Retro Spectives

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is without a doubt one of the most influential video games ever made.  Unlike some titles that struggled with the transition to 3D, Zelda absolutely smashed it, s…

Resident Evil changed everything.  When originally released in 1996, what was once a niche genre for enthusiasts was now a blockbuster staple in every second home.  All of a sudden people were cravin…

Director Fumeto Ueda has been hailed by many as somewhat of an auteur of the gaming landscape. A creative whose style embraces minimalist desolation. Known best for his work on Shadow of the Colossus…

Third person cover based shooters were all the rage in the late 2000s.  Unveiled in 2003 in Killswitch  and later popularised with Gears of War, they became an essential part of most third person act…

Video games usually place you in the role of the plucky adventurer.  You are the wizard, the warrior, or the rogue, and it's your duty (and often destiny) to save the world.  On your journey, one of …

In 1998 Bioware changed the gaming landscape with Baldur’s Gate, a Dungeons and Dragons inspired adventure.  Taking cues from second edition D&D and the many stories written about it, Bioware wrote a…

The Ace Attorney games were an insane success, far beyond what Capcom could have predicted.  After 4 mainline games in the series though, it was time for something new, and creator Shu Takumi refused…

Space Sims used to be a vibrant and well populated genre.  Back in the 90s they command shelf real estate, right next to the latest and greatest RTS and Point and Click Adventure games.  Coming at th…

With another year done and dusted, Pat and James crack open another batch of listener questions. 
After curveballs like Killer 7 and Deadly Premonition, these should be a breeze.
Right..? 

On this episo…

But can it run Crysis?  This was the motto that surrounded every single PC build for literal years after the release of the game in 2007.  Crytek were not satisfied with what they had achieved with F…

After their magnum opus that was Resident Evil 1, Capcom were not going to sit on their heels.  Coming out just two years after the first in 1998, Resident Evil 2 sought to have everything the origin…

The Legend of Zelda is perhaps the most iconic video game series of all time.  Boasting 19 mainline entries, and an endless swathe of critical acclaim and awards, it's hard to find someone who hasn’t…

Killer7 is one weird game.  Developed in tandem by Grasshopper Manufacture and Capcom and first released in 2005, its very existence as a game defies description.  Within moments of starting, you’re …

System Shock 2 is considered by many to be the finest immersive sim ever made.  Released in 1999 in a coventure by Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games, it sought to combine the classic 3D dung…

Over the years, we’ve played games from pretty much every genre under the sun, but there is one that is notably missing - the racing sim.  We’ve dabbled with arcade racers like Burnout 3, and have pl…

Hitman: Blood Money, first released in 2006 by Eidos, is considered by many to be the best Hitman game ever made.  After the first few games played around with novel ideas and concepts to mixed succe…

Final Fantasy VII is a landmark title not only for the JRPG genre, but for all video games.  First released in 1997 and developed by Square, it took the format of the previous games and brought them …

Rain World is a game that was released to very mixed reviews.  With a whopping 59 on Metacritic, it was panned for its controls, difficulty, tedium and general obtuseness.  But take a gander at the c…

It's that time of year again!  For most of our episodes, our format is identical - we play a game, then discuss and review it.  Once a year, however, we take a break from the format at christmas time…

Ensemble Studios blew the world away with Age of Empires way back in 1997.  It took a different approach to the RTS formulae than Westwood or Blizzard, and was rewarded heavily for it.  Being able to…