Review by Ben Tyrer

When I heard that Darkspore was comparing itself to Diablo, a favourite series of mine, I immediately knew I would have to take a look and see what all the fuss was about. I was surprised that Maxis had decided to have a stab at creating something a little more daring than their usual expansions of the never-going-to-disappear Sims franchise. I just didn’t think Maxis had it in them to create a visceral action RPG, but was I counting my loot before it had been identified?

When I was younger, I was a big fan of The Sims. Then, as I matured, I started craving games with a more guided and structured narrative. I would occasionally return to Maxis’ colossal Sim games but was sorely disappointed with Spore, which I felt was a substandard (albeit ambitious) game whose stages were not fully developed enough to sustain long term interest. In short, it sounded great on paper but when the game loaded up, the magic Will Wright had described to us all just wasn’t there for me. Understandably, then, I was feeling pretty cynical with regards to Darkspore. Was it a lame attempt at rebranding a tepidly received game? How could Maxis of all people be the ones to deliver my next dose of high-octane alien smashing, loot rolling and stat building action? You can almost imagine the board meeting in which it was decided Spore could be re-programmed to appeal to the angst-ridden youth of today (step one: add Dark to the name- they’ll go mad for it!), but let me tell you: I’m hooked.

There’s a particular element to games like this, a sense of hefty responsiveness that allows you to feel every attack your character makes as he totters around levels dishing out the pain. It’s a crucial aspect of the action RPG – If you can’t feel the weight of your character’s movement, it’s hard to be invested in them. Diablo had this remarkable sense of connection between player and character, and – luckily- so does Darkspore, to an extent.

A notably slower paced affair than most other games of this genre, each of the one hundred heroes I activated- You do not create a character á la Spore, but rather pick from a curated selection of monsters- had a palatable sense of oomph about them which otherwise would have rendered the characters feeble. It’s a bit like playing a role playing game with the cast of Monsters Inc., but once the action begins this is thankfully easy to overlook.

Rather than making a choice of Class at the beginning of the game, you are free to select up to three Heroes, the requisite amount which comprises a squad. These chosen few will be who accompany you through the game’s levels, though only one will be active on the field at any given moment and you must swap them on the fly. If you ever find yourself tiring of a character during the course of an RPG, this mechanic may be the solution. You’re free to mix and match heroes however you choose, and the necessity of ensuring you have access to a variety of Hero ‘types’ in order to prevent same-type conflicts (in which you will sustain double damage) adds an additional layer of depth to the game. If you’re worried about having to level each Hero as you unlock it, don’t – Your account has an overall level which permits you to purchase upgrades and items, but individual Hero levels are calculated via the quality of their equipment (think World of Warcraft item levels). Essentially, you can activate a hero which will start at level 0, gear him with all the goodies you acquired during your last session, and he will be good to go with the rest of your squad. It’s an interesting system, and one that completely removes the need to grind laboriously just to be able to get into the game with some friends. It also means you aren’t stuck with a single character and filled with regret ten hours in, so it’s a great move in my books.

There are some niggles, however. From what I’ve played, levels are little more than ploughing your way through opponents before reaching a stand-off stage where you must survive waves of increasingly tough enemies before battling an end-of-level boss. Don’t get me wrong – this is still enormously fun, and the stand-off stage genuinely gives Diablo a run for its money with regards to excitement and difficulty, but it would have been nice to see objectives other than ‘See alien, kill alien’. Rather than being compelling, Darkspores narrative is easily – and honestly, preferably- ignored. I’m glad Maxis attempted to create a backdrop, a reason for the sci-fi carnage that ensues in Darkspore, but that’s all it really is. And no more. Narrated video clips often interrupt crucial mid-level stages in which you and your friends must equip your heroes with freshly acquired loot, and so are often skipped. This brings me to another problem.

You are not able to equip loot as it drops. This is presumably due to the difficulty of loading the much-hyped creator toolset in the middle of the game, but when a vastly superior Celestial Cutlass finds its way into my inventory, I want to equip it right now. Considering you can’t create your own characters, the Spore Creator feels somewhat wasted on Darkspore. Sure, you can position your loot on your character and change their colour, but is that worth being unable to immediately better them in the heat of the moment? From what I’ve heard on forums, Maxis are looking into a way to rectify this issue.

With regards to abilities, Darkspore operates largely how it would appear Diablo III is set to function: A spell is assigned to the right mouse button, with a bar of abilities running along the bottom of the screen. Sadly, you are unable to remap the right-click power, meaning it will only ever perform your hero’s unique default attack. Also, as characters do not level in the usual manner, there are no skill trees. Instead, your heroes are pre-equipped with four unique abilities, the fourth of which is added to a shared pool of spells on the ability bar. Essentially this means if your hero’s fourth ability is a life-draining ability, you will be able to cast that power even when another squad member is activated. The result is the typical ability bar showing both your Heroes four innate abilities and two other powers sourced from the other Heroes in your squad. There’s also the Overdrive ability, charged over time by killing enemies, which vastly increases the potency of your attacks while halving all damage received for a short time.

While Darkspore may take some getting used to – its menus are cumbersome at times and the behaviour of the ability bar, while justifiable, can be jarring– it is undeniably fun, especially when played online as such games were always intended to be. Thankfully, a brilliant matchmaking service is provided alongside a Friend system which enables easy play. The music and ambience bring levels to life with a cool sci-fi edge, and the graphics are pleasing to the eye even if not the most advanced to grace your screen. You’ll see plenty of blood; something that surprised me considering the clinical censoring of Spore. It’s almost possible to see Darkspore as a letter of apology to disillusioned Spore devotees – Maxis have focused on one particular play style, honed it to near perfection and have utterly surprised me, to say the least. If you’re into action RPGs, and have been waiting for Maxis to whisper sweet apologetic nothings in your ear, Darkspore will give you plenty of incentive to stay a while and listen.

Editors note: Darkspore requires you to be online all the time when played, whether you are playing multiplayer or single player. The devs claim that this is not DRM, but I don’t actually think people selling you games get to redefine what counts as DRM and what doesn’t. They say its more comparable to an MMO model, but I’m not really convinced. If there was an MMO which was possible to play to completion in a single player mode, but didn’t support offline play, that would be bullshit too. EA have tried this stealth always-online DRM before, and it seems to me that rather than technical or design reasons, it is motivated by business reasons. They’ve likely seen the bad PR Ubi got for their batshit insane DRM, and have tried to implement something that is in practice exactly the same as far as end users are concerned, but is a much less controversial headline – Lewie.

Darkspore, PC – £23.49 delivered

PC version review by Ben Tyrer

Right now, this game is on offer over at Steam as part of the Square Enix week promotion. What better time to share my thoughts on the latest escapade of beloved raider of tombs, Lara Croft?

Okay, okay. I have to admit. I didn’t play many Tomb Raider games- none to completion at least- so I wasn’t entirely sure what I was in for when I booted up Guardian of Light. Hopefully some antiquated runes to be explored, ancient artifacts so prized and mysterious Indiana Jones would be green with envy and (if the films are any indication) a strip tease or two were to be thrown my way. To this end, Guardian of Light didn’t disappoint. Well, there were no strip teases, but read on anyway for my thoughts.

Note: For the sake of this review, and my fears of not being able to find a suitable companion, I stuck with the single player campaign, and so this review will concern only that.

One thing that was clear from my hazy recollection of the past Tomb Raider games was how different they are to this title. In fact, as you keen-minded and observant readers have no doubt realized, this isn’t a Tomb Raider game. It’s a Lara Croft game. Goody! Perhaps this change of title reflects a stronger focus on character and narrative, an intriguing insight into what makes the long loved British heroine tick? Well, no. If you were hoping for a detailed narrative, you’re out of luck, because the story definitely took a back-seat to game design when Crystal Dynamics cobbled the thing together. Thankfully, it rarely interrupts your shenanigans, and the things you’ll get up to in the mean time are really quite something. Guardian of Light plays in a fashion not dissimilar to the likes of Diablo II, Shadowgrounds and more recently Alien Breed and Torchlight. It has the same isometric viewpoint and simple click-to-kill combat, but manages to pull off the latter in a way arguably more satisfying than most of the other games mentioned. It’s nice to see the isometric camera angle being adopted, and pleasant as it was to have our screens obscured by Lara’s sumptuous behind in earlier Tomb Raider games, this fresh perspective definitely results in less frustration when it comes to platforming and puzzle solving. And in true Lara Croft style, there are plenty of both to be found. The puzzles are clever enough to warrant some pondering, but never ridiculous or farfetched to the point of feeling unfair. Likewise, while you’ll be spending the majority of your time throwing Lara from pillar to post, and while some segments may be subject to good old trial-and-error, you’ll never find yourself overwhelmed by the difficulty of this element. The whole platforming business has been made drastically more interesting by enabling Lara to essentially craft her own way through the levels by way of throwing a spear into any surface that will allow it, acting as a make-shift ledge.

And what of the combat? Well, you see an enemy, you click an enemy, and you kill an enemy. While it’s as simple as that on paper (and usually in practice), it doesn’t stop it being bloody good fun. Enemies will explode into fleshy chunks as you rampage around with a variety of weapons ranging from pistols to shotguns and machineguns, all of which manage to pack a satisfyingly beefy punch. Some element of strategy is added in the form of artifacts unlocked by completing particularly fiddly puzzles, and these augment weapons and abilities giving them extra damage or speed. Lara is able to roll about too, and this is an extremely effective (if not overpowered) way of avoiding a lot of damage.

Visually, Lara Croft is a treat overall. There are plenty of dazzling effects and set pieces, with smoke and water looking particularly delicious. Great atmospheric lighting really makes the Aztec setting pop, especially in the many damp tunnels and temples you’ll undoubtedly be exploring.

There’s not much else to say about Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light. I hesitate to call it shallow, though it’s possible to plough through it in an evening if you feel compelled enough to do so (and you probably will). The bulk of the game comes from the challenges in collecting hidden skulls and gems, as well as perfecting your timing for certain levels. If you’re not a big completionist, you might very well finish this game and never return, though co-op makes all games vastly more replayable.

As it stands, it’s a great little game. It doesn’t push the boundaries of its genre, nor does it offer quite the same level of depth that you might be expecting, but what it does offer is done incredibly well. You could do far worse than this tidy package of adventure, especially at its current reduced cost.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, PC – £3.39

PC version review by Ben Tyrer (Tumblr)

The days leading up to the release of New Vegas were something of an emotional roller-coaster for me. My anxiety was painfully high, having read the numerous terrifying accounts of it being a hilariously broken game from the onset. Had I squandered my pennies on nothing more than a broken mod? Not only that, but I received my disc copy (having decided the Steam servers were too much for my already-frayed nerves) excruciatingly early. Normally, this is an excellent thing, but the game being tethered to Steam’s unlock countdown meant I was in for a gruelling wait, and the box smiling down at me served only as a teasing reminder of that fact. When I was finally presented with the game’s splash-screen, I had no idea what to expect. Twenty-something hours in, here’s what I think.

War. War never changes. There’s something about that chilling sentiment which holds a brutal truth, and yet I couldn’t help but contemplate that in the case of New Vegas, war had certainly changed. Perhaps the more obvious of the many tweaks implemented by Obsidian to the game’s engine are those directly related to combat, the most fun for me being the inclusion of iron sights on weapons. The most not-so-fun was the game’s desire to show me every death in cinematic kill-cam mode regardless of VATS usage but you can thankfully nip that one in the bud via the options menu. There are, of course, a slew of new weapons and the option to modify them with different ammo types, recoil-absorbers, silencers and all other manner of contraptions the likes of which I won’t bore you with and this greater diversity certainly makes encounters more interesting. General combat feels more tightly tuned, and VATS remains a fiendishly enjoyable way of introducing your enemy to their makers.

However, I’m getting ahead of myself. A large arsenal of weaponry is all well and good, but you want to know whether the thing is a bug-ridden monstrosity, correct? Well, in the 20-something hours I played, I’ve had one crash-to-desktop and no AI quirks… Okay, no AI quirks that ruined the game for me. In that respect, then, I feel I’ve had with New Vegas one of the smoother experiences with this game engine. The game’s as pretty as it could be running on the old girl, and I’ve had far more annoying visual glitches than the occasional white speck on the horizon in my time playing games.

One aspect that remains unforgivable, though, are the walking and running animations. Goodness, gracious, me. I don’t know if the entire animation team are legless amputees locked away in some game-development dungeon and therefore have never seen how a human being moves itself to and fro using those meaty sticks with feet on the end, though I much doubt it. You’d think that was the case, however, when you see your character hopping about the shop like an ape with a numb posterior from having sat down for too long. It’s shoddy, shoddy business and spoils the immersion of watching your character strut his stuff in the shady recesses of the strip. The big problem though is that everyone walks like this, so you have to endure your companions unsightly struggle to move, as well as any human NPC you encounter. It’s a change for the sake of a change, and luckily you’re able to revert back to Fallout 3 style animations via a mod, which while not perfect either are a tad less dreadful.

Oh yes, companions. That’s something New Vegas expanded upon. In your travels you’ll no doubt stumble upon the odd character who provided you posses the relevant S.P.E.C.I.A.L requirements or some other skill (in one instance, I needed level 50 guns) will be more than willing to brave the Mojave wasteland with you, acting not only as a loving storage mule but also a (usually) helpful assistant in combat. There’s a flashy radial menu with which you can issue basic commands, and while slightly cumbersome I’ve found that my loyal friends are more useful than annoying to have around. They also comment on the events taking place before them somewhat dynamically, in a fashion vaguely reminiscent to Left 4 Dead or Dragon Age: Origins, which makes the whole affair feel less sterile. On that note:

OH DEAR GOD FINALLY NEW VOICE ACTORS AND THEY AREN’T SO BAD.

Yes, you read correctly, I’ve not heard a single voice actor who even slightly reminds me of the cast of every Bethesda game ever in the world. These are fresh, beautiful voices, and I’m sure of a celebrity pedigree here and there, though I’m far too ignorant to know or care about that. The music is superb too, with more than a few nods to the older Fallout titles, with some of the golden oldies from Fallout 2 even re-used in certain towns. An excellent nostalgic trip indeed.

And even tear-wellingly better is the fact that these lovely voices bring to life some genuinely interesting, brilliant characters who make up the populace of New Vegas. Obviously I don’t want to spoil the experience for you, but rest assured the writing here is top-knotch stuff. I’ve been through some fantastically entertaining quest (quest? mission?) lines, and that’s without selecting the trait which makes the game decidedly more ‘wacky’.

Oh, yeah. Traits. Based on how you allocate your SPECIAL points, you’ll be given a list of traits from which you can select two before beginning your adventure. In typical fallout fashion, they’re furiously difficult to decide upon if you don’t have a specific play-style in mind. There are things like the ability to shoot 20% faster but 20% less accurately, to have +1 Perception while wearing glasses but -1 when you’re not, and many more. I spent ages agonising over which to pick, and ended up firing weapons 20% slower than usual but with 20% greater accuracy, and with melee attacks dealing on average a greater amount of damage, but with severely reduced crits. It’s just another layer of character customization, so it’s definitely welcome in my books.

Obsidian have also brought a reputation system to the table, which operates on top of the Fallout 3 karma system. Basically, if you do good by a group of people, you’ll experience the benefits of your kindly nature. Screw them over, and they’re liable to hate you and possibly attack you on sight. Naturally, I’m vilified with most gangs, but a good number of towns liken me to some post-apocalyptic saint. One perk from this communal appreciation was that I didn’t have to pay to live in a cosy motel apartment. So whoever says good deeds go unrewarded has never helped lure a suspected traitor into the sights of an angry sniper with a strong taste for revenge.

There’s probably much more to say about Fallout New Vegas, but what I’ve taken away from my time with the game is that while not a revolution in roleplaying games, It’s certainly a blast to play, just as addictive as it’s predecessor and certainly an improvement in a good number of aspects. While it got off to a rough start (especially in the optional shooting tutorial where geckos were falling through the floor), the more I played New Vegas the more polished it became. Ultimately, Obsidian have delivered the goods, ensuring Fallout remains the number one in post-nuclear simulation.

Fallout: New Vegas, PC – £22.99, or if you don’t care when you get it, The Hut have it for £22.44 when you use a 10% off voucher.

Medal of Honour, PC – £23.99 delivered

When I first caught wind of the new Medal of Honour (yes, Honour) game, I was sceptical to say the least. Having being disillusioned to the frostbite engine during the course of Battlefield Bad Company 2, and seeing the inevitable resemblance to Modern Warfare from a mile off, I wasn’t sure what exactly this new title could bring to the table. Having played the beta, I can certainly say I’m feeling far more optimistic about it.

First, I want to briefly mention my issues with Bad Company 2. The PC version’s hit detection online left a lot to be desired for. I can’t think of anything more infuriating than the glancing injustice of a perfect shot going to waste, or indeed a clear escape still resulting in your swift demise even after having turned a corner into cover. I also wasn’t a fan of the destructible elements  of the engine, preferring a static map I can learn off by heart, and the clear encouragement of players to shove grenade launchers onto every weapon turned me into a seething angry internet man.

Thankfully, even while the servers were labouring under the weight of goodness-knows-how-many Monday night gamers, I found little to complain about with regards to hit detection. Gunplay feels more tightly tuned and the weapons, though limited in the beta, were satisfying to shoot and came with a decent amount of unlockable options such as open-tipped ammunition (which does considerably more damage but reduces the accuracy of shots), all manner of sights and scopes, and the chance to carry an extra clip for prosperity.

The two maps included in the beta (Shahikot Mountains, a snowy locale, and Kunar Base located on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border) are well designed, with a good number of choke points and bottlenecks and plenty of paths leading to opportunities to flank the enemy team from behind.  The two game modes featured in the beta are Combat Mission, an objective-based match where Coalition forces must progress across the map while the OPFOR attempts to hinder them, and Sector Control which is essentially king of the hill with multiple ‘hills’. Both are good fun, albeit nothing we haven’t seen or played before.

Despite the bones I picked with it, the Frostbite engine is a reasonably pretty affair and MoH looks just as good as Bad Company 2, despite inheriting the ridiculously over-done bloom effects which can thankfully be turned off. It’s probably due to their relatively smaller-than-BC2 size, but I found the two maps the beta featured easier to run on around the same graphics options (High).

Before wrapping up, I just want to briefly discuss the matter of the current controversy surrounding the changing of the name ‘Taliban’ to ‘Opposing forces’. I’m not entirely sure I supported the idea of making the combat scenario as ‘real’ as American Army vs the Taliban, mainly because I don’t think the idea of these extremists getting the idea that we enjoy murdering them in online death simulations would do any favours for world peace, but also because trivialising on-going conflicts by turning them into flashy games with achievements and ragequitting doesn’t sit quite right with me. On the other hand, the name change is just that – a name change. Nothing else has been changed, the player models and setting remain the same, with the implication still very much being that you are fighting the Taliban and yet the masses who were so outraged by the choice to actually name them as such are now completely at ease. I think that speaks a lot for just how ‘concerned’ the majority of these naysayers actually were, though I applaud EA in its decision to take action in order to avoid further unnecessary bad press. Alas, I’m here to evaluate games and not the politics that fuel them, I’m not worldly enough for any of this business!

Overall, I’m now plenty excited and optimistic that Medal of Honour has the potential to be a thoroughly smashing online experience. It remains to be seen whether the single player portion will be any cop, though interestingly it is being developed separately and on the Unreal 3 engine. It’s certainly now on my to-play radar, which goes to show that letting people try your game before release not only helps with early bug fixing and improvement, but can win the hearts of even the frostiest cynics. Good show, EA.

Fresh from the Penumbra series, I pre-ordered Amnesia: The Dark Descent with a spring in my step. Interested not only to see whether the formula had improved any, but whether my experience with Overture and Black Plague had made me any less of a coward, I launched into the grissly world of Brennenburg Castle. Was I still a pathetic craven? Was the game scary? And just what makes a survival horror horrific?

If you’re a fan of the survival horror genre, and have never played Frictional Game’s Penumbra (for which you are to be publically berated, you scamp) let me quickly describe the wondrous and immersive mechanics for which the games are praised. Running on the HPL engine- a tribute to HP Lovecraft- games of the Penumbra series require the player to interact with the game world in a much more tactile method than simply pressing ‘E’ to open a door, and so on. No, in Penumbra you have to grab hold of a door by clicking, then sliding your mouse forward to ease it open lest it slam and attract the attention of any nasties in the area. The same was true for drawers, cupboard doors and essentially every interactive element of the game. The mere act of physically turning a valve to open a gate creates a level of immersion pretty much unsurpassed by any other game, RSI be damned.

Amnesia carries over these mechanics in a shiny, updated engine and with a brand new setting and storyline. One burning question inevitably asked of all horror games is relatively simple: is it scary? The short answer is yes. The long answer is OH MY JESUS CHRIST IT’S COMING IN, WHERE CAN I HIDE, THERE ARE BEETLES SCURRYING OVER MY EYES. Perhaps more importantly, however, is how the game is scary. Two games in the horror genre which are often called upon as examples of not being particularly scary are Doom 3, and F.E.A.R, but I think this is relatively unfair. Both have their share of scary moments, and I’m not talking about making you jump; I don’t consider that to be a true method of the genre. A kid in a dolphin costume could kick the door in behind me and release a primal scream, and I’d probably jump. But are children in dolphin costumes scary? I’m talking about true, anticipatory fear, the disempowerment of the player leaving him feeling totally vulnerable against a vastly more powerful, opposing force. That’s scary stuff, and Doom 3 has it by making you choose between either wielding a weapon, or being able to see who’s attacking you. F.E.A.R has it by occasionally removing your weapons or simply making the nasties unkillable, rendering your big strong-man attempts at keeping control completely moot.

And Amnesia? Amnesia has it by the truckload. Castle Brennenburg is a dark place, and I often found myself running blindly around desperately hoping to come across some tinder to light a few candles, or some oil for my lantern. It’s a profound design choice to actually impede the player’s progress with such claustrophobic blackness, and it’s really effective, not only because I literally found myself creeping along walls for direction but also because Daniel, the protagonist, doesn’t handle the dark so well. Extended exposure to terrible lighting conditions puts Dan in a fragile state of mind, making him harder to control and, more crucially, easier to be found. So, you’ll need to keep a healthy supply of lantern oil and tinderboxes, but even choosing where to spark up involves a level of consideration. There’s no way to put out the candles you light, so once you illuminate a room it’s lost forever as a potential hiding place.

What of weaponry? Surely Daniel can sort out whatever’s waiting for him in the darkness with a well placed lantern swing, or aptly thrown rock? Sorry, no dice. There is not a single weapon in the game, and it’s vastly better for it, for two reasons: Firstly, combat in the first Penumbra game was dire, and was removed from it’s sequel. While the interaction system worked wonders in almost every other aspect, combat is one area that did not benefit from having to wave your mouse around like a lunatic. Secondly, going back to my point of the disempowerment of the player, the horrendous creatures to be found lurking in the dark are infinitely more terrifying when your only option is to run and hide.

The monsters themselves are varied enough to still feel terrifying after you’ve seen them a few times, with some only inhabiting specific areas of the castle. It has to be said that it felt as though I encountered a lot less monsters (in terms of actual attacks) than in Penumbra, but unlike Penumbra I was never given the luxury of presuming an area to be ‘monster safe’, making for much more nail-biting fun and a more satisfying pace to the levels.

As you’ll know if you’ve watched the trailers or even played the demo, Amnesia has a fair amount of voice acting. While not the best I’ve ever heard, it’s certainly believable where it needs to be, and is more than welcome when the alternative is reading a lengthy piece of text. This often becomes your task however as, of the many notes and memos left around the castle, only a specific set are voiced. This niggle was enormously outweighed by the appreciation I have for Frictional taking the time to flesh out their world and narrative with these notes, however, and most are optional anyway so if you’re truly averse to these types of pick-ups you need only endure them a few times.

Throughout the course of the game, Amnesia jumps from strength to strength with a thickening plot and heavy atmosphere. The only- and I stress the word only- thing that left me wanting for more were the endings. Oh Frictional, you and your endings! There are a few of them, based on how you handle the closing events of the game (which far be it from me to spoil) and none of them really square up to the be climactic finale I was hoping for. It’s not that they undermine the process of actually getting to the end, it’s just sad to see such care was taken with detail up until then, only to play through what feels like a comparatively rushed segment. I’ve spent nine hours working toward this finale, Frictional, and I want to relish in my accomplishments (or indeed my own demise) rather than gruffly being shown the door by a game that doesn’t seem fully convinced of how it should tie up it’s loose ends acceptably before letting the curtain fall.

All things considered, the games released by Frictional continue to carve out the delicious little niche they hold in the survival horror genre. The interaction system won’t be to everybody’s tastes, but I commend them for having the guts to include it anyway. While still incredibly worth your time, with a sharper ending I feel Amnesia would have been an even more unforgettable title.

Review by Ben Tyrer (Tumblr)

My first concern with Blade Kitten was the notion that two vastly different words could be juxtaposed in such a disconcerting way. A blade is a weapon of slashing and maiming, whereas I have it on good authority that a kitten is a device used only to a fluffy and endearing end. In what twisted world could the two drastically dissimilar nouns coexist in a single, shameless title? Surely not a world I would want to live in, and yet there I was. Linguistic emotional rollercoaster aside and images of murderous felines suppressed deep into my subconscious, my second concern was that I hadn’t even heard of the comic series on which the game was based. Not a good start at all, I’m sure you’ll agree, but this didn’t seem to matter once I got down to actually playing the thing. So, how was it?

The overall aesthetic of the game is very stylised, in an obvious nod toward the comic. Bright colours wash over everything in abundance, and the menu features some incredibly quirky quasi-oriental music. I found it difficult not to draw comparisons to titles such as Borderlands in the aesthetics department, and I hope the image that conjures in your mind goes some way to describing the reasonably attractive setting of the game. This extends somewhat to the character design too, as I’m reasonably sure I was fighting the Crimson Lance.  Decent use of physics is made, if only to decorate levels. Pots and crates are sent flying every which way as you dash around the different platforms collecting what are essentially coins and hitting checkpoints. Unfortunately, I found the controls to be sluggish in the instances where this mattered most such as when trying to change direction quickly, as well as stopping yourself from being crushed by machinery due to a bizarrely over-done skidding animation played after sprinting. The controls themselves are a fairly standard platforming affair; directional arrows to move, space to jump and double jump, E to interact and with the mouse buttons serving as your means of waving the Blade about. I say you wave it, but the Blade itself seems somewhat intelligent and doesn’t even require Kit (the protagonist) to be holding it in order to function. I daresay the Blade would perform most admirably even without it’s feline companion, possibly even better without having to wait for her to climb up every wall and retreat for running jumps. It’s no coincidence that Blade comes first in the title. He’s definitely my favourite character.

The combat is reasonable, if not fiendishly easy. Spamming left-click will most certainly see you through the majority of encounters, but I wasn’t averse to throwing in a few double jumps for good measure. The platforming aspect of the game, from what I played, was relatively simple too. This is no detriment, however, as over-complication does not a good platformer make. Sadly, though, this simplicity is often Blade Kitten’s Achilles heel. For example, if you want to make Kit climb a wall you need only have her walk toward it, but inadvertent contact with a wall in the heat of combat can result in her dutifully grabbing onto them, interrupting any impressively acrobatic feat of arse-kickery and stopping you dead in your tracks. The ‘blade play’ itself is acceptably satisfying, as enemies are sent reeling away from your devastating swipes. It really is ‘press left mouse to win’, but this formula is somewhat shaken up by enemies who tend to block more, attack from a distance, and so on. Much in the way that Diablo isn’t particularly difficult at the beginning, you will still enjoy thrashing around eliminating everyone in your path. Should you get into a sticky situation, you need only clamber away to a platform inaccessible to your comparably dense attackers, because health regenerates after a few moments.

There are a few interesting ‘driving’ segments where you ride on the back of what can only be described as a large, pink, bipedal dinosaur type creature. These parts are generally fun, and as I dodged obstacles and jumped over explosive mushrooms (or were they mines?) I was vaguely reminded of one of the many Crash Bandicoot chasing levels. Good stuff.

As for the narrative, I don’t want to spoil anything for you, though I’m not entirely sure there’s much to be spoiled. Suffice it to say you dock your ship on a strange planet in order to accept a bounty offer which is then, among other things, stolen from you by a peculiar and frankly insulting blonde woman dressed in red. Obviously that just wont do, so Kit sets off in hot pursuit of the burgundy culprit. It was here, about fifty seconds into the game, that I realised the voice acting wasn’t particularly stellar. Not to worry, though, I’ve heard far worse and it’s still refreshing to hear the soft, quirky remarks made by this girl-cat-person who sadly exists amidst the oh-so-many corny, animalist grunts of Angry Space Marine type protagonists in other games.

Technically speaking, there aren’t many options to tone the game down graphically if you’re struggling to run it (which you probably shouldn’t be, the specifications are listed here) aside from a comprehensive list of screen resolutions, and the ability to toggle shadow rendering. Sadly, there’s no save feature, so you’ll have to rely on the autosaved checkpoints which can be a bit of a nuisance, though they’re placed regularly enough. There is, however, excellent Steam integration, offering Cloud support and a decent amount of achievements should that kind of thing be worthwhile to you.

If you’re looking for a combat-oriented platformer with a quirky vibe and don’t mind looking past a few minor annoyances with regards to the controls and difficulty you can’t go too far wrong with Blade Kitten, though the narrative might be lost on all but fans of the web comic.

Blade Kitten, PC – £9.99
Also available on XBLA and PSN.

Review by Ben Tyrer (Tumblr)

Tidalis. A vast, unexplored continent, shrouded in mystery and void of all life… But is it really?

This is the setting for the latest Puzzle offering from Arcen Games, who you may recall for their extremely well received AI War Series, and boy is it a sight. In adventure mode, you crash on the golden shores of this rather magnificent region and it’s charm is immediately encapsulating. It’s evident from the onset that a vast amount of passion was poured into this game, from the superb piano-and-string musical score to the detailed and smoothly animated backgrounds that chart your progress into the heart of the continent, which- while beautiful – never distract from the game.

That was never too much of a concern, however, because this is one of the more engrossing puzzle games I’ve played. On the surface it looks relatively to similar to any other clear-the-board type puzzle game currently on the market, but in actuality Tidalis possesses unique mechanics which not only breathe life into this somewhat tired genre, but make for consistently challenging and interesting puzzling challenge.

Essentially, you are given a standard grid board which begins to slowly fill with coloured blocks, each engraved with an arrow. By aligning blocks and changing their arrows’ direction, you direct ‘streams’ which, when passed through a chain of three or more same-coloured blocks, removes those blocks from the grid. This ingenious mechanic forms the foundation of the game, and there are many variations on the mode itself and the types of block to be found, making for a great amount of diversity. For example, glass blocks can only be removed from the grid by eliminating the blocks underneath it, causing the glass block to fall and shatter. Tinder blocks directly interrupt the streams, preventing large chains from being created, and can only be removed by eliminating a red block within a certain radius of the timber, scorching it from the board. Other variants come into play as the game goes on, including the necessity to avoid removing certain colours from the board, which adds a layer of strategic thinking to the game so as not to inadvertently spark off chains which will remove those restricted blocks.

Throughout your journey into the heart of Tidalis, you will encounter a weird and wonderful cast in the form of the land’s inhabitants. The dialogue here is surprisingly sharp and amusing, with the delightfully eccentric creatures intent on creating puzzles difficult enough to convince you to leave their treasured home.

You’re really getting a bang for your buck with this game, as it offers an exhaustive amount of modes and options to toy around with. Not only does it support custom games, community-created brainteasers, ranked levels, and editors of all shapes and sizes, but it also includes network play- that’s local and internet. Impressive stuff.

Seriously, the effort poured into this game cannot be stressed enough. You can submit scores to twitter, customize the appearance of blocks, even directly edit the animated backgrounds to better suit your taste. There’s nothing they haven’t thought of.

Browsing the update log offered in-game, I can see a huge list of enhancements brought on quite a regular basis. Most recently, bugs were fixed and monitor resolution support was enhanced. It’s refreshing to see a developer take such care with their product after release.

If you’re interested in trying it out, Tidalis can be demoed on steam here, and with all the features I’ve mentioned above, I think you’d be amiss not to.

Tidalis, PC – £7.68