Reviews

Bullet Reviews

We take a look at a few recent game releases you can't afford to be without.

Arkham City

It was always considered a truism that, if ever a developer was able to truly make you feel like you were the Batman, it would have succeeded in creating a great game.

So many poor Batman games had come and gone, so few were expecting much from Rocksteady's Arkham Asylum in 2009. What they got was the greatest superhero game ever made. Combining all aspects of Batman's character - sleuthing, stealthing, combat and superhero thrills and action, the game was a triumph and set the bar very high for the inevitable sequel.

With Arkham City, Rocksteady fulfills on the promise of the original, delivering a bigger, badder and more exciting new chapter in the life of Bruce Wayne and his ultra-cool alter-ego.

Very much a continuation of what came before, Arkham City ups the stakes and moves the action to a sprawling super prison in the heart of Gotham City. You'll have to contend with Two-Face, the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, the evil Zsasz and of course the Joker if you're to survive all that Arkham City throws at you.

Visually stunning, technically perfect and gripping at every twist and turn, Arkham City is a fantastic achievement. Buy it, play it, live it.

Verdict: 9/10

Skyrim

You can spend 100 hours in the world of Skyrim and still feel like you've hardly scratched the surface. That's how epic and expansive Bethesda Softworks' latest fantasy adventure is.

Set in the cold and frozen wilds of the Northlands, home of the mighty Nords, Skyrim casts you as a small fish in a very large pond - but with a very big destiny to fulfill.

Yes, you're a chosen one of sorts, and your destiny is intertwined with the fate of the entire world and the mysterious return of the once all-powerful dragons, but feel free to ignore the main storyline and just set off exploring. You could easily spend the time you would spend on 10 other games merely making your way through the massive land of Skyrim, encountering new faces, new cities, new ruins, new dungeons and, most of all, new adventures.

Or follow the main storyline and find out what it means to be Dragonborn. You might just be this world's only hope for survival.

Skyrim is an incredibly ambitious project, brought to life with beautiful graphics and compelling, addictive gameplay. Yes, some bugs creep in due to the sheer size of the game, but none come close to ruining the ultimate experience.

In short, it's a must have.

Verdict: 9/10

Assassin's Creed Revelations

Put it this way: If you've enjoyed the Assassin's Creed games of the past, you'll certainly enjoy this one, which features the third and final installment in the long and winding story of Ezio Auditore, the 16th century Italian assassin caught up in an age-old conspiracy that pits him against the evil templars - and perhaps a group of alien entities with their own agenda.

No major changes have been made to the AC formula, only additions, and it must be said that this is where the latest chapter falls a little bit short. The new elements, the tower defence minigames, the introduction of bombs to your ever-growing arsenal, the hookblade, as well as a few other ancillary features hardly worth mentioning, don't really add much to the formula and in fact at times downright detract from it.

Still, it's worth it for the core gameplay and story components, most of which survive intact, it's worth it to see how Ezio's story ends, it's worth it to see where the series is heading, and it's certainly worth it for the visuals, which are as sharp and at times stunningy beautiful as the series has ever been.

Verdict: 7/10