Author: John Robertson

For a game that's been in development for nearly three years, that Eve: Valkyrie's public appearances have been limited to little more than elaborate tech demos is a worry. Sure, they've been smooth and very pretty tech demos—and some of the best demonstrations of the nascent virtual reality platforms—but they've all been devoid of any sense of how the game might actually function as a game, let alone did they provide a convincing reason for fans to strap an expensive brick of plastic to their faces for an hour or two.

But, with the likes of the Oculus Rift—where Eve: Valkyrie will be bundled with pre-orders—HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR all due for release in the first half of 2016, Valkyrie has finally had a more complete outing. Officially, the game's in "pre-alpha," but it is largely feature complete.

There's been a lot of confusion and mixed messages regarding what's actually in Eve: Valkyrie, so here are the facts: Valkyrie is primarily a competitive, team-based multiplayer game, but PvE content is going to be available from the outset. That PvE content does not include any kind of campaign mode, although some light storytelling does exist.

Amidst rows of battered tables and chairs, some which look as though they've survived a few rough terms at a British state school, the world's best Kick Off 2 players are preparing to compete. The venue—nestled in the heart of Dublin and a stone's throw from the infamous Temple Bar district—is the former Williams and Woods chocolate factory, a grubby graffiti-covered building that's home to the city's burgeoning creative community.

Glamorous it is not, but there's a sense that this event belongs here. The gutted interior, with its peeling walls and windows that haven't been cleaned in years, give the building an artistic vibe, a feeling that what's created here might stand the test of time. This is not the kind of building that is concerned with trivial matters like fashions and trends—and I suspect that's exactly how the players like it.

After all, Kick Off 2 is hardly fashionable. Released in 1990 for the Amiga and Atari ST, the classic football game was a strong competitor to the Sensible Soccer series. Both were played from a birds-eye view, and both used just a single button to pass, shoot, and tackle. Misdirection and razor-sharp movements, as opposed to any intimate knowledge of skill moves or speciality shots, were the key to success.

We've had a Micronesian archipelago, the African savannah, Pacific islands, fictional Himalayan peaks, and even an '80s action movie. Now we're going 12,000 years back in time to the Stone Age. Far Cry goes Primal, said a marketing whiz somewhere, somewhen.

Unsurprisingly, then, the single-player only Far Cry Primal has a distinctly rural vibe. Snow-capped mountains punctuate a skyline densely packed with forest canopy, steep cliffs, and gentle hillocks. Rivers flow at ground level, fed by waterfalls that have left deep scars in the terrain. The world of Oros could almost be a picture-postcard kind of place... if it weren't for the numerous bloodthirsty wild animals. Not that all of the local fauna is out to get you, but this wouldn't be Far Cry without a few dozen animals trying to take a chunk of your leg. There's no sign of a honey badger yet, though.

Still, animals are key to both the personality of Primal's world and how club-happy protagonist Takkar views it. Described by Ubisoft rather grandly, as a "beastmaster," Takkar is the Stone Age's very own Doctor Doolittle—able to tame and command even the most aggressive of creatures. I'm told any of the game's predators (around 14 of them) can be tamed, although that feature isn't quite ready for show just yet. Apparently, the rough idea is to sneak up on your target and pacify it gently without violence, which doesn't sound all that exciting right now, but maybe Ubi's keeping the secret sauce under wraps until a later date.

Let's be honest: Mario and Luigi are idiots. If there's a problem to be solved, they'll solve it in the most convoluted way imaginable. Frankly, it's something of a miracle they achieve anything at all.

So it is with Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam Bros, a quirky role-playing game filled with the same familiar mechanics and coffee-break moments as pretty much every other RPG outing for the portly plumbers. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The charm of Paper Jam Bros lies in the gaps between its otherwise shallow story, the plot sidelined in favour of quirky conversations and self-referential chit-chat between its acid trip cast. At the very least, you get to hear Mario talk about something other than saving the Princess. Again.

It's a shame, then, that Paper Jam Bros features such few detours of this kind—unlike its predecessors, they're wedged into the core story arc instead of existing in parallel to it. This is a game that plays it safe, its by-the-book plot just about managing to push you through to its predictable finish. Like paper, it's all a bit one-dimensional.

The plot revolves around the Mushroom Kingdom being invaded by the residents of Paper Mario World thanks to a characteristic blunder from Luigi, his mother's second favourite son. If you're looking for a prime example of the Deus Ex Machina narrative concept, you need look no further than the opening five minutes. Indeed, the opening cutscene serves as a succinct example of how the "wacky" bits are forced into the plot—the need to drive events forward blocking the chance to better explore the fusion of the game's two disparate worlds.