Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

"Walk softly and carry a big gun."

It has been a great many years since I first encountered Warhammer 40,000, the grimdark tabletop miniature wargame that costs a lot of time and effort before you even begin to play the game itself. Kinda like gathering a bunch of games and a gaming computer for a silly little 1001 list, really.

The setting is so embracing of different alien races and ideologies that it has spawned games dedicated to small skirmishes, to piloting giant mechs, to racing around in demolition derbies. The Black Library contains what must be hundreds of stories for readers of all interests and ages, with seemingly more coming out than you can ever keep up with. And then there are the video games.

Ah, the video games. For an incredible setting that has captured the imagination of a great many fans across multiple mediums already, why is it so tricky for video games to do right? Warhammer video games are always - or at least, always were - OK at best. Entertaining for fans, but could have been so much more. Not phoned in, per se, not half-arsed, but just nowhere near the quality that the setting deserved.

Does Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War serve as an excellent example of that mediocrity, or is it one of the highlights of the many, many attempts at a Warhammer video game? It has been sitting in this Steam library, unplayed, since I got my Steam account. It's time to find out what we've been missing.

WarioWare: Twisted!

Again!

Can you make a game about ironing? You can indeed, and thankfully this game is so short that it's over in three seconds. Did you iron that shirt, or did your tilt sensor go mental and the iron go A.W.O.L. in WarioWare: Twisted!, another bunch of mad mini-games for your Game Boy Advance?

Wario is back for more mayhem, and he's here to show off some advancements in technology, too. We've definitely got time to play this one.

Unreal Tournament 2004

Killing Spree?

If memory serves, I've only played Unreal Tournament on the PlayStation 2 - hardly the best of setups to see what the series has to offer. According to the 1001 list, we ought to skip a few sequels on from that and play Unreal Tournament 2004, the pinnacle of the multiplayer FPS series.

Described as a refined entry to the series, capable of running and delivering great gameplay on systems at the lower end of the performance spectrum, UT2004 stands as the only entry point into the Unreal universe that you should ever consider.

So, let's consider it.

Torus Trooper

Speed! More speed!

The 1001 list isn't perfect. It can't be. Nobody would be able to agree on the contents of the list if there were only 1,002 games in existence, such are our likes and dislikes across genre or difficulty. What it can do, if not definitively stamp a seal of approval upon 1,001 games, is highlight some of the many games that fly under the radar.

There was a time at school where some friends of mine would bring in copies of Zork to play on the school computers. I wasn't interested in Zork for very long, but when the likes of Geometry Wars hit the screens, now things were getting interesting. The Internet wasn't just beginning, but it certainly wasn't what it is now. Flash games were entertaining to a point, but when someone got an actual small game up and running, that was a talking point.

Nobody, to my knowledge, got Torus Trooper out to play, but it was the kind of free download that might well have done, if anyone had known about - or stumbled across - its developers humble little website.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

I thought you were the blue one.

The formula for a Legend of Zelda game is well known by now. You know not only what you're going to get in a game, but who you're going to get as well. Characters may share a name, signature costume, role in life, and so on, but they're not identical from game to game. Each title is different from the last. Except for all the similarities.

You'd think, then, that The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures would be similarly filled with Links, and Zeldas, and Hyrules, and Hyahs!, and you'd be right. You'd think it would have swords and shields, and puzzles that require the use of an item or two, and you'd be right there as well.

But you'd never guess the form the game would take. Semi co-operative. Four players. Multiple gaming systems working together.

What's going on in Hyrule this time?

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

"If only we had some way to defend ourselves against those nuts of his."

The Legend of Zelda on a Game Boy Advance. This should blow my mind, right? A reliable game series on a handheld console that I wish I knew more about when I actually had one. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is - I hope - going to entertain me.

But I know nothing about it. I can be safe in saying there'll be dungeons and monsters and puzzles, navigated by a kid in a green tunic called Link, in a land called Hyrule, but apart from those common elements (and many more besides), I don't know anything about The Minish Cap.

Let's dive headfirst into this tiny cartridge and unpack its secrets.

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3

Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle.

Tycoon games have never given me the greatest of gaming experiences. The promise of being able to create the theme park or transport network of your dreams (strange dreams) is admirable, but the accounting and business management side of the simulation is a chore.

Sure, there are actual sandbox modes in many of these games, but that's not why they were made. These games are made to challenge your skills in balancing the books and giving the customer a good time. Preferably while emptying their wallets in the process.

Here, then, is the next one to try: RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. I think you can guess where the focus of the game is to be found. And yes, I'm aware there is only a hint of a rollercoaster in that image.

Can we turn a barren park into an amusement park? Can we bankroll ridiculous rollercoaster designs off the back of aggressive pricing policies? Shall we indeed scream if we want to go faster?

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

"Smell some lead, prisoner!"

I've seen quite a bit of The Chronicles of Riddick series, from the films to the anime and back. It occurred to me, though, that I hadn't seen the most recent film, Riddick. So I watched it, and all the way through, had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind: I had seen this film. Everything is so familiar. Have I just completely forgotten the entire movie? Is it that kind of action film? So like the others that you forget you've ever seen it?

While I mulled that over, I was installing The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, a first-person action game set before the events of the first film, Pitch Black, detailing how Richard B. Riddick got those fancy eyes of his.

I suppose you'd have to know a bit about the series to know about the importance of his eyes. Hmm. Let's see how well Escape from Butcher Bay can fill us in.

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

"There's a price on your head, young Jedi. There's a blaster bolt with your name on it."

Having been floored by what I saw in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, I am delighted that the 1001 list has seen it fit to also include Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the almost inevitable sequel.

I'm well aware that it was just a few games ago that I moaned at the inclusion of both Pikmin and Pikmin 2 - great games for some, sure, but why do I need to play both? I'm probably going to have to address that point with KotOR II as well. Here goes: I like Star Wars more than I like gardening.

So, with that out of the way, how do you follow up the epic space adventure that was KotOR?

Puyo Pop Fever

Popping Puzzle Fun?

Match three or four puzzles can be found everywhere. Competitive, head to head puzzles less so, but there are flavours of those too, of which we've been pointed towards Puyo Pop Fever.

It's certainly got a bright and bubbly look to go along with its blobby coloured characters - if you can call your pieces 'characters'. Let's see what it's all about.