Inversion

Remember that spate of sci-fi shooters a few years ago, where each had a novel twist, but that made them seem more alike and generic? I'm thinking Dark Sector, Timeshift, Fracture. Inversion could easily go on that list. Unfortunately, those games seemed a tad generic in 2008, so you can imagine how Inversion suffers. Inversion's twist is gravity can be affected, either with Half Life 2 gravity-gun style throwing objects, or Dead Space style propelling yourself from walls to ceiling. It's the latter that feels fresher and I can't but feel more of these sections could have given the game some much needed character. The worst fault though is it feels a slog. Checkpoints feel misplaced, Boss battles can be tough, and repeated relentlessly. I was glad to get a boss battle over with a character called the Slave Driver- little did I know, you have to fight this battle a further three times throughout the game. Inversion feels like its lacked playtesting; an outside opinion to point out what the game does good and what it's weak at. There could have been a lean six hour game with some epic set pieces, but it's become a 12 hour, flabby slog. Shame. 5.5/10

Soul Calibur 5

Recently I've been playing Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter X Tekken, both excellent fighters. Maybe if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found this so mediocre.

But it really seems it. Basic, leaden combat; pretty but generic graphics; an unmemorable story mode. There really feels as if there is a fighter renaissance taking place at the moment, SC5 isn't part of it & risks being left behind for good.

5.5/10

Spec Ops: The Line

In a weird way, verging on being a generic military shooter benefits Spec Ops. Because you think you know where it's going, it's all the more startling when it goes off the map.

The gameplay, graphics and to a lesser degree, the ending are serviceable but the things it does brilliantly are things that aren't done often in games- great story and treating the audience with genuine maturity.

This is a game that a score won't reflect how good it is; there's games that are technically better that you'll forget about. But you'll still be talking about this.

8.0/10

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

I just realised I missed this game off- It should be on here in between Arkham City and Bastion. Anyway, this is the first (and from the looks of things, the only) Assassin's Creed game not to feel like a step on from it's predecessor. There's a Tower Defence game, which I think I only played once, and some Portal style puzzle platforming sections, which contains probably the only grating VoiceOver work of Nolan North's career. Aside from this, it's more of the excellent gaming of Brotherhood. At the time I said a year off wouldn't hurt the franchise, but what I've seen of ACIII so far, it's looking like this was the sole slightly-off note. 7.5/10

Syndicate

I like to keep track of what I've played on here, but I'm not comfortable reviewing a game I haven't put the hours into. I didn't finish Bully (or to a lesser degree, Skyrim)but at least I put longer into those games than I did many of the games I completed. I probably put less than two hours into Syndicate before realising it wasn't for me. My main issue was probably it felt stuff was added because it seemed cool rather than because it added to the gameplay. The bloom lighting; the Deus Ex style augmentations that just let you blow people up rather than mixing up the gameplay, the frustrating boss fights...there's a pretty but generic shooter buried under a bunch of design choices that seem to have been thrown at it to see if anything stuck. Those more patient than myself might be rewarded if they stick with it, but I have no reservations about quitting on this for the stunning Strangers Wrath.