Animal Crossing has previously shined as a portable game, but this stripped-back mobile spin-off provides none of the same charm. I'm convinced much of Animal Crossing's magic happens in my head. When I'm away from my town, I mean, and wondering what's happening back in the game. If Portia is still angry at me for nudging her into that trap. If my gorilla neighbour has replied to my letter about his awful wallpaper. Whether anyone new has popped into town today, or something strange has washed up on the beach.I'm talking, of course, about the other games in the Animal Crossing series - not Nintendo's new mobile spin-off Pocket Camp. Because, in Pocket Camp, almost every opportunity to luxuriate in Animal Crossing's famously slow, methodical pace has been eroded. I don't need to wonder what's going on in Pocket Camp when I'm away from the game because, if a neighbour is not there when I return, for example, I can just use an item to conjure them. If a fruit harvest hasn't … [Read more...] about Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp review
Cyberpunk 2077 50 minutes gameplay
As Left 4 Dead 2 turns 10, we speak to its creators about the Valve game that won’t die
When you get to the end of a hard-fought round in Left 4 Dead 2, you're usually crawling towards a rugged red door. Maybe there's only two of your zombie-slaying quartet left... your health bars stripped away by the horde, your eyesight drained of colour, signalling that one more knockdown equals permadeath. If you're lucky, you push through the pain and make it into the safe room on borrowed time, grab some ammo and shoot the charging zombies to carve a safe route for the rest of your team.That's unless you're playing Funny Doors. Funny Doors dictates that if you get into the safe room before a fellow survivor, in spite of earning those precious 25 points for letting them live to see the next round, you must hammer the E button to open and close the safe room door as they approach, turning the final moments of each round into one hilarious test of strength. Left 4 Dead 2's safe room doors have a serious heft to them, and as such, each swing animation creates a tiny window of … [Read more...] about As Left 4 Dead 2 turns 10, we speak to its creators about the Valve game that won’t die
On the set of Assassin’s Creed – this is no ordinary video game movie
It’s freezing on the set of Assassin’s Creed. It’s still dark, but that doesn’t stop the veritable hive of activity in the desert hills above the small Spanish town of Almeria. It’s the final day of shooting for one of the film’s 15th century sequences before the crew ups sticks and moves to London’s Pinewood Studios but the atmosphere isn’t one of panic, just of getting the job done. It’s a slick operation and I’m just doing my best not to get in the way as trucks speed into the main set area. Templars with shaved heads and cross tattoos on their necks wander by with very real swords and cups of steaming coffee, while horses are led casually through the madness. The head of the Templar army, Ojeda, wanders imposingly past, huge in armour and with a disconcertingly broken nose and milky left eye. I keep writing the word ‘COLD’ over and over in my notebook to keep my hands busy but I have an eagle eye out for … [Read more...] about On the set of Assassin’s Creed – this is no ordinary video game movie
Sega & Chill: Meet the modder who makes arcade classics easier—using his feet
Golden Axe was already an old game when I found it at the back of an arcade in the 1990s. The dusty cabinet only cost 20 cents per credit while shiny new games demanded a whole dollar. It was good value: only 20 cents to become a dwarf who could ride dragons or weird chicken-leg creatures, bash up tiny gnomes for their magic potions, and sometimes summon lightning from the sky.Even at that price I could never finish it, and playing it years later on Steam as part of the Sega Mega Drive & Classics Collection it's obvious why. The boss fights are cheap, enemies burst out of doorways to hammer you on the head, the difficulty spikes are entirely random, and ledges are precarious. It has all the hallmarks of arcade games designed first and foremost to vacuum coins straight out of childrens' pockets with maximum efficiency. But thanks to a Steam Workshop modder, it no longer has to be that way.Tucked away among the mods in the Steam Workshop, behind the ones that inserted Knuckles into … [Read more...] about Sega & Chill: Meet the modder who makes arcade classics easier—using his feet
