Tag: Xbox 360Page 1 of 6

“Get the popcorn” – Gears of War 3

A more lived-in world turns mostly into a game about Gears of War

“Sure don’t smell too pretty” – Dead Island

An optimistic zombie procedural makes for a kind of success, even if it wasn’t the one promised in the trailer

“The place where metal met flesh” – Deus Ex: Human Revolution

I am so bad at stealth games, but that didn’t stop me enjoying this one.

“Relic of a different era” – Duke Nukem Forever

Let’s think about fifteen years. Duke Nukem 3D was released in 1996, to quite some acclaim and success, adding different kinds of freedom to the early first person…

“Investigation music plays” – L.A. Noire

On the unique folly of L.A. Noire, with reference to Ace Attorney, Mad Men, and the allure and decay of beautiful facades

“Live fire exercises” – Brink

Trying and failing to find my into one of the most modern-feeling games yet

“Aristotle vs. mashy spike plate” – Portal 2

The perfect blend of magic and logistics, and how to come back and do it all over again but bigger

“A wizard did it” – Dragon Age II

Way back in 1985, Rare predecessors Ultimate scored two UK #1s in quick succession by following up the isometric 3D Knight Lore with Alien 8. The two games…

“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…

“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.