Pullblox: 3DS
Not only a great downloadable title, this fantastic little puzzler is one of the best games on the 3DS.
Playing as some weird egg/elf thing, you have to push and pull blocks in order to climb to the top of various structures and rescue other weird egg people trapped at the top. Think QBert meets last year’s Catherine.
The 3D effect actually adds to the gameplay, and the game also features a level editor, which allows you to share your levels via QR codes. This has that indefinable “one more go” appeal and will be looked back on as a puzzle classic. Nice work, Nintendo!
Renegade Ops: PC, 360, PS3
This retro shooter is a callback to classics like Jackal and EA’s “Strike” series. Powered by the same engine that made 2010’s open world Just Cause 2 such a visual treat, Renegade Ops puts explosions and chaos at the top of its priorities, as you tear around the jungle blasting the shit out of anything that moves.
There’s a light RPG system as you upgrade your chosen character, and online multiplayer lets you double your destructive potential. There’s not much more to say. If you hanker after the glory days of 16 bit shooters, this will thrill you to the core.
Pro tip: Choose the character with the airstrike special attack. It is glorious.
Orcs Must Die: PC, 360
Another tower-defence hybrid, Orcs Must Die tasks you with fending off hordes of orcs using a huge range of hilariously brutal traps.
Your “Ash from Evil Dead”-inspired character has a witty range of one liners, and the whole thing has a great Saturday morning cartoon/Dreamworks CGI feel to it.
Strictly a single player affair, Orcs Must Die is a sadist’s delight, and you’ll spend hours coming up with the perfect genocidal death maze to force the hapless orcs through. You might even feel a tiny bit sorry for the green losers as they’re chopped up, crushed, immolated, speared and launched into acid pits.
Coming this year:
Look out for…
Fez: Fantastic looking 2.5D platformer looks like one of 2012’s highlights
Journey: Arty follow up to Flower sees you traversing an endless desert
Shank 2: Cel-shaded violence from the Desperado school of action
The Witness: Jonathon Blow’s follow up
Article by : Gareth Brown 08/02/2012
