. Plays August 19, 2012

Tom Orry, Editor - Sleeping Dogs, Xbox 360

I'm liking Sleeping Dogs quite a bit. The last open-world game of any sort I enjoyed and played properly was Batman: Arkham City, and strangely this effort from United Front Games and Square Enix has some similarities.

The combat feels very Batman, with counters playing a heavy part in the combat - although in the early stage of the game I'm currently playing it's not nearly as fluid. Still, it makes a change from the weapon focus most open-world titles have.

I've also been impressed by the presentation. I'd read about and seen some shonky things, but so far the game has delivered a very believable world and some excellent character and city modelling.

The game is also typically tongue in cheek when it comes to the conversations NPCs have with each other. I overheard one lady talking to her friend about what rhino horn does for a man's, well, horn, only for her to then suggest she hopes it also makes them want to use their mouth more. I was shocked!

Still, so far so good, and I'm hoping the undercover storyline picks up pace as the game continues beyond its learning the ropes opening.

Oh, and any story you might read about a game of FIFA 12 is unlikely to tell the full story of my domination!

Brett Phipps, Intern - FIFA 12, Xbox 360

FIFA 12 is the game of choice at VideoGamer HQ during our lunch break. Every afternoon at 1:30pm, screams of joy, despair, and sighs of complete disinterest can be heard from the meeting room.

We tried to arrange a small FIFA tournament just before the gang flew off to Gamescom, but that quickly fell apart. Poor Spenceley tried so hard to keep the matches running.

I'm not a bad FIFA player, so I've managed to win most of my games, but the one game that seems to live longest in the collective memory of the team is my loss to Tom. It's safe to say I was robbed.

Tom will disagree, but I was dominant for most of the game (I hope this makes it past the edit...) and despite shot after shot, I couldn't take the lead. After 90 minutes the game was tied at 1-1. The rule is we go straight to golden goal, just for added intensity.

Then, one of those inexplicable moments that are only possible in a video game happened. Tom breaks through one-on-one, I make a great tackle and the keeper picks up the ball. BUT...after the keeper hands the ball to a nearby defender, the striker and defender are intertwined in a weird glitch that leads the referee to award a penalty.

You know those clashes you see in the Premier League every weekend? Where one player's arm gets attached to another player's chest, and they behave as though they are being electrocuted before falling down? Yeah, that one.

A VG penalty is pretty similar to watching the England national team - we don't have great expectations. Tom steps up and scores.

I'm still trying to process the events leading up to the penalty...