SpaceChem on Steam

SpaceChem has been out since the start of 2011, but just hit Steam, the iTunes-style game downloading community from Valve (who you may remember from such computer games as Half-Life...).

We took the chance to have a look at this futuristic logic puzzle and try to work out whether it's any good or not.

While any game has its good and bad points, SpaceChem manages to leave a pretty wide gulf between the two - it has excellent points, and terrible points. The gameplay itself, thankfully, is absorbing and intricate; it's mostly just the presentation that lets it down.

Weirdly, the above video does a far better job of outlining the principles of SpaceChem than any of the in-game literature. It's also a chance to hear the incredible soundtrack, composed by Evan Le Ny, which helps to keep the frustration at bay on the more challenging levels.

Dragon Age 2 - Preview

Though sadly unlikely to reach the heights of the original Baldurs Gate, at least in my head (hey I was 13 when it came out and it blew my mind), a new Dragon Age game is the next best thing in my gaming world. I spent something like 90 hours game time on Origins, and actually, I haven't even completed it yet (must get round to that).

In any case this sequel promises to be even more epic, more exciting, more challenging, and looking at the concept art even more beautiful than the first. The full game doesn't drop until March 11th, but I have played the PC demo which Bioware posted online this week, and very encouraging it is too.


The demo lets you play through the prologue, and will probably take you around an hour to complete. Your reward if you do so is a free (virtual) sword, and if the demo gets 1 million total downloads Bioware will release another two extra in game items.