Recent reviews by Ayresome

This is a game of football where the players are all cars. The game is very fast, there's a lot of skill involved but the controls are simple and it's easy to play - more Mario Kart than a "proper" car sim.

There are a few different cars in the game, with others available as unlocks and DLC. I found the single-player game a bit repetitive. There's not a proper campaign which doesn't help. The graphics and sound are good.

It's funny watching a car race the length of the pitch in order to put the ball in from the goal line, only to miss and go crashing into the back of the net. This happens very frequently.

I think I would probably enjoy this multiplayer, but none of my friends own it. This is possibly because I'm a sad-sack no-mates.

This is an RPG based on the long-running cartoon. As you might expect, the humour is crude and low-brow. As you might not expect, this licenced game is actually very good.

The storyline is typically nonsensical, making plenty of geeky jokes about paper and pen RPGs and live-action roleplay. You roam the map in real time completing quests. The town of South Park is well inhabited and busy with all of the characters from the series, all voiced.

When you go into combat, the game uses a turn-based combat system. It's repetitive and the battles are generally too easy. However, they are usually over quite quickly. If your idea of a special attack is a long-brewed fart then you'll enjoy it - perhaps not the 463rd time though.

I got bored before completing this, but still got a lot of pleasure out of it. If you're a fan of the TV series this would be essential, otherwise it's still amusing and worth a play on a rainy afternoon.

This is a fast-paced puzzle game with a style based on the iconic London Underground map.

The graphics themselves are lovely, with slight variants depending on the level. The level of polish is great. Sound is basic but functional.

However, I found the gameplay fairly repetitive. I think the game backs itself into a corner with the graphical style, form over function. When playing a round, I found the game far too easy early on. Then a few minutes in the difficulty curve rises far too fast - so you get ten minutes boredom, one minute fun gameplay then death. Then you start again.

However, it's cheap and woth a look just for the graphics. They really are that lovely.

If you've played any other of the Lego games, you've played this one. They're all very much alike. If you haven't played a Lego game before, they're 3d puzzle-based action games, in the vein of Mario 64. They're very easy to play with simple controls.

I enjoy playing Star Wars Lego with my easily excited four year old, who loves it and is always asking to play. It's gentle enough for him to enjoy it. The production values and polish are great, and it's STAR WARS. It has lots of in-jokes and nods to the source materials. There are lots of collectables which give some replayability - I couldn't be bothered myself.

As of about five years ago, all six existing Star Wars films were catered for (i.e. the original trilogy and prequels), hence the title. It doesn't include anything from the more recent films, those are in different games. Each film has about six levels (so 36 in total). If you haven't seen the films then the plot is likely incomprehensible. Who hasn't seen Star Wars though?

A story-based game, played through a browser-like interface with the mouse. You play an investigator, picking through emails, web histories, phone calls and the like, investigating a group of potential terrorists.

The storyline was engaging. The stylised interface was easy to use and the core mechanic of reading articles and picking the interesting points out of them was more fun than it sounds. The graphical style seemed fresh and exciting. I enjoyed the "1984" references.

The downsides are that the game is quite short, with low replayability due to its story-based nature. The story itself, while largely good, was missing a decent twist at the end. Unfortunately the characters were completely unlikeable, which meant I had little empathy with any of them.

The game itself seems designed to make you think about surveillance. It probably does, but the game itself is probably too opinionated to be objective.

Having said that, I enjoyed playing it and found it three hours well spent. It's worth the budget price, and the fact there's few similar games makes it worth playing.

In what way would you like this part to go horribly wrong:
[] In a serious way
[] In a very serious way
[] In an amusing way
[] In a bat***t insane way

It's a Telltale adventure, similar to "Walking Dead", "Wolf Among Us", etc. If you've enjoyed those you'll enjoy this. Certainly the most amusing.

This is extremely similar to "Shadowrun Returns" and "Shadowrun: Dragonfall". If you've played those then you'll like it. They all run on the same engine and are adventures of approximately the same length. This is the most recent of the three and has the most up-to-date graphics.

For the uninitiated, it's an isometric turn-based RPG. The rules and setting are based on the pen-and-paper RPG of the same name - it's a quirky cyberpunk setting with fantasy elements.

The pen-and-paper background means that the rules are strong. The game is well balanced, challenging without being too difficult. The rules are explained well through the user interface with tooltips and the like.

I enjoyed the story and cared about the characters. The writing is really good. The game took approximately 15 hours, including the "bonus content". If anything, this was a little fast - I would have enjoyed a few extra side missions.

If you enjoyed the other Shadowrun games then you'll enjoy this one. If you're wondering which of the three to buy, this wouldn't be a bad choice - perhaps "Dragonfall" edges it on story, though that's a matter of taste. It has better graphics and more finely turned than "Shadowrun Returns" though, and I'd recommend it over that.

This is an excellent little game on the quiet, very suitable for playing in short 30 minute bursts.

The graphics and excellent and quirky, and the mechanics suit the game well. You rarely feel cheated or frustrated if you lose. Good sense of humour with various nods to other RPGs.

Characters die frequently, and it's important to remember that it's the guild that's the star rather than any of the cannon fodder that belong to it. Doesn't make it any easier saying goodbye to your favourite character, even though he's going to be replaced like-for-like with a virtually identical one straightaway.

It took me a very long time to get into this one. I played it in fits and starts.

However, once I understood the underlying systems I spent a good deal of time enjoying it. Like a lot of building games, it's easy to spend hours and hours doing tiny little tweaks.
If you're struggling to enjoy this, it's probably worth doing a bit of research on howtos.

I liked the way the campaign worked, returning to previously completed maps. This meant that you really had to plan for the long term on each map.

I haven't seen a full motion video game for ages. I enjoyed this one and it makes a refreshing change.

The atmosphere that the game creates is top-notch. The real star of this is Kelvedon Hatch, where it was filmed.

The acting is generally good and the storyline decent. Good production values.

The downside is that it might have been better as a film, there's a limited amount of interactivity - particularly in the later stages. The game's going to drag you along the plotline whether you like it or not. No real replay value - once you've seen it, you've seen it.

Worth playing for the novelty and for the atmosphere.