REVIEW: 'Uncharted 2: Among Thieves' AND 'Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'

I've decided to lump my reviews of the last two games of The Uncharted Trilogy (tomorrow it will officially be The Uncharted Quadrilogy) because 1. I'm out of time and 2. The gameplay is relatively unchanged. The first game deserved it's own review just because of how it influenced Triple A gaming, yet whilst there is a marked difference between Uncharted 1 and 2; it's only in terms of plotting and pace.

REVIEW: 'Uncharted 1: Drake's Fortune'

Uncharted 4 is coming up, and I'm both looking forward to it whilst kinda dreading it. On one hand; games these days are so focused on either sandboxes or multiplayer that it's rare to see a linear story that doesn't require an internet connection. Naughty Dog are one of the few Triple A developers who actually seem committed to furthering narrative art (see: The Last Of Us) rather than merely trying to turn a profit in an increasingly volatile industry. On the other hand: aside from Resident Evil 4 I can't think of a fourth instalment in any franchise that wasn't terrible. Plus the Uncharted series does have some serious inherent problems which I'll get into.

RETROSPECTIVE: 'Runescape'

Every once in a while, my brain suddenly reminds me that Runescape still exists. This usually happens every three years or so, and whenever I do I log in, play for an hour or so to see what's changed and what's still the same, then I sign off and forget about the whole thing for another couple of years.

REVIEW: 'F.E.A.R'

First Person Shooters and Horror do not mix. This is perhaps a curious statement considering three of my favourite games are Horror FPS's - or at least FPS's with horror elements. System Shock 2, Half Life 2, and the Thief series. Part of the reason why the latter two work is that they aren't actual horror games. Out of no-where they suddenly spring levels from hell, where you find yourself stuck in an abandoned town infested with zombies or in a haunted catacomb.

REVIEW: 'No More Heroes'

2007 was such a landmark year for gaming. Not necessarily the best, but it was a year when gaming really felt like it had broken through as the brand new art-form of the now. A new console generation had kicked off, and it kicked off with some great games. In particular: it was the year of the Wii.

REVIEW: 'Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'

I've said some nasty things about Call Of Duty in the past. In my review of the Black Ops 3 Beta, I called the franchise "brain-corrupting filth" only redeemed by a mindless multi-player mode that's since become surpassed by every other multi-player game ever made. I've described this series as the lowest standard in gaming, and propagandistic filth.

REVIEW: 'Deus Ex: Revision' (Mod)

If you don't know, Deus Ex is one of my favourite games. It's a 2000 PC classic released at the peak of the Golden Age that combines shooting, roleplaying, and stealth to create an experience never seen before or since. Even it's inferior sequels/prequels/awful mobile games keep trying to scale things back down.

REVIEW: 'Team Fortress 2'

Why am I reviewing one of the most popular free to play games ever made? The biggest online shooter out there? Because, after spending a whole day getting it ready, my computer decided to celebrate the arrival of Windows 10 by getting drunk and corrupting it's liver (system file). The only to solve this is to have a liver transplant (reset my PC to factory settings and install Windows 10 all over again) whilst also coping with amnesia (my computer losing all it's data in the process).

RE-REVIEW: 'Mount and Blade: Warband'

Why assasinate a corpse? Why garnish chicken cordon-bleu with more chicken cordon-bleu? Why review a game I've already reviewed? Because, like Skyrim, I've sunk an embarrasingly long amount of time into this game and I need an excuse for doing so.

RETROSPECTIVE: 'Half Life 2: Episode 1' AND 'Half Life 2: Episode 2'

Fans were disappointed when Half Life 2 ended on yet another cliffhanger, but subsequently delighted in 2005 when Valve released the confusingly named Half Life 2: Episode 1. It's basically 'Half Life 3' but split into episodic instalments so Valve could deliver games faster and respond to audience feedback as they went on. The whole thing seems laughable now.

REVIEW: 'Psychonauts'

Let's go back to a golden time when Double Fine were untainted by the mediocrity of Brütal Legend, the disappointment of Broken Age, the sloppiness of Grim Fandango: Remastered, and whatever Costume Quest is. Let's also go back to a time when fully-blown comedy games were still allowed to be made by a major company and released on consoles.

RETROSPECTIVE: 'Half Life 2'

The myth. The legend. The game that perfected an already innovative formula to create an experience unlike anything before or since. Or, that's what I said when I first played it. So what about now?

RETROSPECTIVE: 'BioShock'

Bioshock is a game about a faceless, nameless, voiceless protagonist who journeys somewhere beyond the sea. Specifically: Rapture, a city underwater. It quickly turns out that things have gone horribly wrong here, as the city has been ruined by people injecting themselves with magical powers - causing them to go insane (you, however, remain fine)

RETROSPECTIVE: 'Half Life: Opposing Force' AND 'Half Life: Blue Shift'

As we previously established, Half Life was a genre-defining game. Not quite a masterpiece, but one that needs to be remembered for what it achieved and what modern gaming still needs to catch up on. Despite the game ending on an open note, many were pleasantly surprised that Half Life became a franchise. And it started with two expansion packs. 

RETROSPECTIVE: 'Star Wars Battlefront II'

Happy May 4^th! If you don’t know why you should celebrate May 4^th then congratulations on living an active and fulfilling life. Also, the thing I’m talking about is probably a clue…

RETROSPECTIVE: 'Mirror's Edge'

 

With a remake in the works (because society has such a short memory that seven years is long enough to warrant a total reboot) I feel the time is ripe to discuss this fascinating failure. Yes: failure. 

REVIEW: 'The Ship'

I love being a PC gamer. I have a machine that’s able to play games from both the past and present – unlike consoles which systematically try to erase its history so they can poorly recycle ideas from ten years go. For example: the Assassin’s Creed Multiplayer, whilst solid, is basically The Ship but without the cartoonish charm. 

RETROSPECTIVE: 'Deus Ex'

You might recognise this game. Similar to how every moviegoer has probably heard of The Seventh Seal, yet never seen it – every gamer has probably spied Deus Ex on a list of ‘Greatest Games Of All Time’ yet has either never played it or has attempted to play it before giving up forever. And I weep for those people. 

REVIEW: ‘Mount And Blade: Warband’

This will no doubt make me lose a lot of credibility as a reviewer and gamer in general…but I don’t really like sandbox games. 

RETROSPECTIVE: 'Thief Gold' AND 'Thief 2: The Metal Age'

  

The Golden Age Of PC Gaming is thus named because it was a time when genres were both defined and created. First-person shooters had been around for a while, but it soon occurred that there could be more to these Doom-clones than just shooting armies of bad guys. For example: What if you take the two basic instincts of a gamer – killing and looting – but get rid of the killing part and make it all about the looting?