The evening Inbox looks forward to Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor, as one reader recommends a good game to play on the toilet.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk

 

Once bitten, twice shy
Having watched the Watch Dogs E3 gameplay footage from 2012 I was waiting with much anticipation for the graphical upgrade that the PlayStation 4 should promise. I received my copy on launch day and was left with a deflated feeling that the game does not look that much better than GTAV on PlayStation 3.

Don't get me wrong, it is a fine game but I wish that Ubisoft had not led us up the garden path regarding the visuals. Wolfenstein: The New Order on PlayStation 4 shows that the machine has the necessary grunt to show some early next gen visuals. I will be watching this year's E3 footage with slight scepticism wondering are we seeing PlayStation 4 footage or some out reach supercharged PC. Hope you guys find the truth over in L.A.!
Gareth Henshaw

 

PC non-gaming
Well, once again I haven't learnt my lesson on purchasing PC games on launch day. The problem is that Watch Dogs simply doesn't work for a vast amount of would-be players! I've managed to get about 5 minutes in before I'm blighted by crashes, freezes and forced restarts.

All I've done today is read forums in search of a work around or solution. This is not gaming! I feel like Ubisoft should be paying me to do all their bug testing instead of me giving them my cash for something that doesn't work!

Maybe time to get a console, at least you know you'll actually get to play the game. It's almost the norm these days with PC launch titles. Awaiting patch…
Benny*

 

Give a hoot, adapt a book
Whenever I read a novel, I tend to imagine it as a film, but whilst reading Ben Aaronavich's Rivers of London series I realised that: a) this series would make a great video game and; b) there aren't many video games that take literature as it's source material.

(For those who have not read/heard of Rivers of London, imagine a gritty police drama set in modern day London mixed with Harry Potter magic as we follow PC Peter Grant solving supernatural crimes using his wizardry training… It sounds silly, but the author strikes the balance well. I imagine the game as a hybrid of L.A. Noire, The Getaway, and Fable.)

The only other games I can think of that use literature as the source would be Dante's Inferno and Hitchhiker's Guide. Others, like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings seem to be more based on the films than the books. With the lack of fresh IP and the depth of ideas available in novels, why don't developers start mining for gold in the pages of books?

A space role-playing game set in Iain Banks' Culture universe? Or Neil Gaiman's American Gods? Maybe that's a future Hot Topic - which books would make good video games?
AddNauseum (gamertag)

 

Willing and unable
Just to clarify GC, after your reply saying that you've never read The Dresden Files. What I meant was that I thought you weren't fans of novels in a general sense. Didn't you say to another reader once that you didn't spend much time watching movies, TV or reading books but mostly preferred to play games? If I've misunderstood or got the wrong end of the stick then you have my apologies.
Mr Verbosity