Gareth Brierley

In the good old days when I was a nipper, you’d be lucky to get an old tangerine, a piece of coal and a small wooden analogue game where you negotiate a marble around a small maze for Christmas. That’s what we did for fun in those days you see. Then as those darn computers arrived, that wooden game of skill went digital, turning into games like Marble Madness, where you’d be left to do the same thing but in virtual form. Now in the newest of new generations comes a game that has been inspired by the past and delivers an experience for both old and new gamers alike. But does it balance well? See what I did there? I am so sorry.

Set after the events of the first game we journey back to the same house, but this time with the daughter of the main protagonist from the original game. She is bitter, resentful of her parents and her horrific time in the house. She is looking for answers and a kind of atonement. The gameplay follows the same rules as its main product. Exploration is the name of the game and you walk around a section of the same house, which has decayed more as time has passed, as you try to discover clues to your past.

Do I take the pill, or not take the pill? That’s the question that has been posed to characters across film and book for an age now - from Alice down the rabbit hole to Neo in The Matrix. We Happy Few is no different. It has a pill called Joy that each member of its dystopian society takes regularly to make their world a place of happiness and contentment. Don’t take the pill and you’re seeing the real truth, which isn’t very pretty; the authorities hound you down, you’re called a “downer” and thrown into a town of similar malcontents who wander the streets depressed and broken.

There are some games that you slowly build into. You’re introduced through a lengthy cut-scene to the wondrous world you’re going to spend the next twenty hours enjoying. You’ll get a insight into the main protagonist and slowly work out what their problems, aims and goals are. Then there are games that immediately shout “RUN” at you. Dex is one of these games - one in which from the off you don’t know where you are, how it works, who the hell you are and...what is that coming at me with a gun? It’s a game that could tempt you to switch off early, putting on something easier. But don’t, because Dex needs a bit of time and then it will start paying you back in spades.

When does a game know it’s a game? When and why do we want to peek behind the curtain and see the wheels turning? There must be a game you’ve played in the past that suddenly breaks, with the code and the world collapsing around you. The PC version of the recent Batman Arkham Knight game is famous for it, or I could talk about the Assassins Creed Unity skinless face and bulging eyeballs incident. Well The Magic Circle: Gold Edition is all about a broken unfinished game - one in which you are the tester trapped like a ghost within the machine. It’s about game publishing, game developers, game betas and the gamer. But is it magic enough?

My prison is a mess. Half of the inmates have escaped, the canteen is on fire and there’s a riot in the weights and exercise area. Also the guards want a new drinks machine, someone needs to be electrocuted tomorrow and I haven’t got enough money for an electric chair and the new kitchen I’ve just built, hasn’t got any doors. I am the worst prison architect in the western world and I need a holiday. But maybe I might have just one more try…and there is the essence of this game. You want to make your prison the best prison, but at what cost?

When the developers, Playdead, announced they were creating a new game I was very excited - like a child on Christmas day. Limbo, their debut title, was a big hit critically and commercially but it had been a while since its initial release. I was a big, big, fan of Limbo. You see, I don’t often play games through for a second time, but this was one which I completed at least three times. So, I had very high expectations of Inside and I just hoped it didn't let me down. And you know what…it didn’t. It exceeded them, doubled them, tripled them and then sent my expectations into space.

Who here remembers Knight Lore on the ZX Spectrum? Anyone? There are a few at the back I can see…the old ones with walking sticks and grey hairs - they remember it. Well, Lumo is not a remake of this game or even a re-imagining of this game, but it has homages to it and many more games like it from the 80’s and early 90's. The title screen brings back memories of when you would load a game each time on your cassette recorder and it could take up to an hour to load, then crash in the last minute and you’d have to start again. Happy days. The developer is someone who adored that period, but wants to make a completely new experience that brings in new audiences. But does it work?

I love a good old-fashioned apocalypse. Just give me a nice bit of end of days mayhem, or a pinch of human vs human fighting and a mix of zombie, monsters and aliens and this reviewer is easily pleased. So does the Director's Cut of Deadlight satisfy my Armageddon gaming lust? Or do I have to go out into the real world, find some zombies and start one myself?

The first Mirror’s Edge felt like it was released so long ago it might have been in the last century, along with the invention of the combustion engine and sliced bread. But now it’s spawned a sequel, or a very fashionable prequel, for the new generation of console. I loved the first game with its groundbreaking use of parkour mixed with a very attractive level design and a fascinating female protagonist. Well the good news is that all these elements are back, and playing the new game feels so very familiar that your finger memory easily remembers how it all works. But does Catalyst still have the appeal of the original? Does it still have its edge?

Can you remember what you were like when you were two years old? No? I’ve heard rumours that I was a brat of a child, who ate bin bags, was sick on the dog and could cry for 10 hours straight. Well now you can play a game as a two old child and relive those lost years. Well if those lost years are as psychologically disturbing as this game is, then I’m glad I can’t remember.

I went to Winchester University in 1991. I lasted 10 days before I realised I’d made a terrible mistake. It wasn't Winchester’s fault or the University, it was me. I wanted something else that it couldn't deliver at that time. So imagine my surprise when I found that half of “Fragments of Him” is set at Winchester University, the halls of residence and its student union. It’s a game that, like my short experience at the Uni, has moments of joy and emotion - but ultimately left me wanting more.

The trick to writing this review is to not compare or mention Battleborn. Oh no, I’ve done it already haven’t I? Sorry. It’s hard. There’s been a lot of debate this last month about which of these two games is better. It’s tricky for me to not fuel this debate with the rest of the world because they are both 1st person online shooters in colourful cartoon lands and they’ve both been released at roughly the same time. But they are different beasts; Battleborn has a complicated looting system, campaign and long lengthy games. The other has simple 6 vs. 6 combat, on limited maps with a very diverse fighting mechanic.

I want to love Battleborn, I really do. I want to hug it and squeeze it and smell the newly fresh wrapping of a game you’re dying to play. I’ve gone too far haven’t I? You see I am a big Borderlands fan; I love the tone, scripting, humour and colorful world that developers Gearbox have created over the last few years. When they announced a new IP for the latest generation of consoles naturally I ran around in circles, clapped my hands, jumped for joy and scared the dog. So when I sat down to play it, I was pleased that the tone, scripting, humour and colourful world were all still around… but something was missing.

My local park across the road has many delights. It has random violence, a guy who plays a bongo drum every Tuesday without fail and a varied wildlife of litter from all across the world. So I was hoping that, The Park, could live up to my high expectations of park life. Well, firstly it’s not local and secondly it’s set in an American amusement park - one that is a bit like a UK pleasure park but with an accent and quite weirdly, the same health and safety record.