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Despite a multi-player mode that's difficult to love and a pretty atrocious story, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare pleasantly surprised. It adds enough to the core of the game – the infantry action and gun-play – that the campaign never felt like a chore and none of the set pieces and vehicles outstayed their welcome. A new engine and new ideas breath new life into a series that was in serious danger of turning stale.
While it has some minor foibles, and you undoubtedly need to have watched up to the end of the show's Season 3 to get what's going on, if you're a fan of the show you'll definitely love this. Telltale have tied themselves to Westeros brilliantly - now let's see if they can survive their Second Episode Is The Worst In The Season curse.
The first act is a little slow to get going, but once the story has its hooks in you and the true scale of the world opens up before your eyes, it's easy to forgive early problems with pacing and a slightly lacklustre combat system. It says something that after around forty-five hours of gameplay I was disappointed that the main plot was showing signs of coming to an end, and that as soon as I finished I wanted to start the whole thing over again.
Now for the age-old question: is war worth it? At £30, Ardennes Assault might be slightly overpriced, yet within lies a brilliant war sim RTS. Only the best need apply.
I can't say that I found it satisfying and many, if not most, themes went well over my head, but I can see why so many find this genre of discovery simulator so immersive and compelling. The Old City has a tendency to get into your head and bones after a few hours and as this is the first of a trilogy, I'm eager to see where Leviathan will take me next.
A worthy purchase certainly, but only if you're prepared to accept Far Cry 3.5 rather than Far Cry 4.
If you have a console, get Pro Evo 2015 on that. If you're a PC-only football fan, this is a functional if lacklustre port of a great match engine with broken online support.
All in all though I can't think of a single reason you'd want to play Escape Dead Island over a thousand similar, better games on Steam. Most of them have zombies in them anyway.
Never Alone is a beautiful game, full of fairy tale delight and educational knowledge. It isn't as patronising as that might sound as it keeps the two well-separated enabling you to take or leave as much of the cultural content as you like. It struggles though with being a compelling video game with its slow start, short running time and AI issues. It comes away respectful of its inspiration and educational as well, but won't last long in the memory as a gaming experience.
Despite some good ideas and an entertaining tale, this isn't a revolution for the franchise. Considering the hype and the promises made compared to the final experience, it actually feels like a step backwards.
It's definitely a shame TT Games ditched the open world city design, so consequently vehicles are worthless, but the large Super Mario Galaxy-style planets you can visit and the sheer mind-boggling amount of content softens the blow. I had a lot of fun playing it, I'll probably spend another 30 hours getting 100% everything, and… wait, did Kevin Smith just reference Tim Burton's failed Superman Lives project? BEST GAME EVER BUY IT NOW.
Regardless of its shortcomings, This War of Mine is a hugely powerful game. Your reaction to those stark visuals and battles of conscience will dictate what you take away from it, but make no mistake, this is a grim, grim experience, and I'd hesitate to state that any of its content is "enjoyable" in a traditional fashion.
With two players pushing and pulling the coffin of their own accord it's redolent of a classic Chuckle Brothers sketch. It's chaotic fun in a mould that's largely disappeared since the advent of online gaming but has seen a revival of late with the likes of Towerfall: Ascension. Nevertheless, Chariot is still an engaging single player experience that's well worth the admission fee. Just remember to hold X to pay your respects.
Aside from balancing the random elements of the game to make them less unfair, Crowntakers is a superbly focussed effort that can be enjoyed in short bursts or gorged on for multiple hour sessions. It's likely to be better consumed sparingly, like a good port, but it has a complexity greater than it initially appears. As a relief from overly-serious epic games about dragons and Frenchmen this is a welcome diversion.
If you're a fan of RPGs, you should really check the game out; the story is engaging and the characters are fun, but it's the charming picture-book aesthetic and unique combat system that really make the difference. At a knockdown price with all the extra DLC included, there's really no reason not to give it a go.
Toybox Turbos might not have the Micro Machines branding then, but when it nails everything else that those licensed games did so well in the first place, it feels churlish not to look past such superfluous things. Camera issues and a relative lack of ambition aside, this is the new Micro Machines title that you forgot you wanted and quite honestly, it's just great to see this type of game again in 2014. Get some friends, get stuck in and don't mind the name above the door.
Regardless, the addictive qualities of Football Manager are ultimately untouched, with the new scouting and player interaction options only serving to expand the simulation and add a smidgen more personality. The best is still getting better then, but the pace of improvement might need to be addressed.
Randal's Monday gets so much right it's depressing that it gets the crucial gameplay part wrong.
Poltergeist is a very fun puzzle game, that really taxes the brain muscles occasionally but it's all done in such a lovely way that you never want to give in. It's addictive, entertaining, and makes me want to be a ghost. Can I call it "spooktacular"? No, best not, I've got more class than that. Oh, screw it - SPOOKTACULAR!
I'm sure Firaxis will eventually make a great game out of Beyond Earth. They're a smart development team that knows how to improve and iterate on a solid core product, which Beyond Earth certainly is. Right now, though, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed by the state of the game. It's perfectly enjoyable, but for every smart innovation it seems to have lost a portion of both complexity and character. There's potential here, but we'll have to wait for a couple of meaty expansions to see Beyond Earth's promise fully realised.