Games reviewed… eventually
It sounds cynical but I try to go into games without too many expectations; if I have none then I can’t be too disappointed if they’re not met, right? I feel like that’s a reasonably healthy way to approach games, especially because I, like many people, can and indeed want to get super invested in … Continue reading Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
And so finally we’re here. As Scarecrow promises in his broadcasts over Gotham, this is the end of the Batman. Batman: Arkham Knight (PC, PS4 [reviewed], Xbox One) Released Jun 2015 | Developed: Rocksteady | Published: Warner Bros. 9 months after the death of the Joker, Gotham has never been safer. Most of the city’s … Continue reading Batman: Arkham Knight
I normally like these preambles to be vaguely introductory or to relay some sort of emotion I held before going in to a game, but this time I feel like it needs to be a touch different. Harley Quinn’s Revenge is a DLC epilogue to Arkham City and it feels impossible to discuss it fairly … Continue reading Harley Quinn’s Revenge
How do you follow up a game as good as Arkham Asylum? Batman: Arkham City (PC, PS3, PS4 [reviewed], Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One) Released Oct 2011 | Developed: Rocksteady | Published: Warner Bros. Following the events of the fantastic Arkham Asylum Quincy Sharp, the former warden of the asylum, has ascended to the … Continue reading Batman: Arkham City
I have a real soft spot for the hard-boiled grim detective trope in narratives. There’s something almost mystical about that image and its portrayals in games - from the cynical poetry of Max Payne’s dialogue to the jaded ultraviolence of Booker in Bioshock Infinite - tend to result in some of my favourite characters in … Continue reading The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Quick, hot take time! Batman’s great, ain’t he? Yeah, I know, it’s hard hitting stuff there, a real tough opinion I’m bringing out. Much like the rest of the internet, and like anyone who has ever read a graphic novel or seen a superhero movie I really like Batman. It should be no surprise then … Continue reading Batman: Arkham Asylum
Oh I have been looking forward to this one for a long time. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is just around the corner as of time of writing, and though I know I’m not terribly likely to play it on release - such a thing is the antithesis of the patient gamer ethos after all - it … Continue reading Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
I am a real sucker for a classic platformer. 3D platformers were a fixture in my youth, with games like Spyro, Crash, Sly Raccoon, Jak and Daxter, and Ratchet and Clank all games that were major formational parts of my gaming growing up. Some less successful titles did also cross my path, such as Ty … Continue reading Ape Escape 2
Some games ask deep and meaningful questions about their players. Questions like “How much control do players have?”, and “Is the violence we express in games merely a symptom of our own, inherently cruel human condition?” Abzu shames all of these petty inquiries. Instead, it asks a truly monumental question of us as players. “What … Continue reading Abzu
