Wednesday 7 December 2011

IGM - Riding The Space Wave: Ryan Vandendyck On Waveform




Eden Industries is a newly formed independent game studio on the block, currently hard at work on their debut game, Waveform. Completely unlike anything we have ever seen before, Waveform has you controlling the amplitude and wavelength of a wave of light as it travels through space. The idea is collect and void certain objects along the way; the game is simple but progression bleeds into a steadily growing complexity.

 The game’s head developer Ryan Vandendyck found the time in his busy schedule to sit down with us and talk about Waveform; everything from how it started off as a part time project to it’s final destination on Steam in February 2012. Read on to find out how, of all things, Mario helped shape Waveform to what it is today, as well as how important community feedback was to altering the design and ideas present in Waveform.

IGM - Pudding Panic Review



For once, I saw a wobbly green jelly and I didn’t immediately want to just gobble it all up. Instead, Pudding Panic‘s frightened (and tasty) protagonist has my deepest sympathies. The poor little bugger never knew how terrified he would be as he alighted the haunted house ride of his greatest nightmares. If it was possible to hug a jelly without destroying it, then I definitely would. The best that we can all do though, is to help him get through the ride without being scared to death; such is the premise of Pudding Panic.

Friday 25 November 2011

Hooked Gamers - Why Naughty Dog(s) Shouldn't Play With Guns



Since debuting with Crash Bandicoot in 1996, Naughty Dog have gone from strength to strength and have picked up quite the following on the way. With three well-loved franchises under their belt, history suggests that their next move is to create another new franchise. What that might be, I can only guess at but whichever direction they decide to go, I’m hoping that they drop guns completely in their next game. Why? Because they don’t do guns all that well, because it is beginning to spoil my fun and because they have a track record of making great games that focused on other things than guns.

Hooked Gamers - Serious Sam 3: BFE Review




As a whole generation of gamers grows older, we can mark this year as a threshold. It is the swivel point at which we filter out old gaming practices from earlier decades, in a harsh but fair sentiment. As part of this, we all desperately placed our hopes in Duke Nukem Forever to prove that the classic first-person shooter can be brought with us into the forthcoming decade. Disgracefully, it only moved towards hammering another nail in the coffin. Due to this mishap, it seems that Serious Sam 3 may be the last chance for the classic uber-masculine, twitch shooter to survive the cull. All that back-pedalling does not exactly get us started in the right direction though.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

IGM - Waves Review


Rolling around in digital excrement may not be the best way to describe Waves. Perhaps surfing the ripples of electronic water, or riding the silky flow of the River Lethe. Ah yes, that would do; for supping from Waves would induce a certain forgetfulness due to its epileptic, tooty-fruity extravagance, as was the suffering of those who drank from the Lethe. Genius.

Sunday 20 November 2011

Hooked Gamers - What Type Of Skyrim Player Are You?



Bethesda's magnum opus, Skyrim, is one of the most vast cRPG's ever made. With a huge variety of things to do, and just so much of it, there are clearly several different ways to play the game. It's a tradition with RPG's to cast player's into different categories. See if you spot any similarities in your own play style with the few we have listed below. Keep in mind what this may say of your own personality as well.

IGM- Saving Morons To Save The Industry: Simon Dean On Folk Tale



Being part of the game development industry as it was just blooming, Simon Dean was disappointed when budgets began to soar, risk taking went amiss and creativity dwindled. Recent trends and available avenues in indie development ignited that spark of enthusiasm once again though, and Simon was encouraged to create his very own development studio called Games Foundry, despite being absent from the scene for over a decade. The recently formed collaboration of developers under Simon have been working on their first project and are just starting to unveil its shining glory unto the world. Folk Tale is a comedy, fantasy RTS that has its players attempting to save a town of morons from themselves, as well as the tide of monsters ready to bash their thick heads in.

IGM - inMomentum Review


Speed running is one of the oldest community driven practices in gaming. It requires a high level of skill and hours upon hours of practising. It could even be considered an art form in itself, and it is exactly this premise that inMomentum is fuelled by. Since competing in community made speedrun levels of Quake, gamers have been waiting for another chance to show off their skills in a finely tuned realisation of the sport, and inMomentum might just be the game they have been waiting for.

Thursday 10 November 2011

IGM - Ignite Review



Screeching wheels and burning rubber has taken a backseat to pedantic stats fiddling in the racing genre recently. Surely the thrill of the race should always be the focus in a game; the big titles pretentiously adhere to the label ‘simulator’. How fancy. You know what? Keep your fine tuning, posh voiced narrators and la-di-dah pitstop cutscenes; you’ll find me on the track actually having some fun in Nemesys Games‘ Ignite.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Hooked Gamers - Serious Sam: The Random Encounter Review



Croteam have committed an admirable deed by letting smaller developers create a game based around their Serious Sam franchise, even if it does double up as a clever marketing ploy. There have been some wacky and adorable creations as a result, and considering they are all based on the same source material, there is a fair bit of variation as well. Random Encounter looked to be another exciting and creative spin on the Serious Sam franchise. It takes the cult FPS and weaves it into an RPG of some sort. Sceptical? Believe us, so were we.

Friday 4 November 2011

IGM - Neon Zone Review



Neon lights are usually associated with exquisite night time entertainment, of a varying sort. There is an allure about that fuzzy, colourful glow that just invites you in, as if emitting a trance-inducing radiation. If a survey was taken asking people what distracts them the most, neon lighting would probably come just under “shiny things”. House On Fire‘s smartphone game, Neon Zone, has had us staring at it’s beautiful visuals for long enough now so that we can give an assessment. The task is trying to pen up this review without glancing over at the game again for fear of not being able to tear our eyes away for another hour or so. Must. Not. Look. At. Distracting. Lights.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Hooked Gamers - Grand Theft Auto V Preview



Grand Theft Auto IV was announced back in March 2007. The hype surrounding Rockstar's more gritty realisation of their figurehead series was unmatched. Until now. Grand Theft Auto V has officially arrived with the announcement trailer and the first flood of details. After all the rumors being built up by eager fans for the last year or so, what is this mammoth title all about?

Tuesday 1 November 2011

IGM - To The Moon Review




Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy. Such as Johnny’s impulsive wish of going to the moon, despite not being able to give reasons why. Perhaps it is dementia, or the culmination of a life lived full of regret; but Johnny’s last dying breaths are spent upon calling the people capable of delivering the impossible. To live our dreams. It sounds pretentious at best, but nothing will prepare you for the magnitude of the journey in To The Moon. Grab the nearest box of tissues.

Friday 28 October 2011

Hooked Gamers - The Book of Unwritten Tales Review



Point-and-click adventure games, good ones that is, are very rare nowadays. You really have to search for them as they apparently lie beyond the realms of mainstream interest. That is a huge shame really, if for no other reason than that the genre has always provided an unparalleled humour. Perhaps it is their relative slow pace, or their naturally clunky gameplay when compared to other genres that deemed them unsuitable for today's gamer. Whatever it may be, they have been cast out of the sphere that is currently occupied by shooters and sports games, and discouraged to ever attempt a comeback. On the bright side, there is hope coming from the likes of Germany-based King Art Games. Their original release of The Book of Unwritten Tales in 2009 was met with great success in their native country, but they wanted to expand the experience to English speaking players and set out to localise the game.

Friday 21 October 2011

IGM - Friday Fiver: Five Games For Under £5 Each!




Sometimes I feel I do not play enough games. Other times I play lots and don’t bother to write anything about them. To resolve this issue, I have vowed to produce a weekly feature for you every Friday. The goal is to review five games that cost under £5 every Friday. I would like to think that if any of these games gets a shining review then you would be inclined to have some weekend gaming fun with it. If that is achieved, then at least this has a further, more grandiose point to it.

Hooked Gamers - Dark Souls Review




Reputation can hold a foreboding presence. It is passed around by word of mouth and is digested as an underlying anticipation. It brings fear and excites the mind with illustrious thoughts and runaway fantasies. Rarely does the arrival of the reputed object deliver to the promises of the hushed whispers that so eagerly painted its ominous being. On occasion though, the reputation is surpassed by the material embodiment; its presence chokes the throat. Such is the case with Dark Souls - an unrelenting experience that only the audacious should dare enter.

IGM - Orcs Must Die! Review



Spiky floor or wall-mounted blades? Which would spice up the castle interior more? This is not a sadistic version of The Sims at discussion here. No. This concerns the art of orc killing; a most vivacious sport to suit any young, sprightly mage. In Orcs Must Die, the consideration of your interior design is a most vital practice, especially as you will be spraying chunks of green flesh and red gore all over the walls. Good luck removing those stains. You could look upon the struggle of the last survivor of the Order as he battles a massive army of orcs as quite epic. But the truth of the matter is, there is way too much fun to be had here than to worry about whether you are fighting for some noble cause. Blood squelching, skull crushing fun, that is.

Saturday 15 October 2011

IGM - Xotic Review



 Xotic sticks out like a sore thumb amongst other shooters. A simple glance at a screenshot will prove this. There are colours barfed up everywhere and it appears that more familiar weaponry such as a standard barrel-and-trigger gun, has been replaced with a large fly. You are bound to question exactly what it is that you are looking at and how many drugs you have taken. But while Xotic may look a million miles away from your typical shooter, it is arguably more of a shooter than the current majority in the genre. You are probably more interested in the fly though, aren’t you?



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Wednesday 12 October 2011

Game Tunnel - September 2011 Independent Games Round-Up




Welcome to the September 2011 Independent Video Game round-up, the latest in our long-running panel that reviews all the latest Indie games. We passed on doing a video feature for this round-up, but if you want us to bring it back just sound off below. We hope you enjoy this very close match-up of some excellent indie games. Seven of the ten games received an award this month and some of the top games scores were very close! Needless to say, there are always great independent games out there to find. We hope you enjoy reading reviews from each of the panelists on all 10 games in the September Independent Game round-up.

IGM - Gemini Rue Review


After Gemini Rue delivered its final message about the human condition, I found myself sat upright before my monitor as the end credits rolled, applauding. But what was it that had caused me to feel the need to demonstrate a physical appreciation of the game in a room occupied by only myself? Mental disabilities aside, let’s just say that Gemini Rue is a poignant package that commands the respect it deserves.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Hooked Gamers - OIO Review


Despite the capacity to tell stories in a whole myriad of ways, the most popular games simply adopt a cutscene enamoured, Hollywood-style narrative. It's disappointing to say the least. That is why we need more games like OIO. This sidescrolling puzzle platformer weaves a promiscuous plot by dropping its players straight into the peculiar. The inevitable curiosity of the player is only resolved through the gameplay; a drip-fed reward that drives a constant need to solve the mystery of the eponymous character's situation. Its narrative hook dismisses the usual action-packed formula and instead favours a slow pan across its twisted environments. Uncanny Games certainly know how to create an atmosphere worthy of their name.

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Tuesday 4 October 2011

IGM - Demolition, Inc. Review



Being a demolition guy is perhaps the most satisfactory job there is. You get paid to blow things up, is that not ridiculously inviting? From our youth we have been crushing ant hills and beating up our younger siblings, now it’s time to destroy whole cities. Am I right!? Well, Demolition, Inc. is going to let you get a little closer to that realisation, but it is certainly not going to make it an easy task. After all, this is a strategy game but do not get put off; there are exploding cows, cars jumping off ramps into buildings and earthquakes under your control. Surely that is much more fun than simply pressing a big red button to level a few blocks?

Sunday 2 October 2011

Hooked Gamers - The Book of Unwritten Tales Preview



“Nobody can die in this game!” moans Death as he sits atop a crate, kicking his pink bunny slippers to and fro. He continues to complain about his destitute situation; finding himself in a point-and-click adventure rather than a role-playing game in which hundreds of rats are killed before even reaching level two. Confused by Death’s references to ‘the game,’ Wilbur the Gnome exits the miserable conversation that he describes as “deathly unhappy.” As soon as those words exit his lips he turns to the player and apologizes for the terrible pun and claims it will not happen again. Moments like this epitomize my love of graphic adventure games. The Book of Unwritten Tales marks a glorious return to the root of their existence. It is a breed of game that is best described as the love child of Lord of the Rings and Monkey Island.

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Thursday 29 September 2011

IGM - A Game of "Grutte" Proportions: An Interview With Triangle Studios About Cross of the Dutchman


 Triangle Studios are a Dutch development company who were founded by Remco de Rooij and Timen Rienstra after they had graduated from the NHL University. They now have a small team to work alongside and are currently developing their first original project. Cross of the Dutchman is based on the local Frisian legend surrounding the mighty, seven foot tall “Grutte” Pier Donia. The legendary figure is seen as a pirate by some, and a liberator by others. Remco found the time to sit down with us and talk about how they were packing all that man into their game.

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IGM - Riding Out The Storm: An Interview With Rob Storm About Project Stormos

 
 Superboss Games’ hardcore platformer has you practically flying a robot around its non-linear levels. It’s a platformer that works best when you do not touch any platforms at all. The game also comes with a fantastic level editor so that the community can generate their own content and share their ideas. The game has more or less come out of nowhere and despite having only a short lifespan and not even being released yet, the reception thus far has been far greater than the developers could have anticipated. Currently, Project Stormos is seeking more funding via Kickstarter so that more levels can be added, and work on a console port can be started. We managed to grab some time with Stormos’ eager developer, Rob Storm, and question him about our new fascination.


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Monday 19 September 2011

Hooked Gamers - Serious Sam 3: BFE Preview


 This year we have had the disappointment of Duke Nukem Forever; a game that many hoped would revamp the classic shooter for a modern player base. In the same year, Croteam are attempting a similar effort with Serious Sam 3: BFE. Although some may still be licking the wounds that Duke Nukem Forever lacerated upon them, be assured that Serious Sam 3 is everything that you would hope for it to be. Seriously.
 
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IGM - Parasitus Zero Review

Are you one of the many relentless warriors, frantically launching cheeseburgers (with bacon) down that plunging throat of yours in hope of one day bringing forth a self-imposed heart attack? Well, stop now! Put that greasy burger down as there is a much simpler solution to incite a cardiac arrest. Simply pick up Parasitus: Ninja Zero from the Xbox Live Indie Games section and play until you clutch your heart-bursting chest in joy…and immense pain.
  CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE

Hooked Gamers - R.A.W. - Realms of Ancient War Preview


 You may be forgiven if you happen to glance at R.A.W. (Realms of Ancient War) and instantly adopt an expression of discontent. Your next choice of words are bound to be "not another Diablo clone!" Well, the developers actually prefer the comparison to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, so take your pick. Now that we all know where we stand with Wizarbox's fantasy hack 'n' slash, the question is whether it will actually be worth picking up as we await the eventual date of Blizzard's third. We went hands on with the game at this year's Gamescom and can say that despite being one of the most generic games alive, it is still fun to play.


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Tuesday 13 September 2011

GameTunnel - August 2011 Indie Games Round-Up


 Game Tunnel is proud to publish the first truly new Independent Video Game Round-up in almost 2 years. The Monthly Round-Up was a staple of the old Game Tunnel. Welcome to the August 2011 Independent Video Game round-up, the latest in our long-running panels that review all the latest Indie games. Read reviews from each of the panelists on all 10 games in the August Independent Video Game round-up.


CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE

Saturday 10 September 2011

IGM - Hard Reset Review


When a game goes out of its way to try and revitalise a style of game that has seemingly gone out of fashion, I am immediately inclined to nod approvingly while politely applauding. Hard Reset is one of those. While it may appear to be a classic shooter at face value, it does break a few rules of the genre. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a slight degradation on top of the old formula, rather than the refreshing quip of innovation that it so clearly wants to be.


CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Wednesday 7 September 2011

IGM - Outland Review


Finnish game developers have a reputation for being technical experts in their craft. This combined with a spark of creativity has led to a thriving native industry. Housemarque’s Outland is a game that certainly justifies the reputation of their nationality – it is a smooth and visually stunning game.


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Hooked Gamers - E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy Review


 There is something about being a cybernetic psychic monk assassin that is inherently exciting. In the world of E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy, you play as just that. The game itself is heavily inspired by Deus Ex with its main focus being to allow players a choice as to how they approach each mission. E.Y.E. is also set within a dark cyberpunk world and plays like an FPS/RPG hybrid. The game is fairly deep and gets the blood flowing into those old hardcore gaming veins that were starting to run dry. The game makes a strong impression from the offset but, unfortunately, its premise proves to be just a little too ambitious for the ten young developers at Streum On Studio. What they have managed to achieve is certainly commendable though, and will no doubt be a popular cult game for years to come.

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Hooked Gamers - Adrift Preview


 Recently forming after a break away from Ubisoft, DONTNOD Entertainment has ambitious intentions. Revealing the premise of their third-person action adventure at Gamescom, the small team flaunted more than just an air of mystery surrounding their carefully chosen words. Prying questions led to raised eyebrows and muted lips, but we left the meeting optimistic and confident of the talent at work on their first effort, Adrift.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Hooked Gamers - Prey 2 Preview


 Bethesda invited us behind closed doors to watch an extra long gameplay demonstration of Prey 2 at this year's Gamescom. As fans of the original, we jumped at the chance. Anyone who has played Prey will remember it as a surprisingly fresh shooter. Its gripping Cherokee protagonist Tommy, innovative environmental puzzles and unique spiritual powers made traipsing around the slimy alien Sphere a worthwhile experience. The news that Prey 2 would be dropping all of these features caused something of an outrage, but before condemning the title to a fate worse than hell, consider that Human Head Studios are out to maintain the fresh feeling of its predecessor rather than lazily create another 'more-of-the-same' sequel.

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Hooked Gamers - Salem Preview


 When describing Salem, there are a lot of familiar phrases that will immediately persuade players to call it a Minecraft clone. But here is an interesting fact: the developers have never played Minecraft. Sitting down with Seatribe at Gamescom, they were very excited to show us their upcoming free-to-play, browser based crafting MMO. Pitched as a successor to their previous effort, Haven & Hearth, Salem gets to grips with the witchcraft of 16th century New England.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Hooked Gamers - War of the Roses Preview


Paradox was proud to announce the Fatshark developed War of the Roses in Cologne. We knew instantly that this was the game we were looking for. We were told to imagine a medieval Britain, full of knights, battlegrounds and castles and to then combine this with potentially large-scale multiplayer battles, complete with a Call of Duty-esque ranking system and stats feedback. We lapped up as much information about the game that Fatshark was willing to feed us and found that we were still left ravenous for more after tasting their delectable comestible.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Hooked Gamers - Legends of Pegasus Preview


Our interest was piqued with the recent announcement of Legends of Pegasus from Novacore Studios, and we were pleased to talk to the developers of this promising sci-fi strategy game at this year’s Gamescom. Our first glimpse at the gameplay unveiled a game that definitely outshone our anticipations, and proved that old and often forgotten genres can still impress when in the right hands.

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Hooked Gamers - The Dark Eye: Demonicon Preview


 The German produced role-playing game, The Dark Eye, has been around for over 25 years and is equal in size, scope and detail to Dungeons & Dragons. But whereas Dungeons & Dragons has been converted into a computer game a countless amount of times, The Dark Eye remains to be a fairly untouched source. This is where The Dark Eye: Demonicon comes into play, hoping to utilize the vast universe of The Dark Eye and convert it into a loyal, fantasy cRPG.

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Hooked Gamers - Uncharted: Golden Abyss Preview


 Uncharted: Golden Abyss will be Mr. Drake’s first portable outing, hence it seems natural to question whether Sony’s new handheld will be capable of delivering the high expectations of the series. Golden Abyss will need to pull out all the stops to showcase the capabilities of the device and to point the way for the Vita’s future.

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Hooked Gamers - Ms. Splosion Man Preview


 Twisted Pixel is a small studio that became renown for their blend of laugh-out-loud humour and outrageously fun gameplay. It seemed that success had swelled in their head after The Maw and 'Splosion Man, however, as their last title, Comic Jumper, was a masturbatory exercise that only offered a bland tasting gruel as gameplay. Taking a step back, Twisted Pixel have followed in the steps of the Pac-Man series by creating Ms. Splosion Man. Ms. Pac-Man is one of the most popular games of all time because of the many great improvements it made over its predecessor. Will Ms. Splosion Man be able to follow this example? We managed to get some alone time with the lady herself, and made sure to place our hands all over 'Splosion Man’s other half.


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Hooked Gamers - Limbo Review


 Limbo is a game that needs no introduction. When Playdead’s side-scrolling debut hit the Xbox 360 last summer, it struck a chord with just about everyone who played it. Fortunately for those who were unable to experience this unique title, a PS3 and PC version has now been released, so there really are no excuses to not pick up this must-play title. Those who already own the Xbox 360 version may want to consider purchasing Limbo once again, not just to support the fantastic talent who made the game but also because some extra content has been added to these new versions.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Hooked Gamers - From Dust Review


Many a year has passed since us mortals have had a chance to take the reins as a mighty deity. Over the years our hands have caused the destruction of civilisations, foiled the plans of overzealous dictators, and created tropical paradises. Quite rightly, the ‘god’ sub-genre of games is a much sought after one, especially as they crop up infrequently and are rarely fun to play when they do. This is why From Dust will immediately grab the attention of the needy and the desperate; those long awaiting souls grasping for a sense of power. Using a well-known formula, From Dust manages to weave its own take on the genre to a pleasant result. The focus of the game is not so much on creating your tribe or civilisation and then taking control over all of the land for yourself. Instead, players partake in what can only be described as an epic battle between a god and Mother Nature.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Hooked Gamers - Ms. Splosion Man Review


Time to drop your linen and start your grinnin’ ladies! Ms. Splosion Man is here, so chalk one up for the girls, because this sequel is definitely a huge improvement over its male counterpart. Splosion Man was a crazy platformer that offered both a challenge and laugh-out-loud gameplay, but Ms. Splosion Man takes the legacy of Ms. Pacman, in which the original is much improved upon, with plenty of new gameplay mechanics and a lot more personality thrown in for good measure.

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IGM - Tobe's Vertical Adventure Review


 Easily one of the most popular genres for indie developers to work in is the platformer. The reason is because it is a simple formula that offers a fair amount of space for creativity – great for start-up projects especially. Tobe’s Vertical Adventure is yet another entrant from Singapore developers, Secret Base, into this very crowded genre. It sits as the second title featuring the video game nerd Tobe, who is ushered into finding the treasure of King Garuza by his blonde-haired crush, Nana. Previously released on Xbox Live, the Steam release sees Tobe’s Vertical Adventure on the PC for the first time, so how does it manage the port?


CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

IGM - Fortix 2 Review



Oh ye valiant knights, come hither and cast thy magic over yonder to cleanse and save ye once humble origins from the evil Xitrof. Okay that’s quite enough of that. Nemesys Games describe Fortix 2 as a reverse turret defence game, but it seems much more than that with its addictive land-grab gameplay clearly deriving from the likes of Qix. Fortix 2 is designed in a way that makes it very hard to put down due to its satisfying risk-reward gameplay. It is surprising how far a simple idea can go towards making such an addictive and challenging experience.

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Hooked Gamers - 4 Reasons Why Halo 4 Could Be The Series' Best

With Bungie moving onto greener pastures and leaving their most famous franchise behind, the future of the Halo series has been left in the hands of off-shoot studio - 343 Industries. The announcement of not only a new entry into the Master Chief storyline, but a whole new trilogy of games has many of us excited, yet we can only doubt the capabilities of 343i, until we hear word of some concrete details. Alas, we do hold faith in 343i, and we have compiled 4 reasons as to why the onset of this new Halo trilogy will hopefully not be a repeat of the disappointment that was the second Star Wars trilogy.


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Hooked Gamers - How Arabic Games Are Fighting The War On Error

Video games have become a large part of culture in a multitude of countries around the world. The biggest industries are comfortably located within Japan and America, so it is uncommon to see games represent cultures outside of these – represent them fairly, that is. An exception is Europe, which currently has a growing industry with many indie games grabbing a lot of attention from press, and bigger titles like the Polish The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings and Swedish-developed Battlefield 3 being part of mainstream gaming fare. Quite unsurprisingly, Arabic game developers do not share such a successful story – yet, their work holds a high significance in the future of the gaming industry.


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Tuesday 14 June 2011

IGM - 5 Indie Games That Will Mess With Your Head



If there is one genre or collection of games that can only really be found within the indie gaming scene, it is experimental games. On my many trips around the net I often stumble across some games that astound me for various reasons. I am specifically interested in games that blow my expectations out of the water and completely surprise me by bending or just completely abandoning typical conventions of game design.

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IGM - 1916: Der Unbenkannte Krieg Review



As far as delivering an experience goes, 1916 is outstanding and will remain as one that will stay with me. The game immediately draws comparisons to Amnesia: The Dark Descent due to the horror it is able to induce into its players. To get the full experience of 1916 requires a playthrough in the dark with headphones on, the game design does the rest. As far as atmosphere goes, the game gets it right. I am in love with the visual design especially. Admittedly the graphics let the game down in places, but the ‘authentic’ black and white, grainy style really adds to the grim setting of the game. The first person perspective and lack of HUD only enhances this further and allows the player to get really immersed into the environment.

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Hooked Gamers - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Preview



One of the most anticipated titles of the year is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. With long-time competitors Bioware being shunned by players, Bethesda has an opportunity to seize the day. The pressure is on them more than ever to deliver the game that players are hoping for. Failure to do so could potentially mean that this year will see the fall of not just one, but two heavenly figures from the sky.

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