Review Category: Games

Following any smash hit is always a risk. Even if you have every creative force from the original to back it, even if you have a plan in motion to capitalise on the last tale, you can still screw things up. Each sequel needs to be loyal to the original while improving upon it in almost every way, and Injustice 2 largely succeeds in this regard. It’s flashier, bigger and definitely punchier, with an infinitely more interesting roster of characters.

 

Set in the wake of the original game, Batman is attempting to rebuild after Superman’s dictatorship finally fell to bits. Facing resistance from both former allies and remnants of Superman’s army, things are only made worse when Gorilla Grodd makes a bid for power. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one interested in claiming the Earth for himself…

 

Perhaps the most striking difference between the original Injustice and this new release are the visuals. No longer bound to older technology, the animation here is smoother, much more fluid and vastly more detailed. Both in fights and major cutscenes, it outshines almost every other game in its genre, save for the odd uncanny valley moment when it pauses to deliver a few close-ups. This is used to reflect a broader range of emotion among the characters, but each of the fights have also been visibly enhanced. They’re more responsive than before, vastly faster and the big super moves eclipse anything seen with these heroes previously. Plus, as many will be glad to know, this isn’t used as an excuse to throw in even more chain-attack mini-games like last time.

 

It helps that the actual combat mechanics themselves are still solid. While NetherRealm has largely stuck to its guns with certain moves, that hasn’t stopped them experimenting in odd areas. Superman and Batman will largely feel the same, but previously maligned options like Wonder Woman have been tweaked to remain a little more competitive with the other meta-humans. There’s definitely a vastly better balanced roster present this time, and the environments prove to be incredibly creative, offering both fan pleasing nods and destructible scenery aplenty. This has been further revised with a new set of unlockable items and equipment, which proves to be a double-edged sword. It’s certainly an interesting aspect to work with and adds more incentives to keep going in arcade, but the actual management system proves to be surprisingly obtuse at times.

Equally, and perhaps most depressingly, the main story is a very mixed bag. While it works well with established DC universe ideas and the new villains are excellent, other aspects prove to be decidedly problematic. Parted from the more benevolent “prime” versions of the original reality, the characters here are notably more obnoxious in their behaviour, and spiteful infighting seems to arise with even the slightest prompting. It’s difficult to get behind anyone at times, and the story has a bad habit of simply glossing over certain facts. Hal is a Green Lantern again? You’ll never find out why unless you read the comics. Top this off with a very unfortunate take on an already villainous version of Superman, and fans of this setting might have some difficulty getting the same enjoyment out of Injustice 2 as they did the first game.

Still, it would be wrong to damn this game based upon its story alone, and on the whole this is a definite success. If you had plenty of fun beating the living hell out of the Justice League in the last game, you’re sure to enjoy this new one. Give it a look for a few dozen hours more brawls and beam-spams, and for the fun of witnessing the Batman-Superman war begin anew.

INJUSTICE 2 / DEVELOPER: NETHERREALM STUDIOS / PUBLISHER: WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT / PLATFORMS: MICROSOFT WINDOWS, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Space is a goldmine for any aspiring horror writer, with countless elements, which immediately work in the genre’s favour. You have characters that can be immediately trapped with the monster, very limited supplies and no end of entertaining ways to die. Prey seems to realise this, as it provides one of the most hostile and chilling settings seen since Alien: Isolation. You have guns, you have powers, but in the face of what you’re fighting that means very little.

Set on a space station intended to study potential cures and creations to benefit humanity, you play as the director of research, Morgan Yu. However, upon awakening aboard the station one day, you find that everything has gone to hell. Bodies are drifting in the void and a mysterious alien force has claimed the station for itself. Now it’s up to you to survive and uncover the mysteries of this place. 

Prey is a game where you can see every influence cropping up, from the classic releases to the modern titles. From stat description alone you can already sense the System Shock inspiration kicking in, and the more art-deco elements present definitely brings to mind Bioshock more than once. What helps to definitely offset this is that the game does play with a few of the ideas, and those it mimics it executes well enough to forgive this potential flaw. You might be stabbing yourself in the eye with a superpower-inducing drug with a dark secret, but the secret itself and how it is presented proves to be very different from what you might expect. 

The same elements or terror are present, with enemies constantly hounding your every step as you head about the base, but the style of fear it inspires is distinctly different. There’s a constant sense of paranoia cast by the deep flickering shadows in many areas, and your limited supplies mean that – while you can fight back – it is often a costly affair. Many enemies have been made so that you’re forced to constantly watch your back as a fight could break out at almost any moment. That lamp over there? It could be a very powerful mimic hiding in plain sight. Those bodies? A hiding alien could easily manipulate and bring them back to life, even moments after you killed them. Even once you do start to get to grips with taking them down, the resident invincible mini-boss shows up to slap you about, until you can briefly fight it off or simply hide until it retreats.

Surprisingly for such a big budget release, Prey also proves to be extremely rewarding of creative thinking, ingenuity and even breaking the rules. While Arkane proved that they can create fantastic worlds, this one takes it to the next level, allowing you to adjust and adapt your abilities at every turn. For example, you can use your abilities to remove certain memories from a foe to turn a situation in your favour, and even precision shots with a nerf gun can allow you to remotely type keys into a terminal. While there are rules, which have been set up here, you can always find ways around them.

Unfortunately there are a few failings that cannot be ignored. At first glance the story seems extremely clichéd and one-note, and it takes quite some time for you to truly get to grips with it. What’s more, many of the ideas present are delivered with some unfortunately heavy handed elements which makes it harder to notice the more nuanced ideas at first; a problem which is only made worse when it’s later revealed that quite a few seemingly major choices were largely arbitrary in the grand scheme of things.

However, the big ones here stem largely from odd blind spots in the PC port, which are more irritating rather than truly game breaking. The UI for starters features a number of very bizarre elements which run counter to the game’s actual functionality, and the game settings can’t be saved if the .cfg file they are pathed to features non-Latin letters. Equally, the inventory design itself is excellent, but you bump into oddities, such as how it starts glitching when full and can often outright refuse to stack items in one pile when you automatically grab them. None of these are game breakers (and nothing here even comes close to Dishonored 2’s problems) but they’re things which start to weigh down on you after a few hours, after you’re forced to repeatedly stop and fix what shouldn’t be a problem in the first place.

As a result of all this, Prey might not be quite the revolutionary experience some predicted it would be, but nevertheless hits all the right notes to be a great space borne horror experience. If you’re starved of Dead Space and looking for something new to satisfy that itch, then definitely take a look at this one. 

PREY / DEVELOPER: ARKANE STUDIOS / PUBLISHER: BETHESDA SOFTWORKS / PLATFORMS: MICROSOFT WINDOWS, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Comprehensive gaming campaigns are a pretty vital tool for the busy tabletop role-player. Most of us simply don’t have the time to create intricately detailed plots and worlds, and even the most skilled improviser in the world is prone to a bad day at the office and a lack of energy. Alas, good scenario books will always be rare as they’re complicated things designed for specific use. Paizo’s most recent offering, Curse of the Crimson Throne, is a fine addition to the list. It’s also a rare thing in another regard; it’s extremely well play tested and considered.

Curse of the Crimson Throne is a compilation of previously published scenarios produced by Paizo. They’ve added in additional notes and material, and the result is a resoundingly useful and competent work. The campaign started out life as an accessory for Dungeons and Dragon’s 3.5 and has since evolved into a central scenario for Paizo’s own Pathfinder system (Pathfinder itself is a near flawless version of D&D 3.5 and benefits from decades of play).

The campaign begins in the city of Korvosa, a moldering city-state that is way past its glory days. As the game starts, good old King Eodred finally dies and Queen Ileosa is in the ascendant. She turns out to be a properly evil Queen, one that players can easily grow to hate. She’s an obvious (and un-reachable) bad guy from the start, and the situation for your band of brave adventurers is destined to get stickier and more desperate as the game continues over months of play. 

It’s a carefully staggered game; at early levels the big baddies seem far away; in fact character design at the start pushes players into the more manageable street level conflicts. Next up is a major threat to the city that sees the players going out into the desert. As their heroes journey continues, they learn far more about the growing threat at the heart of the city and it swiftly becomes a race to either deal with growing darkness or become consumed by it. 

With a good learning curve, interesting NPCs and a detailed setting, this 500-page tome does much of the hard work for you. Dungeon Masters still need to make notes, listen to their players and improvise when the players decide to do something incredibly dumb, but there’s enough material here to make all of that pretty smooth. We found the game will take several months of regular play, which is good value.

The mammoth hardcover contains seven appendixes, which take up over a fifth of the book. There is plenty of information on Korvosa, new magic items, new character options, new monsters etc. All the crunch you’d expect. All of this ties into the campaign; this is a very considered one-stop shop for the busy gamer, and a great game to play.

CURSE OF THE CRIMSON THRONE / PUBLISHER: PAIZO PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

While implementing rogue-like (or light) elements into most genres has been a cinch, some have long resisted any effort to connect the two. First Person Shooters are at the top of that particular list, rarely managing to strike the exact balance needed between engaging risk, firepower and unpredictability, despite a few good efforts like Tower of Guns. However, Crema seem to have finally nailed it with Immortal Redneck, which mixes sheer insanity with rampant firepower to create something truly exciting.

 

The very name should suggest the sort of experience you’re going to get. You play as a redneck who is accidentally zombified by ancient arcane means, and spends his time fighting ancient Egyptian mystic forces. It’s an excuse plot to be sure, but it proves to be an utterly hilarious one at every turn. The game repeatedly pokes fun at its very concept, but by doing so it can get away with far more creative ideas than many other experiences. Rather than the expected mix of sword wielding zombie or the odd floating sorcerer, you can find sarcophagi unleashing mini-mummies as suicide troops, ancient Egyptian lasers and gigantic toothy attack toads. Even the more standard foes have a creative flare to them, and this proves to be a massive breath of fresh air, favouring a more Serious Sam approach over just plain serious combat.

 

Even the environments repeatedly prove to be a cut above the norm, taking into account your enhanced agility. Rather than being completely locked to the ground, upgrades allow you to wall-run, and hurtle across the map Doom style, strafing foes or leaping into the fray at a moment’s notice. The sheer speed of this astounding after so many Call of Duty inspired slow-paced outings, and despite any initial concerns, your rapid pace never makes the game easy in any way. In fact, Crema use it mostly as an excuse to pile on far more foes than any game would think sane for any single battle.

 

Of course, a wide variety of undead magical figures can only take you so far, and you need plenty of firepower to keep you hooked. Thankfully, Immortal Redneck supplies you with far, far more than just your starting shotgun, building up to an arsenal which is as creative and diverse as any Turok sequel. Magic items and totems? There’s an ankh which shoots angular projectiles and a sword which launches energy blasts with every swing. Conventional firepower? There are several guns which are big enough to simply blow enemies in half. Insane science fiction devices? You can pick up what’s effectively a proton pack on steroids partway through the game.

 

The “light” element here stems largely from the upgrade system. You will die time and time again to the random traps, enemies and changing layout, but there’s always a chance for more upgrades. For everything you lose, there’s some item in the store which you can pick up, permanently buffing your character. It’s a nice ledge on the sheer difficulty curve of being repeatedly slaughtered, giving you the sense that you are earning something despite dying so very many times as you progress forwards.

 

With all this said, Immortal Redneck does stumble into the same old problem most rogue-lights have difficulty avoiding. You will notice after some time that certain rooms are little more than copy/paste jobs of one another, and because of this a few of the more infuriating elements tend to lose their appeal after just a few hours. Given the game’s creative concepts and colourful build, it’s disappointing to think “Oh, it’s this again” upon stumbling into the wrong room. This is especially true of any environment which requires you to leap between platforms over bottomless pits, which can be this game’s single biggest killer.

 

The actual problems behind the game are mere flaws which hold it back from perfection, and even with them this remains an excellent FPS experience. This is easily one of the most creatively insane shooters the gaming industry has seen in years. After all, where else are you going to play as an electric flamethrower wielding zombified hick fighting mummies? Watch the trailer, take a look at the enemies, and if you’re the slightest bit interested, grab a copy immediately.

 

IMMORTAL REDNECK / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: CREMA / PLATFORMS: MICROSOFT WINDOWS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW 

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. Those words immediately bring to mind images of bloodshed, greenskins and giant shoulder pads, and few have perfectly encapsulated them so well as Dawn of War. Offering fans a glimpse into the nightmarish bloodshed of a galaxy going to hell, the franchise has (with one glaring exception) stood strong over the years, and Relic are looking to extend their story into a new era with this latest release; following a three-way war between the Blood Ravens, Biel-Tan and the ever unkillable Gorgutz.

 

The story here is definitely a strong one, and even after the natural end to the Blood Ravens’ arc in Retribution, Relic have thought up a few new things to play about with. As there are many returning major characters and big ideas at work, and with Chaos out of the picture for once the Imperium vs xenos war is a refreshing change of pace for the narrative. Combined with a number of major hero abilities, full scale mecha and a well delivered twist, there’s plenty for fans to gush over in the campaign. Better yet, it paces itself well, slowly introducing mechanics and ideas, adjusting you to the new mechanical elements and direction of this latest title.

 

Many building ideas have been tweaked and reworked, removing much of the typical busywork and streamlining the experience. Massed units are far easier to keep track of, and technological upgrades are much easier to navigate without having lost their complexity. While you still need to carefully decide upon building placement, and spam the build unit option, working towards new forces, units or the like is not nearly so fiddly as it was in Dawn of War II.

 

Unfortunately, as strong as the single-player campaign is, the multiplayer element is oddly bland.

 

The big problem RTS veterans will find early on is that – while the units are excellently designed, engaging and effective – in terms of basic mechanics there’s little difference between the armies. Despite their varied nature, the Orks, Eldar and Space Marine squads will play out in a very similar rock-paper-scissor format, and there’s not enough here to really make each army stand out beyond its visuals. Once you remove the flashy paintwork, the mechanical direction underneath is incredibly similar from one force to the next, with only a few somewhat gimmicky power boosts like the WAAAGH! towers to help one stand out from the next.

 

What’s more, quite a few old tactics have been artificially curbed, and you’ll find it’s actually impossible to rush an enemy base early on thanks to the massive defensive fortifications everyone starts with. You simply can’t overwhelm them without a massive force at your back, meaning you can win every early engagement with the enemy, but it means squat because you cannot press the attack. Plus, even some of those battles won’t rob an enemy of resources or truly hurt them. Some units need only to be bought once and can then respawn after a time for no extra cost, notably the big Knights everyone now has.

 

Do not misunderstand this review, Dawn of War III is still fun to play, but in comparison to its previous releases it just seems as if Relic are playing it safe. Most of the thrill you’re going to find lies in the story, visuals and lore over actual mechanics. There’s nothing nearly as ambitious or revolutionary as Retribution’s squad upgrade system or the original’s decision to remove the divide between exclusively ranged and melee units. Everything has been balanced to the point where it’s difficult to get any kind of major edge short of sheer unrelenting firepower, and it doesn’t seem to reward skill so much as the ability to simply build towards end-game units faster than the other guy. There’s just no risk here, and without that there’s no real sense of victory in multiplayer.

 

On the whole, if you’re someone who is after a solid Warhammer 40,000 campaign and little else you’ll definitely have some fun. Equally, if you’re someone who has typically avoided the RTS genre thanks to relentless zerg rushing with no opportunities to actually learn from your experiences, give it a look. For everyone else though, you might want to look into the likes of Sins of the Solar Empire, Ashes of the Singularity or Grey Goo.

 

DAWN OF WAR III / DEVELOPER: RELIC ENTERTAINMENT / PUBLISHER: SEGA / PLATFORMS: MICROSOFT WINDOWS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The act of taking inspiration from any retro era release is always a gamble. Many of those games, from Super Mario to Final Fantasy, were brief sparks of pure genius built from primitive programming. Few attempting to create their own modern day versions seem to truly understand what made them classics in the first place, but thankfully Castle Pixel is one of those few exceptions to this rule. In fact, Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King, might be the first with the right to truly call itself a true Zelda successor.

 

The story is one of the strongest parts for all its apparent simplicity. While it features a grandparent telling his children of an old fable, the game uses this as more than a mere backdrop. At many points the story will pause to correct itself Princess Bride style, or even let the player choose how certain events unfold, or what bosses you fight. It never becomes truly intrusive, but the ongoing narrative adds a level of engagement atop of the classic charm of its SNES era stylings.

 

Even without the quirky story aspects however, this would still be a success based upon its solid presentation and mechanics. With a beautiful score and some of the best pixel art of late short of Owlboy, the world feels truly alive here. There’s a real sense of vigour and energy to every environment, and the freedom offered to explore the world – even if you’re barred from large chunks of it at the start – only enhances this sense of engagement. The solid physics makes hack n’ slash fights a joy to behold, and while many early puzzles are deceptively simplistic, it quickly ramps up the difficulty shortly after the first dungeon.

 

If there is one point to truly criticise, it’s that Blossom Tales often takes things a step too far in terms of its inspirations. While it has plenty of its own ideas, many enemies and bosses take so many cues from Zelda that they can seem like re-skins more than their own creations. Many items, mechanics and weapons also fall into this same trap, which can easily break your sense of immersion. It’s certainly not enough to call this game lazily made, but seeing what is clearly a Zora emerging from a river can give you pause.

 

Despite a few choice problems, there is no denying that this is a truly fantastic experience. Anyone with a few coins to spare after payday looking for an engaging, exciting and inventive indie title should definitely grab this ASAP. Even after a month which featured smash hits like Breath of the Wild and Torment: Tides of Numenera, this still managed to stand out from the crowd.

 

BLOSSOM TALES: THE SLEEPING KING / DEVELOPER: CASTLE PIXEL / PUBLISHER: FDG ENTERTAINMENT / PLATFORMS: MICROSOFT WINDOWS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The act of taking inspiration from any retro era release is always a gamble. Many of those games, from Super Mario to Final Fantasy, were brief sparks of pure genius built from primitive programming. Few attempting to create their own modern day versions seem to truly understand what made them classics in the first place, but thankfully Castle Pixel is one of those few exceptions to this rule. In fact, Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King, might be the first with the right to truly call itself a true Zelda successor.

 

The story is one of the strongest parts for all its apparent simplicity. While it features a grandparent telling his children of an old fable, the game uses this as more than a mere backdrop. At many points the story will pause to correct itself Princess Bride style, or even let the player choose how certain events unfold, or what bosses you fight. It never becomes truly intrusive, but the ongoing narrative adds a level of engagement atop of the classic charm of its SNES era stylings.

 

Even without the quirky story aspects however, this would still be a success based upon its solid presentation and mechanics. With a beautiful score and some of the best pixel art of late short of Owlboy, the world feels truly alive here. There’s a real sense of vigour and energy to every environment, and the freedom offered to explore the world – even if you’re barred from large chunks of it at the start – only enhances this sense of engagement. The solid physics makes hack n’ slash fights a joy to behold, and while many early puzzles are deceptively simplistic, it quickly ramps up the difficulty shortly after the first dungeon.

 

If there is one point to truly criticise, it’s that Blossom Tales often takes things a step too far in terms of its inspirations. While it has plenty of its own ideas, many enemies and bosses take so many cues from Zelda that they can seem like re-skins more than their own creations. Many items, mechanics and weapons also fall into this same trap, which can easily break your sense of immersion. It’s certainly not enough to call this game lazily made, but seeing what is clearly a Zora emerging from a river can give you pause.

 

Despite a few choice problems, there is no denying that this is a truly fantastic experience. Anyone with a few coins to spare after payday looking for an engaging, exciting and inventive indie title should definitely grab this ASAP. Even after a month which featured smash hits like Breath of the Wild and Torment: Tides of Numenera, this still managed to stand out from the crowd.

 

BLOSSOM TALES: THE SLEEPING KING / DEVELOPER: CASTLE PIXEL / PUBLISHER: FDG ENTERTAINMENT / PLATFORMS: MICROSOFT WINDOWS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Even today, there are few places on this planet more terrifying than the ocean. As proven by Subnautica, SOMA and Zelda (because who doesn’t still fear the Water Temple?), the very idea of something awaiting below the waves is chilling. As a result Narcosis, takes this to an absolute extreme, trapping you at the bottom of the ocean in an armoured suit, with seemingly no way up.

For what could have been an extremely sci-fi concept, Narcosis proves to be remarkably down to earth at the end of the day. There are no aliens, no eldritch horrors, not even a proper kraken, just you, your mind, and some potentially quite hostile sea life. After a massive disaster kills most of your team and wrecks the base you have been on, it’s up to you to try and find your way back and survive the chilling abyss before you.

While it is obvious that this is a budget game, there is no denying that Honor Code did an excellent job with what they had on hand. The grim, bleak near-sightless realm of the deep sea is utterly horrifying to witness, with bizarre and horrifying forms of life stalking your every step. As you can only see a short distance ahead, you can never be sure what is lurking just out of sight, and the game never gives you a moment to become at ease with your environment. From vast open areas dotted with hostile creatures to narrow confines which can lead to an easy death, many sights and sounds put your character’s very sanity at risk, causing him to become terrified and use more of an already limited air supply.

A sanity based stamina meter isn’t the only Eternal Darkness related idea which shows up here, as there are hallucinations a-plenty to be had. Some are minor at first, showing you glimpses of things which never existed or false hopes to throw you off, and become increasingly surreal as time goes by. This ties heavily into the main story itself, especially a major twist, and constantly leaves you second guessing the reality of what’s taking place around you. It allows Narcosis to pull off the best kind of jump scares, without them ever wearing out their welcome.

What unfortunately holds this game back stems from a few amateur mistakes. There are quite a few times when the “is it real or not?” angle is pushed that bit too far, until you stop being terrified and just go “Okay, hang on a second, how did THAT ever happen?” In addition to this, it often overexposes certain elements without ever making them a real threat. Oxygen in your suit is limited but you’ll rarely feel as if you’re short on the stuff thanks to the sheer number of tanks and recharge stations. There are plenty of dangerous monsters, but their presence is so openly telegraphed that there’s rarely a true shock moment to be had, and the sheer number of times they show up can quickly destroy any sense of isolation. It also doesn’t help that – barring the spider crabs – most are very easily killed, so they become more of a hindrance than a true threat.

Many aspects and elements here are certainly well crafted, but they almost seem overly by-the-book. As if they were made by someone who has taken all the right notes on how to execute a classic horror experience with a great twist, but lacks the experience or innovation to turn Narcosis from a great title to an excellent one.

If the idea of being trapped at the bottom of the ocean terrifies you, if you find yourself wanting something more from Dead Space’s hallucinogenic trips or SOMA’s creeping horror, then this is worth your time. It still has more than enough high points to stand out and, while Narcosis often feels a little too much like a proof of concept, it nevertheless still ticks all the right boxes of a horror release. Definitely take some time to give this one a look.

 

NARCOSIS / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: HONOR CODE, INC. / PLATFORMS: PC, XBOX ONE (TBR, APRIL) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Mass Effect Andromeda isn’t merely one game, but two folded in upon themselves. One is exactly what we had hoped for, a Mass Effect version of Dragon Age: Inquisition, with all the exploration and ideas any fan could hope for. The other verges upon self-parody so often that you only need Mel Brooks’ involvement to turn the game into a Spaceballs reboot. The sad thing is, you can’t separate one from the other.

 

The story this time is set apart from the initial trilogy. Bereft of Reapers, Protheans or Shepard, it instead follows the story of an experimental colony ship sent out to the Andromeda galaxy. However, their golden new worlds ripe for colonisation soon prove to be deathtraps, and with time running out to find a new home they soon discover something very old and very dangerous is lurking in this corner of the universe…

 

To focus upon the positives first – The shooting and class mechanics are outstanding. Core combat for this series has never been better, and proves to be fluid, highly mobile and the way in which you can switch between class abilities grants a freedom the series has not seen before. More importantly, the open world elements truly feel like a refined version of the original Mass Effect’s landscape traversing segments, capturing the feel of exploring an alien world almost perfectly as you decide the fate of your people. Your choices of settling colonies and starting a new life have more weight to them, and it truly feels as if someone was asking what they could accomplish here which was never possible with the original trilogy.

 

The new companions are also a brilliant addition, and while one or two veer a little too close to being copies of their predecessors (Wrex 2.0 says hello) there is usually enough there to help them stand out. Unfortunately, this is where the other shoe drops. While the characters themselves are fantastic, they are often lumbered with elements which undermines their potential; notably the already infamously awkward animations, and lines which sound like they came from a Chuck Wendig novel: “No one’s a pathfinder until they pathfound something.”

 

This same truncated quality is inherent within the core story as well. It seems as if the writers wanted to get from point A to point B, and ignored everything they needed to resolve on the way there. So, the krogan are present, but a two line conversation mentions they semi-resolved the genophage in their own way, and thus aren’t angry at anyone else. Everything is either hand-waved away with an incredibly flippant attitude or simply remain unaddressed in the hopes that players will not question them. Starcraft fans will know exactly what this feels like, as this suffers the same failing of too many relentlessly upbeat and positive characters, ignoring all that should be weighing down upon them. This could be forgiven as some effort to break away from 3’s grim angle and make a fresh start, but that doesn’t work when you are literally racing against time to prevent your entire species dying out overnight. Or, for that matter, when the villains rehash so many elements from the Reapers you’ll just be left wondering why these aren’t linked to the robotic space squid.

 

Now, all of this would earn such a six out of ten on our scoring – Marking it as above average and worth a look thanks to a few high points. However, that’s before we get to the technical side of things. The game is so poorly optimized that we are amazed that it runs on consoles let alone PCs, and the gigantic updates and reboots it needs before you even run the game speaks volumes of its almost unfinished nature. This is so rough around the edges at points that you can practically see the gaps in the programming, and no amount of love for this universe can overcome that at the moment.

 

Mass Effect Andromeda is ultimately Dragon Age 2 all over again. It had the potential to stand out from the original trilogy, but everything here screams that it was rushed to meet a tight deadline. As a result, while the combat mechanics might be a step forwards, the story and ideas simply don’t measure up to its predecessors. If you’re an avid Mass Effect fan or a multiplayer junkie, give this one a look, but everyone else should wait until we’ve seen a lot more updates before getting it.

 

MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA / DEVELOPER: BIOWARE / PUBLISHER: ELECTRONIC ARTS / PLATFORMS: PC, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: 23RD MARCH

Welcome to he Wii U Mk. 2, also known as the Nintendo Switch. Taking many of the assets, ideas and aspects of its predecessor, while trying very hard to learn from what led its older design to fail, the Switch aims to offer three things from the start: Accessibility, portability and convenience. While such praise might sound back-handed, almost insulting, it doesn’t take long to realise that the Switch has captured qualities other consoles have long forgotten.

 

The big one here, the obvious one, is ability to remove or plug in the machine from the television. Serving as both a cost cutting measure and a means to more easily work gameplay around a busy schedule, it manages to strike a far more effective balance between power and performance than the ill-fated PS Vita. The large six inch screen proves to be both bright and colourful, even on the power-saving airplane, and offers between two to six hours of straight gameplay depending upon the demands placed upon the processor. This makes it perfect for both casual gaming at home and on the move, and the plug-in station’s compact design makes it a cinch to quickly recharge the device with few issues.

 

Furthermore, the bonus of two “Joy-Con” half-controllers from the start is a very welcome bonus for anyone who hungers for the long lost-art of split-screen gameplay. Permitting players to engage in multiplayer sessions at no extra cost from the outset, it means that you have smaller but engaging release titles like Fast RMX to rapidly supplement the AAA giants like Zelda. Going hand in hand with portability, this naturally means that split-screen gaming can be set up anywhere, and the previously arduous affair of moving a console from one house to the next is neatly sidestepped.

 

Many of the internal visuals remain identical to the Switch’s predecessor, meaning there is a very low learning curve when it comes to getting to grips with this new machine. Selecting news, films and gaming is made easy thanks to a very simple but effective display and this goes for the machine on the whole. It is difficult to get anything wrong because it is so easy to set up, and even the act of basic upgrades such as internal memory is much easier to perform than with any other modern console.

 

Surprisingly, there are very few performance or graphical issues from the initial batch of games, with Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild running almost perfectly save for one odd graphical glitch. Loading times are rapid and unlike some of the more sluggish issues a few other portable designs suffered from in their early days, the Switch rapidly reacts to almost any input or slight shift.

 

The main criticisms of the Switch stem more from its support than any innate failings on its part. Already Nintendo’s infamous response to certain quality complaints, claiming that dead pixels are not a flaw, has spread like wildfire around the internet. Furthermore, the relatively limited (if easily upgradable) starting memory will understandably put off some buyers, and many of the accessories are already remarkably costly just for a few basic benefits. So, while you certainly get a decent and generally fun platform on release, no one would blame you for having some trepidation when it comes to any forthcoming releases. Plus, and this has to be said, the initial controllers do have their problems. While they are fine when fitted to the main body and the bonus of having two half-controllers on release is a definite bonus, there is no denying that they stat to feel uncomfortable after a few hours of use.

 

More than anything else though, the Nintendo Switch is a move back towards video games consoles actually being consoles. Much as we might love them, for all the great games they feature, both the Playstation and Xbox have made the continual mistake of trying to beat PCs at their own game. Forgoing performance in favour of higher graphics, abandoning accessibility in favour of rapid updates or a plug-in-and-play mentality, both platforms are stuck in a battle they simply can’t win. With this move, Nintendo have not only focused upon aspects which do not directly compete with the PC, but they have offered additional benefits and reasons to buy a Switch even if you have an existing platform.

 

While it might have its flaws, there is no denying that this new system is a gigantic leap in the right direction, and shows great promise right out of the starting gate. If you have the slightest interest in getting one it is well worth your hard earned cash.

 

Basic Internal Specs:

• 6.2-inch LCD touchscreen (1280 x 720)
• Maximum resolution of 1080p 60fps when plugged into a TV
• Nvidia “customised” Tegra processor
• 32GB storage
• 802.11ac Wi-Fi
• Ethernet internet through optional adapter
• Bluetooth 4.1 (on tablet)
• Bluetooth 3.0 (in Joy-Cons)
• NFC (in right Joy-Con for Amiibo support)
• Stereo speakers (on tablet)
• PCM 5.1 channel audio in TV mode
• HDMI output (on dock)
• USB Type-C port (on tablet)
• 3x USB 2.0 ports (on dock) – USB 3.0 support to be added at future date
• Headphone/mic port (on tablet)
• MicroSD card slot (on tablet – plus microSDHC/microSDXC support)
• Game cartridge slot (on tablet)
• 4,310mAh battery (on tablet – up to six hours of play on one charge)
• 525mAh batteries (in Joy-Cons – up to 20 hours play time)