Last June, Steam were offering the game Tell Me Why free of charge. Little did I know back then that the game was by DONTNOD, the creators of Life is Strange, one of my favourite series as you may know if you’ve followed this blog the past few years. Creating heartfelt, story-driven games that focus on giving the player meaningful choices, I was excited to dive into this having recently played a glut of action-oriented RPGs. Something calming now, right?
Releasing incredibly eight years ago now, Batman Arkham Knight marked the conclusion of the fantastic Arkham trilogy from Rocksteady. Though I skipped Asylum, the first in the series, I played City and the spin-off, Origins on Wii U. The final chapter never came to Wii U though and, hopeful as I have been, the Switch neither. Seeing no end in sight, I purchased the game during a sale on Steam for £4 about three years back. Ironically, with the Collection recently announced for Switch, it finally spurred me on to boot up my laptop to beat up some bad guys.
The survival-horror stealth genre wouldn’t usually be my first pick to be honest with you, but after positive recommendations from friends, and rave reviews, I thought I’d give A Plague Tale: Innocence a spin. Another reason I wanted to jump into this adventure was that, after playing two sprawling action-adventure titles for 55+ hours each, the thought of a shorter, narrative-driven 10-hour tale was a pleasant one. If only the story were equally pleasant, cue ten long hours of being anxious and horrified (in the best way).
Over three years ago now, I got my gaming laptop. Back then, I fired up Tomb Raider (2013), a game that cost under £2 on Steam, and was blown away by the graphics and gameplay. Fast forward two years and my library of free games via the Epic Games Store has been stacking up, the sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider included. Now in possession of the PowerA Xbox Wired Controller, I was ready to delve back into the world of Lara Croft.
Over the past few years, Epic Games have given away a couple of games for free per week via their store, with a bonanza often occurring around the Christmas period. As a console gamer however, I have always found use of key controls tricky and so after amounting multiple games I was eager to play, I took the plunge, opting for the PowerA Xbox Wired Controller. Thankfully it would be a decision I would not come to regret.
Discovered during the previous Block of my course was the accessible and versatile Xbox Game Bar. Contrary to its name, it isn’t solely for use within games, allowing you to screenshot and record any software on-screen. Familiar with the similar, yet pricey, Snagit from work, Xbox Game Bar is included with Windows PCs and grants the ability to rapidly record content for this fast-paced digital era we find ourselves in.
Brandon King Design 