The Best Of Steam's Indie Releases: November(ish) 2014

So, originally I was going to try and include every indie release on Steam this month, but then Steam went and deleted the upcoming releases page. Because that's a great way to get people to add upcoming games to their wishlists...a round of applause for Valve's money making tactics please. However, two of the games I found before Steam committed page-murder were so good I couldn't just forget about them, so here they are:

Homebrew - Vehicle Sandbox

A vehicle-building sandbox where your imagination is the only limit. Yes, I'm still trying to wrap my head around 'vehicle-building sandbox' and how cool that sounds too. The demo is available to download through the Homebrew website, so I gave it a go:


So, here I am in the middle of a very pretty map, in a vehicle that I had to spawn in mid-air, rather than on the ground. Let me tell you, it creates a whole new game in itself: "Can-I-Catch-The-Car-Before-It-Slides-Into-A-Lake". Once in the car, I wasn't really sure what I was doing so I drove around for a while catching some of these orbs dotted around the map:

(Gotta catch 'em all!)

The first thing I found was that the controls are a little bit clumsy: steering is limited to just the A and D buttons, and it feels weird having no mouse control. Sharp corners are also a bit tricky, and steering at a slow speed will send you far too wide. After a few minutes on one of the map's dirt tracks I felt comfortable enough with the controls to venture off onto the grass...and shouldn't have. I ended up in a lake and drowned a little bit.

Not that it mattered, because I didn't lose anything. In fact, it worked out in my favour because I respawned in front of The Dome, which I had just been invited to. This is where the cool part of the game plays out; this is where you build and customise your vehicles, buying parts using those orbs I had collected earlier. 


I wandered down to the factory where I was greeted by Dan, and admired his boobs while wondering who he'd killed in the dumpster, and how to pronounce the player-character's name:

I went through a short tutorial where I had to help Dan fix his 'Danvan', which turned out to be simple enough if you follow the instructions, but complicated enough that you have to follow the instructions. On the up side, this means that you can do a lot with this game: like I said earlier your imagination really is your only limit. However, it also means that if you're like me and not particularly mechanically minded, then this probably isn't the game for you. You don't just throw a few parts together and see if they work, you have to tweak every part to create a masterpiece.

But once you've finished in The Dome, you can go back outside and test out your creations. The map is full of dirt tracks to zoom down, ramps to fly off, and I'm sure some of the scenery could be used to create some amazing stunt jumps. That is, if you can get the vehicle to stay upright:

As you can see, finding myself upside down happened a lot, and I couldn't find a way to set my vehicles upright again. This isn't a very big deal as you can spawn as many vehicles as you want, but it is an annoyance. However, when I wasn't trying to drive on the sky I was having a great time, exploring tunnels and setting up huge jumps.

All in all, this is a really fun game and I would definitely recommend at least trying out the free demo, if not going ahead and getting the Alpha. It's planned to be in constant development meaning many more features will be added after launch: boats, armor building and a mission creator are among the planned additions, so you're going to be getting a lot of content for your money. There's also a multiplayer mode with vehicle sharing, meaning you can collaborate with your mates to create the perfect vehicle, or pit yourselves against each other to see who's the building king or queen.

For more info, see Homebrew's website or Steam page, where Homebrew is on sale until 21 November.

Lumino City

A puzzle adventure game entirely handmade from paper and card! The sequel to Lume, Lumino City was three years in the making and as you can see in that video, it looks incredible. Picking up where it's predecessor ended, protagonist Lumi's grandfather is dramatically kidnapped and Lumi is thrust into a whole new adventure to find him again.

As she makes her way through the breathtaking city, Lumi will be able to explore the various building within it to find out more about her grandfather's life and discover that there may be more to him than she thought.

The game is visually stunning - the more I look at it the more I fall in love with it - and if it's anything like Lume then it's unique puzzles will have you scratching your head for a while; this isn't just a pretty game, it's set to be a fun one too.

I can't wait to get my hands on this, but unfortunately Steam is being a prick and won't give an actual release date, only 'Available: November 2014'. 
Lumino City has a release date of 3rd December 2014, which in their own words is nearllllllllly November (in my defense, I did think it was coming out in November when I wrote this). In the meantime, check out the Steam page so you can add it to your wishlist, check out the official site, or buy Lume to experience the first chapter of this awesome story.

Throwback Thursday: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

One Christmas when I was a kid my parents bought me a bright red Game Boy pocket with a black carry case and a copy of Super Mario Land 2. I think it's safe to say that that was the moment when my addiction to gaming was born.


In his debut appearance, Wario has taken over Mario Land and cast a spell over the inhabitants, making them believe that he is their master and Mario is their enemy, before locking himself inside Mario's castle. The castle gates have been sealed with a spell that can only be broken using six golden coins, scattered around Mario Land and carefully guarded by Wario's henchmen. It's up to you to retrieve them and take the castle back.






Super Mario Land 2 was everything that a platformer should be; simple and fun. There are multiple levels to choose from, including hidden levels, and there's a lot of variety within them. It can also be surprisingly hard; navigating through water when everything is trying to kill you isn't very easy. Which, to be honest, it should be: HE'S A PLUMBER!

You also have a massive replay value, as you can play any level except from boss levels and the intro level as many times as you want, and you're going to want to do that because this game is addictive. I was going to try and prove that by including some gameplay videos but every single one I've taken is corrupted! Yay! Instead you'll just have to go and find out for yourself at Playr where you can play it in-browser for FREE!

Black Friday Has Come Early

GOG.com has secured it's place as possibly the greatest website ever by throwing a ma-hoo-sive sale. To kick it off they're giving away Mount & Blade until Friday so I suggest you go and get that now, and from now until 25 November they will be holding flash sales, announced a few hours in advance. And if that wasn't already enough for you...

By visiting the site on seven different days and collecting stamps each time, you can bag yourself a free copy of The Witcher 2 and The Gamers: Directors Cut.

 There will be over 700 games in the sale in total, at up to 90% off their original (and cheap anyway) prices, and as it's GOG they are completely DRM free - that means no copyright whatsoever. You can download these games twice each on the computers of everyone you know and you won't be doing anything wrong. When was the last time Steam or Origin let you do that?

Sexism In Video Games

Sexism in video games is something that has been mentioned a lot recently, but is it really as rife as is claimed? 

Sexism In Games and Their Characters

Let's face it, there aren't enough female characters in video games, in fact out of all of the characters from the top 25 best-selling games of last year only 4% were women. On top of that, the ones that do exist are too often over-sexualised, boring, and unimportant. There also aren't enough games that offer the option of playing as a woman. All in all, games themselves can be pretty sexist. Can't they? Let's compare a sinner that calls itself a Saint to a game that's heralded for it's positive portrayal of women and contains some of the best female characters out there.

 Saints Row

Saints Row could be considered one of the most sexist video games there is, for it's overly-sexualised women. After all, this is the game that brought us adjustable sliders for setting our character's breast size. This is the game that lets us dress up in nipple tassels, a thong, and suspenders and watch those adjustable boobies bounce. The game also puts strippers in our houses, has us walking into hookers on the street, and in the third installment it introduced us to the lovely Zimos, a pimp who never seems to be far from a half-naked woman or twelve.

Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a series that no one can accuse of being sexist - which is exactly why I've included it. BioWare's masterpiece gave us an all-female alien race (who just happen to be the richest, most advanced and most powerful race in the Mass Effect Universe), it gave us multiple strong and powerful female characters and it gave us the option of a female main character, FemShep as she came to be known, who is now considered one of the best female video game characters out there. In fact, FemShep grew to be so popular that there was a campaign for BioWare to make a trailer for Mass Effect 3 featuring FemShep rather than the default male Shepard featured in the others, and it resulted in this:

 Most importantly, the Mass Effect series has a huge amount of female fans, far more than just about any other game of it's kind. All in all, it looks like Mass Effect is one of the least sexist games out there, so what's the difference?

The President vs. FemShep

Saints Row is the only urban sandbox game to allow a FEMALE player-character. That's a female leader; a female president; a woman saving the world. And not only does the game allow you to play as a woman, it actually encourages you to do so. There's an achievement, one of those super-must-have-them-all-shinies, that's only obtainable by playing as both genders. In it's own words, Saints Row is an equal opportunities offender. Although you can dress President Mass Murderer up in all manner of lewd outfits, you can do that to characters of both genders - and personally I think it's much more humiliating to dress a man up in tiny pink panties and make him run around an imaginary city than it is to do that to a woman.

Mass Effect introduced what has become one of the most iconic female figures in gaming. Her face chosen by fans, her voice provided by the insanely talented Jennifer Hale, her fate decided by you; it's hard to deny that FemShep is awesome. So just how popular is she? Well, uh...18% of players choose her. That's less than one in five. And the reasons? Yes, for some players it's about being a woman, but for a lot it's down to either preferring Jennifer Hale's acting to Mark Meer's male Shepard, or a fairly sexist "FemShep's ass is nicer to look at." So it would appear that FemShep's successes aren't down to the romantic idea that she empowers women. 

But what about the rest of the women?

The Ladies of Saints Row

(L-R That's Shaundi, Asha, Viola & Kinzie)

Let's face it, they look like a bunch of strippers. And that's putting it politely. Except:

Asha is an MI6 agent. She's strong, intelligent, ten steps ahead of everyone else and takes crap from no one.

Viola has a masters degree in economics.

Kinzie is a computer genius and former FBI agent who saves the lives of the entire gang multiple times. She also much prefers a hoodie and jeans to skirts, heels, low-cut tops...heck, even make-up. The picture I used above is the only time in the two games that she appears in where she wears anything 'sexual'.

Shaundi...well. Shaundi is well known in-game for sleeping around. A LOT. Shaundi also went from being the relaxed hippy chick on the right to the surgically-enhanced supermodel on the left (a move that upset a lot of fans). That being said, like the rest of the women she's strong, independent and intelligent, in addition to being an incredibly loyal friend.




None of the women in Saints Row are beta personalities (people who will follow but not lead) and none of them are made a mockery of. Most importantly, they are significant to the story - too many games have female characters that feel like token women, only there so the developers can say, "But we had a woman in it!"

The Ladies of Mass Effect

Mass Effect has some incredible female characters, something you don't see very often, and is noted for it's positive portrayal of women. It's not like any of these characters have been over-sexualised in any way, is it? It's not like Samara (the lovely and formidable blue lady in red) is wearing an incredibly low-cut top, or any of the girls are wearing skin-tight outfits? I

   mean, Jack is always fully-dressed.

Nice belts!

And you can't receive a lap dance from a member of that all-powerful female race I mentioned earlier...

...and their honoured advisors certainly don't walk around with their boobs virtually hanging out.

In fact, the ladies of Mass Effect aren't any less sexualised than the ladies of Saints Row, so why does the former get praised while the latter gets judged? Is it ok for a game to be a bit sexist as long as it wraps it all up in a nice bow? Are we allowing our perceptions to be skewed because we expect some games to be more or less sexist than others? 

Why Don't Women Play 'Hardcore' Games?

Although the majority of gamers are now women, most of those are playing Facebook or mobile games. When it comes to 'hardcore' games such as FPS's, women are a minority, and that it's time the industry did something about it. More needs to be done to attract and accommodate female gamers, right?

I have a ten year old daughter who loves gaming, so I asked her a couple of questions. I started by asking her if she thinks that girls playing video games is weird, and if the boys at her school think that girls playing games is weird. Her answers to both questions were a big resounding no. Then I asked what she would do if a boy told her that girls shouldn't play games or were any worse at games than boys are just because they're girls, and her answer made me laugh so hard I gave up on my informal interview: "I'd punch them in the face." 

The reason I did this? Because it proves that being a female gamer really isn't a big deal - this is something we're led to believe, not unlike what Always proved with their #LikeAGirl ad. Therefore over-reacting to female gamers differently is, quite frankly, pointless and nothing needs to be done to accommodate female gamers. We don't need special attentions to be given, because we're no different to male gamers. Maybe the reason that women are less likely to play hardcore games than men is just that women are less likely to want to play them; my best friend doesn't play The Sims instead of Call Of Duty because she feels like she should, it's because it's what she wants.

But What About The Ones Who Do Play?

Studies like this show that women apparently receive a lot of abuse while playing online multiplayers. There's even an entire website dedicated to snapshots of sexist messages received by female gamers. However, it's often made out as though women are specifically targeted when actually gamers trash-talk each other all the time. Additionally, it's hard to blame a whole group of people for something that's only being committed by a minority. Although neither of these points justify (or are intended to try and justify) the use of sexism it does prove that gamers aren't as inherently sexist as the world is being told.

As a woman who has spent more time on these than is healthy, I have NEVER been on the receiving end of any gender-based harassment, or witnessed it being used towards someone else. I have never felt the need to hide my gender. In fact, when revealing my gender I've never been met with any response other than a positive one. So why, if gender bias is as common as we are led to believe, have I never once witnessed or been subjected to it? Is this another area where we could be seeing sexism where it doesn't really exist, or exaggerating it's severity? For example, do we assume that if a male gamer calls a female gamer a 'bitch' then he's being sexist, and if so, would we make that assumption if he had said it to a man instead? Similarly, was I being sexist the countless times I yelled "You absolute (insert string of expletives here) bitch!" at the screen after dying at the hands of a male gamer?

(Wait, did I say countless times? Because I never die...honest... )

Rant Over 

While different people will have different experiences and different opinions, in mine gaming and gamers aren't sexist. While a lot of games have a long way to go in creating good female characters that actually feel valued (I'm looking at you, GTA), or in creating female player-characters (*cough*Assassin's Creed*cough*) the industry overall isn't necessarily in as bad of a situation as we are often told that it is. 

#ThrowbackThursday - The Sims 2

Ah, The Sims. The game with unlimited potential, where you are God and your only limit is your imagination. What great adventure will you carve? Will you create a rich and famous movie star? Will your they marry the Sim of their dreams, buy a mansion in the country and raise six sickeningly gorgeous children together?

No. In  the average The Sims 2 (or 1, 3, or 4) game you will:

Create the most hideous Sim that you can









Give him an equally hideous wife, a cute dog, and move them into their own home.

Micro-manage like there's no tomorrow...

...because your Sims have to eat, sleep, play, bathe, clean, tidy, cook, study, sleep, work and entertain the random strangers who show up at their houses, all in approximately half the time it takes to do all that stuff in.

Have a LOT of cartoon sex, probably with just about every Sim in town.

 Why? For the same reason that you do everything else in The Sims: Because you can.

Experience the totally realistic birth of your Sim's children:

Ignore Biology class, babies actually fall from the ceiling

--

And then, of course, the classic pool murder! No day on The Sims 2 - well, any The Sims game for that matter - is complete without a visit to a watery grave and from the Grim Reaper.

And then you get to do it all over again because, unlike in it's predecessor, that cute little bundle of joy that just fell out of the ceiling will grow up! Unless you forget to look after him and he gets taken away by the social worker...

The Sims 2 was an awesome game that allowed some of the freedoms that the original The Sims game didn't afford us, such as aging which added a feeling of progression, without any of the drawbacks that it's successor went on to have, such as hefty loading times and lag due to massive, open neighbourhoods. As someone who has spent a little bit of time Simming...

Just a tiny amount

...I preferred TS2's neighbourhood customisation - not being able to create vacation worlds in TS3 still hurts - and I think TS2 has a better balance of simplicity to creative freedom. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you don't already have it, you'll have to look for a second hand copy of The Sims 2, as EA hate making money and it is no longer available on Origin. If you do have it then check out the mighty TheSimsResource, AroundTheSims2 and MTS for custom content that will literally make you squeal with excitement.


Now if you'll excuse me, I think I left my toddler by the pool...

(Sorry, outdated and bad The Sims 4 joke)

Bundle Stars (aka How To Save A Lot Of Money)

If there's one thing that us gamers can't get enough of it's cheap games, and Bundle Stars is a great way to get them for PC. Founded by Focus Multimedia two years ago, Bundle Stars offers discounts on individual games but the best deals are in the bundles: You get a set selection of games (usually around ten) for a fraction of the value of the contents. Each bundle is only available for a  limited period however, so you have to act fast and check back regularly.

Right now the F.E.A.R. Bundle is available, containing all F.E.A.R. games and DLCs for the absolute bargain price of £5.89 so what are you waiting for?

Check out Bundle Stars here.

Scariest Video Game Characters

In celebration of the only day of the year when I appear to be remotely normal, here is a list of the top ten scariest video game characters ever.

10. Draugr - Skyrim

Initially Skyrim's Draugr don't seem like such a bad enemy - just your average undead tomb-protecting warriors really. However, with Skyrim being as addictive as it is, it's often played well into the early hours of the morning. When it's dark. And quiet. And you've been staring at a monitor/tv for several hours and you can't quite think straight. Then you find yourself deep into one of Skyrim's many large underground crypts, you're tired, you're running low on health potions, you're desperate to find the exit, and then you turn a corner and run straight into a couple of Draugr, a Draugr Wight and his friend the Deathlord. As someone who's been through this experience a few times, let me tell you that it definitely isn't a pleasant one.

9. Witch - Left 4 Dead 

 You're moving along looking for the next group of zombies to kill when you hear crying. It sounds like a young woman, maybe only a teenage girl, so you seek out the source, happy that you've found another survivor. You find her crouched alone in the dark and so you approach her to talk to her and HOLY SHIT WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME?!
Without a doubt the creepiest and toughest mob that Left 4 Dead has to offer, after that first experience just the sound of a witch is enough to set you on edge, make you turn off your torch and move no more than 3 paces at a time until you can't hear her anymore.

8. Cherubs - Doom 3

As if Doom wasn't creepy enough already, they just had to throw half-baby half-insect freaks from hell into the mix. And then of course you don't really want to kill it because however monumentally screwed up it is, you're killing a baby.

7. Banshees - Mass Effect

Anyone who tells you that they didn't scream like a little girl the first time they were grabbed by a banshee is lying. They look like they've been ripped straight from your nightmares, they can teleport through walls and if you get too close to one then she'll put an arm through your chest, lick your face and then drop you in a heap on the floor. Lovely.

6. Necromorphs - Dead Space

They look nothing short of grotesque, they're fast and their sole purpose is to kill everyone. What makes these things incredibly creepy is that the usual tactic of shooting them in the head won't work, dismemberment is the only way to stop them. Playing Dead Space alone in the dark isn't advisable. 

5. The Gatherers - Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Amnesia: The Dark Descent's main mobs will chase you on sight while you walk through Brennenburg Castle, the game's main setting. Unfortunately for you this is an exploration game and you don't have any weapons, so your only option is to outrun them. On top of that, looking at The Gatherers can cause the protagonist to go insane. Which is understandable because they make me want to throw up a little bit.

4. Poison Headcrab - Half Life 2

Head-hugging crabs that leave you with so little health that anything can kill you. These little cretins are so creepy that even the testers were scared of them, and rightfully so.

3. Iron Maiden - Resident Evil 4

Awww, isn't it cute? Most people would probably go with Nemesis as the scariest enemy from Resident Evil, but there's just something about the Iron Maidens that Nemesis doesn't have. Mainly big spikes coming out of their flesh. It may be slow, but it's tough; cutting their limbs off will only result in them growing back, they'll impale you on those aforementioned spikes, and to top it off, they can absorb quite a few shots with no affect whatsoever.

(anyone else got The Trooper stuck in their head now?)

2. Pyramid Head - Silent Hill

No list of creepy video game characters would be complete without him. Words can't do him justice, so here's a video instead (The first few seconds are NSFW):

1. The Dog - Paperboy

If you don't think that this is a valid entry then you haven't suffered the agony of being chased by that STUPID F*%!ING DOG!

Steam Halloween Sale

The Steam Halloween Sale is now live until Monday, and contains some insane deals on some awesome games.

Fallout 3

It's the future but with robots and fifties music. In case you're one of the few who don't already own this game, both the standard and GOTY editions are in the sale, for a fraction of their usual sale prices. The Fallout Classic Collection (featuring Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics), and Fallout New Vegas are also in the sale.

Fallout 3 on Steam    -    Fallout 3 GOTY on Steam    -    Fallout 3 Official Site

Left 4 Dead 2

One of the best zombie games ever made, and fresh from it's unbanning in Australia. Left 4 Dead 2 features a scary, fun, and often funny single player campaign (complete with an AI that randomly generates zombies and weapons, meaning you never play the same way twice), some inventive zombie types, and the thing that people really buy it for: the multiplayer. As it turns out, becoming a zombie and scratching your friend's eyes out is popular amongst us gamers and nearly 5 years after release it's still one of the more popular multiplayers. 

Left 4 Dead 2 on Steam    -    Left 4 Dead 2 Official Site

Claire

Claire is an indie action adventure game that has you controlling the eponymous protagonist through a nightmarish alternate reality with the aid of her German Shepherd, Anubis. The atmosphere is spot-on, due in no small part to the amazing soundtrack and sound effects, and combined with the great story and design this is a must-play if you enjoy survival horror. The game also offers multiple choices for how to progress which lead to various endings, meaning you have great replay value here.

Claire on Steam    -    Claire Official Site

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are plenty more (439 to be precise) games available in the sale, so why don't you check it out now?

Throwback Thursday - The Elder Scrolls: Arena

The Game That Started It All

Arena actually began life as a gladiatorial fighting game - the player was meant to be part of a group of fighters who would travel from arena to arena defeating opponents until they eventually became the champion of the Imperial City, with a few roleplaying sidequests scattered in between. However as development went on the tournaments became gradually less important, and the roleplaying parts more so, until eventually Arena became a fully-fledged RPG. However (super-interesting fact moment:) they had a problem with the name; developers Bethesda had already had all the game materials printed with the 'Arena' title on them, but the arena combat had been dropped completely. That's when developer Vijay Lakshman came up with the idea of naming the game 'The Elder Scrolls: Arena', despite not having a clue what 'The Elder Scrolls' were, and retconned that 'The Arena' was a nickname for Tamriel, the continent that it's based in. That, ladies and gentlemen, is why Elder Scrolls play such a tiny role in the Elder Scrolls games, and why you will never hear Tamriel referred to as 'The Arena' outside of it's first installment.

The First Dungeon 

Arena's first dungeon is an absolute nightmare. Given the game's downright weird controls (right-click and swipe to attack) you'll die at least once before you've even figured out how to use your sword. As if that wasn't enough you've got goblins to compete with (often placed badly and hard to attack), and the rats in this dungeon are some kind of freaks that despite looking normal are incredibly strong and you've got to be pretty quick because given your lack of heals, a few run-ins with rats mixed with slow reactions will result in this:

...Arena's death screen, which you will be seeing a lot of (I once heard that it took Morrowind's lead level designer twenty attempts to escape Arena's first dungeon). However, eventually you will be greeted with the beautiful sight of the Shift Gate, and probably do a little happy dance, because congratulations, you've found the exit! The game will then ask you to enter the value of a random spell, found in the ReadMe file (that's 21-year-old piracy protection for you), and then you're free to explore Tamriel. Fortunately it gets a bit easier after that. There's just a small matter of battling across the continent to collect the pieces of the powerful Staff of Chaos in order to defeat the Imperial Battle Mage and rescue the Emperor that he's kidnapped. No biggie.

Why It's Awesome

Despite not getting the greatest reception, Arena rightly became a cult hit and spawned the rest of The Elder Scrolls series, one of the best and most successful series out there. Not just that, but Arena raised the bar for RPGs in general and became the standard for what could be made. If you've played an RPG made in the last 21 years then it's pretty much guaranteed that it's been influenced, even indirectly, by The Elder Scrolls. And if that wasn't already a good enough reason to play it (assuming that you haven't already), you can get it for nothing!

The Elder Scrolls: Arena is free (yes, FREE!) to download from the official Elder Scrolls website.

November 2014 New Releases

NOTE: 

• These are physical releases, I'll cover digital ones later
• If the platform isn't stated then it's a multi-platform release
• These are PAL* release dates NOT NA release dates, those tend to vary by a few days

*PAL meaning, basically, just about everywhere that isn't the USA or Canada

03-11-14

Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Surprise, surprise: It's November and another Call Of Duty game is going to be released. Who'd have guessed? This latest installment has gone a bit sci-fi (Hoverboards. Need I say more?) and (finally) promises an end to quick-scoping on multiplayer.

07-11-14

Football Manager 2015 (PC)

Yes, Sega are still making games. The popular simulation is back, and brings with it 2,000 new animations and Movember. Yes, this will be the first game in the series (and to my knowledge, ever) where characters will grow moustaches throughout November, in honour of the popular charity movement.

11-11-14

Halo: The Master Chief Collection (XBOne)

They always find a way to make you buy something twice and be grateful for it. Master Chief's entire career so far is coming to XBOne. Which I keep reading as X-Bone.

13-11-14

PES 2015

Because why go outside and play actual football when you can pay £50 to sit indoors and pretend to play football instead?

14-11-14

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

It's Lego and Batman combined, what's not to love?! Batman joins forces with other DC superheroes to stop Brainiac from shrinking planets. This will be the first time Lego Batman lets you take the fight to space, and Brainiac's mind-controlling abilities are promised to add new spins on character's personalities, which sounds interesting. 

Assassins Creed Unity (PS4, XBOne, PC)

A new assassin and a new setting. A new parkour system. New stealth opportunities. New combat. Newey-newness. This will be the first game in the series to allow you to customise your character, adding RPG-esque "skill lines" to advance how you want to.

Assassins Creed Rogue (PS3, XBox 360, PC)

In a (probably not very) dramatic twist, you aren't an assassin any more - you're an assassin hunter. Assassin's Creed: Rogue brings back AC IV's naval themes, but with new ship-based weapons, and gives you a new air rifle to snipe all of the things at your pleasure.

18-11-14

GTA V (PS4, XBox One)

Well, Rockstar took their time, didn't they? Possibly the biggest game in the world ever is coming to next gen consoles. It brings better visuals and more immersive features, such as better weather and foliage systems, in addition to increasing multiplayer matches from 16-player to 30-player.

Far Cry 4

Rideable elephants. How many games give you that? Far Cry's next gen debut is set in the Himalayas, is designed to bring better immersion than it's predecessor, and it will allow you to play online with your friends even if they don't own the game!

21-11-14

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS3, XBox 360)

The first original game set in Middle-earth will be released on last-gen consoles. Often described as a cross between Assassin's Creed and Batman: Arkham, Shadow of Mordor has been the surprise hit of the year and is probably the best Lord of The Rings-based game out there.

WWE 2K15 (XBox One, PS4)

In an odd twist of events, WWE's latest chapter is being released on next-gen consoles after last-gen. 2K15 promises to overhaul the series, turning it from a fighting game featuring WWE stars into a fully-fledged wrestling game, meaning a lot of new features including a chain-wrestling game and a three-tier stamina meter which affects the pace of the match, among a long list of other additions. Each wrestler also receives their own skill sets and fighting styles in an effort to keep the characters as true to the real-life wrestlers as possible.

LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS3, PS4)

So many big titles being released so close to Christmas, what a coincidence! The third main installment in the series features a new planet, an incredible voice cast and great gameplay additions, such as three new characters, new power-ups, new and enhanced tools, and new options for creating levels. DLCs and user-created levels from the first two LittleBigPlanet games can be carried across into this one, leaving existing players no reason not to upgrade.

Dragon Age: Inquisition (XBox One, PS4)

BioWare is back with the third in the popular Dragon Age series. Players will return to Thedas to take on their new role as leader of the Inquisition and "save the world from itself". Multiple playable races are being reintroduced, the maps are much bigger than before, the combat will be more tactical and more customisation options will be available, on top of multiple other changes. Given Dragon Age and BioWare's reputations this is sure to be a great game, and will be a point of focus for Mass Effect fans, as developers have already stated that the next Mass Effect game will be borrowing game systems from DA:I.

Watch Dogs (Wii U)

Aiden Pearce is coming to a Nintendo near you. Wii U owners can now hack their way across Chicago, six months after everyone else, but in time for Christmas.

28-11-14

amiibo (Wii U)

Nintendo's answer to Skylanders and Disney Infinity comes in the form of 'amiibo'. The first wave includes 12 figures from popular Nintendo games, including Link and Mario, with more to follow soon, and each will be compatible with a specific game. 

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (Nintendo 3DS)

Remakes of the twelve-year-old Game Boy Advance titles Pokemon Ruby Version and Pokemon Sapphire Version. Care for your Pokemon, train them, adventure across Hoenn, battle, enter beauty pageants...yes, beauty pageants. New features include buildable Secret Bases, new Mega Evolutions, Primal Reversion, and Pikachu in human cosplay. Because that's not creepy at all.

Minecraft (XBox One, PS Vita)

I'm going to go ahead and assume that you don't live under a rock and you do know what Minecraft is. XBox One users who had/have Minecraft on XBox 360 registered to their XBL account will be able to transfer worlds and content packs across to the XBox One version (which you can get at a discount here). Saved worlds are also transferable between the PS Vita and PS console versions.

Adventure Time: The Secret of The Nameless Kingdom (XBox 360, PS3, PC, Nintendo 3DS, PS Vita)

This top-down adventure puzzle game is the third based on the animated Adventure Time tv series. Because there aren't anywhere near enough cute animated puzzle games coming out before Christmas.