Charm is perhaps the biggest thing Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game - Complete Edition on Xbox has going for it. Unfortunately, the fighting isn’t quite as tight as it could be and occasionally lets down the wonderful music and great visuals.
The tutorial-focused hands of Summer in Mara on Xbox are where things stumble, offering a game that is unwilling to let you go outside of the strict parameters set before you.
The alpha of a game is always an interesting thing to see. It’s sort of like looking at a painting from far away. You can vaguely make out what it’s supposed to be but those small details haven’t come into frame yet. You assume they mean very little for the overall perception of the painting but - sometimes - they entirely skew it into something unrecognisable. A good alpha gives you something to look forward to, something to watch change over the coming year. A great alpha shows you exactly what you’re in for. Back 4 Blood does both.
In a way, the soundtrack for Katamari Damacy REROLL on Xbox is a pretty good interpretation of the game itself. It’s eclectic, fun, weird and charming but perhaps a little antiquated when looking at it now. With better technology, this could lead us to a great sequel, but for now it’s just a short, pleasant experience
It seems gamers have been clamouring for decent pirate games for a very long time - This was amplified with the likes of the pretty great Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag and the ever-growing Sea of Thieves. With Black Flag successor Skull and Bones seemingly entirely absent, something has to step in. Taking more than a little inspiration from the classic Sid Meier’s Pirates!, King of Seas currently feels just a little underwhelming.
If you haven’t had a chance to play the original, this is the perfect time, but if you have previously played and liked it, and can’t see yourself going back, this won’t change your mind. Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition on Xbox is, quite frankly, the best way to play the game - but it won’t convince you to part ways with your funds if you were lukewarm on the original.
Old school-style World War shooters have made a bit of a comeback in the past few years. From the triple-A indulging of the Battlefield franchise to the indie scene producing authentic titles like Tannenberg - there’s a lot on offer. Enlisted attempts to make its way into that collection, but is it worth signing up to?
Bright Memory is a very impressive achievement from one-man dev FYQD Studio, and is a great sign for things in the future. As it stands though, it has far too many issues and is far too short to offer an experience worth the price of entry. If you are anything like me, you will open it up to test out your shiny new Xbox Series X and finish it in the same time it took to install.
Asterix & Obelix XXL: Romastered on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S plays it far too safe and ends up offering an experience a little bit worse than the original. Its new visuals don’t compensate for some of the puzzles and this only really works to express how mediocre the original truly was. Its long playtime and dated gameplay make Asterix & Obelix feel one of the only things a game shouldn’t - tedious.
Whilst the visuals are nice, some of the writing is okay and the music is palatable, there is little else to like here with The Language of Love on Xbox One. When it isn’t relying on a romance story by numbers, it plays into very creepy tropes and strange dynamics in ways that made me feel rather uncomfortable.
HyperBrawl Tournament on Xbox One has some of the features required to make up a great game, but not enough to stand out. Its gameplay is fun and rewarding but it is also quite stiff, with some lazy AI. It’s nice that there are progression levels and customization but it doesn’t add much to the overall experience. There is also not a large enough variety of game modes and what there is gets boring very fast.
With Life is Strange, Remember Me, Tell Me Why, and Vampyr behind them, Dontnod Entertainment have a very distinct charm and niche. Twin Mirror feels like the culmination of this in every way. I got to spend just a few hours in the town of Basswood as it’s choice-based story, linear gameplay and great writing shone through. This has quickly become one of my most anticipated games of the year and, if you cared about their previous works, it should be for you too.
It is simplistic and more than a little tedious but, for its price point, it’s hard to expect any more from it. If you need something cheap to kill the time and want to get frustrated at an RPG, maybe Nexoria will satisfy you.
Torchlight III on Xbox One is by no means a bad game. It functions fine and gives the same satisfaction that your traditional ARPG will. That being said, it feels just a bit lazy. The gameplay, story, visuals and mechanics are fine but that’s about it. It is rather fun with friends and doesn’t have any major issues, but it fails to live up to the light set before it.
Orangeblood on Xbox One is a game I wanted to adore. It looks stylish, feels nostalgic, and I’m in serious need of a great RPG to sink my teeth into. Unfortunately, its mediocre combat, slow-feeling story and cringe-inducing writing leaves me wishing I had spent my time on something with a little more substance.
The Survivalists on Xbox One is a very enjoyable experience. Its gameplay feels a bit like Don’t Starve, and its monkey system a bit like Factorio. But above all else, its charm and general aesthetic is all its own.
It is easy to look back on your youth with rose-tinted glasses, but what makes it so fascinating is the fact we can’t relive the past. Commander ‘85 on Xbox One is so caught up on this that it fails to see the flaws in front of it. Whilst the idea is certainly worth exploring, Commander ‘85 itself is probably not.
The old glory days of TopSpin offered some of the best tennis we’ve ever had the joy of trying. Many have attempted to emulate its success but none have succeeded. Whilst the original Tennis World Tour had some good points and focused on some nice areas, it fell flat instantly with janky controls and just a general carelessness. Its follow-up, Tennis World Tour 2, attempts to fix this but fails in many of the same areas.
There’s no doubt eFootball 2024 is a flawed game and, if a measly update is all that’s coming each year, it’s hard to see it ever being worthy of your time.
Available now on Xbox, Game Pass and PC - a console-exclusive, mind you - Party Animals sees up to eight online players (local split-screen is also available) face off in a variety of crazy fighting matches.
Bluey: The Videogame is the first ever video game to feature the little pup, as Outright Games and BBC Studios come together for release on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Week two of Series 25 carries on where week one and Summer left off in Forza Horizon 5, as Autumn blows into Mexico and the Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges.
Party Animals is, in a word, promising. Whilst the launch version of this incredibly cute and colourful physics-based brawler is missing some key features that will boost replayability, the foundations are there for an excellent foray into the genre.
What starts off as a seemingly impossible challenge quickly becomes one of the best POWGI games for logical thinking. Word Web by POWGI not only ramps the difficulty up, but also the satisfaction of completing a puzzle.
Ad Infinitum is disturbing, confusing and horrific, much like the WWI setting. It tackles some interesting themes and tells a story that is hard to get a handle on. But the gameplay is solid, as are the visuals and brilliant soundtrack.
Overall I enjoyed my time playing HUMANKIND and would recommend it to both strategy game veterans and beginners. It can be extremely enjoyable however it is held back by some bugs and half-baked gameplay mechanics.
