Classic SF with Andy Johnson

Another year is here, and with it the promise of hundreds of new games. The promises are a bit vague in 2022 though, as the ongoing pandemic and various other factors have knocked many release dates …

2021 is being put to the sword, and we wait with baited breath to find out if 2022 will be a better year. This month I’ve written about the ten best books I read during the year, which you can find h…

It’s time for my annual round-up of the best books I read during the year. As in 2019 and 2020, I aimed to read 50 books and managed to do so. Once again I primarily read sci-fi, which is reflected i…

For me, November has been a month of two halves - split between the time before my new PC arrived, and the time afterwards. Games I played in both phases are represented in this, my second monthly ro…

How will the world end? It’s a question that has occupied the minds of many SF writers over the years, but few have become as closely associated with it as John Wyndham.

While they were heavily influ…

In the first entry in a monthly series, I share some quick reflections on five games I played in October 2021, both new and old. In this edition: Eastward, Inscryption, REKKR: Sunken Land, the demo o…

Kingdoms of Amalur is now something of a cult classic, and its recent remaster is something to be celebrated. Here is a sprawling, epic RPG which manages to be accessible and fun - and which doesn’t …

Flash Point combines the talents of director Wilson Yip and star Donnie Yen, two of the foremost individuals who kept the fire of Hong Kong action cinema burning in the 2000s. The two had worked toge…

 Chairmen of the Board may just be one of the most underrated soul vocal groups of the 1970s, little-known outside their enduring pop hit “Give Me Just a Little More Time”. The Chairmen had a brief b…

 Over 50 years later, Edwin Starr's version of "War" is one of the most recognisable and popular recordings from the glory years of soul and funk - thanks in part to frequent airplay and its use in m…

Following the publication of The Dispossessed (1974), Ursula K. Le Guin ceased to write new stories in her Hainish universe. In the following years, she wrote some of the books which are less well kn…

Originally published in late 2008, the Destiny trilogy is a major linchpin of Star Trek tie-in fiction. This hugely ambitious series combines characters, ships and backstory from several TV series an…

In the glut of World War II shooters that followed in the wake of Saving Private Ryanand Band of Brothers, it could be difficult for a game to be distinctive. With their first original project Brothe…

In 2006, EA proudly presented a collected set of all of the Command & Conquer games released in the series' first decade. The second decade was far less successful, however, with a string of catastro…

"Nobody gives Schwarzenegger a raw deal!" On April 1, Arnold's 1986 flop actioner directed by John Irvin will get another chance to impress, when it is added to Netflix. This episode takes a look at …

In 2003, the New York Times published an article casting judgement on which show was “the best spy series in television history.” The writer, Terence Rafferty, wasn’t thinking of the then-current hit…

Resuming my exploration of the Hainish cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, I reach The Dispossessed (1974). One of her most acclaimed books, it won the Hugo, Locus and Nebula Awards for Best Novel. This brie…

"An Action Canon" is a new series which looks at some of the best and most important action movies of all time, and explores why they have a crucial place in the genre's history. This first instalmen…

Funded by a hugely successful kickstarter in 2012, Shadowrun Returns is that rare thing - an RPG which can be finished in a modest amount of time. This short piece looks at the appeal of an RPG which…

Kathryn Bigelow's 1995 cyberpunk thriller Strange Days was a major flop, and seriously damaged her career. Watched 25 years later to see in the New Year, the movie is more relevant and impressive tha…