REVIEW: 'Uncharted 4'

So, the past two weeks have been leading all to this. Uncharted 4, the (for now) final game in Naughty Dog's most successful franchise. A game I've been both dreading and anticipating in equal measure. This is the big game that Sony have been promising justifies the purchase of a PS4 - a console which has really disappointed me. Since the XBONE and the WiiU are more or less dead already, Sony more or less has no competition. They've since used this rare privilege to be complete assholes to consumers, and I've feared Uncharted 4 would be Sony's unholy top hat.

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.

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: 'SuperHOT'

Remember when I reviewed a prototype version of SuperHOT, an FPS where TIME ONLY MOVES WHEN YOU DO? I said it had the potential to be the next best thing, and presented a unique mechanic that just needed some firm context and a bit more content then we could've had a really great game on our hands.

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: 'The Last Of Us - Left Behind'

Last week I reviewed The Last Of Us, and I still stand by my criticism. I think the gameplay itself is messy, and the plot doesn't acknowledge the monsters we're playing as. In fact, I'm annoyed that no-one's really debating me; since I by no means think that people who love the game are wrong. You can easily argue that we're supposed to feel this distance from the characters and look at the whole thing objectively. Also, if the gameplay adopted a more immersive, free approach a-la Half Life 2 then we probably wouldn't have got such excellent character development. Convince me, someone! I want to like this game!

REVIEW: 'The Last Of Us' (Remastered)

Remember 2013? It was that awkward time when the 7th Generation was dying yet a handful of games were trying to make this last gasp count. There was BioShock Infinite, The Stanley Parable, Grand Theft Auto V, Papers Please, Saints Row 4, Assassins Creed 4, Tomb Raider - I don't even like all of these games; but at least they were interesting!

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: 'Just Cause 3'

Thus, we come to the third installment of the Just Cause franchise. Or, as it's fans like to call it: "KABOOM!!"

REVIEW: 'Star Wars: Battlefront'

Oh, how I wish I could play a practical joke on you all and talk about the original Star Wars Battlefront - since EA couldn't be bothered to change the name despite this being nothing like a Battlefront game.

REVIEW: 'Fallout 4'

It was a week ago today when the reviewer embargo on this game was lifted. It was also six days go today that this game was available to us proletarians to play. Since then everyone and their head-lice has discussed this game. Alas: I must join them...

RE-REVIEW: 'BioShock Infinite' (1999 Mode)

...it's one of those times. I'm not really playing games and there aren't really any interesting games coming out. Well, there's Assasin's Creed - but I still can't believe this series is still going after the romp that was Black Flag. As much as I respect UbiSoft for writing a female protagonist, ultimately I care about gameplay and how well it services the experience. Ever since sailing the high-seas in one of the best pirate simulators I've ever played, every Assasin's Creed game since is a comedown. They might as well just stop and move onto something else.

REVIEW: 'Call Of Duty: Black Ops III BETA'

I'm about to do something I'd promised I would never do: I'm going to review a Call Of Duty game. Yes, the summer drought has gotten so bad that when Activision suddenly announced that the beta of Blacks Ops III is now free on Steam I had no choice but to wait the four sodding hours it took to download (which is longer than the average Call Of Duty story mode) and bash out this review in the space of a few hours. You're welcome.

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).

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.

RETROSPECTIVE: 'BioShock 2'

Along with Citizen Kane, BioShock was top on my list of stories that would only be undermined with a sequel. It would be a third arm sown on. A third arm that couldn't actually move and therefore adds nothing other than complete revulsion.

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)

REVIEW: 'Spec Ops: The Line'

So I'm a bit late to the party. The hype for this game has been and gone - but I honestly prefer it that way since it allows me to look upon a work with a more open perspective. I'm not playing the game because I've been told it's incredible, I'm playing it because people told me it's incredible two years ago but have since jumped onto the next hype-train.