🤖 I finally played Astro’s Playroom! I initially wrote it off as a tech demo, but with all the praise for Astro Bot, I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I really enjoyed the flow and variety in the platforming, the unique ideas, and the nostalgic nods to PlayStation’s past. I’ll definitely play Astro Bot next.
Concord's failure should be a wake-up call for the video game industry
What a week it’s been in the video game industry! We’ve witnessed one of the most remarkable failures ever, as Concord - the Firewalk Studios-developed live service game into which Sony had invested so much in the hope it would be the next big thing - was shut down after...
The Year In Between - my debut novel is available now!
My first ever novel, The Year In Between, is now available for purchase! The book was a labour of love that took hundreds of hours to finish, but I’m aware that competition is fierce for your hard-earned money and the limited space on your bookshelf, so I’ve put together a...
GTA IV's Liberty City is still the best virtual city ever made
In its review upon the game’s release in 2008, GamesRadar called Liberty City “the biggest reason to delve into GTA IV”. Its writers said it was “easily 100 times more detailed” than the map of its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, concluding that altogether, the city was “convincingly like...
🎨 Notice anything different? In preparation for some big upcoming news, I’ve given my website a lick of paint. I’m hoping the new design will make it easier to find the best articles (as well as just generally looking cooler). Feel free to drop me an email if you have any ideas to make it even better.
Heartbound: An intriguing Early Access indie game about life itself
How does your experience of a game change if you can listen to its developer talk for hours every day? That’s the rather unusual question presented by Heartbound, an Early Access game whose creator is also a streamer. But whether you’ve caught Thor online or not, the indie game has...
Japan: Presence and attention to detail
A holiday brings a chance to unwind, time to focus on things beyond day-to-day life, and often an opportunity to take in another culture. Combined, these factors can produce a unique state of mind, and I find that one of the most difficult parts of any trip where it arises...
Notes from a brief stay in New York
I’m used to big cities. I’ve lived in London for more than a decade and have spent time in various European capitals, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Las Vegas, and Austin. But as Manhattan emerged over the horizon on the cab ride from JFK Airport, I realised that none of these had...
Stellar Blade is a challenging and stylistic gaming nostalgia trip
The Stellar Blade demo is here! There are many adjectives that could be applied to Level Up’s much-discussed PlayStation 5 exclusive - beautiful, unique, gruesome, and challenging, to name a few - but for me, more than anything else, the upcoming action-adventure title is a nostalgia trip to previous eras...
Apple Watch Series 8 review: You'll get it when you get one
I can’t remember a technology product I’ve been so undecided on for so long as the Apple Watch. Since the first generation launched in 2015, I’ve watched Apple’s iteration from afar, always unsure as to whether a smartwatch could ever provide enough benefit to warrant a price tag of at...
