Platform: Xbox 360

Zen Pinball 2: Aliens Pack

I’ve mentioned it a number of times now, but for those that haven’t been paying attention – I’ve fallen in love with Zen Pinball 2. I know, I sit here with technology capable of amazing things, able to transport me to amazing new worlds and whatnot, but what do I do? I emulate an old-fashioned arcade staple which is now practically extinct.

In my defence, Zen Pinball 2 does things that no real-life pinball table could do. Most tables contain all sorts of outrageous animatronics and ramp formations that just couldn’t or wouldn’t get made. So, not only does Zen Pinball 2 create amazing tables, as the title of this post suggests, they pick up some amazing licenses too. It’s fair to say that even if I wasn’t a massive fan of ‘Aliens’, I’d still have glowing things to say about these tables.

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Transformers: Devastation

“A cursory evaluation of Decepticon capabilities indicates a distinct tactical deficiency.”

Perceptor calls that out to Ultra Magnus during the attack on Autobot City in the 1986 classic Transformers: The Movie, and it pretty much sums up the war between them.

Optimus Prime and company took on a superior force, one that has no regard for sentient life, and won every time. Yes, it became predictable, but Transformers hasn’t become a classic franchise for nothing. The brand may have been diluted with the recent Michael Bay movies, but Platinum Games have just released Transformers: Devastation; a G1 inspired game that ticks all the right notes for fans of the bearer of the Matrix, but it might leave more casual fans, especially younger ones that only know the live action movies, a little cold.

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Destiny: The Taken King

In the infinite vastness of the universe, a year is but a moment. A fleeting period that adds little to the ever expanding void, but to sentient beings can seem like forever, where even a fraction of it can change their lives forever.

In gaming terms, a hell of a lot can change in just one year. The Taken King is Destiny’s newest expansion, bringing with it a raft of changes and an update to the version number: This is Destiny 2.0 and the game is all the better for it, feeling like this is the game Bungie wanted to put out in the first place.

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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

After confirming the identity and location of an injured prisoner from a Soviet Compound in Afghanistan, I could make my escape. The prisoner in question is an expert in biomechanics and extracting him to my offshore military base would allow me to develop the technology to increase the durability and power of my prosthetic arm, making enemy close-quarter takedowns more time efficient. Unfortunately, his injuries won’t allow him to sustain the shock impact of a Fulton extraction, so he would have to be carried out of the base to a safe distance where the support helicopter could land without sustaining heavy damage and pick us both up.

The sun was rising and without the cover of nightfall, I was at risk of being spotted by one of the guards in the tower. With little time, I opted to ‘go loud’ to ensure the quickest optimal route. By taking out the base’s air communications satellite with a C4 charge, my support would be able to land close to my current location and evacuate quickly before the Soviets could effectively respond. It was a risky move. The helicopter sustained heavy fire but I was able to lay down suppressing fire with the chopper’s Gatling gun for just long enough to exit the hot zone. The mission was completed but I had lost points for raising an alarm and killing the guards as the chopper ascended to ‘Flight of the Valkyries’ blaring out of the speakers. Had I equipped myself with the appropriate camouflage for the rocky terrain or invested in a more durable suppressor for my tranquilizer gun before attempting to rescue the POW, I could have netted myself those extra points and a better mission rank.

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MotoGP 15

Motorcycle racing, even just motorbikes in general, are pretty difficult to translate into a fun video game. Compared to cars, bikes are unresponsive and difficult to maneuver. This rings true in MotoGP 15, and being more a racing car guy, I found the transition from four wheels to two to be not only frustrating, but also challenging and rewarding at times. It’s not going to set the racing world on fire, but MotoGP 15 is a good representation of modern-day motorbike racing that fans will mostly appreciate, although it suffers a few technical setbacks along the way.

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Assassin’s Creed: Rogue

As the famous saying goes, “There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and a new Assassin’s Creed game every year.” At least, that’s how the saying could have gone, until Ubisoft decided to outdo themselves and launch two Assassin’s Creed games on the same day at the tail end of 2014.

With the world and his wife harping on about Ubisoft’s new-gen offering and those screenshots, it was easy to forget our reliable last-gen consoles were also ready to take us back to the sprawling world Ubisoft have carved out, and for the very last time.

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Dragon Ball XenoVerse

Dragon Ball XenoVerse is a love letter to fans of Dragon Ball. It’s not even really for just casual fans; it’s for the hardcore fans that have watched Dragon Ball Z in its entirety and are intimately familiar with its characters and story. Right out of the gate, XenoVerse welcomes you into a narrative that is well underway. If you are unfamiliar with what happened on the show you will be lost, and nothing in the game will make an effort to help you find your way.

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Ride

The last few weeks I have found myself engaged in a battle that has tested me like no other. Every time I think I’ve sorted it out, something comes along to knock me back down to size. All the while I’m wondering what is wrong with me, and why others don’t seem to have the problems I’m having. Maybe I’m just not strong enough to endure. Despite this pain, I keep trying, only to fall on my face again.

‘Yeah, but everyone struggles with Bloodborne, it’s meant to be a challenge’, I hear you say. That may be true, but this isn’t Bloodborne I’m talking about; it’s Ride, the latest motorcycle racing release from Milestorm Studios. I don’t think I’ve experienced a game that makes me question my gaming abilities so much.

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Life is Strange: Episode 2

Life is Strange: Episode 2 continues the tale of Max, a gifted photography student who also happens to have the ability to alter time. In the first episode, premonitions of giant twisters, drug-dealing students waving guns about and the rekindling of an old friendship were the main focus.

Episode 2 concentrates mainly on the re-united friends of Max and Chloe, as they see if their relationship is as strong as it was or if too much has changed in the intervening years. Like the previous episode of Life is Strange, it’s mainly a sedate adventure game that doesn’t have you making life or death decisions all the time. This episode goes a little too far with the laid-back tempo, however, and turns into a lazy afternoon with an annoying acquaintance rather than an engaging series of events.

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Resident Evil: Revelations 2

It’s fair to say that Resident Evil has had an image crisis over the last decade. Having been removed from its survival horror roots, Resident Evil games have gone from light-gun games, to online shooters, to all-out action games. All achieving varying degrees of success, these games have made it hard to say what a Resident Evil game is or what the series even stands for any more.

Then along came Revelations. Returning to traditional Resident Evil values of tight corridors, limited ammo and shambling creatures, the handheld title found a lot of love (though I wasn’t keen on the PS3 version). So that’s why we’re here with Resident Evil: Revelations 2. Does that mean we’re dealing with a game that has some real bite, or has the series finally lost all of its teeth?

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Resident Evil HD Remaster

I’m going to be honest. I’m a bit late to the party on the whole Resident Evil thing, my only foray into the franchise being Resident Evil: Revelations on the Nintendo 3DS. So when Capcom released a high definition version of the GameCube Remake, I decided it was about time I gave it a crack.

I’m glad I did…

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Life is Strange: Episode 1

Don’t you get tired of games that keep on asking you to save the world, otherthrow oppressive governments or take on entire armies? It’s nice to see that Life is Strange is a game that’s about life as a gifted photography student in a small American town. No frills, no fuss – wait – she can rewind time. Oooh…

Still, the first episode of Life is Strange is a relatively sedate and unique experience that sets up a bunch of questions and offers very few answers. Only time will tell if this is a series that will pay off but the main thing is that after my time with episode 1 of Life is Strange it left me wanting more. That’s about as much as you could hope for the first in a five part series.

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Far Cry 4

‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it’. How much do you buy into that maxim? Do you seek games that present brand new ideas that aren’t available anywhere else? Do you bemoan AAA game development for the way it uses cookie-cutter templates to produce games that increasingly share their ideas. Are you tired of Ubisoft’s ‘Climb a Tower to Find Missions’ game design philosophies?

If you answered yes to the questions above, Far Cry 4 is not for you. It’s a game that treads old ground, wears its Ubisoft heritage proudly and never dares break any mould of any sort. It’s also a lot of fun, so you’d be kind of missing out. Kind of really missing out.

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The Crew

Back in November I previewed the Beta of Ubisoft’s road-based RPG, The Crew, and had a good time with it. Now that it’s been released and its full suite of features are open, has my opinion changed?

The short answer is ‘no’. The Beta gave a taste of the huge playing field, complete with a plethora of activities, and I considered the experience good, solid fun – albeit with some flaws. This still remains the case. The Crew feels unashamedly like an Ubisoft game, but I strangely keep finding parallels with another, completely unrelated, title: Destiny.

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Grand Theft Auto V (Now includes PS4/Xbox One)

Few franchises can generate the incredible amount of hype that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto amasses, but it’s easy to see why. This is a series that changed our perception of open-world games and pushed hardware as much as it did boundaries. A series that with a single online trailer can bring the internet to a crawl as it struggles under its demand.

Despite the hype, however, it also rarely fails to deliver.

It’s fair to say that the latest iteration, GTA V, has been one of the most hotly anticipated games of all time. Now that it’s out in the wild is it everything we’ve been promised?

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Pro Evolution Soccer 2015

Go back a decade and, while you would still find the FIFA series a huge money spinner for EA, it was another that captured the hearts of game-playing football fans. Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer may have lacked the glitz and glamour of its bigger-budget rival, but through its design philosophy of gentle refinement year-on-year, it always delivered where it counted. PES regularly provided the most realistic game of football, with a pace and flow that FIFA development teams could only dream of.

Of course, during that last decade, things have gone topsy-turvy; FIFA has consistently been the better game, and PES has struggled to find its form, floundering between painfully average and downright ruddy awful. In a way, it’s been like watching my beloved Liverpool.

Still, after spending plenty of time with Pro Evolution Soccer 2015, it seems that someone at Konami or PES Productions has finally remembered what made the series a favourite all those years ago. After making the brave decision to skip the new-generation for the first year, this entry represents an amazing return to form.

So impressive is this return to form, in fact, that within minutes it’s apparent that PES 2015 trumps FIFA in the most important area; gameplay. In fact, I’m just going to outright say that in pure footballing terms, PES 2015 is a much better game than the very good FIFA 15.

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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

The Call of Duty franchise needs no introduction. Love it or hate it, it’s still a behemoth of the games industry regardless of its critics and dwindling year-on-year sales. Last year’s Ghosts was the first to really fall out of favour with many of its fans, and was the most poorly reviewed release to date. With a lack of innovation causing Call of Duty to stagnate, something needed to be done about it – and what better way than to put it in the hands of a newly-formed development studio and propel the series into the future?

Even from the title, it’s quite obvious what Sledgehammer Games are trying to achieve. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – a less than subtle nod to the series’ fourth iteration, which launched its popularity into the stratosphere – is trying to recapture that lightning in a bottle, exploring a new frontier to firmly cement Call of Duty’s position on the new-gen consoles. As it turns out, Advanced Warfare is not the revolution it could have been. Yet despite playing it too safe, it’s still the most fun I’ve had on Call of Duty in a long time.

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Escape Dead Island

Escape Dead Island is a strange game in almost all respects. It is set before the events of previous games, it’s a cell-shaded stealth action game, a stealth action game with zombies, and it tells a strange, psychological story.

Unfortunately, none of these things actually make it a particularly great game, with a few silly mistakes on developer Fatshark’s part, leading to frustrations that bring the whole thing down. That said, even if those were rectified, the story it is trying to tell simply isn’t written well enough.

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MX vs. ATV: Supercross

Now, more than ever, I find it’s important to take into account how much a game costs when commenting on how highly you’d recommend it. In MX vs. ATV: Supercross’ case, I’m pretty certain it’s important to note that this is a budget-price racer. Available for around £20, it’s only out on the PS3, 360 and soon the PC.

So, does this low price act as an admission of guilt or is it just good value for money? Well, it’s sort of a bit of both. MX vs. ATV: Supercross features thrilling races, challenging tracks and some decent visuals, yet is ultimately let down by its lack of content.

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Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution

Naruto Shippuden

As a fighting game heavily aimed at hardcore Naruto fans, Ninja Storm Revolution is hard to get into for non fans. Yet, some perseverance reveals a fun, if limited, fighter.

I’m a bit of a fair weather anime fan and don’t really watch a lot, as such although I’ve heard of Naruto, I’ve never actually seen it and know nothing of its storyline or characters.

So it was with some trepidation that I approached Naruto Shippenden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution.

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The Evil Within

When arranging with the team who would be reviewing what during this year’s silly season, I had a choice between two horror games, Alien: Isolation and The Evil Within. It’s pretty obvious what I opted for as, well, I’m talking to you right now in a review titled ‘The Evil Within’ and Matt Parker has already delivered his thoughts on the former. I made my choice on one basis: The Evil Within was created by Shinji Mikami and his new studio, Tango Gameworks. Mikami was, of course, the lead behind the second best game of all time, Resident Evil 4, and more recently entertained me greatly with his campy collaboration with Suda 51, Shadows of the Damned.

Thankfully, despite the occasional hiccup, The Evil Within delivers another satisfying, brutal survival horror experience typical of its creator.

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Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Borderlands has never been a series that I’ve ever gotten to grips with. It’s as unclear to me as anyone else, as it has everything I could possibly want: a good sense of humour, a striking visual art style, solid gameplay, and a heap of extra content to keep me occupied well after finishing the main story. The Pre-Sequel was not the most sensible starting point for me, but it’s a starting point that I’ve enjoyed jumping on nonetheless. 

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FIFA 15

FIFA made a pretty strong debut on the new crop of consoles last year, making decent use of the extra grunt without losing any major features in transition. Despite the new engine, however, FIFA 14 on PS4 and Xbox One only refined an already solid experience, never straying too far from the blueprints of its last-gen counterparts.

This year, however, we see EA Sports take a few more risks and evolve their systems a little more and while, realistically, you’re never going to see a drastically different game as long as the formula is this successful, FIFA 15 feels like a solid, natural progression.

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Ultra Street Fighter IV

When Ultra Street Fighter IV was first announced earlier in the year, reactions appeared to fall into two opposing groups: Those that felt Capcom were really milking it, and those that couldn’t wait for more characters, balance tweaks and system evolutions.

Me? I was – and still am – in the latter group. Street Fighter IV first hit five years ago as astonishing as that may seem and, as a regular player of fighting games, I’m extremely happy that they’re still supporting my favourite fighter with considerable DLC upgrades and offering me new ways to play.

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Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (PC)

It’s not uncommon for established franchises to diverge into a completely different genre for a spin-off, or even a permanent change of direction. We’ve had a Metal Gear Solid card game, a music rhythm Final Fantasy, and Dead Island as of late seems to want to dip its rotten toes into as many genres as possible. That said, it can still be alarming when a franchise we know and love takes a surprise step into unfamiliar territory.

It’s for that reason that when Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was announced, I couldn’t help but do a double-take. Plants vs. Zombies – a touch-screen optimised tower defense game that helped pioneer mobile gaming – was now becoming a third-person, class-based console shooter? Garden Warfare invaded the Xbox family of consoles with moderate success earlier this year, however, gaining some detractors but also a lot of fans along the way. You can read Matt’s thoughts on that. Now the game has fully bloomed and crept its way on to the PC on which I’ve finally been able to try it for myself, and I’m pleased to say that PopCap has allayed my fears completely.

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Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Many games try and stand out from the crowd by being bigger and louder. In a day and age where a game’s resolution, polygon count and licensed soundtrack are scrutinised to death, it’s refreshing to see some games shy away from this ‘more is more’ mentality.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War does things differently. It can be best described as a 2D action-puzzle game, but that doesn’t quite do it justice. With a few ‘boss’ battles littered throughout and stunning visuals, Valiant Hearts is a game that contains plenty of touching moments, some simple puzzles and a couple of ropey set-pieces.

You might also learn a thing or two.

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Watch Dogs

Touted as being one of the biggest games to come in 2014, the hype leading up to the release of Watch Dogs was either going to doom it into oblivion or give us everyone’s game of the year. I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting to get out of it, but hacking an entire city sounded like a decent concept. My biggest concern was simply whether Ubisoft would get it right following some recent missteps with the Assassin’s Creed series, though Black Flag did admittedly strike the right balance.

So, during my time with Watch Dogs, I had a lot of ups and downs. For everything I found that bugged me about gameplay and story, I also found something else to redeem it. Although it’s probably not the best way to present a game, it’s all I had to work with.

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Child of Light

Ubisoft hasn’t ever really been known for a prolific role-playing output, but after sampling Child of Light, it makes me wonder why the hell not. Using the always impressive Ubiart engine, Ubi Montreal has turned in a terrific RPG with a style and verve that suggests they’ve been churning them out for years.

Notably, of course, Child of Light is undeniably a visually striking game, but strong mechanics definitely lie behind its charismatic exterior.

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Murdered: Soul Suspect

Murdered: Soul Suspect has been on my radar for quite some time. Let’s face it, what could possibly be cooler than a detective solving the ultimate murder; his own? It’s one thing investigating a murder in the first place, but that’d be positively boring in comparison to solving your own, surely?

Unfortunately, come the end of Murdered I was left a little let down by this story-focused, supernatural thriller. Yet, while it never hits its full potential, there is some enjoyment to be had in following the story through to its shocking conclusion…

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Sniper Elite III

With a title like Sniper Elite, you could probably make a good guess at what the game’s about. With a title like Sniper Elite III, you could also make a good guess that what you’re about to play has been done twice before. To an extent, you’re right.

Sniper Elite III, Rebellion’s latest cranium-splitting ‘snipe ‘em up’ arrives with a bang. The series’ infamous ‘kill-cam’ is as gory as ever and those nasty Nazis are still absorbing your bullets in gloriously gruesome slow-motion. Now set in Africa, the levels you’ll be skulking around are larger than any previous Sniper Elite games and offer you loads of options on how to approach your target. The bigger levels, on top of enemies with A.I. that you can gleefully play with, easily makes this the most enjoyable Sniper Elite to date.

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GRID: Autosport

Sometimes a new IP comes out of nowhere and blows everyone away, but then its sequel takes a step in the wrong direction and forgets what made the original great in the first place. Just take a look at Dragon Age, for instance.

The GRID series knows this all too well. After releasing one of the most highly regarded racing games of its time – pioneering superb driving mechanics, believable A.I. and the time-rewind Flashback feature – they followed it up with the merely ‘decent’ GRID 2, which took a more simplified arcadey route and alienated much of the fanbase.

Codemasters are determined to redeem their previous transgressions with GRID: Autosport, however. Boasting a back-to-basics, ‘true’ sequel to the original Race Driver: GRID, can Autosport recapture the magic or will it be another middle-of-the-pack result?

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Wolfenstein: The New Order

Wolfenstein: The New Order is something of an enigma for me. It’s a game of contradictions; a modern-day first person shooter that embraces old school design philosophies; a thoughtful, sometimes touching alternate history war story that also manages to be a stylish, dumb action movie. It’s tonally all over the place like this, yet somehow it comes together, resulting in one of the year’s most pleasant surprises.

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Bound by Flame

Having never played anything by developer Spiders I got a little excited at the thought of playing their latest game, Bound by Flame, especially since it’s in my favorite genre. I easily get sucked into the fantasy setting and tend to spend hours upon hours exploring, grinding and doing as many side quests as humanly possible.

The ‘inhabited by a demon’ premise was what really interested me in this instance, but unfortunately Bound by Flame didn’t burn all that brightly.

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Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

When Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare got its first airing, I was worried. Plants Vs. Zombies is a great mobile title that achieved huge success. To see EA come along, buy the developer and then announce a team deathmatch spin-off, it didn’t sound like the greatest of starts.

Well, that’s exactly what happened. Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is a 3rd person team deathmatch featuring all the charm and wackiness of the iOS favourite. Do dancing zombies, happy sunflowers and crazy people named Dave make for a good online shooter?

Strangely, yes they do.

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Dark Souls II

To start this review, I feel I need to start with an admission. I played the original Dark Souls for about an hour, didn’t get it and subsequently sent it back to LoveFilm. I had no interest in ‘proving myself’ and simply wrote off the Dark Souls series as simply ‘not for me’.

Yet, being the undeniable professional that I am, when no-one else at TIMJ would step-up to the Dark Souls plate, I begrudgingly said yes and got involved. What follows is a review of Dark Souls II by someone that had no interest in playing the game beforehand, yet still went ahead and completed the game over 50+ hours.

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Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

As I wrote last year for IGN, I recently became something of a Metal Gear convert (and an egg convert too, but I’m not going into all that again). Because of this, after years of indifference towards Kojima’s hugely popular stealth franchise, I only lately found myself able to muster excitement for the next new instalment Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and its newly released prologue, Ground Zeroes.

Only, while the open-world Ground Zeroes – acting as a surprisingly short teaser for the former – aptly demonstrates exactly how the winds of change can be a massively positive thing for Metal Gear Solid, I can’t deny that its new tone left me a little fearful for the series’ trademark charm.

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Thief

Is it weird that I love stealth games but haven’t played anything in the Thief series before? You’re right, it probably is a bit weird, but hey-ho, you can’t have played everything, right? Well, my time has finally come, as Eidos Montreal and Square Enix saw fit to breathe new life into this long dormant prowler, rebooting the adventures of master thief Garrett for a new generation.

The result is an able stealth adventure that shines occasionally, but ultimately sees ungainly technical errors ruin its otherwise impressive illusion.

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

When offered the opportunity to review the sequel to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, I jumped at the chance. The original was a beautiful, gothic action adventure that perhaps came as something of a surprise to many, certainly exceeding my expectations with a rich story, gorgeous, awe-inspiring scenery, and a cast straight out of a blockbuster film. The ending in particular was astounding and left me eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

Given the success of the first though, expectations were sky high, and unfortunately Lords of Shadow 2 has, to a fair extent, brought them crashing back down to earth.

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Need for Speed: Rivals

When Criterion Games took on the Need for Speed franchise a few years ago with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, it seemed like a marriage made in heaven: A classic arcade racing game picked up by the developers of Burnout, arguably the best arcade racing series ever, could only yield great results. Sure enough in Hot Pursuit and then Most Wanted it certainly did so. Here we are now, with a large part of the Criterion team having formed a new studio, Ghost, to make the latest in the annual franchise, Need for Speed: Rivals.

Have they managed to continue the trend of great openworld racing action though, or is this latest release a ghost (ahem) of its former self?

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Tomb Raider (Definitive and Regular Editions)

There was a time when I’d have called Core Design and Eidos’ Tomb Raider one of the most important franchises in the industry. Our busty heroine, Lara Croft, grew well beyond her original aim as a fantasy object for young teen boys and became a pop-culture phenomenon in her own right. Gracing the covers of magazines, advertising countless products and coming to life in two movies, she almost could do no wrong – until 2003’s dire Angel of Darkness hit, that is, and then the wheels fell right off.

With Core Design removed from development duties as a result, Crystal Dynamics were the team tasked with bringing the old girl back to our attentions in 2006 with Tomb Raider: Legend. It was a decent game, certainly, but Lara’s relevance had already started to wear thin. By the time of their third game at the helm, the outdated Underworld, they’d been bested at every single level by Naughty Dog and the Uncharted series. With Lara’s image no longer what it was, the time was right for Crystal Dynamics to give Tomb Raider the fresh start it so desperately needed.

Thankfully, this reboot is so much better than I could ever have imagined, and the newly updated Definitive Edition on next-gen consoles provides a worthy facelift.

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Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

I was a huge fan of Assassin’s Creed, especially the Ezio trilogy, and then Assassin’s Creed III came out. Sadly I found it to be disappointing, not least because Connor and Haytham failed to adequately replace the charismatic Italian, proving to be rather dull company in comparison.

Rather than moving away from the Kenway family though, Ubisoft made the rather brave decision to make their fourth main Assassin’s Creed game with Connor’s grandfather Edward, a pirate in the Caribbean, as the lead. This has proven to be an utter masterstroke…

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WWE 2K14

Wrestling is a sport pitting men against each other in a raw battle of strength and wits, representing one of the oldest forms of combat pre-dating Christ. In its purist form, it takes an incredible show of strength and skill to better your opponent with a mixture of grapples and throws not too dissimilar in some regards to judo. WWE or World Wrestling Entertainment takes its foundations from that ancient sport and litters it with colour, showmanship some real American hype.

Despite having no interest in the sport, I have got some enjoyment out of wrestling games in the past and I was quite pleased when I heard 2K games had picked up the license for from the dying embers of THQ. This year’s release is the first under the 2K banner and perhaps comes a little early for them to put their usual stamp of detail on it, but surely this would be a positive first step for wrestling fans?

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LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

With next generation consoles finally out and so much emphasis on something that’s new and ‘more High-Def’, it’s very easy to overlook the cross-generational games, and this is something I’m guilty of myself. It’s very easy to dismiss games that cross the generational gap as being a bit rubbish purely by association; Tony Hawks: American Wasteland immediately springs to mind.

Breaking this paradigm however is one of my old favourites. Traveller’s Tales’ LEGO series has grown from strength to strength in recent years, taking on franchises like Star Wars, I’ll openly admit that when playing some of the more recent LEGO games, such as LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, I was becoming a bit put off, almost starting to feel that that the franchise was losing some of its magic and razzle dazzle. Fortunately, despite its innate flaws, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes has come along and reminded me that the LEGO games are still well worth a look, and on this quality I hope they’re still with us for a while to come.

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Battlefield 4 (PS3/360)

Many people are quick to put Call of Duty and Battlefield together in the same bracket. Yes, they both come out each and every year and yes, they both primarily are about shooting people in the face. Though what’s always set the Battlefield games apart is their huge scale, bombastic action and vehicle-based combat. I say combat, but what’s really going on is nothing short of mayhem.

With Battlefield 4 signifying EA’s seeming desire to annualise the series, this does cause concern that instead of fully-fledged sequels we’ll instead end up with yearly updates. Luckily, Battlefield 4 introduces new features as well as re-introducing some old fan favourites that make this title stand on its own feet.

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Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition

Injustice: Gods Among Us may not have enamoured us with its silly name earlier this year, but it certainly managed to win our hearts with a captivating blend of tight fighting mechanics and the best story that developer NetherRealm Studios has ever produced.

As is customary with fighters, the ‘Ultimate’ re-release – featuring all DLC and some balance tweaks – obviously wouldn’t be far behind. Significantly, though, the superhero brawler makes its debut on two new formats. Now available on PS4 and PS Vita, Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition impresses heartily in its transition to both next-gen and the smaller screen.

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NBA 2K14

Very few sports truly pass me by. Throughout school and into my adult life I am pretty confident and proud of the fact that I play, watch and have an interest in almost anything that involves teams or individuals competing. Alas, we can’t always know everything, can we? Basketball is one of those rare sports where I have to hold my hands up and say I genuinely have no idea and, in all honesty, have no great deal of interest. I was actually surprised to learn recently that Michael Jordan is no longer the poster boy of the sport and the Chicago Bulls are not, apparently the only team. Who knew?

As such, NBA 2K14 is my first experience with the franchise that is to the NBA what Madden is to the NFL, or FIFA to the world of Association Football. Given my only previous experience of a Basketball video-game was NBA Jam, I was a little unprepared for just how deep the level of detail goes. 

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate HD

Castlevania. Synonymous with vampires, whips and erm, castles, the horror-action series has been present on almost every console since its inception on the NES. My first experience was Symphony of the Night on PS1, before back-peddling to play the roots of the series on the ‘ye olde’ consoles. I’ve always found it to be tricky, inventive and very exciting.

With Lords of Shadow, the series was rebooted for the current, shiny generation to generally rapturous praise. Not wanting to leave its old home behind, Mirror of Fate followed shortly after on 3DS. Now ported to Xbox Live Arcade, it’s found a new home as a lush and surprisingly modern side-scroller.

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Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea – Episode 1

It’s not often that we’ll review a piece of downloadable content here on This is my Joystick. Then again, it’s not often that we get a piece of downloadable content that’s as eagerly anticipated as Bioshock Infinite’s Burial at Sea – Episode 1.

The biggest strengths that Infinite had was its characters, story and setting. Burial at Sea tries to re-use our affection for Infinite’s characters and the original Bioshock’s setting but then has to create its own (half of a) story in about two hours of play time. A difficult feat at the best of times and one that Burial at Sea doesn’t quite pull off.

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How to Survive

Have you ever thought that there weren’t enough games with  zombies in them? Like the re-animated corpses they star in, games with grave-vacating enemies just keep on coming and the trend refuses to die. Adding to the pile of undead-related games is How to Survive.

Will this downloadable title be nothing more than digital deadweight, or is it a binary blockbuster? Let’s have a look.

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PES 2014

There was a time when I was a staunch PES fan. I bought it year after year without fail and loved every version. With PES 2008, however, things started to change. For the first time, some of the fun had gone, and from that year on I started buying FIFA. I’ve played the odd game of PES since then at friends’ houses, but PES 2014 is the first version I’ve really gotten to grips with in six years.

So did absence make the heart grow fonder?

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FIFA 14

Autumn. The time of year when the clocks go back, the temperature drops, leaves start to fall from the trees and the European football season comes to life. This season threatens to be one of the most open ever in the English Premier League with Management changes at each of last season’s top three, and with changes at the top for Spain’s big two and the European champions, wherever you look there are new eras dawning. Just don’t mention Manchester United.

Autumn also sees the annual release of one of the gaming world’s biggest franchises, FIFA. With the imminent arrival of next-gen consoles, there is perhaps even more scrutiny than ever on a title that has been criticised for doing the bare minimal each year. So how does FIFA 14 fare?

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Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate

As has always been the way with fighting games since the 90s, it’s normal to see several revisions over the course of an iteration’s lifespan. Street Fighter’s done it, Mortal Kombat has done it, and now Tecmo’s Dead or Alive 5 appears to be the latest series to adopt this direction.

The self-proclaimed Ultimate Edition of DOA5 has recently hit stores. Is it a shameless cash grab or is it worth making the upgrade?

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The Bureau: XCOM Declassified

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified tells a story of survival. Not only of mankind’s survival in the onslaught of an alien invasion, but also of the survival of a game that went in and out of development hell for years. Bouncing from studio to studio and surviving numerous iterations, it finally escaped this vicious cycle; but the question now is, has it escaped unscathed or does it carry too much emotional baggage?

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Saints Row IV

Saints Row IV had a strange conception. starting off as a piece of DLC for Saints Row: The Third, THQ’s troubles led to the game being transformed into a fully-fledged disc release.

We all know what happened to THQ in the end. They vanished and it was up to Deep Silver to come in and pick up the pieces. The question is, has this troubled development process created a troubled product? Let’s have a look, shall we?

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Madden NFL 25

America. The good old U S of A. Land of the free and home of the brave, where everything is blown up beyond all proportion and failure to exaggerate is an understatement. Where your car has a ‘hood’ and a ‘trunk’ whilst you wear your ‘pants’ on top of your shorts,; and where football is a game played with an egg-shaped ball, primarily in the hand; and the winners of a thirty-two team, entirely domestic competition are crowned World Champions.

American football, as we know it, continues to grow its worldwide fanbase and it is perhaps a testament to this often overlooked appeal that this year sees the Silver Anniversary of a much-loved gaming franchise now known as Madden NFL. To commemorate, EA Sports have taken the unprecedented step of dropping the year from its latest version, instead opting for celebratory 25. So does this herald a bigger leap under the ‘hood’? Read on to find out.

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Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Sam Fisher’s had a rough old time. He’s always having to save the world, he never gets thanked for it and he’s forever crawling through air ducts. That’s no way to treat an American hero!

The latest in the Splinter Cell series is Splinter Cell: Blacklist and it treads the fine line between making something new and trying to be familiar enough to please the fans. How well does Blacklist straddle this line? Let’s find out.

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Lost Planet 3

Welcome to E.D.N III, where it’s cold and dangerous and where dark secrets will end you if the wildlife hasn’t torn your limb from limb first.

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Rayman Legends

I’ll happily go on record to say that 2011’s Rayman Origins is one of the best platformers I’ve ever played. As a fantastic re-imagining of a dormant series, the game played a large part in reigniting my love for an entire genre; a love that had been dwindling since my youth.

Following something of a strange development cycle, where the game was a Wii U exclusive and then suddenly wasn’t a Wii U exclusive, and then was delayed until September for no reason despite being finished, the follow up, Rayman Legends, is finally in our hands on all platforms.

Is it another hit for Michael Ancel and the Ubisoft Montpellier team?

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Payday 2

I’ve heard games labelled as ‘anti-social’. I’ve heard people say that playing games causes you to lose friends and not talk to people for hours on end.

Payday 2 is the answer to that. It’s a co-op heist game where you need to work and communicate with others. It’s not anti-social at all. Well, apart from the bits where you’re shooting hundreds of lawmen and robbing people blind. That’s a bit anti-social.

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The Walking Dead: 400 Days

With the emotional ending of the The Walking Dead: The Game‘s first season still fresh in memory, many of us are now looking forward to the next season. First, however, we need to make a pit stop at The Walking Dead: 400 Days.

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Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (Vita)

Warren Spector and Junction Point Studios’ Epic Mickey was a bit of a flawed gem for the Wii. Offering a spectacularly unique take on Disney’s mascot, it was ultimately laden with control and camera issues. Its sequel, The Power of Two hit all major platforms earlier this year and although great efforts were made to fix most of the problems from the first game, the development team had managed to create a whole load more in the process.

Epic Mickey 2 now hits the Vita at a bargain price. Do Mickey and the gang fare any better on Sony’s handheld?

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Defiance

I can’t be sure, but the idea of a video-game and a TV show being able to influence each other is pretty original. The possibility of your actions in one form of entertainment changing the course of another  more accepted form of entertainment is exciting and is what lends Defiance much of its hype. Developed in tandem, the TV series and the game paint a picture of a world ravaged by war and accidental terraforming. While the show has characters and dialogue and stuff, the game takes the form of probably the first functional, easy-to-use console MMO.

That said, it does rely on you being into your schlocky sci-fi, and if you want to get the full experience you not only have to be into third-person shooters but MMORPGs as well. Have Trion Worlds and SyFy put too much faith in the community with this one? I think yes.

Note: During this review any time I mention ‘Defiance’ I’m referring to the game. If I reference the TV show I’ll make it clear.

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Remember Me

Memory is a funny thing. It can easily be distorted over time and often betrays us. As a concept, a game about people’s memory and altering someone’s recollection of events could be amazing.

So have Dontnod managed to pull off the amazing? Their debut game, Remember Me, is an action adventure title that plays with the idea of what memory is and how it shapes who we are. Question is, is it a memorable experience or something that’s best forgotten?

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Ride to Hell: Retribution

I’ve always generally had at least a few shitty games per generation close to my heart. On the PS1 it was Pandemonium 2 and one of those budget games, some kind of rogue-like thingy. On PS2 it was Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance and Urban Reign. On 360, it has to be Too Human. No idea why; just really like that game.

When Ride to Hell: Retribution was first announced it sounded like it had all the right things going for it. Brutal mêlée combat, tense shoot-outs and bike vs bike action to rival Road Rash. Although GTA4‘s Lost and Damned fulfilled my bike gang fantasies story-wise, the game’s stodgy controls made it a bit of a chore. Finally, I thought, I’ll be able to rock into a town on a beastly Harley and cave some heads with my biker chums. Oh Jesus, how wrong I was…

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Star Trek

Oh my. You know what’s illogical Jim? The fact you can buy games for the same price as Star Trek that have oodles more originality, features and story. Yet as fans of Star Trek you will know that this isn’t the point. The point is you get to experience what it’s like to cruise about in our universe’s most famous fictional space ship, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701.

Coupled with that, you get to play as arguably the world’s most famous fictional captain, James T Kirk, and if that wasn’t enough you could also decide to tickle the game as his anally-retentive alien buddy, Spock. Further to that, you can play with your real-life best mate, backing you up as a co-op buddy. It seems more logical then that one should play this game, if these facts alone beams your target and thrusts your shuttle.

I popped on my pointy ears and proudly affixed my Starfleet insignia on my red Starfleet uniform. I was undoubtedly going to die many times like the poor TV extras from all the Star Trek series’ that died in one episode and then ended up coming back with more to say and do in later episodes of the same series.

This wouldn’t phase me though; I was ready to take on the challenges that lay before me and experience the video-game equivalent of JJ Abrams’s adrenaline-fueled reboot of the franchise. An easy thing to do you’d have thought with all that history, all those wonderful stories to draw from. Yet then I read something curious. The ruthless Gorn invaders. No wait, what?

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Metro: Last Light

Based on the popular novel by Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro 2033 was a game that I just never got around to finishing, partly thanks to reviews taking precedent and partly because it just wasn’t resonating for me in the time that I spent on it (Phil Ubee reviewed it for us, though, and thought it was decent). It’s fair to say it’s gone on to have a bit of a cult following since, and the buzz around developer 4A Games’ newly released sequel, Metro: Last Light, has been positive to say the least.

Is this an IP worth revisiting, though?

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Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

After the series’ unsuccessful expedition into modern times with Call of Juarez: The Cartel, the Call of Juarez series is proudly stepping back into its rightful, spur-clad boots. “Out with the shitty, gritty city that people mainly pity. Back to the best, blessed Wild West that people don’t detest,” someone at Techland probably said once, in a board meeting.

The po-faced goings on of its predecessor went hand in hand with the aesthetic blandness of the art direction and the deeply unlikeable, soulless characters. In this iteration, however, things are different; everything is done with its tongue hanging flaccid out the side of its mouth. There is vibrant colour and interesting scenery all around the player, and the characters are all hilariously exaggerated.

The game acts as another shining example of a studio testing the waters with a smaller scale, downloadable title; and, just like with Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Ubisoft have delivered the digital goods once more.

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Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Shooting games. They’re all a bit ‘samey’ and too serious for my liking. Stories that are as complicated as Duplo, characters as well-rounded as a square with locations as colourful as a Charlie Chaplin film. No sir, I’m not too keen on your modern-day shooter.

Luckily for me, this here is Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. A neon-fuelled, 80’s action flick of a shooter that doesn’t take itself seriously. Which is a good thing, because this is one of the most stupid and ridiculous games I’ve played in a while. Please note: I mean that as an extremely positive thing.

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Persona 4 Arena

So, I only recently discovered that I absolutely adore Persona 4 (see here and here). I also have a particular fondness for fighting games. With that, I can only assume that someone at Persona developer Atlus has some sort of future-predicting, mind-reading doodad at their headquarters because with the aid of the very able Arc System Works, they’ve been able to mash the two things together with Persona 4 Arena.

My dream game, surely?

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Darkstalkers Resurrection

Back in the 90s when Street Fighter totally dominated the arcade fighter scene, Capcom were looking for a way to step away from the all-too-common martial arts setting and provide their audience with something a little different. Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors was their answer, bringing together an outlandish cast of vampires, Egyptian mummies, rock ‘n roll zombies and, of course, that famous crazy cat lady named Felicia.

Currently, fans are desperate for news of a fourth Darkstalkers game that may never actually come, but thanks to port-specialists Iron Galaxy, the second and third iterations have made their way to XBLA and PSN in one delightful little bundle.

Darkstalkers Resurrection should serve to sate their needs a little while longer.

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Dead Island: Riptide

Sequels; love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’ve been an important part of this generation. Rather than taking risks on new IPs, many publishers have played it safe and stuck to tried and tested franchises that are guaranteed to bring the cash flowing in. With developers and publishers downscaling and going out for the count left right and centre, you can’t really blame them either.

Yet sequels don’t have to be a bad thing. We’ve been treated to some fantastic trilogies and more-ogies during this console cycle; Uncharted, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed and Bioshock just to name a few. In these examples, every successive release stuck to the formula that fans loved whilst making refinements that kept it fresh. Sure, there may have been some missteps and divisive opinions over those changes, but at least you can say they tried something new.

Which is a lot more than can be said about Techland’s Dead Island: Riptide.

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Terraria

You’ve heard of Minecraft. I can almost know that with certainty. You may not have played it or even seen it, but unless you’ve had your head in the sand for the last few years you’ll have heard about it somehow. The blocky mine-’em-up has literally taken over the universe and made an absolute fortune for its developer Markus ‘Notch’ Persson and his company Mojang.

Unsurprisingly, many other developers have attempted to cash in on the seemingly overnight rise in interest over the genre, mostly by copying Minecraft exactly and adding minor tweaks. Before 4J spat the title (or at least a year-old version of it) on to XBLA, a few indie games even gave it a try.

Not wanting to jump on the bandwagon too hard, indie studio Re-Logic decided to take the mine/craft/survive formula in a different direction. Terraria, released after the Minecraft ‘alpha’ but before the game was actually ‘finished’, was a side-scrolling take on the genre that focused more on actual progression and survival combat than simply building large edifices out of endlessly mined stone. It also took the action into the 2D realm and was more than a little popular, although it never managed to reach the heights of its three-dimensional cousin. Now available on XBLA and PSN, does Terraria have enough to drag people away from their endless worship at the altar of Minecraft?

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Crysis 3

What exactly is the crisis in Crysis? If you remove the ‘aliens have aggressively invaded our planet from inside and outside’ element from it, the Crysis story still has a lot more left to tell.  Given there have been four single-player campaign games including the latest installment of Crysis 3, this makes for a rich lore for a first-person shooter. To confuse matters yet further, the back story has been expanded by a novel based on the story elements from Crysis 2, and there is even a comic book series that tells the story between Crysis and Crysis 2.

The available history provides all the main characters that you have some interaction with (and many that you don’t) the opportunity to have ‘deep’ back stories of their own. What all this wealth of back story means, is that I can’t really do the story any favours here, without perhaps spoiling it for you just a little. If  you’ve not played it, I recommend you go and play Crysis 2 first and just skip the first section of the review. If you’re not really bothered about all that and just need a new futuristic first-person shooter to play, read on.

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The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

If I reflect back on the past few years of my life, many of my memorable accounts will be that of watching TV shows and films or playing games that are of a fantasy or horror genre. Being that I follow religiously The Walking Dead TV Show, I have always tried to stick to my guns and obey the ‘must buy anything related to the TV show’ scenario to a tee, even though on occasion I have been let down staggeringly. Yes, I’m a sucker for punishment; I know.

When Telltale Games decided to launch their take on The Walking Dead comics back in 2012, I was at first skeptical of purchasing their title, being that I hadn’t read any of the comics and having been told that it doesn’t join at the hip with the TV show. After reading the great reviews that the game logged, though, I snapped it up in an instant. Finding myself gripped to a characteristic journey and reminiscing past point-and-click games like the highly acclaimed Broken Sword series, I had to replenish my excitement and carry on watching The Walking Dead on TV until another Walking Dead game would cross my path.

Then without a massive array of previews and with little known about it, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct suddenly made an appearance.

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DLC Quest

The gaming community these days can get very vocal when touching on DLC practices, which have us wrapped around a selling point spiral when purchasing any new game. It’s now the norm that the question on every gamer’s lips when purchasing a game is if it will feature DLC or not.

It wasn’t so long ago, back in the late 80’s through to the 90’s, where DLC was not even heard of. ‘Retro gaming’, as they now call it, would always present us gamers with the knowledge that the game was a completed article and a one-off money transaction would be all it took to make one satisfied. While I find myself in the middle of the question: ‘is DLC good or bad?’, I can safely say that I have found an answer. DLC Quest from Going Loud Studios brings a comedic adventure that mocks the video-game industry and their exploitation of DLC.

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BioShock Infinite

BioShock was a game I wasn’t the slightest bit interested in when it came out. I’m not sure if I even had a 360 at the time. Even if I had, its curious mix of scary adventure and visceral, plasmid-assisted shooting would’ve likely been somewhere near the bottom of my ‘To Buy’ list, nestled under Gears of War and Fable.

However, after getting it from LoveFilm almost three years after it was released, I couldn’t believe what I’d missed out on. The richness of the world, the sheer quality of the storytelling; all without sacrificing one inch of satisfying gameplay. I was hooked.

The second game was disappointingly not developed by Irrational Games and it showed, being an admirable follow-up but failing to bring the same undeniable quality. As soon as I heard Irrational was developing BioShock Infinite I remained intently glued to the internet and our database thread, desperately hankering for another crumb from Ken Levine’s table.

Well, the wait is finally over and my God, was it worth it. I wrote a piece a few weeks ago about how this game was going to save the genre it sometimes awkwardly sat in. While I was maybe a little overzealous with that statement, I can safely say it’s gone quite a way towards fulfilling it…

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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Platinum have carved quite a name for themselves in the last few years. Exploding on the scene with Bayonetta, the stiletto-shooting witch, the company have since gone on to work on some cult classics, such as Vanquish, Anarchy Reigns, and now Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

It’s been over five years since the last major instalment in the Metal Gear franchise, and only the second to feature Raiden in a lead role. Did Platinum Games help Konami to learn from the mistakes of Sons of Liberty? Can we ever come to accept Raiden?

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Gears of War: Judgment

The Gears of War trilogy, whether you like it or not, has to go down as one of the stand-out IPs of this generation. It introduced cover-mechanics that are now industry standard and it was one of the first games to make us appreciate what this new generation of consoles could do.

So it’s only natural that Microsoft wouldn’t let the fact that the Gears trilogy is ‘done’ to stop them making another. Heck no. You can’t keep a good game down, especially if their team-mates move next to them and press ‘X’. So, come to the stand, Gears of War: Judgment; we’re about to deliver our final verdict.

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Aliens: Colonial Marines

You’d think that a license as iconic as Aliens would have resulted in some phenomenal games over the years, but really, what’s come since the 16 bit era has been nothing but a string of disappointments. Most recently, Rebellion made a decent fist of Aliens vs. Predator but fell short, providing an underwhelming game that only hinted at its true potential. Meanwhile, Obsidian’s hugely promising Aliens RPG was canned by SEGA in favour of putting all their Xenomorph eggs in Gearbox’s generally successful basket. To be fair, for a while there it was looking promising too…

With this review delayed, though, you’ll likely already know what happened. Alien: Colonial Marines bombed critically as co-developers Gearbox and Timegate attempted to shift the blame to each other, while SEGA still seem to stand oblivious as to what the hell went wrong.

If you’re looking at us for a review that deviates from the mainstream’s perception of the game, then you’re going to be disappointed: Aliens: Colonial Marines is undeniably scary, but for all the wrong reasons.

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Dead Space 3

My worst fears have come true. They didn’t manifest in the face of rampaging necromorphs with crowbars. Nor did they emerge in the emptiness of an outer-space wasteland.

It’s the horrible reality that the face of Dead Space has changed irreparably, and much of the ambience and atmosphere initially embedded in the franchise seems to have been permanently lost.

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Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse

Here we are. A Family Guy game. Excited? In theory, you should be, right?

A long-running series that has a ton of characters and episodes to draw from. A team of writers who have their own brand of comedy that are on board and in charge of the game’s script. A simple art style to emulate. What could possibly go wrong?

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The Cave

Ron Gilbert, of Monkey Island fame, has been harbouring an idea for decades. Initially it was this concept: A cave that pulls people into the recesses of their mind, where the dark thoughts reside.

The idea stayed with him while other projects took precedent for almost twenty years, until the recent collaboration with Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions finally took the concept and made it a reality.

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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

I think that everyone coming into Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for the first time will cynically expect the same thing; a painfully cheap and undercooked Mario Kart clone. I mean, that’s what I was expecting, certainly, and it was the exact reason I’ve kept well away from Sonic-themed racers right up until this point.

Only… I had it wrong. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is actually brilliant, and in many ways surpasses its own inspiration.

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Virtua Fighter 2

So I decided to complete the trifecta and review the third and final of SEGA’s fighting games released just before Xmas. With Sonic The Fighters and Fighting Vipers already done, all that was left was Virtua Fighter 2.

Being more of a Tekken fan at the time of the series’ heyday, I never had the pleasure of sampling the delights of Virtua Fighter until a very brief go at Virtua Fighter 4 just a few years ago.

Truth be told, I didn’t get on with it all too well. How would I cope with going further back into the series’ history?

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DmC: Devil May Cry

It starts. The 2012 lull is done and dusted. The holidays are over and the 2013 gaming season has begun. Now the first of the heavy hitters is off the blocks and wants your money.

DmC (better known to some as Devil May Cry) has been plagued with controversy since the day it was announced. With a new developer comes a new look and style for the illustrious franchise. For Ninja Theory, it’s been a bumpy ride ever since.

Now we’re here with a verdict. Have Capcom made a grave mistake outsourcing this iconic series?

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Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil has been a series in transition for sometime now. Resident Evil 4 saw the game go into a more action-orientated direction, Resident Evil 5 introduced a co-op angle to the series and now we have Resident Evil 6. Just what does it have to offer to the long-standing franchise?

Consisting of four campaigns, Resident Evil 6 covers the story of the ‘C Virus’, a virus which mutates people into zombies or sometimes monsters. Oh, and you’ve got to stop it. Sound familiar?

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Fighting Vipers

Having already reviewed one of SEGA’s digitally re-released fighting trio just before Xmas (Sonic The Fighters), it’s fair to say that I haven’t been expecting all too much from Fighting Vipers. It’s a game I never played in its heyday, but I distinctly remember reading about it in CVG back in ’96 and desperately wishing I had a SEGA Saturn to try it out.

Sadly, that scenario never came to fruition, but had I dodged an expensive bullet? Let’s find out!

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Painkiller: Hell & Damnation

Being mainly a console gamer for most of my life, the apprently epic title that was Painkiller completely passed me over. I was also about 14 when it came out and so much too young to get hold of it in the shops. After a bit of research I found that not only was a it a smash hit (despite borrowing heavily from Doom and Quake), it also had a massive run of expansions, mods and different versions keeping it going over the years.

Originally crafted by People Can Fly, whose latest FPS foray Bulletstorm was an interesting and hilarious take on the genre, developer The Farm 51 has decided to remake the vanilla game and repackage it for a new generation. With its gameplay rooted firmly in the wave-battle style of the FPS pensioners, can it really satisfy today’s plot-hungry audiences?

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Guardians of Middle Earth

With the Hobbit movie bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s work back into the limelight, it’s no surprise that video-game companies are jumping on the bandwagon. What is surprising is the way that this particular company chose to do it. Guardians of Middle Earth is a console Multiplayer online battle arena which manages to create a similar experience on a very different platform.

If you like MOBA or Lord of the Rings, or both, you’ll probably enjoy this downloadable title.

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Need for Speed: Most Wanted

The Need for Speed series is possibly one of, if not the longest running series of driving games on home consoles, having debuted way back in 1994 on the 3DO system (hands up who remembers that one). It is also the most successful, having sold well over 100 million copies worldwide, and unlike many successful franchises it has been passed through a variety of different developers in its time, perhaps one of the reasons for the franchise’s ongoing success. That made the announcement earlier this year that EA was handing the reigns over to Criterion Games in its entirety a touch surprising.

Considering I have never really been much of a fan of driving games it has been something of a shock to find myself covering two in as many months. Fortunately NFS: MW couldn’t be more different to F1 2012, firmly breaking my long-held belief that all driving gcames are the same. The question remains, though: is it any good?

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Hitman: Absolution

Hitman: Blood Money was my first real taster of IO Interactive’s assassination simulator series, and I instantly became a fan. I already loved stealth games as a general rule, but Hitman’s open playground and limitless possibilities really struck a chord with me, to the point where I retroactively went back and played the previous titles.

It’s been a long wait, then, for Hitman to return to our screens once more. Will my love still be… absolute?

Absolute. Heh heh, I’m a genius…

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DOOM 3 BFG Edition

You’ve played DOOM, I know you have. No self-respecting gamer could possibly hold their own, in a conversation about any other first person shooters, without having played at least the first level. Reasons are obvious I’m sure. How would you know how far shooters have come? It’s amazing to even imagine that you couldn’t even look up or down, jump even. Oh how we laugh about it and lightly slap our thighs in amusement.

So you’ve played it? Yes? …No? Really? Am I really that old now that there are gamers out there that haven’t played DOOM? Alright, I get it; it is really old-school. How about DOOM 2? Sure you did. No!? You’re messing with me, aren’t you?

So what you’re telling me is that you’ve been playing all of these triple-A shooters, your Call of Duties, your Battlefields, your Halos and your My Little Pony Battle Stars. I understand. I may have made that last one up, but they’re good aren’t they, perhaps great even. Yet don’t you feel the hankering, the awe of wonder and the lust for adventure into the unknown distant past, into a story set in corporate-owned future hell? Yes, yes, yes?

DOOM 3 BFG Edition: we’ve mused (albeit unoriginally) on the podcast a few times now that it’s the Roald Dahl-inspired and much-needed Big Friendly Giant version of DOOM 3. The version that you never thought you needed. Complete with snozzcumbers and terribly damaging whizzpoppers! Luckily it’s not that at all; it’s something much better.

Out of the box you get the original DOOM, DOOM 2, a remastered DOOM 3 and some extra content, some old and some new. Let the gates of hell re-open (again), before I have to go shopping for some more milk…

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Sonic the Fighters

Having never owned a SEGA console at any time in my youth, I’d missed out on a lot of titles in one of my favourite genres: fighting games. I’d failed to experience the tight, technical combat of Virtua Fighter until the current generation, but I’d also missed out on other popular titles, such as Fighting Vipers and Sonic The Fighters.

Luckily, you can trust Xbox Live Arcade and PSN to provide the ability to put such situations right, and recently SEGA ported three of their most beloved fighting classics to home consoles. Having just forked out for a slick new fight stick, I was all too happy to volunteer my services and put these games to the test.

First up was Sonic The Fighters. With no prior experience, the game appeared to be Virtua Fighter with Sonic characters; unfortunately, it’s less than that…

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Assassin’s Creed III

From the moment it first touched down on Xbox 360, the Assassin’s Creed series has been at the forefront of cutting-edge action stealth gameplay. From Altair’s journeys through Crusade-era Syria, to the tale of Renaissance-man Ezio Auditore stretching across three epic titles, the series has also allowed us to experience history like never before. After the resounding success of Ezio’s plotline, Ubisoft are looking to bring main protagonist Desmond’s story to a close also with Assassin’s Creed III.

Have they managed to bring this most epic of series to a satisfying close? Has the departure of fan-favourite Ezio spelled doom for the franchise? Worry not Assassin’s fans; Ubisoft know exactly what they’re doing, and we never should have doubted them.

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Far Cry 3

2012 has been an extremely competitive year for games. My GOTY has changed about five times, and we’re not even in December. If nothing else, that’s a testament to the quality of titles developers have been churning out from all spectrums, from the mobile sector through to the AAA leagues.

However, I’m confident that on December 31st, when all is said and done and the smoke is cleared, Far Cry 3 will be the game that stands tall above the rest.

Far Cry 3 is the best Far Cry game to date. It’s one of the best games Ubisoft have ever done and, as far as I can tell, it’s the finest example of gaming quality I’ve seen in 2012.

Here’s why…

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007 Legends

I have been a staff writer for This Is My Joystick for almost four years now, and during that time I have been fortunate enough to receive review copies of some superb games. Some of these have been traditional big hitters that have saved me a purchase, such as FIFA or PES, while others have been games that I would otherwise never have played and that in many cases have been a pleasant surprise.

I consider myself incredibly lucky not to have received anything for review that is truly awful, that is until now. 007 Legends is, without question, the worst game I have reviewed to date. In fact, it is very high up on the list of worst games ever. Here’s why.

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Just Dance 4

Everyone, and I mean everyone, should dance. Whether you have some skills or none at all should never be in question. If you’re a professional or just a wiggler or giggler, you should have a boogie once in a while. I know it’s frowned upon when you get to a certain age to start strutting your Daddy or Mummy stuff across a dance floor, in full view of the unafraid-to-point-and-stare-OMGs. To hell with them, though; dancing, like laughter, is good for the soul. So you should do it too.

Just Dance 4 for Kinect helps you to do it in your living room. For us wigglers, that’s a bonus, but does it really matter if you can dance or not? To us parents, the vibrancy and fun-looking persona of the Just Dance series is just what you would think your kids would like to play. So to make sure, my ten-year old daughter reviewed the game with me. Her comments can be found in the separate quotes.

We slipped on our spangled dance shoes, hung the disco ball, dimmed the lights ever so slightly and made sure the curtains were definitely shut before we attempted to find out…

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Medal of Honor: Warfighter

In 2010, EA followed Call of Duty’s lead and finally brought their previously WW2-only franchise, Medal of Honor, into the Modern Warfare era with developer Danger Close at the helm. Unfortunately, Medal of Honor simply failed to live up to the lofty goals set out for it. Not even a DICE-developed multiplayer could mask its mediocrity in the eyes of the critics.

Still, undeterred, EA have given Danger Close another bite of the cherry with Medal of Honor: Warfighter, which hit store shelves a month ago.

A worthy challenger for Call of Duty, finally? Not by a long shot…

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Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Two heads are better than one, or so they say. A few years ago, Warren Spector spearheaded a Wii exclusive project that aimed to bring the world’s most iconic cartoon character back to his classic platform roots.

He succeeded. Mostly. Yet, glaring issues with control and camera hampered player’s overall enjoyment. That, and the game lacked support for multiple players.

Now his team are back with a sequel that aims to right the wrongs of its predecessor and in the same breath, share the wealth with every other format out there.

While he’s been successful on many counts, unfortunately, Spector and Junction Point Studios have managed to create a whole new set of problems.

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Double Dragon Neon

Double Dragon is a name synonymous with crowded arcades, feverish high-score runs and many moments of cabinet-destroying frustration. It’s been kicking our arses since 1987 and after numerous sequels, a brief snooze and a snazzy HD remake in 2007, it’s back once again to unleash its fury upon the human race.

Despite being nought but a wiggly sperm when the original game was released I’ve managed to play it on a number of home consoles (thanks to a couple of retro-obsessed mates) and in its original cabinet form (thanks to a retro shop in town), as well as having bought it on XBLA. After sampling the classic in its various forms I’ve come to a few conclusions; it’s funny, stylish and relentlessly fucking hard. Double Dragon Neon seems to be an attempt to bring the style and graphics kicking and screaming into the 21st century, but how much has the game really changed?

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