Tobias Lewis

I’m always sceptical going into ‘Survival Horror’ games because more often than not the emphasis seems to be less on survival and more on either running and hiding, or shooting everything that moves. And while both are options in 2Dark, neither is particularly viable. The game rewards a collected and calculated approach. The horror in the game comes from its themes and their dealing with the dark and abhorrent sides of human nature. Consequently, the survival in question isn’t yours, but that of the children you’re tasked with rescuing.

There were three things I was sure of when I began playing this game. I love my mother I enjoy video games I want to be a fire fighter I was pretty confident that these things wouldn’t change. But after spending some time in this so-called ‘simulator’, I’m starting to doubt number 2 and 3. And, you know what? If my mother had anything at all to do with Firefighters: the Simulation, I’d probably be questioning my affection for her too.

The Bolivian government has filed a formal complaint with the French Embassy concerning the representation of Bolivia in the soon-to-be-released Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands.

After a few experiences with games in their pre-release forms, I’ve learnt to lower my expectations for preview games. At first, it’s a strange concept: playing a game that’s not finished. And if not approached correctly, a pre-release experience can give you a totally warped impression of a game. The trick is seeing potential. You’ve got to look at the game for what it’s going to be instead of what it is right now. So imagine my shock when I booted up Astroneer and found a game that – even in its pre-alpha state – was addictive and refined.

Before playing this game I could have sworn that the most scared I’d ever been from a bunch of pixels was when they were dead and on my expensive monitor. Now that’s still true, but Subterrain is a very, very close second.

It’s straight into the action with the latest Dark Souls comic, which is good because Winter’s Spite Issue one was, admittedly, rather slow. This new issue, however, is a much needed change of pace that works off the foundations laid by Issue one to tell a fast and violent chapter in Andred of Ithvale’s story.

With Bloodfall, Bethesda released the final piece of premium DLC for one of 2016’s most heralded shooters. So far, each piece of Doom’s premium DLC has simply contained new maps, demons, guns and customisation options. Predictably, Bloodfall follows suit.

On the whole, Feist is pretty hard to describe. In terms of gameplay, it’s a fairly straight-forward 2D platformer that favours both difficulty and innovation. But visually it departs from the platforming formula. It’s more like a shadow puppetry than a game – crazy and imaginative silhouettes on unsettlingly coloured backgrounds. With all its monsters and violent, scrappy fights, Feist is brutal. But when you take adrenaline and survival out of the equation, these same monsters could easily be cute. Basically, it sits in the middle of the massive spectrum between Limbo and Where the Wild Things Are.

Final Fantasy XV opens with a screen saying that this game is “A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers”. And I’m not sure that I agree with that. It’s abundantly clear – even from the first minute – that this a Final Fantasy game. Sure, we’ve heard about the massive changes: the open world, the real-time combat and the ostensibly all-male cast. But once you peel back the layers, you’ll find that this is very much an archetypal Final Fantasy game. You’ll still spend a lot of time doing not too much. You’ll stare slack jawed at the landscape and you’ll fall in love with the characters and their tale. What I’m saying is, in FFXV, the Final Fantasy game hasn’t changed so much, as evolved.

Did anyone play Ittle Dew 1? Does anyone even know what it is? Because it definitely passed under my radar. Honestly, I wish I hadn’t missed it because, if it’s even half as good as Ittle Dew 2, it’s worth playing. Of course, I can still play it. And of course I will. Ittle Dew 2 was excellent. But I feel that it would have been more excellent if I was actually looking forward to it. In a year rife with disappointments, it would have been nice to have another pleasant, expected surprise.

After a literal myriad of delays, Final Fantasy XV is about to be released. It almost seems surreal that, after almost 10 years, we’re less than a week out from its launch. And if you’re not excited, you should be.

They’re really churning these Dark Souls comics out. It feels like they’ve been in constant supply since Titan Comics released the original series earlier this year. And the amazing thing is that they’re all quite good. And the latest series continues that trend.

So there’s been a formidable drought with Doom’s multiplayer – whether that’s attributed to the servers, or to a lack of community, remains to be seen. Anyway, the dreaded Doom drought finally broke, and I got to play a few games with the latest content.

As you’d expect, Legends of the Flame #2 picks up where the first issue left off, which, to be honest, isn’t anywhere in particular. This new duology (as this is the final issue) is more of a collection of mini-stories told to a warrior over a bonfire. The opening scene of this issue informs us that this warrior seeks a certain ‘fortune’ and that the hooded figure is guiding him by narrating these allegories.

Dark Souls III released in late March this year, and it was met with resounding praise. The game quickened its combat, and introduced us to some of the series’ best enemies. In fact, the only negative aspect of Dark Souls III was that From Software announced it would mark the end of the Souls franchise. However, From Software then announced 2 further pieces of DLC for the game – and us fans unanimously rejoiced.