All Hallow's Eve: Alan Wake

It's Halloween which means it's time to play scary games. Rather than do a relay like a few years ago, I decided to take a stab at a new game. Well, new game for me anyway. Alan Wake. This was a bit of an odd one for me. I'd originally been excited, the web series Bright Falls put me off, then the American Nightmare XBLA game got me interested again. I picked it up cheap near the start of the year but was waiting for it to get dark in the evenings so I could play it properly. Halloween seemed like the perfect excuse, plus it helped with the BeefJack podcast.

I do like it. The setting, the mystery and the drama are all played brilliantly. It is a decent enough horror game too, BUT it ruins its own horror.

BeefJack: Of Orcs and Men review

Another review of mine is up over at BeefJack. This time it's Of Orcs and Men, a game I'd barely heard of when I was asked to review it. That should have been my first sign. It wasn't, instead I watched a trailer and was mildly hopeful. As Jamie Donnelly put it "It's either going to be surprisingly good or amazingly shit." Unfortunately, I don't think it was either.

My word count was pretty tight and there were a few things I didn't have room to moan about, such as the environments. They weren't too bad, serviceable anyway, and if the team had just used them for one level you'd probably never be bothered. Instead they reuse them out for a good three of four levels in a row and by the end of it you're so bored of looking at the same brown textures it is untrue. However, that is a minor point compared to what I do mention in the review.

BeefJack: Need for Speed: Most Wanted Preview

I say it several times in the preview itself but Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was an amazing game. I loved that game, and still play it. When it was announced that Criterion were making another Need for Speed I was extremely happy. So happy that BeefJack got me to preview it. Unfortunately, "It's Criterion making another Need for Speed" isn't enough so this is my more thought out response.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted Preview

The video's in there as I felt that alone was enough reason to play that. Although the text that made that obvious got cut.

BeefJack: 7 reasons why 007 Legends won’t be legendary

Activision release 007 Legends next week. I, for one, am not fussed at all. James Bond games are a little hit and miss at the best of times and there's just so much looking like it's going to be a bit mediocre that I just couldn't keep quiet about it.

7 reasons why 007 Legends won’t be legendary

I was actually worried that this version was a little too fanboy-ish. My editor felt otherwise though. However, I'd already started restructuring the article. Bonus Blog Paragraph time. I envisioned a rewording of number six and a deeper look into the videogame industries obsession with Goldeneye.

Goldeneye isn't in 007 Legends, and for that we should be thankful. Rare's game blew players away, it was the perfect Bond game, and it has never been surpassed. Unfortunately, that's something game publishers seem to have got stuck on. A few of the Bond games that have come out in the past fifteen years have been trying to be 'the new Goldeneye' and these are always the ones that stumble the hardest. They even gave up trying to tie games into the films at one point and gave us a spin-off, Goldeneye: Rogue Agent, that made no sense and barely featured 007. There was also the remake that swapped Brosnan for Craig in the Bond role. 007 Legends looks like another Bond game that's fallen into the 'Goldeneye trap'.

BeefJack: Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel preview

I've done another preview for BeefJack, this time in the form of Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel. A game that interests me mainly because of who's making it. Which is pretty much how I approached this entire preview. I thought it would be a bit of a struggle, and my entire first take was all wrong. But once I found a decent angle I was away. Ended up being quite an easy one.

What was my angle? Go find out!