After winning our poll for 2012 game of the year, as well as walking away with the title of ‘Best Game’ in BAFTA’s 2013 British Academy Games Awards, we thought we’d better get around to actually reviewing Dishonored. But does it live up to the banner or has it been over-hyped?

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Arkane Studios was founded in 1999 and has earned an enviable reputation for creating unique games. The innovative first-person action Dishonored is their most recent release and has received worldwide critical-acclaim, winning over fifty awards at the 2012 E3 as well as Gamescom’s ‘Game of the Show’ title. This is only the start, as since October 2012 the title has received over one-hundred accolades from the industry’s most influential media outlets.

Dishonored was a fairly low-key game when it was first released, slipping under the radar with no-one really making a big deal of it. I admit that it was only when the awards started rolling that it caught my attention and make me want to get it, but I’m glad I eventually bought into the hype. It grabbed me straight from the opening scenes as the story wasted no time in getting right into the action; and for me that’s a big plus because some similar titles can take a long time to get going.

Shhhhh… be very quiet…

I was delighted that everything was so easy to pick up. Stealth is the main feature of the game and I thought this would turn out to be over-complicated but it really wasn’t; with a simple tap of a button, you can hide from their enemies and look around the corner to see where they’re coming from. It’s very clear from the outset that you can play the title in one of two ways. The first option is to be super-stealthy, remaining invisible in the shadows and slowly moving through the levels, never needing to kill anyone but your main target; or you can go full-on action man mode, running in with all guns blazing and leaving a path of destruction behind you. It’s great that players get to know their options right from the start.

Dishonored takes place in Dunwall in the Empire of Isles, a collective of four nation-states tightly grouped in an otherwise empty ocean. The industrial city is in the grip of a terrible plague and so, despite its technological superiority, the rats are in full force and gang crime is at an all time high. Empress Jessamine Kaldwin sends bodyguard Corvo Attano to seek aid from neighbouring nations but he has to return with bad news after realising that nobody will help; and things go from bad to worse as Jessamine is murdered by deadly assassins in front of him and her daughter Emily is kidnapped. After being framed for the crime, Corvo disappears into the rat-infested backstreets to seek revenge on the people who did this to him, while being assisted by a team of highly-skilled rebels.

Running in full steam ahead is really fun, if a little bloody.

Players take on the role of Corvo and start by utilising stealth in a quick tutorial on how to lay in wait until victims are alone. You’re then taught how to sneak up and make a choice: you can spare their life and knock them out cold, or you can kill them in cold blood. The former has Corvo use a sleeper-hold of sorts before gently laying his enemy on the ground without a sound, while the latter sees him dispatch people in a variety of ways with his sword. Leaving your victim’s body out in the open to be discovered can raise the alarm, so you have the option of moving them somewhere discreetly out of the way; but with so many long drops, rivers, and other features about you’ll find yourself thinking up some pretty creative ways of disposing of the evidence.

Stealth, although very well created, seemed to drag a bit for me at times. Taking time to study the patterns of patrol of multiple soldiers in one area so you can strike them down individually without detection gets a tad frustrating. Your eagerness eventually gets the better of you and before you know it you’re detected with an entire army on your arse; and then the only way to defuse the situation is with a hack and slash. The addition of special powers are welcome, with my favourites being Windblast (where you release a powerful blast of wind, knocking all enemies off of their feet) and Devouring Swarm (this summons a vicious group of rats that will attack and eat the nearest living thing – tasty). The Blink ability allows you to transport to a nearby location, and this helped me get Corvo out of sticky situations many a time.

Graphics are a little hit and miss in Dishonored. Now don’t get me wrong – the environments are great, with the rat-infested streets looking like desperate places and clearly taking inspiration from Victorian London during its own plague. But my problem is with the below-par textures of some scenes and characters. When there’s a lot going on, a clear drop in quality is visible which is a shame as this could have easily been cleared up before release. With that aside, it really doesn’t spoil the tense visual atmosphere of the game and characters’ facial expressions really communicate the situation.

Sound all the way through the title is flawless and it’s one of the key components of setting a scene. Whether you’re in full-on battle or just strolling around Dunwall, you’re constantly listening out for what’s around the corner. There are three elements I was extremely impressed with, the first being the sounds of your weapons; it’s not enough for it to look good when you attack someone, but the satisfying sound of your old-style gun going off just adds to the moment. Second is the voice-acting by a cast including Carrie Fisher and Micheal Madsen; Susan Sarandon does a lovely performance in her role as former aristocrat Granny Rags, adopting a tired voice that really adds depth to the character. And last but not least, it has to be the rats – the noise they make when stripping a corpse of its flesh makes you want to run away as fast as you can.

Granny Rags is voiced by Susan Sarandon, but she’s not like any granny we’ve ever met.

Replayability here is huge and it’s all down to the separate endings: the amount of chaos you cause throughout the game determines whether you get a good or a bad closing so its worth playing through again just to see the different fates of Dunwall and its citizens. Another fun reason to restart the title is the amount of collectables available. Try to retrieve all of the coins, ruins, ammo and books and you’ll find collecting everything is more of a challenge then completing the actual story.

Final thoughts are definitely positive. I loved Dishonored from start to finish and, with its great storyline and well-written characters, I didn’t want it end. With that in mind I had to ask myself a difficult question: was it really worthy of being the game of 2012? As first I wasn’t sure, because it seemed to do a lot of things right but lack a certain something; but then after a little more reflection, I realised that it does in fact deserve the prestigious title. It’s all down to the fact that I kept thinking the plot over after I put down the controller and that hasn’t happened to me in a very long time. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel very soon.

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Physics-based puzzler Pandora: Purge of Pride is High Class Kitsch’s first game. It’s also the first Kickstarter product that we’ve backed and seen come to fruition, so were we right to part with our money?

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High Class Kitsch was formed by four Interactive Media and Game Development students from Massachusetts when Ryan Casey, Mike Frankfort, Jill Sauer and Alex Thornton-Clark teamed up to complete their Major Qualifying Project at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. They used the concept stage for Pandora: Purge of Pride to finish their assignment and turned it into an actual game after leaving the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The team launched a Kickstarter campaign in May 2013 with a modest target of $5,000 to cover software and other fees such as marketing, and this is how we were first made aware of Pandora here at 1001-Up.com. We became official backers because we’re always looking to help out smaller projects with potential – you can find Kimmy mentioned on High Class Kitsch’s website – and initially the game made us think of a cross between Amnesia: The Dark Descent and The 7th Guest (review coming soon).

We became official backers for Pandora: Purge of Pride in May 2013.

While in Birmingham recently, we had some spare time before the start of our weekend at Rezzed and decided to put this to good use. An evening was spent gathered around a laptop in a hotel room with Pandora and a cider or two. This is the first product of a Kickstarter campaign that we’ve backed and seen come to fruition; would it prove to be a good starting point?

The game is set in Victorian England and is based upon the story of the namesake’s box. Players take on the role of Pandora, a naïve young woman who has unknowingly unleashed the Seven Deadly Sins on her mansion, and puzzles must be solved in order to recapture the evils and stop them from spreading. Corresponding powers are gained along the way; for example, capturing Greed enables you to pull objects towards you and Lust attracts two items to one another.

Capturing Greed grants you the power to pull objects towards you.

The plot is what first attracted us to Pandora, as a Greek myth should provide a wealth of inspiration for a video game and we were looking forward to seeing where the developers would take it. Unfortunately however, it isn’t really expanded upon within the title. The game opens with a few narrative stills but this doesn’t feel like it’s enough information; without the colour of a full backstory, we found it hard to become invested in the characters or believe in any real sense of drama. The team’s Major Qualifying Project Report explains the story further but we didn’t see many of the plot details within the game itself.

As mentioned above, the title consists of physics-based puzzles each based on one of the Seven Deadly Sins. For example, Greed takes place within the library where the mansion’s occupants have ‘hoarded’ all of their knowledge, and players must jump from one suspended platform to the next. The Kickstarter page mentions challenges with adaptive difficulty levels but weren’t aware of it whilst playing; in fact, we found the majority of the puzzles far too easy and were able to complete the game in under forty minutes.

In the first level, players simply have to traverse suspended platforms.

A power is gained after defeating each sin but sadly, these don’t seem to do enough to be warranted as ‘powerful’. It’s rare that players will need to combine more than two to complete a level and it’s usually just a case of using the last ability uncovered. During one puzzle we found that we were able to get across a gaping hole by simply pressing one key, rather than navigating the room in a particular fashion as the developers had probably intended. To be honest, if our character was able to manipulate objects by hand rather than through a power, it’s likely we’d have played the game in this way instead.

The place where we spent most of our time was outside with Sloth, where we had to construct a ramp out of materials lying around the mansion’s garden and use it to bombard a clock with objects. It’s not that we couldn’t figure out what we had to do to progress – it was pretty obvious – but the controls were so poor that we found it extremely difficult to get anything situated in the correct position. We must have spent at least half of our gameplay here and ended up getting so frustrated, the only reason we carried on was for the sake of this review. The title’s storyline implies that there are forces of work that may distort the normal laws of nature but Pandora herself feels like she has no physical weight at all.

High Class Kitsch added a Steam Greenlight entry for Pandora a couple of months ago and, while they’ve received a lot of positive comments, most negativity is aimed at the graphics. Pandora doesn’t look anything like the person depicted in the portrait displayed within the game; and when leaving a level, rather than getting a 3D view on the other side of the doorway all you see is a flat image. In the Sloth section mentioned above grass appears to grow through boards when they’re lying on the ground; and background textures are simply tiled so some environments look rather basic.

We understand what the developers were going for – a grand Victorian mansion somewhere in England, torn apart and degraded by the Seven Deadly Sins – and it’s great that the visuals all form part of a consistent theme. But somehow it doesn’t quite work, and it leaves players feeling that a little more time should have been spent on polishing the graphics. Saying that though, the hand-drawn opening and closing stills are pleasant and Pandora’s portrait is an attractive piece of work.

Pandora’s portrait is attractive, but her character doesn’t look like the same person.

The music throughout the game is rather well done and it builds up nicely as you progress through the levels, but unfortunately the voice-acting and script let the audio side of things down. The Major Qualifying Project Report explains that Pandora’s voice was provided by a team member rather than and professional and it shows; the dialogue seems a bit stilted and doesn’t really convey any sense of urgency. We understand that the developers wanted to show the protagonist as strong and curious, but if all the world’s evils were unleashed on us we doubt we’d sound so calm or talk about the 1864 Chateau Brideaux.

Sadly, we can’t see ourselves playing Pandora again and the game doesn’t offer a lot of replayability value. Most of the puzzles are far too easy to solve and the mechanics applied were frustrating enough to put us off of another playthrough. If you’re looking for a gothic horror, you may be better off going for something like Kraven Manor; and if you’re into physics-based puzzle games, most gamers will find Portal a more satisfying and challenging package.

The Seven Deadly Sins now total eight, thanks to this game.

Despite saying all of the above, we don’t regret becoming official backers for Pandora: Purge of Pride. We’re always looking to support smaller teams and it’s great to see new entries coming onto the indie scene all the time. But we can’t help feeling as if High Class Kitsch should have concentrated on refining and polishing their title a little more before its release because it could have been so much more. We hope that the negatives evident in their first project doesn’t put players off following them in the future, and that they manage to pull something out of the box (pun intended) with their next game.

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Escape from Monkey Island is the fourth instalment in LucasArts’ beloved pirate series, and the first game not to appear on our 1001 list. Does this mean that this game doesn’t live up to the greatness of its predecessors?

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Escape from Monkey Island, the last of LucasArts’ adventure games to be released, was made with Sean Clark and Michael Stemmle as lead designers over ten years ago. Both had previously worked on Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Sam & Max Hit the Road (review coming soon), with the former also having a hand in Loom and The Dig. They obviously had a lot of experience going for them, but many asked how the pair come back from what many thought was a terrible ending in The Curse of Monkey Island.

I’ll say it once again: this series has been one of my all-time favourites since I first played The Secret of Monkey Island on my Amiga as a kid back in 1990. I still have the original discs for Escape from Monkey Island (take a look at the photo below) so, after playing the first three titles, I thought it would only be fair to dig them out and give the fourth instalment another go. During my original playthrough thirteen years ago I actually lost interest in the game and didn’t bother finishing it; would I be able to make it through this time around?

I still have the original discs from thirteen years ago!

At the end of the previous title, our swashbuckling hero Guybrush Threepwood and his blushing bride Elaine Marley headed off into the sunset on their honeymoon. But upon returning to Mêlée Island three months later they find that Elaine has been declared officially dead, her position as governor has been revoked and her mansion is scheduled to be demolished. A sleazy character known as Charles L Charles has put himself forward as the lead candidate; and an unscrupulous Australian land-developer Ozzie Mandrill is buying up land all over the place.

To top it all off, it’s not long before the evil undead pirate LeChuck is back on the scene too and everyone is searching for a talisman known as the Ultimate Insult. Guybrush must help Elaine stop the redevelopment of their homeland, win back her position as governor, and stop his nemesis from using the voodoo talisman to destroy the spirit of all those who hear it.

Why do evil undead pirates always seem to pop up at the most inappropriate moments?

Along with a characteristic storyline, a number of familiar faces make a welcome return – the Voodoo Priestess, Carla and Murray the evil skull to name but a few – and the humour that the series is known for is still there. However, a lot of the jokes won’t make sense unless you’ve played the previous games and I can see how this would put some new gamers off. For example, the fact that Otis the pirate likes flowers is a gag from the original title. But it’s mentioned a number of times throughout Escape from Monkey Island without a reference point, almost as if the designers are hoping you’ve played The Secret of Monkey Island and remember how funny the joke was the first time around.

The title makes used of a slightly-improved version of the GrimE engine, first introduced in Grim Fandango (review coming soon) in 1998. The SCUMM has also been replaced by the Lua programming language and this change is referenced in-game; after buying the SCUMM Bar, Mandrill replaces it with a tropical-themed sushi restaurant called the Lua Bar. These updates result in both positive and negative effects.

The SCUMM bar has been replaced by a new tropical-themed sushi bar – hope you like fish.

The pre-rendered backgrounds of the previous games have been upgraded to a 3D environment and this gives players a lot more room to explore. But a number of oddly-placed camera angles can lead to frustration; I kept finding myself switching between shots when Guybrush would leave a scene in one direction and enter the next in exactly the opposite. Some environments are troublesome to manoeuvre our hero in, and he tends to do a weird dance-like action when coming up against invisible walls – extremely un-pirate like.

As mouse input has been removed in favour of the keyboard, it can sometimes be difficult to get Guybrush to stand exactly where you need him to in order to highlight an object. This can be another cause of irritation since the SCUMM verbs have been replaced by a series of text options. On a positive note however, pressing a key enables the player to automatically leave an environment or bring up an overhead map; but I can’t help feeling like the gameplay would have been a bit more fluid if only LucasArts had stuck with the mouse.

The gameplay would be more fluid if players could only use a mouse.

The title contains many puzzles and, as Monkey Island fans have come to expect, they can seem a bit illogical at first. For example, what you need to do in order to tell a pair of twin parrots apart is somewhat random; but once you remember what was said by the barman at the Micro-Groggery, it all becomes clear and extremely inventive. More often than not clues are dropped by characters in this way and, if you immerse yourself in that familiar pirate humour, you’ll soon find your way out of any sticky situation.

Many fans will say that the hallmark aspect of the Monkey Island series is the insult sword-fighting, duels based on the wittiness of your slurs rather than the quality of your combat. It’s briefly touched upon during a round of insult arm-wrestling with Mr Cheese the navigator and in an unwinnable battle against Mandrill. But in the whole the much-loved mechanic has been succeeded by Monkey Kombat: a simian parody of Mortal Kombat (review coming soon), of course.

This sub-game is something like rock-paper-scissors, where players need to memorise retorts that consist of randomised compositions of the monkey words ‘ack’, ‘chee’, ‘eep’ and ‘oop’. During my research for this review I found that a lot of players criticised Escape from Monkey Island for this puzzle at the time of its release, but I have to admit that I actually quite enjoyed it. It’s unusual nowadays to come up against a challenge that actually requires you to get a pen and paper, and it’s something from adventure classics that I miss.

The graphics in the first two Monkey Island games were as realistic as was possible for the time, whereas The Curse of Monkey Island went for more cartoon-like visuals. As mentioned above, these have both been done away with and replaced by a 3D environment in Escape from Monkey Island; this decision wasn’t met with much positivity from fans, myself being among them. I disliked the graphics during my first playthrough and not much has changed since – give me an illustrated background and point-and-click controls any day.

The character models aren’t great and have aged quite badly.

The character models are jagged, with some being rendered a little uninteresting through lack of features. Various models even seem to be re-used; I was certain that one pirate in a late cutscene was the demolition man who appeared at the beginning, until I realised that he had a different voice. Although many critics praised the title for its graphics at the time of release, unfortunately the best thing I can say about them is that the curly-shaped clouds and plaid effect of Stan’s jacket are still with us.

And now for what’s probably the most important part of this review: an update on my ‘brush crush. After seeing the still dialogue scenes in The Secret of Monkey Island I had a huge fondness for Guybrush as a kid but then LucasArts shattered my childhood dreams by giving him a dodgy beard in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. He shaved off the bad facial hair in The Curse of Monkey Island but still wasn’t the tousle-haired buccaneer of my fantasies; and after playing Escape from Monkey Island I can officially say that my crush is over. Seriously, just take a look at the picture below.

My Guybrush crush is officially over.

Fortunately, the voice-acting is great and does a better job of bringing the characters to life than the graphics do. Dominic Armato is once again perfectly cast as Guybrush and instils our hero will lots of personality. My one small issue with the sound is the re-use of music which sometimes feels a little like laziness; in the previous games it was a delight to hear a new rendition of the main theme during the opening credits, but this instalment seems to recycle the same music used for The Curse of Monkey Island.

Reading through the above, it seems like I’m really critical of Escape from Monkey Island and didn’t actually enjoy playing the game. But that’s not the case: it definitely kept me amused over a week and I’d recommend it to adventure fans. Sadly however, it suffers as much from the pressure of being part of such a beloved series as it does from its own shortcomings – it’s somewhat overshadowed by the greatness of its predecessors.

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Syberia is Belgian comic book artist Benoît Sokal’s 2002 adventure game, which sees our female protagonist searching across Europe for a toy factory heir. Let’s go hunting for some big woolly mammoths.

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Syberia was created by renowned Belgian comic book artist Benoît Sokal after the success of his first video game Amerzone. It was produced entirely in Montreal, Canada by a team of thirty-five people under his direction, and was made on a budget of €2 million using the Virtools Development Environment. Sokal indicated in an interview with Just Adventure that at one time they were considering creating a single game for the Syberia story, but decided not to proceed with this idea as it was just so large.

I originally played this title on the PlayStation 2 around eight years ago now so it has certainly been a while since I last picked it up. I remember thinking that it looked great but being a bit bemused by some aspects of the storyline, the ending in particular as it seemed to come about quite abruptly. But when I saw the game being offered with its sequel on Steam at a special price of £2.99, I thought it might be worth revisiting before seeing what Syberia II was like.

Kate’s journey starts off in quaint little Valadilene.

Players take on the role of American lawyer Kate Walker, who is sent by her firm to a remote French village called Valadilene in order to finalise the takeover of a toy factory. Upon arriving however, she discovers that owner Anna Voralberg has recently passed away and her brother Hans, whom everyone in town thought dead for more than sixty years, must now be tracked down in order for the sale to proceed. Kate’s mission takes her across Central and Eastern Europe, gradually leading her closer and closer to Syberia as well as to question her own lifestyle.

Syberia plays in the most part like any standard adventure game, in that you click objects onscreen to interact with them and collected ones are stored within your inventory. Although there isn’t a need to combine items here, they are split into two sections: those which can be physically used in the environment, and personal records that provide clues or colourful background information. When Kate meets someone and wants to start a dialogue, players are presented with a notebook listing a number of topics and selecting one will commence a conversation around the subject.

You’ll meet some interesting characters, not all of them human.

Our heroine also carries a mobile phone with her during her travels and she uses this to provide updates to her boss in New York. As well as being used in a couple of the game’s puzzles, it also rings periodically with calls from her boyfriend, mother and friend and these serve as an interesting plot device. Such conversations are usually around mundane topics and are a link to the familiar, reminding players that Kate is part of the real world despite being drawn into an almost surreal adventure. It helps keep the whole thing grounded throughout some of the more unbelievable parts of the storyline.

Speaking of the puzzles, very few objects in the environment can actually be used or picked up and you’re unable to interact with anything that isn’t immediately necessary. This makes Syberia is a good starting point for novice adventure gamers. A linear path means that you can be sure it’s only one solution you’re looking for and you don’t become overwhelmed by all of the possibilities. The title also follows the guidelines first introduced by LucasArts, in that it’s impossible to die or get stuck at any moment in the game; this enables players to fully immerse themselves in Syberia’s universe without the fear of making a mistake or constant need to save.

However, seasoned adventurers may notice a couple of disappointing flaws. There are times when Kate is frustratingly incapable of helping herself; for example, she refuses to get her hands dirty by reaching for an oar submerged a few feet into a lake (which actually looks crystal clear). She ends up getting a local boy to help her and then employs him to use the item as a makeshift lever to open a dam. Feminists probably won’t be impressed by this otherwise modern woman’s persistent need to find help with tasks that she could easily complete herself.

Alongside this, there’s actually very little to do in the title most of the time. The puzzles aren’t particularly challenging; there isn’t a lot you can actually interact with on most screens; and most of your time will be spent travelling from one location to another (superbly rendered as they are). You’ll soon become tired of Kate telling you that there’s ‘no need to go down there’. If the puzzle designers from the Myst series had been hired to create those for Syberia, this could have been close to a perfect game as such challenges would have worked extremely well in this mechanical world.

Kate employs child labour to get across the river – feminists won’t be impressed.

Despite the lack of challenge, one thing you won’t get bored of is the pre-rendered backgrounds. Each is extremely beautiful and locations have their own unique personality; the Barrockstadt train station with its distinctive built-in aviary and cocky Amerzone cuckoos looks like somewhere you’d actually want to visit. Disappointingly however, you can interact with hardly any of the objects within the world as mentioned above. And although Kate moves pretty realistically for an older adventure game, she isn’t always that great when going from jogging to walking or when she hits a staircase at the wrong angle.

Most locations visited in Syberia have their own classical theme and these fit in perfectly with the surroundings. But you’re sometimes left wishing for a few more sound effects as certain settings seem to be a little ‘empty’. Whilst Kate’s voice-acting isn’t too bad, she does start to get on your nerves a little after she tells you that there’s ‘no need to go down there’ for the tenth time; and her boyfriend, mother and friend sound like whiney characters who she’d do well to ditch in favour of heading east to Syberia anyway.

Like some pesky little cuckoos are going to stop you.

Unfortunately, this title has very little replay value. The linear storyline and single puzzle solutions take away any variation and, as most challenges are so straight-forward, you won’t easily forget the solutions after you’ve played the game for the first time. However, it’s ideal for players who are new to the adventure genre, and for experienced adventurers who just want to relax with something that isn’t too taxing. You’ll be kept amused for around twelve hours or so but it’s possible that you may find something like The Longest Journey just a little more fulfilling.

The title does end a little more abruptly than most gamers will expect it to, and I have to admit that this put me off after my first playthrough as I felt there were just too many questions left unanswered. But after managing to purchase Syberia and Syberia II at a special price on Steam recently it would be unjust not to give the series another chance. Now that Sokal has announced that Syberia III will be coming in the next year or so, it seems like the perfect time to catch-up with Kate Walker.

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Exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and a masterpiece from Naughty Dog, The Last of Us is a fresh new take on the survival-horror genre that replaces zombies with a literally mind-blowing fungal infection taking over the world.

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The Last of Us is the latest in a long line of hugely-successful blockbusters from developer Naughty Dog, and a completely new intellectual property exclusive to the PlayStation 3. A large team of eighty people spent four years developing the game and the wait has been well worth it, giving PS3 owners one last gift before they move onto the PlayStation 4. The idea behind the title came from a BBC documentary showing the effects of the cordyceps fungus taking over the brain of an ant and producing growths from its head; the developer considered what would happen if such a fungus could infect a human, and the concept grew from there.

When The Last of Us was first revealed at the Spike Video Game Awards 2011, the gameplay trailer showed main characters Joel and Ellie taking on a group of survivors before being ambushed by crazed people covered in a fungal growth. The video displayed the familiar Naughty Dog style of third-person cover-based shooting and stealth mechanics that we’re all used to, along with our first look at the infected. Once I finally got my hands on the game with the rest of the 1001-Up.com team at the GAME UK Lock-in event, I was hooked.

Stealth is the most important approach to take, as ammo and supplies are limited.

The game opens with one of the most impressive and heart-breaking introductions I’ve ever seen in a video game – I wouldn’t blame any adult for shedding a tear or two at the end of it. We’re shown the first hours of the cordyceps outbreak during 2013 and are introduced to Joel, his daughter Sarah and brother Tommy as they attempt to escape the town. Once the intro is over, we’re taken forward twenty years to a much older Joel who has spent the last two decades working as a smuggler in the quarantine zone of Boston. Tess is introduced as his friend and colleague before they set off to find a gangster called Robert in an attempt to recover a stolen cache of weapons; but it turns out that they’ve been sold to a rebel group known as the Fireflies who are in a war against the authorities that govern the quarantine. Joel and Tess encounter the rebel leader Marlene, who offers a deal to return the weapons cache if they smuggle a girl called Ellie out of the zone to a group of Fireflies.

With the deal agreed, Joel and Tess set out with Ellie and their journey begins. It’s not long before the reason for smuggling Ellie is discovered: she is infected after being bitten but is immune, having being in this state for weeks when usually the infection takes over within days. The adults decide that this must be kept a secret because, even though this discovery has the potential to provide a cure to the infection, anybody found to be infected is killed instantly to prevent further disease within the quarantine zone.

Life in the quarantine zone of Boston is tough, those that become infect are euthanized.

The Last of Us plays just like any of the Uncharted games; it’s a third-person shooter with stealth mechanics as well as brutal close-quarter melee fighting. While the gameplay is very much like that of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, important survival elements are added to immerse players into the experience and also tie in with the setting of the story. Crafting is the biggest addition and scavenging for specific items such as scissor blades, tape, alcohol and other materials allows Joel to make weapons and essential items. Finding these requires time spent searching cupboards and draws and turns what could be a simple shooter into a slower paced survival-horror game. I found myself searching every inch of every area looking for items, and this greatly extended the play time but also gave me an opportunity to take in the atmosphere of the title. Some gamers may get fed up with this mechanic and therefore lose interest, but The Last of Us is unforgiving and almost impossible to complete without taking the time to find and craft items essential to survival.

Outside of scavenging and crafting, players will either be fighting other survivors to the death or hiding from infected using the simplified stealth mechanics. Unlike most games, cover can be taken behind any obstacle: simply crouch behind an object and if it’s tall enough you won’t be visible. Joel has an interesting ability called ‘listen mode’ which allows him to see enemies through walls if they’re making noise and crawl slowly to move unnoticed. Stealth is the best option when approaching an area of danger, whether that’s humans looking to kill you for your gear or infected wandering around aimlessly looking for prey. Sneaking up on people lets you grab them to use as a meat shield, strangle them (which can take a while) or use a shiv for a quick take-down. Joel’s backpack has limited space so using a weapon is an important decision as you can only hold three at a time – if you don’t have the items required to craft a new one then it could be some time before you find more tape and blades.

The crafting system plays a large part – without these supplies it’s near impossible to survive.

Ammo is limited and rarely dropped by enemies or found in the environment. Tess and Ellie do throw boxes of ammo a few times, but only within chase scenes where stealth isn’t an option. This adds to the desperate feeling of survival and creates moments of highs and lows; at one point you’ll have more ammo than you need, and then hits a moment of crisis where you’re left with nothing after a lengthy shootout. It’s been a while since I last experienced this quality of survival gameplay, probably not since the early Resident Evil titles. Upgrading weapons and Joel’s abilities adds some further depth to the gameplay, as after picking up enough pills it’s possible to increase Joel’s health or the distance of listen mode. Collecting gun parts allows you to upgrade various aspects of your weapons including accuracy, clip size and reload speeds. A minor annoyance with the gun-play is that you can’t pick up the weapon of a downed enemy as they simply disappear. While this makes sense from a gameplay aspect to enforce the survival characteristics, it does remind you that you’re playing a game and this can detract from the immersion.

The infected come in several forms: runners and stalkers are the easiest to deal with as they are in the early stages of infection and can be killed easily with melee attacks. Clickers are are unable to see as the fungus has taken hold so much that they use echolocation instead to find their way around. The biggest and most dangerous enemy is the bloater, armed with a thick layer of fungus making them tough and hard to take down. Learning how to deal with each type is essential, and most of the time it is simply better to avoid them or take each one out silently. It’s always challenging to get past an area with infected enemies, but it’s better to not engage them at all to save using essential supplies. Another illogical aspect that breaks immersion is how AI-controlled followers act when Joel is in stealth mode; they simply run around in plain sight of the enemies when there isn’t room behind cover to join our protagonist, but they aren’t coded to be visible and therefore nothing happens. It’s almost as though Naughty Dog didn’t know what to do in these situations and took the easy option by making allies invisible to enemies.

The listen mode feature allows Joel to locate enemies if they are making sound.

To me The Last of Us represents the peak of graphical fidelity that the PlayStation 3 is capable of. Over years of producing games for the console, Naughty Dog have been constantly raising the bar for image quality and detail. In this title they have outdone themselves once again with the most realistic-looking environments and characters supported by motion capture performances from the actors, and this ensures players are immersed into a world which is easily comparable to real life.

All the environments are highly detailed with rubble, decaying buildings, wrecked vehicles and constant reminders of the world before the outbreak. I haven’t seen such detailed level design before; far corners of a level are typically uninteresting and neglected in other games but in The Last of Us it’s obvious that a lot of time has been spent on creating these spaces. If like me you tend to search every nook and cranny looking for items, then you’ll find it isn’t such a hard chore this time around.

Environments are highly detailed and rarely fail to impress.

Two-time Academy Award winner Gustavo Santaolalla composed the music for The Last of Us. Emotion is provided in an otherwise horrific game by an acoustic guitar-based soundtrack, that builds up to a faster pace during action or mellows during moments of drama. Titles such as this require a strong supporting soundtrack to help draw the player into its world, and The Last of Us excels at this.

Without turning on captions some dialogue can be missed when in a gunfight or if the player is some distance from the character who is talking. While this adds some realism, it can be annoying to those who don’t want to miss anything. The sound design is otherwise superb: gunshots ring out loudly, breaking the silence and making the decision to shoot the enemy more important than in other games. For the audiophiles among us, the title has a wealth of options to tweak the experience and also uncompressed audio tracks for the highest sound quality available.

Combat is brutal, and the melee attacks are graphic.

My first playthrough took me sixteen hours, which is the most time I’ve spent with a single-player game on a console in quite some time. The story is well paced and doesn’t feel stretched out or rushed, and the variety in levels maintains your interest. While most of the gameplay already exists in previous Naughty Dog games and other third-person titles, the addition of survival mechanics and crafting make this a deeper experience than expected. Once the story is complete, the gameplay is enjoyable enough to warrant another go; those who can’t enjoy a plot a second time may not make use of the ‘New game+’ feature that allows you to replay with all earned weapon and player upgrades.

I haven’t played the multiplayer component of The Last of Us and so this review is based entirely on the single-player experience. Similar to the Uncharted games, concept art can be unlocked as you play along with player models to change the look of the characters. I enjoyed the former the most and will probably never use the alternative models and unlockable visual effects, but they are there for those that want a bit extra after completing the story.

The Last of Us is one of the highest quality games the PlayStation 3 has ever seen and, while it’s an excellent exclusive for the console, it’s a shame that those that don’t own it won’t be able to share the experience. If you do have a PS3 and haven’t bought this game yet, then you should get it right now as you’ll not be disappointed. Some of the best moments come from the story and the events that unfold; I’ve kept this review spoiler-free as it’s better to begin the game knowing very little and to experience it for yourself.

The scope and ambition for The Last of Us is staggering. Games like don’t appear often so don’t make the mistake of missing it.

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Sequels are a very hard thing to get right, whatever entertainment industry you’re in – especially if your first effort is considered a masterpiece. BioShock 2 had this problem in spades but did the second instalment in the series live up to the high expectations or sink to the bottom of the sea like a Big Daddy?

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Founded in 2005, 2K Games develops and publishes interactive entertainment for console systems and is probably best known for all of its sporting titles. But in 2008 the company released a title that would revolutionize the first-person shooter genre: BioShock (review coming soon). With it’s unique concept and original story, it sold massive numbers and got much critical acclaim so 2K decided to get to work straight away on a sequel. In 2010 BioShock 2 was released to an equally positive response.

The sequel initially seemed a lot scarier than its predecessor when I first started playing, with the first few minutes of gameplay being a lonely walk around Rapture while sudden loud noises kept me on my toes. This was very well done and it kept my eyes glued to the screen wondering when the first enemy would pounce. Another element that grabbed me straight away was the feel of the game; it looked exactly like the original BioShock but with a slightly darker edge, and this creepy atmosphere suits the series perfectly.

This isn’t going to end well…

BioShock 2′s plot is sure to keep players hooked all the way through to the end. It starts in 1958 in a populated and thriving Rapture, before things take a turn for the worst: protagonist Subject Delta, a Big Daddy, gets attacked and is forced to commit suicide by clinical psychiatrist Sofia Lamb using mind control. He then wakes up in 1968, eight years after the events of the original game, with no recollection of the past decade. Forced to search the city high and low to relocate his Little Sister, Eleanor, Lamb decides she wants the Big Daddy terminated for good and sends out her spliced-up followers and newly-created Big Sisters to put a stop to Delta’s mission.

Unfortunately gameplay can be a tad frustrating at times on two key elements. The first is Delta’s movement; although very realistic, in that a large man in what is essentially a heavy diver suit would move slowly, it doesn’t make for a pleasant experience at times and can hinder you during encounters with large groups of splicers. An upgrade to your speed can be bought at a Gatherer’s Garden vending machine but you still seem much slower then virtually everyone else in the game.

Even up close, weapons are inaccurate.

The second less-than-stellar part of the gameplay is the weapons. Some of them can either be slow – like the drill, attacks with which enemies are easily able to dodge – or they go wildly off track while shooting thus wasting valuable bullets. One saving grace to combat however is the powers you pick up along the way as they’re quick, accurate and responsive. You soon collect the basics of Electrify, Telekinesis and Inferno, and to be honest I didn’t stray too far from these; the last is my particular favourite, with baddies going down looking like giant fireballs. The new Security Command ability enables players to summon a security bot whenever they want, and I found that this really helped to draw attention away from myself in battles against other Big Daddies and Big Sisters.

During the title you get thrown a gameplay twist as you take control of a Little Sister for a while. This really gives you an insight into how these small children see the world – for example, in my playthrough dead people were seen as harmless angels and splicers as normal city residents just going about their everyday business. Rapture through the eyes of a Little Sister generally looks like a pleasant, safe place to live and this gives you an idea of what the city may have looked like before its collapse. This was one of the most interesting and memorable sections of the game for me.

The overall look of Bioshock 2 is flawless, with Rapture looking even more decrepit and run-down than before. This sets the scene perfectly throughout the game and really adds to the survival-horror element; you’re definitely aware that the underwater city is a dangerous place to walk around. Characters’ facial expressions have greatly improved since the first BioShock as well, with it being much easier to read people’s emotions and expressions. This comes in handy when deciding if someone is being genuine enough for you not to kill them.

The voice-acting in this title is stellar, especially when it comes to Sofia Lamb; she never shouts or raises her voice, but the evil in her mind still comes across perfectly. As you walk around the city, faint noises in the background keep you on your toes and wondering if a swarm of splicers or worse is going to jump out at you at any moment. One noise that players will dread all the way through the title is that of a Big Sister approaching, and the sound alone is enough to get your heart racing. These enemies take quite a while to kill so when you hear the terrifying screech of one getting close, it’ll send you into a panic collecting first-aid kits and bullets before she arrives.

Uh-oh, it’s a Big Sister – I’d run if I was you.

Replayability is massive in BioShock 2 and alternative endings mean the decisions you make in the game could result in a good or a bad situation. Do you decide to save all the Little Sisters or harvest them, kill all the main characters or let them live? There’s even an alternate ending if you both kill and save a percentage, so depending on how you play and how moralistic you’re feeling that day you may never get the same ending twice.

Final thoughts on BioShock 2 are mostly good ones. I really enjoyed playing this game and will definitely be going back to it at some point in the future. It had a story that kept me hooked, characters I cared about, and a scary city that I enjoyed exploring. Even though BioShock Infinite, the next in series, takes place in the clouds I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever return to Rapture one day and help save it one more time.

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Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars is the first in the acclaimed point-and-click adventure series by Revolution Software. With a handsome protagonist, plenty of exotic locales and copious amounts of intrigue, is there any reason why this classic title shouldn’t be on every gamers’ to-play list?

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In 1992, Cecil and Noirin Carmody met with Virgin Interactive’s Head of Publishing, Sean Brennan, to talk about how the Knights Templar would make an interesting subject for a video game. The publisher agreed and four years later in September 1996, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars was released on PC. In North America, the game was renamed to Broken Sword: Circle of Blood, although Cecil Carmody was uneasy about the change as he felt it gave the wrong impression about the kind of title it was.

Ubisoft then released a Director’s Cut version in March 2009 and Dave Gibbons, with whom Revolution Software had worked previously on Beneath a Steel Sky (review coming soon), created additional artwork for the game. This update contains a new narrative thread and around two hours extra gameplay on a multitude of platforms, but if you’re looking for the original version of the title you’ll need to head to Mastertronic or GOG.com.

Never trust a clown…

One of Carmody’s goals was to make something different from the humorous adventures that were popular at the time, such as the Monkey Island series by LucasArts. He wanted to create something with good pacing and a complex storyline and certainly succeeded with the first Broken Sword. I first played this title just after it was released sixteen years ago and, although Guybrush Threepwood will always be my first love, I found the difference in style and gameplay to be instantly captivating.

Players take on the role of George Stobbart, a young American who is literally blown into an adventure while on holiday in Paris when the café he is sitting in is ripped apart by a bomb. One dead body and a suspicious-looking clown later, his vacation is transformed into a quest to uncover the party responsible. After teaming up with savvy photographer Nicole (Nico) Collard, George quickly discovers that there’s more to the blast than meets the eye…

George teams up with Nico to discover who’s behind the bomb blast.

While the majority of this epic plot is the result of highly-creative storytelling, it does contain some elements of fact. The Knights Templar, the ancient society that George stumbles across, actually existed in the 11th century but very little is known about the chivalrous group who mysteriously disappeared after the 14th century. In this case, fact is definitely stranger than fiction and adds some excitement to an already entertaining story.

Broken Sword plays very much like a standard point-and-click adventure, although the interface is somewhat different than the SCUMM engine utilised by LucasArts’ games popular during the same period. Instead of verbs, players are presented with a ‘smart cursor’ that changes into an icon whenever an action can be performed at a ‘hotspot’. For example, the pointer will change to a gears symbol if you can operate something in the area. This has the fortunate effect of removing some of the typical pixel-hunting frustrations that can be experienced with titles of this genre; but it does unfortunately take away some of the mystery also, as clicking will operate an object before you’re even sure what it is.

Conversations are quite lively and do a good job of allowing characters’ personalities to shine through. There are some sequences where you have no control over what’s being said and these usually progress the story, but once players initiate a conversation the interface changes: subjects you’ve learnt about appear as icons at the bottom of the screen and your inventory is displayed at the top. Clicking on a topic will result in George asking about it in his own way as there are no pre-set questions. While this interface looks a little archaic nowadays, it’s actually very simple to use.

Broken Sword rarely leaves you in the position where it’s necessary to combine every item in your inventory, regardless of how absurd, in order to produce some kind of result. Most of the time you’ll have a fair idea of what you’re supposed to be doing in order to progress – the challenge lies in working out how you’re meant to do it. Perhaps you may need to distract a workman so that you can get at his toolbox (no pun intended); so give him a newspaper to read and he’ll wander off, leaving you free to raid his supplies.

Who would use a branch and a towel to climb down a chasm?

That being said however, there are of course the few obligatory illogical puzzles that a 1990s adventure just wouldn’t be a classic without. At one point it’s necessary to combine a tree branch with a rotary hand towel in order to climb safely down a chasm; this one had me stumped even though I’d completed the game before! It’s worth noting that some incorrect choices in item or conversation puzzles can result in George’s death, meaning that players will have to reload from their last save point. But Nico is always at the end of a telephone and can be called for suggestions about what to do next if you need a bit of advice.

Broken Sword’s backgrounds for the numerous locations are lovely: from the dark sewers of Paris, to the green hills of Ireland, to the arid mountains of Syria, each new area is a delight to explore. Additionally, animations such as other characters, flowing water or leaves swept along by the wind add a dynamic component to the scenery. You won’t encounter a completely static screen and it’s obvious that the developers paid a lot of attention to detail. The graphics may be somewhat cartoon-like but they really set the tone of the game and disguise a complex story.

Everyone who plays Broken Sword will end up remembering the goat.

Over two hours of original music have been incorporated into the title and themes are influenced by the cultures of the countries visited. The soundtrack dynamically accompanies the gameplay, lessening slowly during dialogue and raising to a crescendo to highlight certain events. It feels as if a great amount of work went into making special sounds, such as a truck passing from left to right, realistic and the numerous accents from a cast of over sixty characters are hilarious. Particular highlights are the lusty Lady Piermount (I’ve never heard so many sexual innuendoes in one conversation) and the Geordie football fans that have missed their train stop (com’n join us, mon!).

Most of the memorable games in the classic point-and-click genre were produced by LucasArts and, with the exception of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, there are no games from this developer in which it’s possible for the main character to die. Broken Sword is a therefore a rare exception and one that takes on a more serious tone. It includes several instances where death occurs if you don’t complete the correct action quickly enough; while some might find this a bit harsh, for me it added a sense of reality to the story and rewarded quick-thinking.

Kind of like an old school The Da Vinci Code – but much better.

This title may not have a lot of replay value – the plot is linear and puzzles only have one solution – but it’s something that every gamer should try at least once. There’s a reason why it remains in many ‘top’ lists even to this day and is generally considered a classic. Broken Sword is kind of like an old school The Da Vinci Code but much better: more intrigue, better characters, and the promise of a wonderful sequel.

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Some people may argue that Ed Key and David Kanaga’s Proteus isn’t a video game, but more an ‘interactive experience’ or piece of art. Whatever you think it is, this work of exploration and discovery is strangely compelling and absolutely beautiful.

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Ed Key began work on Proteus in late 2009 as one of several experiments at creating a game to capture the feeling of freedom and wandering. It was heading towards being an open-world RPG but development in this area started to lose focus; and after speaking to David Kanaga, the guys decided to head in a slightly different direction where music was a core part of the design. The title has since gone on to win several awards such as ‘Best Audio’ at IndieCade 2011 and ‘Most Amazing Game’ at AMAZE 2012, and was also one of the final few to be accepted onto Steam in January 2013 before the introduction of the Greenlight system.

Before I actually purchased Proteus, I’d already heard a lot about it during the first half of this year. Most gamers are probably aware of the discussions across the internet – or have even been a part of them – around whether it’s actually a video game. These conversations put me off trying it out because I usually like my titles to have some kind of definitive structure; I’m that person who always asks ‘why’ and has to make sense out of something. But I finally gave in and thought I’d see what all the fuss was about when it was advertised on Steam at half price during the summer sale.

Video game, interactive experience, piece of art?

Our reviews here at 1001-Up.com usually follow a standard layout, but with Proteus that kind of goes out the window. We typically start with an overview of the plot but that’s a little difficult with Key and Kanaga’s work; there’s a very loose storyline but this game is very much what you personally make of it. Players start by waking in a calm ocean with only the sun for company, and squinting reveals the outline of a landmass on the horizon behind the haze. As you walk towards it, the vague outline begins to take shape and transforms into an island; it’s one that you’re about to explore for the very first time even if you’ve played Proteus a hundred times before.

Writing in too much detail would really spoil it for anyone who has never touched it before, so I’m going to try my best to tread lightly. Proteus’s secrets, as well as the couple of interactive mechanisms that move it forward, deserve to be discovered by each player for themselves. There are none of the features you’d usually find in a video game such as missions, skill trees or inventory, and the only objective is to explore and immerse yourself in the island’s beauty.

Players are invited to explore and immerse themselves in the island’s beauty.

The sun sets, the moon rises and the weather changes as you make your way across the island. The forces of nature act upon your surroundings and create rainstorms, snow flurries and meteor showers. You’re largely a passive spectator with only the ability to move and look around as your means of interaction; there’s no button to jump, pick-up, run or pause. You’ll come across things and curiosity will compel you to get closer: a falling star, a brood of chickens clucking in a field, a circle of mysterious statues on top of a hill. And it’s all procedurally generated so once you leave the island, you’ll never revisit exactly the same place again.

Designers have started to notice how much we’re beginning to enjoy roaming the landscapes that a title offers us for that sole reason alone. A certain kind of player will get far more pleasure out of exploring the lush forests and snowy mountains of something like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim than from the dragon-killing and republic-topling games that their creators have made to inhabit them. It may not be for everyone, but there’s something to be said about a title like Proteus that takes you on a virtual vacation.

After playing for the first time, I gave the title to W1ngman because I wanted to watch someone else’s reaction to it. At first he was a bit confused and kept asking what the point was, then after a while he began to get into it. While trying to make his way through the trees to the beach he became side-tracked by a squirrel and chased it in the opposite direction; then he realised what he was doing and said, “I’m not meant to be going this way, I got distracted.” And that right there is exactly Proteus’s point.

Anyone who hasn’t walked on the island yet may take a look at the game’s artwork and think that it’s too blocky and retro: trees with pixelated candy-floss coloured blossom, crabs that are simply orange semi-circles with legs, and a sun that looks as if it has been drawn by a child. But like the impressionist painters, programmer and artist Key attempts to create a strong sensory impression and it ends up being powerfully effective. You kind of feel like you’re taking part in a memory; you’re able to use your imagination to interpret the things you see in your own way, and graphics with any more detail would remove some of this magic.

Discovering the wildlife of the island and its sounds is a highlight.

Rather than playing at random, sound effects are influenced by where you are on the island and the objects that you’re near. Subtle washes of sound such as that for a rain shower underpin more definite themes like the piano scale of a frog hopping away. It’s pretty trippy and atmospheric, and at first you’ll think it’s without form; but listen closely and you’ll realise that Kanaga moves players skilfully through a series of musical movements. Summer sounds like a woozy clatter of insects drunk from the midday sun, while the snowy winter is hushed and somewhat mournful. Each noise sounds as if it has been created by an outdated electronic synthesiser and this is a perfect design choice that mimics the retro feel of the visuals.

Proteus’s replayability value comes from the fact that, thanks to a system of procedural generation, a totally different island is created each time you visit. Discussions on various forums with other players yield stories of events and images that you haven’t seen, and this adds a dimension of intrigue that encourages further playthroughs. There are plenty of things to see and, while the lack of action might not be to everyone’s taste, many will find that the strength of their own curiosity will pull them into another go.

Procedural generation means that no two islands are the same.

It’s very difficult to argue the merits of experiencing Proteus at least once as in under forty-five minutes its music-laden atmospherics will instill a sense of wonder. You might find something you like, something completely different, or something that affects you emotionally in a way you never felt possible from a video game. This alone makes the title a winner for me: it’s definitely one you can find yourself getting lost in.

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Fight Night Champion is EA Canada’s latest instalment in the acclaimed boxing series, despite now being over two years old. But will it be a knockout or will it limp weakly away from the ring?

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EA Canada opened in January 1983 and is EA’s largest and oldest development studio. This division alone employs approximately 1,300 people and houses the world’s biggest video game test operation. The first title in their boxing series, unsurprisingly called Fight Night, was released in 2004 and over the next seven years four sequels were published, including the latest instalment from 2011: Fight Night Champion.

Only a very small handful of boxing games have ever caught my eye. Maybe it’s because I don’t follow the sport or perhaps because the titles have come up a little short. Either way I was excited to play Fight Night Champion to see what side of the fence it would sit on – and initial impressions didn’t disappoint. It looks and feels very realistic, with character models including even the slightest blemish or scar on a boxers’ face; and straight away I noticed its cinematic quality, with slightly dulled colours and slow-motion scenes.

It obviously pays to be bald when you’re a boxer.

The main new feature in the title is Champion Mode. This follows the rise, fall and revenge of convicted boxer Andre Bishop who is constantly hassled by crooked fight promoter D L McQueen and cocky world heavyweight champion Isaac Frost. The movie-worthy story begins with Bishop in prison competing against another inmate; being as good as he is, he is beats this guy with ease. Then on his way to the showers, he gets attacked by his opponent and is severely beaten before the game flashes back four years into the past to the very beginning of our hero’s career.

From here players start on the beginners circuit by defeating nine-time amateur champion Joel Savon. This earns Bishop recognition and unwanted attention from McQueen and, after several unsuccessful attempts to sign him, the promoter gets angry. The boxer is then framed for police assault with the help of two crooked cops on McQueen’s payroll and sentenced to five years in jail. While there, Bishop learns that his younger brother has signed a deal with McQueen Promotions to become a professional heavyweight; so after his release the boxer trains hard to get back on the professional circuit, and powers through established fighters to become a contender once again.

Andre Bishop has a tough time of it in Champion Mode.

There are two major game modes in addition to the Champion feature described above: Fight Now and Legacy. The former allows players to jump straight into the boxer selection menu, with the venue selection following. The latter is a long-running series regular and essentially Fight Night Champion’s career mode, in which gamers take a selected character through a full and rewarding boxing life. Other features include training games and online play.

When you get down to it and start boxing, it feels as realistic as any other fighting title out there. The mechanic makes you fight smart: players have to think quick and pick the right time to strike if they want to succeed. If you come out of the corner wildly swinging over and over, your boxer’s stamina bar will drain fast; this will result in the character moving around the ring more slowly and landing strikes weakly, as well as being prone to a knock out. If you do find that you’ve overdone it and need to rest, blocking and dodging is quite effective and little of your opponent’s offense is able to get through.

I only noticed two negatives with the gameplay, one minor and the other unfortunately not so small. I couldn’t find a way of disabling the weight limits and have other boxers from different classes fight each other; it would have been great to have seen what would have happened if Ali fought Pacquiao or if Hatton fought Butterbean. The major issue for me was the blocking system. The necessity of having to go on the defense quite often was a bit frustrating and I thought to myself that there comes a point where a boxing game can get too realistic.

Graphics are done smart in this game, with the colours toned down and dulled slightly to create a classic look and recreate the golden age of the sport. Character models are as real to life without actually having the fighters standing in front of you. The faces and the ring gear are so detailed that I’m not sure there’s room for improvement; there are times where you think you’re watching real people boxing rather than playing a video game. The only criticism I have about the visuals is that it’s a bit obvious the crowd are copies. Not that you’re paying much attention to them when you’re fighting, but if you do take a look you’ll notice that a set of animations are replicated for the spectators.

Ouch, that’s got to hurt.

Sound is important in this title for one reason: crowd noise. If you’re having a boring fight, the spectators will sound lacklustre and quite uninterested. I found that this happened when not a lot of punches were thrown and if you blocked and played defensive more often than not. But on the other hand, if you have an exciting back-and-forth round with lots of offensive strategy, the crowd will pop and let you know they like what they see. And if you get close to knocking out your opponent, their cheers go through the roof.

In terms of replayability, Fight Night Champion has a moderate appeal. Once you have gone through the roller-coaster ride that is the Champion Mode, with its twists and emotional ending, it doesn’t have the same effect during your second playthrough. But a concept that will have a lot of gamers coming back is the potential for dream matches. With such a deep roster of current boxers and legends, you’ll find yourself playing Ali versus Tyson or even Hatton versus Pacquiao; however, once you’ve done this a few times the novelty may wear off.

This game is a winner, just like Bishop.

Fight Night Champion was a positive experience overall for me, and it’s by far the best boxing game I’ve ever played. With its gripping Champion Mode story, realistic fight mechanic and potential for dream contests, the pluses definitely outweigh the minuses. It’s just a shame that EA is taking a break from the series to concentrate on its UFC franchise but, considering how red-hot ultimate fighting is at the moment, I don’t blame the company for striking while the iron is hot. We can only hope that when the Fight Night series gets revisited – most likely on the next-generation consoles – we get something spectacular and it comes back fighting with a knockout round.

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The Night of the Rabbit is the most recent point-and-click from German studio Daedalic Entertainment and features a young magician and enigmatic bunny. But should players jump down the rabbit hole in search of adventure or steer clear of giant, red-eyed, talking bucks?

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Based in Hamburg, Daedalic Entertainment is one of Germany’s most acclaimed studios. They’ve received numerous awards for adventure games Edna & Harvey: The Breakout, Deponia and The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav, and have even been likened to LucasArts. Carsten Fichtelmann founded the company in 2007 and has since gone on to expand Daedalic into development, publishing and even consultancy – so you could say that they have their fingers in many pies.

Before The Night of the Rabbit I’d never played a game from this developer, despite hearing a lot about the Deponia series. I had my eye on the title for a while after reading reviews from other sites; the storyline’s mix of charming fairytale and dark fable, and the fact that it’s a point-and-click is right up my street. When it came up on Steam at a reduced rate during the summer sale this year I snapped it up (although it’s now priced even lower at £4.00, dammit!).

The Night of the Rabbit is a mix of charming fairytale and dark fable.

The game centres around twelve-year-old Jeremiah Hazelnut whose greatest dream is to become a magician. During the final days of his summer holiday this seems to become a reality, when an elegantly-dressed rabbit called the Marquis de Hoto appears out of thin air and offers him an apprenticeship. They both venture into a place where talking animals and magical creatures dwell; but the spell of the evil Zaroff soon takes hold of the realm and Jerry starts to realise that the enigmatic bunny had his reasons for making him his trainee. What sinister secrets are being hidden, and will our hero uncover these and save the world while he’s at it?

The Night of the Rabbit’s plot, along with its cartoon-like visuals and storybook vibe may make you think that it’s aimed at children. But it’s not really a recommendation for younger players: there’s an undercurrent of darkness that seems likely to blossom at any moment and this makes it an intriguing experience for adults. In addition, the difficulty of some of the puzzles and the number of items and characters you need to interact with make it far from a childish game.

I’m not sure what’s weirder: the giant rabbit or his dress sense.

Gameplay instructions are provided by a chatty radio host who introduces Jerry to morning calisthenics. This optional tutorial tells players that there is a one-button rule to it all (“That’s right – one button”) and it’s made more enjoyable than standard training segments by the humorous verbal sparring between the characters. The leaf-shaped cursor lets you either look at or use an object, or talk to someone with a single click. It’s all very simple and easy to pick up, but it can sometimes be a little difficult to actually get the tip of the pointer to interact with hotspots; on occasion you may find yourself missing an important item.

As with most point-and-click adventures, some puzzles are straightforward while others require you to suspend normal logic in favour that ‘Monkey Island’ kind of thinking. During one of the first parts of the game it’s necessary to use a rock to crush another on top of a third, but the exact order and placement of the three items can result in some confusion. That being said however, most of the challenges are testing but reasonable enough to be pleasant; and the fact that some puzzles can only be completed by night – achieved either through sleeping in designated areas or reading an exciting book – is a nice twist.

A few tools are available to keep most puzzles from being too exhausting. After the introduction, Jerry gains access to an item that highlights every interactive object in the environment thus preventing endless clicking, and his journal lists key milestones and gives cryptic clues in its wording. However, the hint system is almost useless: our hero can summon the Marquis to help him on his adventure, but all the rabbit does is annoyingly repeat the task that Jerry has been sent on rather than provide any sort of guidance as to how to actually go about accomplishing it.

For each of the four levels of training he completes, Jerry earns a spell that grants a skill. The Rockwhisper charm is a particular delight as this enables him to hear the whispering of the stones dotted around the realm of Mousewood; they tend to come out with amusing anecdotes or sinister premonitions in voices that sound like aged rocks grating together. But for a game based on a magical premise, these feel like they’re underused. It seems like they’re relegated to being items in the inventory to be considered when all else fails, when they could have played a more prominent role in puzzle-solving.

For rocks, they’ve actually got a surprisingly good sense of humour.

Characters are likeable and well thought out, but unfortunately the script is repetitive in places and you may find yourself having the same conversation several times. Speeches can be clicked through thus sparing you from hearing them again, but you can never be quite sure if you’re going to missing something new and important. Jed Kelly steals the show as Jerry and he’s given some of the best lines; at one point our hero is required to tell a joke about two rabbits soon becoming a crowd, even though he ‘doesn’t get that one’ (he’s only twelve, bless him).

Unlike a lot of point-and-clicks, The Night of the Rabbit doesn’t really shepherd you through the story or steer you from one plot point to the next. Instead it’s more like a ball of wool: numerous threads are tangled together and it’s up to the player to figure out which task needs to be resolved before the next progression can happen. It’s an interesting approach that gives the sense that Mousewood is a living place in which you’re more than just an onlooker, but for non-adventure fans I can see how it could be somewhat overwhelming.

Jerry doesn’t understand the joke about two rabbits becoming a crowd…

One of the best things about this title is its graphics: hand-drawn environments and thoughtful use of soft filters gives the impression that it has been plucked straight out of a children’s book. The animation style adds to the childlike feel and characters are almost like felt-tip cut-outs on painted backgrounds. However, the over-reuse of certain animations sometimes makes you wonder whether this was a design choice, or if Daedalic didn’t have the resource to produce additional material.

The soundtrack changes pace and style to suit each location and situation. Volume is kept low during conversations and increases to create tension or joy; and there’s a constant array of ambient sounds in the background such as birds chirping and crickets buzzing. The voice-acting is very well done and the English accents make the title feel agreeably like a modern-day version of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.

The citizens of Mousewood are a right bunch of ravers – parties every night.

One thing to point out here though is the fact that the game suffers from several visual and audio glitches. Players including myself have reported issues such as flickering, duplication of sections over the screen, disappearing characters and slurred dialogue; take a look at the Steam forum and you’ll see what I mean. Before parting with your cash, I’d say it was a good idea to check out the system requirements shown on the store page and official website. Once these problems are fixed, The Night of the Rabbit will definitely be worthy of a few more points on the graph below.

Despite this however, you’ll be getting your money’s worth from with around ten to twelve hours of gameplay. There are also optional extras and bonus content that give the game some replayability value and a welcome excuse to spend more time in Mousewood. Observant players can hunt for dewdrops hiding in the scenery; you can track down the woodsprite in order to gain access to audio books; and collectable stickers are dotted around the town in hidden locations. There’s also a card game called Quartets that can be played at any time, although I can’t say that I accessed this more than once.

Let’s hope the likeable Jerry is back for a sequel.

During research on the title, it seemed like a number of reviewers criticised its ending but I actually quite enjoyed it. There are a few twists, one in particular that I didn’t see coming although I probably should have for all the subtle clues dropped. Throughout the game bonds are made, twisted and broken, and motivations are rarely clear-cut; players won’t know which characters are truly on their side or are just using them as a pawn in their own larger plan. This all takes place in an ordinary world made extraordinary and it sets the stage for a charming tale full of intrigue and mystery.

A sequel is indicated, with a small mouse at a grey cityscape creeping towards the town and some of the villains gearing up for another round. But the adventure wouldn’t be the same without Jerry Hazelnut so hopefully he’ll get in on the action again during his next summer holiday. Despite its glitches, The Night of the Rabbit is recommended: it’s an imaginative fairytale full of talking animals and hidden dangers, and a hundred reasons to follow the Marquis into Mousewood.

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Ben There, Dan That! was first adventure title released by Size Five Games (previously Zombie Cow Studios) back in 2009. It’s full of crude humour and rude words, and is likely to get you giggling mischievously like a teenage boy.

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Zombie Cow Studios was founded by part-time indie developer Dan Marshall in 2008 and their first release was Ben There, Dan That! It was widely praised in the adventure gaming community and downloaded 50,000 times, but didn’t bring much money in for its developers due to its donation model. Marshall is quoted as later saying: “I didn’t think people would really pay money for it… I think that was a bit naïve, in retrospect. It’s well worth a couple of quid and I do regret not charging for it initially. You can always move the price down, you can’t really move it up.”

Thankfully, the studio changed their name to Size Five Games in 2011 and the title is now available from the both the official website (for a minimum donation of £2.00) or coupled with its sequel Time Gentlemen, Please! from Steam. I grabbed it during the 2013 summer sale knowing that the follow-up is on our 1001 list; but as I can never play a game before I’ve played its prequel, I thought I’d make a start by spending some time with Ben There, Dan That!

Come on, admit it – you just laughed after reading that line.

The title opens with a prologue, where our protagonists are stuck in a Peruvian jungle with Ben trying to figure out how to resurrect Dan’s lifeless body. After gathering a huge amount of seemingly-useless items, all that’s left to do is stick a firework up his bum and short him over a bottomless gorge using a rope and a rubber-chicken-with-a-pulley-in-the-middle and into a shack full of corpse-reanimating equipment. Still with me so far?

Upon returning to London, Ben and the recently-resurrected Dan are hoping to settle down with an episode of Magnum, PI but unfortunately the television was broken during their previous adventure. They set about trying to build a makeshift antenna but the hapless pair are transported aboard an alien ship of doorways to parallel universes. In order to return home, they must venture into these alternate worlds and find the two pieces of a yin-yang which will open the portal back to their flat.

As you can probably tell from that description, the story won’t win any major awards – it’s downright silly – but it’s an amusing love letter to classic adventures from the early 1990s. The game’s humour and design draw inspiration from titles such as The Secret of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (review coming soon), and there are many direct references to LucasArts’ franchises. The protagonists drop quotes that will stick in the minds of many old-school gamers, who are bound to appreciate their takes on the immortal ‘You fight like a cow’ insult.

Players control Ben as the primary character while Dan follows you around in Sam & Max Hit the Road (review coming soon) style. It’s pretty much your standard point-and-click layout: left-click on items to interact with them and right-click to cycle through the actions of look, use, talk, walk and ‘Dan’. Using your friend on something will ask him to interact with it or to give his opinion on the current situation. In most cases, each action triggers its own unique set of lines for hotspots and the protagonists’ responses make it worthwhile trying illogical things (use Dan on himself to see what I mean).

Interacting with yourself can have a number of consequences.

You must guide our heroes through seven alternate dimensions, from a London cursed by a zombie apocalypse to a world where Britain has become America’s 51st state. Puzzles are inventory-based and although several objects get used in ridiculous ways, Ben There, Dan That! doesn’t stray into that realm of illogical Monkey Island thinking; but a crude sense of humour will really help! For example, while trying to get into a room to see his undead son, a priest comments that the only religious artefact he has on him is his crucifix because he left his bible upstairs – before Ben walks up to him, shouts ‘Hey bible-basher, bash this!’ and smacks him over the head with the book.

Sadly, the actual gameplay does little to advance the plot and this is instead told through some interjected cutscenes. It’s rare that anything concerning the story will be discovered whilst exploring or solving puzzles, and during these times the title can become somewhat formulaic. You’ll probably find that the comedy is enough to pull you through to the end of the game although players that don’t appreciate the indecent jokes may get bored easily.

If I was hit over the head with a bible, I’d be ‘resting’ too.

When I first opened Ben There, Dan That! I was a bit disappointed at its graphics; they reminded me of the Saturday morning cartoons I used to watch as a kid, with rough edges and standard colour palette. But after a while the poor visuals started to lend the game some charm, and they’re forgivable considering how small the studio was when it was made (the protagonists even make a joke about their choppy walking animations at one point). There’s no voice-acting here, a design choice I’m assuming was made in honour of classic adventures, but there’s pleasant enough background music for each dimension and a sprinkling of sound-effects.

The best thing about this title is definitely the humour: it’s all wickedly fun and very tongue-in-cheek. Its dark side is evident throughout but because everything is played for laughs, it’s surprisingly difficult to become offended by Ben and Dan. It took me less than three hours to complete so don’t expect a long and sprawling experience, and I can’t say that I’ll be having second go straight away; but some players may want to go back to the parallel universes in order to find the jokes and easter eggs previously missed, so I guess there’s a small amount of replay value.

No comparisons to the 1001-Up.com team, thank you very much.

Ben There, Dan That! May not be the most challenging title or even the longest for that matter, but it definitely amused me for the afternoon and is worth its small fee. Whether it’s a reference to Gordon Freeman and his crowbar or a world where everyone is blessed with not-so-special super powers, there’s always something to smile at and a reason to see the game through to its ending-with-a-twist.

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Time Gentlemen, Please! is Size Five Games’ 2009 follow-up to the hilariously-crude adventure Ben There, Dan That! The story features Hitler as the opposition this time around so expect irate dictators, Nazi jokes and cloned dinosaurs.

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Zombie Cow Studios was founded by part-time indie developer Dan Marshall in 2008 and their first release was Ben There, Dan That! It was widely praised in the adventure gaming community and downloaded 50,000 times, but didn’t bring any money in for its developers due to its donation model. A sequel was released in the form of Time Gentlemen, Please! a year later and in 2011, the company (thankfully) changed its name to Size Five Games.

The title is available in a Special Edition Bundle from Steam which I grabbed during the 2013 summer sale knowing that it’s on our 1001 list. But as I can never play a game before I’ve completed its prequel, I made a start on the original and the following day moved onto Time Gentlemen, Please! The ending of Ben There, Dan That! (Special Edition) was perfect and summed up the adventure nicely, so I was a little worried that continuing the same story would diminish the effect of the first instalment in some way. But was I right?

Our protagonists unfortunately left the crowbar from the first game back at their flat.

Ben There, Dan That! ended with Ben and Dan, two London friends sharing a flat, becoming the leaders of a brainwashed world. But unfortunately they don’t do a very good job in their new roles: convincing their followers to watch all 162 episodes in a Magnum, PI marathon eventually results in six billion of the population starving to death. Realising that this was a mistake, they decide to go back in time and prevent the creation of the costhanger thus stopping the events of the previous game from ever happening.

However, they spend two weeks travelling through time in an attempt to correct their error but end up making things worse: after landing in 1945, they see that Adolf Hitler has come to rule the world with an army of clone dinosaurs due to the power of the Golden Coathanger. Ben and Dan must work through paradoxes in order to defeat their enemy, recover their stolen time device, and prevent their earlier selves from stopping the invention of the coathanger.

Ben and Dan must work together to defeat Hitler and mend their time-travelling errors.

While it’s not entirely necessary have played Ben There, Dan That! prior to picking up the sequel, I’d say that it definitely helps. Time Gentlemen, Please! does a good job at bridging the plot during its introduction but you’ll understand more of the jokes and the relationship between the protagonists if you know of the events that came beforehand. It will also give you an idea of the sort of humour you’re letting yourself in for, as it’s not entirely suitable for everyone.

As with the original, the title’s comedy and design draw inspiration from old-school adventure classics and pays tribute to golden development studios such as LucasArts and Sierra. However, this time around it’s not as blatant and the references are more subtle. For example, it can be assumed that accessing a Professor’s basement through a grandfather clock is a Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (review coming soon) allusion and Dan carrying a leather coat in case anyone wants to buy one is pointing at Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck’s Revenge. And the choice of Wits, Fists and Stealth paths is reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, but it’s used more as a joke than a game mechanic.

It’s not only Guybrush Threepwood who sells fine leather jackets.

Players once again control Ben as the primary character while Dan follows you around in Sam & Max Hit the Road (review coming soon) style. But the latter’s character is now significantly more developed; whereas in the original game both protagonists tended to behave quite similarly, their individual personalities are more apparent. Ben is the experienced adventurer while Dan tends to bumble along behind him, and this is used to great effect in a scene where Ben is unconscious and his increasingly-panicking sidekick must try to wake him up on his own.

Time Gentlemen, Please! plays very much like its predecessor, with a left-click being used to interact with items and a right-click cycling through the actions of look, use, talk, walk and Dan. Puzzles again are primarily inventory-based although they’re more elaborate this time: you’ll have to remember things from conversations had much earlier, and objects collected ages ago will need to be taken to old locations to solve new problems. There were a couple of specific mechanics that I particularly liked. A machine capable of aging or rejuvenating an item through time means you can turn a severed arm in to a skeletal hand, and an in-game SCUMM-type adventure featuring Hitler is hilarious.

Hitler successfully manages to invade his own prison cell in an in-game adventure.

Dan is a kind of help system and will offer hints if you get stuck, but object-on-object descriptions usually drop fairly obvious clues about what it is you’re meant to do. This takes away a lot of the usual adventure-genre frustrations but the focus on time travel and multiple realities causes some issues. The plot is mostly linear but it’s not always clear what the immediate goal is; and things you do in one location can affect the situation going on in another in ways that aren’t intuitive. I ended up wandering around aimlessly on occasion, checking if things had changed or if characters had something new to say, and there were a few moments when puzzle solutions felt just a little too bizarre.

Having said that however, some challenges are actually quite clever despite their far-fetched answers. For example, the protagonists have to open a locked door by fooling its DNA sensor into thinking they are Hitler. And how to they do this? By getting genetic material from an extremely unlikely source that we probably won’t ever see again in a video game.

The best thing about Ben There, Dan That! was the humour: it was all wickedly fun and very tongue-in-cheek. While I think that many people will probably disagree with me here (and feel free to comment below if you do), the second instalment in the series just didn’t live up to it in terms of comedy. The humour is less dependent on point-and-click adventure tropes than previously and variety is obviously a good thing; but there’s just too much focus on Nazi jokes and they start to feel deliberately gratuitous after a while, as if there just to cause a reaction. Give me the old Ben and Dan and their clever bashing-priests-with-bibles ways any day.

On a positive note, there’s a definite improvement in the visuals of Time Gentlemen, Please! when compared to its predecessor. The rough edges and standard colour palette remain in homage to classic adventure titles, but the style is further refined; the character models have more detail and shading, and their faces seem to hold more expression. The environments never feel empty; a great example of this is the opening sequence, in which the rain coming down over a grey London looks lovely.

The art style of Time Gentlemen, Please! is more refined than its predecessor.

The original Ben There, Dan That! lacked music, although this was included in the release of the Special Edition version. The soundtrack is largely the same for Time Gentlemen, Please! and it’s pleasant enough. There’s no voice-acting, once again picking up on style of classic adventures, and unfortunately this may put some newer gamers off. I’m not sure if voices would have helped or hindered however: they may have conveyed the humour but the actors chosen probably wouldn’t have been compatible with everyone’s impressions of Ben and Dan.

For me, the title didn’t offer much replayability value. It took around six hours to complete and was enjoyable enough whilst playing; I might pick it up for another round in a couple of years’ time but I can’t see myself doing this any time soon. Some players may want to go back through the game in order to hear the jokes that they previously missed however, if the comedy style is their cup of tea.

It’s a situation that only Ben and Dan could come up with.

It seems as if the majority of other reviewers claim that the sequel is better than the original. While I totally respect their views and can see why they would come to this opinion, I have to say that I actually preferred Ben There, Dan That! as it managed to get more laughs out of me. That being said however, a low cost and a pretty lengthy game make Time Gentlemen, Please! great value; and if Ben and Dan ever pop up in a third adventure, I wouldn’t be adverse to meeting up again with the lads.

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A very addictive downloadable PlayStation 3 title, Super Stardust HD is by the same developers of the original Stardust but now under their new company name of Housemarque. This was the first title to receive PS3 trophy support with a total of seventeen to collect.

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Originally founded in 1995 as Bloodhouse, Finnish developer Housemarque brought their popular Amiga title Super Stardust into the new millennium for the PlayStation 3 with Super Stardust HD. This updated version was well-received for its impressive graphics and addictive gameplay after the PlayStation Network release in June 2007. The game’s popularity increased further when it became the first PS3 title to support Sony’s new trophy system, built to rival Microsoft’s Xbox achievements.

PS3 owners scrambled to get their hands on it once the trophies were available; I had already played the game too much by that time but this update was a welcome reason to dust off my digital download. I’ve not had much experience with side-scrolling space shooters as I usually perceive them to be too difficult for me but the look of the gameplay and the promise of full 1080p sucked me in. After my first play of Super Stardust HD, the pure enjoyment of it and the impressive visuals earned this downloadable title a permanent place on my console’s hard-drive.

I guess you would need to have played Super Stardust HD to understand what’s going on here.

In the Super Stardust HD universe five planets are under the threat of destruction from gargantuan asteroids on a direct collision course. Launching your spacecraft, you must use an array of weapons to destroy them before it’s too late, but to make matters worse the evil Professor Schaumund is seeking revenge and takes this opportune moment to make a surprise attack.

Controlling the spacecraft is straight-forward as Super Stardust HD is a twin-stick shooter game: the left thumb-stick is used to move the craft while the right fires the selected weapon in whatever direction you aim it. After taking a second to master these difficult controls (sarcasm) we move onto the other buttons, which consist of a bomb that clears everything evil onscreen and a boost which allows the spacecraft to speed short distances across the play area to destroy anything in its path. There’s an interesting variation of weapons, starting with the all-round rock crusher for destroying basic asteroids and ending with others which are more suited to specific situations. It’s advised to switch to the optimal weapon once gold or ice meteors appear to break them down quickly.

Finding a shield for the spacecraft is vital to survive one extra collision before exploding.

One particular weapon called the Gold-Melter fires a constant stream of fire which can be directed by the thumb-stick. When the golden asteroids appear on the second level, I usually end up spinning the stream in circles to form an almost impenetrable shield. Weapon power-ups drop when green asteroids are destroyed and finding these improves the damage and other traits of equipment; for example, upgrading the rock crusher increases the number of shots fired simultaneously. Once a weapon is at its max level, a power-up will accelerate the rate of fire temporarily instead for an impressive amount of firepower.

Breaking asteroids only splits them into smaller chunks and thus fills the screen with debris that must be destroyed. It’s not just about meteors though: enemies come in multiple forms that all are programmed to hunt down and collide with your craft, making them harder to avoid than floating rocks. There’s a welcome variation between these bad guys. In the early levels, centipede-looking robots which turn sharply can be easily overlooked as well as mines that swarm your ship before going in for the kill. Later on, more difficult enemies that can take damage make their way into the fray, moving erratically and even firing back. Breaking up asteroids and blowing up the bad guys is surprisingly satisfying but without a shield any contact will destroy your spacecraft and remind you that, while the game is pretty, it’s also quite tough. I can usually complete it on the easiest mode but in the higher difficulties it can get overwhelming quickly; it be won’t long before all lives are lost and you’re back at the main menu.

Spinning the Gold Melter in a circle is a cheap tactic of mine.

Like any arcade style shooter game, Super Stardust HD is all about getting the best score. Destroying asteroids and enemies generates bonus points that much be picked up before they fade away so collecting these and the power-ups adds to the challenge, especially when they’re sitting within a cluster of rocks. In terms of difficulty the planets mentioned earlier make up the five stages of the game. Each is split into five phases that increase in difficulty before a final boss battle that leads onto the next level. Different tactics are required for each boss but it’s typically about avoiding their attacks and waiting for a moment to strike, although once you learn their attack patterns it’s just a case of remaining patient.

The speed of the gameplay and the concentration required to stay alive can leave players looking like they are in a trance, while the moments of downtime between levels only just allows time to prepare for the next asteroid onslaught. It’s these contrasting moments that I remember the most after a play session and what makes this simple game so perfect.

Super Stardust HD can get frantic at times – can you spot the spacecraft?

It’s not often that a title with such great gameplay will have graphics of a matching level but Super Stardust HD is a shining example. Seeing the game running at 1080p on a large TV is an important part of the experience and later parts of the game look extremely impressive with the amount of detail flying around the screen. The PlayStation 3 has no problem filling your display with massive asteroids, thousands of pieces of debris, and prowling enemies. One issue with all this detail however is that it could be hard for some players to see what’s going on, therefore increasing the difficulty enough that most lost lives are from the smallest pieces of unseen asteroid blowing up your spacecraft.

Finnish composer Ari Pulkkinen was chosen to create the soundtrack, and he then went on to produce the famous Angry Birds theme tune as well as music for a wealth of other popular games. In Super Stardust HD the thumping bass overlaid with melodic chip tunes compliments the frantic gameplay in a similar fashion to the Wipeout series. You’ll find yourself humming the melodies after playing and it won’t be long before you’re back infront the TV again, thumbs twirling away at the joypad. I often find myself playing some titles exclusively to hear their soundtrack and this is one of them; the good thing is that the gameplay is so addictive and it means you get to hear more of it.

Defeating a boss causes an explosion of debris to fill the screen.

Thanks to the arcade style, visuals, gameplay and amazing soundtrack, Super Stardust HD is a highly replayable game. An update released in 2008 added additional modes such as endless, survival, and search & destroy which are much more challenging than the standard gameplay. A multiplayer add-on called the ‘Team Pack’ was also released and provided splitscreen co-op and versus modes, further expanding the replayability. While the twin-stick shooter style of game isn’t anything new, this title revived this style of shooter for next-generation console players; the quality of visuals and gameplay really helped attract new gamers including myself.

Super Stardust HD is a rare gem that can provide as many hours enjoyment as a big budget title, but for a fraction of the price. It will definitely appeal to anyone looking for a quick pick-up-and-play game but will also provide a challenge for those looking to climb up the global high score leaderboard. Time has moved on considerably but if you own a PlayStation 3 and want some addictive gameplay in between playing the bigger story-heavy titles, then Super Stardust HD is absolutely worth your time and money.

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This article was written by skidpro, one of our lovely contributors. For more information on this writer or if you’d like to get involved yourself, take a look at our Contributors page.

Remember Me is one title that may have been overlooked in the shadow of The Last Of Us, which was released a week later. The version being covered here is for PC and, as it’s on Steam, you can play it and keep a digital copy forever.

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Development of Remember Me began in 2008 by Paris-based developer Dontnod Entertainment under the title of Adrift. The original concept for the game began with the idea of a world flooded by global-warming, but it was then re-imagined and based on memories along with the modern-day use of social networking websites. The original design was due to be a PlayStation 3 exclusive but the project was cancelled in 2011 before the intellectual property was purchased by Capcom and development restarted.

When I first began Remember Me, I instantly liked it from the loading to starting cinematic. The stunning visuals and great story mechanic instantly drew me into the title.

Nilin contemplates how to get up and around this area.

The game is set in the near-future of 2084 in the imaginary city of Neo-Paris. Main character Nilin, a former elite memory hunter with the ability to break into people’s minds, is arrested and has her memory wiped after the authorities become fearful of her knowledge and capabilities. After her escape from prison, she sets out on a mission to recover her identity and is aided throughout by a communications device linked to Edge who guides her in certain areas. This search for her past leads to her being hunted by the very people that created this surveillance society.

Remember Me isn’t an alternate sequel to Mirrors Edge as many have said: in fact the clambering, shimmying and jumping involved are more akin to either the Uncharted or Tomb Raider series. With the Pressens combat system you allocate button presses to create combos but unfortunately it can be difficult to design a decent structured one without studying the in-game journal all night. Learning to use attack-combos along with the Spammer and Junk Bolt weapons attached to Nilin’s arm is very challenging, especially in a brawl with six to eight enemies. These can also be used to open doors and turn on lights to aid in defeating cloaked enemies, which works extremely well.

Battle time: Nilin has to take out the enforcers plus a huge robot.

Some of the battles can get very intense and you really need to understand your combo setup to pull off some multiple-hit combos later on in the game. An early boss battle with antagonist Madame requires you to complete a five-hit combo effectively to bring her down and the first boss was very perplexing to defeat, as it wasn’t clear how to use Nilin’s weapons to defeat him. During fight scenes it’s possible to perform a set of combos that allows Nilin to sneak up behind opponents and take them out using the overload combo; this made for some fun gameplay.

It’s strongly recommended, unless you’re a very clever gamer, to get hold of a guide if you want to find all of the collectibles as they’re quite important to the flow of the title. These include SAT Patches that increase Nilin’s health each time five are picked up and Focus Boosts which aid your combo attack skills. Each are found using memory bits called Errorist Memories, which lead you to hidden items once their pictures are examined closely. Pressen and SAT Patches appear to be a silly idea as it can be confusing for the player – please developers, just stick to the old attack-combo formula!

A futuristic view of Neo-Paris in 2084… missing the Eiffel Tower.

All in all, this is one hell of a good game with some stunning visuals but sometimes the battles get a little tiresome and boring. There can be up to a ninety-second wait to be able to use a Pressen attack again and in that time you have to keep fighting. Although a minute and half may not seem like a long time, it’s a big wait when you’re hopping over enforcers and prowlers; the best tactic is to keep jumping over opponents and landing a combo strike to regain focus and health. The most intense battle was in Episode 7 against the invisible enemies as this took me a good three days trying to figure out how to finally beat it – and when I did it actually took no time at all.

At various points in the title, Nilin has to perform memory remixes with certain individuals to alter their memories and make events work in her favour. This concept is very cool but hard to pull off: I was using an Xbox 360 controller and it was necessary to rotate the left analogue stick in order to get the desired remix, which I found a little confusing. It’s a good addition and makes for an interesting story and gameplay aspect but the mechanic is used very sparingly. Also, if the player has no guide of which memories to use, they could spend ages doing the same thing over and over to try and achieve the desired effect.

This must be a ghetto neighbourhood with prowlers hiding about!

The combo creation system in Remember Me is certainly innovative but that was also the most confusing part; a clearer explanation of the available combos and the four types of Pressens would have been beneficial. As for replayablity, the title isn’t one I’d replay soon; it’s definitely worth a go but you may not find yourself returning straight away. To unlock all of the Pressens requires you to play the game through at least once or twice, however.

The game looks absolutely stunning, especially in native resolution of 1080p on PC. The concept art unlocks are very enjoyable with some of the best artwork and ideas I’ve ever seen in a new IP. I don’t usually listen out for the soundtrack but it seemed to fit well with the setting, storyline and gameplay.

The ability to constantly hop over enemies and land a striking combo blow.

If Remember Me was a success we could have possibly seen a follow-up although it appears to have been overshadowed by the release of The Last of Us. But it’s well worth picking up on any platform: it’s an adventure-based game with plenty of action, fighting, exploring and collectibles, and one that shouldn’t be passed up.

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This article was written by skidpro, one of our lovely contributors. For more information on this writer or if you’d like to get involved yourself, take a look at our Contributors page.

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Puzzle game The Tiny Bang Story was Colibri Games’ first release back in April 2011. Its creative setting and storybook visuals may make it seem like a title for children, but is it something that adult gamers can enjoy too?

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We usually start our reviews by giving some information about the developer, but the guys at Colibri Games seem to be a pretty mysterious bunch! All we’ve managed to find out is that the studio was formed in 2010 by a team of two, and they describe themselves as a ‘small but awesome development studio’ who focus on hand-drawn titles for the whole family. In this case we’ll just have to let their game do the talking.

P-Diddy suggested I try their first release, The Tiny Bang Story, after we ended up completing Machinarium one weekend but I completely forgot about his recommendation. I was reminded of his comment when the game appeared in the summer sale on Steam this year and thought I’d give it a go. When I was very young I had this children’s book called Each Peach Pear Plum and I was instantly transported back to that; the characters featured in the title have a similar appearance to those in Janet Ahlberg’s illustrations and, as with the book, the longer you stare at the environments the more hidden details you’ll see.

The aim of the game is to put Tiny Planet back together again.

That probably makes The Tiny Bang Story sound like a game for younger players and it’s not a totally inaccurate assessment: it’s all very child-friendly in both visuals and plot. The story takes place on Tiny Planet, a picturesque steampunk-inspired world sadly devastated by a recent asteroid strike. The disaster has shattered the world into a collection of jigsaw parts and your mission is to help rebuild this beautiful idyll by collecting all of the pieces. These can be found hiding in the backgrounds, in treasure chests, between machinery parts, floating in a lake – anywhere that the creative artists could think to put them.

However, it’s not that simple as you’ll also need to solve puzzles along the way in order for certain pieces to become available. But to gain access to these challenges, it’s usually first necessary to find other items such as gears or lightbulbs to put some kind of machinery back together. W1ngman loved this element of the game and I couldn’t get rid of him, so he ended up completing most of The Tiny Bang Story with me! Unfortunately though, I can see two potential issues here for some gamers. Firstly, the type of object and quantity you’re looking for are displayed on the right-hand side; but each location is made up of several different screens and there’s no way to tell if there are more items concealed in the one you’re currently in. And secondly, those who like a bit of action won’t enjoy this slower-paced gameplay mechanic at all.

There are times when the puzzles are nicely integrated into their surroundings, such as the need to shut off valves in a maze of pipes to drain a fountain or find equipment to reassemble a train that will take you to your next location. But all too often it’s never made clear why you need to solve them or what the overall goal is. Most of the puzzles are enjoyable to complete, providing a small challenge but not one so hard that you’re swearing at the screen in rage, although a couple had us searching the internet for a hint. A Venn diagram rotation puzzle requires players to correctly arrange hemispheres – a straightforward concept that becomes difficult when you need to juggle thirteen different segments with limited control over their movement.

The Tiny Bang Story does contain an inbuilt hint system but this tends to be helpful only in the right circumstance. Blue mosquito-type insects can be seen calmly buzzing around every screen and clicking on these will recharge a gauge, and a clue becomes available once it’s complete. This is an excellent way of encouraging players to figure out solutions for themselves and slow down to fully experience the game. However, the hints themselves are great for telling you where you’ve missed a hidden jigsaw piece; but if you’re looking for the answer to a puzzle that’s got you in a bind, forget it. Google will be your friend here.

The Venn diagram puzzle is probably the most challenging in the game.

As mentioned above, during your journey around Tiny Planet you’ll encounter several characters all reminiscent of Janet Ahlberg’s illustrations, from a retired sailor who lives in a teapot to a curvy store clerk who sells apples. They offer limited communication and hint at puzzle solutions through speech bubbles. This may remind some players of Machinarium but sadly they don’t give away much personality; there’s nothing to explain who they are or what connection they have to the protagonist. The characters also don’t seem too bothered by the fact that their world has just been shattered by a recent asteroid shower but hey, I guess we all deal with grief in our own way.

Although some of the gameplay elements may let The Tiny Bang Story down, two of the things that make it worth playing are the beautiful graphics and sounds. Tiny Planet is a part-natural, part-mechanical world full of houses made of boots, elevators in giant trees and a lighthouse situated inside a kettle. This artistic blend of nature and common household items is very imaginative and results in an environment packed with unique character; the longer you look at the scenes, the more creative little details you’ll come across. Surprisingly however, none of the locations you visit seem impacted by the asteroid strike but then that probably explains why the characters don’t appear to be all that worried.

Although not be bothered by the asteroids, she does have the best sound effect.

Although the music tracks tend to repeat quite a lot, they’re so pleasant and understated that they never get boring. Instead, they pull you into Tiny Planet’s tranquil world and make for an extremely relaxing experience. The ambient sounds, such as the chirping of birds and turning of gears, add to the atmosphere of the game, and the blue mosquitoes droning lazily around the screen provide a nice background touch.

You’re able to replay some of the puzzles once the game is completed but there isn’t really much incentive to do so as the original solutions are still the same. The one thing I would have liked is the ability to go back through the locations and find the jigsaw pieces I’d overlooked the first time around, but sadly this isn’t presented as an option. Alongside this, missing some of the parts doesn’t seem to affect The Tiny Bang Story’s outcome in any way and it would have been nice to have seen some kind of consequence to your actions. But whether this would this have fitted in with the relaxed gameplay style and Colibri Games’ aim to make titles for the whole family is doubtable.

Not challenging enough for some gamers, but a relaxing experience nonetheless.

Overall, The Tiny Bang Story makes for a nice after-a-busy-day-at-work escape or a child-friendly way to keep the kids amused for a while. But it’s probably not the right title for gamers who like a bit of a challenge, a sense of progression or a storyline that leads somewhere other than just a new location. I doubt it’s a game that I’d ever go back to but the several hours I spent on Tiny Planet were some of the most calming I’ve had from a video game in a while.

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McPixel spends most of his time finding and defusing bombs in an effort to save the day. Unfortunately however, he’s not the quickest or the smartest and usually ends up doing something stupid to cause the whole place to blow up… But at least he means well.

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McPixel was originally created solely by indie developer Mikolaj ‘Sos’ Kaminski for the Ludum Dare competition, which sees developers compete to make video games within forty-eight hours. This original version can still be played online. To help promote his title, Kaminski made it available on a popular file-sharing website and invited gamers to download the torrent, stating: “I know that not everyone can afford entertainment. But everyone needs it, and even though I make games for a living I am most happy just to see people enjoy them. So today, you can download a torrent of my game. And if you like it, throw some coins in my general direction.”

What attracted me to McPixel at first was the number of ‘Let’s Play’ videos on YouTube that were covering the title and how hilarious some of them were. It’s a game that doesn’t take itself seriously and does everything possible to make sure you don’t either.

Can you spot the solution to this level? Trial and error is needed here.

The plot is pretty simple: McPixel has twenty seconds to save the day by finding a way to defuse a bomb or stop an explosion by using the objects and characters around him. For example, one level takes place at the mouth of a volcano and the eruption can only be stopped by throwing a virgin into the lava. All that’s available to McPixel is a bone, a cow and a scantily clad woman, but the solution is none of these: our hero needs only to sacrifice himself.

McPixel plays like a simple point-and-click adventure with each scene being completely different from the last. This provides a decent level of variety while the core gameplay itself can be repetitive. If you’re actually trying the beat the game instead of taking in the humour you’ll find yourself simply clicking each object in a trial-and-error fashion until you come across the solution. The difficulty between each scene varies often, and this would be a complaint if it were a more serious title.

There’s plenty of things to try here but the solution involves only one click.

The more difficult solutions to some scenes are usually found with trial-and-error but this at least means you get to see some of the funny outcomes first. However, if you’re someone who’s put off by illogical answers to puzzles and are looking for a challenge, then McPixel may not appeal to you. Stuffing a cow into a barrel of fuel is one instance.

Certain scenes will take players a lot of time to solve because particular objects are near-invisible and blend into the background. For example, at first glance the igloo level only contains an Inuit and his ice house but closer inspection reveals a very hard-to-see snowball that McPixel uses to put out the fuse on a stick of dynamite. Another particularly challenging scene involves clicking on the hat of a character so that our hero can wear it. Luckily, if you suspect an object is usable, McPixel will show an exclamation point above his head allowing for frantic clicking-around the environment to find objects.

There’s a snowball somewhere in this scene – it took me a while to find it.

I’ve learnt some of these solutions by watching gameplay videos before buying my own copy. I therefore avoided the frustration of trying to figure these out myself but maybe that’s also because I don’t have a lot of experience in point-and-click games.

As you may have already guessed by the title, the graphics of McPixel are retro and low-resolution environments definitely add some charm to the game. The background and characters are both animated but only by a few frames so the jerky, repeating animations really take you back to a time before polygons. Included in the options menu are filters that give various looks to the pixels but essentially the graphical style is consistent throughout.

The Sticky Balls pixel filter is shown here, although I found no benefit from it.

There is one aspect of McPixel that I don’t have much comment on: the soundtrack. There are a handful of tracks that play throughout the game and change as you go between scenes but there are no sound effects; this is intentional, as Kaminski found them to become annoying after some time. The tracks themselves may become tiresome after playing for a while but they can be disabled without detracting from the gameplay.

After completing a set of levels you can progress onto the next but going back over your completed levels and finding all of the gags rewards players with extras; this is entertaining although it can become a tedious process of combining every object with everything else. The extras include a level creator, farting mini game and a social area to interact with other McPixel fans. The level creator is quite complex as it involves drawing everything and scripting the events, but those that want to contribute to the game will get up-to-speed with the process fairly easily as it’s well-documented by the developer.

Getting the bomb inside something like this snake will create a controlled explosion.

McPixel doesn’t want to bring anything new to the gaming world: it just seems to want to offer a strange and comical experience that may leave some players wondering what the point is. If you have a weird sense of humour or just want to play something completely crazy then it’s definitely worth your time. As I stated earlier, it doesn’t want to be taken seriously and should’t be otherwise you’ll feel like you’ve wasted your money. I’ve been able to annoy the entire 1001-Up.com team by cheering ‘McPixel!’ at random times so to me this has definitely been worth my hard earned cash.

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One room, four walls, a claustrophobic space. Dark music, heartbeats, whispers. Described as a ‘mind-bending journey filled with beauty, peril and mystery’ by British developer Fireproof Games, The Room is a place that you won’t want to leave even if you could.

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British-based Fireproof Studios was formed in 2008 when six ex-lead artists from Criterion Games’ Burnout franchise decided to form their own team to provide artwork to other developers. With the advent of the mobile gaming market, they opted to develop their own titles and Fireproof Games was born in January 2012. According to commercial director Barry Meade in an interview with The Guardian, the goal with The Room was to ‘make the best iOS game we could, not just try to make a big consoles game for iOS’ as they wanted to emphasise the use of touchscreen in its own unique way.

I’d first heard about The Room whilst writing an article on BAFTA’s 2013 British Academy Games Awards and further research revealed that it had received a lot of praise from both gamers and critics. So, when W1ngman recently won a new iPad in a competition (lucky bastard) and was looking on the Apple App Store for something to play, I suggested this game to him. After watching him work through the tutorial I couldn’t tear myself away, so we ended up completing the title together that afternoon – and I have to say that it’s one of the best puzzle games I’ve played this year.

The game begins with a large, metal safe – but how do you get in?

The Room begins with players standing in front of a large metal safe in a darkened room. An envelope on top contains a brass key which is added to your inventory, along with a letter advising that it contains the answers you seek along with something unique and powerful. You find a domed, circular box nearby with a lid that rotates, aligning a keyhole; and inside is an eyepiece along with a riddle. Here is where your journey begins.

This title is an especially fine example of the escape-the-room type of puzzle game. It’s played out in a single location where you handle contraptions on the exterior of an ornate box to uncover other containers within and dig further into the mysteries they hold. As you make your way further inside, you’ll find messages from the box’s former owner who reveals hints about the discovery that led him to hide away a potent artefact. Just as his writings suggest he was inexorably drawn to it even as he grew fearful of its nature, players will be driven by their compulsion to slide back one more panel, replace one last cog, unlock one final mechanism, just to see what’s inside the box.

Personally I found the storyline very intriguing and felt that it added to the unsettling atmosphere of The Room, although I would have liked a bit more background or detail about the box’s former owner to flesh it out a little. W1ngman however didn’t really understand the story or exactly what was going on, other than that the goal was to get inside a box; but this wasn’t enough to put him off seeing the title through to the end and, for someone who doesn’t usually do puzzle games, he actually rather enjoyed it.

Handling objects in The Room is a tactile experience that simulates real life actions: keys need to be turned, dials twisted and switches need to be flipped. It’s a clever way of dragging players in, allowing them to fiddle with and pull at the boxes as they try to work out what they need to do next. The only minor gripe here is with the view; after double-tapping the screen to zoom in, a pinch to zoom back out again seems slightly counter-intuitive.

Puzzles layered upon puzzles, each one is a mystery.

The game excels in layering puzzles upon further puzzles. When you find a key, you might need to rotate its sections to make it fit into a keyhole; as you place cogs into a gear system, you may need to reposition some of them at a later stage in order to progress; and some inventory items need to be examined more closely to uncover the secrets they conceal. There’s also an element of magic with an eyepiece discovered early on, which reveals otherwise hidden diagrams and objects that are needed to solve certain challenges. This adds a nice dimension to the gameplay and the way it changes an old phenakistoscope film is particularly unnerving!

W1ngman felt that some items were a little too well hidden for him, but we only came across one puzzle that seemed a little illogical so it couldn’t have been that bad! We had to resort to using the in-game hint system for this one but a gentle nudge in the right direction was all it took to get us back on our way. Most players shouldn’t have too much trouble if they persevere; we’d recommend not resorting to the hints, as the sense of achievement you get when a key is manipulated and a mechanism clicks into place is very rewarding.

Using the eyepiece reveals hidden objects and images.

Some of the big-budget console releases try to create a mood, spending millions on building plausible, breathing worlds in order to make players believe they’re doing something unique and special. The Room manages to achieve this with only boxes and at a fraction of the cost. The visuals are stunning, from the realistic-looking wooden structures and metal embellishments of the containers to the luminous images revealed when wearing the eyepiece. The specks of dust in the air that are noticeable in the light add to the uneasy feeling that you’re in a room that has been abandoned for some time.

There isn’t much sound in the game, which is pretty much what you’d expect whilst being alone in a room, but what’s there heightens the sense of atmosphere. A clock ticks in the background as you try to figure out what to do next, and mechanisms whir as they come to life after you’ve solved a puzzle. It’s hard to believe that such a sense of place can be created in an iPad game but trust us: once you start hearing the whispering voices that get louder as you progress through the chapters, you’ll be just as freaked out as we were!

If it was a bit longer, The Room would be worthy of a 1001-Up.com award.

The ambient soundrack, beautiful visuals and eerie sense of the supernatural combine with the tactile controls to draw players into the world. It’s like something out of an Edgar Allan Poe story: intriguing, enigmatic, and impossible to stop playing once you start. However, it took us only two hours to finish The Room and unfortunately there isn’t a lot of replayability value; solutions remain the same after completion and once you know how to get into a box some of the mystery dissolves. But overall, it’s an elegant and engaging game that builds a sense of dark experimentation. You won’t quite know where your search is taking you, but it seems as if it can’t be anywhere good.

It’s almost certain that The Room will be on our list of the best games we’ve played during 2013, and it would have been worthy of a 1001-Up.com award if only it was just a bit longer. We’re pleased to hear that a free expansion pack that sets the stage for the upcoming sequel was made available last month, and we’re certainly looking forward to getting a glimpse of The Room 2 at this year’s Eurogamer expo. Fireproof Games has us captivated.

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Beneath a Steel Sky was Resolution Software’s second point-and-click adventure back in 1994. Set in a dystopian Australia dominated by a computer mainframe, it was a stark contrast to the other more ‘light-hearted’ titles in the genre during the decade.

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Beneath a Steel Sky was a collaboration between game director Charles Cecil and comic book artist Dave Gibbons almost twenty years ago. Costing £40,000 to make, it was originally called Underworld but was renamed due to the release of Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. The title was considered massive in scope back in 1994 as it featured over a hundred locations and full voice acting, and it received very positive reviews from both critics and gamers.

I fell in love with adventures when I was very young after playing The Secret of Monkey Island for the first time on my new Amiga. Afterwards, whenever my dad saw magazines that included floppy disc demos of new titles he used to get them for me, and I remember that this was how I originally came across Beneath a Steel Sky. I didn’t get very far with it however: the grim atmosphere wasn’t much to my liking after the light-heartedness of Guybrush’s escapades and I just didn’t get the humour. But now that I’ve actually completed the game I can see that that was probably a good thing – an eight year old child shouldn’t be able to understand that much sexual innuendo!

It’s probably for the best that I didn’t understand this humour when I was young!

The title is in an alternate version of Australia which has been damaged by years of pollution. The industrialised Union City is dominated by LINC, a computer mainframe that controls every aspect of the population’s lives. As a child, Robert Foster was stranded outside of the metropolis in the bleak wasteland known as the Gap (not The Gap as there isn’t a shred of denim in sight) and adopted by a group of outcasts. But after many years, armed security officers arrive to take him back to Union City. Armed with only a robot circuit board, Foster must escape and fight for his survival while discovering the sinister truth behind his abduction.

With a storyline like that it’s permissible to assume that there’d be an atmosphere of paranoia and fear running throughout the game. Indeed, the presence of either security or LINC terminals in almost every location certainly suggests this. But Foster doesn’t seem too bothered about hiding his identity while talking to people throughout the city and quite readily admits that he’s from the Gap after they tell him about the saboteur on the loose. And as for Anita, the tech who divulges that she can give you a security jammer very soon after meeting – well, I’m not surprised she ended up the way she did if she treats all strangers that way.

Even Foster thinks that him revealing his origins is stupid.

Beneath a Steel Sky plays as a straightforward point-and-click adventure, with a left-click allowing players to examine items and a right-click enabling interaction. The inventory is accessible via a drop-down panel at the top of the screen and, unlike some other classic adventures from the same time, never seems to become overloaded with useless objects. There’s no SCUMM-style verb board to obscure the bottom of the monitor and this results in a very tidy and simple interface.

Progression requires the use of inventory, interaction with other characters and a little assistance every now and again from your robotic sidekick, Joey. His personality exists on a circuit board which can be plugged into several different shells during the course of the game. These may give him various new skills – such as the ability to unlock doors, explore areas closed off to Foster and press buttons – but he’s not always happy about the new body you’ve found him, and his humorous sarcastic remarks highlight this running gag throughout the title.

The game’s design is ahead of most others from the same era, in which non-player characters are usually either found static at a single location or repeatedly tracking between a very limited number of places. But in Beneath a Steel Sky, Revolution Software’s Virtual Theatre scripting system enables them to move through the world independently. While this does have the benefit of making Union City seem more alive there are a couple of drawbacks: you sometimes won’t be able to direct Foster to where you want him to go because somebody is in the way and Joey is often not where you need him to be. You’ll feel like giving him a kick up the arse because he doesn’t always follow you, and when he does he moves so slowly!

I felt that some of the game’s puzzles required pretty big leaps of logic and I just couldn’t understand the reasons behind them. For example, it didn’t seem obvious why I should pick up a video tape showing kittens, and why I should then use this to distract a dog long enough to steal its biscuits. I guess it’s possible that Foster survived in the Gap all those years by scavenging so he’s continuing this learned behaviour in Union City, taking all sorts of seemingly-useless items just because they’re not nailed down. But because the actions needed to progress are sometimes so weird, it’s can be difficult to figure out where you’re supposed to go next without a bit of frustrating trial and error.

Foster is clearly engrossed in the Pussies on Parade video.

On top of this, several puzzles only open after you’ve gone through a specific set of conversations with certain characters. This means that you have to travel from one end of the game map to the other, perhaps multiple times, and it can get tedious after a while. You do come to expect this title-lengthening mechanic from a lot of classic adventures but when you have to get a swipecard out of your inventory every time you want to open an elevator door, it’s just too much.

The game’s opening is a cartoon by comic book artist Gibbons of The Watchmen fame, and during my research I found that a lot of critics praised this introduction. While creative and good-looking, for me it just felt at odds with the rest of the title; I like my retro adventures to feature pixelated scenes and jerky animations as a storyline overview. The colour palette and static backgrounds can mean that Beneath a Steel Sky looks a little drab in places, but considering that Foster has found himself in a soulless and heavily-polluted industrial environment it’s not that unbelievable.

Not sure if it’s wise to have an operation performed by this doctor…

Unfortunately, there are a few criticisms about the sound. As mentioned earlier, the game is set in a dystopian Australia that has been damaged by years of pollution; so why is some of the music so damn happy-sounding? Even though there are plenty of humorous moments, the overall mood is meant to be dark and foreboding so the jingly track heard on the second level of Union City seems extremely out of place. Alongside this, Foster has picked up an American accent during his life in the Australian wilderness and other characters speak in a diverse range of regional British dialects; the voice-acting therefore comes across as really disjointed.

A highlight however is the appearance of Mrs Piermont, the wife of the professor who created the LINC system. Listen closely to her voice and you might recognise her as the lusty Lady Piermont from Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. While the majority of the voice-acting might not be up to scratch the script is miles better, and there are plenty of sexual innuendos and sleazy insinuations to keep everyone giggling – from ‘Pipes are the arteries of this mighty erection’ to ‘Better not get too close, I might get sucked off’.

Mrs Piermont makes a welcome appearance – Lady Piermont’s sister, perhaps?

Unfortunately the replayability value here is low, with the game being quite short and puzzle solutions the same each time. But if you enjoyed it then you’ll be happy to hear that a sequel is in the pipeline. In September 2012, Revolution Software announced that they would give the greenlight to Beneath a Steel Sky 2 if their Kickstarter campaign for Broken Sword: The Serpent’s Curse reached $1 million; and despite this target not being met, the developer was so inspired by backers’ enthusiasm that they started work on the next instalment in the series.

Although I didn’t enjoy this game as much as some of the other classic adventures from the 1990s, I wouldn’t be adverse to playing the sequel. But I’m hoping for a plot with more background detail and less holes, and puzzles with more logical reasoning for their existence. That being said however, Beneath a Steel Sky will keep you occupied for around five hours and, considering that it’s free on GOG, it’s a great way to get in some retro gaming.

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Full Throttle is LucasArts’ 1995 point-and-click adventure featuring motorcycles, a murder and a madman. It has achieved cult-classic status but would it have us riding high or kicking it to the kerb?

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Tim Schaefer is best known for his amazing adventure titles including Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango and Full Throttle. The latter was developed with a budget of approximately $1.5 million and released in 1995 after Schaefer took on the roles of project lead, writer and designer. The game received generally positive reviews and over the past eighteen years has become a cult classic amongst gamers.

When I was young, I had a pen-friend in Scotland who was also into the genre. We used to send each other titles we’d completed through the post so the other could enjoy them, and this was how I first got my hands on Full Throttle. Unfortunately however, I didn’t manage to complete it; the general rule was ‘more revision, less video games’ as it was exam time at school. So it’s been a bit of a pleasure to finally get around to finishing a full playthrough and reminiscing with my pen-friend about the geeks that we were.

Ben is the leader of a motorcycle gang called the Polecats.

Full Throttle’s story centres around Ben, the leader of a motorcycle gang called the Polecats, in a not-too-distant future where such vehicles are being replaced by anti-gravity hovercrafts. After he unceremoniously drives over a limousine on Highway 9 he’s tracked down by Malcolm Corley, the CEO of the last motorcycle manufacturer in the country, and they share a drink at the Kick Stand bar whilst reminiscing about the golden days of biking. But the sinister Adrian Ripburger frames Ben for Corley’s murder as part of his plot to take over the company and turn it into a minivan producer (god forbid!) so it’s up to our hero to clear his name, get the Polecats out of jail and put an end to Ripburger’s nefarious scheme.

In many ways, this game is a bit different from a lot of LucasArts’ classics which have gained a reputation for being light-hearted and upbeat. All the ingredients of a great story are there – murder, deception, greed, lust, honour and of course motorcycles – but the plot doesn’t ever seem too melodramatic or over-the-top. The tone is more serious than in other titles by the developer despite the cartoon-like style; but Ben’s gravelly-voiced one-liners in the face of adversity do have a comedic timing that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme would be proud of.

This game might be more serious, but that LucasArts humour is still there.

In much the same style as many other point-and-click adventures, players are presented with the area Ben currently occupies and the cursor’s appearance changes when hovered over (most) items he can interact with. Clicking on an object will bring up the Polecats logo and this functions as a graphical menu of actions. The eyes of the skull can be selected to look at an item; the mouth can be selected to speak to another character; and other options include punching and kicking. It makes a nice change from the usual SCUMM interface seen in many LucasArts’ games as there’s no verb panel at the bottom of the screen to diminish the environments.

However, the well-known hunt-and-click problem is still apparent. In a number of locations the secret to discovering a hotspot lies in clicking around aimlessly until you discover an unmarked one; it took me ages to solve what was in fact a relatively easy puzzle, all because the area that I needed to hide in wasn’t shown by the interactive cursor. This mechanic somewhat tests your patience for mashing the mouse button rather than your reasoning skills, but I guess it’s something that adventure gamers are pretty used to when playing the classics.

Eat my dust!

Speaking of puzzles, many resolve around simple (and occasionally clever) use of force. This might seem like laziness on the developer’s part but it actually suits Ben’s demeanour as he’s more a ‘beat up now, ask questions later’ kind of guy anyway. Guybrush Threepwood may think that locating the key for a locked door would be a valuable use of his time, but our biker would just kick the damn door down! Like many other players, my favourite challenge has to be that with the bunnies in the minefield for its sheer creativity – take a look at the video below.

In the middle of the game, Ben has to procure some items from rival gangs and acquires these through a series of fights while riding his bike. Some reviewers have criticised this section for being out of place in an adventure title but I felt really fitted in with our hero’s personality. There are a couple of negatives however: the controls are really unresponsive and you have to spend some time driving around to find the exact opponent you’re looking for. In addition, your enemies have the ability to beat you and steal the item you’re wielding, thus setting back your progress. Fortunately though there’s a key press that can be used to automatically win any fight so there’s an escape if it’s getting too frustrating.

Despite the darker nature of the plot compared to The Secret of Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacle, the title still contains elements of that trademark LucasArts’ humour. The writing is very well done and is one of the reasons why Full Throttle has such a professional, cinematic feel that has stood the test of time. There are many positive points about this game and it’s easy to see why so many adventure gamers hold it so dear in their hearts.

But although widely praised, it’s commonly criticised for two things: its length and difficulty level. While it’s true that the developer met their object of having a game that everyone could see through to the end without getting stuck on challenges with obtuse solutions, most players will be able to complete the title in less than five hours without the use of a guide. On top of this, it’s a little too focused on story-telling and there wasn’t enough interaction for my taste. But unlike some other classics, not a second of Full Throttle’s duration feels wasted.

Full Throttle’s negatives and its short length and lack of challenge.

The Curse of Monkey Island was released by LucasArts a couple of years after Full Throttle and might be superior on a technical level. But I have to say that there’s something amazing about seeing beautifully pixel-drawn artwork that’s animated so smoothly. The desert backgrounds are absolutely stunning and the cutscenes are wonderful. In addition, the way Ben is depicted is perfect: you wouldn’t want to get into a fight with him but he could definitely be relied upon to get you out of a fix.

Audio is another of the game’s high points and one of its most memorable features for me. The sound effects enhance the atmosphere, such as the wind sweeping across a canyon and the deep-throated engine roars of your motorcycle, and the incidental music will probably stay with you for a long time after you’ve completed Full Throttle (the country tune playing on a radio in a trailer is a particular favourite). It was one of the few LucasArts’ games to use externally recorded music, and this came courtesy of The Gone Jackals and their album Bone to Pick.

What’s an adventure game without an explosion?

Roy Conrad is excellent as Ben, while Mark Hamill does a great job at portraying Ripburger as a slimy piece of work. Even minor characters have recognisable voices: the leader of the Vultures gang is played by Tress MacNeille (Mom from Futurama) and Maurice LaMarche (the Brain from Pinky and the Brain) supplies the voice of Nestor, one of Ripburger’s henchmen. The voice-acting is superb.

At some point in the future I’ll probably go back to Full Throttle; it’s not necessarily something that I want to play again straight away because it’s too easy, but when I’m looking for something engrossing but not too taxing it’ll be perfect. It’s just a shame that it’s extremely unlikely a sequel will ever be produced. Full Throttle: Payback and Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels were both cancelled in the early 2000s, and now that Disney has pulled the plug on LucasArts I doubt we’ll ever see Ben hit the road on his motorcycle again in a second instalment.

Sadly, we’ll probably never see Ben and his bike again.

While Full Throttle may not be my favourite classic adventure from this developer, I can’t deny that I did quite enjoy it. If only it was a little bit longer and more challenging, it definitely would have been worthy of a Power-Up award. Gamers who are new to the genre will find this a good starting point whilst practiced players will appreciate the retro experience.

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Gears of War is one of the most well-loved game franchises of all time. Nobody could have predicted how popular the saga would become back when it was an Xbox 360 launch title in 2006; but does the first game still stack up as one of the best – if not the best – in the series?

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Established in 1991, Epic Games Inc – also known as ‘Epic’ and formerly ‘Epic MegaGames’ – are well-known for their Unreal technology, which has powered their popular in-house Unreal series of first-person shooters. With bases in East Sussex in the United Kingdom, Yokohama in Japan, Seattle in the USA and Cary in North Carolina, the developer has produced titles such as Unreal Tournament, Fortnight, Infinity Blade and of course Gears of War.

When I first picked up the, what struck me was the overall look of the game: the slightly-faded and dull colours instantly made me feel that the world I was playing in was a desperate and miserable one to be in. You can tell that Epic have really tried put over the fact that this a war-torn world that humans aren’t in control of any more. I found the combat at the start hard to get to grips with, and had real trouble locking onto the Locusts; but after I got used to the sensitivity of the targeting system the title was a lot easier to manage.

The targeting system does take some getting used to.

Gears of War’s plot begins fourteen years after Emergence Day (E-Day), when the Locust Horde overran and killed many Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) soldiers and civilians. Marcus Fenix, a former COG soldier, is reinstated into the military after spending four years in prison for abandoning his post in order to make an attempt to save his father Adam. Dominic Santiago – or ‘Dom’ for short – is Marcus’s best friend who eventually releases Fenix from jail and takes him to meet Delta Squad. The group seeks to obtain the resonator: a device that will map the Hollow, the underground caverns that the Locust inhabit.

The team deploy a bomb which destroys the heart of the Locust forces inside the Hollow. Fenix and his allies recover the resonator but suffer multiple casualties in the process. Delta Squad successfully detonates the device but it fails to map enough of the tunnel network; fortunately though, they discover a larger map of the network that originates from Fenix’s old home. The group makes its way to the estate and when they arrive, heavy Locust resistance is encountered but they manage to fight their way past the enemy and board a train carrying a lightmass bomb. This is where our team face their final encounter, and it was a story that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

Delta Squad sticks together.

Gears of War is basically a third-person shooter that places the focus on using cover to avoid taking damage while moving towards the Locust army. It uses a lot of weapon types but the main featured is the Lancer, a badass gun that has a mounted chainsaw on it; annoyingly, failing to perform the reload correctly will cause the gun to become jammed while our hero fixes it. A red cog representing your health, the crimson omen, will fade onto the screen and become more defined with larger amounts of damage taken. This gives players the sense of needing to get out of the situation right away and seek cover to recover health – but that isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

The title features a five-act campaign that can be played alone or in co-op mode with one other player, where you’ll be joined by AI teammates that will help fight the Locust. Certain sections show two paths that can be taken; this is very clever as it causes you to think about which will give you least trouble. The campaign can be played at three difficulty settings and the hardest – ‘Insane’ – is unlocked once the title is beaten on either the ‘Casual’ or ‘Hardcore’ mode. Sadly, one gripe I have about the gameplay is at times it feels quite repetitive. The main bulk of the game is all about finding yourself in an open area with a heavy swarm to fight off, then five minutes later you find yourself walking into another similar area knowing exactly what’s about to happen. Fortunately, the well-done gun-play more than makes up for that what with it being so much fun.

Use cover to avoid taking damage while moving towards the Locust army.

Gears of War looks absolutely stunning (in a weird kind of way). The death and destruction is done to perfection with half-demolished buildings, abandoned cars and bomb-damaged roads, and Epic has done a great job in making the world look like a place so broken down that it’s hardly worth saving anymore. This just adds to the desperate feel of the game and reinforces the fact that the COG soldiers know that their mission may be a lost cause. The look of the Locusts is quite terrifying; they actually appear as if they smell terrible but also like they could rip you into a million pieces with their bare hands if they wanted to.

The voice-acting for the COG soldiers is top class, especially that from John DiMaggio; his Fenix has gruff been-there-done-that voice that lets you know who’s in charge. The same can’t be said for the Locusts I’m afraid. Although there are different types of grubs who all have their own sounds during battle, I found it was limited to a couple noises per type. This made it very easy to hear what was coming next so took some of the surprise away. But one thing that made me chuckle was when the enemies tried to swear in our language: it’s as if our soldiers swear so much on the battle field that it’s the only words they’ve managed to pick up.

John DiMaggio does a great job a Marcus Fenix.

You’ll probably find yourself playing this title again at some point on a different difficulty setting. It’s all well and good completing the game on Casual but what about Hardcore or Insane – how will you fare when there’s not a lot of bullets or guns laying around and the swarms of Locusts just won’t stop coming? I’d get good at headshots and quick if I were you. But essentially it’s the same story whatever difficulty you play through; there’s no extra bits or backstory rewards for finishing the game on a harder setting.

Gears of War isn’t a particularly innovative game in the sense that you’re a bunch of soldiers fighting off aliens. I mean, that’s been done a million times before right? But it’s the way the title does this tried-and-tested formula that makes it stand out from the rest. It uses much more emotion; despite being hardened men of war, you can tell that if anything happened to Fenix or Dom the other one would be emotionally-crushed for life. The story makes you want to go back in time to discover Fenix’s past and what happened with his father, but also keeps you wanting to move forward and see what’s coming next for our heroes. For me, this balance was spot on.

Overall, Gears of War is a great game.

All in all, Gears of War is an amazing game that can still stand up with any other in the series. I for one couldn’t put it down and was desperate to find out what was going to happen next; as soon as it ended, I popped Gears of War 2 into my Xbox to continue the epic story. Epic have a franchise here that will be remembered and considered as one of the best. I just hope they know when to stop so fans don’t get bored and the Gears of War name isn’t tarnished with lacklustre instalments put out just to make money.

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