Word about Dana Knightstone certainly gets around. A fiction novelist who communes with the dead, her otherworldly powers have helped her solve mysteries the globe over. From investigating haunted Tuscan villas to aiding lovelorn ghosts of Scotland, Knightstone's supernatural prowess has earned her international fame. When a distant Austrian relative hears of her abnormal acumen, he implores Dana to visit. Turns out he too sees the dead, and needs Dana's help unraveling the mystery behind his visions.
A stranger arrives at the museum one evening, but he's not there to look at artifacts. Before Liz can react, the man kidnaps her and escapes into the night. The kidnapping doesn't go according to plan, though, and Liz soon finds herself trapped in a mysterious world filled with colorful plants and unusual creatures. So begins the strange but extremely enjoyable steampunk fantasy adventure Journey: The Heart of Gaia.
Mystery is an incredible motivator, and illo - birth of the cool knows this. From its curious storyline to the nitty-gritty of its mechanics, the game is teeming with it. "The only points in common with other [videogames]," reads the game's website, "is that it has a beginning... and an ending!" Enticing, no?
When we last left our hero, Rufus, he was attempting to flee the trash-ridden planet in pursuit of his newly met dream girl, Goal. Without spoiling Deponia, things were moderately wrapped up, and Rufus seemed to be leaving the conclusion in the hands of fate. Seemed to be. When Chaos on Deponia, begins, Rufus is back in action and rocketing himself toward the upper land, and Goal's home, Elysium, but things take an unsurprising turn for the worse.
Any game with strong similarities to Star Fox deserves a playthrough, in my mind. The ahead-of-its-time polygonal space shooter set precedence for smooth flying controls and engaging action upon its arrival in 1993. Although Psyonix's recent Arc Squadron is obviously inspired by the SNES shooter, it is also its own game, perfectly crafted for the iPhone and the challenge of battling through space with only your fingertip.
Love and hate are complicated emotions, each in many ways a reflection of one another. Understanding them both and learning to master their role in your life can be a neverending journey. Luckily, love and hate are also adorable amorphous blobs from a new iOS puzzler; they're considerably easier to master…and a whole lot more fun.
2012: the predicted year the world will end…for point-and-click adventure games. The genre has been around for decades, and coming up with new ideas is getting tougher. Developers have begun looking to the past for inspiration, and more recently, direct relief. G5 is trying their luck with 1997's Pilot Brothers, Zojoi is completely revamping 1987's Shadowgate, and DotEmu has traveled to 2002 and returned with Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths.
As a person obsessed with all British TV comedy shows, I was surprised to only just now hear of animated sitcom Full English, launching on Channel 4 later this month and featuring numerous well known actors, including The I.T. Crowd's Richard Ayoade.