This review has been put off and put off until EA and DICE sort out the major game issues via a series of patches. Whilst there are still many niggles remaining, it has reached a state where it’s possible to enjoy the game without encountering too many off-putting bugs or crashing back to the dash every couple of rounds. New hardware was also introduced for the Naval Strike DLC pack to combat the massive rubber-banding that made it unplayable for a couple of weeks. Incredibly sad that it took...

Demon's Souls is an action RPG by From Software, with the emphasis on action. The RPG elements are old school: Picking up loot, learning skills and upgrading those skills and weapons. There are no branching dialogue trees here; no moral choices that drastically change the course of the story just simple mechanics that many of us have seen numerous times before. Don't let that put you off though; Demon's Souls has a few tricks up its sleeve to elevate it beyond what has gone before, including some...

Whenever a movie-to-game licence comes along that you care about, you hope and pray that whoever is handling it will buck the trend by actually making a proper go of it. Iron Man actually looked to be it. Aside from the exciting premise of playing as one of Marvel comics more interesting superhero es and flying around in a super powerful mechanised suit, the game's nifty visuals and the promise of plenty of fan-service meant early indications were very promising. Alas, all this promise ends up horribly...

The eunuch claps his hands and the courtesans stop their duties and leave the room. The lights dim. A projector hums into life and heavenly light permeates through thick clouds of cigarette smoke. Publisher #1: What’s this ****? A young DEVELOPER steps forward. His face is callow and innocent, his expression resembling that of a rabbit’s when staring down the bonnet of an 18-wheeler. Developer: Pardon my impolite intrusion, but this is our latest popular software, entitled Land of ...

There's a unwritten law which states that it's impossible to look good, get fit and play a video game at the same time - it simply cannot be done. It goes against everything that our pasty-skinned, sedentary, antisocial pastime stands for. Or so some would like to think... Think again anaemic couch potatoes!*
Dancing games aren't new, and it's fair to say there isn't much difference between the plethora of choices that Konami and Dance Dance Revolution (under their Bemani label) have deliv...

Whereas Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest have always sat comfortably atop Japan's RPG roost, Shin Megami Tensei has always been a more modest success story. Whilst it's not been around quite as long as the big two, since a debut on the Super Famicom it's managed to land titles on most any format you could care to mention - although more often than not under the banner of one of the sub-series. These, such as Devil Summoner, Digital Devil Saga, or the most popular of the bunch - Persona - each have...

Kirby is no stranger to having multiple games throughout a systems lifespan, so it's something of a surprise to see the first entry for the pink blob on the 3DS come almost three years after its launch. Whereas the DS and Wii saw the likes of Mass Attack and Epic Yarn respectively – games that broke the mold in terms of what is expected of a Kirby title - Triple Deluxe is more traditional platforming fare. But how does the first stereoscopic 3D game hold up?
The story, for what it is wo...

Forza 5 has a tough act to follow. The mainstay is the tried and tested formula of simulation with seat-of-the-pants driving feel, honed throughout the series, along with various levels of driver assists making it accessible and fun for all abilities. This holds up various layers of customisation, social sharing and car porn, which together make for a distinctive and unique racing game. So how have Turn 10 made Forza 5 stand out?
Obviously there’s a visual improvement for the new gener...

In the early period of my gaming experience, if someone asked me what a game was like, the answer was simple. “It’s great. The controls are good, there is lots to do, it takes two hours to complete and it takes four minutes to load. I didn’t encounter any bugs.”
Fast forward to today, and if someone asks me what a game is like, the answer is less simple. “It was good when I played it, but they keep changing it. I think it was rushed. There were bugs everywhere, but they might have fixed...

Masters of Doom by David Kushner is a thorough and detailed account of Id Software's history from their early days writing titles for the periodical Softdisk, through their formation and early distribution partnership with Apogee Software, right up to the pinnacle of Quake's heydey with the release of Q3: Arena. Along the way the writer takes you on the roller-coaster journey that was the first person shooter genre in the 90s, including everything from the start of the competitive scene, early companies...