First Person games view the world from the eyes of the in-game character. You don't see the character themselves apart from their hands, gun or possibly feet as in Mirror's Edge. Because of the imediacy of the experience and sheer volume of visual information the player is offered First Person games lend themselves to the shooting genre. The FPS view enables players to immerse themselves in the experience and react quicker to events in the game. Other games have used a first person view to deliver an unusual perspective on an old genre - Mirror's Edge for example delivers a Platforming genre through a First Person view.
When video games are described as provocative, it usually means they have found a way to further their joyous dance with violence and promiscuity. Spec Ops: The Line has a different agenda though, which is that it has an agenda -- not the usual prerequisite for most entertaining shooting games that sell by their millions to old and (too) young alike... read now
Train is a very unusual game, a one off board game that puts players in charge of death camp transportation, but what implications does it have for videogames?.. read now
Fable: The Journey is a very different take on the Fable world, translated from an RPG to a Kinect-controlled action adventure. In this edition of FamilyGamerTV, we interview Gary Carr the Creative Director behind the game to get an insight into the design of the game and how he wanted this game to be suitable for families... watch now
Unfinished Swan is an unusual puzzle game, told as in interactive fairy tale. Whilst the control scheme may be changeling for very young players, the games visual style and simple physics-based puzzles prove very entertaining when played-though as a family... read now
Morality and conscience are two vital attributes we must learn to abide by, but somehow Dishonored destroyed my sense of right and wrong in one fell swoop... read now
Bioshock 2 faces the connundrum of a broken world and lays the blame at our feet. For someone of faith, the vivid conjuring of Rapture is a fascinating challenge to a judgemental deity. In the quiet between the fighting we hear the frightful idea that the world's problems are in part our own doing... read now
The Unfinished Swan shows that the appetite for artful, soul-nourishing games continues to grow as a new monochromatic journey gets underway... read now
When Halo: Combat Evolved was released on Xbox in November 2001, it blew everything else away. Ten years later, after many sequels and spin-offs and millions of units sold, 343 Industries go back to where it all began with Halo: Anniversary... read now
Halo Anniversary 360 polishes the visuals of the original game to an HD standard, but keeps the gameplay underneath intact. This authenticity is admirable, even when it preserves some of the game's flaws... read now
The Darkness II is a bleak and vicious first-person shooter, tinged with dark comedy. With a roster of great characters and an intriguing plot, it's only a pity that quality of the storytelling isn't consistent... read now
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 promises a return to the intense simulation of being a military sniper, alongside an intricate narrative and set in the most detailed game environments currently available... read now
Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection brings together the two Chronicles games and provides them with a new HD makeover and support for Playstation Move, to promise a story-packed on-rails shooter... read now
Darkstar isn't the interactive movie it self-describes as, but it does cater to adventure gamers who are largely un-catered for: the lesser spotted point-and-click variety... read now
Medal of Honor: Warfighter takes the fight against terror around the globe and delivers a shooter which focuses on the lives and experiences of those engaged in conflict (ed: by this we mean the people with the guns?)... read now
Halo 4 takes the series in a radical new direction. In the hands of a fresh developer while capitalising on Bungie's experience, planning and Halo lore, this promises to be a brave new chapter... read now
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly has previously been named the scariest videogame ever made, with dark secluded locations, phantom enemies and creepy Japanese twins all is present and correct... read now
With so many different perspectives it can be hard to know where to start - a little like walking into a crowded pub. Sorry about that.
But so far we've not found a way to streamline our review output - there's basically too much of it. So, rather than dilute things for newcomers we have decided to live with the hubbub while helping new readers find the columnists they will enjoy.
What sort of gamer are you?
Our columnists each focus on a particular perspective and fall into one of the following types of gamers: