Jacob Stokes

Lethal League Blaze on Xbox One is one of the best fighting games going.

Another year, another Madden, and the premier football game is back. EA promises that Madden NFL 20 will be the best, most-authentic football experience yet. But they say that every year, don’t they? In the past, many have accused this series of just being an expensive, yearly roster update. Is that the case here, or has EA developed something that significantly improves on its predecessors?

Like anything Ratalaika Games put out these days, the achievements are some of the easiest going; so easy that I was done in about half an hour. So if you’re on the lookout for some easy Gamerscore, pick this one up. If you aren’t, I’d recommend avoiding it.

Another week, another Ratalaika Games release. This time it’s a game called Bouncy Bullets. And from the title, you’d think it would be some kind of first-person shooter. You’d be wrong though. The game does have bouncing bullets, but it’s really a 3D platformer with just a little bit of shooting sprinkled in for good measure.

Nitro Fuelled may be less than a month old, but let’s look beyond that and to the future by considering what the next Crash project should be. One option is another remaster.

'Conan the Barbarian takes a trip to the future' is probably the best way to describe Cybarian: The Time Travelling Warrior. In this homage to classic arcade, you’re playing as an unnamed warrior who has just discovered the Sword of Ages. Unfortunately, the sword is more trouble than it's worth as it ends up teleporting our hero through space and time.

Following on from my list of insanely difficult achievements, it’s time to shine the spotlight on another type of hellish achievement. The dreaded grind. These are the awards that will take you hundreds of hours at the absolute minimum, and often involve repeating menial tasks over and over. It’s safe to say that these were definitely not made with the casual gamer in mind. Only the most committed will ever see these pop.

Earning Gamerscore can be a real minefield. Sometimes the requirements are downright ridiculous, there might be an extreme grind to put up with, a crazy difficult challenge to complete, a multiplayer achievement which will have you relying on random teammates, or worst of all, an achievement which is simply unobtainable, whether due to a server shutdown or a glitch. Luckily it’s not always like that. Some Xbox games out there are so simple to complete, only taking a few hours of casual play at most. So instead of completing hundreds of races or finding thousands of collectibles, why not give the ten games on this list a whirl?

All the big sports franchises are rooted in realism. That’s just a fact. Year on year, the new FIFA, Madden or NBA 2K is billed as the ‘most authentic’ yet. So it comes as a welcome change when a sports game comes along that breaks this monotony. And whilst Super Blood Hockey won’t smash the EA monopoly on ice hockey, it’s still a valuable addition to an arcade sports genre which has declined massively over the years.

Crashbots is an auto-runner with a simple premise - you control a robot and your job is to get him to the end of each stage.

There’s a duality to life in Gleaner Heights. On the one hand is something perfectly pleasant. You’re a new farmer who has recently bought a rundown farm on the outskirts of Gleaner Heights, a sleepy village with a wide cast of characters. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. There’s a darkness that lies just below the surface in your new home.

Take one look at Miles & Kilo and it becomes pretty obvious where the game draws its inspiration from. It looks like Super Mario Brothers. It sounds like Super Mario Brothers. It feels like Super Mario Brothers. The main character even looks like the famous Italian plumber. Miles, in his blue and red outfit, is only missing an M on his red cap and a black moustache to complete his get-up. Yet when you play it, you realise that Miles & Kilo is so much more than some cheap Mario clone. Everything in this game is executed brilliantly and it is a joy to play.

Every achievement hunter knows that there is nothing more satisfying than finally unlocking that one achievement that has bothered you for hours. Occasionally though, you’ll happen to stumble across an Xbox achievement where you’ll have to bring your A-game. These are the achievements that separate the boys from the men. They require focus, extreme patience and tons of practice and are definitely not for the faint hearted. This list details ten of them.

Recently I stumbled across EA’s Instagram. At a glance, everything seems normal. But between the posts about Battlefield and Madden, something else is happening. Something peculiar. Thousands and thousands of comments have appeared over the past few years asking for one thing: Skate 4. And it shows no sign of stopping.