Valve

Truth be told, Antichamber felt nearly finished the first time I ever laid hands on it. That was nearly a year ago. But creator Alexander Bruce insisted that – even after multiple years of near-obsessive fine-tuning – his non-Euclidean, Escher-ish, other impressive words that start with E puzzler needed more. So now here we are. But is it actually, truly finished? And was it worth the interminable, largely radio silent wait? Here’s wot I think.

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Two-man studio Refactored gave us quite some cause for excitement when they recently showed off their extra-terrestrial colonisation strategy and survival game, Unclaimed World. With ambitious things being said, and Dwarf Fortress being referenced, I realised we had to find out more. I spoke to Morten Pedersen. (more…)

Bundle bundle bundlenews! Indie Royale have launched their latest, hoping to soak up the cash for another collection of out-turned pocketed developers. This time it’s the Evolved Bundle, because, um, they’ve called it that. And it’s a good-un. In there you’ve got the utterly splendid puzzler Unmechanical from Talawa Games (check out our review), Tale Of Tales’ super-creepy The Path, Fatshark’s latest, Krater, Turtle Cream’s Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory, and physics puzzler OIO from Uncanny Games. Which I’d say is the best pack they’ve had in a while.

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I do hope you hold an opinion about Battlefield 3. It’d be awful to found without one. If you’re lacking, can I suggest: “I really think they made it fall too graphicy since Battlefield 2,” or, “While the tanks may roll more impressively, it’s hard to forgive the angle of the helicopter blades.” Those should get you by. Or you could see if there’s something new you can pick up in this End Game trailer, March’s final expansion to the series that’ll reintroduce flag capturing, and dirty bikes.

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Dead Space 3 is assaulting us with news we don’t want to hear of late. Out in just over a week, we’ve recently learned that it’s going to offer microtransactions for in-game items, and that the PC build is to be a dead-straight port with no frills. Oh, and dear sweet Horace, it’s used a Phil Collins song. And now it’s saying it’s got a story.

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Lume might not have been a particularly challenging adventure, but the visuals were nothing less than inspired. Taking their inspiration from classic stop-frame animation, the game was actually made from cardboard and paper, and consequently looked incredible. The sequel, Lumnino City, uses the same approach, creating “a wondrous sprawling puzzle adventure game, entirely made from paper, card, wood, miniature lights and electric motors.” And it looks completely beautiful. Really, go look at the video below. (more…)

Chemistry is basically a puzzle game, right? A puzzle game I was so utterly terrible at that I got an N for my A Level in the dastardly subject. Fortunately, Alan Hazelden and Harry Lee’s forthcoming Sokobond is a chemistry puzzle that I can at least start playing without hideous memories sending me trembling into a corner.

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Trailers are like dreams. You can’t really touch them or play with them in a way that is actually of any use, but they happen anyway, and when they’re over you’re left with a lingering feeling that they were trying to tell you something. I don’t know why I dreamed about eating marshmallows that morning when my pillows had disappeared, but I do know that Irrational want us to take note of what they’re trying to build with their setting for Bioshock Infinite: Columbia, a miraculous flying city at the turn of the 19th century. Here be philosophy and politics, there mechanical monsters and stuff on fire. There’s really no precarious uncertainty here, what they are trying to tell is that the expectations for this game should be sky high, and when giant metal ravens come for you, it’s time to find ammunition for the rocket launcher. Facts, you see, are super-true.

Bioshock Infinite will fall to Earth on March 26th. (more…)

This morning’s news that EA has canned the revived Medal Of Honor strikes me as a pretty sad one. Not because the last two games earned any merit – they certainly didn’t. They were truly horrible games. Not just because of their gung-ho, one-dimensional, army-recruitment-writ-large approach to current conflicts, nor just because of the both underlying and overlying racism to be found within, but also simply because they were poorly made. Massive explosions and enormous set pieces fail to carry any gravitas, as you’re dragged by your nose through its shoulder-width corridors. I certainly don’t want another one of those. But I do want another Medal Of Honor.

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Ah, you couldn’t make this stuff up: Microprose, which was resurrected and attached to bunch of obscure console games in the past couple of years, has been assigned to make a game in conjunction with Zombie Studios. No, really, that is an actual thing that is happening. Anyway, the famed old undead name is now going to appear with third-person tactical shooter Special Forces: Team X, which was first announced last year. The game might just be interesting, what with it supporting “asymmetric game play with 2-4 teams”and also having dogs in. Yep, player dogs. And player-customisable maps as part of gameplay. Intriguing? Video below. (more…)