Recent reviews by Kirjava

Trippy, psychadelic and more violent than you thought pixels could be! You are a hired killer getting coded orders from a phone and having baffling visions of animal masks talking to you as you make your way through level after level of punishing bloodshed. Hotline Miami demands perfection, and as you put on your horse mask, pick up your crowbar and prepare to murder a building full of people for the twenty fourth time, you will long to live up to its gruesome expectations.

My favourite tower defense game, just edging ahead of Plants Vs Zombies. Action-packed, hilarious and deeply satisfying when you start pulping Orcs in finely-tuned traps; hugely challenging and panic-inducing on harder difficulties when trying to stop that last Kobold from escaping. DLC just adds more to an already fantastic little experience, but don't expect a huge progression from the original Orcs Must Die!, because this is essentially just more- more traps, more maps, more characters (the Sorceress and a co-op mode). If that puts you off splashing out for it at full price, wait til it's on sale, because it's still eminently buyable and very, very enjoyable.

I've only just started playing but this is ridiculously gripping. Command a squad of four men and women against a creepy alien invasion- shoot down UFOs, research their technology, build funky new gadgets and hi-tech bases, negotiate the priorities of international politics... oh yeah, and gun your way through a horde of aliens in some nail-biting turn-based combat which is (for me at at least) unforgiving in difficulty.

I started playing, and when I looked up again I had been playing for three hours without noticing. That is surely an excellent sign.

Some very silly and referential humour makes this game what it is- which is a good thing, because it can be quite frustrating gameplay-wise. Still a little buggy after what I hear was a bugtastic release, the spell combos can be hard to get right, especially in the heat of combat when you're trying not to get punted off a cliff or keep an eye on which debuffs your wizard has, indicated only by graphical effects on his person, and it's far too easy to get stuck in chat mode and realise, after several frantic attempts, that you're just typing AFAFAFACSCSWWWW into the chat bar.

Still, like I said, the humour is fantastic, and if you can get the hang of the spell-casting then there's a world of depth awaiting you. I'm enjoying it, albeit not for long sessions!

It's the original Shogun Total War from way back when, but polished, gorgeous and totally playable. Will suck you in like all other TW games will, but is far improved from the AI catastrophe of Empire, and a natural progression artistically from Napoleon, with a single direction and a concise image.

The location and point in history might put some people off (I can't think who though), but it's the perfect thing to get you ready for Rome 2!

CK2 is a grand strategy game which deals in dynasties and people, not nations and governments, and it's all the more addictive as a result. You can play to win- maximise your stats, work the systems and never marry a hunchback. Or you can roleplay it- if your character is a cruel, craven drunkard with a penchant for impaling his enemies, don't shy away from executing your imprisoned brother or murdering the heir of France in a "tragic hunting accident"!

I have got more fun out of this than a dozen other games. I cannot recommend it enough.

The biggest Total War yet isn't for everyone- the AI can be insane, the setting (the 18th century) and the associated warfare can be divisive. That said, it's a huge, sprawling epic of a game that lets you lead armies from Europe to India to America and if you've ever fancied ruling the world, this is a nice inconspicuous start.