If the original Red Faction proved anything, it was that blowing holes in things is jolly good fun. At the time such a simple pleasure was big news, with Volition’s Geo-Mod technology pioneering the notion of destructible environments. Nowadays, of course, such a feature is plastered on the back of almost every videogame box going, but that hasn’t deterred the Illinois-based developers. Instead, it’s spurred them on to show everyone how it’s done, stealing the current darling genre – the open-world sandbox – for themselves in the process. It’s only fair, after all. Read the full story »

Metallica are the very definition of ‘Monsters of Rock’; they’ve sold over 51 million records in the USA alone over a career spanning nearly three decades, can fill stadiums at the drop of a hat and sport a discography bulging at the seams with classic metal anthems. The 2004 documentary ‘Some Kind of Monster’ cemented their reputation as the archetypal metal act, as well as further proving just how on-point ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ was in its parodying of rock ‘n’ roll excess. Read the full story »

When Steven Spielberg first announced that he would be overseeing production of several new videogames, in partnership with EA, many would be forgiven for expecting some high-concept epic full of sentimentalism, annoying child actors, rubbish endings and lots of dinosaurs. Instead 2008’s Boom Blox was that most wonderful of things: a title that completely defied our expectations of what a game with Spielberg as creative director would be, and one that leaped to the front of the Wii’s game library. Read the full story »

There have been many complaints levelled at The Sims over the years by those ‘less-appreciative’ of the series. “It’s boring,” the cynics shout, before following up with a howl of “there’s nothing to do,” and “it’s for girls.” They’d be right to some extent, of course. The Sims’ adopted moniker of a virtual dollhouse is an altogether accurate one, your mouse pointer dictating the fate of the on-screen puppets in a warts ‘n’ all mimicry of life. Read the full story »

It’s been over a year since we last spoke to Criterion at the launch of their latest title, Burnout Paradise. But with no new projects announced since, nor any mention of the studio during EA’s E3 press conference last night, the world is left wondering; what are Criterion up to? We caught up with Burnout Paradise’s Lead Producer Pete Lake to find out how successful evolving the Burnout experience has been for the Guildford-based studio, and what they’ve got in store for the future. Read the full story »