VideoGamer.com Plays

What we've been playing this week.

Tom Orry, Editor - Super Mario Galaxy 2

I've been told I'm dead inside this week, all because I haven't been jumping up and down in joy and weeping tears of nostalgia while playing Mario's latest star-fetching adventure. In truth, I think Mario Galaxy is the best 3D platformer I've ever played, even if it hasn't managed to bring me to my knees like some people on the internet claim it has done to them. It's such an inventive, tightly made game, never once putting a foot wrong. It's always challenging, yet never unfair. And it's gorgeous, yet somehow quite simplistic. I might be dead inside but I know a good game when I play one.

Wesley Yin-Poole, Deputy Editor - Metal Gear Solid 4, PS3

To prepare for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which I'm reviewing next week, I played Metal Gear Solid 4, just, you know, to refresh my memory. Here's 'wot I fink'. It's not good. It just isn't. Don't get me wrong. It looks lovely. And when you actually get to play the game, it plays lovely, too. But these moments are few and far between. There are too many cutscenes, and they go on for too long. Now, I'm a sucker for mental Kojima cutscenes, but in MGS4 they're so long they're offensive. And all the exposition… God, it's mind numbing. I'll say again: when you play MGS4, sneaking around, hiding in boxes, blowing stuff up with rocket launchers, it rocks. But when you're sitting through a half-hour cutscene, it sucks. Thankfully, it appears Kojima has browsed a few MGS4 threads, because Peace Walker… well… you'll find out this Thursday when the review embargo drops.

Neon Kelly, Previews Editor - Robot Unicorn Attack, iPhone

Apparently I've been living under a rock for the past few months, because I've only just heard about Robot Unicorn Attack. It's another excellent release from TV Network Adult Swim, playable for free online or on your iPhone for the princely sum of £1.79, and it's absolutely fruitbat nutso bonkers. Gameplay-wise, it's very similar to Adam Atomic's excellent Canabalt: an electronic unicorn runs right across a scrolling landscape, leaping over chasms and smashing through star-shaped rocks with a powerful boost move. Every time the beasty jumps, a rainbow spews out of his rear. Oh, and the background music is the mid 90s synthpop single Always, as performed by Erasure. Somehow the whole thing ends up being extremely addictive - despite the fact that the game's tongue is so firmly wedged in its cheek that it's in danger of giving itself permanent facial damage. If you've not yet done so, I heartily urge you to go try it.

Jamin Smith, Staff Writer - Heavy Rain, PS3

I know. I'm late to the party on this one. 2010 has graced the shop floors with so many fantastic games that I just haven't got round to playing it until now. While I'm only a few hours into the game, first impressions are overwhelmingly positive. Although I can't help but feel Ethan Mars is a bit of a douchebag – Norman Jayden more than makes up for inadequacies as a video game protagonist. The way Quantic Dream allows the player to interact with the environment, other characters and even your own thoughts and feelings is inspired, and I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing where they take the narrative. Avoiding spoilers all this time has been hard work, and now more than ever I'm desperate to know who the Origami killer really is.