Joe Donnelly
Joe is a Features Editor at 12DOVE. With over seven years of experience working in specialist print and online journalism, Joe has written for a number of gaming, sport and entertainment publications including PC Gamer, Edge, Play and FourFourTwo. He is well-versed in all things Grand Theft Auto and spends much of his spare time swapping real-world Glasgow for GTA Online’s Los Santos. Joe is also a mental health advocate and has written a book about video games, mental health and their complex intersections. He is a regular expert contributor on both subjects for BBC radio. Many moons ago, he was a fully-qualified plumber which basically makes him Super Mario.
Latest articles by Joe Donnelly
Best Assassin's Creed games, ranked
By Louise Blain last updated
Features Whether you're Team Ezio or Edward, the best AC games offer a blend of satisfying stealth and gripping narratives
The best PS5 headset in 2024
By Tabitha Baker last updated
Buying Guide We're rounding up the best PS5 headset options you can choose from to team with your new-gen console.
Skyrim mods have been downloaded over 6 billion times the biggest modding site – will anything ever come close to the RPG's stunning legacy?
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | The fifth Elder Scrolls entry is a giant in so many ways, and it still, somehow, shows little signs of slowing down
Shooting Nazis in the arse while lying flat out in the prone position in the middle of my living room might be the best video game experience I've ever had
By Joe Donnelly published
Now Playing Now Playing| And I think I've finally seen through the VR looking glass
The 10 best zombie games that will munch your brain
By Connor Sheridan last updated
Features Success in the best zombie games is simple: remove the head or destroy the brain
Rediscovering the brilliant and brutal 22-year-old RPG that charges a ridiculous 1,000 in-game coins just to save your game
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Now Playing | The game's party recruitment system can also lead to a bloodbath revolt
My favorite Spelunky character is a masterclass in roguelike risk versus reward: "Stealing in games is fun in the same way running across the top of the screen is in Super Mario"
By Joe Donnelly published
Interview Interview | The game's creator Derek Yu explores the workings of Spelunky's grumpy, and deadly, shopkeepers
GTA players are still discussing how to 100% this top-down classic – proving it was years ahead of its time at the turn of the millennium
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | Is Grand Theft Auto 2 the most underrated of all GTA games?
The 25 best fighting games you can play right now
By Josh West last updated
Best List From Street Fighter 6 to Tekken 8, here are our picks of the best fighting games
Fallout 5: Everything we know so far, and what we hope to see
By Heather Wald last updated
Features Bethesda remains rather quiet about Fallout 5
The best single-player games to play right now
By Alex Avard last updated
Features From blockbuster hits to indie gems, these are the best single player games we'd recommend right now
The Rogue Prince of Persia is an unlikely roguelike slant on the 35-year-old series from one of the best genre developers in the business
By Joe Donnelly published
Preview Preview | The Rogue Prince of Persia is a strange but welcomed roguelike take on the newly revitalized series
As we stare down the Elden Ring DLC, I can't decide which of my all-time favorite builds to take into the RPG's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | I'm juggling save files in the Lands Between and I'm terrified I'll make the wrong call
The best strategy games you can play right now
By Heather Wald last updated
Features The very best strategy games will have you scratching your skull in no time
With Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Ninja Theory is learning from player feedback and past experience in its sustained push to challenge mental health stigma
By Joe Donnelly published
Interview Interview | How Hellblade 2 is building on the foundations laid by 2017's Senua's Sacrifice
Sometimes unashamedly riffing on the biggest genre hits works – just ask Nightghast, a creepy budget horror game in the vein of P.T., Resident Evil and Silent Hill
By Joe Donnelly published
Features Indie Spotlight | Nightghast is short but sweet and proper unsettling
Rediscovering the 25-year-old console JRPG whose jaw-dropping CGI cutscenes I once considered the indisputable pinnacle of video game graphics
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | And the biggest question is: How could I possibly forget this bygone PS1 classic?
Elden Ring's DLC can only be reached from a very specific late game location – 13 years later, is this signature FromSoftware access method still practical?
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | Accessing added content has never been straightforward in FromSoftware's esteemed action RPGs, but is this a good or a bad thing?
Lego Fortnite is my new obsession, but I remain unconvinced it (or anything else) can ever match Minecraft's sense of wonder
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | I'm singing the same tune 13 years later, but this time it's through a new, more profound lens
I'm so obsessed with Elden Ring's twisted sickness cult that my family has banned me from talking about it at home
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | And it's only going to get worse when the action RPG's long-awaited Shadow of the Erdtree DLC lands later this year
20 years later, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch still my favorite online multiplayer FPS of all time
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | You can rip toilets from the wall and kill enemies with them. Enough said?
Ranking the best Pokemon games from worst to best
By Heather Wald last updated
Best list The best Pokemon games from across the generations
25 Best sci-fi games to travel into the future with
By Malindy Hetfeld last updated
Features Only the best sci-fi games from one of the most popular genres of all time