Roll7 are a UK studio that is quickly making a name for itself alongside the rockstar American publisher Devolver Digital. Roll7 started life on Sony’s amazing handheld; the Playstation Vita. The team responsible for courting indie titles recognised the quality of the small studio and worked hard to help them get Olli Olli – the high scoring skateboard game – onto the Playstation Vita and working flawlessly. The game sold well, scored well and has gone on to appear on a number of other machines as well – spawning a sequel along the way.
Now Not a Hero is here – the latest game from the UK based studio and it marks a big departure for them. NOT A HERO, to use its proper title, is a fast paced, side scrolling shooting game that has some wacky characters, some outrageous bosses and over the top, high octane action. The game is on sale right now on the Steam sale – so give it a try.

There are a few mega names when it comes to weight in the gaming world. Those games so mainstream, so popular that their popularity transcends the genre and become these sort of cultural events all over the world. Halo used to be one, but now Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto hold the crown. People take days off work and call in sick. Major films delay their releases to avoid the bigger games in the world so they do not lose money. These things are a big deal.

Call of Duty has never really appealed to me though. The competitive first person landscape is not quite for me any more – especially the fast paced, high intensity balls to the wall nonsense of the Call of Duty franchise. Still, I recognise a well designed game when I see one. The series is obviously doing something right to pull in the numbers that it does.