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“The car is heavy” – Gran Turismo 5

Back in 1998, Gran Turismo arrived close to fully formed as a deep racing game with impressive handling and an upgrade loop that made playing it an experience…

“Hold X for Death Machine” – Call of Duty: Black Ops

In Who Hunts the Whale, Laura Kate Dale and Jane Aerith Magnet’s tremendously angry novel about game development, there is a bit where the executives are deciding on…

“Walk the ball into the back of the net” – Football Manager 2011

Playing successive yearly updates can be a bit of a tough ask when you don’t have a year in between. For FIFA I have a system, and more…

“No affluence without effluence” – Fable III

When Fable III asks you to make a selection, pressing a button is not enough…

“Sometimes I make up little stories in my head about what the numbers mean” – Fallout: New Vegas

The provision of player choice comes with an associated player responsibility to suspend disbelief of all of the bits which inevitably don’t make sense. It mostly feels like a worthwhile trade, and that’s not just down to the strength of the narrative philosophy but that of its execution.

“Opposing Forces” – Medal of Honor (2010)

In 2010, it was just eight years since Medal of Honor was one of the biggest things in gaming. Yet the series had already spent more than half the time since flailing in identity crisis, lurching from reimagining to reimagining even before Call of Duty took its place at the top.

“Ace on an unbroken line” – FIFA 11

One of those who may have been playing FIFA 11 was Spain midfielder Xavi (Barcelona, CM, rated 87). When asked in 2011 how to play on the back foot, Xavi said “People who haven’t played don’t always realise how hard that is. Space, space, space. It’s like being on the PlayStation.”

“Caution when rejoining race” – F1 2010

On 18 March 2007, Lewis Hamilton, British racing driver and childhood fan of Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco GP II on the Sega Mega Drive, started his first Formula…

“Better get going, Six” – Halo: Reach

Spotify and fellow music streaming services have killed the Greatest Hits album. People can listen to a group’s most famous songs together whenever they like; why would they…

“It ain’t like you’re qualified for anything else” – Mafia II

As Rockstar successfully expanded out its open world Grand Theft Auto formula to new settings, they were far from alone. Such was the boom for the genre around…