The psychology of the completionist

Just as there are different types of game, so there are different types of player – the most common being completionists and non-completionists. The difference is that completionists approach a game with the intent of finishing all tasks and levels to 100% and from every angle, while other gamers simply approach a game for fun and can easily walk away. Dr Nicola Davies discusses the psychology behind the drive to complete games – or not…

Whether a gamer is dedicated to finishing the game or not, game developers do everything they can to entice players to continue using their products. For most game developers a complex storyline and dramatic end sequences are a standard lure. Sequels and expansions draw in players who have completed achievements and are looking for more.

The Fear Factor

As we recover from an extended hands-on with Alien: Isolation, we find the time to appreciate a slower pace and a faster heartbeat…

Perhaps the most telling element of Alien: Isolation was amplified in our most recent hands-on with the game. If Isolation was a routine first-person shooter, the list of missions would have taken about 15 minutes – all we had to do was track down some medical supplies to help patch up a wounded colleague. But nothing is that simple or straightforward in Alien: Isolation and, in this ongoing game of uber-cat and blindfolded mouse, this short sequence of events took us more than three hours.

Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble

It’s been an age in coming, but the wait is nearly over. The Witcher 3 will be with us in February and, with the promise of a huge world and a gripping story, this is the next-gen RPG you’ve all been waiting for…

The spectacle of two titanic camps clashing for domination of their realm is nothing new in the world of role playing games. As well as serving as an appropriate backdrop for many a dramatic in-game battle, it also neatly summarises the struggle for supremacy of the very genre itself that has been raging between heavyweights Bethesda and BioWare in recent years.

Tigers, and Elephants, and Yaks... OH MY!

David Hollingworth takes on the frozen and not so frozen reaches of Nepal, in a preview session with Ubisoft’s openworld shooter, Far Cry 4.

I’m happy to admit, I’m bit of a pinko leftie, type, all worried about animal conservation and keeping endangered species safe and sound. So, when I first saw the trailers for Far Cry 4, I was a little... bemused to see elephants being used as giant living battering rams and bullet magnets. Yeah, I’m that guy.

But you know what? When you manage to clear out a teeming fortress in Far Cry 4 with the help of a trusty, stampeding elephant, it really is a thing of rare, gaming beauty. I’m not proud – but I am entertained.