Shooter

In the last few years, the big budgets and carefully-constructed profit margins of AAA-titles have unfortunately taken a toll on the creativity of games. There are more modern/futuristic war first-person shooters and open world action games than ever - and at the same time, less unique protagonists and stories being told within these genres. Although some of these games may be impressive with game mechanics and scope of their story, I've felt less of a connection with the characters I control and as a byproduct, the journeys I take with them become easier to ...

Never a franchise known for deep, memorable storytelling, the concept of Gears of War: Judgment seemed a little odd. Were people really that interested in what Baird and Cole were up to when Emergence Day occurred, or right before the final attack on Azura of Gears of War 3? It turns out the absence of Marcus wouldn't change things too much: Gears of War: Judgment follows in the veins of its predecessors in both style and personality, though to slightly lesser returns – and oddly, with a lot less content.

To say that gamers were skeptical when The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct was announced would be putting it mildly. With Telltale releasing The Walking Dead adventure game - a game that was focused on hitting all the personal and emotional notes that the comic series is famous for - fans wondered if we needed what appeared to be a run and gun shooter set in the world of AMC's The Walking Dead TV series. Was it even something we wanted?

Sniper: Ghost Warrior hit the gaming scene in 2010. It wasn't very well received, but it sold well enough to warrant a sequel. The first installment was panned for containing too many run-and-gun missions, something that shouldn't be in a game supposedly all about sniping. With that, developer City Interactive decided to make some much-needed improvements with the sequel, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2. While they succeeded in building a game that focuses more on stealth and sniping, the final product leaves much to be desired.

Coming Soon on 26/03/2013

Crytek is a studio known for pushing the technological envelope in game development. The Crysis series in particular has become infamous for its incredibly demanding system requirements, alongside its staggering visual realism. With the third and possibly final numbered entry in the series, Crytek is looking to give the story a fitting conclusion, while proving to the world that they are the undisputed kings of gaming graphics.

I cautiously approach the gently glowing corpse, casting around for Splicers or other threats. The Little Sister on my shoulder squeals delightedly: “Look Daddy, it’s an angel!” Before we can gather any ADAM, I set up a perimeter of trap rivets and mini turrets, and make sure my speargun and drill are both fully loaded, as well as making sure I have the right plasmid equipped. When everything is set up, I carefully set the Little Sister down and prepare for the onslaught.

Starting a trilogy is the fun part – and if this generation of console franchises have proved anything, completing it is the hardest. Over the past two years, we've seen series like Mass Effect and Gears of War struggle with storytelling in their third chapters. Mastering well-known techniques and designs is the easy part – completing an epic narrative in satisfying fashion has proven to be difficult: the bigger the success of the series, the more troublesome the conclusions have proven to be. Given this recent history, Crysis 3 faced an uphill battle from ...

Developer Epic Games takes badass gaming to a new level with an excellent conclusion to one of the Xbox 360 greatest trilogies. Gears of War 3, like its predecessors, is a cover based 3rd person shooter that delivers high paced action at every corner. The game play doesn’t change from the previous two games but that isn’t a bad thing and with the addition of some new toys and a new multiplayer mode Gears of War 3 will be played addictively for some time to come.

Shootmania Storm was announced at E3 last year and then was instantly forgotten. Lost amongst talk of Assassin’s Creed 3 and Watch_Dogs, Shootmania didn't seem to offer an awful lot. A short match between two teams of pro-gamers did little to glue it into the minds of gamers, especially those not interested in yet another shooter. The beta shortly after displayed a game that was utterly unique but without enough depth to keep your mind from wondering back to your comfort title.