A national treasure in his Canadian homeland, Patrick Watson (the man and the band of the same name) is mainly notable here for his Close To Paradise …album pipping Arcade Fire and Feist to the Polaris Music Prize, Canada’s answer to the Mercury or Choice, in 2007. It’s a pity he’s not better known for

EA’s FIFA Football… franchise has been so ubiquitous in recent years, there was never really any doubt that it was going to make it to the Vita. What is surprising, however, is how the developers really embraced Sony’s new handheld console and particularly its dual touch screen format. As well as the usual controls, pretty

Unlike supposedly serious sims, Everybody’s Golf… is more about having fun with the game famously described as “a good walk wasted” than recreating the minutiae of the PGA tour in all its complexity. It’s all about big, bold graphics, colourful players and the ability to unlock charming characters, costumes and extras.
That said, as a

While some of the Vita’s launch titles push mobile gaming to its limits, blurring the line between gaming at home and on-the-go, others seek to recreate old favourites for a new generation. A side-scrolling platformer in the mould of, say, the original Mario, Rayman Origins… is such a game. Indeed, it’s so damn addictive,

No, it’s not a remake of EA’s classic strategy title of the same name. Instead, the Syndicate… of 2012 is a futuristic first person shooter that’s low on story but high on action. The year is 2069 and global corporations rule OK, thanks to the invention of the DART chip, inserted into the brain, which

Transferring a much-loved gaming icon to a new platform can be a risky business: if the new game doesn’t live up to expectations, you can place the entire franchise in jeopardy. Perhaps the biggest compliment that can be paid to Sony’s new handheld Vita, then, is that Nathan Drake’s latest adventure feels like a proper…

Somewhere in the back of State…’s mind, we always felt that tennis sims couldn’t possibly live up to the highs of other sports games, particularly football. After all, with only a maximum of four players on court at any one time, how many games can you play before things start to get a bit

OK, we’ve had our sweaty mitts on the PlayStation Vita for just over a week now, and we’re ready to give you our verdict on Sony’s latest portable gaming console.
Having spent the last seven days surfing, gaming, photographing and creating our own weird sound mixes with the PS Vita, State is pretty much impressed…

Combining a Mafia-themed shooter with a story of demonic possession may not be everyone’s idea of a good time, and while the two sometimes make incongruous bedfellows, this very odd couple combined to great effect in 2007’s sleeper hit, The Darkness…. Indeed, perhaps the biggest mystery is why it took five years for a

The fourth instalment in the best-selling Assassin’s Creed series, Revelations… continues the tale of Ezio Auditore through 16th Century Constantinople. Our hooded hero arrives at the meeting point of Europe and Asia in 1511 to search for the five keys to Altair’s Library, which will unlock the secrets of the creed. This is not as

The latest instalment in EA’s arcade racer series re-invigorates the genre somewhat, while simultaneously harking back to some classic racers of old. Instead of focusing all the action in one fictional city, this time it’s all about a coast-to-coast road race across the United States, and it’s all the better for it.
You take on…

All is not right in the Ratchet & Clank …universe. Captain Quark, the bungling, bumbling would-be superhero, is now Galactic President, which would be a cause for worry in itself, but arch-villain Dr Nefarious is still at large, and our favourite double-team (i.e. Ratchet & Clank) have seemingly retired from saving the day, the world,

A frantic, heart-pumping opening sequence, where you escape from the clutches of some seriously bad guys before negotiating a fast-moving train, which happens to be full of heavily armed terrorists, sets the scene for Battlefield 3, probably the most complete, most addictive, most immersive and most fun game in the Battlefield… series to date.

Another rip-roaring adventure that’s equal parts Indiana Jones and DaVinci Code sees everyone’s favourite smartmouth adventurer (and descendant of Sir Francis), Nathan Drake back doing what he does best: brawling, shooting and stealing his way through another historical-themed mystery. While Drake’s last outing saw him scaling the icy heights of the Himalayas, this time around…