Phantom Doctrine is a game of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. I would have completed my mission without being spotted if> one of my agents hadn’t been compromised but> the fact that she turned on me and I managed to neutralise her at least means the enemy has played their hand and she can’t do any further damage. Now, even though our cover is blown, if we can make it to the extraction point this will still be a success.

But> I’m really tempted to leave one member of my team behind if he keeps attracting the attention of guards and…oh, now there’s a helicopter and we’re apparently troublesome enough that missile strikes are an option. I am a bad spy.

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Oh here we go. Now it’s Christmas. Some judge the season by when their advent calendar starts (December 1st), by when their kids wake them up screaming at stockings (5am), or by when the shops start selling chocolate coins (August or summat), and some don’t consider it Christmas until someone on the night bus belts out “FIVE! GOLD! RINGS!” (every day, if we’re lucky). Some even go by the Steam winter sale. That has just started, so jingle those bells and scoff some roasties. The sale is huge but we have picked out a few games ourselves if you want recommendations. (more…)

When I started my first tech job, the mouse waiting for me on my desk was utterly enormous. Left there by its previous owner, it was the Steelseries World of Warcraft Cataclysm Gaming Mouse – an absolutely beastly bit of plastic that looked like it had just come out of a hot oven. It was wholly unsuited to general office work and made my hand feel absolutely tiny. As with most things, though, I eventually got used to it.

Since then, I’ve moved on to smaller mice more befitting of my spindly fingers, but when I started using Roccat’s new Kone Aimo mouse, those early work memories came flooding back. Like the Cataclysm, this is another huge wired mouse, filling the whole of my palm and extending far beyond the tips of my fingers – although at least this time the Aimo’s smooth, curved design looks and feels more reminiscent of some kind of futuristic super car than a chargrilled armour plate. Is it any better to use?

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What if you could talk> to the animals? Behind door 21, all things are possible.

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If you’ve set up a second advent calendar for the release of Frozen Synapse 2, knowing that the turn-based tactical squad shooter’s release window of “2017” means we can only be days away from its launch, ah, I’m sorry to bring bad news. While a delay has seemed clear as the year ticked down, developers Mode 7 have now made that official. Frozen Synapse 2 is now due some time in 2018. Perhaps you’ll use the Christmas hols to create a new 365-day calendar counting this new window of possibility. For now, here, see some pretty simulated cities and top-down action in this new dev video: (more…)

An explorer in Elite Dangerous has ventured into the void between galaxies, seeking to break the record for travelling the furthest distance from our own sun. But due to a miscalculation, they ve run out of the fuel necessary for a return trip and are currently stranded further than any pilot has ever been from civilisation. Now the fuel rats a collection of players who save player ships from dereliction by refueling them are mounting an ambitious multi-ship rescue that will take two days to complete. (more…)

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time.>

Ace of Spades: Battle Builder imagines Minecraft as a multiplayer shooter, where 16 players on each side shoot, build and tunnel their way to victory. The gunplay never really held enough satisfaction for the game to have any staying power, but it was an interesting experiment nonetheless. (more…)

The Council looks good I typed as I watched its trailer with my computer muted. Oh no, I typed later with the volume up. The Council sounds bad. And that s the story of how I began to write this news post, which is about an episodic murder mystery adventure game called The Council starring George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte!? (more…)

How can Father Christmas deliver presents to all the children of the world in only one night? Magic. However, Sinterklaas has been caning the peppermint schnapps and wouldn’t say no to a bit of help from truckers. American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 have launched festive events challenging virtuatruckers to haul gifts across Europe and Americky. That’s a great act of kindness, and Father Christmas of course loves that stuff, so in return the games offer honking helpers gifts such as truck paint jobs and cabin decorations including a real uncle-lookin’ snowman. (more…)

If you fancy some turn-based strat-o-tactics over the hols, hey, have a look at Tiny Metal. Launched this morning, it seems heavily inspired by the fine handheld strategy series Advance Wars. Little warmen and warvehicles trundle around little grid-based maps, making careful use of terrain to best shoot each other to pieces. I’m not a huge stratface but do remember Advance Wars fondly so good, great, lovely.

Tiny Metal is also the first game published by Unties, the new ‘indie publishing label’ from Sony Music Entertainment – no, nothing to do with the PlayStations and whatnot of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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