Last time I posted about D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die [official site], I was a bit vague about what it is. It’s an adventure game, right? But not like typical adventure games. And it has action segments. And it all has loads of QTEs that tire your character. And coming from the chap behind Deadly Premonition, it’s obviously a bit weird. It’s… look, you can see for yourself as a demo has arrived ahead of its release next week. Finally, respite from relying upon this dolt’s foolish clacking!

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I’d presumed Frictional’s upcoming SOMA was basically just sci-fi Amnesia: the night is dark and full of terrors, and all that. Turns out there’s at least one major change to formula: you get to talk to people. And you know things about those people that they don’t know themselves. And it’s horrifying. … [visit site to read more]

Provided you’re not hoofing around on a dancemat, wiggling your Wii-stick, or re-enacting all of your favourite John Woo films with a lightgun in hand, playing games shouldn’t be particularly arduous. When I was a kid, a day off school with some vague illness was a perfect excuse to spend a couple of hours at the altar of Doom. Playing games while wrapped in a duvet was pretty much the entire point of being ill.

Now that I’m An Old Man, I find that I struggle to play games when I’m ill. Maybe that’s because Old Man illnesses are actually real, unlike the sniffles and pangs of youth, or perhaps it’s because even a sniffle can fell a fragile frame, laid low by booze and time. I’ve been trying to find games that can provide respite in times of sickness.>

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In the third episode of Dontnod Entertainment s teen time drama Life is Strange [official site], everything changes. Now that the episode has been out in the wild for several days, Pip, Adam and Alice gathered to discuss the temporal wobbles and rocky relationships.

If you haven t already played, avert your eyes – there are spoilers right up to the final moments.

… [visit site to read more]

The third thing I do every morning, after groaning and rolling off the crumpled Stella can digging into my back, is whip out the akimbo middle fingers and scowl at the sky. I’m watching you>, gods.

I did not get on with what I played of narrative resource-managing moralathon Gods Will Be Watching [official site], and John was disappointed too, but the idea of big decisions and branching narrative in terrible situations was interesting. Developers Deconstructeam already gave it a going-over with new difficulty modes last year, and yesterday they released a free epilogue expansion. I wonder if their idea of it has changed much over these past eight months.

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You know how we’re banging on about Grand Theft Auto V and Online this month?

There’s an aspect of the game which is really bugging me at the moment and I’m interested to know if anyone else feels the same. It’s not unique to GTA, though. That just happens to be where I’ve been annoyed about it most recently.

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This post is about Cobra Club [official site] – a photo studio game from Robert Yang which revolves around the act of taking pictures of your character’s penis and choosing which, if any, to send to other characters who message you in the game. Quite frankly, everything after the jump will be NSFW. Especially the erection slider.

… [visit site to read more]

Continuing a (mostly) in-character diary of my adventures in The Witcher 3. No spoilers in this one.>

It’s in the trees. It’s coming. I’m coming. A grizzled thunderbolt, sprinting fury and hunger, a destination in mind but a supreme willingness to be distracted by anything en route. Snatch flowers, hurdle fences, charge and charge, looking for trouble, hoping for trouble. … [visit site to read more]

You didn’t ask for this. You didn’t ask for this because if you know the I Didn’t Ask For This meme then surely you already own Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and thus have no interest in it being discounted to 3.99 in a pack also including Deus Ex 1 and Invisible Whatever. What a shame. But if you don’t> already own Human Revolution, then oh my God this price is the bomb! The bomb! … [visit site to read more]

The appeal of trains: Rhythm. Racket. Clatter. Squeal. Sway. Jolt. Hiss. Bellow. Thrum. Gleam. Glint. Grime. Rust. Musk. Power. Precision. Toil. Stoicism. Blue-collar heroes. Uncomplaining beasts of burden. Giant steampunk millipedes. Countryside cleavers. Smoke wreathers. J. M. W. Turners. Midnight diadems. Tortured troglodytes. Reminders of a vanished world. Childhood’s branchline. Life’s express. Speed. Anticipation. Departure. Arrival. Exoticism. Mundanity. Predictability. Personality. Possibility. Peace. Pace. Onwards. Onwards.>

The appeal of Trainz: A New Era: … [visit site to read more]