The Doctor’s PlayStation

MOVIES generally make terrible video games. Often developers rush out a game to coincide with a film release, resulting in weak and sometimes broken game-play.

After terrible Lost and CSI outings, there’s no reason why expectations of games based on a television series should be any different.

Game of Thrones (15+, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, £29.99) has disappointed with sloppy visuals and poor game-play to distract you from the strong source material. If you’re determined to play a game set in Westeros, you’d be better waiting for recently announced Facebook game Game of Thrones: Ascent, which will launch on the social network’s forthcoming App Centre.

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On the other hand Telltale games’ surprisingly brilliant The Walking Dead (18+, PS3, PC, Xbox360, £3.99 per episode) not only captures the agonised moral decisions of the AMC show, it also puts genuine suspense into a point and click adventure.

This week Playstation Vita owners will get a chance to see whether Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock (12+, Vita, £13.99) has also bucked the trend. This side scrolling puzzle platformer was released on PS3 a few weeks ago and had a mixed response.

The story, a whirlwind tour of time periods and classic Who villains, is strong. Both Matt Smith and Alex Kingston prove to be solid voice-over artists, and their delivery adds to the authenticity, even if they’ve rendered Kingston impossibly thin on screen.

The more action packed River Song has obviously been included to counterbalance the Doctor’s non violent approach to things, and the fact that there is no mention of the Ponds suggests it will fit into the time scale of the forthcoming series.

The PS3 version has some troubling bugs and frustrating AI though, which is unforgivable in a sidescroller. Hopefully Supermassive Games will have ironed these out for the Vita version, which is only available on the PS store.

Heroes of Ruin (12+, DS, £29.99) is an action RPG which uses StreetPass on the DS to create an in-game Traders Network.

Players can buy and sell items picked up in battle with other DS owners locally. This and the co-op multiplayer will define the experience.

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As Euro 2012 kicked off Scottish developer Ludometrics released Quizball (N/A, iphone, 69p). This simple but challenging little football trivia app lets you score goals with every right answer. Questions are based on the history of the UEFA European Championships and the competitor nations of Euro 2012. Scotland authentically absent, then.

Tom Freeman organises Sick Kids Save Point, Edinburgh’s 24-hour charity gaming marathon

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