Heavy Rain is a game that has divided opinions here at Gamer Limit. Some of us think it’s a glorified cutscene with obligatory button presses, others think it’s a welcome change of pace and a great narrative-driven game.

Heavy Rain’s influences are vast; movies like Se7en and Saw are easily spotted. Yet there is one gem of a game that hasn’t been praised for being a visionary of its time, and an obvious influence on Quantic Dream’s big PS3 exclusive. I give you: Road Avenger!

Read more… »

As an adolescent, I was a child who lived in two distinctly different worlds. I loved to play Dungeons and Dragons and video games with a small group of friends, and I was on the football team as well. I loved the competition and teamwork of sports, but I also loved the imagination and strategy of gaming.

When my teammates inevitably found out about my gaming habits, they were quite thorough with their mockery. It was one of those crossroads moments in my life. I chose to spend time with the nerds who at least accepted my jockness over the jocks who chose to close their minds completely to the joys of my nerdiness.

Read more… »

The Tom Clancy series will always have a special place in the video gaming section of my heart. While the modern monoliths of GTA IV, Bioshock and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare often frequent my hard drive, there exists a small collection of games that are never removed.

Within this group can be found classic adventures, such as Grim Fandango, Age of Empires 2, and the earlier Tom Clancy games. In fact, if someone was to ask me to name my three favourite series of military games based loosely on the novels of the prolific American author Tom Clancy, I’d have no choice but to answer with Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six.

Read more… »

In an industry where hype is the rule rather than the exception, there is much joy to be found when a title slips under the radar and catches us unaware of  its quality and vision. Knowing that a sleeper hit can delight as much – or more – than the latest blockbuster release, it’s worth celebrating those titles from last year that arrived with little fanfare, but left with a bang.

In the information age, a game that is able to surprise us is a rare treasure indeed. Follow me over the jump to look at some of the games that defied our expectations, or blindsided us with win, in 2009!

Read more… »

The Xbox 360 has been the source of some controversy since its release. Microsoft used their funds as a house-hold name in operating systems, to make sure they can compete in the games console market, much to the dismay of many.

With many exclusive titles, new innovations on the way, and the infamous ‘red ring of death’ (RROD),  join me as I look at what has happened with their journey inside the industry and what the future holds.
Read more… »

The MMORPG industry is ever growing, with many new titles being added to the genre each year. I consider myself to be a veteran MMO player, but I know there are many more people out there, with experience vastly superior to mine.

I want to delve into the last 10 years of the industry and find out what makes it tick, what has changed, and if the framework is still the same, so join me, after the break! Read more… »

“Finish Him!”.

Everybody knows the game, it was Midway’s signature videogame series. Sadly, the once proud studio is now dead, with Warner Bros Entertainment paying out $33 Million for the bankrupt Mortal Kombat developers.

Many of the younger amongst you may not realise just how sad this passing is. This isn’t a company that just gave us fatalities and Sub-Zero, for they have been about for over fifty years. Midway is, and always will be an important part of the history of videogames. They are intrinsically linked to the Golden Age of arcade gaming.

Read more… »

“Welcome to the future” is a phrase that gets used in videogames far too often. Only last week at E3 were Sony and Microsoft trumping their new motion technologies as something that would change games forever.  Many were blown away by what was on offer, especially the footage shown of Project Natal.

Countless scenarios have been brought up by gamers on how the new tech could be implemented, from strategy games to RPGs and every genre in between. Before we all start throwing our controllers away and jumping on the motion control bandwagon, it’s time for a history lesson.

Read more… »

The memory card holds a special place in my gaming heart. One of the evolutionary aspects of console games, memory cards pushed past the battery backup conundrum and allowed games to store larger amounts of information and push the onus of control to the player. Rather then forcing players to use passwords or restricting save points to “slots” on cartridge batteries (which die), memory cards allowed transportation of data between consoles and opened up a whole new world of innovative techniques and game elements.

With the venerable memcard losing ground to the hard drive, I’ll still look back on the little piece of plastic as one of the best parts of gaming for myself over the past decade in gaming. But before we can appreciate the memory card, we need to look at what used to exist before the system of portable storage was developed. We’ve come a long way, and it was definitely a rocky road.

Read more… »

Ah, the Saturn. It seems just like yesterday when I was having yet another bash through Guardian Heroes. Oh wait, it was yesterday. Yep, I still play my Saturn on a regular basis. I’m one of them guys that used to buy into every first party Sega game and praise it to the high heavens telling everybody about its cult status. Unfortunately the stupid general public – yes I’m pointing at you – didn’t support it enough and it died a painful death. So on this very day, for no reason at all, I’m going to explain why this console is superior to the wagglefest we’re stuck with today.

Read more… »

It was no secret that in the early nineties, the console war between Sega and Nintendo was starting to wane. Nintendo was having incredible success with the NES and Gameboy franchises, while Sega was left with a moderately popular console and general underdog status. Other console developers (such as Panasonic and Sony) were starting to notice a rapidly growing market and set to developing competitors to snare market share away from the Big 2. Read more… »

Street Fighter: if you say those two words to anyone they mean something, gamer or not,  everyone has heard of this iconic series. Street Fighter is often heralded as one of the best, if not the best fighting game of all time. It’s left a grand legacy, and with the recent release of Street Fighter IV, take our hand as we guide you through it.

Read more… »