EDITOR’SPICKS:XBOXGAMEPASS

BY LUKE CONDON | GAMING EDITOR

I’m more of a PlayStation guy myself, but Xbox’s game subscription service differs from its competing counterpart in that it’s available on both Xbox devices and PC, rather than being restricted to a singular platform Microsoft frequently run an offer that allows customers to buy a single month of Xbox Game Pass for just one euro, which was more than enough time for me to sample some of the service’s finest games on PC Again, a number of big-budget titles have found their way to Game Pass, but the following list is composed of smaller games that you might have missed

Signalis

Scarcity is the name of the game in Signalis, a survival horror isometric solution game by Rose-Engine studios As you fight your way through an underground facility filled with unspeakable horrors, you’ll constantly find yourself lacking in ammunition, health, and the courage to go on Signalis’ Lovecraftian inspirations are evident in its every facet, from enemy design to the overall atmosphere of confusion and otherworldly terror You won’t find any jump-scares here, but the game’s horror isn’t impeded by this; after a few hours in Signalis’ oppressively unsettling corridors, a mere jump-scare starts to sound infinitely preferable

Signalis fully commits to its genre, and makes no concessions Effective inventory management is necessary to ensure your survival, a mechanic reminiscent of the Silent Hill games that paved the way for modern survival horror titles The game’s pixelated art style is detailed enough to allow for clear level and character design, but still works to enhance a general sense of unease by obscuring the finer details of darker areas and mangled hostile creatures Signalis doesn’t slack in the story department either; beyond the surface level of scary monsters lies an intriguing and somehow even heart-warming narrative

Frostpunk

Frostpunk is a resource management and strategy game with a survival-based twist Many strategy games are characterised by in-game goals of expansion and conquest, growing a mighty empire from humble beginnings In Frostpunk, you’ll recognise early on that your humble beginnings are only going to get humbler Tasked with managing a group of survivors living in a frozen Earth that has been ravaged by climate change, your decisions will shape the fate of one struggling settlement rather than the usual strategy game fare of sprawling cities or even intergalactic domains Growth isn’t necessarily something to strive for in Frostpunk; expansion means more mouths to feed, homes to heat, and people to keep alive

Frostpunk’s narrowed scale retains the epic feeling of grand strategy games by providing a more intimate connection to the characters you’re responsible for. Instead of numbers on a list, you’re dealing with a small population whose lives you can directly influence This makes the game’s important decisions all the more difficult; will you risk the lives of your people by sending them out to hunt for food, or deprive them of heating in order to conserve power? Playing like a tyrant might grant you a better chance of survival, but Frostpunk will rightfully make you feel bad about doing so

For those who don’t mind a bit of reading, Citizen Sleeper offers a poignant adventure with a focus on narrative The game derives much of its inspiration from the acclaimed 2019 role-playing game Disco Elysium, including its prose-heavy style, usage of dice mechanics, and themes of class struggle and anticapitalism However, Citizen Sleeper sets itself apart by opting to focus directly on the individual stories of its wonderful cast of characters, using them as vessels to highlight inequality and injustice under an advanced capitalist regime

In Citizen Sleeper, you control an unnamed person/robot (it’s hard to explain) who, after being enslaved by a corporation, flees to a distant space station and desperately attempts to eke out a living there Every in-game day, or ‘cycle’, you’ll use dice rolls to determine how effectively you perform odd jobs to earn money, with high rolls granting a better chance of success By completing tasks like these you’ll get to know the game’s characters, through a text-based medium Some you might want to help out, and some you might want nothing to do with, but each of them has their own compelling tale Citizen Sleeper specialises in this style of down-to-earth (well, down-to-space-station) writing, and the resultant narrative is as engrossing as video game stories get

CEOLASCEOLDRÁMAÍ: NÁDÉANDEARÚDARCHEOLNAGCEOLDRÁMAÍ

WRITES ORLA LEAHY | EAGARTHÓIR GAEILGE

Is aoibhinn liom dul chuig na ceoldrámaí, tá suim mhór agamsa agus ag mo mháthair sna ceoldrámaí a thagann chuig an amharclann Bhord Gáis i mBÁC cúpla uair i rith na bliana as an West End i Londain Shasana Anois is arís, tagann siad chuig Corcaigh, chomh maith, go dtí Áras na Ceoldrámaíochta Bhí an t-ádh dearg agam deis a fháil ticéad a bheith agam do The Phantom of the Opera i Nua-Eabhrac, sular tháinig deireadh leis an seó; i ndiaidh don seó 35 bliain bheith bainte amach acu ar stáitse

Gan aon agó, bíonn eolas ag gach uile dhuine faoi na hamhráin cháiliúla as Mary Poppins Ba é Mary Poppins ceann de na chéad cheoldrámaí a chonaic mé beagnach deich mbliana ó shin Is rud draíochtúil é an príomhcharachtar a fheiceáil ag eitilt thar an lucht éisteachta, nó Bert, an glantóir simléar, a fheiceáil ag crochadh na bhfallaí lena scuab Is fíor a rá gur bhaineas fíor-thaitneamh as an gceoldráma seo, go mór mór nuair a bhí mé mar pháiste brionglóideach

Tar éis roinnt ama, thosnaigh mo shuim ag athrú nuair a chonaic mé roinnt ceoldrámaí eile Is fíor a rá go bhfuil crosánacht oiriúnach do gach uile dhuine, athraíonn an saghas ceoil idir gach aon cheoldráma Mar shampla, faightear glór briosc i roinnt de na hamhráin in Wicked, cosúil le “Popular” , agus amhráin eile a bhíonn mar cheoldrámaí den scoth, cosúil le “Defying Gravity ” Taitníonn ceoldrámaí áirithe liomsa is bíonn cuid acu san brónach go leor; is sampla deas iad na hamhráin “Stars” , “On My Own” agus “Bring Him Home” as Les Misérables Uaireanta eile, athraíonn an t-atmaisféar agus bím ag gáire in aonacht leis carachtair a bhíonn ag canadh leo, mar shampla i gcuid de na hamhráin in Mam Mia

Le gach ceoldráma, insíonn na hamhráin scéalta na gcarachtar Thar na blia chuala mé roinnt scéalta, gach amhrán is é saibhir le mothúcháin - uaigneas a brón, grá, áthas, náire, aiféala, agus sceitimíní Gach uair a théim chuig amharclann, mothaím scéalta na gcarachtar Tugaim buíochas do na haisteoirí bheith ag canadh go hálainn is go proifisiúnta ar an stáitse Is rud iontach é aiste paiseanta bheith ar stáitse le grá do na scéalta a mbíonn siad ag canadh fú Tugaim buíochas chomh maith don lucht gairme taobh thiar den stáitse; l t l

As na ceoldrámaí atá feicthe agam, luafaidh mé trí chás de na hamhráin is tábhachtaí Sa cheoldráma Blood Brothers, canann máthair an chúpla an t-amhrán, “Tell Me It’s Not True” , amhrán ina mhothaíonn sí a pian tar éis na heachtraí a tharla ó thus go deireadh an cheoldráma Is deireadh cumhachtach é an t-amhrán seo don taispeántas féin In The Phantom of the Opera, is amhrán álainn agus goinbhlasta é Think of Me Canann Christine, oibrí Thigh na Ceoldrámaíochta i bPáras na Fraince faoin Phantom nó faoin dTaibhse, duine a mbíonn fhios aici faoi ach duine a bhí fós sa doircheacht ag an am sin Tar éis an cheoldráma sin a fheiceáil, chuala mé an t-amhrán arís nuair a bhíos sa phictiúrlann ag ceolchoirm André Rieu - veidhleadóir agus stiúrthóir a chuireann taispeántas cáiliúil ar siúl ó áit amháin ar fud an domhain trí scáileán dhá uair sa bhliain Ag ceolchoirm amháin, chan soprán amháin é agus leagan den chéad scoth a bhí ansan Anuas air sin, is aoibhinn liom an t-amhrán, “Wouldn’t it be Loverly?” sa cheoldráma My Fair Ladyamhrán a chuirtear os ár gcomhair dúinn is a léiríonn cé chomh fada is atá an príomhcharachtar, Eliza Dolittle, ón réalt-scoláire a bhí sa bhrionglóid Ag deireadh an ceoldráma, áfach, taispeánann “Without You” an chontrárthacht sin ó thús an cheoldráma Ardaíonn an ceol sna drámaí seo na mothúcháin agus bíonn tionchar mór ag na scéalta éagsúla a bhaineann leo ar na lucht éisteachta go deimhin

Tá dúshlán agam do mo chuid léitheoirí; go ndéanfadh sibhse iarracht ceoldráma a fheiceáil an bhliain seo, mar scannán (bíonn beagnach gach ceoldráma le fáil mar scannán, chomh maith) nó in amharclann éigin Is taithí iontach é chun tábhacht an cheoil, agus úsáid an cheoil i rith an tsaoil agaibh, a fheiceáil