Does getting older change what you play?

This is a response to a great thread on the PCG forum board. Link is at the bottom. Well worth a read. I've considered this question before. Not only are we older but, as the OP says, we have less time to dedicate to games. I think that games used to 'get away' with a lot more in terms of poor gameplay. That is, pixel-perfect jumps, or no saves or simply the same levels rehashed. Gamers these days are now more discerning. I don't think that we, or at least those who visit this forum, will take games that don't have an excellent tutorial, or simply take too long to get us into the action element. For example, Sins of a Solar Empire has a terrible tutorial. It doesn't seem to realise that you only understand how to use the various mechanics of...

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Project Zomboid - An Impression

Ever since I picked up a PC (and some time) about two years ago, I have almost become used to the graphics post-HL2. Yes, I love how Left 4 Dead and the like look superb. Sometimes I still load Oblivion simply to walk the grounds. However, there is something in the old-school isometric graphics of a game like Project Zomboid that appeals. PZ, for those who have not yet heard, is Sims with Zombies. The focus is on maintaining the moods, whims and sanity of your characters as much as the food in their bellies. At least, that is the idea. It is being developed by, as far as I can gather, 4 folk who live in an apartment in Cleveland (and whose address is actually available when you purchase the game!) Furthermore, the game itself is in a pre-Alpha...

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PES 2011 Review

At university I used to work in the retail store Game ( as I may have mentioned before.) As a result of this I was deeply suspicious about the value of purchasing any PC games from high-street retail. Although I might be supportive of local stores over internet shopping, PC games are universally cheaper, sometimes by 25% of the actual price, than retail. I think that's what made my purchase of PES 2011 for a tenner somewhat surprising.Having previously reviewed PES 2009 as one of the best examples of the balance between realism and 'arcadeness' (I never did find a suitable noun...) I was happy to take PES 2011 as I found it.This was just as well. My first game was a bore draw between Spain and Serbia. There were some goals in the next few...

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Shogun 2 Review

The original Shogun, which I fondly reviewed, was my first game on my first personal PC back when I was at university. Yes, I had an Amiga and Championship Manager and the like, but Shogun was my first experience of a game that pushed up the bar of my expectations beyond the bunny-hopping graphics of the Amiga. Having played, on and off, the entire Total War series, I was seriously looking forward to this incarnation. And yet I was dismayed. You may, like me, have installed the demo expecting great things. A lack of graphic options was naff. Four frames per second was unplayable. The damn game simply did not work. And the smoothness of MTW2 made it a better game. Resolved to give Shogun 2 a miss, I ignored it for several months. Then browsing...

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