Tweet
In Play is a column taking a weekly sideways look at new game releases. It's a bit like our old series Game of the Week, if you remember that. There are weeks when you look at the new releases and think that video game developers and publishers are doing a pretty good job. This is one of those weeks. Not because the games are spectacularly great - though they're all at least decent - but because of the sheer breadth of what's on offer.
Games have always been incredibly diverse in design, and this lot's no different: a high-concept arcade game, a sprawling action adventure, a multiplayer romp, a survival challenge and a story-minded role-player. That's cool, but it's also par for the course. What's more out of character - and encouraging - is the thematic and aesthetic breadth on display. Flimic cavemen. Family slapstick. J-pop fantasy. A sort of melancholy, post-apocalyptic southern Gothic. Indie minimalism and retro chic. As UK garage's philosopher-king Craig David so penetratingly put it: what's your flava? (He was singing about ice cream as a metaphor for sexual partners, but you get my point.)
Read more…
More...