Empire UK

GAMES 143

PRUNE

IOS

The touchscreen

equivalent of a zen

garden Prune places

you in charge of a

lone sapling asking

you to judiciously

prune it and allow it

to grow into the

sunlight. Simple

soothing and as the

game progresses

challenging too.

FINAL

FANTASY VII

IOS

The touch input is a

little imprecise the

graphics don’t quite

hold up and the

inclusion of built-in

cheats is inexcusable

but none of that

matters in the

slightest. This is Final

Fantasy VII arguably

the greatest game

ever made and you

can now play it on

your iPad. Do so.

KILL

THE

COMMUTE

Until Dawn

★★★★

OUT NOW / PS4

NIGHT TERRORS

NTIL DAWN IS

something that

hardcore gamers

love to hate: a fi lm

masquerading as

a game. Movie-

lovers on the other

hand will very much appreciate it.

The game belongs to a genre that

Sony has championed for years via

titles like Heavy Rain and Beyond:

Two Souls — what amounts to a

traditional point-and-click adventure

but lavished with modern production

values and more intuitive controls.

The result in this instance is a mildly

interactive horror fi lm.

Viewed in that light Until Dawn

succeeds admirably. Granted it rolls out

a procession of well-worn horror-movie

tropes but it is all beautifully produced

— more so in fact than many modern

horrors. The fatalities are brutally

realised in all their gory glory while the

character-rendering motion-capture

and voice acting are among the very best

we’ve seen bridging the Uncanny Valley

with accomplished ease.

Plot-wise it belongs to the

slow-burning end of the horror

spectrum. Eight brattish American

teens pitch up at a creepy remote

mountain lodge; a typically crass prank

goes wrong and two girls who are sisters

die. While players can see that their

death was caused by a scary malevolent

entity the other characters can’t and

subsequently reconvene a year later

with two additions to the group.

At this point the convoluted

storyline — which hops between groups

within the group — unfolds. Gameplay-

wise you can move around interact

with objects fi nd clues as to the

back-story and most importantly

take decisions that alter Until Dawn’s

outcome and bodycount — you’re

basically trying to help as many of the

group as possible survive until daybreak.

There are chase sequences studded with

timed button-presses the odd puzzle

to solve and even bizarre sessions with

a creepy psychologist.

Playing Until Dawn is a rather

sedate experience but it sucks you

in beautifully and could hold its

own alongside any number of recent

big-screen equivalents. If you demand

non-stop action from your games it

might leave you cold. But if the prospect

of navigating your way through a top-

notch (and very long) horror fi lm

appeals you will absolutely love it.

STEVE BOXER

THE EMPIRE

STRIKES BACK

1982

This Atari 2600

title brought the

Battle Of Hoth to

life pitting you

against cool-

looking AT-ATs.

X-WING

1993

Gamers joined the

Rebel Alliance in

this combat epic

which also led to

Tie Fighter and

X-Wing Vs Tie

Fighter.

DARK FORCES

1995

You couldn’t use

a lightsaber in this

Doom clone but

gunning down

Gamorrean guards

was delightful

nonetheless.

KNIGHTS OF

THEOLD

REPUBLIC

2002

BioWare’s Star

Wars RPG is

rightly regarded as

the best Star Wars

game ever made.

BATTLEFRONT II

2005

Featuring

third-person

blasting this was

unadulterated

multiplayer

carnage. With

lightsabers.

FRANCHISE EVOLUTIONS

Star Wars