Hotel Dusk: Room 215

"I'll be gone in a day or twooooooooooo"

Well, now. Would you look at that? That's different, isn't it? That's Hotel Dusk: Room 215, a Nintendo DS point and click detective mystery about a magic hotel room, starring hand-drawn rotoscoped characters with a hint of anime about them. Well, more than a hint, but not full-on. Well, not much. I'm waffling.

I've never seen nor heard of Hotel Dusk in my life until the time came for me to play it here, and like hotel owner Dunning Smith says, it has certainly caught my interest.

It may look like a music video, but how does it play?

Hexic 2

More like hectic?

Source // Xbox

What do you do when the creator of Tetris has a new game? You put it on the hard drive of every Xbox 360 in the land. What do you do when there's a sequel? You slap it on Xbox Live with multiplayer support, because if there's anything that puzzle gamers like, it's competitive puzzling.

I've never heard of Hexic 2. I've rarely ventured onto Xbox Live. But there's a demo of Hexic 2 and it needs to be played, if only to show me what on Earth it is.

Heavenly Sword

"There's something about that man I don't entirely trust."

Source // PlayStation

Are you a fan of God of War? Would you prefer Kratos to be a slim woman, with lots more hair? Are you desperate for a motion-controlled game of twing-twang?

No, I don't know what that is either, but I know all this can be found in Heavenly Sword, the action-adventure hack and slash title for the PlayStation 3 that showed what a mix of Hollywood and video games could result in - mixed reactions, obviously.

Clear your afternoon, because Nariko is about the clean house.

Colin McRae: DiRT

"Looking forward to getting my hands on that trophy," says the passenger...

Source // MobyGames

It has been too long since this 1001 list has had an entry for rallying, but is there any better series to pick or games to start with than Colin McRae: DiRT?

Thanks to the board game Rallyman, and its upcoming DIRT remake, I've been hot on rallying. I guess I was lukewarm on it before - always enjoyed it, but not enough to follow along. Now, though? Hot.

Over the years, through bundles and deals, my Steam library has welcomed some of the later entries in this DiRT series. I started with DiRT3 and loved it. I went to DiRT: Showdown and hated it. I dove into DiRT Rally and DiRT Rally 2.0, but really wasn't any good at actual simulated rally racing, preferring the more arcadey side of things, so bought DiRT4 on the cheap and thoroughly enjoyed that too.

I don't think this PC meets the minimum specs for DIRT5 (now with a capital 'I') sadly, so what better time to go back to the PlayStation 3 for the DiRT that kicked all this off?

GrimGrimoire

Or should that be 'GRiMgRiMoiRe'?

Have you ever thought that what the Real-Time Strategy genre needed most was magical anime girls commanding elves and faeries through the corridors of an ancient castle that's also a magic school, with controls that, due to the nature of the PlayStation 2, result in stripping the 'real-time' part away?

If the answer is yes, I don't know what lead you to want that specifically, but I do know that you can find it in GrimGrimoire. New student Lillet Blan is about to find herself repeating a week of magical battles to uncover the truth about something or other. Probably something important to her, I guess?

I don't really know. I should just hop in and find out.

God of War II

"If all of Olympus will deny me my vengeance, then all of Olympus will die."

Source // PlayStation

After playing it earlier on the 1001 list, I came to the obvious conclusion that I missed out on God of War - all of it. PlayStation 2 titles, PlayStation portable spin-offs, PlayStation 3 sequels... you name it, if it had God of War in the title, I glossed over it, and that was mighty silly of me.

God of War II comes at the end of the PlayStation 2's life, but like the first game, it makes sure to pack in more action than you think would be possible, merging Devil May Cry with the Gods of Ancient Greece into a blockbuster of a title that cranks everything up to 11.

To say I'm looking forward to this one is obvious.

Halo 3

Finish the Fight

Source // Xbox

The space choir are back, chanting their lungs out to conclude the Halo trilogy with Halo 3, the first-person shooter that all the others would look up to and try to replicate.

'Why?', I never quite understood. Whenever I saw Halo I was bemused at how anyone could get so hyped about a silly-looking super-soldier with bright pink weaponry stolen from comedy space turtles. How was this series so popular? Did Xbox players have nothing else?

What they did have was online connectivity and plenty of multiplayer lobbies to mess around with, literally forging a game they want to play with the tools available to them. Halo multiplayer was the draw, Halo 3 was simply the next version of it.

But I'm here for the plot. I've still not finished the first two games, so whatever plot I pick up probably won't make much sense in the grand scheme of things. Can Halo 3 deliver to someone diving right in?

Forza Motorsport 2

Get your motor running... Head out on the test track...

Source // MobyGames

The 1001 list is taking us from one console-exclusive racer to another next, as we wash away the mud and get out the turtle wax for the Xbox's competitor to Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport 2.

As you might imagine, being locked to the PlayStation - through choice, might I add - I was very much on Team Turismo, and it'd be a long time before I was even in a position to see first hand what the Forza series offered players. Quite a lot is the answer, and often before Gran Turismo offered the same things.

Thanks to board gaming, of all things, I've been getting more familiar with the Forza Motorsport series, and this first release on the Xbox 360 is where we're kicking off, described as 'more of the first game, but better'. Excellent.

Where are my keys?

MotorStorm

"But tonight, on this small planet, we're going to rock civilization."

Source // MobyGames

Monument Valley. Iconic sandstone buttes towering above dusty, sun-soaked plains. Don't you just want to hold an over-the-top motorsport music festival right there, with loosely defined tracks around - and on top, and through - the mesas, designed for spectacle, rather than safety?

If the answer is yes - and the answer really ought to be yes - then the PlayStation 3 has you covered with MotorStorm, a chaotic, muddy thrill ride that tears through the landscape to the sounds of rock, metal, and metal colliding with rocks.

It was thoroughly enjoyable back in 2007. What about now?

Everyday Shooter

I guess you could say it was... riffing on the genre... Hmm?

It's hard to find a more colourful shoot 'em up than Every Extend Extra Extreme, but it's easy to find one with a more pleasing soundtrack. How about electric guitar riffs that you can enhance and build upon with the actions you take while you're moving and shooting in Everyday Shooter?

And it's not just alien ships with guitars, but starkly coloured geometric patterns covered with chunky robots and explosive cubes and then the entire second level changes practically everything, rendering this description utterly useless.

It's probably time to dive right in.