Keza MacDonald
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Writing For
IGN 
Videogamer 
Kotaku 
PC Gamer Latest Reviews
Fable is, in the end, the Xbox's best adventure game - and that is the thing that we should not forget.
It’s been a while since I’ve played something as refreshingly uncomplicated as Crackdown 3. You’re a big dude (or lady) with genetically-engineered superpowers and a whole lot of guns. Out there is a futuristic city stuffed with militia and hostile robots. And after the briefest preamble, you’re free to absolutely go to town on it.
Wargroove has everything: a charming 2D look, imaginative characters and toylike units placed on gorgeous little battlefields, and accessible turn-based strategy inspired and informed by Intelligent Systems’ classics of the genre, Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. So why am I not enjoying myself as much as I should be?
Video games often deal in illusions, proffering the fantasy of control and power even when your meaningful influence is minimal. Monster Hunter: World, the new third-person action game from Capcom, absolutely deals in fantasy. It plucks you from reality and sets you in the domains of exotically imposing monsters that you must hunt. In this game, however, the sense of accomplishment and pride that comes from felling them is anything but an illusion.
Fable Anniversary’s personality has proved truly ageless, even if some of its mechanics haven’t. Inevitably, its doesn’t feel as fresh today as they did in 2004, but the strange and beautiful world of Albion, with all its weird idiosyncrasies and wildly varied accents, is as absorbing and lovably, peculiarly British as it ever was.
Individual matches might last a nerve-shredding 15 minutes or barely more than 90 seconds, but Nidhogg’s tense sword battles are something I am likely to play all year against different people. Despite the surreal abstraction of the art style this feels more realistic than any sword-fighting than anything else I’ve ever played, where a single slip in concentration can mean your end. It’s the most exhilarating competitive game I’ve played in years.
It’s unfortunate for Explore the Dungeon that we are living through an amazing period for dungeon crawlers and roguelikes, but even if we weren’t, it would stand out as depressingly uninventive and simplistic. Unlike the show it’s based on, it’s both deeply boring and devoid of imagination. For a real sense of adventure, play Spelunky.
Grand Theft Auto V is not only a preposterously enjoyable video game, but also an intelligent and sharp-tongued satire of contemporary America. It represents a refinement of everything that GTA IV brought to the table five years ago. It’s technically more accomplished in every conceivable way, but it’s also tremendously ambitious in its own right. No other world in video games comes close to this in size or scope, and there is sharp intelligence behind its sense of humour and gift for mayhem. It tells a compelling, unpredictable, and provocative story without ever letting it get in the way of your own self-directed adventures through San Andreas. It is one of the very best video games ever made. Note: This review exclusively covers the single-player portion of Grand Theft Auto V, since it launched without any multiplayer mode. Click here to read Keza's thoughts on the recently released GTA Online multiplayer mode.
It’s difficult to argue that Dragon’s Dogma is a universally great game. It’s great at combat and exploration, but the quests are often boring, the fiction is turgid and its technical problems are unignorable. But it’s a very good game, and it’s so interesting that I’m inclined to forgive most of its problems because it succeeds in such important ways. The Dark Arisen expansion content pushes the boundaries of fairness towards the end and saves its best rewards for the most dedicated, but in terms of design and ambience it’s an encouraging indication of what this talented team might come up with next. At this budget price, Dragon’s Dogma is absolutely worth a try.