Toomanywires

Prince of Persia 2008 is a rare thing: an action-adventure game where the player's actions are largely consequence-free. For our titular prince and his companion Elika, the stakes couldn't be higher, as they strive to bring a halt to the darkness that is enveloping the realm. Yet even as they awaken different parts of the city, and fill them with colour, the kingdom remains devoid of life. It is a carcass. With the exception of a donkey and a few guards in the opening moments, we never meet another living soul. A splash of colour and some reinvigorated flora doesn't hide the fact that this world is dead.  What exactly are we saving and would it even matter if we failed? There are no game-over screens here. No resources to be lost following an ill-advised jump or a poorly-timed parry. No progress to be thrown away or limited continues to fret about. When you fail, Elika saves you. Prince of Persia is almost entirely without stakes, and some might say without challenge. Whate

"Why are you so bad?" Alright Auto Modellista, calm down. I'm not here to be insulted by your excitable in-race announcer. "Don't be silly!" Look, I didn't mean to smash into that wall, spin 180 degrees and then start driving in the wrong direction. I know that's not how you win races. Honestly though, this wouldn't be happening if the cars didn't handle so appallingly.  It's 2024 and I'm being slagged off by a PS2 game. Fucking state of this.  Auto Modellista is very pretty though, so I've been happy to put up with the abuse over the last week, as I played it for the first time. The distinctive cel-shaded graphics make it far more palatable than most other racing games of that era. More than twenty years removed from release, it looks beautiful, a feast for the eyes regardless of whether you're playing it through original RGB or scart, an HDMI solution, or running it through some expensive magic box. It is strikingly attracti