I had a week off work, so in between chores I thought I’d try out a few games across a few genres to see how they are.

The Forest - I enjoyed my time with The Long Dark a little while ago, so I thought I’d try out another sandbox survival game. I won The Forest some time ago on SG, but although it’s still in alpha it is very playable and looks great. Will definitely come back to this!

Kholat - I heard some good things about this and after my exploits with The Forest I was a little disappointed with distinct lack of survival required. The use of the map and compass is a great idea especially as your position is not marked so you have to “guess” where you are until you come across a landmark or stone with co-ordinates.

Alien Isolation - a game that looks great but feels very slow and clunky. I’ve only played the first hour, but will come back to this when the mood takes me.

Company of Heroes 2 - I always feel that with games like this I have to take my time and have long sessions. Played a little of the campaign and some skirmish matches against the AI. Really great looking game and certainly keeps the same game play as the first. I was shocked to see that there are over 400 achievements, more so when they are awarded for playing hundreds of games!

GRAV - I played a couple of hours of this. Not sure what to make of it, or whether I’ll return to it at all!

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Modern Warfare 3 was really the only game in the series I put any effort into in the multiplayer. Not sure about this one though. Played a couple of hours of the campaign and it seems alright. I had a hard time with the graphics even though I have a GTX980. I put it down to my PC going into meltdown with Windows Update (or more specifically trying to trick me into installing Windows 10).

Aperture Tag - I loved the Portal games and this is a gem. Ultimately it’s a paid mod but worth every penny if you enjoy Portal type puzzles. The difference with this is you have the gels rather than the portals to use to solve puzzles. I thought this would be quite limiting but they did a great job. I highly recommend it, even with the alternate ending!