About Matthew Smail

Minecraft: Xbox One Edition was developed by Mojang and 4J Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on Friday, September 5 2014 for $20 and is also available to owners of the Xbox 360 Edition for $4.99. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Well, someone had to do it. And that someone is me. Drawing the review for Minecraft: Xbox One Edition may have been the most challenging assignment of my XBLA Fans writing career, simply because there isn’t much left to write which hasn’t been written a million times before. When he reviewed the Xbox 360 version of this seminal mining/crafting/adventure game over two years ago, our reviewer opened with the throwaway line that even the most casual of weekend gamers must already have heard of Minecraft – and he was absolutely right.

So where does that leave us? Well, my review of the recently released Xbox One version will reinforce Minecraft‘s core elements for those already familiar with giving newcomers an introduction to those same elements. At the same time, I’m going to lay out some of the changes, no matter how subtle they may be, that differentiate this version from that of the last generation of consoles. Let’s dig in.

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Stick It to The Man! was developed and published by Zoink Games. It was released August 28, 2014 on Xbox One and Xbox 360 for $9.99. An Xbox One copy was provided for review purposes.

It has been an awfully long time since the likes of Braid, Limbo and Super Meat Boy first began to demonstrate just how innovative and enjoyable smaller, digitally delivered titles could be. Unbelievably, though, there are still independent studios out there that continue to push the envelope. With Stick it to the Man!, Zoink games have done exactly that, delivering an entertaining, polished and highly amusing puzzle/platform game that oozes originality from every pore.

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Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition was developed by Martial Hesse-Dreville and Éric Chahi and published by The Digital Lounge. It was released on June 25th, 2014 on Xbox One and is priced at £6.39/$9.99. An Xbox One copy was provided for review purposes.

The nature of video games has changed a lot since the original version of Another World (A.K.A Out of this World) was released on the Amiga and Atari ST back in 1991. For a start, even the humblest of modern consoles is almost immeasurably powerful in comparison to the systems available when Delphine Studio’s original game made its debut. The Sci-Fi worlds that these systems play host to are often unimaginably vast, with incredible three-dimensional graphics and rich, uncompressed digital audio to bring them to life. Gamers have changed as well – no longer is enjoying digital media reserved only for solitary fourteen year old boys with thick rimmed spectacles and a math degree. On the contrary, in fact – games are now played by almost everyone from the average adult male, to his mates, to his girlfriend and in some cases, even his mum! So, in an era of casual gaming and high definition, can this carefully crafted remake of an ultra-hard classic still make an impact on today’s audience?

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Outlast was developed and published by Red Barrels. It was released June 18, 2014 on Xbox One for $19.99/£16.99 and includes The Whistleblower DLC. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Throughout the history of video games, there have always been developers who set out to scare, shock, terrify and otherwise freak out an audience of gamers that is increasingly more resilient to zombies, vampires, blood, gore and all of the usual tactics. Red Barrels is one such developer, and with the excellent Outlast, they have succeeded in creating a game which is not only genuinely frightening, but which also benefits from an interesting story, and a level of engagement which really enhances the overall experience.

Set in the Mount Massive Mental Asylum, Outlast locks the player into a 5 to 6 hour long campaign which maintains a generally high level of intensity, with downtime offered only occasionally (and fleetingly) as main character Miles Upshur desperately navigates his way towards an ever more elusive escape.

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State of Decay: Lifeline was developed by Undead Labs and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released May 30, 2014 on Xbox 360 for $6.99. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Over the past two or three years, the popularity of zombies in video games has grown to the point where it is now almost impossible for many gamers to differentiate what makes any given option stand out amongst the ever-growing pack of average also-rans. Thankfully, last year’s State of Decay was certainly one of the better zombie titles and was especially impressive as (initially) a fairly modest XBLA exclusive. Undead Labs followed up its initial success with the Breakdown DLC, which, although still very good, left most fans of the series wanting more – in particular a new and expanded location. And that, in a protracted kind of way, is exactly what the Lifeline DLC is all about.

This time, the action takes place in the fictional city of Danforth and centers around a military squad known as Greyhound One, with players exploring a storyline dealing with the activities of the soldiers during the initial days of the outbreak. The structure is similar to the base game, but the fairly large home base is fixed, the missions generally feature a tighter timeline and players will need to contend with periodic zombie sieges that present a stiffer threat to NPCs (and overall success) than anything seen in previous outings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the military setting adds a tremendous amount of firepower to the player’s arsenal, including more weapons and ammo; plus a raft of new traps, supply drops and assistance resources. Lifeline also features a number of new tweaks — like the ability to place rucksacks in trucks, effectively enabling more comprehensive supply runs — that occasionally have a material impact on the game.

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Super Time Force was developed and published by Capybara Games. It was released May 14, 2014 on Xbox One and Xbox 360 for $14.99/£11.99. An Xbox One copy was provided for review purposes.

Super Time Force (STF) is a game that wears its 8-bit inspired graphics with nothing but the utmost pride. At its simplest, this is a Contra-style shooter with one hell of a modern twist to keep things interesting. As you might expect from this kind of game, the action predominantly takes place from left to right as players battle their way towards the inevitable massive boss encounter — the twist, however, is that there is absolutely no chance of (or incentive to) finish levels with just one life. That’s right folks, the clue is in the name: in STF, players are actively encouraged to roll back time, pick another character and repeat stages over and over again.

Of course, you might ask, why bother? Well, Super Time Force doesn’t just allow players to retry sections of a level after failure; it actually encourages rewinding (“Timeout”), changing characters and replaying sections to maximise collectables and because of a mechanic that Capy calls “single-player co-op.” This idea basically works by having the ghost of each previous attempt fight alongside the current character to deal damage, collect stuff and protect the live player with abilities like blocking. When a previously killed ghost survives as the result of a later playthrough, that ghost then becomes a power-up for the current player as a little thank you. Make sense? Don’t worry if it doesn’t, you’ll get the hang of things and the system will become second nature within no time at all.

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The latest data feed from Pandora is in, and we’re delighted to reveal that it contains a mouthwatering new trailer for Telltale Games’ eagerly anticipated, story-driven, episodic adventure game Tales from the Borderlands, not to mention the first nuggets of detail.

The data we received confirms that Tales from the Borderlands, which is due for release this summer, will be set after the events of Borderlands 2 and will feature two playable characters whose stories will unfold alternately. The first of these characters is Fiona – a quick-witted, fast-talking (but probably loveable) rogue who’s out to make the biggest score of her life. The second is Rhys, a selfish and scheming Hyperion data-miner with big ambitions. It has also been confirmed that whilst neither of these characters is actually a Vault Hunter, they will both interact with famous characters from the Borderlands series including ZerO and more. (Here’s hoping for a fairly heavyweight cameo from Tiny Tina!)

In addition to this already rather exciting selection of Tales from media, XBLA Fans can also report that Telltale Games Producer Adam Sarasohn has recently confirmed a number of interesting details about the game over at the PlayStation Blog. In addition to hinting at the various possibilities that the vast Borderlands world might hold in store for players, the key details can be found after the jump.

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According to an IGN report yesterday, Telltale’s upcoming Game of Thrones tie-in is to receive consultancy support from none other than Ty Franck – the man best known as …
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Strategy-loving Xbox One owners can rejoice today following the news that 4gency’s unusual resource management/building simulator Habitat has reached its initial funding goal of $50,000. The game (which has …
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