by Ben Mapp

Square Enix certainly does have a large reputation for producing high-quality games (such as both the Final Fantasy series and Kingdom Hearts) along with a loyal fan-base of millions worldwide, so surely investing in a new Legacy of Kain game on their part would only contribute to its success? It’s not impossible, but the goals of Square Enix have changed since the studio began absorbing other smaller studios and branching out as a business. Making money is and always has been key for them, but Legacy of Kain was originally developed by Eidos Interactive (which officially became Square Enix Europe in 2009) from Soul Reaver onwards and – simply put – Square Enix bought the studio primarily for the Tomb Raider licensing rights, not those to Legacy of Kain.

by Reece Merryweather-Brown

Games are amazing. They blend lots of different elements from loads of different mediums, taking things from film, music, literature and mixing it all together and adding the special ingredient ‘interactivity’ to really make it special. 

But a lot of the time, the music in a videogame is often forgotten. So let’s have a little look at what I think is some of the best original scores in modern video gaming.

by Ben Mapp

It was revealed early last year that Square Enix is at long last refilling the veins of the long dormant Legacy of Kain. The series itself has an extensive and complex overarching storyline which isn’t easy to follow, but let me try and quickly summarise it for the uninitiated. The series is set within the fictional fantasy setting of Nosgoth where the vampire Kain is chosen by divine forces as the ‘Scion of Balance’ and therefore the only person who can rid the land of its vast corruption. When Kain instead chooses to take over the world instead of purifying it, he forms an empire which – over millennia – contributes to immense corrosion of the landscape. Later, Kain regrets his decision and realises that the only way to undo Nosgoth’s fate is by travelling back in time to find a way to put things right without, preferably, sacrificing himself in the process. His odyssey leads him to create paradox after paradox, changing history as he does so, which then have their own negative effects on Nosgoth’s increasingly unstable timeline. Kain is pursued through time by Raziel, his former lieutenant, who believes that only Kain’s death will restore balance to the world.

by Stephen Hyland

Looking at the gaming industry in the present day, we can see the many different platforms in which we can play games on. We have Playstation, Xbox, Wii; you know the rest (PC MASTER RACE - Ed). When released to the public, most games tend to be on a broad range of machines, however, we do get the odd game in which the developers have struck up a deal with a console company and have made that game exclusive to only one (occasionally more) console/s. From inFAMOUS to Gears of War, from Mario to LittleBigPlanet, these games are only playable through one, singular selected platform. But of course, most of you reading this will know what exclusives are but I’m not here to explain them…I’m here to ask you if they’re a good idea.

by Luke Kirby

One of the most anticipated games of 2014 was recently put into beta over valentine’s weekend to help all us lonely people focus on something other than being single and having no one to love us… myself included. Yes, I’m talking about Titanfall.

First thing necessary to do, after downloading and installing, was the training section of the beta which while nothing too fascinating allows you to realise that it’s not just another FPS like your Call of Duty or Battlefield by the simple fact of how important manoeuvrability and agility can be. 

by Carla Hodge

Sad news today as Ken Levine announced that the studio responsible for the BioShock series will be significantly reducing its workforce, and concentrating on 'narrative-driven games for the core gamer'. Irrational is due to be closed down, in its current form, after the last Infinite DLC is released. 

In a statement on the Irrational website, Levine paid tribute to the 'some of the best game developers in the world', and admitted whilst there was 'no great way to lay people off', his passion had turned to 'making a different kind of game'. There's no indication as yet what the new material might be, but it will only be distributed digitally and will be published by Take-Two Interactive, who also published BioShock Infinite and its associated DLC. The closing of the studio won't mean the end of the BioShock universe as 2K are taking over the IP. 

by Cookie N Screen

The BBC adaptation of Sherlock is by far the most ingenious and has ignited the passions of many a fan. Increasing its audience to the high million numbers, thousands upon thousands of people across the globe travel the bouts of London, dress up as their favourite characters and re-watch the series over again. After a tentative two years poised forever on a cliff hanger, the third season came with in a rush and a big bang, leaving just as quickly. Now we are left with the remains in our heart and nothing to pass the time… 

by Twisted Beast

Like a lot of people, I am an avid FPS fan. One of the very first FPS games I fell in love with, was Call of Duty 4: Modern warfare. As you can probably tell, I had big hopes for Titanfall when I found out Vince Zampella and Jason West (part of the original Infinity Ward team) were two of the people behind this project. Respawn formed in 2010, promising that they would produce a “Call of Duty killer”, and to say that, you must mean it. It’s not going to be an easy feat to kill off one of the most successful games to ever surface. Titanfall was known as project ‘CoD Killer’ apparently, meaning that Respawn meant business. Fast forward to the year 2014 and we have a beta for Titanfall. Like everyone else, I applied, and I waited for the confirmation Email telling me that I had successfully attained a beta code.

by Carla Hodge


Over the years, there have been many, many leading ladies and gents fronting video games. Some of their characteristics make them ideal for super heroics. Like ninjas. Ninjas are fricken ninjas, of course they can save the world if they need to. There's non-human types confronting evil and kicking ass all over the place, too: there's loads of representatives from the animal kingdom with pointy fangs, sharp claws, or flying abilities that naturally give them an edge over their foes. There's other characters, though, who don't obviously have much going in their favour...


1. The humble worm 
The trusty annelid has turned out to be quite good for fronting video games; the Worms series and Earthworm Jim will forever be remembered for being a raucous good time.

By Stephen Hyland

It all began back in the year 2007, as in this year the first of many games in a franchise would appear in stores everywhere. This first installment was known as “Assassin’s Creed”; a game set in 1191 as well as modern day was a free-roam, third person game in which lets you play as a young man named “Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad”, a member of an old faction the “Assassin Brotherhood”. Your goal was to obtain an ancient artefact capable of controlling minds: the “Apple of Eden”. The fight for this object of mass power becomes evermore desperate as another faction known as the “Knight’s Templar” are also hot on its tail. The game sends you, through a whole campaign with side missions in which you get to practise your awesome Assassin skills and capabilities. Following the success of the first game; with it winning multiple awards at the annual E3 and earning great reviews, a sequel was released with improved graphics, a new story and a new character to follow.