Hello there and welcome along to our semi-regular look back at the year just gone, wherein we discuss how committed we are to this feature (traditionally not very, but now approaching it with renewed vigour), apologise for how late it may or may not be (quite late this time, sorry), consider whether we met our rather modest targets for updates (of the three possible outcomes stated last time – “maintain, improve, or very slightly fall away from” our usual level – eh, it’s probably the third one) and then get on with summarising what we actually wrote about in 2023.
 

Action

Plenty of, er, action here: I got stuck into a Wild West adventure in the form of Neversoft’s Gun (should I do the Grand Theft Horse-o joke again? [No – Ed.]), which was a solid enough effort, and another one ticked off the list marked ‘mid-late 00s open-world action games’ – a possible area of future investigation, although now I’ve said that, we’ll probably never speak of it again.

Also falling into this category would be the original Assassin’s Creed, which we discussed in May, although we appeared to be labouring under the misapprehension that demonstrating at least some knowledge about this series made us hip modern gamers (I guess it does, if your definition of modern is, er, 2008). Visually swish, occasionally bland, but broadly enjoyable, was the verdict.

To bolster our retro credentials somewhat, we also covered some 90s stuff: Stoo wrote about the Apogee platformer Hocus Pocus, and got stuck into a reimagined console version of a PC classic, via a modern port back to PC, in Doom 64.

And finally, we somehow managed to make our 400th review something vaguely deserving of the honour, rather than just whatever rubbish I happened to be playing at the time, to bring you some thoughts on the PC version of Metal Gear Solid.
 

Adventure

Apparently, we didn’t play any adventure games in 2023. Well, not any old-school ones anyway. However, our discussion of modern indie adventures (or adventure-adjacent titles) continued: Jo and I got dumped by Emily for a third time in Emily is Away <3, spied for a corrupt government in Orwell, and then enjoyed a gentle island adventure in A Short Hike.

A good time was had with all three, although the wisdom of spending quite so much time being told to listen to Snow Patrol on fake social media by a computer girlfriend who may or may not dump you later is certainly open to question.
 

Racing

Racing games from about 10-15 years ago were on the menu, specifically the Vin Diesel-based caper Wheelman (cheerfully terrible in places, but actually a good laugh); Bizarre Creations’ swansong, Blur (criminally underrated); and the track-exploding fun of Split/Second: Velocity (good-ish, but a bit shallow).

(Year end and new year type gaming pieces typically involves some level of self admonishment about not doing enough of X and trying to play more of Y, the practical use of which is arguably limited. However, these (now fairly old) racers have been on my list to ‘get around to one day’ for a stupidly long time. If I had any resolutions for myself last year, it was to finally fire up these games and enjoy them).

Oh, and Remedy’s top-down racer from the mid-90s, Death Rally, also received a firm thumbs up.
 

RPG

Apparently, we both now play RPGs, although Stoo is still the party member best equipped to make use of the FFG jerkin of moderate competence.

He wrote favourably about the action-RPG Torchlight, while I continued to explore Bioware’s 00s oeuvre with a look at Jade Empire: Special Edition. Which, in typical fashion, I found fairly confusing for the first 8 hours or so, then sort of got into the swing of it. There may well be more in 2024, although the usual caveats apply.
 

Sport

The sport section is probably the major reason I haven’t played all of those aforementioned ‘games I always wanted to play’. But someone must document all of those rightly-forgotten EA Sports games, dammit!

We found the Tiger Woods series in unexpectedly playful form, as our middle-aged golfer Rik was invited to hang out at the club with some American douchebags, before playing around the world against a variety of comedy stereotypes of varying degrees of propriety.

And after years of occasional and unsuccessful attempts to get it working, the buggy and unfinished (but curious in terms of its unfulfilled potential) ICC Cricket World Cup England 1999 finally kicked into life, and stayed conscious for just about long enough for an exploration of its flaws and merits. (I originally bought it on the same day I bought Half-Life, which might be why it’s retained a curious pull ever since, although I don’t necessarily ever need a reason to unearth a long-forgotten cricket title).
 

Strategy

I watched Dune on a plane, and then felt an unexpected urge to play Cryo’s adventure/strategy hybrid. (Also, to listen to the music of Sting, even though that wasn’t the version of the film I watched, and I’ve never seen the one he was in. It wasn’t even The Police, either, but his solo stuff, lute and all.)

Anyway, I understand why lots of people are fond of the game. I’ll never play Dune II, so it was nice to be able to revisit the universe in game form without getting stressed out about being rubbish at real-time strategy games.
 

Other Stuff

No big new series in 2023: not even a second instalment of The Unreviewed, which in this instance would have consisted of a brief dismissal of the Lego games as possible future review fodder (I’m probably being thick, and they are designed for kids, but I’m very bad at them, and they just don’t seem like the fun and lightweight jaunt through beloved franchise stories that I expect them to be).

Having seemingly exhausted the topic of boxed games in 2022, we did dabble briefly with it again, and there were a couple of memorable Moments in Gaming to add to the collection, but that was about it.

I guess the biggest news of the year was our renovation of the standard review pages, for which I can take absolutely no credit whatsoever. Aside from the technical tinkering conducted by my colleague, we also had to go back and fiddle with the formatting of all our old reviews and extras, a process that caused me to wonder how nice the house would look if I spent as much time doing actual DIY as I did on site DIY. There are still a few lingering issues at my end that need sorting out, but overall it’s all looking a lot neater and nicer. (The site, that is: the house really is getting neglected).

Jo and I also met (and nearly met) some of our PC Zone heroes, while I managed to achieve a lifelong dream of being vaguely associated with the magazine by writing a piece about Daikatana for PC Zone Lives. It was all so exciting, I might even try and play the game again.

And that was just about it. What can you expect in the year to come, as loyal fans and readers? Well, just consult the FFG Guarantee: our service level agreement with all our devoted followers, in which we commit to between 10-15 new reviews of games released between 1990-ish and 2013-ish, a handful of discussion pieces, and intermittent contributions to ongoing article series. It’s all there in black and white.

On a slightly more serious note, you may have noticed that Twitter (or X, formerly Twitter, as apparently it has to be called) has largely stopped working, and our minimal contributions to the de facto town square (again, not my words) have been reduced to almost nothing. For the time being, site updates will still be posted there, and we haven’t quite jumped ship altogether, but consider us otherwise in the same boat as lots of other people/sites/companies who aren’t quite sure what to do until another platform establishes itself (if one ever does).

On an even more serious note: hey, thanks for taking the time to read this site. We do appreciate it, and rest assured that we never take it for granted.

On behalf of FFG, let me wish you, and those around you, all the best for 2024.

Bloody Hell! It’s 2024!

(Apologies for not wishing you all a good Christmas, as promised – the site went down for a little bit, then we obviously got distracted by the festive preparations.)

Anyway, we’re back with what might be considered the third part of a trilogy entitled ‘racing games released about 12 years ago that I always meant to get around to, but didn’t’.

After Blur, and Split/Second, here comes Ridge Racer: Unbounded.

We’ll be back again soon with the traditional round-up of last year on FFG, despite no-one ever asking for it. [No-one asks for any of this other stuff, either – a reader]

Hi there.

Today’s review is of the action-packed racer Split/Second: Velocity.

Will there be anything more before Christmas? Oh-ho, will there? Will there now?! WILL THERE EVER! [But will there actually be any more reviews or blog posts, though? – a reader]

Er, not sure. If not, we’ll be sure to pop back anyway, and pass on a seasonal message of goodwill. But it’s a bit early for that. Like everything else at blummin’ Christmas, all starting too early these days… [cut! – Ed]

Good morning.

It’s the Cricket World Cup at the moment, a tournament which began with England attempting to retain the trophy as holders.

In preparing this review, I was planning to write something about how they’re actually quite good these days, and contrast that with the embarrassments of the past.

But, no, they’re out already.

All rather reminiscent of 1999, then, a year in which England were the hosts, and EA brought us a severely undercooked tie-in game: ICC Cricket World Cup England 99.

Hello and welcome to Discussion: [indie game] (spoilers!), a series that I could describe further, but probably needs very little effort to work out. [It’s not our fault you’ve boxed yourself in with these introductions – FFG reader].

Today’s game is A Short Hike, released by Adam Robinson-Yu in 2019, which is a narrative/open-world exploration game that takes place on an island of anthropomorphic animals. The player character is a bird called Claire, who has travelled to the national park located on this island for the summer, and you guide her in her attempts to complete its most challenging walk, the Hawk Peak Trail.

Before we get into the spoiler-tastic discussion, here’s a short trailer:

I’d say that possibly doesn’t give a full taste of what to expect, so feel free to do some non-spoilery research elsewhere if you’re interested in the game.

Otherwise, apart from to add that we both really enjoyed it, that’s all we want to say for now – proceed only if you’ve played it, or aren’t bothered about spoilers.

Here’s your ***FINAL SPOILER WARNING*** for the discussion below!
 
Discussion: A Short Hike (spoilers!) continued »

Mods and source ports haven’t, historically, really been my kind of thing (“clever people doing clever things with FPS games or RPGs that were probably fine to begin with” being my completely uninformed and dismissive summary) but my interest was piqued by news of Wipeout: Phantom Edition, a new source port of the old PSX racer.

The sloppy and largely unloved DOS version of Wipeout is to most people worth little more than a footnote in the series’ history. To me, though, despite horrible graphics and unwieldy controls, it was still the version that I played and enjoyed back in the 90s. While the Playstation version was undoubtedly better, subsequent attempts to revisit it on original hardware, or an emulator, haven’t quite ignited the same levels of passion as when I clunked through the PC port, via DOSBox and using the keyboard, a few years ago.

Without underestimating the work involved, the Phantom Edition is a pleasingly low-key update that basically makes the PC version of Wipeout feel like you’d always imagined it would be – an upgrade on the PSX version, rather than a hobbled poorer cousin. The graphics can now be enjoyed in widescreen high-res (although 320×240 is still an option), and there’s support for modern controllers, but otherwise it still looks and feels like the original.

Overtaking the mysterious Paul Jackson.

Phantom Edition uses assets from the PSX version of the game, so you do need to have a copy of the US version on hand in the first instance to get it up and running. (That also just happens to be the version without any big-name electronic acts on the soundtrack, which possibly isn’t a coincidence, although if you have access to your old MP3s or CDs then it’s easy enough to patch them in, or some of your own 90s big-beat music, if you prefer).

The other main tweak concerns the collision options. Traditionally, Wipeout was particularly punitive when it came to making contact with the wall, or other ships, but beyond the Legacy mode, which keeps things as they were, the Phantom Edition also offers two alternatives: Classic, which apparently brings things more into line with the two sequels and Modern, which is even more forgiving.

While both are welcome additions, they did seem to make the game a little on the easy side: I was always pretty rubbish at Wipeout, but breezed through both championships on my first attempt using the Modern setting, and while things were a little tougher on Classic, I didn’t need to refine my racing style too much further to achieve success with that enabled either. (Having said all that, the notorious Silverstream course was still about 100 times harder than any of the others, so I’m not quite sure I’m ready to try and tackle it all again in Legacy mode just yet.)

Bloody Silverstream.

It all seems to have been put together in the interests of getting you up and running as quickly as possible with the minimum of fuss, and it’s definitely a great way to revisit the original Wipeout on PC. Certainly, I went from the point of initial investigation into burning through an afternoon on the game itself pretty quickly.

(Greedily, I’m now wondering if something similar can be done with the PC version of the first sequel, which apparently does work in modern Windows but, as far as I remember, runs far too fast to be playable on modern machines. The venerable PCGamingWiki suggests that the frame rate is linked to the refresh rate, so maybe that’s worth some further investigation… but an all-singing, all-dancing Phantom Edition of 2097 would be most welcome).

Hi all.

Apologies for the short period of radio silence. Today we’re back, though, with what – if our calculations are correct (which they may well not be) – will be our 400th review.

As such, we figured that we’d better go for a vaguely notable title rather than some long-forgotten cricket game. So here’s our review of Metal Gear Solid.

Hi there.

With the DIY (mostly) finished, it’s time to get back on track with a review of some sort.

How about some thoughts on a mid-00s golf game, featuring Tiger Woods?

No? Well, it’s all we’ve got for now, I’m afraid.

So here comes a review of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 anyway, whether you like it or not.

Moments in Gaming is where we look back on gaming experiences that have left a particularly strong impression on us over the years: mainly for good reasons, but sometimes for bad ones.

Boss battles aren’t the strongest part of Blur, Bizarre’s brilliant combat racer. Not only are too many of these ‘expert’ opponents easily dispatched, their characterisation is thin, going little beyond a video introduction, and meaning it’s hard to care that much about besting any of them.

‘What if there were two?’ That’s one way to try and escalate the sense of jeopardy.

And ‘what if they were Asian twin ladies?’ is a way of eliciting a bit of a sigh. Could they distract you by being sexy? Be careful, fellas, these girls are as fast as they are beautiful! (2011’s Need for Speed: The Run did something similar, and possibly even worse).

All of this is a prelude to one of the game’s more memorable moments, a rock-hard canyon race during which you either have to take out both opponents – Ayumi and Harumi – with weapons, or beat them to the finish line.

Barring a stroke of good fortune, the latter is near impossible. While all three of you are driving the same car, a Nissan Skyline, Blur cheats in the way that arguably all good arcade racers do, by making them just a little bit faster and better than you, keeping them one step ahead at all times.

Whether you’ll quite feel that way, after repeated unsuccessful attempts, is another matter. This game is stupid, it’s broken, it’s unfair… but let’s have another go anyway. The further downhill you get, the faster they go, and the promise of success during early skirmishes fades as their rear lights recede into the far distance.

There are no nitro pickups, either, to give yourself a late boost and somehow pull off a last-minute overtaking manoeuvre. Tweak that racing line all you like, they’ll still drive better than you.

The answer lies in Blur's second string: combat. To win, you’ll probably have to wreck both your rivals in double-quick time.

Again, you’re hamstrung by the limited arsenal on offer: no guided Shunts, no Shocks to fire in front of the leaders, and no silver bullet that will give you a little push towards victory when you need it most.

All you have are Mines and Bolts, which require pinpoint accuracy, or a Barge, if you happen to get close enough. Meanwhile your opponents have access to repairs and shields, meaning they can avoid damage and go from the brink of death to full health in an instant.

A solid strategy, then, is hyper aggression, using the skills honed in Blur's combat races, where it’s a matter of perfecting the firing of Bolts at drones against the clock. The ‘extra Bolt’ power up, giving you four shots per pickup rather than three, and earned during an earlier boss battle, is also a must.

Then, during the early stages, when your opportunities to get close are maximised, take every chance you get to hammer those Skylines with weapons.

After some near misses – maybe eliminating one opponent but not the other, or even getting nobbled yourself – success should follow. (As should the traditionally extravagant celebrations, accompanied by foul language, that do you very little credit).

Whether it should appear slap bang in the middle of the career mode might suggest it’s there by accident rather than design, but in a game generally marked by moderate difficulty and steady progress stalled only by the player’s sense of perfectionism, it’s good to have at least one ‘fuck you, I win!’ moment.

In Fallout 3, you can roam the post apocalyptic ruins of Washington DC alone, if you prefer. However, there are companions available, to help you fight the many enemies that you will encounter. Examples include a hard-bitten mercenary, an old war robot or the leader of a gang your character knew from their childhood. There’s also the loyal and endearing dog called, erm, Dogmeat.

Another is Fawkes, and he will be one of the best friends you ever find out here (ok doggo, you too). He’s a super-mutant, a race of massive, imposing yellow humanoids. They were originally created in a horrific process where ordinary people were exposed to an artificially created virus. Their strength and resilience are enormously enhanced, radiation doesn’t touch them (useful in in a world where the effects of nuclear war still linger), and it appears they cam be extremely long lived. However, they possess only limited intellect and their capacity for speech is reduced to simple sentences.

Extremely violent and aggressive, they band together in small tribes ruled by whoever is biggest and strongest. They arm themselves with looted weaponry, with the upper echelons of their primitive society getting the better gear. A dire threat to the people of the Capital Wasteland, they take unfortunate human captives whom they will either eat, or turn into new mutants. Even the efforts of the Brotherhood of Steel – armed with their hi-tech weaponry and armour, struggle to hold the super-mutants in check.

The mutation process however worked a bit differently on Fawkes – he has all the bulk and strength of his kind, but his mind came out unscathed. In fact he’s a clever and articulate guy. This caused the other Supermutants to mistrust him, and so long ago they locked him up in one of the Vaults beneath the surface of the wasteland. While there he found a computer terminal, connected to the vault mainframe. As the vaults were originally intended to preserve human civilisation through the nuclear wars, their databases contained a huge amount of knowledge on topics like science, art and literature. By spending his time reading and learning, Fawkes kept himself sane during over a century of captivity.

In fact, his name is taken from that guy from 16th century England – he admires someone he saw as fighting and dying for what they believed in. Seems like he could be a force for good out there, one that’s sorely needed amidst the hardships and violence, if only someone would let him out of the vault.

That’s where you come in. In that same vault is a piece of equipment you need for the main quest but unfortunately it’s locked in a chamber bathes in lethal radiation. Looks like each of you is in a position to help the other. So you need to fight your way through whole bunch of super-mutants to find the key to his cell, so he can go fetch the item you’re after. Afterwards he’ll make a decision based on your “karma” rating, basically the sum total of good and evil things you’ve done so far in the game. If you’re a bad guy, he figure you only freed him out of necessity and leave you to your adventures. If you’re a heroic sort, though, he’ll offer to join you permanently.

So then, as you wander the wasteland he will amble along next to you, an ever present thud of massive boots. Occasionally he’ll offer comments such as gratitude that people don’t attack him in towns, knowing how they must fear him. Or he’ll dispense Zen-like bits of wisdom like “Be aware of the present moment”. All pretty chill so far.

When it comes to combat, though, he’s an absolute powerhouse. For a start he’s toting a huge Gatling laser, one of the most powerful guns in the game. Also though, he’s ridiculously durable. Most companions have around three, four hundred hitpoints at max level, he gets… fifteen thousand. (so does the doggo incidentally). I’ve no idea that was Bethesda’s intent or a bug but if the latter, it never got patched away. Anyway, for all intents and purposes he’s indestructible.

He’s also more than enthusiastic for a rumble. He may have self control and human reasoning, but he’ll gladly set those aside and unleash his rage when you’re threatened. In fact, he may be just a bit more keen than you might be ready for, especially if you’re a cautious stealth-based player like myself.

So let’s look at a typical encounter in the Wastelands, with Fawkes at your side. You spot movement in the distance – Enclave soldiers perhaps with advanced powerf armour and plasma weaponry. You go into sneak mode, and move into a position where you can easily retreat or take cover. Your draw a weapon that’s accurate at long range, carefully line up a shot, and-

YEEEEEAAARRRRRGGG

Fawkes barrels past you, unslings his laser obliterates every hostile in sight in about 20 seconds,

HAHAHA, I WIN AGAIN!!

Then you can sheepishly catch up and loot the smoking bodies he left behind.

Or how about the more potent enemies introduced in the expansions?  Like the highest tier of his super mutant brethren, the monstrous overlords. Or maybe the giant albino radscorpions. They can cause you a whole load of grief; not only do they inflict horrendous damage but they are incredibly durable, soaking up huge quantities of firepower. Fighting these deadly foes requires some preparation, tactical thinking and-

YEEEEEAAARRRRRGGG

They can sting him, throw radioactive sludge, hit him with oversized sledgehammers, shoot him with lasers. Fawkes could not give less of a shit. It’ll take him longer this time, but they still end up dead and he has 95% of his hitpoints left. You may as well join in and shoot the monster in the flanks a bit, just so you can say you contributed something.

Fawkes is so overpowered, you can basically spend every fight hiding behind a rock and letting him do all the work. Recruiting him feels almost like a cheat mode. Still, he’s always enormously entertaining and with his unique mix of mindfulness and raw brutality, he’s one of the game’s most memorable characters.