Recent reviews by Hobbes

Range Rover. Check. Mounted .50 cal machine gun. Check. Even bigger gun ready to spring out of the boot. Check. Driver's name is Gunnar. Check. Why hello there "Expendables, the game." , how are you today? No, I'm not confusing the games here, this is the game that the Expendables license should have been slapped on, it has everything you could possibly want. Big over the top villains, a thoroughly ludicrous story, a main protagonist so masculine that you will feel testosterone seep out of the monitor, and a crew who either should be skydiving, in jail, or both.

The game runs incredibly smoothly, even when there's a lot going on, and there's enough graphical whizzbangery combined with the over the top explosions (yes, everything blows up, and blows up spectacularly) that you'll feel like you just took a seat in a movie theater to be greeted by Sylvester Stalone and Jason Statham fistbumping. The music is nondescript, it serves mostly as a backdrop for the constant sound of your guns going DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA. The story is paper thin, but let's be honest, if you're considering this game, it won't be for the plot.

What's on offer here is straightforward, to the point, and does what it sets out to do with aplomb. It's entirely brainless and a great way to kill an afternoon.

Imagine a gorgeous, detailed graphical story. A story of goblins, dragons, wonderful lands and gorgeous colour. Imagine a story made of heroes undertaking an epic quest to protect the kingdom from a terrible menace and journeying far and wide. Now imagine that story being brought to life, animated, and you being in control of the heroes. That's Trine 2.

The artwork is jaw dropping, not because of technical wizardry or the number of polygons it pushes on screen, this isn't a game that will murder your graphics card, but instead the artistry comes from attention to detail. The watercolour feel of the skies, the glorious use of colours and sweeping vistas to sell the graphical novel element, and the heroes and villains, brought to being in near hand drawn detail. Behind this rests a solid, if somewhat generic feeling soundtrack, but a narrator who really sells the atmosphere, combined with solid voice acting for each of the protagonists (and indeed, the antagonists), it helps immerse you in the game and the story as a whole.

The mechanics of the game are a refinement and improvement over the original Trine, with you switching between heroes on the fly and using their respective strengths to fight and puzzle your way through various environments, however this time it feels much slicker, and much more confident in what it does, there's many points where you'll be scratching your head, only to have the light flick on with a genuine "AH HA!" moment. It's never punishingly difficult, but it's pleasantly challenging. The lack of gore and fantasy nature of the game makes it very family friendly too, older children will get a kick out of the fantasy setting, and adults will no doubt get many of the references. In this it resembles a Pixar film, a comparison I make very affectionately.

Do please check this game out, it deserves your time and attention.

You've crashed. On a planet. It's a planet made up of wierd and strange things, creatures that up until your arrival quite likely existed in peace and harmony, and then you brought yourself, your mass of crates which have scattered around the landscape, and the teleporters you so desperately need to get back to your now scuffed up transport ship to get out of dodge.

Whilst on the surface the game is very much a case of guns blazing and murder everything in sight, as you dig into the lore and entries of the game, what you'll learn is that the planet was more or less *fine* until the ship crashlanded, spewed it's cargo all over the shop and you, in your size twelves and large caliber weapons, decided to cut a swathe through the landscape to get out.

Congratulations, you are the risk of rain the locals keep talking about. Don't you feel just awesome?


Starting the game the first time gives you access to the beginner class - Commando. This class is a good place to learn how to deal with the game, and a balanced set of skills that should see you progress at a reasonable rate. All the unlockable classes are tailored towards specific styles of play, and generally require specialist approaches to get the most out of them. A good example is the enforcer, which is far slower and less mobile than the commando, but due to his riot shield, can essentially soak -ridiculous- quantities of damage from the direction he's facing.

Later classes are even more specialised, opening up classes that work from afar, or specialise in deployables or traps, or have other means of dealing with situations. In short, every class feels unique, and has their own combos and specific ways to work things out. Furthermore, with the items that you can collect, every class will evolve differently based on the drops you find. The Enforcer in one playthrough will be an entirely different Enforcer in the next. Even if there are some items you'll ideally want to grab each time.


The graphics might be pixel art, which by this stage you'd think have been done to death, but on the contrary, the clear, concise design and the very well thought out vision ensure that this game always looks stylish and well presented. This is a game that revels in looking good, and always ensures that the player is in control of what's going on, even when there's a -lot- going on at once.

Combined with the precise and well balanced combat, along with the great sense of atmosphere, is potentially one of the best soundtracks of recent times, going alongside things such as Don't Starve, Deus Ex : Human Revolution, and Really Big Sky. A good soundtrack sells the atmosphere, and in this case it's been captured perfectly, possibly one of the best soundtracks in my library.


Risk of rain was one of my top picks when I bought it, this has not changed and it still remains one of the greatest games available on steam. Along with the legends like FTL, like Dungeons of Dredmor, Risk of Rain should be considered essential gaming for anyone who wants to get their hands into the genre of "Roguelites" that contains things like Spelunky and co.

Verdict : Essential

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A thumping dance track, a ship that can turn into a drill, a sense of speed that borders on dizzying, and a cross between bullet hell and an infinite racer. That's the bare bones of what you get, however what sets RBS apart from many other games is the sheer sense of style involved, this is a game that much like the old Defender, Tempest and other trippy games before it, doesn't shy away from wild, brave use of colour, and plenty of flashy lights. Combined with a thumping techno track, you get the distinct sense that you're taking part in an assault not just on your ship, but on your senses too - and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible.

The only caveat is that I would suggest for the best possible experience, you obtain a gamepad for this one, it works a hell of a lot better using twin sticks as opposed to keyboard/mouse. Just beware the LSD induced dinosaurs.