VideoGamer.com Plays

What we've been playing this week.

Tom Orry, Editor - Army of Two: The 40th Day, Xbox 360 and PS3

The 40th Day is a bizarre game at times. It's a combination of Michael Bay-style action and supposedly challenging morale choices. At one point in the game it's possible to make a breed of tiger extinct, simply by making the wrong choice. It's not quite as profound as the game would like to think it is, though, with the repercussion videos shown after each decision often being funnier than they are affecting. At another point it's possible to see a young boy massacre a group of people with a gun. Morale decisions in games are a good thing, but so few manage to carry it off in a way that hits home. Army of Two: The 40th Day is a perfectly decent action game - just don't buy it for the deep story.

Wesley Yin-Poole, Deputy Editor – Dark Void, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

With Capcom's Dark Void due out next week, we've found ourselves reminiscing over Bermuda Triangle video games. Now, let's see… well there's Bermuda Triangle, which, according to Wikipedia, is "a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released by SNK in 1987. You control a fighter jet and shoot enemies, collect power-ups, and defeat bosses to advance levels. The game is also known as World Wars". Then there's Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral, on Wii, which, according to Amazon, features "beautiful hand drawn graphics", "easy yet challenging game play" and "addicting [sic] new style of puzzle game". And then there's the obscure PC game Lost Secrets Bermuda Triangle, in which you "play as Rachel as you unravel the mystery behind a missing relative in Lost Secrets Bermuda Triangle". And then there's… well there's… and don't forget… oh, and of course… and we're done. Oh well. If nothing else, Dark Void can confidently lay claim to being the best Bermuda Triangle game ever.

Neon Kelly, Previews Editor - BioShock, Xbox 360, PC and PS3

Earlier this week I went to visit an ill friend of mine who recently picked up an Xbox 360. Seeing as he's spending most of his time in bed at the moment, I figured I'd bring him something to play - and BioShock. As I watched my chum survive the initial plane crash and embark upon his unforgettable descent in the bathysphere, I was suddenly struck by an odd thought: how the hell did Andrew Ryan build Rapture, anyway? The whole city is meant to be a big secret that no-one knows about, but it must have taken thousands upon thousands of labourers to build a metropolis at the bottom of the frickin' sea. Did he just get them all to sign non-disclosure agreements, or what? And we're told that it was built in 1946 - ie right after the end of WW2. Anyone who's got the physical conditioning to help build a city underwater has clearly got to be in good shape - so in all probability most of the workforce would have just been discharged from military service. Most of the builders had probably just spent more than five years fighting the Axis forces (or maybe the Allies - I'm not sure who Ryan employed). So I guess they came home to their wives and were like, "Hi honey! Nice to be home. I'm afraid I can't stay for long because I've just been offered a job to go and build a secret city on the ocean floor. Oops, I'm not supposed to mention that - please don't tell anyone!"

Or maybe Ryan largely used contractors from nations that didn't take part in WW2. Yeah, that makes sense - builders from Switzerland. But even then, the necessary construction materials must have been really hard to come by; all the world's supplies had been used up to fuel the global war machine, and rationing was in full-effect in most places.

In conclusion: I gather that Rapture was supposedly built by a bunch of Swiss labourers using nothing more than a few sacks of powdered egg. Try that out at home in the bath, and see how far you get…