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The best part in being free-to-play will be that Neverwinter is there for those looking to try and there's certainly no harm in paddling in Cryptic's pool. The number of players encountered is a testament to its accessibility. However, veteran MMO players may find it too easy; newcomers may disagree with the payoff vs. time spent. Either way it's worth venturing in - just don't expect a tale for the ages.
Perfectly treading the line between game and film, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is interactive storytelling at its best; a evocative, devastating and ultimately triumphant portrayal of love, loss, death and reunion which fully deserves all of the plaudits it will no doubt receive.
The PS Vita execution is as wonderful a game as it has always been - despite some ramerate issues when certain events are triggered or areas entered - but is more at home given the way it plays and the fact it nags at you every moment you’re not playing it - which is reduced if you can take it with you wherever you go.
Given the source material One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 is likely to be avoided by most as they have no connection already in place and the genre is ten-a-penny on the current generation of consoles. This would be a mistake. The story is lively and full of interesting characters even if it's basic in its plotting and execution. That�s not a problem though given the focus is on the battles themselves and the mechanics of the fighting, made ever deeper thanks to the variety of crew members at your disposal and the combos that come with them. It�s not Bayonetta depth but it sits well alongside Kratos and company. The structure can get repetitive but there�s so much going on in addition to the main objectives that if you enjoy this at the start you�ll still do so at the end. The otaku edge to it is the nudge needed to make it a worthwhile addition to your collection.
Don't get even, get Madden.
In taking and refining the best bits of previous games, Ubisoft is admittedly treading water and, some would say, stagnating. The eavesdropping should really be, well, dropped but those moments of frustration and repetition are far outweighed by the lure of the sea. Not a flagship title for the series then, but one that will delight fans and newcomers alike.
Brimming with atmosphere and the kind of dialogue that Telltale Games are acclaimed for, the high points of Episode 1 just about offset the jerky camera work, poor loading times and clunky QTE controls which blemished their previous effort, and which are far more pronounced here.
FIFA 14 pushes the franchise forward in baby steps without providing any major surprises or new 'wow� features, yet is still streets ahead of the competition and a must for any footie fan. A solid but slight evolution of the franchise, here�s hoping that the next iteration brings us closer to perfection, word is the Xbox One/PS4 version is a ground up rebuild!
Everything adds up to what could have been.
Call of Duty: Ghosts does not tamper with the formula, fans will receive what they expect yet, with the world moving on to the next generation of consoles, many could perhaps be wanting more and Call of Duty: Ghosts is too formulaic to offer this. It is a victim of its own institution in a world that is quickly moving forwards.
The best Skylanders game to date and a must for all fans of the franchise, young and maybe old
How do you follow up one of the most successful debut games of all times? Well, by making a sequel of course. But what about after that? How does messing around as a co-developer on a few spin-offs strike you? Hardly taxing though, is it? Regardless at the rising sense of apprehension you may feel, sooner or later you're going to have to strike out and make something new, become innovative again, create rather than repeat. Developers Media Molecule have only just reached this final phase, having spent the last five years playing around with LittleBigPlanet iterations and derivatives. Their first steps with a new intellectual property have been brave ones, leading them onto the Vita and into the paper world of Tearaway.
Outside of the new social features Pokemon Y and its counterpart do largely stick to the traditional JRPG formula and mechanics that have made the series the global phenomenon it has become. Hardcore Poke fans will still find a lot to like in this instalment and even players who may have lost their way with the series might find the new features and major visual upgrades worth jumping back on the wagon for. It may be iterative and lacking in radical innovations but Pokemon Y is still immensely fun, even if catching them all from a fresh start does feel more than a little daunting.
It's Lego, it's Marvel, it's pretty awesome - a must for any kid who loves The Avengers, X-Men, Spiderman, hell there is too many to name! There are still some issues that have come across from previous Lego games preventing it from being a perfect experience but its audience won't care one little bit. Hulk smash!
Burial at Sea might be a challenger for the best-ever narrative-based DLC yet presented to the gaming community at large.
If you're upgrading your console soon you may want to hold off as a next-gen version is due to drop shortly, but if you're into hoops and plan on sticking with your current machine into the new year and beyond, this is a must-buy, even if you already have the previous game in the series. Who knows what the next console generation will bring, with 2K marching triumphantly onwards and EA bringing back NBA Live for the first time in five years, but for now, this is just the best version of the best video game basketball experience you're going to find.
Battlefield 4 puts up a worthy fight for the title of this generation's top first-person shooter. The innovative features are nice touches, but ultimately don't give us the glimpse into the future that we'd all hoped for. Instead, EA and DICE have put all their eggs in one basket with an unbalanced package that shines with its multiplayer, but flounders with its single-player.
Redshirt isn't going to appeal to everyone, but those who like the balancing act and resource management that go with management sims will find this is a solid game. There will be feelings of repetitiveness during the all too brief periods when you've managed to juggle everything into going well, and you'll find yourself just going through the motions to advance time until your next social or career crisis. Whilst you'll need to be a sci-fi fan to get a lot of the humour, this will actually be less important to your enjoyment of the game than a jaded view of the inanity appearing on your Facebook wall on a daily basis. To fans of turn-based management sims this is an entertaining insight into a future in which social networking rules every aspect of our lives rather than being a place just to quote song lyrics. Although, in Redshirt's vision of the future, people are still spending a lot of their time doing just that as well.
Yes it screams "I used to be a Kinect game," yes it's limited in story as well as combat and yes, you've played many, many games like this previously, better games with more systems and gameplay but...but...crucially, Ryse: Son of Rome looks breathtaking. The perfect launch game, doing nothing new, arguably less so than current gen games but adequately showing off the new hardware - think of it as a tech demo with quick time event executions and you will not be disappointed.
XCOM: Enemy Within should be an essential purchase for fans of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, or even those who have not experienced this brilliant remake. With its many additions and changes it provides fans with a revitalised campaign filled with clever nuances and potentially increasing the game's lifetime by several magnitudes. It is not without its blunders, however.