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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare ticks all the boxes you'd expected from a title in the series, righting the wrongs of Ghosts' trudging campaign and lackadaisical multiplayer, delivering a set-piece laden showcase that succeeds in becoming an awe-inspiring sight. It's big, it's brash, it's bold, but it's certainly not clever. The core functionality of Advanced Warfare is as great as ever, but the questions will always be raised as to whether the series has changed enough to warrant a purchase. CoD: AW is a baby step in the right direction, and you'll likely get weeks if not months of play out of it, but those still tired of the Call of Duty formula would do well to stay away.
We highly recommend Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition to anyone with the slightest interest in point n' click adventures. Even if you just enjoy a dark supernatural storyline, there's enough here to keep you entertained.
I didn't expect to get on all that well with Grimrock 2, and I was pleasantly surprised. This does have to be your kind of thing – that's not to say that newcomers can't find anything to enjoy, but lots of what I took away from LoG2 came from nostalgia and references to yesteryear – not exactly in-jokes so much as a firm appreciation of the videogame RPG's tabletop roots.
Beyond Earth takes Civilization V's core game structure and manages what Civilization games always do. They have added just enough new (re-skinning the gameplay, story, graphics and base tactics) without letting the game become too unfamiliar. Once again I am sure many of us will find ourselves muttering 'one more turn' under our breath as the sun comes up over our own beautiful world.
Our verdict is probably to think long and hard before purchasing. Even though Styx only retails for $30, which Cyanide Games certainly deserve for their hard work in creating an awesome character and a good overall stealth experience, the lack of variety in the environments will really drag at times. Huge stealth fans will get an enjoyable experience out of this, but anyone else likely to get mildly frustrated by the dated gameplay and repetition is probably best off avoiding it.
I sort of liked it, though, despite its idiosyncrasies. Maps were pretty, pickups are used as a source of in-game lore in a way that sort of helps draw you in, and the between-mission powerup system is, while perhaps a little one-dimensional, still capable of providing a few interesting options. I don't think we're going to be talking, or even thinking about Ancient Space for very long, but combat is occasionally tense and engrossing, and I enjoyed my time with it well enough.
In the end The Evil Within has undoubtedly been hand-crafted for survival horror purists, making no concessions to modern day expectations and the new breed of horror epitomised by the likes of Dead Space and Resident Evil 6. If you're going in hoping for a worth successor to Resident Evil 4 then you're most definitely in the right place. The Evil Within never quite succeeds in hitting those heights throughout its 20 hour or so length, but it does a damn good impression and, with Halloween approaching fast, we can't think of many better ways to frighten ourselves witless.
Despite it all though, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a deeply atmospheric visual treat, that seems as much about just being there as experiencing the tale set within it. What The Astronauts has created here is a believable and immersive world unfortunately backed up by a poor tale and barebones gameplay. I'd be hard-pressed to say it's not worth a go whatsoever, but for a glorified walk in the woods you may be better off waiting until it's on sale.
Contrary to what we were perhaps expecting, Alien Isolation performs incredibly on PC. Armed with just a GeForce GTX 750 Ti we were able to max everything out and achieve respectable frame rates without a hitch. The Creative Assembly's technical marvel is a visual and atmospheric tour de force, particularly once all of the volumetric fog and dynamic lighting is enabled. Don't spend too much time gawping at the environment though, you're always only seconds away from a grisly end.
The subject matter of A Golden Wake won't match everyone's tastes, while the lower difficulty will also no doubt disappoint some adventure game enthusiasts, but A Golden Wake kept us entertained from start to finish thanks to some interesting characters, smart scripting and buckets of old school charm.
That said, we thoroughly enjoyed our time with Sherlock Holmes Crimes and Punishments, which is our favourite game starring the drug-addled sleuth so far. From the crisp and detailed graphics to the huge variety in gameplay, this is a solid puzzling adventure that will please anyone after a good yarn.
Shadow of Mordor is a fun action title that continues to sprinkle enjoyable tactical options in front of the player even in the later stages of the game. It keeps a combat heavy, tried and tested formula from becoming stagnant, while borrowing mechanics from a variety of game franchises it nevertheless comes from a gaming pedigree itself. Where Assassin's Creed and Batman are becoming repetitive, Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor has managed to create an open world action fantasy RPG that has new life, albeit, slightly undead.
In the end though FIFA 15 is all about the spectacle, and on that it delivers and then some. It feels like an epic Super Sunday clash and whether it's a 0-0 draw or a 5-4 spectacular it always feel a nail-biting, unpredictable, and tense experience that replicates all of the emotions of the beautiful game.
Perhaps the point is to highlight the futility of foreign conflicts that fuel endless generations of inter-religious strife. And if they do introduce a 'baby/village idiot' difficulty level in a later patch, I might revisit. Otherwise, the only crusade I'm going to sign up for will be the one against fixed save points in PC FPSes.
As it stands my opinion on Destiny hasn't changed, but getting a good grasp on what it's trying to do has proven enormously difficult. There'll be plenty of people out there who believe that Destiny is heaven sent, and there'll be thousands more claiming it's the spawn of Satan. The reality is it lies somewhere between those two ways of thinking, and throughout your time playing you'll experience both yourself. Destiny isn't a game I can wholeheartedly recommend, but in a year's time I might, so if you can resist the urge to delve in earlier then there may a far better experience further down the line.
It's not cynical to say that Planetary Annihilation was built from the ground up as an e-sports option. As such, it's not really designed for mellow, thoughtful play at home so much as overly frenetic, WMD-laden violence before an army of screaming South Koreans. It has certainly learned the lessons of past MP giants, but whether it is really going to conquer that demanding arena or sputter like a damp squib is hard to predict. As a game in its own right though, a lot of what you're doing is standard RTS stuff, only simultaneously on a series of spherical maps, which adds dramatically to the challenge.
While inXile make a big point on the menu screen about not trying to squeeze players with DLC and other money-making ploys, Wasteland 2 is currently as full-price as it gets. But it feels like something you should be able to pick up for a fraction of the price. For the nostalgia buzz from playing through a bunch of vaguely familiar plot ideas set in a radiation-scoured wilderness, I would counsel waiting until the price drops a little before investing your time and money in this. Sorry Brian - see you in a quarter of a century for the next one.
PiranhaBytes have always created games aimed at something of a niche in the RPG gaming community. Risen 3 once again caters to this core audience, and if - like me - you were a prior fan of the Risen or Gothic games, no doubt you'll find a good deal to entertain you in this flawed but nonetheless enjoyable game. To score this game I've had to set my personal love for it aside, however, and try to be as unbiased as possible. And with that in mind, I can't give it more than a mediocre-to-good 7.5; weak voice acting and continuing flaws in the controversial combat system letting down an otherwise solid RPG offering.
Zojoi have attempted to resurrect a classic here, but time has undoubtedly taken its toll. What's here is enjoyable enough for hardened adventure game fans, but gamers honed on a diet of The Walking Dead may be turned off by its complexity and strict adherence to difficulty. If you've got the patience then Shadowgate could be the game for you - it's often amusing, always head-scratching, but most importantly it's a taste of gaming past that many may miss.
One thing I do have to say is that the mouse and keyboard controls were awkward, and the mouse movement and acceleration in particular felt a little off. It didn't take long for me to decide plugging in my DualShock 4 was the better option here; Capcom clearly designed Dead Rising 3 from the ground up for traditional gamepads.