OK, Google’s Chrome browser just officially became scary/magnificent. It’s been able to run a few games – like Plants vs Zombies – in a browser window for a while now, but the excellent Bastion has just been added, marking a serious step up in what’s technologically possible. The game starts playing in less than a minute of clicking the button to add it, it looks just like the standard version as far as I can tell, runs smoothly and scales to your screen/window size. Oh, and you can play a free demo then pay to unlock the full thing right away if you like. (more…)

Well this is unquestionably glorious. Did you play Bastion? Of course you did. You wouldn’t be so epically silly as to ignore our insistence that you do, nor to have failed to buy it last week when it cost about 7p. So since you did, you’ll be familiar with the wonderful voice of the narrator, and his real-time commentary on the action. But, wondered Dorkly, where else might this be applied?

(more…)

Every single damn week, I can’t remember if it’s called ‘Byte vs Brick’ or ‘Brick vs Byte.’ My failing memory terrifies me. Though my girlfriend is vaguely appreciative of it, as it allows her to tell me the same anecdotes repeatedly with me having no clue I’ve heard them before. At least, she claims she’s my girlfriend; I can’t rightly recall if that’s the case or not. There’s just this person in my house who tells me to do the washing up and feed the cat, and it seems to prudent to play along and hope my memory kicks in at some point. And why are all these words tattooed on my torso?

Anyway: Brick vs Byte, our weekly, unscientific look at how the top 10 best-selling games on Steam compare to the top 10 at UK retail. What mysteries will be revealed? Will Battlefield 3 still be king of the hill? And who the hell are you people? What’s going on? Where are my trousers? (more…)

Beautiful, beautiful hack and slash dungeon-crawler (if a shattered archipelago of floating islands in the sky can be said to be a dungeon) Bastion is now half-price on the Steam digital computer game distribution pipe. I would use this opportunity to direct you to John’s review, where he implores you to buy the game. But you don’t need to believe his big lying face, because there’s also a demo you can play to try it out.

Then, once you have fallen in love with it, you can read this interview to learn a bit more about the making of this lovely thing. Hooray!

Artful dungeon-crawler Bastion charmed us with its strange world, solid combat mechanics, and elegant narration. John loved it. It even inspired Alec to a big old cleverthink. I decided to have a chat with Greg Kasavin, creative director and writer on the project, to find out a bit more about how Bastion came to be, and what the future holds.> (more…)

Supergiant’s sombre action-RPG Bastion was released on PC a few weeks back; John has already told you what he thinks of it, but in the last few days I’ve been exploring its shattered world for myself. It’s put me in a funny place. Spoilers of a sort await, so don’t read this unless you’ve played the game, don’t intend to, or don’t give a toss about narrative events in a hack and slash game.>

I was sad when it ended. Forlorn, even. For me, that isn’t a regular state of affairs. Even with games I love, I’m oddly grateful when they wrap up – there’s a sense of accomplishment to it, and a relief that they didn’t string things out too long or defeat my sense of goodwill with a BioShock-boss or one too many achingly earnest cutscenes. Bastion, though: a true wave of sadness hit me as the credits rolled. (more…)

Action RPG Bastion was released on Steam yesterday. I’ve been weaving my way through its enchantingly morose worlds, and although still a good way from the end, I am absolutely ready to tell you Wot I Think.>

(more…)