[Brooks]

Yeah so Fez. Can't help supposing this'd wow me more had it landed on the world a couple years earlier, and for all its tricksiness I recall the likes of Glum Buster being more ambitious but bar the odd crash there's nothing really objectionable about it. Will download the soundtrack, not least for doing a fine job of injecting something sinister into its otherwise jolly presentation.

[Brooks]

Jumped back into Gears 3 multi for the first time in months with some peers, lo and behold the game is still mighty good. Is fun to come back to discover a whole bunch of default pickup schemes have been fiddled in my absence. Seems there's a bunch of new/re-issued maps to get comfy with too

Hasn't exactly generated a great deal of local chat, though there's little of import to dissect I suppose

[Brooks]

This Tomb Raider Anniv hasn't been horrible at all really, despite the insertion of QTEs. It has less blockpush than I can remember the original having, though could be more claustrophobic. The soundtrack does ancient unease well, bar the spurts of orchestral urgency whenever a beast approaches, which are silly. The bullet-time-slow-motion-one-shot-kill thing is also silly but I quite like it.

Somehow the Great Pyramid's coarser flesh-texturing of old make for a creepier time than the update.

I want a little more opportunity to clamber over mysterious things in a D____ Souls. Preferably without as much GRAB HERE signposting as TR:A deemed necessary.

[Brooks]

Further to TR:A one of the unlockable costumes is Lara Croft minus her entire skin as if in homage to Julia from Hellraiser II

I think all her footfall sound fx also get squelchier

[Brooks]

When one abandons all other offensive options (and there are several) and the ease of remaining well out of enemy lines of fire and elects instead to wade into a swarm of foes, trying to stay upright as long as possible via stunning and executing to keep your HP up, Space Marine becomes a solid-ass action game. Otherwise, far too much space given up to A-to-B plodding (worse than the profligate Gears 3, even), shitty cutsenes yadda yadda

Not familiar with the Warhammer background stuff so the significance of all the detail/colour options in the MP armour customisation shop's lost on me but I like that there are many. Would like to see that in the next Gears itself

The basic concept of the Ultramarine armour is quite neat, the whole, colourful pulpy Space Ancient Rome thing. It is rather videogames

[Brooks]

Hephaestus! shrug

though really shrug is at least one part priapus

[Brooks]

Trying Nier out. Holy moly this is the least weighty grown man avatar I've every manipulated. Rolling/bounding like a puma goddamn everywhere

[Brooks]

Seems like a reasonable quickfix for a lot of dumb vidcons

[Brooks]

Infinity Blade and sequel are more-or-less what I hope Dork Souls II doesn't end up being, which is burdened with loot-o-mania and spreadsheet flicking

Ambient BGM pieces are nice though

[Brooks]

Bet there's no awesome desperate male nudity in Spec Ops either

Seriously that was a rare fist-in-the-air moment for my vidconning 2k12

[Brooks]

It really isn't too awful. Can tell the studio had the laffs putting it together

Think it's the only acutely self-aware bullshit vidcon I've appreciated in recent memory

[Brooks]