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“Is that your profession or pleasure?” Well, when it comes to jobs in games, it’s usually both. Y’see, your average gaming hero’s nine-to-five is a never-ending stream of employed excitement. Acrobatic plumbers who frolic in magical fantasy kingdoms. Archaeologists with pornstar bodies who can dual wield pistols like everyone’s favourite slaphead assassin. And suspiciously buff scientists who routinely save the human race with nothing but a crowbar. They all enjoy incredible careers we mere mortals could only dream of. Of course, if their jobs were a little more true to life, Mario would probably do himself in when he faced his first backed-up toilet…
Since we enjoyed sharing our personal favorite games of 2010, we thought it was only appropriate to share the games that most let us down last year, the games that most drew our vitriolic ire. These aren't objectively the worst games of 2010 - they are the ones that most rubbed us the wrong way. There are even fantastic games on this list, but if everyone loved the same things, we wouldn't all be unique slowflakes in the great blizzard of life, now would we...
Just a few weeks ago we firmly held each others’ hands and danced jigs of joy for 2010’s biggest and best games. Yes, our Platinum Chalice awards were once again a festival of finery directed at the year’s brightest stars, but now come the dreaded Anti-Awards, which force a spotlight on all the bullshit games, trends and ideas we had to endure throughout the year.
To commemorate their anti-triumph, we’re awarding each “winner” with Bayonetta’s own Stone Award, the statue of a falling fat man that added insult to injury and nearly made us quit playing an otherwise brilliant game. Oh, what a day indeed...
If there were a list of Rules for Videogames, the #1 rule would have to be, “Always make cutscenes skippable.” But the number two rule may very well be, “Don't play games based on movies.” It's a truth that's been self-evident rarely without exception ever since ET stunk up the Atari 2600.
But Rule #2's been in for some revision lately, as GoldenEye-shaped aberrations and Butcher Bay-escaping anomalies defy the “movie games are crap” truism. Maybe the way to make a non-terrible adaptation is to hold off until you're sure you have a classic property on your hands. Given movie games’ review history, the simple act of getting them to a stage where people say they’re “well-executed” or “worth the price” is a pretty big step...
G'day! How are you all? Smashing. You're here for the latest episode of TalkRadar UK, right? Great. This week's show includes the rampant ramblings of Meikleham, Cundy and Irvine as they combine to cover such subjects as...
It's Wednesday! It's just after 1pm GMT! It's time for a new episode of TalkRadar UK!!!1! Ahem.
Cundy, Dave M, Justin and Nathan make up the team to deliver this week's show as they blast through subjects such as...
- The news!: Where we discuss, amongst other things, the inclusion of Hollywood star, Gary Oldman's appearance in CoD: Black Ops in which, surprisingly, Meiks actually does some research for once.
- Appreciation Section!: Justin loves a game that nobody can remember, nevermind played. Nothing unusual there then. Ho, ho.. <sigh>
- Question of the Week!: Barking out your answers to the question... Have you ever bought a game based on the fancy packaging?
- And lots lots more
Listen now...
Two years ago, one of the 360’s most hotly anticipated exclusives began to drift into myth territory. Gears of Wars came and went, Halos came and went, Project Gothams came and went, and Alan Wake stayed… silent. Until, ultimately, many believed the psychological horror was just vaporware and empty promises. However, over in Finland, Remedy’s ambitious project was just starting to come together – and it was changing all the time...
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I started (and completed) Alan Wake’s first piece of DLC last night. It’s pretty brilliant and I had a great time with it. But in hindsight I’m a bit annoyed. You see The Signal, Remedy’s first add-on to its literary horror shooter, is one of the best slices of Alan Wake to date, expanding upon the main disc's gameplay and narrative concepts heavily and in deeply satisfying ways. If you had even a passing liking for Wake, you absolutely should play it.
But in some ways it also sums up everything that’s wrong with where DLC is going right now. And for all that it adds, in hindsight it actually detracts slightly from the core game (which I love). The fact is, narratively and in terms of gameplay progression, it feels like part of the previously-missing climax to a previously-incomplete game. And suddenly I’m beginning to wonder how much better the main game would have been if add-on episodes hadn’t been part of the plan. And again, I’m considering the potential evils of DLC, and would like to know how you feel about them.
Quick warning though. Some spoilers for the main game and DLC ahead, but nothing huge.
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A little while ago, we published a piece comparing Alan Wake to Alone in the Dark, and found an alarming number of similarities between 2008’s mediocre fire-based horror adventure and 2010’s high-minded “psychological thriller.” As we were playing through the game recently, however, we couldn’t help but notice a small storm of similarities to another, slightly more infamous title: the so-awful-it’s-amazing Deadly Premonition. And with the first piece of Alan Wake DLC (The Signal) releasing next week, it seemed like as good a time as any to point them out...
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It’s official: it seems like Remedy’s ace physiological horror <groan> has sold like hardcore grot at a church car boot sale. Indeed, the game has allegedly only shifted 145, 000 copies in the US so far. And that has us worried.
Now, we don’t want to start assaulting you over the head with Okami guilt, but Alan Wake deserves to be played. And no Johnny Wisenheimer, it ain’t an average game. Dynasty Warriors 63 is average. Moreover, despite its poor sales, it deserves a sequel for all these reasons we just done wrote inside.
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