INKY SQUIGGLES

While it's difficult to find a legit (cough) copy nowadays,  Discworld is worth revisiting if only as a curious and charming relic of a bygone age (1995!), when the adventure game reigned and creative puzzles and witty dialogue were everything. This also hails from an era when authors collaborating with games developers made perfect sense. The result is a game infused with the hallmark (if sometimes arcane) humour of the legendary Terry Pratchett , which is   especially delectable when combined with the voice work of British treasures Eric Idle, Tony Robinson and Rob Brydon, among others (available only on the newer version). The music is uncomplex (but then that comes with the age of the game), but whimsical and appropriate, complementing the quirkily appealing cartoonish background art. And, while this is far from high res and needs to be played in windowed mode, I've always felt that this type of hand-drawn art style has weathered the ravages of time much bet...

This is a promising adventure title with lovely settings and visuals that have held up surprisingly well. The game has some rather charming and creative narrative touches and appealing musical moments. Visually, it evokes an impressive steampunk-style environment; in combination, these elements make for a quite immersive experience. However, at its core, the Syberia series is sadly limited; the puzzles are humdrum and unsatisfying, and there is little motivation due to a lacklustre, slow-moving plot. The protagonist, Kate, is never fully fleshed out; one of her main companions spends much of the game unconscious (her remaining ally is a largely underused automaton), while her relationships with others are primarily revealed through phone calls with disembodied (and rather stilted) voices and weak dialogue. Meanwhile, the villains of the tale are almost comical in how unthreatening they are. This is a shame, as the game is often beautiful (although I always found the design o...

'That constant humiliation to survive. If you're not angry, what kind of person are you?' – Ken Loach, director I've tried not to dwell on my time on the welfare system, which remains one of the darkest points in my life. However, even though I've now been in full-time employment as a copyeditor for around two and a half years, the spectre of unemployment hangs over me. Working at a small but busy company that has previously let go of a coworker due to financial strain and knowing talented, hardworking individuals who have met the same fate, the prospect of being made redundant is never far from my mind. As my time after graduation has shown me, sometimes one's best efforts don't count for much.

This was just OK. I purchased this in the hopes of finding a spacey adventure game with an intense atmosphere like that of The Dig (both involve mostly solitary exploration of strange, desolate alien environments), but was left distinctly underwhelmed by the game in general. Morningstar is diverting enough, with sufficient mileage to absorb somewhat for a few hours, but the plot and characters are basic and lacklustre. There's also no true climax/resolution to the game –   while there's a confrontation, it's expected and occurs as a cut scene that is over quite quickly, so there's no real sense of being in actual danger at any point or discovery of anything truly shocking. The voice acting is rather poor, with some lines read as though the actor doesn't fully understand their context (although, while fluent, I suspect they aren't native speakers, so they deserve some slack). I discovered after playing that this was originally an in-browser game that was ...

The most striking part of the 20th Anniversary Edition is the transformation into polished HD graphics. The moody, detailed environments – one of the game's greatest strengths – truly shine in the re-release, enabling Jane Jensen's vision of the New Orleans locales to be fully realised. Robert Holmes' remastered soundtrack is more stirring than ever. Additionally, the rerecorded voices are strong and don't jar with my recollections of the characters – a concern when I discovered the excellent original voice cast (including Tim Curry, Leah Remini and Mark Hamill) wouldn't be returning. Otherwise, there have been slight refinements (such as a helpful new hint system) and additions (new puzzles and scenes), although nothing drastic. The game is, for the most part, faithful to the original, which can be seen as both a strength and a weakness. Although not groundbreaking, the intriguing and well-paced storyline still holds its own (check out my review of the sec...

I came into this gaming experience without really knowing what to expect. Despite never having heard of the horror adventure title from indie games studio The Astronauts before, I bought it during a Steam sale without viewing much more than the description and a brief trailer. As someone who likes to research games in depth before committing to a purchase (and as a notorious 'fraidy cat), this was an unusual move for me. Certain key phrases really sold it to me on the store page: 'immersive storytelling'; 'inspired by the weird fiction from the early twentieth century'; 'atmosphere, mood, and the essential humanity of our characters'. Sometimes, when it's right, you just know. I wasn't disappointed.

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe , £8.99 (Oxford University Press, 9780199537419) Publication date: 1 November 2008 (first published 1794) My rating:   ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ The Mysteries of Udolpho is the story of orphan Emily St. Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the medieval castle of her aunt's new husband, Montoni. Inside the castle, she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors that threaten to overwhelm her. (Penguin Classics description) I don't believe in judging classic literature according to contemporary sensibilities, which makes a review of an 18th-century novel challenging. Certainly, as other reviewers have noted, Radcliffe is due credit for her pioneering Gothic novels. Her prose is strong, her landscapes and settings are imagined on a grandiose scale and, excepting a tiresome every-other-page occasion of a fainting fit, in Radcliffe's work is a prevailing...