking about all the adventures they've had, with the conversation flowing as they remember details and go back over stories that’ve grown with the telling. “Do you remember...?” it seems to say. “Oh yes, but before that-!” “And of course there was the bit where-!” This is not a feeling that comes from…
Feature: Not Messi
For a series that’s been running for over 20 years, it’s no minor statement to say that the latest iteration has brought back the fun. You already know how enormous the series is, you are likely aware of how much it’s become “Sky Sports Presents FIFA” over the years, and you certainly know how much of a heaving beast it is in terms of #content.…
Feature: Thicker than water
The sound of an explosion and a huge burst of flame sends me sprinting for cover. The attack wasn’t directed at me, it turns out. One of my fellow survivors had walked into a hive of zombies and he was chargrilling them. I stay hidden behind a van and watch him duke it out. We’re both after the same thing: blood samples that will allow…
1 month ago
Feature: Ice ice, baby
Frozen Synapse 2’s campaign puts you in charge of a security force in a sprawling, cyberpunk metropolis where a rogue AI threatens the safety of the populace. It also lets you choose your character’s name, honorific, and organisation. So, naturally, it was time for Grand Moff Godzilla Johnson to lead the CyberBois to victory. This is, of course, the sequel to 2011's Frozen Synapse. Through…
Feature: It looms large
Update: We've made some substantial changes to this review to reflect the dramatic technical improvements made by the day one patch released on the 12th. Shadow Of The Tomb Raider is, we're told, the final entry in the latest trilogy of Lara Croft adventures. And is, I'm pleased to report, by far the best of the three. It remains a muddled affair, never quite sure…
Feature: Nuggets of wisdom
Premature Evaluation is the weekly column in which we explore the wilds of early access. This week, Fraser has donned the mantle of ‘deity’ in The Universim. It’s a god sim with more than a hint of Spore and good old Populous. The big bang starts with a click. From that press of a button a brand new cosmos springs to life - a huge…
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