Welcome to Test Tube. Not to be confused with our full reviews, these ‘two hour test’ articles see us tackle remakes, ports, expansions, mobile games and other titles of interest.

Available on 360 and PS3 l Published and developed by Capcom l Classified MA15+ l Supports 1 player

The original version of Dragon’s Dogma was one of the sleeper RPG hits of 2012. It provided challenging combat and the clever online capability to share my pawn collection… uh… my pawns.  I liked the game, but was disappointed with the bland level design and ‘nothing’ story. As such, I was interested to see what the Dark Arisen edition would have to offer. Read the rest of this entry »

Coming to 360 and PS3 l Published by EA l Developed by Insomniac Games l Classified MA15+ l Supports 1-4 players l Due to arrive 31.05.13

Releasing a brand new IP this late in the generation is not something that many developers seem willing to do. Most are holding their new goodies back, waiting for the next gen of gaming systems to hit the market. One developer is bucking that trend. That developer is Insomniac Games. The group behind PlayStation hits such as Ratchet and Clank and Resistance has a new game by the name of Fuse coming out very soon and for the first time in their history, it will be a multiplatform release. I was lucky enough to play quite a good chunk of the game at a recent preview event and I came away with a good idea of what to expect from the final product. Read the rest of this entry »

Two years ago publisher Namco Bandai celebrated Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary with a hopelessly ill-advised mini-game collection. To make matters worse, the game featured the loathsome 3D ‘arms and legs’ incarnation of the character. As a long time fan of the series, I consider this (sadly well established) version of Pac-Man to be an imposter and an abomination. Alas, he is about to make another appearance, this time in Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, a game based on a cartoon series based on a game.

In what can only be described as a small mercy, it looks like Pac-Man will be embarking on a reasonably coherent adventure instead of constantly lobbing tennis balls and popping balloons in asinine mini games. Still, I firmly believe that Pac-Man’s ghost gobbling exploits should take place exclusively on a 2D field of play. The recent Championship Edition titles beautifully demonstrated the range of possibilities inherent in the core gameplay.

The soulless affront known as Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures will ram yet another stake into my heart when it arrives on 360, PS3 and Wii U in October. A side-scrolling variant will be made available for the 3DS.

Techland has issued a new trailer for co-op action game Hellraid. According to the developer, you’ll be able to play this first person fantasy “solo or with friends for hundreds of hours and never get bored”, which is quite a claim. Hellraid will be relying on procedurally generated content to ensure that each session provides a “different experience” with custom “loot and enemies” and “random online challenges.”

It’s been an interesting decade for Techland. Once known for producing second tier racing titles, the Polish developer finally announced itself to the mainstream with its western action game Call of Juarez back in 2006. Five years later, the team enjoyed further success with its open world horror game Dead Island. Earlier this year it delivered the surprise sequel Dead Island: Riptide, widely seen as a significant stumble.

While Call of Juarez and Dead Island were published by Ubisoft and Deep Silver respectively, Techland will be entirely responsible for the release of its latest project. Look for Hellraid to land on 360, PS3 and PC. A release date is yet to be announced.