HEROES OF THE STORM

HEROES OF THE STORM

The ultimate lure of Blizzard's long-awaitedentry into the world ofthe MOBA can be felt only in the heady afterglow of a smart play. In many other genre entries it's very possible, especially as you just begin to grasp the intricacies of the systems at work, to wait the better part of a month before this moment comes. By tweaking and tailoring the form, slicing away at certain bits and glueing more on to others, the Warcraft maker has somehow managed to enable those satisfying moments where it all seems to come together to occur more regularly and for more people. It sits comfortably in the middle ground, providing enough depth for the hardcore to feel challenged, and yet allowing the newcomer to grasp the ideas and thrive within its folds. 

LANE TRAIN 

And the game isn't afraid to mess with longstanding genre convention in pursuit of that accessible edge. Heroes boasts seven maps to play across, rather than one or two to master, and each packs a unique mechanic designed to drag you out of your lane and to more actively alter your role during a match's playtime. In the stormstricken port of Blackheart Bay, for example, the team darts about collecting as many doubloons as possible in order to convince the map's namesake pirate ruler to unleash a barrage of cannon fire on the forts of your enemy.
The presentation is immaculate here, and weíre not just talking about the visuals. Similar to its work
in Diablo III and Starcraft II, Blizzard manages to imbue your frantic clicks and quickfire keyboard taps with a sense of supreme power inions explode satisfyingly as you cast your spells, while lining up and firing off a precision attack to land the final blow on a fleeing player legend.
If you're not quite on top of your game, or need to get in a bit more practice as a certain character, there are a pleasing array of PvP and Al enemy game types to move across, too. Heroes does a brilliant job of gating you off from certain player-on-player modes until you're ready for them, ensuring thereís
little excuse for newbie abuse. Viewed as a solid and approachable gateway MOBA, Heroes of the Storm simply has no rival.

LIFE IS STRANGE

LIFE IS STRANGE

Are you sitting comfortably ? For all the cliffhangers and surprises that saw this tale of time travel and teen drama grow into one of 2015's most talked about games, perhaps its most quietly revelatory moment is the first time it asks you to take a load off. Games rarely invite you to take stock - for the player, it's valuable time to reflect: to consider choices made (and occasionally unmade) and to wonder what might come next.

Whatever your guess, it's probably wrong. While on the surface Life Is Strange seems simply a take on Telltale's episodic adventure game format, it delights in confounding expectations and blending disparate genres. It offers resounding, occasionally unsettling shocks, but it's equally if not more affecting in its quieter moments. And thereís something rare and precious in the way Life Is Strange represents the highs and lows of adolescence, particularly in the way it portrays a friendship between two young women - protagonist Max, and her best friend Chloe. This shouldnít be a novelty, and yet it undoubtedly is in the interactive space. Spiky and obstinate, Chloe is a realistically flawed creation, and a terrific foil to more hesitant, diffident Max. Their relationship is one subtly shaped by your choices.
And if at time Dontnod tilts close to melodrama, that's only fitting given the heightened emotions we all feel as teens. Life Is Strange manages to evoke an identifiable sense of adolescent yearning, Such that it generates a kind of vicarious nostalgia; the feelings that bubble to the surface seem raw and real.

STRANGE TIME

Whether we're making use of Max's time-bending abilities to convince a friend we can see the future, or finding an inventive way past a locked door, Dontnod makes a familiar idea feel novel again Meanwhile, on the occasion the power's used for a simple do-over, the context keeps you engaged perhaps you're boosting the self-esteem of a classmate, or punishing a bully. The supporting cast at first seem like archetypes, but over five episode they're afforded depth, and soon earn your sympathies. Life Is Strange may take an episode or two to really finds its way into your heart, but once it's there, you'll never forget it.