Remember when games were hard? I can recall, as a child, a time when playing various different games I would get incredibly frustrated with a particular level that I just couldn’t get passed. I kept falling off a ledge, or couldn’t work out how to beat a boss. Sometimes I’d ‘rage-quit’ and completely give up…
Author: Brian Hick

What Happened to Cheat Codes?
Schoolyard currency took many forms. For some of us it was collecting Pokémon or football cards, for others it was teaching our Tamagotchi a new trick, for me though (and, since you’re reading this, I suspect you too) it was cheat codes. Cheats brought something to the schoolyard that trading cards and electrical gizmos never…

Detroit: Become Human
I’m a big fan of games that force me to make decisions. With that in mind, I consider myself fortunate that these kinds of games are becoming more and more common, from episodic games such as the cult classic Life is Strange series to more mainstream AAA titles such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.…

A Way Out – New/Retro Gaming
The last two (or three) generations of console brought with them significant improvement on the overall gaming experience, with regards to graphics, controls, storytelling, and in their ability to connect you to gamers around the world through online play. The downside of that global connection is that it has actually reduced our local one. Most…

Life Is Strange: Before The Storm Episode 2 ‘Brave New World’
Much like the effects of the oncoming storm often acted as a metaphor for the character’s relationships in the original Life Is Strange, so too does the forest fire in Before The Storm. By the end of the second episode in Deck Nine’s prequel trilogy, everything is ablaze; Chloe’s place at Blackwell Academy, her relationship…

Life Is Strange: Before The Storm - Episode 1 ‘Awake’
For those that haven’t played Dontnod Entertainment’s original Life Is Strange, I highly recommend giving it a go. It’s one of my favourite episodic games out there (one of the few that has managed to truly evoked an emotional response from me at times) and a breath of fresh air to a genre that is…