The dad of Bokura no Kazoku's made-up family is sitting cross-legged in a very ordinary living room, making animal-shaped shadows in the light of the TV. He's doing this for his baby's entertainment, woofing with enthusiasm as he moves his hands in a vaguely dog-like manner. His tiny son notices this display, crawls over to the spot … Continue reading It’s all about family
In 1945 a mysterious black moon appeared in the sky and waves of mythical beasts - goblins, gorgons, naga, and worse - began to roam the land, their only goal to kill, without malice or anger, every human they could before they expired. It's now 1999. Humans have been erased from entire continents and the situation is … Continue reading Students, statistics, and bloodthirsty beasts
Aconcagua begins with a dramatic explosion sending a small passenger plane hurtling towards the titular real-world mountain the game takes place on, which for the purposes of this 2000 PlayStation title is located within the fictional country of Meruza. This is a country where the people suffering under enforced military rule still harbour faint hopes of democratically-elected … Continue reading When two very different genres collide…
The first Siren was a divisive experience; praised by some, loathed by others, and I... well, it's probably best you read about it for yourself. But whether you view the original as an unflinchingly brutal nightmare played out within a dense tangle of plot or nothing more than a deeply unfair game loosely attached to a string of indecipherable … Continue reading Second Siren lucky?
Until a few days ago I hadn't played Siren - or Forbidden Siren as us PAL gamers called it - since it was new. Isn't that weird? I love horror games, and I love the PlayStation 2 - why wouldn't I have played this since 2004? Ah. I hadn't played Siren for almost two decades … Continue reading FFScinating
Graphically 1995 was all over the place, a turbulent time when "realistic" FMV games spanning multiple CD-ROMs would jostle for magazine space with pre-rendered 2D games on comparatively tiny cartridges, Game Boy games destined for use on a smeary green dot matrix display, and next-gen titles boasting fully texture mapped polygons. One style however was … Continue reading “Inspired by” is not a dirty term
Videogames are still short on many things, but nobody could ever claim ninjas was one of them. Whether your preference is for action games, platformers, run 'n' guns, RPGs, or anything else there's virtually no genre in any era without a silent sword-wielding assassin hiding in there somewhere - not even cute kart racers dare … Continue reading Natural ninjas
The year is 1975. Phones - where they exist - are boxy plastic things tethered to walls by tightly coiled cable. Cars are rarely seen. An entire house will have one solitary TV within its walls, and the programmes it displays have to be watched when they're transmitted or missed forever. It's in this capsule … Continue reading Sony’s sunshine
Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster 