Title: Grand Theft Auto IV
Released: 29th April, 2008
I often associate gaming with guilt. I love getting lost in luscious, fully-realised worlds, following the hero’s journey, developing a character from an underpowered weakling to an all-conquering powerhouse; it hooks me every time. And yet. When I play, there’s always a little snag jaggling at the corner of my mind, quietly whispering the words: “You’ve got better things to do, Jon.” Read the rest of this entry »
Title: System Shock 2
Released: August, 1999
2114. Experimental starship, the Von Braun. Flickering lights. Echoing silence. Desolate corridors, empty but for the bloodstains. A former crewmate rounds the corner, neck swollen and contorted by an alien parasite, swiping metal piping into your face whilst gargling the words: “Kill me.”
System Shock 2 is the scariest game I have ever played. I was fourteen when it came out, which certainly put me in an impressionable position when it came to horror. This was slap-bang in the middle of the film/sleepover era, which despite flirting with many genres, was most at home with horror. We’d often rent a terrible action film to laugh at the dialogue, or a dreadful martial arts number to check out the bad-ass moves – and to laugh at the dialogue – but for me it was always horror that worked best. We’d all be camped out downstairs, often in a rural Essex farmhouse conversion – which was a brilliant setting for scares in itself – and after pizza and videogames, we’d bust out the sleeping bags, gather round the TV, and fire up a scary film. Read the rest of this entry »
Title: Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords
Format: Gamecube
Released: 7th June, 2004 (US)
I have a friend called Jay. He is a dick. But then, so am I, so I guess that’s why we get along so well. I first met him at Prep School when we were both 7, and despite him being cool (and me being not), and despite us having wildly different interests, (he was into football, I used to go around pinching people on the ass. I wish I was joking) we bonded over ones we did share – and the biggest was video games. Read the rest of this entry »
Title: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Released: August, 2011
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a sci-fi epic all about choice. Consequence. Making a mistake at any point leads to repercussions further down the line. Example: an early mission has you meeting your boss to sort out a “situation”. Not being told what it was, I ignored my boss’ repeated requests to come find him; I’d just been given a whole office to explore, and that meant picking locks, hacking computers, and stealing as many energy snacks as I could. Fine.
I stole a lot, spoke to well-rounded NPCs (non-player characters), and got a feel for the game world. Then: “Get here right away Adam; the situation’s just got a whole lot worse.” Hm? Turns the “situation” was a terrorist attack, and my pissing about has resulted in the termination of eight hostages. Ouch. Read the rest of this entry »
Title: Super Mario 64
Format: N64
Released: 1st March, 1997
At the impressionable age of 12, Super Mario 64 blew my mind like a brain prostitute. Brought up on a diet of 2D Amiga platformers and the occasional PC adventure game round my mate Jay’s house, I had never seen anything that looked so exciting, and offered up such a tantalising world to explore. I had just moved to senior school, and the N64 was the console of choice among my peers. The PlayStation was more bad-ass and grown-up, but the multiplayer possibilities on offer from Nintendo made the N64 a firm favourite for sleepovers, which, being the social hubs of the time, pretty much sealed the deal. And then there was Goldeneye: a game so popular that my friend Aaron’s brother charged people at school £1 for completing a level on 00 Agent, not to mention extra to unlock the more difficult cheats (though I do remember he pityingly charged 1p for Dam, because it was “so easy”. I’ve since played it. It isn’t.) Read the rest of this entry »
Games That Rocked My World 