There is a lot going on in Figment. It s a musical action-adventure game with combat, puzzle elements, cut scenes, voice acting and several musical boss battles. It s visually busy, full of strange, warped objects and surrealist structures from Dali s clocks to Magritte s apples the world of Figment is bright and lively.

But beneath all this, there s the soundtrack, and Figment does something quite wonderful with it.

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Artificial intelligence is a challenge enough for game developers, but I can only imagine that the latest patch for the Friday The 13th game brought a raft of new and interesting problems to developers Illfonic, as they’ve had to simulate artificial stupidity>.

As of this week, less sociable murderers can experience the game from Jason’s perspective offline, with the camp-grounds populated by a swarm of up to seven AI-controlled camp counselors possessed of almost suicidally poor judgement. It just wouldn’t be authentic otherwise.

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Door twenty-two has already been opened. You know what that means. Better be on your guard.

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In what feels like an unusual sign of the times, the formerly VR-only Wobbling Around While The Camera Shakes simulator Star Trek: Bridge Crew is now open for all PC players of all stripes to enjoy, rather than just the silly headgear contingent.

The non-VR patch for the also adds support for Windows Mixed Reality headsets, which seem to be increasingly common these days, giving huge Trekkie nerds even more opportunities to speak Klingon at each other, despite flying a Federation ship. Nerds.

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The Orange Box turned 10 years old this year, and by extension Portal celebrated its anniversary too. Sitting alongside continuations of well-loved games, the short puzzle adventure could have been quickly forgotten. Tacked on to bulk up the box. It was, however, a surprise hit, winning over players with its smart spatial puzzles and writing that fans continue to quote. And while I can list lines off with the best of them (don t even get me started on that cake), this classic s hold on my heart comes from a person who never speaks one.

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I was all set to brand Medved-Taiga, the latest expansion for theHunter: Call of the Wild, the perfect Yuletide mood generator . Its stunning snow-mantled wilderness was putting me in a seasonal frame of mind almost as effectively as my usual aids – The Greatest Christmas Movie of all Time and lashings of cream sherry – up until the point last night when I encountered the ‘Euthanize the Wounded Reindeer’ mission. (more…)

Ho ho ho! Happy holidays, gang. We’re now (mostly) finished for the year, logging off to spend a week carving new megalithic calendars for 2018. We’ll have some bits and pieces over the break but will return in full force on January 2nd. And by “in full force” I probably mean “slightly dazed but enthusiastic to remember what it is we do.”

What are you playing this holiday? Here’s what we’re clicking on. (more…)

Some of you may have fond memories of Radiant Entertainment’s debut game Rising Thunder, an experimental game of accessible robotic fisticuffs designed for online play on PC. While it never drew huge crowds, it was enough to get the attention of League of Legends studio Riot Games, who bought out the company and their game. Neither have been heard from until just recently.

While Rising Thunder may not have grown any in its long absence, it will at least be getting an encore performance this January, according to this developer’s comment on the Rising Thunder Reddit. A minor Christmas miracle for fighting game fans.

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Death Coming is a fantastically beautiful piece of pixel artwork, on a par with the master of the art, eBoy, and a game in which you must try to create accidents to kill as many of the world’s inhabitants as you can. For you are Death…’s assistant. It sounds great! It would be, if it would only stop getting in its own way. (more…)

Frostivus ain’t what it used to be. This year s Christmas event for Dota 2 launched last Thursday, and it s the product of a community contest rather than Valve themselves. The winner, VicFrank, has eschewed the traditional format in favour of mini-games: each match consists of ten separate games that are pulled from a pool of 30. I ve thrown myself into the festivities, and had a surprising amount of fun.

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