ODT

EntertainmentAugust 6

Wreckateer: Throwing balls at castles

From conkers to knocking tins off a wall with stones to Angry Birds, it seems we can't get enough of throwing things and destroying stuff. Step forward Wreckateer, one of the latest downloadable Xbox 360 Arcade games which uses the Kinect motion sensor.

EntertainmentMay 28

Euro 2012: A more than decent addition

First things first - Stewart Downing might be a Liverpool player, but how on earth did he make the England squad?

EntertainmentMay 14

StarDrone Extreme: Bouncing around obstacles

To really understand StarDrone Extreme is to see it in action rather than read about it on paper, because while it combines things we've all seen before (a touch of pinball, a touch of Breakout and a touch of Spider-Man-style web slinging physics), putting into words how it all comes together doesn't do justice to the unwieldy, but very satisfying way these elements collide.

EntertainmentMay 7

Anomaly Warzone Earth: Flipping the script

Tower-defence games have grown so prevalent even the ones that mix in other genres and rewrite the rules of engagement are cropping up at a dangerous rate.

EntertainmentApril 23

The Splatters: More than just blobs

On paper, The Splatters sounds familiar enough.

EntertainmentApril 16

Closure: Visually like a woodcut

If it's in the dark, it doesn't exist in Closure, a deviously clever 2D sidescroller that once again proves all the brilliant ideas for rethinking 2D games are not yet taken.

EntertainmentJanuary 16

Nintendo finally finding a groove with Pushmo

Downloadable Game of the Week Pushmo For: Nintendo 3DS (via Nintendo eShop) From: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo Price: $US7 Billy O'Keefe Though it took its sweet time, a stream of exciting original games is trickling on to Nintendo's new handheld. Elsewhere, and following an even longer wait, Nintendo's downloadable portable games channel is finally finding a groove.

EntertainmentMay 23

Gatling Gears: Great if you like the genre

The age-old game design truth remains true: If something you do isn't original, you'll be forgiven as long as you do it well.

NewsMay 16

Outland: knows no limits

Like many contemporary 2-D platformers, Outland takes a page from Metroid's playbook, sprawling its adventure across a large, open-ended landscape dotted with collectable abilities that gradually increase your ability to access the world's most far-reaching corners.

EntertainmentApril 18

StarDrone: Watch elements collide

To really understand StarDrone is to see it in action rather than read about it on paper, because while it combines things we've all seen before (a little bit of pinball, a little bit of Breakout and a little bit of Spider-Man-style web-slinging physics), describing exactly how it comes together doesn't do justice to the unwieldy but very satisfying way these elements collide.

EntertainmentApril 11

Sanctum of Slime: Dated and boring

Back when downloadable games cost $5, missteps and cut corners similar to those found in Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime were acceptable.

EntertainmentApril 4

Swarm: Relentless sidescroll challenge

Imagine a re-imagined Lemmings in which you control the Lemmings directly instead of simply guide them, and you have an inkling of an idea about Swarm, a sidescrolling platformer which tasks you with controlling 50 characters at once instead of one.

EntertainmentMarch 28

People eater wreaks havoc

The "them" in Eat Them! is people, but don't worry: You're a gigantic monster rampaging through a city, and the soldiers and cops trying to hurt you are your only source of health, so your conscience is clear.

EntertainmentMarch 17

Back to the Future adaptation nails it

We're not going to get a Back to the Future IV, but because the latest BTTF video game adaptation has landed in exactly the right hands, we no longer need it.

EntertainmentFebruary 28

Where all the action is

As games that blend genres and take advantage of platform strengths go, it rarely gets better than this.

EntertainmentFebruary 14

Waiting ruins any bowling

Freeverse has demonstrated a mastery of dangling carrots with its outstanding Skee-Ball and improbably addictive Coin Push Frenzy iOS games.

EntertainmentFebruary 7

Will Wii be tool to control liquids?

Attractive price aside, it's unfortunate that Nintendo took the most unique Wii game it's published in nearly a year and effectively hid it where most Wii owners are bound never to find it.

EntertainmentJanuary 31

'Spare Parts' could leave a bad taste

It's only fair that a $10 game be held to a looser standard than its more expensive rivals, but Spare Parts occasionally pushes that generosity threshold to the edge.

EntertainmentJanuary 24

Clever with charm

Ilomilo didn't need to be charming to an almost illegal degree in order to be a good game, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

EntertainmentJanuary 17

Ghoulish, smashing good fun

To look at a screenshot of Zombie Smash HD might be to presume it's yet another tower defence game in which you must defend your house against yet another onslaught of zombies.

EntertainmentNovember 29

Good fun waiting for 'GT5'

No one has benefitted from Gran Turismo 5's long delay more than O-Games, which, in addition to poking brilliant fun at said delay, has softened the wait in just the right way.

EntertainmentNovember 22

Object hunt an odd fit

It's entirely fitting that Dream Chronicles got lost among the sea of big-ticket Xbox Live Arcade games that were released around it, and not just because it's a game centred around finding proverbial needles in proverbial haystacks.

EntertainmentNovember 15

Great view from this platform

ZEN Studio's continuous post-release support for Pinball FX made it feel like a platform more than a stand-alone game, and Pinball FX 2 embraces that notion from the start with magnificent results.

EntertainmentNovember 8

Super Meat Boy cooks with gas

The 350-level Super Meat Boy easily marks its territory as the year's most difficult platforming game, but its real claim may be the startling gap it opens between challenge and frustration.

EntertainmentNovember 5

Hits and misses in prequel

It's officially trendy now for publishers to precede the release of a big-budget game with an inexpensive, downloadable not-quite prequel.

Downloadable Games