Genres

Wrestling games have a rather long and odd history, especially when it comes to their core audience. The core audience for wrestling games isn’t always fans of wrestling, oddly enough, but just fans of wrestling games mixed in with wrestling fans themselves. I know that reads like a rather odd distinction, but it is very true. THQ’s rather sordid history with the WWE license extends back quite a while and has its ups and downs before they reached the end of the line with WWE ‘13, leaving the question of did they do the best that they could with developer ...

The Far Cry series began life with the Crytek-developed PC title, Far Cry. Positively received on release, the original game cast the mold for the sandbox-shooter franchise and though development since that first game has been handled by Ubisoft Montreal, the second instalment received similar praise. Now, Far Cry 3 has arrived with the aim of continuing the series’ success, and fans will be pleased to hear that it doesn’t disappoint.

Hotline Miami is an interesting indie title that was released in late 2012. The gritty game has received numerous awards and accolades, particularly for its soundtrack and gameplay. I've logged many hours playing through this ultra-violent offering from Dennaton Games, and it has been one of the more cerebral video game experiences I've had in awhile.

Chivalry Medieval Warfare released at the end of last year as a surprisingly good sword- fighting game from an independent studio. It successfully captured the finesse and brutality of hand-to-hand combat in the middle ages, but it had a few clear flaws. The handful of maps and game modes grew repetitive, and highly-skilled players often found themselves besieged by swarms of button mashers. The developer, Torn Banner Studios has released a large, free patch to correct some of these problems and now Chivalry has gone from a good game to a great one.

The end of a console generation is a perfect time for an ambitious spin-off title: most major franchises are either completing trilogies or releasing refined, creatively safe iterations of popular titles. Developed by Forza vets Turn 10 Studios and UK-based Playground Games (a team compromising of landmark arcade, rally, and simulation racer developers), Forza Horizon takes its well-refined racing style to the beautiful landscapes of Colorado, with some very interesting ideas on how to bridge the gap between hardcore simulation and casual arcade racer, ...

Any fantasy-RPG fan knows that if you’re looking for a broad, open-world experience with unprecedented attention to detail and more lore than you can shake an enchanted mace at, then you should look no further than the Elder Scrolls series. The fantasy realm of Tamriel is home to multiple races, factions, guilds, ghosts, and monsters. In The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, players are brought to the titular province to explore the northern wilds, mountains, caves, catacombs, and ruins of Skyrim, the land of the Nords. Bethesda’s latest entry into their long-running ...

Uber-small developer, thatgamecompany previously wowed gamers with Flower. The game was stripped down and simple, but also oddly beautiful. Furthermore, it proved insanely addicting with its "snowball effect on flower petals" mechanic. Flower is a perfect argument for the oft-asked and much- debated question, “Are games art?” And now the studio has upped its game (so to speak) with Journey a compelling and emotional title that is subtly deep and outrageously beautiful…it is a triumph.

Bungie’s involvement with the Halo universe is no more. The longtime developer of the FPS that breathed new life into consoles, shooters and hell, let’s just say it—online gaming—is off to next-gen pastures leaving developer 343 Industries to continue Master Chief’s tale with a new series known as The Reclaimer Trilogy.

When Super Mario Bros. arrived, beating the game was a source of pride for most players. Those with poor reflexes or a low threshold for frustration would fizzle out before finally finding the right castle and saving the princess, but more tenacious players would stick it out, replaying the levels over and over until they could zoom through Mario’s adventure with perfect precision and timing. Eventually, merely beating the game wasn't enough, and the question became “How quickly can you beat it?” This gave birth to the gaming subculture of speed runners ...

Lord of the Rings: War of the North was supposed to be a darker, more adult game for those of us old enough to appreciate the films when they first came out. It was going to have a deeper story, more intense combat (complete with decapitations and blood – adult stuff) and it was going to show a side to Middle Earth we’d rarely seen, let alone in video games. War of the North was also publisher Warner Brothers’ first chance to show the world what they could do with their newly acquired Lord of the Rings licence.