Opinions

With Life is Strange, Remember Me, Tell Me Why, and Vampyr behind them, Dontnod Entertainment have a very distinct charm and niche. Twin Mirror feels like the culmination of this in every way. I got to spend just a few hours in the town of Basswood as it’s choice-based story, linear gameplay and great writing shone through. This has quickly become one of my most anticipated games of the year and, if you cared about their previous works, it should be for you too.

As regular readers, my Xbox Live friends list and random people I meet on the bus are probably well aware, I have a real soft spot for the Need for Speed games, so much so that I was moved to write an article ranking them from the very best, to the worst of the lot. Now though I wish to focus on one specific game, Need For Speed; the 2015 reboot of the franchise.

Anyone else tired of hearing October being referred to as ‘spooky month’? Or even worse, when people use the word ‘spoopy’? Like, what even is that word? I’m all for a horror film or two but in all honestly, I’m a bit of a Halloween Scrooge; just never seen the appeal. So, here is my offering to others like me; this month’s easy achievement list is a spooky free zone, but it is full of simple to pick up Gamerscore and achievements from the Xbox One games that released in October 2020.

Sure, sure, Cyberpunk 2077 has delayed and the sky is falling. But let’s not write November off: we have the launch of the Xbox Series X|S, and one of the most rammed months in recent memory. The best and the brightest of the AAA games have been held back for this moment, so that they can pull a Blue Steel and look their best on new hardware. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, the new COD, DIRT 5 and a Need for Speed remaster are all lining up, and man do they ooze money. There’s plenty to scratch onto a Christmas list, then, and more than enough to make the delay to Cyberpunk seem like a moderate nuisance. No, no, November - you’re breathtaking.

It’s Halloween! But as with everything this year, it’s going to feel a little different. So, in the absence of being able to go and irritate your neighbours by begging for sugary treats, why not stay in and scare yourself silly instead? After all, isn’t that what Halloween is all about? Of course it is. So let me provide you with some inspiration for this scary season, where you can experience the most chilling moments from three generations of games that have graced the Xbox family of consoles.

In this episode of "gaze back into the murky haze of my gaming memories", I'm going to be looking at the second game in the series, the imaginatively titled Darksiders II. Still, even that’s better than "Deathinitive Edition" eh? Sadly, that’s the version that I'm looking at this time around, dodgy name and all. Still, the second game in the series must have grabbed me at least as much as the first game, right? Well...

With the promise that Halo: Infinite is going back to its roots, despite now being delayed after a widely mocked gameplay reveal, the stakes for a Halo game have never been higher. It doesn't just need to be good, it needs to be, er hem, legendary to get this franchise back on course after what Halo 5: Guardians on Xbox One delivered.

I think it's safe to say that Red Dead Redemption impressed everyone when it released back in 2010. It was nominated for numerous accolades, and won many as well - including Game of the Year. Nowadays, it's widely regarded as one of the best games of all time. But its zombie-infested follow-up Undead Nightmare deserves as much if not more praise for being one of the best DLCs ever made. It expanded a narrative already rich in lore and added a ton of new content.

Looking back on it as it gets to 10 years old, it is striking how much was achieved in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light to keep the franchise going with a fresh spin.

Hopefully time will be kind to Rock Band 3. It’s the equivalent of a Blade Runner or Van Gogh, unappreciated and undersold in its own time, but something that has undeniable quality. We may never see another Rock Band, no encore to this great series, but in Rock Band 3 and Rock Band 4, we got some pretty awesome final tracks.

We're at the dawn of next-gen consoles launching in just a few weeks. Whether or not Series X|S and PlayStation 5 surpass these numbers remains in limbo. But for now, we're travelling back, way back to October 2000, to take a look at the launch of the PlayStation 2 in the West, its launch lineup and the impact it left on the video game industry.

Come with me down memory lane, where I look back at what made Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition so great, following a year after the original release.

It’s hard to believe that in amongst all these AAA games coming out – not to mention shiny new consoles – there is a brand-new Kingdom Hearts title as well. Melody of Memory isn’t your standard Kingdom Hearts title; instead it is a celebration of all the music in the series so far in a rhythm-based action title.

Ah, Obsidian Entertainment, how you have provided me with many and varied memorable gaming moments - not always in a good way. Team Obsidian up with Bethesda Softworks, and the rate of memorable moments increases exponentially, it seems. At least, this was certainly the case with Fallout: New Vegas, which, I think it’s safe to say, was a complete mess upon launch.

Culturally, a characterful dog hasn’t been enough to put Duck Hunt in the same league as the big boys, like Zelda, Mario and Mega Man (although it does feature in the mighty Boyz in the Hood, so who am I to say?). Indeed, Super Mario Bros. would go on to ensure that the NES was seen as a timeless console and a success. But it was Duck Hunt - and the NES Zapper - that was really the starting pistol for everything that would follow afterwards.