Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

PS3/Xbox 360; €54.99; Konami; 18+

Two hours into Metal Gear Rising everything just clicks. From its opening scene the game refuses to hold players’ hands. But the sensory overload of early combat gives way to fluid, instinctive action. This is a game that demands players stay alert and on the offensive.

Rising is a third-person perspective action game. Raiden, the protagonist, is a sword-wielding, robotically-enhanced soldier who engages armed and armoured opponents in hand-to-hand combat. This ‘cyborg-ninja’ bats away bullets with the blade of his swords, dashes and jumps with ease, and single-handedly takes down ‘Gears,’ the towering armoured enemies that gave the series its name.

It’s an unexpected change of pace for a twenty-six-year-old series with its origins in the last years of the cold war. Metal Gear games have always had a strong anti-war message - albeit one buried under the excesses of Japanese anime. Stories about rogue states and nuclear proliferation complemented gameplay emphasising stealth over combat.

Violence is your only option here. Using two buttons, light and heavy blows are strung together into elaborate attacks. Wear an enemy down and you can trigger ‘blade mode’ with a tap of the L1 button. This slows time to enable precision attacks that cleave off armour, cut the weapons from larger mechanical enemies and even remove limbs.

Put yourself in someone else's shoes with Auti-sim

Can videogames help us understand the experience of others? A new first-person game from Canadian Taylan Kay is trying to answer that question.

Auti-sim (Photograph: Toughcellgames.com)

Videogames have come a long way. From shooting space invaders to experiencing the simulated life of a single mother fighting for custody of her daughter in Richard Hofmier's Cart Life. But a game that directly puts us in the shoes of someone else, seeing and feeling what another person sees and feels is something different.

Auti-Sim is a short first-person experience that tries to simulate auditory-hypersensitivity, which impacts the cognitive functions of some children with autism.

It's a terrifying experience, one well worth experiencing. You can play it in your browser and it will only take you a couple of minutes.

Find out more about the developer on his twitter account.
Play the game on GameJolt here. 

Watch it: Gabe Newell talking economics and design

Gabe Newell, founder of Valve Corp, can be heard here talking a little about game design and a whole lot about economics and the organisation of corporate structures.

The conversation ranges from awe-inspiring to terrifying. The focus on productivity over the emotional impact of gaming is worrying. So far Valve haven't put a foot wrong, so for as long as they keep on making engaging games I'll be happy.



The man is a confident, intelligent speaker. Take a look.