Is it summer? Not quite, but it has been a glorious few days here in Cardiff and I for one welcome our sunny overlord called…The Sun! The bright nice weather makes me think of Far Cry 3 and BioShock Infinite, two recent games that have made better use of colour and light than many others have. But if you are sitting indoors on this Sunday afternoon, why not pass some time by checking out the latest Our Week in Games.

Chris

BioShock BioShock BioShock. You know I have fallen for a game when I make a concerted effort to finish it within a short time of getting my hands on it. While I loved Far Cry 3 from last year, I still haven’t actually finished it, mainly because I got too involved in the exploration and left the story to the side so often. Dishonored and Tomb Raider are two other recent games that have truly grabbed my attention demanding me to finish them as soon as possible. Meanwhile a classic like Arkham Asylum took me a couple of years after release to finish and I’ve barely started Arkham City. So BioShock, I first snuck a bit of time between my two jobs to start it, spent a few snatched hours over a few evenings, spent a hell of a long time on Good Friday charging through then finally finished it with a five hour session on Easter Monday. Worth it as I said in my Verdict for it is an experience and a half.

(One last thing on BioShock for today, this one has given me the desire to actually play the second game which I’ve not really touched. I’ve heard good things.)

I’ve also been able to start playing Tiger Woods 14. It had a nice tutorial with various legends of the sport being used to guide you through the various strokes and techniques. I’ve only just started my new career, and while I didn’t start playing it until April, I am sure it will live up to my dreams.

Edcrab

The first time I heard the narrator in Bastion, it was during a Dota 2 game. That is, I was able to hear all of Dota‘s usual warnings and notifications delivered by Rucks, a Bastion character, thanks to another player sharing their announcer pack.

So it was slightly weird when I gave the actual game a spin and heard his voice for the first time. Well, first time in the game itself. A 2D isometric action RPG with hand-painted visuals? Not sure why I didn’t fire it up sooner. In fact it’s been sitting on my hard drive, unplayed and forgotten since grabbing it in the Humble Indie Bundle.

It makes me feel like using words like delightful or whimsical, except not sarcastically. Honestly. But as people had warned me, even with a range of weapons and abilities the combat became a mite samey as the game wore on; not in a way that was unpleasant or resented, but it was definitely the visuals and dynamic Rucks-delivered narrative that held my attention most. And of course I finally got to try out my oft-mentioned-seldom-used controller, huzzah!

Supergiant’s next release appears to be a distinctly Bastion-ish science fiction game called Transistor. I’ll have to give that a spin, even if it lacks an old dude narrating my every move. And I certainly shouldn’t buy it and forget about it.