"Rollcage Stage III" If Firebugs (began development as Rollcage 3), wasn't, then this is the spiritual successor to Rollcage/Rollcage II. After a Kickstarter campaign and years in the making it's here. If you've played the Rollcage games the gameplay isn't much different. We have futuristic vehicles able to grip to walls, ceilings and flip 180 degrees to be driven upside down-if there even is an upside-down with these vehicles. Some of the weapons and powerups that can be used are boosts, homing missiles, assault guns, to name a few, many of which were in the Rollcage games. There is variety when it come to the races as well. There are classic races that include pickups where the finishing position is all that matters. Ultimate races where the damage inflicted on opponents and your position after each lap adds up to a score. I'm indifferent about this mode because if you manage to stay in front for the whole race you won't win as there are no pickups you can drop behind you. You should receive points for using the shield on opponent's weapons as a means of rewarding playing in front and defence. I had one of these races in tier six of the campaign and I just sat back, I was miles away, and waited to pick up some homing missiles and other helpful weapons to hit them and then stormed home during the final lap. The weighting too heavily favours weapon damage inflicted as opposed to position, meaning this is the best strategy. There is also speed demon mode which is like classic races but the only pickup available is the boost-this is a much more relaxing mode to be leading in. Elimination is another one where every 30 seconds or so, the racer in the last position is eliminated. There is also battle mode, think deathmatch in FPSs, which in campaign mode is far too easy. Time trial and carkour (yes, parkour with a car (Rollcage Stage II had a similar mode)), are other modes not part of the single player campaign. Due to the fast pace of the vehicles it really does reward replaying the tracks (there are 22) to become familiar with them. As the tracks become more complicated and the speed increases, on early laps or first attempts, you'll find yourself getting frustrated as corners will seem to come out of nowhere and it's difficult to know where to go at times. You are rarely out of the races though, even if your opponents are off the map (2000m away), a few decent pickups and some decent cornering can take you from last to first with a lap remaining. The aforementioned single player campaign mode is quite extensive. I am almost two thirds of the way through and it seems to be set up like this; There are eleven tiers to progress through, about three tournaments in each of these tiers with three events in each tournament, plus a duel in most of them where you face off against one opponent. Some simple maths tells me that that's over 100 events! Maybe towards the conclusion there will be fewer events per tier, but there is a lot of racing and vehicular combat to be had. It is probably a bit of overkill. The simplicity to progress may irk some at the beginning of the campaign mode as well. There is also nothing to let you know how you have finished in each tier. It would be nice to know where you placed. This is similar in carkour mode as well where I can't see anything to let me know what levels I have completed. I briefly tried to get online and was able to have a race but it wasn't quick and other times I've been unsuccessful, so if you're looking to get this to play with humans, get some friends over and play the four player split screen (I know! Split screen!), or organise a time to get online together. The game is two months old and mine aside, doesn't have a rating here, so it's popularity doesn't seem to be off the charts. Musically this doesn't have the memorable tunes of its inspiration. One of the most nostalgic memories is zooming around to Fatboy Slim and Aphrodite on Rollcage, but nothing much has caught my attention on this soundtrack. And lastly, graphically the game isn't cutting edge. It looks like something that could maybe be considered good from the previous generation. The nostalgia felt with this is something else and the developers have done a lot right, while also adding some extra modes and creating some fun tracks. If you didn't experience this back in the day but like some quick fire arcade racing I recommend giving it a go.

This is an FMV adventure in the same vein as many of the Sega CD games. Obviously with this you have a higher quality of video but the gameplay is as expected. Press left or right as the correct time and explore some rooms trying to find items. The plot attempts a lot of comedy, with to me, the lead actor/character trying to be Jim Carey from his well known comedic roles, but much of it falls flat, particularly all the TV/movie jokes which I don't get - it does offer a chuckle or two though at times. A major fault is that when you eventually do have to participate in this 'movie', you don't always know, and this is more of an issue with the game not being very forgiving, making you start from the beginning after failing. An interesting game though with some innovative features as far as FMV interactive movie games went.

Video games on the whole don't grab me quite like they used to, but this one certainly did from the word go, so much so that I finished it in about three sittings. In Heavy Rain you play through four characters all amidst the tragedy of children being murdered by The Origami Killer. If you analyse this closely, a lot of the gameplay isn't anything special. A lot of it is pressing the buttons that arrive on screen like old SegaCD interactive movies. However, it's all put together really well, not punishing you too harshly if you press the wrong button, and features a great 'whodunit' narrative that is its main strength. There are also various decisions to be made making it non-linear. The only negatives with this are that the movements of the characters is clunky and sometimes I really wanted to run instead of walking. Also, when you are meant to make decisions it can be hard to distinguish between the O and □, at times it's hard to know exactly what each symbol will result in, and also because you are used to QTE, sometimes you accidentally rush it. Loved it though. A memorable gaming experience. Gameplay 4/5 Graphics 5/5 Sound 5/5 Difficulty 5/5 Originality 4.5/5

A lot of the ideas here are great. There are also a number of unique elements making this game stand out from the plethora of other open-world action RPGs. It feels a little like PS4's Horizon Zero Dawn. However, the developers made this too much of a grind. The need to do certain things before you can just progress the story meant that I never made it to the end of this game. Gameplay 4/5 Graphics 4/5 Sound 4/5 Difficulty 4/5 Originality 4/5

At first blowing up everything and using various contraptions in this open-world game is fun as, it also looks fantastic, albeit the minor frame rate and loading time issues on the PS4 version, but it becomes repetitive fairly quickly. Not that the story is engrossing, but there are too many side missions to do before you can continue the campaign missions, diluting the story even further. I've never loved this series though, it just feels a bit shallow. Gameplay 3/5 Graphics 4.5/5 Sound 4/5 Difficulty 4/5 Originality 3/5