Legend of Grimrock - update

Back in September, I blogged about Almost Human Ltd's spectacular looking dungeon crawler Legend of Grimrock. The small team have been beavering away over the last few months and have just announced the game has now entered its beta phase.

Everything is now in place and the team will spend the next few months polishing Grimrock and a release is pencilled in for early next year.

They have also released a new video of the beta build and it's looking quite special.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - a look back

With its bold colours and gorgeous art style, Muramasa was a breath of fresh air when it was released in Europe two years ago today.

A 2D hack and slasher, developer Vanillaware expanded on ideas set out in their previous game, Odin Sphere on PS2 and delivered a wonderful game which remains one of my favourites on Wii.

Taking control of either Momohime - a princess possessed by a malevolent spirit - or Kisuke - a young ninja - the player embarks on a supernatural quest through the heart of feudal Japan.

The gameplay centers on the use of blades - which can be found or forged - and using them to slice your way through groups of enemies and visually splendid bosses.

While the fighting is entertaining, it's not the most refined system in the world. Button mashing can be relied upon during some battles, although diligent use of blocking is vital as the difficulty ramps up.

Muramasa is far from perfect, though and feels a little rushed in places. Bosses can turn into laborious wars of attrition, while the player is forced to backtrack through dozens of empty screens to unlock new areas.

However, despite its shortcomings, the magical art style and sumptuous soundtrack pull you through the 15-hour experience.

While games such as Uncharted 3 and Skyrim have had us gawping at our TVs recently thanks to their incredible level of detail, the hand-painted artwork on display here still manages to delight.

Corn fields gently ripple in the wind, cherry blossom falls from trees, waves crash upon the shore and shadows of clouds drift over sun-drenched fields. It really is a spectacular looking game.

So while Muramasa is rough in places and could have benefited with a little more finesse in the way it plays, it's still well worth a closer look if you haven't played it before.

A Valley Without Wind - Windows/Mac OS

Over the last few days, I've been getting to grips with A Valley Without Wind by the team at Arcen Games and even though it's still in beta, this side-scrolling adventure is shaping up nicely.

The world is procedurally-generated and allows the player to explore the dangerous land of Environ at their leisure, while resource gathering, crafting, spell-slinging, city building and turn-based strategy elements also feature in this ambitious project.

A tutorial guides you through the basics before the game proper starts, but everything is neatly laid out and is streamlined to avoid a slog through long-winded menus.

Once these basics are out of the way, A Valley Without Wind throws the covers back to reveal a huge game with almost endless possibilities.

New regions open up for you to explore as your colony expands, bosses must be vanquished in order to grab valuable supplies and the rising threat of enemy forces must be quelled as you attempt to keep your civilisation safe - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

It's a huge undertaking by the small team at Arcen but with a bustling community, regular patches adding new content and the promise of multiplayer and co-op play, A Valley Without Wind is definitely one to watch.

You can download the base game or purchase a license key - with 50 per cent off - from the Arcen Games website.

SilverQuest - PC

Although Dark Souls and Skyrim have devoured huge chunks of my life over the last few months, I've also given some of my time over to exploring online multiplayer Roguelike SilverQuest on PC.

Created by Wolfgang Wozniak, this open world romp allows players to team-up with friends, undertake epic quests, explore dungeons for shiny loot, creep through haunted valleys and skewer rats with sharp, pointy sticks.

New armour and weapons can be acquired as you progress and there's a decent selection of characters to interact with as you tramp through the land of Melandor. Unfortunately, as entertaining as SilverQuest is, it desperately needs more players.

Much of my time has been spent adventuring alone which doesn't throw up too many problems, but the game has been designed with an online community in mind. It really would be wonderful to see more people populate the server and give SilverQuest a welcome boost.

Two versions of the game are available via Desura - free and premium. The latter costs £4.49 and includes mod tools, a new graphics pack, development art and unused music. But even if you don't want to throw money at SilverQuest, it's still well worth exploring the brilliant free version to experience a cracking slice of old school action.

8-Bit Halloween - PC

Although dooking for apples, stuffing your cheeks with monkey nuts, carving videogame characters' fizzogs into pumpkins and dressing up in ill-fitting costumes are now a fading memory, there's a spooky little game out which encapsulates Halloween perfectly.

It might not be as terrifying as watching Strictly Come Dancing's cast of hideous characters shuffle about on the night, but a quick dash through Lionsoft's 8-Bit Halloween is a lot more entertaining.

Presented in the style of an old monochrome GameBoy title, this neat little platformer borrows ideas from Mario and Ghosts and Goblins, while throwing a little Green Beret into the mix for good measure.

It's free and you can grab it from Lionsoft's site HERE

Road Rash - PS1/3DO

Since finding an old shoe box full of PS1 games in the back of a cupboard a few weeks ago, much of my recent gaming time has been spent revisiting forgotten classics.

While games such as Lemmings 3D, Tomb Raider, Jumping Flash, Croc 2, Crash Bandicoot and Kula World have been dusted off, I've spent most of my time with Road Rash.

This mid-Nineties port of the wonderful 3DO version has always been one of my favourite games and it's still entertaining 17 years after it was released.

The madcap dashes through The City, Pacific Coast, Napa Valley, Peninsula and Sierra Nevada might be a bit blockier than you remember but the presentation and racing action still holds up.

Sure, the menus are clunky and unresponsive but what makes Road Rash great is the fact that no two races are ever the same.

Other bikers crash into traffic and pedestrians, a swift truncheon to an opponent's head changes the nature of the race, bumps and corners on the road send the player skidding into the unknown, while the appearance of police at unpredictable times leads to tense moments, as one small mistake will see your hapless biker busted by the boys in blue.

The racing action is wonderfully entertaining, but it's the inclusion of acts such as Monster Magnet, Swervedriver and Paw on the soundtrack which adds a huge amount to the experience. Even now, when I hear Rusty Cage by Soundgarden, I immediately think of the game's opening scene - something I doubt will ever go away.

Road Rash also features a hefty chunk of FMV which, although a little cheesy, still raises a smile, while the art style which punctuates the racing action is quite brilliant with an off-beat sense of humour used in every slide.

Since this release, other Road Rash games have taken to the streets but none have come close to matching the brilliance of this great version, with the sloppy Road Rash: Jail Break being a particular low point in the series.

So while I patiently wait for Skyrim to arrive on Friday, I'll be causing chaos on the roads with my fellow bikers on my battered old PlayStation.

Minecraft - Lord of the Rings

I've been playing Minecraft for quite a while now - messing about with fire, carts, boats, ore, glass and getting killed by a variety of creatures of the night.

While I could tweak the settings to make everything lovely and tranquil, I'm always up for a challenge and I like the feeling of blind panic when darkness falls and I'm miles from home.

But while my creative spark is limited to smaller structures, I take inspiration from others and I always love seeing what players are up to. Well this is without doubt the most ambitious project I've come across and I'm eager to get involved.

A group of dedicated Minecrafters are recreating Middle Earth - quite a task, I'm sure you'll agree. I've been trying to join their ranks for a while now but their website won't let me in.

Still, at least they have this jaw-dropping video which is quite incredible. So grab a brew, get a plate of biscuits and watch Middle Earth unfold in all its blocky glory. Oh, and if you think The Shire is impressive, just wait until you see Rivendell and the Mines of Moria!

PS: If anyone can help me get involved, please let me know.

The Gunstringer - 360 Kinect

While it's true The Gunstringer would have been perfectly playable with a standard controller, it definitely wouldn't be as much fun as it is with Kinect.

This on-rails shooter lets you pull the strings of an undead puppet as he sets out on a quest for revenge in the dusty Wild West.

The left hand is used to guide The Gunstringer, while the right hand is used to glide a cursor over enemies before unleashing bullets by flicking your wrist - and it works well for the most part.

While problems do crop up - getting our blue-boned hero back behind cover can be fiddly and boss battles are repetitive - the presentation and humour pull The Gunstringer through.

The decision to present the action as a theatre production - with a real audience and bric-a-brac set - is inspired and adds a unique flavour to the shooting action.

It might be too simplistic for some, but with plenty of unlockables and gold medals to snaffle, The Gunstringer is light-hearted fun with wide appeal.

Toren: A beautiful puzzle adventure

Although the team at Swordtales are currently keeping many of Toren's gameplay details under wraps, it has already won a place in my heart thanks to its vivid colours, dreamy setting and gorgeous art style.

Toren is a puzzle adventure and is built around a poem about the meaning of life and deals with the concepts of time and mortality.

Judging by the snippets of text scattered on the game's website - and the beautiful screen grabs - Toren features a princess who is attempting to escape the confines of a magical tower by scrambling her way to the top.

The team say they have been infliuenced by games such as Zelda and indie darling Braid, while the work of Hayao Miyazaki - co-founder of animation company Studio Ghibli - has also left its mark on the Brazilian developers.

If you would like to know more about the game and keep up with its progress, bookmark the official blog and follow the game on Twitter.

Here's a video of Toren in all its over-saturated glory, complete with depth of field filters and subtle use of tilt shift. Beautiful.

One you might have missed: Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon - Wii

Rising Star Games released this atmospheric action adventure in March 2010 and while it has its flaws, it's a charming adventure that is definitely worth a closer look.
Created by the team at Tri-Crescendo - the developer behind 360 and PS3 RPG Eternal Sonata - the story features Seto, a young boy who lives with his grandfather in a world that has been ravaged by disaster. When Seto's grandfather dies, the lonely lad packs up his belongings and sets out to try and find other survivors of the cataclysm.
The first couple of hours are a joy thanks to the game's wonderful atmosphere and beautiful visuals. Control, too, is excellent with Seto moved by the nunchuck, while the Wiimote doubles as his torch. Illuminating dark and dusty corners of this nocturnal world reveals objects which Seto can interact with. However, after those initial opening hours, cracks begin to show in Fragile's glossy casing.
Combat is basic and clumsy, with stabs of the A button swinging Seto's weapon of choice. It's hard to judge distances between you and an enemy, while the camera angle often gets in the way.
The inventory system is equally antiquated, with Seto initially having only a minuscule item carrying capacity. Objects can be switched in and out at the game's save points but going back and forth between them is a chore due to respawning enemies.

Seto can wield a variety of weapons, but as each can break, he is often left facing a room full of enemies with nothing to defend himself with. Fortunately, the wonderfully eccentric Collector makes regular appearances at the game's save points selling weapons, health buffs and other useful trinkets.
Seto's world may be crumbling, but it's still a beautiful place to explore. An abandoned shopping mall, a dilapidated train station, a rusting theme park, a run-down hotel - each location is a visual treat.
Of course, the player can run through these areas to get to the next point in the story, but it pays to wander off the beaten track in search of treasures.
Unlike most games, the loot that can be found isn't shiny coins. Instead, objects such as torn photographs and mementos are waiting to be found.
Each item is linked with its owner's memories and every object has its own background story. These narrated snippets can be quite moving and give the player an insight into the victims of Seto's ravaged world. They add a tremendous amount to the feel of the game and are well worth hunting down.
The audio, too, is well matched to the action, with lovely melodies and eerie effects adding another layer to the game. Voice work is pretty good, and the option to switch between English and Japanese is a welcome addition.
It may not be perfect, but Fragile Dreams is still a beautiful and haunting experience. Its slow pace and clunky combat may put some off, but thanks to its inspired art design and original touches, it's an adventure you should definitely consider taking.

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron - 360/PS3

A game based on ancient religious texts, it’s safe to say that El Shaddai doesn't exactly follow a traditional videogame script. However, the quest to round-up seven fallen angels and return them to Heaven at the behest of God makes for a thoroughly engaging yarn.

You play Enoch, a heavenly scribe clad in designer jeans and brilliant white armour, who ploughs through beautifully surreal locations to fulfil his quest.

At the heart of El Shaddai is a robust and enjoyable combat system, with Enoch mixing up styles and weapons to take down the game's colourful cast of foes. But rather than switch between them at will, he has to steal them from enemies to gain the upper hand - a system which encourages creative play.

Slashing sword attacks, ranged fire and a heavy-hitting punch and shield combo are the choices available and with bosses requiring the player to be adept at all three, it pays to experiment with what's available.

On easier difficulty settings it's possible to button mash your way through encounters, but crank it up a notch and blocks, dodges and timely attacks are the only way to make progress.

Visually, El Shaddai is quite incredible, with some stunning locations to romp around in. Grainy monochrome worlds, fizzing neon environments, sprawling futuristic cityscapes and organic watery levels are just some of the spectacular sights. But the visual treats don't stop there, with the game constantly flipping between 3D and 2D. El Shaddai isn't afraid to chuck convention out of the window, either and adds a smattering of jaw-dropping moments which surprise and delight.

Enhancing the atmosphere is the eclectic and quite brilliant soundtrack, which successfully infuses ambient soundscapes and harmonic tribal melodies to create a spellbinding score.

It's not a perfect game, though, with several problems cropping up regularly. Enoch's platforming antics are sloppy at times, with the swirling backdrops making it difficult to judge distances, while constant and repetitive battles in the game's final third sour some of the enjoyment.

Some will find it hard to live with these problems, but as an experience, there's nothing quite like El Shaddai.

One of the most refreshing and beautiful adventures I've undertaken in some time.

PS3 version tested

Mari0 - PC

I love Portal. I also love Mario. So what better way to celebrate two of gaming's finest experiences than by combining them and producing a cracking 2D platform game? Well, that's exactly what the team at Stabyourself are doing with Mari0 and it looks great.

Check out this video to see the game in all its space-shifting glory

Rock of Ages - 360/PC

Last night, I finally got round to putting some time into Rock of Ages on 360 - a title I've been looking forward to since last summer.

I'm glad to say this latest game by ACE Team - the minds behind mental brawler Zeno Clash - plays just as good as it looks, with players hurtling their moon-like boulder down obstacle-strewn slopes in a bid to smash their opponent's stronghold.

But that's only half the story, as Rock Of Ages takes the player on a twisted and extremely funny trip through history, complete with angry bovines, pissed-off elephants and projectiles galore.

The game is split into two parts: the attacking stage - where the player guides their boulder down a twisting slope, smashing defences on the way to break open their opponent's gate - and a defensive stage - where the player erects defences in a bid to halt their foe's march to glory.

Every time your boulder collides with an object, money is dropped into your coffers, which in turn can be used to either construct a weird and wonderful array of traps and obstacles, or poured into your boulder to give it extra ramming powers.

It's a frantic game of cat and mouse as both sides desperately try and place defences before trundling their boulder to its destructive conclusion and it's heart-breaking when your rock tumbles off the edge of the course, giving your opponent a slight time advantage.

The art style and sound effects have a distinct whiff of Monty Python about them, with paper cut-out armies scattered around the sloping worlds, while historic figures leap excitedly around in full cardboard cut-out glory.

The humour runs through to the game's playful cut scenes, with plenty of pop culture references thrown in for good measure which adds to the off-the-wall flavour.

Rock of Ages is a delicious mix of tower defence and Marble Madness and a game which plays beautifully. And with multiplayer options to explore and a decent single player campaign to roll through, this is yet another unmissable game to add to your download queue.

Rock of Ages is currently available from the Xbox 360's marketplace for 800 points, while PC users can grab it from Steam for £6.99. A PS3 version is on its way, but no release date has been set.

To The Moon - PC

It's not often I pre-order a game. However, after clapping eyes on Freebird Games' forthcoming title, To The Moon, I parted with my cash immediately.

The story is woven around two doctors, who travel through the mind of a dying man in the hope of fulfilling his final wish - to go to the moon.

Presented in a glorious 16-bit style, the game initially looks similar to an old Super Nintendo-era RPG. However, with no battles or level grinding, the game will play out in an altogether different fashion to those great mid-Nineties adventures.

It's a refreshing twist for an RPG, but if you've experienced any of Freebird's previous games, you'll know they are no stranger to doing things differently.

The company's three previous titles have provided short but compelling tales, with brilliant storytelling fused with magical sounds to create unforgettable experiences.

The games: The Mirror Lied, Quintessence - The Blighted Venom and Do You Remember My Lullaby are free to download from their website and they are all definitely worth a closer look and give you a taster of what you can expect from To The Moon.

If you like what you see, then throw a couple of quid in Freebird's direction in advance of their new title's release. To the Moon costs £6.63 to pre-order via the Desura website and will become available to play on October 15.

Oh, and this trailer is quite brilliant, too.

Dead Island - 360/PS3/PC

With a four-player co-op option and masses of drooling zombies to slaughter, Dead Island initially appears to be nothing more than a Left 4 Dead rip-off. But while it's clear Valve's survival horror has been a huge influence, Dead Island also tips its hat to modern Western RPGs such as Oblivion and Borderlands.

The flimsy storyline revolves around four individuals who find themselves stranded on the holiday resort island of Banoi in the middle of a hideous zombie outbreak. You choose one of these characters and using blunt weapons, blades and firearms, you fight your way through this tropical nightmare in the hope of finding some way to escape the holiday hell.

RPG elements run through the game, with the player levelling up and delving into tech trees to gain an advantage over the slack-jawed hordes.

These abominations come in various guises, including shuffling Walkers, fast-paced Infected, hulking, straitjacket-wearing Rams and horribly mutated Suiciders, who induce moments of blind panic whenever they appear.

Luckily, the player has access to a wide range of weapons to deal with these horrors, which either lie scattered about the island, or can be created at workbenches - similar to those in Capcom's Dead Rising series. Creating or repairing them is an expensive business, though, so concentrating on a few at a time is definitely the way to go. There's also a Borderlands-style thrill when stumbling across a powerful colour-coded item or when attaching an electrical modification to a weapon.

While guns are available, it's the melee weapons which pack the most punch - allowing the player to lop heads, arms and legs off at will or bash skulls into the ground. It's not the most refined system in the world, but it is deeply satisfying to kick a zombie into a wall and then pummel them with your choice of weapon.

Quests are dished out regularly by the island's survivors - who seem to be incapable of doing anything for themselves - but unfortunately they are repetitive fetch quests which usually involve finding lost items or powering up creaking power generators.

It's also incredibly annoying that respawning zombies level up with the player, which means even a trip back over old ground is never an easy task. This element also works against solo play - especially after the opening act - as it's easy to become overwhelmed by foes, resulting in constant and frustrating deaths.

That's not Dead Island's only fault - clumsy character models, broken quests, graphical glitches and poor texture pop-in show the game could have done with a bit more polish. There are also some bewildering missions, such as finding water for one survivor who is dying of thirst, when soft drinks lie only an arm's reach away.

But for all its faults and rough edges, Dead Island is still a hugely enjoyable experience, especially when played with a few friends. It might not win any awards for originality, but those willing to put up with its flaws are in for a bloody good time.

360 version tested