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Author: Steven Fulton

Cloud Chamber – The Verdict

Cloud Chamber – The Verdict

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Let’s get this out of the way at the start – Cloud Chamber isn’t really a game. You know when people watch a video clip or a trailer and pick apart all the little nuances of the imagery? Or turn the volume up real loud listening for hidden clues in the vague crackle of a badly distorted audio file? Or trying to hit the pause button just when a flash-frame image pops up? And then discuss findings and theories in various forums and social media sites? No, me neither.

But they do exist, and would feel right at home playing this. I, on the other hand, was seriously out of my depth…

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Final Fantasy XIV – PS4 thoughts

Final Fantasy XIV – PS4 thoughts

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The sickly sweetness beckoned me once again, promising that this time would be different. This time it wouldn’t taste just like all the others, this time it would last more than a fortnight… And like a mug I believed it, and bought Final Fantasy XIV for my PS3 and gave in once more to the hollow promises of that most seductive of genres. All the others had overpowered me with their sickly, over (or under-) cooked flavours that would inevitably fade with the morning dew. I expected little.

Oh. Hey, this is quite good actually. Wheee….

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SanctuaryRPG – A Vengeful Brotato

SanctuaryRPG – A Vengeful Brotato

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Zork. TerraFirmA. Nethack. The kind of games that conjure up memories of squinting at “@” symbols convincing yourself it was a rat, or possibly an ogre. I spent a fair amount of time within their strangely compelling grasp in my younger days, and more recently thanks to the madness of Dwarf Fortress. SanctuaryRPG is not like these games. It is an RPG, and its visuals are all ASCII code, smooshed together to look like mountains and monsters and silver keys. But that’s where the similarity ends. It also includes the word “Brotato” for some reason, which is kinda awesome.

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Playstation 4 – First Weeks in the New Generation

Playstation 4 – First Weeks in the New Generation

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As the new generation (and the new war) of consoles rumbles reluctantly into second gear, I have decided that, for once, I won’t be jumping on this particular bandwagon only as it hurtles into retirement. For once I will be at the cusp of the technological curve, and damn all those who say “wait”. Damn them and their stupid neckbeards. So I took the step to a brighter future and bought myself a Playstation 4, along with Killzone and Battlefield 4. Four weeks on, here are my thoughts. …

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Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part 1 – The Verdict

Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part 1 – The Verdict

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I am odd. A rare flower in the game-journo garden of cynicism and critique – I actually liked Bioshock Infinite. Oh, I’m fully aware of the myriad of reasons people had issues with the game, but none of that stopped me enjoying its quirky, broken and in some places utterly bonkers plot, its enjoyable combat system and the beautiful flying city of Columbia. Burial at Sea is Infinite’s latest DLC, set in the far more popular underwater locale of Rapture. It’s fun, confusing and criminally short.

The slightly puzzled verdict that follows is slightly spoilery of Bioshock Infinite, you have been warned…

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Forced – The Verdict

Forced – The Verdict

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A pair of stabbing green daggers hold the horde at bay, as a flaming hammer swings around the heads of the soon-to-be vanquished. An arrow streaks from somewhere, felling the largest of the creatures and a frost-frosted shield sparks and clangs as it hurtles between man and beast. Forced is a co-op thing of beauty, that still, somehow, manages to squeeze extreme-frisbee into this scene of battle.

I’m not even kidding. …

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The Starmade Alpha – My God, it’s full of Blocks…

The Starmade Alpha – My God, it’s full of Blocks…

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Minecraft was fun for a few hours. Eventually though, after the final blocks are placed in my wood and stone villa overlooking the sea, the sad truth of my endeavor starts to sink in – it’s all utterly pointless. At least with Lego you can at least pretend the things you build have function, but in the almost-endless forests of Notch’s masterpiece, it’s a case of build and move on.

Starmade is a little different. It lets you build fully functioning star-ships, stations and planetary complexes, fight pirates and other players, all in an infinite void. And it makes you use the word “blocks” uncomfortably often.

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The Last of Us – Not a Verdict

The Last of Us – Not a Verdict

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The Last of Us may be a good game. Many have declared it the greatest game ever, others have commented on its setting, its superb voice acting and the brutality that drives the plot ever onwards. And, as is becoming a frequent occurrence these days, I have an opinion on it. This is not a review however, I have not finished the game and I quite possibly never will. But I want to at least throw my grain of salt onto the scales of greatness and have my voice counted, even though it’s clearly attempting to swim against the current…

I don’t like it.

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Gunpoint – The Verdict

Gunpoint – The Verdict

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A dark night, a random phone call, and trousers that allow you to jump like a genetically enhanced grasshopper with its feet on fire – Gunpoint certainly starts with a bang. It follows up with a few more bangs and suddenly you are being hired for all sorts of stealth/jumping/trenchcoat tomfoolery, most of which involves falling out of windows and pestering guards with electrified light switches.

Oh, and it’s a bit good.

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Shootmania Storm – The Verdict

Shootmania Storm – The Verdict

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Shootmania Storm is an epiphany. It’s like someone took the modern expectations of what a multiplayer FPS should be, turned it upside down and shook it until all the bells, whistles and nonsense clattered onto the floor. What was left was sparse, light and clean. No iron-sights, no customisable classes, no massive production values… what on earth was left?

An epiphany. As I said.

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