Genres

Football Manager 13 was released last September, just in time to cause poor exam results up and down the country this year. A crown I’m sure it was keen to keep from last year, as the Football Manager series has always been a favourite of the side-tracked student turned PC gamer. Some have even called it an addiction, but will this year’s instalment keep you hooked?

I have to admit that I didn’t have high expectations for Metal Gear Solid Rising: Revengeance... (Especially with a title that uses most of the english alphabet). Over the years, the series has deeply developed Solid Snake, a character we all know, admire and love and Revengeance seemed like a long-shot. In theory, this game shouldn’t work. Set in the Metal Gear Solid universe, we would normally expect a game with an intense and confounding story, stealth based gameplay as well as quite a few hours of intriguing cutscenes. Now that I have actually played ...

When Braid hit the Xbox, it was a wake up call to indie developers. Smart and simple games could flourish in this new generation of high-powered graphics. The Bridge is an indie 2D puzzle game where players control time and gravity to guide a man through a distorted world of M. C. Escher geometry. The Bridge owes much to Braid, both for paving the way for other indie games, but also for the quiet thoughtful tone that both games share.

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.

Baldur's Gate is often regarded as one of the finest role-playing games in existence. Initially released in 1998, it was BioWare's second title and proved to be influential not only for BioWare's later works but for other Western RPG developers. With a strong emphasis on storytelling and customization, Baldur's Gate paved the way for other RPGs to follow in its footsteps and ultimately change the landscape of the RPG genre.

To say that Final Fantasy XIII was a huge success would be a pretty major understatement. For the first time, fans of the record breaking series were given something that offered everything a Final Fantasy game could give, with the added bonus of some stunning next-gen graphics and the all important movie-like cut scenes that turn this incredible instalment into more of a video game epic.

Roguelikes can be an acquired taste. The randomness, the perma-death, and the genre’s notorious difficulty can leave a bitter taste in the mouths of some gamers. Well-crafted titles like FTL, however, can embrace these conventions and come up with a demanding but truly rewarding gameplay experience. FTL is a highly addictive blend of action and strategy that, for $10, you simply cannot afford to miss.