While we’ve yet to try the game for ourselves, Gotham City Impostors offers and interesting spin on the DC Comic’s famous fictional city. In the game 12 players battle for control of an unhinged Gotham City which has been overrun by Impostors inspired by Batman and The Joker.

We’re hoping to be able to review the game soon, but in the meantime check out the gallery below to see how the Imposters London adventure panned out.

Jagex suggest that the game is best experience by playing a little bit each day, watching your kingdom gradually build. With this in mind D+PAD’s own wannabe dictator – Charles Etheridge-Nunn – spent some time in the world of 8Realms and kept a diary of his adventures. Read on to find out how his endeavours panned out.

THE DOOMTOPOLIS DIARIES
By Charles Etheridge-Nunn

DAY ONE
I am the mighty “Xiahou Chuck” and I shall bring this world to its knees.

My town is a mere burning patch of land, raided by barbarians. My people are weak, but I shall craft them into a mighty weapon. First I put out their fire. I name this land, “Doomtopolis”. There is one minion called “Gary” who points me through every action. He is very needy.

The interactions with this diagonal grid of a village are limited at first, and you need probably 15 minutes to click past Gary’s tutorial. He points out what you should build to get things started. The game opens up from there, giving you a selection of blank ground, trees and hills to develop.

The citizens of Doomtopolis are doing well. I find out that there are types of buildings to make. They make meat, stone and wood. There is metal, which my people do not yet acknowledge. Maybe metal did something to them. Maybe it evokes a primitive fear in them. I mock my little people. I force them to sacrifice their children in my name. I am a benevolent god.

Apparently simply slaughtering my foes is not enough. I must make a city centre and a library. Books are stupid. You cannot easily kill people with a book.
There is a resource called gems. When I am away on important business (watching television) people normally finish their work and sit around listlessly. These gems can make them do things like know what to build next. I should have them beaten.

Gems, by the way, are the way in which 8Realms uses real-life currency; costing approximately 6 pence each and you generally must buy them in large quantities. If you want to instantly finish a building, for example, that’s 65 gems or £3.90 in real money. You start with a small amount and you occasionally get a handful more. You can speed up your builders or buy a new slot for 42p.

DAY TWO
I force my minions to build barracks. I am a mighty warlord and Doomtopolis needs an army. My barracks do nothing alone, I need to build a parade ground.

The world map shows resources available for you to raid. If you need more meat, raid some cows, who may or may not have barbarians on them.

You can upgrade anything in your city, but you need to dedicate research slots first, to allow you to learn how to improve. Much like with the barracks, the parade ground and the library, each need you to research them first.

DAY FOUR
After a day away from my troops, I return to see my tiny minions miss me. They have filled their warehouses. Against my wishes, they need their library to be improved and, as this will make my soldiers better in the long run, I obey.

It takes incrementally longer to upgrade or research things. That’s fine on a working day, or if you only have a few minutes, but any longer and things start to drag.

I make more soldiers. Doomtopolis always needs soldiers. After sending them them out and to defeat my barbarian foes (which takes minutes), I cannot see any more enemies on the on the map. As I have no more foes to to kill, I decide to spend some time working on my internal problems. A warlord should not have to think about quarries.

The big theme of this game is advancement through society. There’s an egg timer in the shape on an “8” at the top of the screen, indicating how far you are in your society. Once it’s full you progress to the next age with new resources and challenges. It’s a nice idea and while it has been used before, this mechanic helps you start off simply and add complexity as it grows.

DAY FIVE
I stand atop my village hall, looking at my crude world map and there is nothing to murder; having reached the pinnacle of my age and I must wait. Eventually the last quarry is upgraded and now a wonder can be built. The ancient Greeks were manly and tough. They knew all about war, so Delphi will help me war all over my enemies.

When your hourglass is full, you have to make a “wonder” to progress to the next age. The settlement still looks like it belongs in the previous age. That’s because you’ll have to start upgrading things from scratch. From a level 3 quarry (ancient) for instance, to a level 1 quarry (classical). The good news is that if you hadn’t levelled your sites the whole way, you can skip all the in-between stages as no one cares about mud huts any more. It’s all about marble.

Jake the minion has returned. Apparently I am an empire, not just a town. I thought I already was. I shall burn his house for this impunity. I get to pick a policy, in this case “control” as it is the most Doomtopian. I name my empire, “The Empire of Screaming”.

Then I make a thousand troops. They shall be my honour guard.

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One key aspect of the game is its sense of identity; going out of its way to be cheesy, almost thriving on its own silliness. This will become an endearing quality for some, but will no doubt be off-putting for others. Unsurprisingly, everything from the setting of the bygone era, the music and hammed-up delivery of the dialogue is merely window dressing serving to set up each puzzle. The story might actually pull you in at times, but it won’t be thanks to a plethora of intriguing characters – such things are noticeably absent here. Instead, the game is so over-the-top in its attempt to capitalise on the setting that everything becomes stereotyped and (whether it’s intentional or not) fairly humorous to boot.

The looping animations and lip movements of the characters aren’t fantastic, but such things probably beat staring at a static screen. Of course, one of the main questions regarding this release is how well the 3D effect has been implemented and in this case we can only answer with the word, ‘amicably’. Everything exhibits a flat, cardboard appearance during the cutscenes (which are thankfully skippable), but it’s in the puzzles themselves that things begin to look more impressive. Cubes stand out in the foreground as they should, and moving around in a crime scene can yield results, whether it’s revealing a hidden number or a coloured pattern that must be identified. Hollywood Crimes does make solid use of the tech at times, but to say that it adds to the game would be a bit of a stretch.

The puzzles themselves (the real meat and bones of a game such as this) vary in quality and you’re almost certain to have your favourites. These range from extremely easy early on to perplexingly tough, so it’s just as well that help is on hand thanks to the welcome hint system; retain hints during easy stages to make them readily available for later use. You’re rewarded for taking your time, contemplating, working the puzzles out for yourself and pushing ahead with as little assistance as possible. Use the maximum amount of hints on a particularly fiendish puzzle and you can generally expect to be told the answer – it may be a pass, but it’s anything but free.

One moment you’ll be accumulating points on a game show, dropping balls into containers or opening the path via coloured tiles, and the next you’ll be refitting gears in a lift or solving puzzle cubes left at a crime scene. The touch screen comes into play more than the 3D screen, though to the developer’s credit both are used in tandem at just the right moments (such as in setting the scene). That said, there’s very little here that differentiates the game from a standard DS title. A good variety is provided, but the challenges do repeat and often. There’s also little incentive to return once the story is complete, though the ability to replay or attempt the games you ignored the first time means you won’t be feeling short-changed in the long run. Whether or not you’ll feel compelled to do so is another issue entirely.

It can be tough to be too critical of a game that’s available at a low price and offers enough content to warrant the price tag, but at the same time it’s a game that falls notably short of its own potential. Hollywood Crimes is not without a sense of charm and may well appeal to budding super sleuths, or anyone who’d rather sit with the stylus and a good brain teaser than take on epic adventure or blow things up. This isn’t a criminal case of shovelware, but we can’t give it a full stamp of approval either… and so whether it’s worth investigating depends greatly on how much you enjoy playing portable detective.

This review is based on a retail copy of the 3DS version of James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes 3D provided by Ubisoft.

Regardless of the cruel blow that was dealt to it by the Big N, Crush was an accomplished title that was certainly deserving of another outing, and thusly it has been repurposed and rereleased as Crush3D for the Nintendo 3DS. We use the term ‘repurposed’ as, aside from the addition of a handful of new levels and a few aesthetic tweaks, this is essentially the same game that launched in 2007.

It is a little disappointing that more hasn’t been done in terms of revamping the original, as Crush’s debut was not without its problems. Aside from its…er…crushing difficulty, a major sticking point was the slightly bland presentation and uncharismatic lead character. For the re-release (once again published by Sega) Zoë Mode has just given it a new lick of paint and slapped on a 3D effect to make use of the host hand-held’s capabilities. Newly redesigned, dressing-gown wearing lead character, Danny, is a blank faced, dewy eyed cartoon straight out of a generic children’s television program. Attempts to spice things up with quips delivered by a suitably-eccentric Professor sadly also fall flat and, on occasions, it’s unclear if lines of dialogue are meant to be funny or if they are just shoddily written.

There is a wafer thin plot of sorts, with our hero Danny finding his mind trapped in the machinations of the C.R.U.S.H (Cognitive Regression Utilizing pSychiatric Heuristics) device. The resulting adventure (and we use the term lightly) follows Danny as he attempts to escape back to reality. Though this may sound like quite an endearing little yarn, the narrative pull of the game is minimal – with the main focus being the puzzling.

Crush 3D demands that you wrap your mind around the central crush mechanic. Although effortless to execute with a quick press of the L-button, the hasty reduction of 3D worlds to 2D has a considerable impact and demands that you look at the levels in a completely different way. Your viewpoint at any given time is also significant as it affects how the 2D version of the world appears. So, crush while looking from overhead to find Danny wandering around a flat plain; crush from the side and the game resembles a more traditional 2D platformer. Crushing can also bring distant platforms to the fore, allow Danny to travel to previously inaccessible areas.

Further complexity is added by different materials acting in different ways when crushed – some walls, for example, become passable, while others will block your path or even squash Danny and immediately force you back to three-dimensions. Additionally, lines painted on walls that appear merely decorative in 3D are transformed into platforms when crushed. The goal on any given level is simply to collect enough glowing orbs – imaginatively titled ‘Marbles’ – to unlock the exit and then to make your way there. Levels are generally very compact, but your path to the exit is rarely as straightforward as it appears.

Visually, it’s clean and colourful and though the use of the 3DS parallax-barrier display is hardly a game-changer, it does help to bring an added degree of solidity to the presentation. Each level is themed around one of Danny’s memories or experiences, and most lean towards slightly demented yet childlike whimsy – be it a sunny and surreal sea-side or neon-lit carnival. Scattered throughout them are various obstacles and items – from moving platforms, to oversized drinks-cans and basketballs, all of which can both hinder and help your journey to the exit and to ultimately find a way out of C.R.U.S.H and back to reality.

In some ways, the game’s vibrant settings are at odds with the puzzling they contain – which swings from being quietly satisfying to fist-chewingly difficult. Though for the first few levels it is easy to be carried along on the novelty of the central crush mechanic, it doesn’t take long for the difficulty to ramp up considerably, placing increasingly exacting demands on the player, with little room for improvisation or experimentation. For each and every puzzle, there is a set solution meaning that crushing, uncrushing, and positioning Danny and in-game items must be carried out in a very regimented order. While this is not particularly unusual for a puzzle game, the sheer number of possible permutations that each level contains can result in a frustrating experience that does put your patience to the test. A hint feature is available that provides increasingly detailed instructions on how to progress (depending on the number of times you access it), but relying too heavily on this greatly reduces the whole point of playing the game in the first place.

Despite its issues, Crush3D offers a slickly presented, quirky and idiosyncratic experience that delivers spatial puzzles that will definitely stretch your grey matter. Unfortunately, it can also test your patience as much as your lateral thinking, a factor that isn’t helped by an annoyingly up-beat soundtrack. So, while its mechanics are wonderfully illusionary, Crush3D’s biggest trick may be in hiding such an exacting and demanding puzzler underneath the breezy, happy-go-lucky presentation.

This review is based on a retail copy of the 3DS version of Crush3D provided by Sega.

Soul Calibur V

Without a shadow of a doubt, the supreme fighter of 2008 was Soul Calibur IV. Boasting beautiful character models and lighting effects, as well as a rewarding character creation mode, prospective fighters could spend their late summer tinkering away to build their ideal character and then go online to school the opposition. This latest instalment seeks to increase the customisation options and undo the damage left by guest characters Yoda, Starkiller and Darth Vader. In their stead, a middle-aged Ezio Autidore (of Assassin’s Creed fame) enters the fray, hidden blades and crossbow in hand. Set seventeen years after the event of the last game, Sophitia’s son, Patoroklos Alexandra stands in as the lead hero, with a number of fresh characters in tow. A tale of souls and swords eternally retold, and one we can expect to see in just a few weeks’ time.

Mass Effect 3

You know this one has ‘Game of the Year’ written all over it, especially if Bioware can capitalise on the success of its predecessor and take things one step further. The Reapers have at last arrived to make good on their threats and things are looking grim for the Earth; thankfully Commander Shepard – the galaxy’s first human Spectre and best hope of survival – is around to wage war in our name. As before, the tale presented in ME3 will vary depending on the choices made in the first two adventures, and characters will return if they survived the journey so far. Choice plays a big role in the series, and it’s reportedly possible that Shepard can fail (as non-canon as this ending will likely be). Kinect functionality and an online component have also been added, making the anticipated conclusion to Shepard’s story even more unique.

Darksiders 2

War sits out this sequel in favour of his fellow horseman Death, in a tale that runs concurrent with the events of the first game. Blending a simplified version of the combat found in God of War with the dungeon-based escapades of the Zelda franchise, the original received critical acclaim (for the most part), earning a solid fanbase in the process. City hubs featuring NPC’s are said to be included, and the horsemen Fury and Strife will also play roles. Can the wrongs of the first game – namely flat, one-note characters and repetitive combat – be set right? If so, it’ll be a good summer for fans of dark fantasy when the game hits retail in June. Interestingly, Darksiders 2 has also been confirmed for Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U.

I Am Alive

This retail-game-turned-download-only has had something of a tumultuous development cycle. After its announcement back in 2008 under the team at Darkworks, it changed hands to Ubisoft Shanghai and has since undergone significant changes. Survival is the name of the game in this post-apocalyptic world (now a rather dusty shade of grey) and various play styles including first person shooting and third-person climbing will feature. The projected March release date is looking likely, so expect to be playing this one soon.

Grand Theft Auto V

To say that GTA V will be a success would be to understate things ten-fold. At this stage it could be the same formula as always, with updated graphics and a few amusing characters and the game would still earn Rockstar a fortune. Information is scarce, save that we’re waving goodbye to Liberty City in favour of Los Santos, which fans will remember as Carl Johnson’s original stomping ground in the San Andreas state. Attention to detail, raw emotion and the freedom to explore were all huge selling points for GTA IV, but the writers will have to go to serious lengths to make the lead as strangely likeable as Niko Bellic. Whatever they do, this is going to be big.

Max Payne 3

Set eight years after the events of the second game, Max Payne 3 is bringing back the slow-mo shooting frolics that were once so popular. Having tried to leave his old life behind, Max has since moved to São Paulo of Brazil, where he once again finds himself thrust into a world of danger and shady dealings. There’s still a market for this type of thing, especially if it can separate itself from all the other cover-based action games out there relying on techniques we’ve seen a hundred times before. Just as importantly, if it can meet its May release date then we may have something to break up the annual summer dearth.

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Saints Row: The Third heads further down this route, building on the craziness of predecessors; lapsing further and further from a crime story and into the realm of madcap, chaotic hijinks. As with the previous games, you’re playing a custom-built crime lord-slash-psychopath. From the get-go its clearer than ever before that something’s not quite right with your character, whose opening act is to plan bank robbery with a gang dressed as your BFF, Johnny Gat, adorned with giant bobblehead masks. We all know this scene from the trailers. The game offers no more advancement on why this was a great plan.

Your arrival in Steelport (the city in which the game is set) is accompanied by an explanation of a plan – told while skydiving, obviously – which goes something like this: “I’m going to drop you, jump through the plane’s cockpit, shoot up the place, drop out of the back and catch you.” It’s ridiculous. But the thing is…when the plan actually comes together…it’s nothing short of spectacular. Shortly after this, you hit up a military base to get weapons. In this setting – and in your character’s head – this makes absolute sense, but he (or she) is a stone cold psycho. And planning is apparently not their strong point.

Saints Row: The Third may offer an impressive range of character customisation, but you are very much locked into one personality. Compared to the conflicted Niko Bellic and Red Dead Redemption’s John Marsden, you are an unrepentant lunatic with high ambition, a love of strippers and a complete disregard for instructions. Where there was often a tension between Rockstar’s Marsden and the Marsden we wanted to be, Saints Row’s protagonist displays all the psychopathy needed to legitimise the disturbing behaviour a player has them go through.

In a world drowning in sandbox games it pays to be stand out, but the streets of Steelport are grey and indistinct. There are some impressive sights – like driving into town to witness the projects Saints-brand adverts lighting up the sides of skyscraper – but not enough. Indoors, things get better, with some great set pieces making for some unique battles, but the set dressing could be nicer throughout.

Fortunately, the people of Steelport really make it shine. Furries wander the streets, fans of the saints bug you for autographs or photos while you’re stabbing a cop in the face. They start getting fighty when you’re trying to steal their motorbike, or chase you down the motorway if you ding their car.

The enemy gangs are also somehow even more colourful and insane than the previous groups. In Saints Row 2 you fought against yellow yakuza, red gangstas and green Jamaicans. In Saints Row 3 there’s still a colour scheme thing going on – with the Deckers who wear neon blue Tron outfits and carry jRPG swords. Morningstar’s main forces are slick gothic types who dress in red, then there are luminous green luchadores (my personal favourite). You heard me, luchadores. As time goes on, while you’re still fighting against these guys, you’re also having to take on “The Man”. The GI Joe-like S.T.A.G. walk around in plastic-looking armour and laser rifles. They fly in sleek toy-like planes and spout out crazed propaganda. It almost becomes Fun versus Anti-Fun, with your gang as cocky, brightly-coloured rebels.

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To be clear, I adore Bethesda’s epic role-playing adventure and awarded it full marks in this very publication, but as much as members of its fanbase might agree with the content of the review itself, how accepting would they be of its imperfections regardless of the score? Texture bugs, PS3 lag and other technical glitches aside, for some there is an issue with the game that is never truly overcome – a lack of focus. Additionally, if you look at other (primarily) single-player productions such as the acclaimed Uncharted 3, it’s clear that no single moment in Skyrim is quite as jaw-dropping as what can be found in that title (we don’t just refer to the highly-publicised plane scene). The thrill comes from completing quests and developing your character in whichever areas you choose.

And choice is possibly Skyrim’s biggest draw… the fact that no two gamer’s adventures are identical. You can even explore the land, discovering locales in whichever random order you like, but it’s also this ‘go play’ aspect that will alienate players looking for a guiding hand or more streamlined experience. Skyrim is fantastic for the collector, the hoarder and the easily distracted, but if you fall in to none of the above then it can lead to an extensive settling-in period, or seem altogether less compelling. This slow-burner trades immediate blockbuster pay-off with the sense that you’re actually in another world; residents, butterflies and dragons included.

One friend explained, ‘I’m not loving it so far. It’s so much to take in that I’m…bewildered.’ I interrupted, to which he corrected with ‘overwhelmed’. This wasn’t the first time I’d heard such a thing said of the beloved game either, but having been weaned years ago on the less accessible Oblivion and subsequent Fallout 3, such a concept seemed hard to relate to. After all, this is a title currently absorbing hundreds of hours from people, while most full-priced adventures are lucky to reach more than ten. That said, there are aspects to Skyrim that will be either missed or ignored by many (of course it’s wonderful that so many options are available should you desire them), such as using ingredients for potion making.

The main part of playing ‘the silent protagonist’ comes from feeling as if you actually are that character… fulfilling the role depicted on-screen. It was a shame then, after joining a group that will go unnamed in order to avoid spoilers, that I was forced into single, stock responses and to pander to the whims of a man who – unbeknownst to me upon joining – was nothing short of a maniac. This was a man who would later have me betray the first real town that took me in, and rather than allowing my Dovahkiin to show indignation or even remorse, the game had decided I was a loyal follower unflinching in duty. This was not the character I had chosen to be. It seemed that my tale was being derailed in the name of more focused storytelling.

It’s possible that some of the focus – be it in a film, comic or video game – stems from the purpose of the hero. In a game like Assassin’s Creed, Ezio is a personality avenging his family, but in a title where the saviour of the land can suddenly (or concurrently) become a murderer for the dark brotherhood or be self-serving as part of the thieves guild then that purpose becomes less clear. Surely then, this is an issue inherent in sandbox RPG’s as a whole, and linearity really does make things more focused? Ultimately, the answer seems to be yes.

Now comes the ‘however’ part of the article that fans not currently raging should nod understandingly to; it’s entirely possible that a lack of focus is something people often crave. They actually want to feel overwhelmed and have to learn on the fly – it leads to new discoveries and a lasting sense of achievement not found in cinematic titles reliant on set-piece moments and button prompts. You can become a murderer with a bounty on your head, get stuck in to the middle of a civil war, join the mages of Winterhold, or all of the above… and having multiple concurrent adventures on the go is something that very few game developers would even dare take a crack at.

Maybe you’re happier to sink your time into an eight hour adventure with a decent multiplayer for replay value, take on a linear adventure like Assassin’s Creed, or perhaps the sprawling, open world of Skyrim is more your thing. After all, Bethesda has presented us with an adventure we couldn’t possibly feel short-changed over given the time-for-money ratio. Whatever your preference, if developers stopped pushing the boundaries of accomplishment, it would mark a terrible loss for gamers everywhere, in which case Bethesda should be commended. So, is Skyrim lacking in focus? In all honesty yes… and regardless of quality, nothing can appeal to everyone. The game offers choice, a sprawling world and potentially hundreds of hours of play time, and if focus must be lost on occasion to achieve this then it’s a sacrifice worth making.

Announced some time ago, the headset has only just been released in the UK and has received very little in terms of promotion. With an RRP of £89.99, it is a premium priced gaming accessory, but is nevertheless on the more affordable end of the surround-sound headphone market, with a comparable set from Turtle Beach coming in at some way over the £100 mark. For the asking price you get the headphones themselves and a small USB dongle that plugs into the PS3 and provides the wireless signal.

Setting the headphones up is incredibly simple – you plug the dongle in, turn the headphones on and…that’s it; you’re good to go. As with the official PlayStation bluetooth mic, a press of button on the headset brings status info up on screen – detailing such things as battery level and whether or not the mic is on. Though a small feature, in practice it’s very useful.

The headphones themselves are sturdily built with a design that is curiously reminiscent of the PlayStation 2 and although quite smart, their aesthetics are unlikely to appeal to anyone with a taste for high-fashion head-sets such as the popular Beats headphones from Dr Dre.

What they lack in beauty they make up for in functionality. As already mentioned, setting them up is easy, and set on the head-band are a series of easily accessible controls – a volume slider, a mic-volume slider and finally power and surround-sound buttons. They’re also extremely comfortable to wear, with the wide head-band being nicely padded with cans that fit snugly over your ears and that do a great job of blocking out external noise. I’ve used the headset for extended gaming sessions and at no point have found them to be uncomfortable or distracting. So, in terms of ergonomics, they get a big thumbs-up.

Now on to the most important bit: the sound. Before picking them up, I owned a pair of standard Sony Wireless headphones, so have a pretty good benchmark with which to compare this PS3-branded headset. While I was more than happy with my previous headphones, the PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset’s 7.1 surround-support was, for me, the main attraction.

Whether using them with the 7.1 or stereo settings, the sound produced is extremely crisp, with well balanced levels of bass and treble. I have to admit however that I was initially slightly underwhelmed by the 7.1 effect. Popping them on, I was expecting an experience of near cinema-standard where, in reality, the effect is far more subtle. The biggest difference between the 7.1 here and that of a full, amp based surround-sound set-up is that the positional effect isn’t quite as pronounced; you do get an idea of where sounds are coming from but do not expect your head to be snapping around to identify sounds coming from directly behind you.

The real magic of the headset is in how the sound envelopes you; with the surround sound switched on, you get excellent sense of being in the middle of a game soundscape, rather than simply having a stereo soundtrack being piped from left and right. The difference is hugely noticeable when switching between 7.1 and stereo, and I can honestly say that I have no intention of ever going back to the latter.

The built in mic works exactly as you would expect, offering easily accessible voice communication and crystal clear feedback from your team mates and foes. The separate volume slider is also very useful, allowing you to turn off voice-comms entirely or bring them to the fore. There is a downside, however, that comes in the form of the actual construction of the mic – it feels incredibly flimsy. Thankfully it can be slid-back into the headband and does not have to be fully extended to be used, but you can’t help but find yourself handling it with kid gloves. It also features a blue light (that can also be used to discern how much charge you have left) – when fully extended, this light can be a little distracting, but as the mic works perfectly well half-extended, this isn’t too much of an issue.

Alongside the wobbly mic, the other cloud hanging over the PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset is that it can currently only be used with the PS3 or PC – so if you’re looking for an all encompassing set of headphones to cover all your gaming needs, then you’d probably be better off looking else where. There may well be a work around for this, but at present I’ve been unable to find one.

Overall, the PlayStation 3 Wireless Stereo can be thoroughly recommended. They’re reasonably priced, nicely built and come with a well implemented and intelligently engineered set of features. The 7-hour battery lifespan also offers plenty of gaming time (charging takes 3 hours). Most importantly, the sound quality they provide is excellent and the surround-sound really helps bring game worlds to life – so much so, in fact, that I’ve found myself opting to use the headphones over my 5.1 home cinema system – and I guess you can’t get a much better praise than that.

This review originally appeared on www.gametaroo.com

For those who missed out on the initial release, Joe Danger is all about driving a bike through a large number of courses filled with traps, ramps and springs that will either help or hinder your progress. You could argue that it bears a striking resemblance (gameplay wise at least) to Trials HD, except the difficulty isn’t nearly as crushing. The game begins with an easy opening few stages, but the challenge ramps up considerably as things progress, eventually pitting you against other racers and forcing a quick restart should you have missed the object you were gunning for. The beauty of this is that restarting is immediate with a tap of the Back button, though you will have to sit through a brief ragdoll animation when Danger’s skills fail him.

It’s extremely easy to pick up and play, so accessibility is a strong selling point here. Controls are simple enough, and like in Rayman Origins you find yourself with a great deal of control, meaning that failure often comes from a lack of judgement on the player’s part rather than through unfairness coming from the game itself. Learning each course and how to deal with its dangers is paramount, as is deciding on the best time to perform tricks to increase your combo and fill the boost meter. It can be genuinely tough to achieve the high score required or to reach the last collectible letter in the word D-A-N-G-E-R, but it’s in this respect that the game provides replayability and keeps you pushing for success.

In any given stage you could be tasked with collecting every blue star, collecting the aforementioned letters, landing on every target, completing a course under a certain time or a mixture of two at once. You won’t be able to do everything in your first try, and each level is used effectively by the developer. The game has enough going for it that you won’t mind replaying in the name of collecting stars, especially when it rewards you by unlocking new levels based on how many of these are earned. It’s entirely possible that you’ll reach a point where returning to earlier levels becomes a necessity, so it’s unlikely that you’ll tear through to the end having done just a small fraction of the work.

The presentation is one of the things that you’ll instantly notice about Joe Danger. The colours are vibrant, the animations are smooth and the music (which in all honesty can begin to grate after a while) befits the wacky atmosphere of the game. It does suffer from a lack of variety when it comes to course environments however, so you can expect to see much of the same design over and over again – in this sense, repetition may well become an issue. The collisions depicted can be genuinely entertaining, and the physics engine handles these humorous moments well.

One of the biggest additions to the Special Edition is the Lab, which provides fresh challenges for players to sink their teeth into. It evokes a blue-print crash dummy feel and looks different to the main campaign, serving as something of an add-on that surprisingly wasn’t released as downloadable content. The level editor makes a welcome return and will offer hours of play for those who wish to use it, but this game is rich with content regardless. Another addition is the Pro Medal system, which only awards you every task has been performed in a single run (no small feat as you can imagine), plus loading times have been significantly improved.

Local multiplayer modes are present, but online functionality is almost non-existent, with only leaderboards and sandbox raceway sharing made available to friends. It’s unlikely that you’ll be spending out on this game for anything but the addictive nature of the single-player anyway, plus it’s tough to criticise the lack of an online component when so much content has been packed in to begin with, and all at the humble price of 1200 points through Live Arcade.

Joe Danger: Special Edition is the definitive version of the game and one that the plucky stuntman can be proud of. It is disappointing that the new content isn’t available to PSN users who supported the developer in the first place, but it does give Live Arcade users the chance to experience this enjoyable title for the first time and in full glory – essentially increasing Joe’s fanbase in the process. Joe Danger is colourful, daring, challenging and charming… making it a solid choice for players with a bit of endurance in the face of a good challenge. It might not be for everyone, however, and if you rely on net functionality rather than addictive point-scoring for longevity, then this may not be the one for you.

Set in the fictional town of Misthallery, the game opens with the Professor being called to investigate a series of incidents in which a mysterious spectre has been seen destroying areas of the town at night. With the village in the thrall of an old folk legend it is up to the great top-hatted one to solve the mystery and make his name. By setting the tale when they have, Level-5 have allowed some of Layton’s high-regard be lost, meaning that much of the game centres around him having to prove himself to the townsfolk and his associates. Of the host of new characters in the town, all as weird and wonderful as you might expect, it is Emmy Altava, Layton’s enthusiastic new assistant, who makes the biggest impact. She offers a welcome extra dimension to the Layton / Luke dynamic of previous games and proves herself to be a capable and strong female character, something that is sadly another rarity in many games these days.

Gameplay-wise you should know what you are getting with each new Layton instalment and this is no exception. The successful formula has barely been touched, making it play almost identically to each of its predecessors – how much this bothers you will largely come down to your personal feelings for the series and those on annualised franchises. The gameplay still works well, you talk to people around town, get presented with many a puzzle along the way whilst also uncovering some hidden extras and mini-games. It is here that one of the game’s biggest disappointment comes, you see in the US and Japan there was a whole separate mini-game called London Life, in which you played a 16-bit style RPG in a fictionalised London. The game itself is said to offer 100+ hours of gameplay, however due to the time and effort required for localisation for Europe, Nintendo does not offer the mode in the European release of the game. This is a real shame and its inclusion would have gone someway to assuaging the complaints regarding a lack of invention.

The new mini-games that are included are not especially engaging, there is a train-set simulator, a mad-libs style theatre mode and a fish-tank puzzle game but they are unlikely to divert your attention for long. Thankfully the main story is strong, if a little slow to start, but it picks up pace and is genuinely exciting by its conclusion. Despite being hung around the game puzzle-gameplay template, there is a level of care and attention that Level-5 apply to their characters and story (and to the gorgeously rendered cut-scenes) that do help the game stand out from the crowd. It is a shame then that much of the voice acting still grates as per the previous games in the series, thankfully not much of the game’s dialogue is spoken so it doesn’t really detract.

As for the puzzles themselves there seems to be a much greater variety this time around (not to mention more of them in general, over 170 throughout the game), ranging from typical brain teasers, to maths and science questions to tricks of logic or wordplay. Some are a bit unclear in terms of informing you exactly what it is you are supposed to be working out, and this can become frustrating, but the hint system works well with the usual abundance of coins scattered around so you should never really get stuck. Another thing Level-5 have done very well in this game is better integrate many of the puzzles into the story itself, these are usually some of the cleverest and most rewarding to solve and help you feel connected to the action on screen rather than just solving arbitrary, unrelated puzzles as you do for much of the rest of the game.

Overall the latest entry in the Professor Layton series in unlikely to convert those who haven’t enjoyed the other games in the series, but if you are a fan then this is a great entry with a good variety of puzzles and an intriguing and involving story that gets better as the game goes on. Add in the sheer amount of content for a handheld game and even without the London Life mini-game it’s hard not to recommend. For those unfamiliar with Layton this is a great jumping on point as well; no prior knowledge is really required and you will benefit from the streamlining that has been done around some of the more basic gameplay elements, making it the easiest Layton game yet to just pick up and play in small bursts.

The time will come when the Layton formula wears out. As of now it is getting a bit thin in places but holds up overall remarkably well, with a quality and variety in the puzzles that suggests a fair amount of life remains in the franchise. This is another worthy entry in the series and proof that, despite the release of the 3DS, there is life in the old DS yet.

For our Games of 2011…erm…Awards, the D+PAD team have each picked their two favourite games of the year – the games are listed in no particular order, but all shone in one way or another…and all are worthy of your attention.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

If one game represented value for money for the single-player this year it was the latest entry in the Elder Scrolls series. Both a sequel and advancement over Oblivion, Skyrim presented gamers with a lush fantasy world filled with danger, intrigue and choice. Perhaps you fulfilled your destiny as the Dragonborn of Legend and defeated the World Eater Alduin, or maybe you rose to power as a remorseless scourge upon the land and took up arms for the Dark Brotherhood. Or maybe you never managed to pull yourself away from the vast selection of side quests afforded by the townsfolk, because as we all know, running errands beats saving the world from a soul-sucking dragon lord any day.

The chatty townsfolk, ferocious enemies, rolling tundra and outstanding soundtrack all came together to create an atmosphere that turned the land of Skyrim into a living world, and that’s before you’ve considered the random threat of dragon attacks. The attention to detail given by Bethesda was nothing short of staggering, with a variety of skills (which level up the more you use them), armour, spells, unique dragon shouts and even a selection of books detailing the history of Tamriel all serving to bolster the experience. This is exactly how first-person adventuring should be done and with the promise of exciting and substantial downloadable content on the horizon it’s likely that we’ll be returning to Skyrim for a good while yet.

Crysis 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

As a sequel to the original PC melting behemoth, Crysis 2 delivered on all fronts. Granted, the island paradise filled with Korean soldiers was gone, but Crytek’s crumbling rendition of New York held as much artistry and chaotic atmosphere as any true fan could have wanted. First-person shooters tend to lack stealth sections that are open and fun, but Crysis 2 made the cloaking device central to the game play, providing a satisfying vocal effect to boot. The star of the show was very much the Nanosuit; an all-over covering that would imbue even a broken body with incredible – but not limitless – powers.

Taking too much damage would spell doom for our silent hero, but the suit ensured that he would always have the edge, even when hunted by packs of unrelenting Ceph. Of course, we can’t talk about Crysis without mentioning the sumptuous visuals. Running on the CryEngine 3, the game stood out as one of the best looking titles to grace home consoles, and with the original Crysis recently made available via Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, those who missed out can finally dive in and see where it all began.

- Chris Morell

Dark Souls (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

To date, I’ve ploughed about 45 hours into From Software’s Dark Souls; at this point in virtually any other game I would likely be an all conquering, near-indestructible killing machine stalking a world that had long since been conquered. That, however, is not the case here – though my character is infinitely stronger than when he first stepped out of a dank prison-cell at the game’s opening and though my competency as a player has grown, every step forward is still accompanied with a palpable sense of dread and a horrible foreboding that death will come at any second.

It should be painfully frustrating, but instead Dark Souls is exquisitely, sweetly, frighteningly immersive. From Software have crafted a game world that, in my mind, is second to none – it lives in your psyche long after a play session has ended, constantly daring you back, tempting you with dreams of empowerment that it often fulfils only to snatch them briskly away. To play Dark Souls is to have your emotions toyed with, as feelings of fear, victory, awe, desperation, hope and hopelessness ping-pong around your head like some kind of twisted pinball-machine – making for an experience that is nothing short of unforgettable. Choosing my Game of the Year has never been so easy.

Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

As far as first-person shooter packages go, Battlefield 3 is irresistible, with a solid single player campaign and (more importantly) a scintillating multiplayer experience that I have little doubt I will still be playing this time next year. The series has never looked or sounded better, but Dice haven’t stopped at just giving the series a presentational overhaul – there’s a mode of play for nearly any and every taste, and a staggering number of weapons and other gadgetry to unlock, all of which service the game’s biggest strength: the wonderfully dynamic and immensely tactical single player.

Much has been made of EA’s desire to make Battlefield 3 a true Call of Duty killer, but this really does the game a great disservice; this is the latest instalment of a trailblazing series that has long had a clear sense of its own identity and very unique gameplay. It’s success then should not be measured in how well it’s sales stack up against Activision’s juggernaut, but on the experience it offers – and in this respect Battlefield is a work of astonishingly engaging magnificence.

- Simeon Paskell

Portal 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

Released back in April it’s easy to overlook Portal 2 when it comes to making game of the year decisions, but make no mistake Valve’s long-awaited sequel to the 2007 surprise hit is worth a place at the top of every list going in 2011. Expanding the scope of the original, whilst building on the backstory of GLaDoS, Chel and Aperture Science, Portal 2 was incredibly ambitious, which makes its triumph even more impressive. It managed to simultaneously retain the charm and smarts of the first game, but keep the scenarios and puzzles fresh enough for the duration of its much extended campaign.

Portal 2 also managed to maintain the razor sharp writing of the first, the brilliant casting of Stephen Merchant as Wheatley allowing Valve to expand the gentle humour of the first game to a much broader scope without losing any of its edge. What ultimately sets Portal 2 aside though was how effortless it felt, how meticulously created every room was, and how efficient the storytelling was. It remains a prime example of one of the world’s best game developers at the absolute peak of their creative power.

Dead Space 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

Visceral games’ follow up to their breakout sci-fi survivor horror title starts with a bang and never looks back. Eschewing some of the initial build up of dread from the first game Dead Space 2 emerges as much more of an action game, a natural progression of the story of Isaac Clarke as he once again battles against the rising necromorph invasions, this time amongst the Sprawl, a vast man-made metropolis located on one of Titan’s moons.

As well as upping the scale and polish of the first game Dead Space 2 is unusual as it goes to great pains to detail the effects that the events of the first game had on its protagonist. Suffering hallucinations and breakdowns the game does a good job of investing your journey with an emotional weight amongst all the death and destruction. The gameplay itself was neatly refined and expanded upon whilst retaining the look and feel that made the first game so successful. With some expertly crafted set-pieces, some genuinely creepy scares and a memorably unique and interesting final boss battle Dead Space 2 stands as a worthy sequel and an intense and exciting gaming experience in its own right.

- Dave Stuart

Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo 3DS)

Though our typical vision of Super Mario involves him saving princesses, this year he faced his most formidable quest yet – saving the ailing Nintendo 3DS console, after a lacklustre launch left the Japanese giants with their first company loss in 30 years. Yet weeks after the release of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7, the glasses-free 3D handheld is finally starting to look like a sales success and it’s all down to that moustachioed plumber.

With clever gameplay decisions that mean that 3D Land plays as a cross between the 2D retro revival of New Super Mario Bros (narrow design, lack of hub worlds) and the critically revered complexity of the Super Mario Galaxy series, here we have the perfect combination of the Super Mario series’ invention and accessibility. As one of the few games that also fully takes advantage of the 3D effect (with certain puzzles involving invisible blocks that can only been spotted alongside their sturdier 3D models), Super Mario 3D Land is my pick for the handheld game of the year and yes, that includes any mobile apps that you could care to mention, Kairosoft be damned.

Pullblox (Nintendo 3DS)

My favourite downloaded game of the year is not available in the App Store, Xbox Live, the Android Market or the PSN. Instead, it can be found alongside overpriced GameBoy games and something called 1950’s Valet Parking. It is Pullblox and it is absolutely majestic.

A block puzzler like none you have ever played before, Intelligent System, the team behind the legendary Advance Wars series, task players with pulling blocks to create the vertical passage of devilishly complex structures. Though games start out pretty easy (or at least for the first 100 puzzles – there are around 250 on offer), the introduction of side pulls and colour co-ordinating pipes can mean that one deceptively simple puzzle could last up to an hour. Thankfully, the game is never unfair in its design so expect plenty of Portal 2-style ‘Eureka’ moments, as long as you haven’t slammed your 3DS against the wall in the minutes previously.

The icing on an extremely tasty downloadable cake (these metaphors can be tricky) is the ability to design your own levels and scan QR codes to download those of others. Already I’ve reached the peaks of Super Mario and Mega Man’s respective heads and despite trawling through forums to add to my scanning collection, I’ve yet to encounter a single blocky digital penis.

That fact alone says all you need to know about the respect Pullblox and demands and ultimately receives.

- Emmet Purcell

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo Wii)

Made with one eye on legacy, one eye on the future, Skyward Sword was the Zelda game that people had been nervously hoping for ever since words like “reinvention” started to be thrown around, back when the title was first announced. Skyward Sword was one of the year’s most unforgettable games for many reasons. As moving as it was witty, its story weaved together childhood romance and apocalyptic danger, while the environments were a reminder that (with the exception of this year’s Skyrim and Dark Souls) nobody weaves together a game-world as convincingly, as richly, as Zelda’s designers.

Possibly the last major Nintendo-published game for Wii, Skyward Sword was poignantly also the game to finally convince that motion controls could genuinely elevate ‘traditional’ game experiences. 2012 promises to be a fascinating year for Nintendo, the benchmark laid down by Skyward Sword a vertigo-inducing one to aim for.

Child of Eden (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

A beguiling mix of on-rails shooter, rhythm-action and music visualisation, Child Of Eden was everything one hoped a current-generation Rez sequel could be. Replacing Rez’s emphasis on hard geometry with lush foliage and various forms of organic life, Child Of Eden was one of the few games in 2011 in which every core design component – the colours, the beats, the subtly intricate shooting mechanism – were working in perfect harmony. It may look, sound and feel astonishing, but as a core videogame it worked beautifully, and this was Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s greatest achievement. With a soundtrack that veered from states of bliss to industrial clatter, a challenging bonus game that channelled Rez even more directly, and a plentiful array of collectables, Child Of Eden also – despite its superficial short game length – showcased a great depth. Sensory disorder has never been so fun.

- Zoheir Beig

Do you agree with our selections? Are any of your favourites missing? Feel free to let us know below.

The motion controls for the Wii version were sufficient, but were lacking in the nuance it was hoped that the Wii remote would usher in, while the game’s design rested a little too much on the familiar Zelda structure. There were many calls for the franchise to get a shake-up, one that was heeded by producer Eiji Aonuma when, prior to E3 2010 he told journalists: “It is something we used to talk about with Mr. Miyamoto, and he and I agree that if we are following the same structure again and again, we might not be able to give longtime Zelda fans a fresh surprise. So we have been trying something new in terms of the structure of the Wii version of the new Zelda game this time. I am really hopeful that people will be surprised with the changes we have implemented for this Wii version.” Aonuma’s gamble has paid off spectacularly, as Skyward Sword feels like such a fresh and revitalized experience that it’s hard to believe that this is a series celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year.

Such is the quality, breadth and depth of The Legend of Zelda: The Skyward Sword, a different review-approach seemed like an excellent idea, so rather than dissect the game is the usual way, I’d like to give you flavour of my experiences. To mark the release of Skyward Sword I documented my first 24-hours with the game in a liveblog over at Moon Witch Cartridge, my gaming blog. Starting at 7:00am on launch day (November 18th), the intention was to play for a full 24-hours, finishing up at 7:00am the following day. While it’s something I would never recommend to anyone – I spent the subsequent days in a dazed stupor somewhat akin to a really bad hangover – it was a memorable way of experiencing this supposed ‘new’ Zelda format. The great irony is that the radical changes in Skyward Sword only unveil themselves a bit later in the game – the first third at least is an acknowledgment of classic Zelda’s of the past, albeit an emphasis on convention livened by the excellent MotionPlus-enhanced controls.

The second irony is that it’s taken what looks likely to be the last significant Nintendo-published Wii game to really show how motion controls could be used to create a richer, more involving game. The subtlety of the mapping, the ability to change your style of swordplay with such natural movement, is the single biggest change to the Zelda gameplay; it’s a transformative addition that makes what was already a beautiful, impossibly refined game a generation-defining one. Here follows the highlights of my 24-hour marathon. Entering a new Zelda universe is one of the great gaming traditions, and hopefully these excerpts carry across the wonder and period of adaptation that such a foray brings. There may of course be spoilers.

07:00am - About to turn the Wii on…

07:11am – Exciting huh? I’m staring at the disc start screen, listening to the swishing sounds of the sky.

07:22am – “A legend that will be forged by your own hands” is the last line of the dramatic pre-title intro. The characters are depicted by nightmarish ink stains that appear to soak into the screen. It sets up the game superbly.

07:43am – So I’ve just spent the last fifteen minutes exploring the Knight Academy, where the game begins. A few ceremonial Zelda moments have already been ticked off: found a blue rupee in Link’s wardrobe, and rolled into some vases and promptly smashed them. I also helped Fledge, a fellow classmate, carry a barrel into the nearby kitchen. The old lady was very grateful, until I started to pick up and smash her china, at which point she called me “a little brat”. I suppose it was a bit unnecessary. The controls so far are excellent. Z centres the camera behind Link instantly, while pressing 2 at anytime will show you the various interactions available to Link at that particular time.

07:54am – Still exploring the Knight Academy. Found Zelda’s bedroom on the floor above Link’s, but unfortunately it’s locked. Still, that’s a delightful twist on the traditional series convention.

08:52am - First meeting between Link and Zelda. I’m not the best reader of body language, but I think they fancy each other. Link is about to enter the Wing Ceremony, but his Loftwing bird has gone missing. In a dramatic moment Zelda throws Link from the edge of Skyloft, only to dive down and rescue him when it’s clear that Link’s rare Crimson Loftwing won’t be coming to save him. Now Link has to try and get the race delayed so he can find his missing bird, win the race and get the girl. Or something.

09:56am – First treasure chest and that sound effect! And inside is a practice sword. Time for some sparring…

10:25am – Zelda has just mentioned that she wonders what is below the clouds of Skyloft, and how she is convinced that there is a world even bigger than the one they live in at the moment. She may well be right. Apparently the Loftwings won’t travel under the clouds though. Oh and we’ve rescued Link’s Crimson Loftwing after venturing into a dank cave. The sword controls are great, but I’m looking forward to putting them to use against a combative enemy. But they’re intuitive and responsive; thanks to MotionPlus there’s a grace to movement that was perhaps lacking in Twilight Princess.

11:05am - Shit just got real.

12:33pm – I was just about to come on here to complain about the cluttered interface when out pops Fi again to tell me that, now I’ve got used to the controls, I can clear some of the unnecessary information on-screen. There are three stages of interface design: Pro, Light and Standard. You start the game with the silhouette of the remote and nunchuk at either corners of the screen (Standard), but thankfully I’m now playing on Pro, with just the classic hearts and rupee counter in the top left. I am clearly a pro.

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The title ‘Origins’ implies that the story might actually hold some relevance, but as with most 2D side-scrolling platformers, the premise is almost entirely irrelevant. There is some mumbo-jumbo about saving the Glade of Dreams from the grip of evil, but it’s all a very basic set-up for the adventures that follow. In Rayman Origins, almost one hundred per cent of your time will be spent walking, running, smashing, jumping and grabbing your way from left to right, but to claim that’s all there is to the proceedings would be to do this game a disservice. Exploration plays a major role and as you’ll see after just a few hours of play, collecting the golden lums is every bit as important as reaching the end goal.

The Glade of Dreams consists of a handful of worlds each with a central theme. Initially, it will seem like you’re charging to victory at breakneck speed, unlocking stages with seemingly little effort. Make no mistake however, Origins is very much a wolf in sheep’s clothing; where you were once collecting every lum, smashing every cage to rescue the captive electoons held within, things soon become harder to the point where you might end up cursing under your breath and having to remind yourself that it’s only a game. Some very late stages are so tough that you’ll feel like a snowball going up against a volcano, but the sense of relief upon success is rewarding in itself. There’s no life count and infinite continues, with each door serving as a checkpoint for when Rayman (inevitably) kicks the bucket, making for a stiff challenge as opposed to an insurmountable one.

Each stage features two or three secret areas where electoons are being held captive by a number of enemies. More electoons can be freed depending on how well you did in collecting the lums, directly influencing the amount of stages available to you. The result of this is that you’ll be pushing Rayman to the limit, pulling off all manner of platforming trickery to grab the lums and lum-increasing medallions. The degree of control and fluid movements makes for a fast-paced platformer that will ensure that you stay on your toes and never get bored, plus a mistake early on is usually due to your own failing – it can be very difficult to blame the game, despite a clear emphasis on trial and error. There are a solid number of stages that crib from the R-Type classic shooting genre, where Rayman hitches a ride on a mosquito who can suck enemies and fire them out, or stick to the rapid fire method of attack (which is even more effective if you tap the button rather than hold it).

You would be forgiven for thinking that your adventure is coming to a premature end given the speed at which the worlds unlock. In truth, Rayman makes a sweep around the worlds in order, but later unlocks a second part to each, having to defeat a corrupted boss at the end. You’re certainly getting bang for your buck with Origins, plus the deal is made even sweeter by the co-operative multiplayer mode. Rayman and his pal Globox can join forces with two other characters to make for a four-player journey in the same vein as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, though things can become hectic when other players jump into the fray. Solo adventurers should have no fear, as the game works perfectly well as a single-player experience, despite the zoomed-out camera which was clearly designed with another person in mind.

One of the game’s most noticeable aspects is its whimsical presentation. Those demanding realism and a high polygon count should probably think again, as Rayman Origins sports an excellent cartoon feel that positively thrives on an HD screen. You’ll traipse through forgotten jungles, dodge fiery lava pits and slide a path across icy terrain, with each environment offering a fresh look and unique challenges. It’s no slouch in the sound department either, as the cute noises and amusing vocals all provide an adorable charm, albeit one that might not appeal to everyone. There’s no proper voice work to speak of, but this isn’t much of a failing given the lack of story overall.

Rayman Origins signifies a welcome return to form for the hovering hero, presenting a world bursting with charm and adventure. It’s a title that really shouldn’t be missed, but we have the sneaking suspicion that it’ll be overlooked this season amongst the slew of bigger names (the strange selection of levels offered in the demo probably won’t help either). The gorgeous visuals drip with style and the game play is instantly accessible, making for a solid purchase that anyone up for a challenge will enjoy. Play it alone or play with some friends… whatever you do just play this game!

Super Pokemon Rumble could also have a disclaimer stating that ‘No real Pokemon were hurt in creation of this game’ seeing as those featured are wind-up toys rather than the blood, flesh and pixel pocket-sized monsters of previous games. Their clockwork nature doesn’t stop them having a hunger to fight that is every bit as strong as their ‘real’ counterparts though – and, fortunately for them, they don’t have to heed the every beck and call of an overbearing human trainer. Like the carnage that inevitably ensues when a school teacher leaves a room of rambunctious children to their own devices, the lack of a guiding hand gives the clock-work pokemon free reign – making this the most violent Pokemon yet.

This is very much a game of two halves. On the one side, you have a combat mechanic that (rather surprisingly) shares much in common with the scrolling beat ‘em ups of old; on the other is the task of collecting and levelling up the usual dizzying array of pocket monsters. It is in the former that Super Pokemon Rumble differentiates itself from the main entries in the series, as you take direct control of a single pokemon and negotiate a series of maps while beating up any and every other pokemon that crosses your path. Much like classic beat ‘em ups such as Final Fight and Streets of Rage, combat is very much a button mashing affair, which does make it very accessible but also rather monotonous. A degree of nuance is added through the ability to purchase and assign new moves as well as the ‘rock, paper, scissors’ effectiveness of specific moves against certain types of foes, but the combat mechanics themselves quickly wear thin.

This wouldn’t be quite so bad were the levels you face a little more interesting, but sadly they are bland in the extreme. The settings may change (think beaches, forests, caves…) but levels are devoid of any obstacles, puzzles or other distractions and are uniformly treks from A to B. Once you have made your way to the end of three such maps, you then face off against a larger boss character – always a pokemon that his been blown up to giant proportions. Again, there is little in the way of variety or challenge to these confrontations, with victory being grasped by the dodging of attacks and the mashing of the button which makes for an uninspired and largely uninteresting finale to each and every section.

Though you can change characters on the fly at any given time, should you lose three pokemon it’s game over; though this makes for a soupcon of challenge, we found the game over screen to be incredibly rare, which can make the repetitive nature of the game even more of a slog – it would really benefit from a more finely balanced sense of risk versus reward.

As you battle your way through levels you can collect fallen pokemon and add them to your roster and, once you have collected a pokemon of the required level, you are invited to enter that level’s ‘Battle Royale’ – last pokemon-standing affairs against a series of grunts and a collection of high powered foes. These should be bombastic, grandstanding battles but in reality merely crank the action a couple of notches above the monotony supplied by your journey to get there. Again, the Battle Royales smack of a title in desperate need of more mechanical variety.

Though the core gameplay may be lacking, die-hard Pokemon fans are relatively well serviced and should the compulsion to catch ‘em all return, there are hundreds of pokemon to collect and an impressive degree of possible customisation permutations, and it’s likely that it’s in this aspect that the game will find its audience. The series’ well established social aspects – namely the trading and sharing of pokemon – are also well covered, and the game also offers two-player games over wifi. The Toy Shop (in which the game is set) occasionally also receives customers (your Miis!) who spend points that are added to your account and can be spent on new skills and abilities.

Unfortunately for Super Pokemon Rumble, the disparity between the macro and micro make for a game that doesn’t gel. Though it’s attempts to ape the core mechanics of the main Pokemon games while adding its own action-focused spin could have worked, the combat simply isn’t interesting enough to hold your attention. The linear nature of the plot and paper thin characters also fail to deliver a significant carrot to pull you through the levels, making the whole affair rather aimless. It also sports some of the least inspiring uses of 3D that we’ve seen for some time, with the (admittedly) clean and colourful visuals looking curiously flat, even with the 3D slider on maximum.

Though Pokemon Rumble’s simplicity may have been easier to overlook when it was released as a Nintendo WiiWare title, this full price follow up should be seen as little more than a stop-gap that fails to advance the series in any meaningful way while delivering a gameplay experience that is forgettable as it is monotonous. Regardless of what that slogan says, you don’t have to catch ‘em all, and unless you’re the most committed pokemon fan out there, you might want to give this a miss.

It’s worth mentioning up-front that if you’re not totally up to speed with the Assassin’s Creed story up until the end of Brotherhood, then the events in Revelations will make very little sense to you. Sure, the same could be said for most sequels existing in any kind of narrative, but Revelations makes no real effort to highlight the significance of its story beats to those who haven’t been already following the journey till this point. The game does offer a fairly brief “previously on…” reminder at the outset, but it’s still not quite enough to properly remind of the crazy impact felt from the series’ last two outings. As it has been for those last two outings, the focus of the story is squared mostly on Ezio Auditore.

This time around, Ezio is in Constantinople (or Istanbul, as you’ll now know it), where he is on the hunt for a vital set of keys to unlock the mysterious library belonging to the original game’s star, Altaïr. (As ever, the Templars on are also on the trail with the same goal in mind.) A smattering of new characters are brought into the fold along the way, but neither they nor the events that surround them prove to be entirely engaging. Revelations finds Ezio on a particular narrow and banal path as a result and provides few moments of genuine surprise or candour in regards to previous twists. Brief segments involving Altaïr are also underwhelming and shallow, offering only small moments of insight into his later years with little impact along the way. Desmond Miles, the series’ every-man host whose genetic memories of ancestors Ezio and Altaïr have been revealed by the Matrix-like Animus machine, is meanwhile left in a catatonic state. Without giving too much away, the representation of Desmond’s currently unalterable state is portrayed in some relatively interesting ways, although none of it comes off as supremely fleshed-out beyond some basic character background.

Gameplay-wise, the majority of Revelations treads familiar ground. The routine practice of free-running and climbing above and below various city structures is still fun and easy to navigate; the combat is still as focused and stylish as it was in Brotherhood, and performing assassinations remains to be a satisfying feat to behold when pulled off effectively. Revelations throws in a few new side distractions into the mix, however, the most notable of which are tower defense-esque Stronghold missions in which you protect your Assassins den from swaths of incoming enemy invaders. Its execution is clunky in spite of its simplicity, although it’s never too difficult either. Bomb crafting is also new, providing the ability assemble and use your own home-made bombs (as crude as they are) to create multiple diversions or distractions, depending on the situation. The best of these bombs is surely the one that splatters lamb’s blood over anyone who hovers by its blast upon impact with the floor—it’s both useful and strangely amusing to let one off when the time is right.

Multiplayer returns from Brotherhood and is far improved. There are new modes, characters, customisable
matches and profile options available to tweak, as well as some general gameplay refinements to keep things nice and balance. For instance, it is now much easier to stun an approaching killer for a handy incapacitation: this feat was much harder in the previous game, as you were only every granted a small window in which to pull off a clever counter manoeuvre. Revelations’ multiplayer is also devoid of any of the crippling connection issues that plagued Brotherhood upon release, which is obviously good news.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is a perfectly fine addition to the series, but that can only be said with the acknowledgement that everything at its core is starting to become old-hat. It tells of an unfortunate duality that stops the game from being wholly recommendable to someone who isn’t totally invested in the series’ narrative. But even with that in mind, Revelations doesn’t quite suffice, either. Ultimately, the best piece of advice would be this: if you like the idea of more Assassin’s Creed in its current incarnation, then you’re bound to enjoy Revelations on some level. Anyone else would probably be better off leaving well alone from this stop-gap of a sequel and await the arrival of the next fully-fledged sequel instead.