Author: Jay Allsopp

In the mid-2000s, the Need for Speed series was in its heyday. The franchise was going from strength to strength, with each new successive instalment winning the admiration of racing fans and novices alike. Most of what are considered to be the best Need for Speed games are concentrated around the mid-to-late 2000s and early 2010s; it’s fair to say the games dropped off after that point. One of the best Need for Speed games was Need for Speed: Underground, which perfectly balanced the gearhead aspects of the franchise with its more accessible racing gameplay. If you’ve got some nostalgia…

Whether you like tinkering with cars or driving them, the world of video games is extremely well-served in the vehicle department. There’s something compelling about the mere act of hopping into a car and driving to wherever, and there’s also something inordinately satisfying about being able to pop the hood and poke around inside a vehicle’s innards so you can get a better idea of how it works. Whichever one you prefer, there are plenty of options for you, so let’s take a look at the 10 best car simulator games out there right now. 1. Gran Turismo 7…

It’s a great time to start investing in VR. While virtual reality technology has arguably been a little too unwieldy and expensive to justify a purchase before now, the advent of PlayStation VR2, as well as more affordable headsets like the Meta Quest 2, shows that companies are serious about VR and the leaps forward in immersion that it offers. As such, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that there are a host of excellent VR experiences coming in 2023. Let’s take a look at the 20 best VR games releasing this year. The Walking Dead: Saints &…

If there’s one genre for which VR is absolutely perfect, it’s horror. There are few gaming genres that can inspire such visceral emotion as horror, so removing one of the barriers to immersion – that is to say, the player’s distance from the action – makes things even more tense and thrilling. As you can probably imagine, developers have already begun to take advantage of this opportunity, and as such, there are tons of VR horror games out there. They’re not all created equal, though, so let’s take a look at the 10 best VR horror games you can play…

There are few things more rewarding than taking care of a pet. Having an animal companion in your home for whom you are completely responsible gives you a new perspective on life; it shows you what’s really important and rearranges your priorities. However, many people can’t have pets for various reasons, which can be a source of anxiety and sadness for them. Thankfully, video games are here to offer that experience vicariously. Here are the 15 best virtual pet games out there right now, so you can know what it’s really like to have a little animal best friend. A…

Nintendo’s N64 console was the first venture by the company to embrace true 3D. While games like Star Fox had flirted with rudimentary forms of the technology before, the N64 presented fully polygonal environments for players to explore in games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64.  Happily, if you were the kind of gamer who liked to have friends round for a few bouts of something competitive (or co-operative, of course), the N64 also boasted four controller ports without needing to buy additional peripherals.  Of course, that also meant it was important for the…

Gaming can be an incredible medium for storytelling. Interactivity means that a video game can tell stories in ways that other media simply can’t; they can make us inhabit a character intimately and personally, feeling every action they take and every decision they make with a connection that non-interactive media can’t give us.  As you’d imagine, there are many games out there that take advantage of this incredible potential, so let’s take a look at the 20 best story-driven games to play right now. 1. Final Fantasy VII Many Final Fantasy games have come and gone since the seventh…

If modern AAA games just aren’t doing it for you, rest assured that you’re not alone. There’s a refreshing simplicity to retro gaming; most retro games choose one or two things to do and do those things very well, rather than trying to appeal to as many demographics as possible. The vaults of retro gaming are full of treasures both appreciated and underrated, so without further ado, let’s take a look at 20 classic retro games that are well worth revisiting. 1. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island We’re going to try to limit ourselves to one game per franchise…

For many months now, speculation has swirled regarding when Nintendo is planning to announce its Switch successor. Many say that the current console is underpowered, pointing to games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet as evidence that the Switch simply doesn’t have the technical prowess to keep up with graphical and performance advances.  If you ask us, though, the Switch still has plenty of life left in it; the console is perfectly capable of playing most indie games, and it can run Nintendo’s own first-party endeavours just fine, too. Here are the best Nintendo Switch games arriving in April 2023. …

April 2023 is shaping up to be another bumper month for video game releases. All three of the major console players currently on the market are getting some pretty heavy-hitting titles in April, and whether you’re into single-player story-driven adventures or you’re a more multiplayer-focused gamer, you’ll find plenty to love.  The last-gen consoles still have some life in them, but we’re seeing more and more major titles start to make the shift to current-gen only, so if you haven’t already picked up a PS5,  Xbox Series X/S, or Switch, now might be the time to do so. Here are…

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S console lineup continues to offer excellent choice and value for money. This is largely thanks to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, which contains a huge lineup of varied titles that are sure to cater to pretty much anyone’s tastes. However, a lot of gamers tend to forget that there are plenty of games available outside of the Game Pass ecosystem, with new titles being released just as consistently as ever. Here are the best Xbox Series X/S games coming in April 2023. Meet Your Maker (April 4th) Super Mario Maker didn’t quite prove as…

There was a time when anything free in the world of gaming would have been regarded with suspicion. If a game was free, it was either a demo, a shareware product, or too good to be true. Now, free-to-play games are the dominant business model when it comes to online multiplayer games, and single-player games are also moving into that space. With that in mind, you’ve got a lot of options if you want to game without spending any money these days. Here are the 20 best free-to-play games available online right now. 1. Apex Legends EA and Respawn’s…

Rest in peace, Kinect: we hardly knew ye. The Kinect was originally introduced in 2010 as an additional accessory for Microsoft’s hugely popular Xbox 360, bringing motion and voice control to the console. A lack of killer apps for the peripheral, as well as some strange missteps on Microsoft’s part when it came to the Xbox One, led to Kinect’s pretty much complete failure, but that doesn’t mean there were no decent games for it. Here are the 25 best Xbox 360 Kinect games you can play. 1. Dead Space 3 In retrospect, Dead Space 3 wasn’t a great game…

Gaming is a hobby that can easily be enjoyed solo or alongside other players. Whether you’re facing off against your pals in friendly competition or working alongside them for some jolly cooperation, gaming can bring us together just as easily as it can help us to test our skills. Some of the best multiplayer games out there facilitate fierce competition between us, bringing out the best in us (and sometimes the worst). Here are the 20 best games for competitive multiplayer out there right now. 1. League of Legends It’s hard to imagine a better game for competitive multiplayer…

The Nintendo 64 is one of the greatest consoles of all time. While opinion is divided on its rather odd controller, it spawned some serious gaming classics to which gamers still return on a regular basis, as well as some interesting and underrated gems that many are still yet to discover. If you’ve got a Nintendo Switch Online membership and you’ve picked up the Expansion Pack add-on, then you can get access to some of these greats. Here are the 20 best N64 games on Nintendo Switch right now. 1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Obviously, the…

Real-time tactics is a rather curious genre. It essentially takes the basic idea of real-time strategy gameplay – ordering units around a reactive map – and removes resource management and base-building, instead choosing to focus on a highly specific set of specialised units with their own special powers and abilities. Into this storied genre have come excellent games like Desperados, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, and Commandos, and now, developer Mercat Games is throwing its own tricorn hat into the ring with Frigato: Shadows of the Caribbean. In essence, this is a real-time tactics game with a strong emphasis…

Firefighting is one of the noblest professions out there. It’s impossible not to see the people who break their way into burning buildings and rescue people, pets, and possessions as heroes; they’re risking their lives on a daily basis to help others, and usually not for the kind of pay they deserve, too.  With that in mind, you’d think there would be an abundance of firefighting games, but that’s not really the case. Still, here are 12 of the best firefighter games out there so you can indulge your fantasy of becoming a celebrated firefighting master. Disclaimer: it may be…

There’s nothing quite like sitting down to play a co-op game with some of your nearest and dearest. Whether it’s a two-player odyssey through an emotionally affecting story or a frantic party game where you’ll all have to be at your best, co-op gameplay can make us feel like we’ve achieved something incredible when we succeed. As you’d expect, there are lots of co-op games out there that are well worth your time, so without further ado, let’s take a look at the 20 best co-op games to play with your friends right now. 1. It Takes Two Let’s get…

Combat titles have long held sway with staunch video gaming fans, and there continues to be a slew of new games that roll off the production line. Indeed, modern warfare games are all the rage, and while fans are required to have a great deal of patience to master them, there is something rather satisfactory when it comes to completing a title. There are of course many titles that fall into the category of undeniable classics, and some have made a big impact over a short period. Let’s take a closer look at six of our favorite combat video games…

If you’re an Xbox Series fan, you may or may not have kept up with the debate regarding developing for the less-powerful Series S. The console is, according to developers, making development on Microsoft’s ecosystem difficult; devs say they don’t want the Series S to be an additional requirement if they’re making next-gen games for the flagship Series X.  Despite this, Microsoft has shown no indication that it’s dropping support for Series S or introducing Series X-exclusive games, so if you’re one of the lucky owners of the adorable little white box, you’re safe for now. March 2023 is shaping…

Historically speaking, March can be a pretty big time for game releases. In 2022, big hitters like Gran Turismo 7 launched in March, as well as smaller, more niche hits like Triangle Strategy. February tends to be the month when the real tentpole blockbusters land, but March always has its fair share of big games to check out, and it’s looking like 2023 is going to be no exception in that regard. Big games are landing on Xbox, Switch PS5 and more this March. Here are the biggest game releases you can look forward to in March 2023. The Last…

Rumour has it that the beloved Nintendo Switch may not be long for this world. Since the Switch performance of games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet was less than desirable, some have murmured that Nintendo may soon be about to introduce a new piece of hardware that’s more powerful.  This would make sense; Nintendo hardware is often bookended by Zelda games, as was the case with Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on GameCube, and a new Zelda game is just around the corner. Still, in the meantime, the Switch is going strong, and March is bringing plenty of games to…

Star Wars is a series that needs no introduction. It’s one of the most popular science fiction franchises of all time; at time of writing, Star Wars stands as the fourth highest-grossing media franchise ever, behind Mickey Mouse & Friends, Pokemon, and Winnie the Pooh. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Star Wars has also birthed a huge amount of successful and popular video games, so without further ado, let’s take a look at the 25 best Star Wars games of all time. 1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II Many would point to BioWare’s original…

Dragons hold a special place in the origin stories and mythologies of cultures across the world, from ancient China to Europe and everywhere in between. While dragon lore has always had a place in storytelling, the fantasy genre is the natural place for stories about slaying and befriending dragons, and with movies and TV shows like Game of Thrones, The Hobbit and even Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon holding dragons front and centre, it is no surprise that dragon-themed games are a popular choice for people. The origin of the dragon stories is unclear. Some think that humans…

If you’ve just got yourself a Steam Deck, congratulations – you’re the proud owner of one of the most powerful handheld devices around. The Steam Deck is essentially a gaming PC you can hold in your hands, giving you access to your full Steam library without needing to sit down at your desktop. As you might expect given the Steam Deck’s relatively compact form factor, however, some PC games are more playable on the system than others, so without further ado, let’s take a look at the top 10 games to play on Steam Deck.

Whether it’s revisiting old favorites in remakes or exploring amazing worlds in daring new titles, 2023 has it all. This is the best time to try and buy a current-generation console since every major studio will have big titles releasing this year. From Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, which was supposed to release in 2022 but couldn’t due to delays to Starfield, we have countless games releasing in 2023. So, this is a huge year for gamers, and they are already excited to fire up their consoles and play their favorite games. Some big names will soon…

Sometimes, it’s not enough to play using the standard controller bundled with your console. If you’re serious about your gaming experience, then you might be thinking of upgrading to something with some real firepower behind it. There is, of course, Microsoft’s own Xbox Elite controller, but that’s a pretty expensive option, so you might be looking for something a bit more affordable. If you are, then we’re happy to report that Nacon has you covered. The Nacon Revolution X Pro controller is a premium Xbox and PC peripheral that’s intended for people who are serious about gaming. This isn’t the…

The year is 1994, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is sitting pretty as the console of choice for the discerning gamer. Things are about to change, though; the 3D era is fast approaching, and before long, the SNES’ 2D pixel art will look positively ancient (although it will quickly reappear as fashionable nostalgia). Yes, it’s fair to say Sony’s PlayStation took the world by storm, and that’s not just because of its graphics. Here are the top 25 PS1 games of all time. 25. Chrono Cross If you look around forums and other fan discussions, you’ll find that Chrono…

If you’re an Xbox gamer, you’ve probably come across Xbox Live Gold before. The service was much more popular during the Xbox 360 days, but it remained active throughout the Xbox One era and has made it into the Xbox Series age as well. The option for subscribing to Xbox Live Gold can be pretty well-hidden within the Xbox UI or online, though, and there’s a good reason for that. Let’s take a look at exactly what Xbox Live Gold is and whether it’s worth subscribing to it in 2023! What exactly is Xbox Live Gold? Xbox Live Gold is…

If you’re an avid Xbox or PC gamer, you’ll find plenty of options out there when it comes to third-party controllers. You may, for whatever reason, not particularly like the standard Xbox controller made by Microsoft, or you might want to pick up a second controller for another player. Whatever your reason for wanting a new controller, Nacon makes some pretty excellent peripherals, and the Pro Compact controller is no exception to that rule; it’s a solid piece of gear and it’s great for Xbox and PC gamers alike. Nacon just released a set of new colours for the Pro…

We may well be approaching the Nintendo Switch’s twilight years. The console has had a pretty incredible run. It was introduced back in 2017 and proceeded to take the world by storm, offering a gaming experience that could be readily switched between handheld and home console depending on your preference.  Games like Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey codified the Switch as a household mainstay, and despite the Switch’s waning technical power, its release schedule remains packed, although the upcoming post-Christmas release schedule is a little lighter on games than other months. Here are the best Nintendo Switch…