Incestuous. That’s the best way to explain the ongoing relationship between horror films and games. First games stole from films in early licenses like Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then horror films stole from games, most obviously in the ‘works’ of Uwe Boll like House of the Dead and BloodRayne. ... » Read More

28 Oct 2009

Gaming's freakiest monsters: A biological study

360 Feature | Dead Space

Perhaps better than any other creative medium, videogames have managed to recreate entire ecosystems of imaginary creatures and presented them in an observable context. Books and movies may offer detailed glimpses of anatomy and behavior, but only in videogames does the observer interact with organisms and experience behaviors first hand. ... » Read More

16 Oct 2009

Gaming’s filthiest bathrooms

360 Feature | Dead Space

We’ve murderised millions of men, killed countless cuddly animals and run over a nursing home’s worth of OAPs. But nothing has ever unhinged us like the computer crappers in the following beastly bathrooms. Unhygienic, grim and often smeared in the sort of bodily fluids you’d associate with Kill Bill rather than the can these are the filthiest game bathrooms we’ve ever seen.Silent Hill 3In a tight bind, when ... » Read More

31 Aug 2009

The Top 7… shameless rip-offs

360 Feature | Dead Space

If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then the following games are the biggest kiss asses of all time. Whether photocopying the entire structure of a monumental platform game or cloning every character and move from a beloved beat 'em up, these titles have no qualms about knocking-off other developers’ work7. Banjo KazooieRipped off: Super Mario 64The photocopied premise: A fat character jumps through portals into a ... » Read More

18 Jun 2009

Stupid game terminology

360 Feature | Dead Space

Why can’t some people just call a spade a spade? Or, in the case of video games, call a health pack a health pack, instead of a multi-purpose, cosmic healitron 3000. We’re sick of developers trying to give their games extra context or dimension by pasting unnecessary and sometimes baffling terminology onto simple, every day game actions or objects. It’s convoluted, embarrassing and totally comically. Below are some of the ... » Read More

11 May 2009

The Top 7... game religions

360 Feature | Dead Space

Founded by a group of religious cultists who worship an unexploded megaton bomb, who then built their church at the centre of the crater the bomb created. These Children of Atom believe that the atomic masses released by nuclear bombs contain whole universes and are therefore sacred. How about being constantly surrounded by the most upbeat, glass half full folk any of us are ever likely to meet? Full ... » Read More

6 May 2009

Guns that don’t shoot bullets

360 Feature | Dead Space

“Guns don’t kill people, bullets do.” But do they have to? Not at all, and in fact, this is all the destructive power you’re going to get out of shooting bullets. ... » Read More

15 Apr 2009

Five rules for introducing your girlfriend to...

360 Feature | Dead Space

I’m not a miserable sexist ass; I’m just a practical observer. One thing I’ve observed is that men and women are different (I figured that one out pretty early on). Since I’m a rational person, I’m aware that nothing is entirely one way or another. Even the divide between life and death is ambiguous (uh, zombies, amirite?). ... » Read More

30 Mar 2009

The Top 7... Annoying nags that need to STFU

360 Feature | Dead Space

We need to be told what to do in a game from time to time. We rely on helpful characters to issue us with objectives and point us in the right direction. Imagine the wasted hours if they weren't there to help. Trouble is, some of them go about it all wrong and - although they're trying to help - just get right on our tits. Honestly, Navi's a joy compared with these nagging characters that need to STFU. ... » Read More

4 Feb 2009

How Metacritic rules the games industry

360 Feature | Dead Space

You’re probably kicking yourself for not thinking of it first. Instead of relying on one critic’s point of view, mash them all together into one easily-understood uberscore. Rubbish games will be punished, quality will win out, and the occasional dodgy verdict will be smoothed over by the masses. That’s the theory. ... » Read More

28 Jan 2009

Behind the scenes of gaming's great soundtracks

360 Feature | Dead Space

When he started sharing his idea of an orchestra playing music from videogames, people thought the veteran composer Tommy Tallarico was off his rocker. It took him three years to convince publishers and developers that he was sane. “Imagine me making a call to Taito in Japan, asking them for the rights for the score of [1983 arcade hit] Elevator Action. “I’d like to play the theme tune to the game at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Hello... hello?’” ... » Read More

31 Dec 2008

2008: A year to dismember

360 Feature | Dead Space

Videogames have always been violent. Violence is inherent in the medium, inseparable from the essential experience of playing games. Without competition and conflict resolved by violence, games wouldn’t be games: they’d be screensavers. Gore is a slightly different matter, though. Better graphics and physics have ushered in a new era of explicit gruesomeness. ... » Read More

12 Dec 2008

2008 sucked compared to 2007

360 Feature | Dead Space

December is always good for a fight. We award our favorite games, mock our least favorites and shout at anybody whose opinion differs from our own. The one thing we can usually all agree on, however, is that gaming has progressed. Gaming has evolved. Right? Not this year. ... » Read More

3 Nov 2008

Win 15 DVDs by watching Dead Space: Downfall on...

360 Feature | Dead Space

You want DVDs. We want cheat codes. We have a solution.Here in the GamesRadar offices, we firmly believe that playing videogames is the best thing you can do on a couch that won’t make you gag if your grandmother wants to join you. However, watching movies runs a close second (playing “Guess the Stain” was nominated as well, but only by one editor. We don’t go over to his house anymore). ... » Read More

31 Oct 2008

TalkRadar 25 – oooh, scary!

360 Feature | Dead Space

Hope your ass is in-costume for our moderately special 25th episode of TalkRadar. This time we’re chatting up the least scary moments in otherwise scary games, then Charlie dares to suggest that games are, in fact, never scary. Then we fight about Silent Hill 2. Also: all the usual BS we yap about every week, lovingly accentuated with profanity, sound effects and allegations that no judge or jury could ever prove. ... » Read More

29 Oct 2008

The Scariest Games this fall - Part 2

360 Feature | Dead Space

A few months back we featured the most bloodcurdling games to be unleashed this fall. We then graded each fright fest depending on what we assumed would be the scariest. The big surprise though is that half of the games featured - including FEAR 2 - either won’t be released by year’s end or - like in GhostBusters and Fatal Frame’s case - don’t even have release dates. ... » Read More

28 Oct 2008

Why scary games are never scary

360 Feature | Dead Space

They can be creepy. They can be disturbing. They can obviously be gross, gory and gruesome. Are videogames, however, really that scary? Do they truly, honestly frighten you? We don't think so, and here are 13 reasons why. ... » Read More

24 Oct 2008

The secrets of Dead Space deciphered

360 Feature | Dead Space

We literally think Dead Space is awesome. It's an interstellar scare-a-thon of the absolute highest order. And we guarantee that anyone who plays the game will wish they knew what all the alien scribblings plastered inside the Necromorph-infested Ishimura mining vessel mean. Well, we did at least. Which is why we made it our mission to crack the code. We're anal like that.And crack it we did. The vast majority of it ties-in with ... » Read More

1 Oct 2008

How to Make a Monster!

360 Feature | Dead Space

Art: there’s not that much to it. To prove it, we talked to Lead Art Director Ian Milham and Lead Creature Designer Ben Wanat about their sci-fi survival-horror game, Dead Space. Ian’s in charge of all the environments in the game; basically, he makes sure that nothing looks out of place while keeping the entire game terrifying and believable. ... » Read More

19 Aug 2008

The 8 scariest games this fall

360 Feature | Dead Space

With Halloween around the corner, a handful of horrifying games are being prepped to leave their pants-wetting-induced mark on your couch this fall. Some of the titles listed don’t yet have US release dates (The Last Guy, Ghostbusters, Fatal Frame), but we’re confident they’ll be hitting our shores sooner rather than later. And like any great horror game, the ones listed below require you to rely on your noggin (and a small ... » Read More