• Batman: Arkham Knight (Warner Bros., Multiformat)

    September 10, 2015 - By 

    There was once a time when Bruce Wayne’s ventures into videogames were the subject of derision and disappointment. For a long time, the Dark Knight only popped up in increasingly lacklustre beat-‘em-ups and movie cash-ins that absolutely squandered the licence. Yes, there was the occasional gem such as Ocean Software’s Batman, a quirky isometric adventure that gave DC’s greatest detective a pot belly and a cartoon scowl, or The Caped Crusader, a side-scrolling classic designed to resemble the flipping pages of a comic book, but they appeared on home computers way, way back in the late 1980s. What they lacked…

  • God Of War III Remastered (Sony, PS4)

    September 9, 2015 - By 

    If BuzzFeed ever compiles a list of the 27 angriest characters in videogames, the top spot would undoubtedly go to Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta and titular God of War. He’s angrier than Andross (Star Fox), Vaas (Far Cry 3), and Zangief (Street Fighter). He’s angrier than the birds in Angry Birds. He’s even angrier than Wreck-It Ralph. Kratos exists in a permanent state of rage, a mardy sourbake fixed to his big grey face as he fights his way up Mount Olympus, onwards, downwards and upwards to topple Zeus, the father who betrayed him, and all of his demigods…

  • Journey (Sony, PS4)

    August 18, 2015 - By 

    While the debate about home consoles and backwards compatibility rumbles on, the likes of Sony are steadily bringing out remastered, upscaled ports of recent classics. This can only be a good thing if it means that it brings more attention to bona fide masterpieces like Journey, a beautiful piece of design that defies easy-fit categorisation. It is not so much that there are insufficient words to describe this strange and haunting game. Rather, it is more that words will only cause the player to prejudge what they are getting when they download it, and that would be a sad thing because…

  • Rare Replay (Microsoft, Xbox One)

    August 14, 2015 - By 

    Back in the day, gamers had to wait five or six minutes for a game to load, the anticipation only slightly dampened by the horrific beeeeee tcchhh noise and the hypnotic parallax bars juddering up the sides of the screen. I am speaking specifically about the joys and woes of playing on a ZX Spectrum, for that was my platform of choice, a computer so hi-tech that it came with a whopping 48k of memory, later almost trebled to 128k. This little wonder was also linked up to a cassette player, which meant that anyone with a tape deck and…

  • Angry Birds 2 (Rovio Entertainment, iOS / Android)

    August 13, 2015 - By 

    One cannot help but be impressed by the Angry Birds phenomenon. There are few other apps that have been so downloaded to so many mobile devices and other platforms the world over. Quite the achievement for the once relatively unknown Finnish development house Rovio Entertainment, who has developed the initially wacky idea of a war between birds and pigs into an all-conquering, money-raking force of doom. The appeal of the Angry Birds franchise is easy to identify, as it takes no time at all for casual gamers to adapt to the simplest of concepts: knocking structures over by catapulting little…

  • The Frames – Longitude

    June 29, 2015 - By 

    The Frames have been together in one form or another for twenty-five years and counting. A quarter of a century. That’s a pretty impressive innings, given their profession that they have made it up as they’ve gone along, more ambling than shambling, steadily building up an avid fan base the world over. Not many bands can claim such an achievement – the bonhomie that keeps this fraternity chugging along is clearly genuine, a deep bond that has been forged from years of grinding against an industry that is largely indifferent to proper songs that cannot be squeezed into an easily…

  • Lego: Jurassic World (Warner Bros., Multiformat)

    June 23, 2015 - By 

    If you would be so kind, allow me a moment to unshackle myself from journalistic objectivity, break the fourth wall and relay to you a personal anecdote. Twenty-two years ago, I was staying with some relatives in Toronto, and my cousin announced in her languid Canadian drawl that she wanted to see the new Stephen Spielberg film: “Ya know, tha one aboot the dinosaurs eating folk.” I was easily sold, having been fascinated by the idea of palaeontology since I was a toddler, and so we made the forty-five minute drive along the freeway to the “nearest” multiplex, conveniently situated…

  • CQAF: Josh Rouse @ Black Box, Belfast

    May 6, 2015 - By 

    “Och wise up!” chimes a female voice from a few rows back. Josh Rouse – smartly dressed in double denim and a dapper hat, gifted with a sweet, sleepy voice – has just announced that he is about to play his last song, and has been roundly chastised in the most affectionate way possible. The fact that the end of Rouse’s gig has been met with such a fine example of the Northern Irish vernacular should indicate how warmly his performance has been received. There is, to reach for that hoary cliché, a lot of love in the room –…

  • Bloodborne (Sony, PS4)

    April 12, 2015 - By 

    Gluttons for punishment will find much to enjoy in Bloodborne, an unremittingly sadistic title that apparently has one difficulty level, and that level is brutal. Anyone familiar with From Software’s Dark Souls series will know the level of cruelty to expect here: a fearfully malicious and dark underworld where everything and everyone has the sole intent of annihilating you. None of this might sound particularly appealing but Bloodborne has the same compelling quality that infuses other equally addictive games. It proves your mettle, for sure, to be killed over and over and over again yet still want to keep coming…

  • Battlefield Hardline (EA, Multiformat)

    April 1, 2015 - By 

    The Battlefield series has always been the only true rival to Activision’s all-conquering Call Of Duty. WhereasCOD is as much fun for noobs as being repeatedly slapped in the face with a live sea-bass, Battlefield has always been fairer or at least more willing to give inexperienced players an easier ride. Levelling up is not quite as punishing a slog while the playing fields themselves, in contrast to the tightly confined spaces of other online multiplayer titles, are vast stomping grounds with multiple buildings you can hide in – and, crucially, blow to smithereens. This encourages all kinds of play, from those who prefer to run…