Gareth Brierley

My first experience of Conan the Barbarian was as a teenager watching a copy of the film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. I remember there were a lot of freeze-frame moments because of the use of nudity and gory fight scenes on offer. But it was in the 1930s when the Conan story started, created for a magazine called Weird Tales. Over the coming years, it has spawned films, TV series, comics, books, and games. The world in itself is huge and Conan Exiles hopes to live up to the size of that ambition with a full fresh release. But does Exiles allow Conan to achieve its full potential?  

Games used to be all about pinpoint precision, learning AI loops like the back of your hand and pulling off death-defying skill moves. When I was a younger man I could just about get away with it, but as my reflexes have waned somewhat, things now become a bit of a struggle. It doesn’t help that I've been softened by the lovely hand holding games of the last few decades. So here I am playing oOo: Ascension, a game that plays on how lazy my reactions have become, and like an old boxer coming back for one last fight, I have had to draw on all my efforts and skills to be able to cope with this sharp, skill-based puzzler.

Gaming can be a stressful old affair. Many a time I have thrown a controller across the room, or cursed the gods of gaming and raged how unfair the developers are and how they should patch a game RIGHT NOW, at least if they know what's good for them. Then there's the time when you get stuck with a puzzle platformer, ensuring you are left to repeat the same thing a thousand times like a madness. Sometimes you learn and get through, but there are other moments when you question the direction you've taken in your life. Shape of the World is the perfect antidote to all those moments. It's about the journey, and the calm and the serenity that can happen in gaming. My blood pressure has lowered since playing it and I will try to tell you why.

So it's that time of year again, the time when the passionate game makers from Ubisoft announce and show off their line up for the next few years. This year gamers around the globe were hoping for a few things, including a new Splinter Cell and a London-based Watch Dogs 3. But alas, we were left with disappointment on both those fronts. There were however a lot of tasty updates for some of the games we did know about, mixed in with a few surprises to boot. It all started with a dancing bear and finished with the whole Ubisoft team clapping each other on stage. In between, though there was a lot of excitement, and so I'll provide you with 5 of the very best bits from the Ubisoft E3 2018 show. Spoiler alert - it doesn't include the dancing bear. He was number 6.

The brilliantly inventive teams at D'Avekki Studios and Wales Interactive, in particular, are back with another venture into the fascinating FMV (full motion video) side of gaming. There is one location, a cast of characters to interview and a murder to solve. Are you enough of a  Sherlock Holmes to the take over The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker?

What with God of War, Hellblade and now Die for Vahalla, I feel like I've moved to Scandinavia, taken up residence next to Thor and live just around the block from Odin. This game however is not frightened to poke a tongue out and give a crafty wink to the whole mythology surrounding everything Norse. But is it worth a table at the great hall of Valhalla? Or is it doomed to that lonely cold walk to the realm of Hel?

Battlezone is as nearly as old as I am, since making its debut in 1980 with state of the art 3D visuals and competitive gameplay. It was basically tank vs tank, but what Atari did at that time for a 9-year-old boy in a smelly arcade was to make you feel like you were in a real battle. Over time there have been many relaunches and updates, including a version for Xbox Live Arcade in 2008. Lately though, PS4 VR gamers have seen a version released that makes you feel like you are in the actual tank, all for no reason other than to make you want to throw up. Thankfully that version - without the big chunk of metal on your head - is what were are playing here today on Xbox One. But does it bring back good memories or ones that I want to repress?

In my line of acting work, I've been insulted more than the average person. I have been abused online, shouted at on chat rooms and of course on stage, sometimes you get a heckle. You learn when to shout back and when to respond to a heckle without causing more trouble or a massive fight. Now in Oh...Sir! The Hollywood Roast you get to experience what it's like to be verbally abused, before learning to perfect the smartest retort or comeback. But will you survive this rhetorical insult and live to fight another round?

I feel that in this last year I've lived most of my life in ancient Egypt. See, after playing over 90 hours of Assassin's Creed Origins and now delving into the fascinating world of the comic spinoffs, it's turned out to be a rather brilliant place to spend a lot of time in... except for the murders, assassinations and political turmoil of course.

So, here we are again, placed back into a world of mystery, intrigue, backstabbing, literature, and art. A sort of action-packed Antiques Roadshow, mixed with murder, sex, and world domination. I loved the first episode of The Council with its storylines, characters, design and brave refusal to dumb down to its audience. Can Episode 2: Hide and Seek keep my level of interest up or is it like the terrible second album?

The classic journey into the woods has had a number of terrifying connotations over the years. Who can forget poor Red Riding Hood and her stalking wolf, or the hobbits getting lost and nearly eaten by spiders? Or more recently, the Slenderman appearing out of nowhere and making your screen shudder violently? Not all woods are places of horror though - in fact, my local has a nice picnic area and a dog washing post. But others still hold many myths and things that lurk in the shadows. Through The Woods is one such game… one in which horror lurks and everything isn't quite what it seems.

The ancient Greeks gave us modern day humans a lot of things, many of which we find invaluable today. Mathematical theories and practices, the fundamentals of democracy and philosophy are just a few of the treats they left us. They also gave us some of the most epic stories, myths, and fables that have become the holding frame for many a movie, game and piece of literature. Titan Quest borrows the epic hero's journey and many fable elements from the ancient Greek cookbook and puts you into the maelstrom of an heroic quest. Are you spartan enough to do it? Or are you more of a doner kebab?

Sometimes a game comes along and it moves the creative goalposts a bit to the left. Sometimes a developer comes along to make all others sit up and scream ‘Wow, you can do that?" Sometimes there's a game that takes a chance with its themes, with its casting, and with its overall concept, in order to become a winner. That developer is Ninja Theory and that game is Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

Dungeons never really conjure up the most pleasant of images, do they? You would never tag along with a guy who asks you to come down to their dungeon for a cup of tea and some cake, and would never go about buying a house to only tell the estate agent that you’ll have to pull out of your dream home because it didn’t have a dark dungeon. The connotations are terrible and with Korgan I'm afraid to say the dungeon world is still as bad a place as it’s ever been. But with some powerful magic, archery and axe play on display, could it actually turn out to be a fun place to hang out?

If I could summon a whole bunch of people to do things for me it would make my life much, much better. Imagine a team of people cleaning the house at your command, doing the shopping or invading a small country. Ok, perhaps it's best to forget that last one. In Masters of Anima, you get the ability to do that very thing, but it's a much bolder and heroic mission your little workers will have to go on than heading off to the local shop to get a pint of milk.