There are obvious and notable exceptions. When it comes to horror and its many subgenres games are very good at making us react. I’m not just talking about jump scares either. Games like Condemned, F.E.A.R. or the early days of Resident Evil had a tremendous sense of foreboding that made you think twice about even taking another step forward. Beyond that though, what is there?

I bring this up because I spent this weekend in something of a musical haze, kicking off with at gig on Friday night with my all time favourite band and continuing into the Saturday with some live blues performances in a small bar. Now, it’s only polite to show some form of appreciation for live music, but on these occasions the need to express my pleasure through applause rose from my boots. I lost count of the number of times that a wave of elation ran up my spine and engulf me and it has since made me ponder when I’ve ever felt that in a game.

In retrospect we can often feel quite good about games. The Four Leaf Clover mission in GTA IV or All Ghillied Up in Modern Warfare are fine recent examples of sections of a game we can look back on very fondly and the tension of each of these missions is palpable, but not cause of euphoria in the moment. Thinking back to my younger days the mine cart level in Donkey Kong Country or walking out into Hyrule in Ocarina Of Time certainly made me feel good, but I put those both down to youthful emotional naiveté. I can’t see myself having the same reaction now.

Perhaps years as a critic has dulled my senses and it’s not the fault of the games at all. I look for the good moments and the bad rather than feeling either, but I hope that’s not true. I can only hope that games like Heavy Rain, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell: Conviction and The Last Guardian might break through whatever jaded veil has descended around me.

By Jonathan Gordon: PLAY Magazine