Genres

There are certain things that will always be of interest to hidden object and casual adventure enthusiasts: anything with a little intrigue and classic literature. Jane Austen's Estate of Affairs, by Legacy, has both, but is that enough to keep you clicking?

The Wii U version of Sonic Lost World was a little bit weird. It blended, with varying degrees of success, the main staples of Sonic with a more exploratory, slower paced level design. It has been met with mixed reaction by fans. The 3DS version is much of the same, although the little changes that have been made make this the superior outing for the Blue Blur.

Dennis is having a bit of a bad day. The world has been frozen over, he's all alone, he has nothing but a creaky bicycle to make his way through the frozen hellscape and, on top of all that, some video game player keeps dressing him up in silly clothes. Dennis is the unfortunate fellow who stars in Icycle: On Thin Ice, and over the course of the game he will be crushed, impaled, exploded, and forced to suffer the indignities of being treated like a Barbie doll by a cruel, unsympathetic player.

Where do I begin? Where do I end? Where do I middle? When it comes to The Stanley Parable, there's no real way to review it, just as there is no real way to play it, or finish it, or even describe it on a basic level. In the spirit of The Stanley Parable, allow me to go a bit meta – when I write a review, I like to spend the first couple of paragraphs giving an overview of the game. The story, the setting, but here, there is no proper story, there is no proper setting. Do you see the quandary? Maybe there's only one way to review it...

There's a problem with iOS sequels: the phrase "more of the same thing" would be an understatement in describing the 'changes' most games make before attaching a numeral. There are a few bright spots here and there (Fieldrunners 2, Infinity Blade 2, Mikey Hooks), but for the most part, new gameplay mechanics, modes, and improvements (other than graphical) are few and far between. Unfortunately, EPOCH 2 isn't one of these innovative sequels - but despite a few frustrating shortcomings, retains the break-neck gameplay pace and fantastic touch control scheme of ...

I’m sure when most people think of Amnesia they think of creatures popping out at them, chasing them and constantly trying to kill them. Well Amnesia A Machine for Pigs takes a completely different approach to scary, and in my opinion it works. So expect more of a looming feeling of uneasiness then pure outright terror that comes across as you play. It is unfortunate the amount of bad feedback this title has received because expectations were that of the last Amnesia title. I feel AMFP was a short and creepy experience with some brilliant story work intertwined.

The general interest in Splinter Cell Blacklist seemed to be practically zero ahead of its launch. A change of pace in its predecessor, Conviction, as well as a new Sam Fisher and a series of generic trailers meant that release came and went with little fanfare.

Last gen the action adventure genre evolved into something far more controller, more linear than it ever had been before. The likes of Uncharted and Tomb Raider put personality and story ahead of pitting you against a cave and tasking you with getting to the end. It's funny then that it's so easy to see Deadfall Adventures as a bad copy of these games when actually the developers have gone back to the source.

2013 has been a big year full of big releases. We've had the open-world Goliath that is Grand Theft Auto V. We've received The Last of Us from Sony's wunderkind Naughty Dog. We'll soon be graced with the presence of next-gen gaming from the titans Microsoft and Sony. And now, Nintendo has sent forth their king of handheld games – ladies and gentlemen, the next generation is here. The next Pokemon generation, of course.

Karting games, once only really the dominion of Mario and friends, are starting to get better. If you were going to make a racing game for your franchise, the chances were that it'd end up more South Park and less Crash Bandicoot. But as time has gone by, racing tie-ins have generally got better. Sonic's All Star outings are the perfect example of that.