Coming in 10th place in our Top Ten of 2010 is the gorgeous and completely memorable Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. To us, this underrated hidden gem was well worth knowing hardly anything about until it was released, because otherwise we would have been far too eager to play it for a long, long time.
Matt:
I was gutted when Enslaved came to an end. I wasn’t ready to leave its beautiful, desolate yet vibrant post-apocalyptic world. Monkey and Trip proved to be one of my favourite gaming duo’s, and their story was both engaging and entertainingly told. A superb performance from Andy Serkis who donned his motion-capture suit once again and provided the voice for Monkey meant the game’s character animation and voice acting were among the best of the year’s offerings.
Sandwiched between the game’s explosive opening level and the climatic final battle is a really memorable journey, and it deserves its place as one of the best games of the year. It’s plummeted in price since it came out, so go download the demo, be blown away, then buy it. Yes.
Monkey and Trip - One of the most likeable and visually stunning video game duos ever
Paul:
This was one stunning game, specifically in terms of visuals and concept, and I had a total blast playing from start to finish. Many people have commented on it being quite a samey experience from start to finish, and I’m inclined to agree with it, if only partially… The combat in Enslaved was very engaging, but it definitely had an air of repetition about it. There wasn’t a great deal of variety in the kinds of enemies you had to fight – robots, robots, and more robots – but there was certainly a good enough variety in the kinds of fighting you had to do to take them all down. Also, if you actually take the decision to upgrade Monkey’s combat techniques, you will find yourself using a wider range of attack moves and take-downs against your enemies. I can see why people could find it repetitive, but it all comes down to the perception and attitude of the individuals playing the game.
There really is a lot of fun to be had with Enslaved, and if you can appreciate just how much effort has been put into the 12 chapters of design, story, characters, visuals, and animation, then you should find yourself having a great time with a game that isn’t too difficult, but offers a great deal of entertainment, and hopefully keeps you coming back for more.
Dome Keeper is an excellent little spin on the tower defense game, in which you play the role of a jetpacking miner defending his base from swarms of aliens, whilst searching for a hidden relic buried somewhere beneath him. And now, with this huge free update, you can play it with friends.
I want to talk about Cloudpunk, a game where you get to be a flying-car delivery driver in a futuristic cyberpunk city. Its world is an incredible achievement of environmental design, and while the gameplay itself may be basic, the city of Nivalis is a thing of beauty to behold. Nivalis is built out of hundreds of hand-modelled cuboid buildings; there’s nothing procedural about it. Apparently it took 3 years for the devs to design the city, and it really shows.
I do love me some quality pixel art, and it doesn’t get much better than this. Cast n Chill is a cozy side-scrolling fishing game by small indie dev team Wombat Brawler, with absolutely gorgeous visuals. It’s simple to play, and you you can dip in and out of it at your leisure, making it a fine addition to our collection of coffee break games.
I’ve got an enormous backlog to catch up with, so my gaming time has been pretty varied lately as I jump from one thing to another. I’m squeezing every spare moment I can in between work, life, and fatherhood duties, and enjoying some side-scrolling platform action, blasting zombies in one of the best remakes around, and scaling a literal mountain.
Last summer, I collaborated with my mate Mark Vale to create our very first mobile game app. It’s all about pushing buttons as fast as you can. So, a great little time-waster when you’re on the loo, or waiting for your bread to toast. Mark came up with the concept, did all the programming in Unity, and I provided the art and music. There’s only one rule – hit the green light as fast and as many times as you can.
I’m currently enjoying getting down and dirty with nature. Taming dinosaurs in Ark: Survival evolved is exciting and frustrating in equal measure. Exciting because I’m taming friggin dinosaurs. Frustrating because bigger dinosaurs keep eating them… And when I’m not playing that, I’m exploring the freezing mountains in Rise of the Tomb Raider – seriously, I have never felt so cold playing a videogame. It’s the way Lara hugs herself in the chill wind as the snow clings to her jacket. It’s one of the most beautiful games I’ve seen in a long time.
Copyright © 2010 - 2026
Site designed and hosted by Tekamutt Media