Genres

The Hitman games were a master class in stealth and player choice when they were originally released. Agent 47 could find a thousand ways of eliminating any target and sneaking out without anybody being any the wiser, and playing again and again to improve your playthrough was a big part of the way the series worked. With Absolution, the latest in the franchise, now available in stores, this HD collection is a nice way of comparing how the series has evolved and, in a wider sense, how the gaming industry has changed since the turn of the millennium.

If you asked me 5 years ago to talk to you about EA sports’ new hockey game I would probably look at you funny and walk away. Hell if you asked EA sports 5 years ago to talk about their new hockey game they would say “Hockey game? No I’m pretty sure we just make Madden.” Times have changed and now the NHL game is wildly popular among sports fans and frat boys looking to pass the time between drinks. NHL 2013 is the newest installment and shows off better graphics and sounds, but except for some minor in game changes it still feels arcade like and not ...

Aliens: Colonial Marines, a collaboration between SEGA and Gearbox, was first announced in 2006, just short of a year before the reveal of Borderlands. Borderlands was released in 2009 to critical acclaim, Aliens wasn’t and wouldn’t be until much later. In fact, Colonial Marines was presumed dead for much of its six and a half year development cycle and perhaps, given the controversy surrounding the title since its release, it should have been left buried. With so much going for it, not least the Aliens IP, how did it all go so terribly wrong?

Battlefield 3 is a first person shooter from the development company Dice, and was the showcase game for their new graphics engine, the fabled Frostbite 2. The game features a compelling campaign based on a United States marine who is arrested on suspicion of murder and for ‘apparently’ assisting Iranian ultra-nationalists in nuclear terrorism. We follow Sergeant Blackburn as he tries to save the world from re-entering the Cold War. Battlefield 3 is most revered however for its expansive multiplayer, which, like all previous Battlefield games, has redefined ...

Saints Row III seems like a hard sell. It’s essentially “Grand Theft Auto… But More OUTRAGEOUS” and it’s easy to imagine consumers thinking that GTA is already sufficiently outrageous. However, while the GTA franchise uses satire as a form of comic relief, that series is really a gritty crime drama at heart. Saints Row The Third is actually the opposite of Grand Theft Auto. Saints Row The Third is almost entirely focused on comedy with just a pinch of seriousness; it’s a game where players can team up with Burt Reynolds to fight Mexican wrestlers, zombies and ...

Aliens: Colonial Marines has been in development for over half a decade. Despite the track record of developer Gearbox, and the popularity of the sci-fi franchise, the much anticipated game has been delayed more times than I can count. Considering that, it's something of a miracle that this game was released at all. Unfortunately, it's a little less of a miracle considering how surprisingly bad this game turned out to be.

There has been a distinct lack of business sims these past few years. While Theme Park and its ilk bring back happy memories for those old enough to remember them, something about the genre has led to it disappearing almost completely, and when it does show up it’s usually watered down on mobile devices. Arcadecraft hopes to change that by lettings fans control their very own arcade at the height of their popularity in the eighties. Pick which games you want to be available, how much to charge, how difficult they are and a whole host of other options, all ...

Five years ago, the virtual basketball landscape was a completely different place. EA and 2K were locked in a heated competition on both the pro and college levels, both studios known to pump out two quality basketball titles a year. Today, the only yearly basketball offering remaining is the NBA 2K series, the Live series failing for a third straight season to finish a retail product. Although this appears to be the trend in sports: exclusive licenses and lack of competition dominate virtual sports these days. However, unlike EA's many landmark sport ...

Despite a generally luke-warm reception from critics, 2010’s Medal of Honor reboot from developer Danger Close was not all bad. The title focused on the elite branch of the military known as Tier 1, of which there are a mere handful of operatives currently deployed. Granted, the missions were a little sloppy and the characters not very interesting, but at its core was a mostly decent modern warfare sim with some interesting ideas that just didn’t quite come to fruition.

Over the years the Playstation Network has given us some amazing and interesting titles. Such games like Flower and Journey have given us different , simpler ways to play games and The Unfinished Swan follows that simplistic formula. Just like thatgamecompany, Giant Sparrow has signed a 3 game deal with Sony and they have kicked that deal off in unbelievable fashion. The first thing that came to mind whilst playing The Unfinished Swan was simplicity. Unlike playing games that play out like a triple A Hollywood blockbuster The Unfinished Swan plays out more ...