changeType/Ditto

Two ingenious platform games for free

There is a grammar to most videogames. A crate, for instance, is almost always there to be opened and looted. These two free games subvert some of the basic rules of videogames to reinvent the "platform" genre.

changeType puts you in a primary-coloured maze that immediately recalls classic Mario titles. But then lets you swap the properties of any two types of objects in the level, as long as you can see them directly to your left or right.

Out There

OUT THERE A classy choose-your-own-adventure in deepest space

A classy choose-your-own-adventure in deepest space

In the animated cutscene that begins Out There, the game lays out its basic premise. You are an astronaut frozen in cryonic sleep and then sent wildly off course by some mysterious event. You awake in an unfamiliar solar system with limited supplies of fuel and oxygen, a newly-acquired interstellar drive and a vague plan to reach a distant star.

inFamous: Second Son

INFAMOUS: SECOND SON A superhero action game for the blank generation

A superhero action game for the blank generation

Superheroes and videogames should be a match made in heaven – the primary colour characterisations; the non-stop action and combat; the backstories sketched on a napkin, but then gradually filled in over multiple issues; the superpowers, analogous to classic videogame "power-ups". It's strange then, that videogame superheroes have had such a tough time of it in general.

Titanfall

TITANFALL The most hyped action game of the 'next generation' is dumb but fun

The most hyped action game of the 'next generation' is dumb, but great fun

Flow states – experienced by athletes, religious zealots and videogamers playing Titanfall. This explosive action game is the most eagerly anticipated and hyped-up videogame of the "next generation" console war so far. It could singlehandedly transform Microsoft's slow start for its new Xbox One console. And while being deeply dull and reactionary in many ways, it encourages a gaming flow state of constant fun like little else in some time.

Thief

The smartest stealth series reboots with an attempt to blend in with its surroundings

Thief is the reboot of one of the oldest, and smartest of the stealth-action gaming series. Of course, as is customary in modern videogame design, the gameplay's been somewhat dumbed down. But it's not fatal here – leaving a stealthy and stylish successor that's a touch too repetitive.

Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow 2

Whip smart? Hardly – this action-adventure sequel jumps the franchise off a cliff

Dracula, the ultimate symbol of undead power, mystery and evil. As the anti-hero in this action-adventure sequel to the excellent Lords Of Shadow, you'd hope this would make for an epic adventure, or at least some toothsome plotting. Instead we get an enfeebled, old man as main character, a meandering, over-complex plot with ill-judged shock factor elements and far too many dull sections to plod through. It makes Twilight look like The Hunger or Near Dark in comparison.

Avoid: Sensory Overload

AVOID: SENSORY OVERLOAD This "endless runner" gets off to a slow start, but is worth the wait

This "endless runner" gets off to a slow start, but the result is worth the wait

Avoid: Sensory Overload is a racing game without a race. A litle bit of Wipeout, a dollop of Temple Run, a dash of Zaxxon and a hint even of Flappy Bird, it is a test of reaction times and nerve. At least, it is after a certain point.

Jazzpunk

GAME OF THE WEEK: JAZZPUNK The spirit of Hunter S Thompson haunts this comedy adventure

The spirit of Hunter S Thompson haunts this comedy adventure

"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold..." thus begins Hunter S Thompson's seminal Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. And the spirit of that book and HST's surreal "gonzo" take on reality live on in this oddball "comedy adventure game set in an alternate-reality Cold War World, plagued with Corporate Espionage, CyberCrime™ and Sentient Martinis."

Dungeon Keeper

A cynical attempt to squeeze cash from players by any means necessary

Dungeon Keeper is a mobile conversion of the classic PC strategy game that manages to take every fun element from the original and firewalls it behind a 'Free to Play' mechanic designed purely to nag you into handing over surprisingly large sums money. Let's lay this out from the start - it is an abomination; It is a dark pit of anti-fun; It is the hand that takes.

Consortium

GAME OF THE WEEK: CONSORTIUM A role-playing game that breaks the fourth wall... but why?

A role-playing game that breaks the fourth wall... but why?

You are staring at your computer screen; you are literally you. And now, through the wonder of modern technology, you can jump into the mind of, and take over, the security head of a near-future corporation's flying fortress. You control his speech, movements, decisions. That's how Consortium starts.

You jump into Bishop 6's head just as he wakes up for his first shift on the Zenlil plane/fortress of the global Consortium security force. The game uses Bishop 6's status as new kid, and your status as new kid inside Bishop 6, to toy with you throughout.