Exo One (Xbox, PC, £13.99 Included with Xbox Game Pass
The verdict: It was quite a journey
Kid A Mnesia Exhibit (PlayStation, PC, free)
Verdict: Unforgettable
Remember the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey? The part about the baby in space? The same goes for the room in the hotel.
The extended sequence that follows, in which the astronaut David Bowman traverses time and space as thousands of colors stream by his eyes, is much more interesting.
Exo One specifically refers to this sequence between its stages. As the pilot of an unusual, spacecraft-shaped spacecraft, you are also crossing space and time. You can see thousands of colors streaming past you. It is very 2001 — and very trippy.
However, what’s the game itself? The point of the game seems to be momentum. This momentum can be built by rolling on the ground, or by diving into the air. You release it when you zoom up and the earthscapes beneath you disappear. There is no need to battle the evil guys. All you have to do is get from A-B.
As the pilot of an unusual, spacecraft-shaped spacecraft, you too are traversing time and space. Your eyes will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of colours that flow past. It is very 2001 — and very trippy
Every planet you choose to use in Exo One as intergalactic steps stones has a stunning beauty
Thankfully, it’s very enjoyable, although it’s not nearly as perfect as, say, the web-swinging in PlayStation’s Spider-Man games. The camera often loses its craft mid-air. Oder you stop in mid-air and look at alien landscapes.
Every planet you choose to use in Exo One as intergalactic steps stones has a stunning beauty. Meteors smash into infinite oceans. Lava fields are home to dormant structures.
It all adds up to an experience that is incredibly moving. Because of an incident that occurred much closer to Earth, you find yourself alone at the edge of the universe. Just keep going.
Modern life, eh? Some 20 years after their release, the Radiohead albums Kid A and Amnesiac have been turned into a full-on digital experience — available, for free, on certain gaming platforms.
In truth, there’s not much game here. It’s a simple walk through a Radiohead universe, with its lyrics, artwork and cartoon demons. Songs fade around you.
But it’s definitely fun. Even, I suspect, if you’re not a Radiohead fan. The sights are so wowing and the sounds so enrapturing that it’s easy to spend an hour or two in this strange, strange place.
In truth, there’s not much game here. As the songs fade out, you simply move around in a Radiohead world.
The sights are so wowing and the sounds so enrapturing that it’s easy to spend an hour or two in this strange, strange place