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Portal Knights | Xbox One

30/5/2017

 
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At first glance, Portal Knights could be mistaken for just another Minecraft clone, but, if you keep looking, it quickly becomes apparent there’s a lot more to it than that. Having been in early access on Steam for the past year - a span of time in which developer Keen Games took constant feedback from the community - Portal Knights features the necessary depth and complexity to make it a varied and fun-filled experience in its own right.

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by James
Michael
​Parry

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​@james_parry

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Developer: Keen Games
Publisher: 505 Games
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
​Players: 1-2 local, 1-4 online

Featuring elements from the survival, action and role-playing genres, the former side of things isn’t bogged down by keeping yourself from starving or topped up on sleep, making things simple and accessible for younger gamers, while arguably less tedious for everyone. Instead, the game places focus on crafting new weapons and armour from ingredients strewn around Portal Knights’ various worlds to support you on your quest.
 
The titular portals are found in set locations throughout the game, often underground or well-hidden, and most will need to be manually activated before they’ll act as gateways that can be freely fast travelled between (providing you’re happy to sit through a fairly hefty loading screen, that is). They link together 30 different biomes, which are all relatively small, Avatar-esque floating islands home to a host of enemies and NPC quest/hint givers. Quests are kept very simple, like battling enemies or fetching items, and feel particularly reminiscent of those seen in Lego Worlds, while useful hints guide you towards finding secrets in the surrounding area.

​Environments have a blocky aesthetic that’s similar to the likes of Minecraft and Terraria, but they’re occupied by fully-modelled, cartoon animals and plant life that help to set the game apart. These can serve as obstacles that make traversal more of a challenge, though they add to the density of your surroundings and help landmark locales to avoid long treks between different areas, which Minecraft can certainly suffer from. The music is really the main thing which lets exploring these areas down, often feeling fairly uninspired and repetitive, as well as the baffling inability of your character to run, making avoiding enemies tricky.
You land at set points after using one of the aforementioned portals, which can be changed by crafting new markers once you’ve gathered a few resources and unlocked some of the more specialist crafting options by upgrading your workbench. The bench is your creative hub, and really where the Minecraft comparison is the most apt, though items are more deliberately sorted and categorised here. You’ll also need additional benches to craft specialist items, be it an anvil for Warrior gear, an archer station for Ranger gear, or an altar for souped-up Mage equipment.
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The addictive nature of the game’s main thrust may prove enough to hold your attention for longer than the 30 hours it would take to power through the main questline.
On that note, at the beginning of the game you’re asked to choose one of three fairly bog standard character classes - Warrior, Ranger or Mage. There are a few implications to this choice, as Warriors wield melee weapons, Rangers use (you guessed it) ranged weapons and Mages play with magic wands, naturally. Aside from each class having unique unlockable abilities which you can choose between at roughly five-level intervals, they pretty much serve as loose suggestions, with characters growing based on which skills (Dexterity, Strength, etc.) you assign points to. This means you could make a beefy, tankish magic user if you felt like it, or a particularly nimble Warrior.
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Whatever your build, you’ll fight enemies reminiscent of creatures you might come across in The Legend of Zelda, particularly those which add elemental typings to the same base enemy, as Breath of the Wild fans will be all too familiar with (curse you Wizzrobes!). Certain armour provides bonus defence against certain elements, and depending on how willing you are to grind the rarest materials or craft the most complex gear, you can find yourself with astonishingly high defence to absorb the wrath of most foes.
 
You can team up online with up to three other players if ever you require aid on your quest, with one player acting as host and everyone else coming to visit, but, beyond that, there are no additional modes. The addictive nature of the game’s main thrust may prove enough to hold your attention for longer than the 30 hours it would take to power through the main questline, however.
 
Portal Knights boasts more deliberate direction and increased complexity over Minecraft, while still managing to keep things straightforward enough to be accessible. The game’s design is endearing and makes basic RPG elements easy to get to grips with, proving to be a good bridge for youngsters in transitioning towards more ‘grown-up’ games, and to be good, laid-back fun for adults.
 
Pros

  • Accessible, varied gameplay
  • Lose yourself in your own colourful, digital universe
  • Surprising depth offers more than initially meets the eye
 
Cons
​
  • Music fails to inspire
  • Backtracking can build up over time, despite being less prevalent than in contemporaries
  • Not tons of variety between the 30 levels
 
Score 9/10
0 Comments

RiME | Xbox One

26/5/2017

 
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Following cancellation concerns and delays, RiME’s blend of puzzling and adventure finally makes its way to our screens; but does it earn a place alongside contemporaries like Journey, Ico and Zelda?

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by
​Rob
​Holt

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@acousticmagic

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Developer:
Tequila Works
Publisher:
​Grey Box Games
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC
Players: 1
RiME puts you in the shoes, toga and red cape of a young boy washed ashore during a terrible storm. Luckily for you, the island is the kind of tropical paradise many of us dream of; unluckily, though, you’ll need to explore the terrain and solve a shed load of puzzles, so there's no chance of kicking back with a pina colada.
 
From the outset it’s hard not to be utterly enthralled by the stunning, gorgeous art style. Think Wind Waker HD crossed with the aforementioned Journey and you get the picture: sumptuous, deep colours and cartoony cel-shaded animations rule the roost. Standing atop a tower looking over the Mediterranean-esque blue waters as Seagulls fly by is a particular highlight, along with watching grass sway in the breeze as a gigantic tree blooms in front of you. These two are in the first hour, and we’re pleased to report that the game keeps the wonderful visual bombardment up throughout its entirety.
 
It’s obvious that developer Tequila Works really focussed on making the game visually unique. The closing stages of the story boast almost lifelike torrential rain fused with the stylised characters and game world to really take your breath away. Lighting effects in underground levels only add to the wonder: this combined with the haunting score (more on that later) create a legitimately ethereal experience.

Unfortunately though, they seem to have forgotten about two things visually: ensuring the game runs smoothly, and the hero’s character model. The latter is especially strange, as all the enemies and NPCs (from foxes, to pigs, to sentinels, to screaming deadites) are gorgeous, whereas he really lacks fine detail. This can be forgiven, of course, but the shocking framerate simply cannot. To have such ravishing locales ruined by regular huffing and puffing frame drops is a real shame, especially since it must have been an obvious issue.
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With all that style, is there any room left for substance? Well, the story itself is fairly basic; you're washed ashore, trying to find out why you’ve ended up there. At the end of each stage you run towards a giant keyhole shaped light: walk into it and you’re transported to a new island to uncover new parts of the story.

The cutscenes that play out in these stage breaks give some colour to the story, building a mystery around the recurring, distant figure who also happens to be wearing a red cape. In all honesty, you’ll see the ending coming from a mile off, but Tequila Works should be applauded for tackling the subjects of loss, death and recovery without using any form of dialogue.
Tequila Works should be applauded for tackling the subjects of loss, death and recovery without using any form of dialogue.
RiME is a puzzle-adventure, and the gameplay truly reflects that. The journey revolves heavily around vertical traversal, solving varying puzzles along the way. These puzzles range from platforming tasks to activate switches (you sing to them) or to reach new areas, pushing and pulling items, collecting orbs to open doors/awaken the sentinels and more.

It’s here that the
Zelda influence really becomes more of a parody though; you’ll feel like you’ve played through these before, which, in combination with their relative ease (just follow the obvious clues and hints or the helpful fox) leaves little in the way of challenge. One of the stages is actually one huge puzzle quest, which drained the life from us as it slowly moved to a close, getting in the way of the story and wide-eyed-wonder (
add the watching-paint-dry slow loading screens to this pile!​).
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Although the puzzle element of the game is lacking in originality, we still found ourselves enjoying RiME'sgameplay on the whole. This is largely in debt to the elegant visuals, but also down to a bold choice to create a combat-less game world, in which you'll simply jump, roll and sing. This really does help to convey the story of a child lost, trying to make sense of life and friendship and loss.
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​This sweet tale is underpinned by an absolutely triumphant score. There’s soaring strings, twinkling pianos and ambient noise that all sway and rise like the mighty in-game ocean. The way the music swells when you near the end of a stage is a trick that is definitely cheesy, but my God is it effective. Running up or down huge stone spiral stairs whilst violins and cellos surge is wholly engrossing, even if it does give more than a wink to
Ico.

So, in summary,
RiME is a difficult game to really put a number on. For every fantastic moment, there’s a technical issue like the infuriating camera shifts during platforming or a huge frame drop. The game begs to be played multiple times - to find all the collectables and positively explore every nook and cranny - but will most bother? At five to ten hours in its initial playthrough, it’s a great choice for the gamer with limited time, but is the £25-30 price point too rich a prospect? You’ll have to figure these questions out for yourselves, chums, but if you want my two penneth: get it when the price comes down.

 
Pros
 
  • Undeniably gorgeous art style
  • Beautiful, haunting music
  • A perfect adventure for folks with limited gaming time
  • Dreamy game world
  • Easy to understand puzzles
  • Lack of combat is a breath of fresh air
 
Cons
 
  • Regularly stuttering framerate
  • Camera angle in climbing sections
  • Leans too heavily on its influences
  • Puzzles are often long-winded
  • Long loading screens
 
Score 6/10
0 Comments

Lock's Quest | Xbox One

26/5/2017

 
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A remaster of a DS title released back in 2008, Lock’s Quest is the latest game to rise from the ashes that were once THQ to be offered up on Xbox One, PS4 and PC for a new generation of gamers.
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​by James Michael Parry

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​@james_parry

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Developer: Digital Continue / 5th Cell (Original release)
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Players: 1

The journey of a hero often starts with family, and, for titular protagonist Lock, that’s tragically the case here. After losing his parents before the game begins, his sister now finds herself facing danger when the clockworks - clockwork robots - attack their village, leading Lock and the player into their quest to rescue her.
 
At first glance, Lock’s Quest has an isometric, 8-bit aesthetic familiar from countless indie titles and games of yore. It pulls it off fairly well, though the visual upgrade between the original release and now is marginal; even the opening cinematic, which sets up the world’s clockwork-battling history, hasn’t had much love, and seems jumpy despite the very basic visual style. It definitely isn’t a power issue, now that the game has found a beefier home, so it’s a little disappointing to see these issues.
 
In game, performance is far more reliable. Gameplay is split into Build and Battle sections, and you begin by putting up defences to hold the evil clockworks (commanded by bosses with names like Pain, Beast and Lord Agony) at bay - then you get to see how your preparations fare as you try to use Lock to keep everything in one piece for as long as possible.

The experience is somewhere between the wave-based, ever-escalating panic of something like Gears of War’s Horde or Plants v Zombies’ Garden Ops and the methodical strategy of Civilization or Command and Conquer. Despite being simple in principle, it certainly takes a while to get the hang of, with plenty of days ending in failure as the clockworks reach your Source well - the place where the blue glowing energy of this universe, Source, comes from.​
Lock is a complete novice, meaning he needs to gradually learn the trade of archineering (that’s Archimedes engineering, possibly…), unlocking new abilities and defences to hold off the strangely time-conscious enemy. There’s only a couple of minutes at the most to throw down defences before the next assault (which usually lasts about three minutes itself), meaning the mad dash to get to grips with how to use new items can cost you precious preparation time.
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Once you reach the battle phase, Lock can hold his own in a fight, flailing wildly by tapping A, or employing a little finesse by hitting three to four buttons in sequence for a more deadly combo attack. In practice, we found mashing to be effective enough if you’re taking on one or two baddies at a time, but it’s easy to get surrounded thanks to the more-often-awkward-than-not terrain, so death is never too far away.
Most of the time, NPCs are responsible for defence up until you arrive, at which point they seemingly pop to the pub.
Mastering the combos, as well as a bit of stick waggling and spinning to execute other attacks and repairs quickly, was, for me personally, the weakest point of the experience. You find yourself (or I do, at least) starting with A automatically when most combos dart between the four main face buttons, which leads frustration to follow failure as you kick yourself knowing you could have done something about it.
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The thoughtful building was more my thing, gradually learning the enemy AI’s movements and developing cunning ways to distract them and take them down - or even just delay them for a few more precious seconds.​

The main weapons in your arsenal are turrets, but you also get access to traps which can cause trouble in their own right. Putting walls either side of turrets buffs their defence, meaning they can take a few more hits, and later you can assign helpers to gradually repair them over time or increase their range.

 
Despite there being an army, or at least guards, on hand to help with defence (most of the time, they’re responsible for defence up until you arrive, at which point they seemingly pop to the pub), you’re largely left to fend for yourself - even though this could have make for an interesting collaborative co-op experience.
 
The story running throughout is entertaining enough, if fairly obvious, and the musical score is well-suited to the game’s aesthetic. That said, a few weeks into the 100 in-game days on offer, you’ll begin to beg for a little more variety as the repetition sets in.​
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The same is largely true of the game experience as a whole. New enemies, new traps and new defences are gradually introduced, but, fundamentally, you learn everything the game has to offer in the first few battles, with few game changers to upset the board and force you to think differently once you’ve got into a pattern you’re comfortable with.
 
For the price (£15.99 on Xbox One), there’s some solid gameplay to be had, though if you weren’t already aware you could probably guess it was a port from a different system. Putting a series of different sized walls down would be considerably easier with the added precision of a stylus - a control method the game was originally designed around - but the input on a gamepad is simple enough to get used to in time.
 
Lock’s Quest might not be a game that’s on your radar, or something you were even looking for, but if you want to flex the strategic muscle on console in particular, then this might be a tempting purchase.
 
Pros

  • Embraces its style with dedication to the sillier elements
  • Keeping all the plates spinning can be a real thrill
  • Far more original than most re-releases on the market
 
Cons
​
  • Fairly punishingly hard with only ‘Normal’ and ‘Hard’ difficulty to choose from
  • Load times can be pretty lengthy
  • Mastering the controls on a gamepad is a bit of a struggle at first
 
Score 7/10​
0 Comments

Injustice 2 | Xbox One

24/5/2017

 
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A fighting game based on pitting DC’s biggest and best superheroes and villains against one another was never going to be a hard sell. We’ve all pondered age-old questions like whether Batman or Superman would win in a round of fisticuffs, and 2013’s Injustice: Gods Among Us provided a tool with which to play out these fantasies, seeing critical and commercial success as a direct result. Selling a sequel, however, can be a much harder prospect, but one that NetherRealm and Warner Bros. have managed to surmount by meaningfully building on the original’s strong foundation.

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by Sam
​Sant

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​@SlamShotSam


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Developer: NetherRealm
Studios
Publisher: Warner
Bros. ​Interactive
Entertainment
​Platforms: Xbox One,
PS4
​Players: 1 - 10
Whether you’re a DC fan and a genre novice excited by the crossover potential in the recognisable cast of characters and locations (29 and 12 to choose from, respectively), or a fighting game aficionado with no attachment to the roster, Injustice 2 caters to your niche. The game occupies a perfect middle ground, being accessible without forfeiting any of the engagement-driving complexity the best fighters are know for.

At a base level, you’ll launch light, medium and heavy attacks to pepper your opponent with shots that land low, mid, high or overhead whilst they endeavour to block the incoming onslaught, and vice-versa. It’s trademark stuff, adhering to the established design philosophy that sees block beat strike, throw beat block, and strike beat throw. Expanding into the realms of Special Moves and combos is easy, thanks to a focus on simple button inputs and relatively forgiving timing windows in which to execute them.

Additional systems are layered atop the fundamentals to add nuance and identity to the package, with interactive environmental attacks and cinematic stage transitions being a particular treat. Each fighter has a unique character power, generally providing a timed summon or buff to complement the rest of their arsenal, whilst both taking and dealing damage throughout the course of a bout charges your Super Meter.

The Super Meter is split into four sections, which, once filled, can be spent individually on modifying Special Moves to deal additional damage and/or present new tactical opportunities, while escapes are a defensive employment that serve as your ticket out of a sticky situation. Each combatant also gets one Clash per match, which can only be initiated when they’re down to their second health bar in an effort to accommodate comebacks. Clashes invite both parties to bet sections of their meter against one another, with whoever places the highest bet, and, thus, puts most of their hard-earnt meter on the line, being deemed the winner before proceeding to either inflict more damage or regain a portion of health, depending on whether they were the attacker or defender respectively.
Whether you’re a DC fan and a genre novice, or a fighting game aficionado with no attachment to the roster, Injustice 2 caters to your niche.
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If you elect to hoard your power and fill the Super Meter entirely, you can trade it all in for one devastating Super Move. These signature sequences are an over-the-top spectacle, equivalent to Mortal Kombat’s visceral x-ray attacks that, while far less graphic in their depiction, are, undoubtedly, no less deadly.
​

The tutorial does a sterling job of teaching the above mechanics and more, but integrating these skills against an opponent that actually fights back is a whole new kettle of fish. You’ll need to experiment extensively to figure out what combinations of attacks work, where and when they work, and against who. Though time consuming, it’s part and parcel of the rewarding learning process.

Story Mode is a good place to start out and familiarise yourself with a range of characters, as each chapter sees you take control of someone new to get a taste of the different combat styles on offer. What’s more, the narrative is genuinely engaging and presented with abundant production value, making it the premier attraction when it comes to solo play, as compared to the throwaway nature of the mode in so many other fighters.

Continuing where Gods Among Us left off, Injustice 2 challenges expectations by turning heroes rogue and villains good, though, with Earth’s future in peril at the hands of Brainiac, the sides strike a temporary alliance. The high-stakes tale is brimming with fan service and boasts a seamless, filmic presentation that culminates in an experience that, as cliché as it might sound, is akin to being a part of the latest summer blockbuster.

The lavish presentation really can’t be understated, with gorgeous character models animating fluidly against bustling stage backgrounds that help the visuals pop - especially if you have an Xbox One S and a supporting TV to play with HDR. Injustice 2 is equally enticing for audiophiles as well, with a seasoned and recognisable voice cast complementing the rousing and bombastic soundtrack.
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Progress is rewarded with Gear, which can then be equipped to influence a relevant character’s appearance and stats - strength, defence, health and ability - provided they meet the level requirement to use it. You level fighters simply by taking them into battle, earning experience points proportional to your performance at the conclusion of each bout, win or lose. The wide range of character-specific Gear and Shaders available is somewhat staggering, allowing you to extensively adapt each combatant to make them truly your own in terms of both their look and play style. For purists that don’t like the sound of tinkering with the game’s balance, it can also be kept purely cosmetic (which is standard in ranked online play).
The wide range of character-specific customisation options are somewhat staggering, allowing you to extensively adapt each combatant to make them truly your own in terms of both their look and play style.
Gear fiends will definitely want to spend some time in Multiverse mode, as that’s where they’ll see the highest payouts. Multiverse, a universe-hopping staple of the DC comics, is a nice way of contextualising the transition of Mortal Kombat’s Living Towers, with new multiverses constantly cropping up for limited timeframes, each home to a string of encounters against new takes on existing heroes and villains under differing rulesets. Mother Boxes are rewarded for beating a multiverse and function in much the same way as Overwatch’s Loot Boxes, dishing out a random selection of items for a random set of characters when opened.

Mother Boxes can be bought with in-game credits, which you’ll earn a steady stream of and can sell unwanted Gear for, while items you’re fond of can be refreshed with Regen Tokens to bring them up to your current level. The rare Source Crystals, however, which serve to change an item’s appearance while maintaining its stats, are a more premium commodity, requiring you to part with some cash if you want to make frequent use of them. Thankfully, Gear is earned at a fair clip, so you should never be left wanting enough to feel pressured into it.
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Joining a Guild is a direct route to more loot, with all members working towards specific objectives in order to share in the victory spoils. Guilds are also a good place to meet like-minded players with which to play online, as, unfortunately, both ranked and player bouts suffer imbalanced matchmaking and opposition that spam the same few attacks.

When you do find applicable human competition, the game takes on new life, with mind games that wouldn’t necessarily be utilised by or against the AI coming into play. Unpredictable use of cancels, delays and cross-ups keep everyone on their toes, making for some edge-of-your-seat encounters. While infrequent and only occurring at peak times, it’s just unfortunate that spotty netcode can occasionally throw a spanner in the works. As is the case with any precision-based fighter, anything other than flawless online performance renders the game near unplayable.

Despite that, Injustice 2 has dethroned the mighty Mortal Kombat X as king of our hill, in the process cementing NetherRealm’s place atop the genre. Sumptuous presentation, unrivalled storytelling, deep customisation systems, endless Multiverse possibilities, and a mostly solid online experience that can only improve with time make Injustice 2 the full package.

Pros

  • Accessible without sacrificing any depth
  • Stunning audiovisual presentation
  • Vast customisation options
  • Story Mode puts other fighters to shame
  • Multiverse and multiplayer add an immense amount of longevity

Cons

  • Some issues with lag in online bouts
  • All too common to be matched with a far superior opponent

9/10
0 Comments

NBA Playgrounds | Xbox One

23/5/2017

 
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​Channelling the ghosts of the past, NBA Playgrounds aims to play a game of charged-up arcade B-ball, but, like Dennis Rodman’s hair, it has some great moments, though falls short of reaching the play-offs.

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by ​Rob
​Holt

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​@acousticmagic

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Developer: Mad Dog
Publisher: Saber Interactive
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC
​Players: 1 - 4
From the offset it’s obvious that Playgrounds endeavours to go toe-to-toe with the 2-on-2 basketball games that were popular in the 90s, such as genre classic NBA Jam and the not quite as well know - but adored in my household - Barkley Shut Up & Jam. The game’s over-the-top dunks, power-ups, card collecting and corking hip-hop soundtrack can be interpreted as pros or cons, depending on your love of nostalgia.
 
A straightforward control scheme contributes to Playgrounds’ ode to the old, with pass, shoot, jump and sprint mapped to single buttons and comprising most of your toolset. Interacting with these in different ways, like holding shoot to throw farther and combining sprint and shoot to perform an outrageous dunk, add some depth, alongside the ability to call for the staple alley-oop and to throw the opposition a dirty elbow. The latter is another nod from developers Mad Dog, and something we’ve thoroughly enjoyed utilising!

​The game has a simple selection of modes to complement its arcade stylings: Exhibition and online play offer places to hone your skills, but Tournament is the real meat on the bone. You’ll play through four matches in each competition to unlock new playgrounds (Seattle’s rainy rooftop and Paris’ evening court are our favourites), new tournaments and new gold card packs. Those packs unlock legendary players from the sport to play as, like Magic Johnson and LeBron James, but, sadly, Rodman and his obnoxious hair are missing.

The tournaments are good fun in the beginning, though start to become a bit of a grind towards the end, especially when played for longer bouts. The matches can often feel woefully unfair, as you miss shots for no apparent reason, whilst the AI drains perfect jump shots from deep, adding four points to their total under
Playgrounds’ interesting scoring system (bonus points for perfect release, first score of the game, etc.). Add to this the treacle-slow inbounds (re-starts after each basket) and the ease at which the AI gets lottery picks (random power-ups such as the score x2 multiplier, endless stamina, etc.) and frustration is never too far away.  

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Get some friends over, however, and you’ve got yourself a cracker of a party game. Elbowing a friend to the floor as they look certain to score a dunk is glorious, as is activating the score x2 multiplier when you're not on the receiving end. It’s a shame that the single player elements of the game don’t carry the same wonder, but not surprising considering the market that Playgrounds is pitched to. Online multiplayer is almost equally as fun, provided you can find an opponent who doesn’t rage quit, but it lacks the divisional tiers that make the likes of FIFA or NBA2K such enjoyable time sinks.
Get some friends over, however, and you’ve got yourself a cracker of a party game - elbowing a friend to the floor as they look certain to score a dunk is glorious...
Playgrounds’ visual presentation is a definite highlight, with both the players and the playgrounds themselves really shining. The chunky, cartoony character models exaggerate the features of each player, as well as gifting them comically bulging muscles to provide some real laughs. Courts add to the fun factor by playing on recognisable stereotypes, from Shanghai’s cherry blossom trees, to New York’s graffiti, to Westminster with the London Eye.

Shooting from deep, the game also scores on the audio front. A cracking hip-hop theme tune plays in between games, with a vocoder-infused voice blasting lines about being “a high flyer” against a backdrop of rhymes like “alley-oop to the hoop”. The fun doesn’t stop there though, as each venue has its own theme tune, again riffing on the stereotypes of that country - Paris has accordion in its tune, par exemple.

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NBA Jam had classic commentary phrases as legendary as its gameplay, and Playgrounds aims for the same territory here. Jam’s very own Ian Eagle is present, along with co-commentator E.J. Johnson, creating a mostly hilarious pairing. Lay-ups are met with comments about finger rolls, jelly rolls and butter rolls, and they also take great pleasure in breaking the fourth wall with nuggets concerning your ability with the controller, which usually bring about a chuckle.
​While initially entertaining, the verbal bashings get old rather quickly, mind; we’ve lost count of the number of times Mr Eagle has ended a game harping on about his own skills on the hardwood. Playgrounds is proof that new isn’t always better than old, with nothing coming close to the genius, childhood-defining delivery of “BOOMSHAKALAKA”.

So, as the shot clock ticks down and the game nears its close, it’s obvious that, although Playgrounds can be fun, it certainly isn’t the new NBA Jam. If you’re a huge fan of NBA Street et al then you’ll get your £15.99’s worth, but for everyone else, the ball will hit the rim and bounce back out.
 
Pros
 
  • Chunky, humorous character models
  • Solid local multiplayer fun
  • Pick up and play controls
  • Great soundtrack
  • Commentary can be hilariously good...
 
Cons
 
  • … But also hilariously bad
  • Timing of shots is hard to gauge
  • Poor AI
  • Online multiplayer lacks depth
  • Lacks originality
 
Score 6/10


Saber Interactive were good enough to provide us with a copy of the game for review.
0 Comments

Seasons After Fall | Xbox One

21/5/2017

 
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The humble fox, where would we be without it? For starters, the Lylat system would have fallen to Andross and his evil armies decades ago, the animals of Farthing Wood would never have made it to White Deer Park, and, er, that Disney version of medieval Nottingham where all the inhabitants are woodland animals would still be toiling under Prince John’s ludicrous tax laws. Looking to further add to these (sort of) legendary tales of fox glory are Swing Swing Submarine, with their Metroidvania-like, 2D puzzle/platformer, Seasons After Fall.

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​by
Liam
Andrews

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​@pass_controller

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Developer: Swing Swing Submarine
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Players: 1


The first thing you’ll likely notice about Seasons After Fall are its striking visuals. Watching the brush-tailed avatar trot, sprint and leap through the beautifully hand-painted landscape was one of the highlights of the game, with only the occasional appearance of a few rigid looking animations spoiling the otherwise excellent art-style. But it’s not just a looker, Seasons After Fall is easy on the eardrums too, thanks to its classical soundtrack, which is even, ingeniously, applied to button notifications on menu screens.
 
Although we can appreciate little touches like this (and spend far too much time enjoying them, if we’re honest) it would have been nice to hear more of the soundtrack during the actual game, as there can be quite a few long stretches of silence during gameplay, which lets the atmosphere down somewhat. Still, the sparing use of a musical accompaniment does mean it adds a bit more impact when the strings stir to life for some of the more important moments in the story.

Seasons tasks players with finding the four seasons (that’s spring, summer, autumn and winter, not the chain of hotels) and saving a mysterious forest from the misguided actions of a young seed. Gameplay starts out in The Sanctuary, a sort of central, hub-like area, but then branches out into four other areas, each of which has its own unique setting, including: a network of underground tunnels, a sunny island, a quagmire, and a giant tree. It’s not long before you’re gifted the power to control the aforementioned seasons, which can be manipulated at will with the right stick to negotiate various obstacles, solve puzzles, and unlock previously unreachable areas.

​This means at times you’ll need to do a bit of backtracking as new routes open up, but with no clear indicator for where you should be going, or what you should be doing next, finding your next objective often comes down to a mixture of luck and how willing you are to pound ground until you stumble upon it. At one point, we spent a fair amount of time going in circles looking for a platform that we only caught a glimpse of in a cut-away, only to realise we were in the wrong area altogether.
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Asides from notably changing the land’s aesthetics, by drastically altering the weather and lighting, each season also has its own unique effect on the platforming side of things. Autumn causes mushrooms to expand their caps, creating makeshift platforms, winter freezes lakes, making them easier to cross, summer sees trampoline-like plant pods bloom into life, while spring rains raise water levels. Often, you’ll need to combine these abilities in order to progress deeper into an area, such as raising a water level with spring rains, and then freezing it with winter’s cold, but doing so, for the most part, feels rudimentary, and you’re never really presented with any kind of obstacle that requires too much thought.
 
As well as the four seasons, there’s a small selection of local wildlife scattered throughout the game that players will be able to utilise from time to time, including some insect-like critters that have a smack of the metroid about them. Depending on the type, these can be used to grow mushroom platforms, sprout new trees, or break down progress-halting barriers. There’s also a Super Mario-style Piranha Plant that, depending on the season you currently have selected, will create makeshift platforms by spitting out snow, or douse well-placed tree seedlings with water to make them grow.
Watching the brush-tailed avatar trot, sprint and leap through the beautifully hand-painted landscape was one of the highlights of the game.
As a key feature, the game naturally relies heavily upon its season switching mechanic, but the small animation that comes with every change, in which the fox is lifted into the air and the surrounding landscape is transformed, isn't as rapid as it could be, which can get a little tedious when even crossing a small area can sometimes require three or four changes. Also, if you happen to be standing on a moving platform when switching seasons, which is at times necessary, then the brief moment you spend hanging in the air is usually just long enough for the platform to move out from under your feet, causing you to fall.

Little issues like this, coupled with floaty controls and some occasional input lag, cement the feeling that Seasons After Fall was never intended to appeal to hardcore platforming fans, with the game relying instead on its charm, unique presentation and novelty value to keep the player invested, much like Unravel did when it released just over a year ago.

Unlike Coldwood and EA’s title however, whose thread-based puzzles and nostalgia-inducing narrative made it easy to forgive the game its basic platforming mechanics, Seasons’ issues - despite its beautiful visuals, soundtrack and sympathetic protagonist - are harder to look past.
 
Pros
 
●       Lovely, hand-painted art
●       Charming soundtrack
●       An endearingly cute protagonist
●       Manipulating the seasons is cool…
 
Cons
 
●       …but feels like it could have been implemented better, especially in puzzles
●       Floaty controls
●       No objective indicator makes it easy to get lost
 
7/10
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The Surge | Xbox One

16/5/2017

 
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Lords of the Fallen was the first attempt at aping From Software’s popular Souls series by developer Deck13 Interactive, but it fell significantly short of matching up. Seemingly undeterred and learning from their past transgressions, The Surge (uninspiring title and all) bucks all trends by proving, on this occasion, second time is in fact the charm.

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by Sam
​Sant

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​@SlamShotSam


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Developer: Deck13
Interactive
Publisher: Focus Home
Interactive
​Platforms: Xbox One,
PS4, PC
​Players: 1
Set in a future devastated by catastrophic climate change, megacorporation CREO begin Project Resolve, launching a series of rockets into the Earth’s atmosphere to carry out repairs. You play as Warren - just Warren - a new CREO employee with a very memorable first day on the job. After selecting one of two Rigs, either the agile Lynx or brutish Rhino, a painful procedure sees the fitting of your chosen exoskeleton botched.

Waking amidst the aftermath of an undisclosed event, in an industrial wasteland far removed from the corporate sheen of CREO HQ, technology and techno-clad colleagues have become unhinged. Endeavouring to discover what happened in the interim, the gap in your knowledge is plugged in dribs and drabs through collectible audio logs, environmental storytelling and encounters with fellow survivors. The narrative is what you make of it, but the tale of a tech-reliant utopia gone terribly wrong at the hands of corporate greed ultimately rings familiar.

It’s unlikely you’re here for the story, though. As you’d expect from any Souls-like worth its salt, there’s a weighty, stamina-based combat system that you’ll put to use in innumerable challenging encounters. The mechanics on display should be very familiar, seeing you first lock onto an enemy, then launch one of two attack types (horizontal and vertical in this case), before defending yourself from any rebuttal by blocking or performing an evasive manoeuvre. Each one of these actions draws from your pool of stamina, so managing your exertion is key, lest you be left defenceless. Charged attacks, a disabling kick (which replaces the backstab), seamless combos and the ability to duck under/jump over oncoming attacks add further nuance, but the limb targeting system is what really sets The Surge apart.
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When locked onto a foe you can focus on one of six body parts, namely the head, torso, or any arm or leg. The game's systems and your current circumstance will dictate where you choose to target; focusing unarmoured areas will lead to quick kills, perfect for when you’re near death and looking to avoid combat, but taking the inherent risk in prolonging a fight by pummelling an armoured section will offer up rewards. Successive successful strikes build your energy gauge, which, when filled to the illustrated mark, allows the player to launch into a cinematic finisher on low-health enemies to sever the battered limb and claim the weapon or armour adorning it as their own. While a weapon is immediately good to go, you’ll need to craft new armour using the piece as a base schematic, gathering the materials to do so by targeting the same relevant area on additional baddies and scrapping their gear for parts.

It’s a brilliantly novel system, essentially making combat a morbid shopping spree in which you cherry pick the bits you want and cut them off your co-workers. It fundamentally changes the way you play, and, as sadistic as it may sound, the varied and violent accompanying finisher animations never ceased to satisfy.
The limb targeting system is brilliantly novel, essentially making combat a morbid shopping spree in which you cherry pick the bits you want and cut them off your co-workers.
That said, it does have its drawbacks. The busy HUD that highlights limbs and their status can be obtrusive and make it somewhat difficult to spot the more subtle tells of an incoming attack, whilst enemies can also catch you with unavoidable damage as you come out of the uninterruptible animations (despite being immune during). While those foibles are annoying, especially when one hit can be enough to immediately kill you, we found Deck13’s solution to the inevitable question of “Why doesn’t Warren - just Warren - simply loot the dead?” more amusing than anything else; corpses spontaneously combust when they hit the floor, which, while avoiding undermining their own mechanics,  ranks equally on the video game nonsense scale.

In spite of the issues, combat does a great job of conveying the mechanised and improvised nature of encounters, the tools (often literal, weaponised worker’s tools) at your disposal feeling weighty and impactful or fluid and graceful dependant on which class of weapon - each with their own proficiency level that increases with use - you opt for. While there are no ranged weapons, you do acquire a companion drone that requires energy to use, much like finishing manoeuvres, and can be upgraded to gain new abilities that increase its usefulness. While dealing no significant degree of damage, it's a tactical godsend, allowing you to draw single units from groups to engage them separately and avoid being overwhelmed, or knockdown aggressive targets to dictate the pace of a battle as a couple of examples.
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With those winning strategies under your belt, you’ll be earning plenty of Tech Scrap, a resource gathered by defeating enemies and serving much the same purpose as Souls do in the series bearing their name. In a twist carried over from Lords of the Fallen, the longer you stay out in the field, the more you earn, with a growing multiplier goading you into taking risks you probably shouldn’t. In doing so, you put your entire pot on the line, as when you die (and you will die) all of the Tech Scrap on your person falls to the ground and you have but one brief chance to reclaim it - if you die again or let the 02:30 timer (which can be topped up by getting kills) deplete before retrieving it, it’s gone for good.

Better to be safe than sorry is a good mantra to adopt, frequently returning to the bonfire-like Medbays to make use of all that glorious Scrap, even at the cost of resetting your multiplier and repopulating the area. Medbays are much less prevalent than bonfires, with strictly one per area, but this is balanced out by the fact you can safely bank Tech Scrap to use at a later time and occasionally find Medstations to replenish your health and items out in the wild. You’ll use Scrap to upgrade your gear - and make sure you do so frequently, because needlessly hoarding it will be your downfall - via the game’s simplified RPG systems. Rather than allocating points to specific stats, you boost your Core Power, which allows you to equip more/better equipment by having the necessary juice to power it.

That might mean you don some fancy armour modules, or that you affix an additional implant, the latter offering one of a range of active and passive perks that range from carrying additional healing items, to earning more energy, to increasing your stamina and far more beyond that. The system allows you to respec to your heart’s content, experimenting with different loadouts to discover one that fits your play style and sees the pieces fall into place. You won’t be able to get too comfortable, however, as if you were to opt for an energy-focused, lumbering tank (for example) that wouldn’t serve you well in all walks, so you’ll need to be flexible and mix things up on those occasions.

​Core Power also serves as a gating mechanic, with paths opened up by overcharging electrical systems where you meet the requirement. These often serve as satisfying shortcuts back to the warm embrace of a Medbay, with environments constantly looping back on themselves in a considered display of intelligent level design.

The customisation system allows you to respec to your heart’s content, experimenting with different loadouts to discover one that fits your play style and sees the pieces fall into place.
Areas hold all manner of secrets and loot-based rewards, compelling you to explore every corner of the world, but they aren’t seamlessly interconnected or nearly as sprawling and varied as those that inspired them. That’s not to say they aren’t good - great, even - but by openly drawing comparison to arguably the very best in the business, they begin to fall short.

With no map or objective markers, Deck13 place trust in their design and the intelligence of their players to be able to intuitively follow the game’s nonlinear progression, which sometimes requires you to backtrack to put new items and abilities to use. This makes any and all progress feel satisfyingly earnt, rather than something you just take as given. The same approach is adopted for side missions (delivered by fellow survivors in awkward conversational exchanges), whereby it’s entirely on you to peruse the end goal without any form of handholding; if you can’t find what you’re looking for, you quite simply don’t complete them.

Open spaces generally betray the location of a boss, with battles being disappointingly infrequent considering their consistent high quality. Fights are unforgiving, drawn-out affairs that will generally require a few trial and error deaths before everything clicks and you figure out their attack patterns, your optimum positioning, and your windows of opportunity. With no multiplayer to speak of, and, thus, no summoning a co-op partner for help, you have to ‘get good’ and surmount these significant obstacles independently.

Often large and imposing, transforming themselves and their stages in an intimidating display as battles progress, the mechanised bosses match up to many of the Souls series’ famed behemoths in terms of visuals and mechanics, but are less memorable thanks by and large to the accompanying soundtrack. An industrial sound that, while fitting, is totally generic unsuccessfully stands in for bombastic scores that inspire fear whilst mirroring a boss’ unique personality and movement.
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Despite suffering some shortfalls, once you sink your teeth into The Surge’s innovative customisation suite and find what works for you, the game’s core pillars of combat and exploration become immensely rewarding to engage with. With the Souls series officially on hiatus, The Surge offers up a riveting equivalent with plenty of its own merit, though doesn't quite best what is, to borrow a phrase from Dark Souls’ own Oscar of Astora, a game so grossly incandescent.

Pros

  • Violent and visceral combat
  • ​Severing  body parts to acquire equipment is a novelty that doesn't get old
  • Deep (but accessible) loadout customisation options
  • Strong level design
  • Rewarding (if all too infrequent) boss encounters

Cons

  • Cluttered HUD on targeted enemies can make it difficult to anticipate attacks
  • ​Run-of-the-mill audio​

8/10
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Prey | Xbox One

12/5/2017

 
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A reboot of 3D Realms’ 2006 shooter, Prey finds itself fighting an uphill battle. Sharing little but its name with the original, while standing in for what looked to be a promising sequel in Prey 2, many fans of the property are approaching this 2017 reimagining with a justified degree of trepidation. Whether you fall into that camp or not, reset assured, Prey was always very safe in the hands of Arkane Studios (Dishonored).

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by Sam
​Sant

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​@SlamShotSam


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Developer: Arkane
Studios
Publisher: Bethesda
Platforms: Xbox One,
PS4, PC
​Players: 1
It’s a very familiar game, in just about every which way, but that’s hard to see as a negative when the comparisons drawn are to the industry’s elite. Whilst Prey might not surpass the likes of System Shock, BioShock, Deus Ex and Half-Life, it does manage to play at their distinguished level, which, in itself, is no mean feat.

You begin by selecting which Morgan Yu is you, male or female, before being whisked away to prepare for life as a scientist aboard Talos I, the game’s rich space station setting. The opening sequence is incredibly stylish, with a closing twist that saw Prey immediately sink its hooks into us and refuse to let go. From here on in, the main narrative is about unpicking truth from a tangle of lies to inform your ultimate decision.

In addition to the primary quest line, there’s an absolute glut of side content, though that terminology admittedly sells it short. Self contained stories are told through environments, emails and audio logs, which you’re free to consume or ignore at your leisure. Personally, I more often than not pass on in-game documentation, but, thanks to their engaging content and a little and often approach to delivery, that wasn’t the case here.

Uncovering Talos I’s many dark secrets is an unending treat, taking in environments from the grand central lobby to the lush Arboretum at its highest peak along the way. The aged Art Deco aesthetic works wonders in highlighting the alternate future setting, in which President Kennedy survived his real-world assassination and changed the course of history by leading the US to victory in the space race. With focus squarely aimed at developing the space program, other technological advancements fell by the wayside, which offers up an intriguing meld of conflicting timelines in one grounded, believable location.​
Uncovering Talos I’s many dark secrets is an unending treat.
You’re free to prowl the detailed station at will, though certain areas are cordoned off until you acquire the relevant skills or items to proceed; as a result, the world slowly unfurls around you in a way that’s not dissimilar to a classic ‘metroidvania’ game. With high character mobility and constant branching paths to accommodate different playstyles, the lavish level design saw us obsessively scour every surface not for medkits, ammo and crafting components, but for the sheer pleasure of it.

Mind-bending microgravity sections in which you fly through claustrophobic maintenance tunnels and around the ship’s huge exterior further contribute to making Talos I a thoroughly memorable - and, dare we say, iconic - setting that ranks amongst gaming’s very best.

Of course, the encounters you face in these quintessential halls play no small part in the achievement. Prey’s enemies are the otherworldly Typhon, a pitch black alien race that look and act as though they stepped out of the static on a television screen. Harvesting human life to multiply, they come in many shapes and sizes, from the hulking Nightmare that crops up for repeat mini-boss encounters, to the invisible Poltergeists that violently throw you around via telekinesis, to the spider-like Mimics that hide in plain sight.

Mimics in particular imbue the experience with a suffocating sense of unease, posing as unassuming, inanimate objects to ensure you’re never certain of your immediate safety. Their unpredictable nature rarely affords you the opportunity to stand at ease, making Prey a game you play on edge, constantly scanning environments with a critical eye for anything that looks out of place. When a Mimic attacks, generally blindsiding and causing you to jump in the process, the ensuing panic has seen us forget about the shotgun in our hands and frantically throw mugs instead.
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Paired with a lack of regenerating health and limited resources, enemies become imposing predators, relegating the player to the fitting role of prey. Despite that, there’s a relatively vast breadth of options when it comes to combatting the Typhon threat; a range of satisfying firearms and alien abilities can be used in conjunction with one another to create powerful combined attacks, set traps and get the drop on your opposition.
Enemies are imposing predators, relegating the player to the fitting role of prey.
Neuromods - the game’s eye-injected upgrade currency - are used to purchase skills from a whopping six trees, with the embarrassing wealth of abilities on show making it difficult to choose. Everything looking enticing is a great problem to have, mind, especially as diversifying can position you to take the upper hand. Scanning enemies with the Psychoscope gleans knowledge on their abilities, strengths and weaknesses, so it pays to be somewhat a jack of all trades to ensure you have the tools to take advantage of this information. That said, whatever your build, it’s generally a good idea to disable an enemy with the stun gun or innovative GLOO Cannon (which can also be used to create makeshift cover and platforms) before launching your attack.

Talos I’s security measures are configured to target Typhon DNA, so there’s a risk associated with acquiring abilities from the alien trees. Accruing enough will eventually turn the system against you, but, while investing in some hacking upgrades will remedy that by bringing them back onside, it won’t help quite so much when the Nightmare makes you a higher priority target. Rather than being drawbacks that prevent you from experiencing some of the game’s most fun and powerful abilities, these mechanics materialise as dynamic balancing tweaks that shouldn’t put you off experimenting with everything on offer.
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Prey’s audio is worthy of special mention too, thanks by and large to legendary sound designer and composer, Mick Gordon. After delivering last year’s face-melting  DOOM soundtrack, heavy metal gives way to a building, synthetic sound that’s menacing and intense. Atmospheric ambient sound, harrowing, distorted Typhon murmurings, punchy explosions and gunfire, along with repeating motifs that accompany specific events make for an all-round aural treat.

Whilst we’ve lavished Prey with a lot of praise, rough inevitably comes with the smooth. Distracting texture pop-in is prevalent, FPS dips crop up occasionally and load times between areas are fairly lengthy. In addition to these technical issues, a number of glitches were peppered throughout: dialogue went awry when we accidentally skipped straight to a later objective, items would randomly be absent from animations, and an objective marker became stuck directly in the centre of the screen throughout the duration of an entire area.

Though these niggles did impact Prey’s otherwise stellar sci-fi horror experience, in the grand scheme of things, they barely put a crease in Morgan Yu’s space suit. Prey is tense and unnerving, while at the same time playful and explorative. Its central mystery compels you to delve deep into the bowels of the expertly-crafted setting, Talos I, engaging in (or even avoiding) rewarding and tactical combat along the way. Arkane have a fundamental understanding of quality game design, utilising that here to produce another fantastic video game for their growing collection.

Pros

  • Talos I is an incredibly rich place to explore
  • Accommodates players with all manner of different play styles
  • Gripping and mysterious narrative
  • Varied, tactical combat
  • Mick Gordon’s audio design

Cons

  • Distracting technical issues and glitches
  • Human character models and animations are ugly

9/10
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World To The West | Xbox One

10/5/2017

 
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When I sampled World to the West at EGX Rezzed this year, I found it to be a pretty,  Zelda-inspired adventure that was pleasant enough, but not much more. As the wisest folks always say: “Don’t judge a book by its reader” and how right they truly are, chums, for World to the West is, in actuality, a charming adventure full of wonderful characters and rewarding exploration.  

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​by Rob
​Holt

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​@acousticmagic

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Developer: Rain Games
Publisher: Soedesco
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC, Wii U
​Players: 1
WTTW contains four main characters: Lumina the Teslamancer (a character from the world of Rain Games’ previous title, Teslagrad), Miss Teri the mind-controller, Knaus the shovel-wielding orphan and last but not least - our personal favourite - Lord Clonington the aristocrat strongman. You’ll be switching between all four in your quest to take revenge on Tychoon, the game’s big baddie.

The story begins with Lumina being accidentally teleported to a strange new world away from Teslagrad, leading you to initially be tasked with finding parts to repair the teleporter and get her home. Things quickly take a turn when you encounter a strange old woman, who tells you of your importance in fulfilling an ancient prophecy.

​The other main characters are introduced in the succeeding chapters, all receiving the same prophecy spiel from said old biddy. Each character is blessed with a unique ability, and these drive both the game’s story and puzzle solving. Knaus can use his shovel to dig and crawl under obstructions, Lumina can teleport in a blaze of electricity over short distances, Teri can control the minds of monsters with a slap of her scarf and Clonington is great at bashing anything that gets in his way. Each character also gains new abilities along the way, all introduced in a lovely micro-tutorial that gets you straight up to speed. ​

Upon gaining these new abilities, the glorious game world opens up for further exploration. Your initial adventure to collect a key item with every character is expanded upon in the second half of the game, where you’ll be using all four characters to best two dungeons, some bosses, and, ultimately, the big man Tychoon himself.

The way in which you use new abilities to get to uncharted territory, but also to open up new parts of previous areas, is classic
Super Metroid. You’ll see a lot of Nintendo influences in World to the West, though it’s contained within the bounds of homage, rather than blatant copying or parody.

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As you progress, you’ll find yourself taking in rugged deserts, cool blue waters, icy mountains, evergreen forests, a lavish village that houses the hilarious “Affluent Society” (the game pokes fun at the pompousness of the higher classes splendidly) and many more small settlements and habitats. You’ll also find yourself spending a great deal of time puzzle solving and adventuring in the vast underground network of passages and rivers. These pretty much double the size of the already generous map, so you’ll be glad to hear that totem poles scattered across the world act as fast travel points.
Going back to an earlier area with a new power will make you feel immortal, as you rip through a previously unreachable destination.
“What kind of puzzle solving and combat can I expect to encounter throughout my adventure?” I hear thee ask. Well, the puzzle solving takes on various forms; some require you to switch between all four characters to unlock an area, taking it in turns to figure out which character is built for each part, whilst others offer more basic puzzles such as getting a key, breaking down a barrier, etc. that require the ability of just one of your band of merry chums. On the whole, the puzzles are great fun to solve, although some will frustrate with their long-winded nature - spending hours searching for stone tablets might irk some folks, but we actually rather enjoyed it!
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Going back to an earlier area with a new power will make you feel immortal, though, as you rip through a previously unreachable destination. Add to that the “eureka” moments that accompany many of the puzzles (often leading into an equally rewarding boss fight/new area to explore), and there’s a lot of fun to be had here.

Combat, however, can unfortunately be a little hit-and-miss. This is largely due to Lord Clonington providing so much joy with his bashing and smashing, that the others don’t quite carry the same fun factor. Knaus’ dynamite hitting in the second half of the game can be good fun, as can Lumina’s bolts of electric, but they both suffer dodgy aiming issues. We died many, many times trying to defeat both character’s bosses, and felt that the balance was tipped towards the AI because of these accuracy foibles.
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Visually, the game is an absolute knockout, boasting gorgeous cel-shaded cartoon graphics and deep, vibrant colours that give joyous life to the world. Character models are chunky, with exaggerated mannerisms and features that add to the fun (Clonington’s muscle flexing is particularly charming). The game map is lovely to scan, too - think A Link To The Past - but does lack the ability to add notes/bookmarks to areas of interest, which seems a bit of an oversight considering the nature of the game.
The soundtrack is worth its own commendation, with the sublime underground exploration theme being a particular treat. An army of instruments sway from sleepy harps to acoustic guitars, whistles, flutes, drums and horns. The Lynchian 50s electric guitar that features on one number is a particular favourite here at PTC. Regardless of where you are in the game world, WTTW’s music and sound effects not only work, but excel at injecting emotion into the experience.
In summary, World to the West is an absorbing, delightful adventure that will appeal to many, not just genre enthusiasts. It’s perfect for those looking for a rich world to immerse themselves in, but not the associated time sink of 50 plus hours. A colourful, handsome visual veneer contains a fun, silly story, hilarious characters (play through Clonington’s Affluent Society trials for drink-out-the-nostrils laughter), lovely music, grand puzzles and a world of exploration that begs to be revisited. This game is a steal at £19.99 - in spite of a few minor bugs and issues (fingers crossed for a patch) - so don’t be foolish enough to let it pass you by!

Pros

  • Delightful visuals
  • Cracking characters and humour
  • Great puzzles
  • Fantastic music
  • Sumptuous, moreish game world
  • Entertaining, funny story
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Cons

  • Aiming issues
  • Boss fights can occasionally feel unfair
  • Minor bugs

9/10


If World to the West sounds like your thing, enter our giveaway to be in with a chance of winning a copy on Steam.
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Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | Nintendo Switch

9/5/2017

 
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The rumours you’ve heard are true ㅡ Mario Kart is back. Of course, if you’re one of those brave souls (like Rob) who boarded the good ship Wii U (and continues paddling even as it begins to take on water…), Mario and friends never left. This new Deluxe version, only available on the Nintendo Switch, offers a few extra bells and whistles to try to entice the die-hards, but, putting that aside, this game threatens to be the definitive Mario Kart experience of all time.

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by
James
Michael
Parry

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​@James_Parry

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Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Players: 1 -12

Not played a Mario Kart game before? Let’s start from the beginning. Kicking things off with a race, either Grand Prix or Versus (a sort of arcade mode with more customisation options), you have five speeds to choose from, ranging from the fairly straightforward 50cc to the insanely challenging 200cc.
 
You’ll then choose from one of 42 characters, some of which you most likely won’t recognise (Dry Bowser is a thing now? And who on Earth is Iggy?), but they are all unlocked from the moment you switch the game on. Next up is kart customisations. Each of these choices will affect how your kart handles, sacrificing grip or handling for speed or acceleration, or vice versa. Unfortunately, there’s no way to compare new and existing setups, so you have to guess if you’ve increased or decreased your speed when you choose metal wheels over regular ones, for example.
 
After that you can choose between a whopping 48 courses, some of which are unique to this version of the game, while others are drawn from the series’ extensive back catalogue. Each is complete with their own original music, re-recorded with all the joy and excitement you’d expect of the consistently charismatic soundtrack.
 
Once you get to the starting grid, you wait for the countdown and...you’re off! With the proper timing (it’ll take a bit of practice to nail) you can boost your start, but otherwise the game plays out as you’d expect, navigating the course and avoiding obstacles while pummelling other players with a plethora of colourful items.

It’s here one of the game's most obvious examples of assuming knowledge is apparent, in that it doesn’t really make any effort to tell you what any of the items do. There’s a combination of things you throw towards enemies (either forwards or backwards), things which you use to disrupt others, and things you can use to protect yourself. Many of these items ㅡ and, more often than not, your luck ㅡ will turn the tide in races, unlocking shortcuts or taking the leader out inches from the finish line (curse you blue shell!), to set the game apart from any other arcade racer.

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Now, if you’ve followed us up to this point and you’re enjoying your foray into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe so far ㅡ assuming you’ve worked out how to choose the right combination of controllers, as there’s no prompt to choose which control setup you prefer, regardless of what you’re using when you turn the game on ㅡ one thing you might not have yet realised is that this game literally plays itself.
 
We’re talking about the auto drive and auto steer options, which are enabled by default and about more than just slamming on the breaks as you go careering into a corner, something which you might have experienced in the likes of Forza (though, admittedly, these games are worlds apart). In fact, the aids will effectively drive the entire course for you if you want them to, meaning the barrier of entry for the game has never been lower.
 
This does make sense, as it’s a game which should bring families together in front of the TV (or crowded ‘round the Switch) like nothing other than Doctor Who or another ill-fated World Cup match has done in years gone by, but if you’re trying to get the feel of the game it can be distracting to notice the computer wrestling some of your freedom away. The story is the same with motion controls, which are oddly disabled by default, but work effectively in any controller configuration; that said, playing in portable mode with the Joy-Cons attached to the screen can be a tad disorienting.

​It might seem like things are a little bit hectic so far. Really this is one of the main emotions you feel when getting into the game for the first time, even on its slowest speed (and, therefore, lowest difficulty), as there’s an awful lot to take in. Does it get easier once you’ve got your head around it all? Yes, and it gets even better.
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Depending on how confident you are, a run through each of the 12 cups will give you enough experience to feel like you’re fully in control, and the confidence to believe that you aren’t actually half bad at the game. Upping the difficulty can make all the difference, of course, particularly when combined with the game’s mirror mode, which poses a mental challenge as all the courses are ㅡ  you guessed it ㅡ mirrored.
 
The AI unfortunately doesn’t share the same amount of personality and verve as the rest of the game, in that no matter who your rival in a given cup ends up being (it’s usually dictated by which character you choose), they all behave pretty much the same.
 
Multiplayer helps remedy that issue, however, as you (and a friend, if you have one hanging about) can take on savvy human players the world over in online races (providing you can connect OK). Many of them will relish the opportunity to screw you over at the worst possible moment, which is all part of the fun, but the lack of voice chat and emotes stops you feeling connected to other players, making what could have been raucous fun just an adequate experience.

​There are also online tournaments, which Nintendo will hopefully use like the Global Missions in Pokémon Sun and Moon to bring players together, albeit more competitively. Players are able to tweak rules at their leisure, making AI more complicated or restricting what items are available to customise the level of challenge across the currently available roster. It’s a nice thing to have, but not the main event when you consider everything else the game has to offer.

Speaking of which, we’re yet to talk about the revamped battle mode, which is probably the biggest change from the original Wii U release of MK8, and, in many ways, where the most memorable moments will be created. Getting four people together in a room, or more if you have additional Switches handy, to pummel each other with bananas is not to be underestimated.
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Getting four people together in a room to pummel each other with bananas is not to be underestimated.
There’s no finish line here, only a variety of surprisingly diverse game modes which involve you getting up close and personal with items. The familiar Balloon Battle is present and accounted for, but there’s also the endearing Renegade Roundup, which pits two teams against each other cops and robbers style, with one team trying to gobble up the other with piranha plants and the others trying desperately to free their friends. Just to reiterate: It’s an absolute blast!
 
The look, feel and handling of the game itself are all excellent. This is a series which has a lot of history, and Nintendo know how to do it right by now. Everyone has their favourite instalment of the franchise, and it’s nice to see a few things which had taken a break come back in this iteration, but for those coming in fresh, this really is everything Mario Kart has to offer.
 
While there are flaws, considering Deluxe’s price in comparison to some other Switch titles (we’re looking at you, Super Bomberman R), there’s great value for money on display here. The courses are diverse and interesting, with very few including features that annoy and many boasting interesting tweaks ㅡ The Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing-themed courses in particular are a bit of fun.
 
In short, this is the second essential purchase on the Switch so far, closely following Breath of the Wild, and one which really re-enforces what the new system is designed to be ㅡ something which brings people together, in this instance to argue about who deserved to win after a carefully placed item and a bit of luck turn the tables metres from the finish line.
 
Pros
 
●       Looks stunning & plays brilliantly
●       Full of content - good value for money
●       Play as Link, but this time on a motorbike
 
Cons
 
●       Could do more to teach new players the ins and outs
●       Limited communication options damage the online experience
●       Those bloody blue shells!
 
Score 9/10
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