Dredge

Described as a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent, Dredge is one of the most unexpectedly exciting indie games to release this year. Players act as trawlerman, furrowing nautical depths and selling their catch. Cash leads to better fishing equipment, and soon enough players are trawling the depths of deep sea, but the deeper the water the bigger the threat. Fog pervades the mysterious open ocean, with a dark history lurking beneath the water surface. If you’ve played Dredge, you’ll know how enveloping it is. For everyone else, there’s mysteries to unravel in them there seas.

Viewfinder

A mind-bending first-person puzzler in the vein of Manifold Garden or Superliminal, Viewfinder challenges perception, reshapes reality, and redefines the world, all through the lens of an instant camera. The premise is simple enough: place captured photographs and camera roll images into your immediate vicinity to alter the environment and overcome obstacles. The image-warping escapism also evokes Gorogoa but play through Viewfinder and you’ll quickly realise it’s very much its own thing, a towering achievement for its one-man studio. Hopefully Viewfinder’s nominations for best indie and best debut indie at The Game Awards bring it to a wider audience.

Football Manager 2024

Yes, you’ve probably heard of Football Manager, and yes, you’re likely to have let this iteration pass you by. But do so at your peril, because if you have hundreds of hours to spare Football Manager 2024 is the most engrossing entry in years thanks to new features such as the set piece creation wizard, improved player animations, and more visible feedback on whether your team’s formation and tactics are working as anticipated on match day. Football Manager’s uncanny ability to attach emotion to a barrage of stats and spreadsheets is still it’s forte, but its 24’s new additions which promote this entry to a must play for anyone even remotely interested in the ruthless world of football management.

Rusted Moss

Rusted Moss is a metroidvania with compelling twin-stick shooting and traversal mechanics; grapple hooks give players ability to swing through the game’s deftly designed zones whilst thumb-sticks turn levels into precise, 360° shooting galleries. It’s a skill that’s tricky to learn initially but becomes masterfully intuitive the longer you play. Rusted Moss was hyped on release last April, but chatter has since petered out. It’d be great to see this niche indie project on more platforms as its twin-stick mechanic is made for consoles.           

Gravity Circuit

A slick 2D platformer evoking classics, in Gravity Circuit players assume command of the Mega Man alike Kai, a lone wolf war hero who must channel mysterious powers into devastating punches, kicks, and combos in a rip-roaring soar through a sentient robot inhabited retro future. Like any other year, 2023 has seen its fair share of fantastic platformers – offerings from Mario and Sonic notwithstanding – but as one of the year’s best Gravity Circuit doesn’t deserve to be overshadowed.

Space Wreck 

This bite sized post-apocalyptic space explorer packs an awful lot of RPG into a tiny package. Developer Pahris Entertainment SIA have crafted something they say is ‘intentionally short yet surprisingly deep’, opting to focus on replayability. In Space Wreck, with numerous traits to plough into your character, every decision harbouring consequence, and up to eight possible solutions for each of the game’s quests there’s plenty of variation and playstyle on offer. Fans of games at the cerebral end of the RPG spectrum like Disco Elysium shouldn’t sleep on this one.   

Season: A Letter to the Future

A meditative bike ride through verdant valleys and quaint townships, Season: A Letter to the Future encourages players to capture the essence of life – the smell of a flower, the sound of a meadow breeze, the late-afternoon light cascading down the face of a statue – to distil the significance of our relationships and to find meaning in minutiae, all before an inevitable apocalypse wipes the slate clean. Season: A Letter to the Future reminds us that the value is in the voyage, not the destination.

Ugly

A reflective platformer in more ways than one, Ugly utilises a creative mirror mechanic to solve challenging puzzle rooms, creating a shadowy replica of yourself to swap and change the world around you. The mirror isn’t just for platforming though, its activation can reveal hidden secrets and past trauma – the game takes place in the recesses of a tormented nobleman’s mind. A hidden gem in every sense, Ugly hasn’t received much fanfare which is a shame because away from the innovative platforming there’s a stirring narrative to unravel.

Hi-Fi Rush

Surprise released to immediate fanfare by The Evil Within developer Tango Dreamworks, Hi-Fi Rush continued rhythm-action games’ renaissance with its stylish gameplay synced to a pumping soundtrack. The month following its release concurrent Steam players dropped off a cliff with 65% moving onto something else, and despite a resurgence in the early Autumn following its Arcade Challenge update it seems Hi-Fi Rush has been largely forgotten. However, it’s hybridisation of genres, killer mixtapes, memorable characters, and pulsating action is worth a go for anyone even slightly interested.

El Paso, Elsewhere

Exuding all the style and power of Max Payne, El Paso, Elsewhere is a third-person neo-noir shooter taking place inside the shapeshifting confines of a strange hotel. Hunt werewolves, evil puppets, and a host of damned creatures in vivid slow motion, all whilst on a meaningful mission to destroy the villain you once loved. There’s more to El Paso, Elsewhere than cinematic gunfire, but of course any fan of shooting games should take note.

Jusant

Jusant is a meditative action-puzzle climbing adventure in which players scale an impossibly tall tower in command of an androgenous climber. As the altitude increases, so does the repertoire of climbing tools and techniques; players must use their wits to best scale the tower’s diverse biomes, uncovering a deep history with every foot of elevation. Don’t Nod’s latest effort is contemplative, challenging, but ultimately, a beautiful experience that’s not to be missed.

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals

You’d be forgiven for not realising the sequel to one of indie games’ most confounding entries released this year, but OXENFREE II: Lost Signals did indeed step into the light this past July. Set five years after its predecessor, Lost Signals follows Riley as she investigates mysterious electromagnetic waves disturbing TV signals and aviation radar that’re emanating from her hometown. A mind-bending, supernatural thriller, with meaningful conversation choices shaping the story as Riley uncovers more than she bargained for.

Q1 2009- A Period of Strategy

Dawn of War II got the year off to a good start.

To start off 2009, we had some kick-ass releases. In a remarkable coincidence, almost all of the notable releases were strategy games. When Dawn of War II came out it knocked us flat with its fantastic visuals and RPG-esque tactical gameplay.  Following this was Tom Clancy’s Endwar. With some interesting voice control options and a cool continuous multiplayer scheme it sounded like an interesting premise. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to its promises. Another much-hyped release was that of Empire Total War. Highly anticipated, it had high expectations. And while the game succeeded in creating a game that was yet even larger and better looking than ever before, it was riddled with bugs. To this date it still crashes, and the AI is still incapable of making naval invasions. Nevertheless it was a mixed bag to say the least.

To continue the trend of strategy games in Q1, we had the release of Men of War in late March. This game combined the small scale squad tactics of Company of Heroes and the innovative Direct Control as seen in the 2004 classic, Soldiers: Heroes of World War II. Also worthy of mention is Cryostasis, an indie horror game that had many people on the edge of their seats. Selling at a knock down price, it was a bargain worth snatching up.

Q2 2009- A period of Stalin and Martians…Oh dear

Socializing with my pixelated friends.

A little way into the year, things cooled down a little. We had some big names like The Sims make a reappearance after a lengthy hiatus. The Sims 3 managed to generate a fair amount of interest too, selling almost 1.5 million copies in its first week. And who can mention Q2 of 2009 without Stalin vs Martians! In the words of Gamespot’s Kevin VanOrd, “Do not play, look at, or even think about this mangled wreck of a strategy game.” Quite right he was too. Stalin vs Martians was a dire game in just about every area. It had horrible sound, horrible graphics, terrible controls and more bugs than a British hospital.

To help pad out this fairly desolate part of the year, Velvet Assassin was released in May. It was a unique stealth action game set in World War Two and it provided great sound with some great graphics. Unfortunately though- it just wasn’t that much fun due to unsatisfying gunplay and poor AI. However, for the more die-hard shooter fans out there, the biggest release of the quarter was ARMA II. This was not just a standard bubblegum shooter though- for many missions you were simply dropped somewhere in the 225km² map, given some rough directions, and off you went. Little guidance, lots of frustration and a punishing difficulty. Doesn’t sound like much fun does it? In fact what kept people coming back for more was the huge map editor, and the tons upon tons of equipment and vehicles at your disposal. Don’t fancy a long run? Take a chopper.

Q3 2009- Turning old ideas into new ones

Nothing like a little ‘umph’ to start off Q3. Now, being that these are the summer months and game developers have a tendency to hibernate until winter, we didn’t see too much action. However, Street Fighter 4 with its fantastic online play and quirky retro visuals helped many a gamer through weeks of boredom. As did Batman: Arkham Asylum, which took the gaming media by storm. This was not simply a feeble movie-game seen so many times before; it was a visceral, exciting and adult adventure through the depths of DC’s underworld. To put it plainly- the best superhero game ever made.

However, if this didn’t take your fancy then in September we saw the highly anticipated yet slightly disappointing Resident Evil 5. Sporting a strong emphasis on 2-player co-op and taking place in bright African sunshine, Capcom’s latest was more of a gory third person shooter than the shit-in-your-pants survival horror game it once was. Nevertheless, it provided some entertainment, and it wasn’t a horribly botched port like RE4. It was also around September that anticipation of the now-infamous Modern Warfare 2 began to grow. Receiving pages upon pages of optimistic media coverage, it looked like a winner for sure…

Q4 2009- Dizzying highs and crushing lows

Hooray for BioWare!

The last few months have probably been the most eventful. Partly, this is because developers try and get their big budget releases out before Holiday to maximize profits, but this year there were several noteworthy events. First off we have Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. Now, even with hindsight, I know that there were a LOT of PC gamers out there who were wary of this game before it’s release. While the original had been good, ARMA II had been released only months before, and it had set the bar high. Also, it was not totally unfair to suggest that because OF:DR was being released on consoles as well as PC, that it would be either a simple port, or just not have the epic scope of a game like ARMA II, purpose built for the PC. Upon release, it seemed like this was correct. The game didn’t have the realism or scope of ARMA, but it still had the bugs to match- most people found little reason to buy it. Following this we had Fallout 3: GOTY edition. Nothing new here, just a compilation of all the DLC’s and the full game in one package. It would have been nice if they had solved the crashing issues with it, though. To top off October, we had Boderlands. And do you want to know why this game is great? Loot. Lots of loot. Now I don’t know about you, but I just love the feeling you get when you find a monstrous cache of weapons in Fallout. Now imagine doing that every 10 minutes, and you get the basic idea of Borderlands. Seriously though, the gunplay and role playing elements all came together nicely in this superior game.

Now as we venture into November, things begin to heat up. Dragon Age Origins. Nuff’ said, right? This game was simply incredible; bringing together a mix of old style D&D action and beautiful modern day graphics, we had a game that felt both refreshingly new and comfortingly familiar at the same time.

Then, sometime around the end of October, the bombshell that MW2 would not have mod support or dedicated servers was dropped with an almighty shockwave. Forums were flash mobbed with angry PC gamers, and there was a huge outcry. However, Infinity Ward were not backing down (at that point in time) and refused to comment. Most of you will already know the story, so I will not elaborate further (if for whatever reason you don’t, check the links at the bottom for more info). So the MW2 release date came and went with the astonishing sales figures that everyone expected to accompany it. At this point, PC gamers were feeling very sorry for themselves- but just then, along came Left 4 Dead 2. Made by our loyal and friendly developer Valve, we expected class and polish, and we got every ounce of it.

To top it all off, and to bring us back to today, we had another decent release recently; namely DiRt 2. Good game if you have a steering wheel, but my opinion remains that driving games just don’t work so well on PC.

And the rest, as they say, is history…

2010

And now we look towards 2010. 2009 was a good year, but it certainly had it’s ups and downs. But next year…PC gamers are in for a treat. Let me list some of the games we might be seeing in the next 12 months;

• Starcraft 2
• Command and Conquer 4
• Napoleon Total War
• Guild Wars 2
• Diablo 3
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Red Orchestra 2
• Stalker: Call or Pripyat
• Silent Hunter V
• Supreme Commander 2
• Brink
• MechWarrior
• Mafia II
• Deux Ex 3
• Mass Effect 2
• Splinter Cell
• Max Payne 3
• Bioshock 2
• Assassin’s Creed II
• Battlefield 1943
• Final Fantasy XIV Online
• Medal of Honor
• Batman Arkham Asylum 2
• R.U.S.E
• Just Cause 2
• Dead Rising 2

These are just some of the games you could be playing this time next year. Boy, I’m going to be strapped for cash next Holiday…

For further info on the Modern Warfare 2 scandal:

Connection and ping issues

A little satire

IWNet hacked!

Issues with the game

Modern Warfare 2 Review