This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Tomb Raider After finishing Tomb Raider, I’m happy with the gameplay appraisal I posted halfway through. This is a title that’s not sure whether it wants to be “the … Continue reading
Last week, I read an urban fantasy novel, Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London (released in the US as Midnight Riot), about a modern London constable who becomes apprentice to the last sorcerer on the force. The very next day, I … Continue reading
Once upon a time, in the land of Zanzib, there lived a young carpet merchant named Abdullah. Abdullah’s life was safe but dull, and his only excitement came when he daydreamed himself to be a long-lost prince. Then one day, … Continue reading
The railroad must get through. Chicago must connect to Santa Fe. But I’m almost out of locomotives, my rivals are muscling in, and can I get three cards of the same colour? Welcome to Ticket to Ride, the … Continue reading
How much can we care about a digital companion? Whole games have been built around this question – most notably 2001 classic Ico, which cast players as a young boy who had to escape a witch’s castle together … Continue reading
This entry is part 10 of 10 in the series XCOM: Enemy UnknownFor one month, you followed me as I played through Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the successor to one of the greatest games of all time. Now that I’ve … Continue reading
The Scarab Path and The Sea Watch are respectively books 5 and 6 in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of the Apt series. (You can find my review of book 1, Empire in Black and Gold, here; and my review of … Continue reading
This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series FTL: Faster than Light The best way I can describe FTL: Faster than Light, the new indie title from Subset Games, is to say it lives up to the very … Continue reading
This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Jeanne d’Arc Now that I’ve finished Jeanne d’Arc (PSP, 2007), I can give my verdict! This post is really an addendum to Monday’s discussion of Jeanne’s gameplay. There’s not … Continue reading
What can you do when you desperately want to talk about a game, yet cannot do so without spoiling most of what made it such a memorable experience? I have been attempting to find an answer to that question for … Continue reading
This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Civilization V For years, new Civilization games (much like a certain other franchise) have followed a process of “two steps forward, one step back”. The original Civilization was a great … Continue reading
This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion The 1990s were the decade of the real-time strategy game, and I played every major one: Herzog Zwei, Dune 2, Command & … Continue reading
This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Persona 3 Portable 2006 was a big year for video games. That year, two of the current generation of consoles launched: the Playstation 3 and the Wii. The rival … Continue reading
Warlock: Master of the Arcane is very upfront about what type of game it is. The first word tells you everything you need to know. Warlock – person who uses magic; this part is readily apparent. Add a hyphen, and … Continue reading
After a heyday spanning the Playstation and Playstation 2 eras, Japanese RPGs (at least, those translated into English) have retreated from home consoles: the Playstation 3 offers nowhere near the riches that its predecessors did. To some extent, portable … Continue reading
This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Stacking Double Fine Productions’ adventure game, Stacking, has an illustrious pedigree: Double Fine founder Tim Schafer’s resume is littered with genre pillars, from Monkey Island to Grim Fandango. Born out … Continue reading
This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Total War: Shogun 2 Set during the sixteenth-century zenith of the samurai, Creative Assembly’s Total War: Shogun 2 (2011) was one of the best strategy game in years. CA soon … Continue reading
This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Wargame: European Escalation/AirLand Battle Summing up Wargame: European Escalation, Eugen Systems’ latest real-time strategy game, is easy. It’s designed to do two things: evoke the modern (1970s-1980s) battlefield, and give … Continue reading
Dragonfly Falling, Blood of the Mantis, and Salute the Dark are respectively books 2-4 in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of the Apt series, and the quickest way for me to describe them would be “more of the same”. Together with … Continue reading
This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Conquest of Elysium 3Introduction One look at Conquest of Elysium 3, the new fantasy turn-based strategy game from Illwinter Game Design, and you would think you’d stepped into a … Continue reading
The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace for decades, bastions of civilization, prosperity and sophistication. They have been protected by treaties, trade and a belief in the reasonable nature of their neighbours. But meanwhile, in far-off corners, … Continue reading
The Children of the Sky, Vernor Vinge’s latest science-fiction novel, is the direct sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep (my review here). As such, I wouldn’t recommend starting the series with this book! That said, if you are familiar … Continue reading
Travelling merchant Kraft Lawrence dreams of amassing enough money to open a store in town – but for now, his life is dangerous and lonely, his home simply the back of his wagon. Meanwhile, for centuries Holo the wolf goddess … Continue reading
This is part 3 of a series on Distant Worlds. 1. First impressions: the galaxy is a big place 2. How the opening moves play out – a mini-Let’s Play 3. The verdict Note: I am playing … Continue reading
Berlin, 1964. Germany crushed Britain and Russia, won the Second World War, spent the next two decades locked in a cold war with the United States. Hitler’s 75th birthday is approaching, just in time for a new detente with the … Continue reading
THE MISTBORN TRILOGY Brandon Sanderson After really enjoying a short story by Brandon Sanderson, “Firstborn”, I had high hopes for another set of his works, the Mistborn trilogy (comprising Book 1, Mistborn; Book 2, The Well of Ascension; and … Continue reading
“It’s the dawn of the Golden Age of Aviation on planet Prester, and retro-futuristic sky vehicles known as vanships dominate the horizon. Claus Valca – a flyboy born with the right stuff – and his fiery navigator Lavie are fearless … Continue reading
Criminals of Tokyo, watch out! The Special Crime Countermeasures Unit, led by American-trained Inspector Osawa, is on the job! There are just a few flies in the ointment. Osawa’s superiors hate her. To form her squad, she’s been given the … Continue reading
One of the gameplay elements that made 2006’s Okami so special was its emphasis on healing the world. As creation goddess Amaterasu (incarnated as a wolf), smiting evildoers was only the beginning; as you restored sacred cherry blossoms, nature would … Continue reading
THE OTHER LANDS By David Anthony Durham The Other Lands is the second book in the epic fantasy trilogy by David Anthony Durham that began with Acacia. And I’m glad to say it’s a far more engaging read than … Continue reading
