I didn't need to go through Shadow of the Colossus again to be reminded it's one of my favourite games of all-time, but doing so has simply cemented that fact once again. It's so different to people's expectations - both then and now - it makes the wait for The Last Guardian even more of a travesty. And who knows if that's actually ever going to see the light of the day. Nonetheless, to date, Team Ico's output has been nothing short of stellar.
It hasn't aged either, controls aside, and the HD remake has been treated with a terrific amount of love and attention. It also astounded me to discover there are lizards to kill and fruit to be found that in turn upgrade health and stamina. I've finished the game twice without ever knowing such a thing existed.
This means I am the best at Shadow of the Colossus…
I wanted to give Shadow Fall the benefit of the doubt. There's no doubt it looks very pretty, and the way it almost instantly loads to the main menu is cool, but I wasn't quite expecting it to be as dull as it is.
Things aren't helped by one of the weakest openings to an action game I've ever played. Whoever thought the completely emotionless, detached intro in which you play as a small child, was a good idea needs to stay away from game design. Compared to a similar mechanic in Naughty Dog's superlative The Last of Us, Guerrilla's ham-fisted attempt comes across as amateurish and about as sophisticated as an episode of Jackass.
The game also makes my PS4 fans spin up to the volume of a hoover.
I've been at FIFA Vita, again and it's still better than the console versions, including the PS4 one. Sorry. Also, Nidhogg, which I have retired from after destroying the office (and, more importantly, Chris Bratt) in our inaugural tournament.
Finally, I spent over four hours with Thief. Check out what I thought here.
Despite my best efforts to enjoy Consortium, after a few hours I'm almost at the end of my tether. And possibly at the end of the game, for that matter.
The Kickstarted sci-fi RPG-thing was released in a shambolic state, but since then the developers have been hard at work to eradicate the numerous game-breaking bugs. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be enough. For a game that dines on its ability to maintain a believable and consistent world, the glitches and bugs that frequently appear almost entirely ruin the experience.
More than anything it's a huge shame - beneath the useless exterior that holds Consortium together lies a bubbling laying of unique ideas, and a story that keeps you hooked and constantly guessing. As part 1 of a planned series of games, my biggest worry at this stage is that the hours I've spent putting up with terrible bugs will lead me towards little more than a cliffhanger that might not actually ever get resolved. I'll still see it through out of curiosity, but currently Consortium is making me sad.
