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Its story of unlikely friendship isn't up to par with The Fox and the Hound, just as its attempt at black humour never hits Harold and Maude, but Lost Orbit knows how to give one hell of an adrenaline rush. Speed runners, risk takers, and thrill seekers will all be sorely disappointed to miss out here – but everyone else can pass.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sets a new standard for open world RPGs. Its shockingly cohesive world is as beautiful as it is demanding, and it's packed full of mature content that throws you from one emotional response to the next. Its storytelling is superb, its combat is grippingly refined, and its often unforgiving nature only lends itself to a brilliantly rewarding experience. In an industry that's flooded with so many by-the-book open world titles, Wild Hunt stands out as a true labour of love from a developer that's uncompromisingly passionate about its creative freedom. Geralt's incredible adventure is nothing short of a masterpiece.
We weren't particularly sold on the first two episodes of Life Is Strange, but we could see the kernel of potential that was hiding beneath the surface. Episode 3 – Chaos Theory is where that promise finally bursts to the forefront, delivering an almost perfect balance of tense storytelling, organic dialogue, and improved gameplay – all while setting up a potentially brilliant follow-up episode. This series is finally delivering what we always thought it could, and that makes us hella happy.
Once you get the controls where you want them, your car exactly how you like it, and your race day tactics tightened up, it delivers an exhilarating ride, but few will have the patience – or, indeed, the willpower – to reach that point, and thus it's hard to imagine this outing achieving the mainstream success of other competing motoring series.
Terrible textures aside, there's a beauty to Toren's art and audio direction that's worth beholding. The problem is that outside of these assets, Swordtales' two hour adventure falls short. A plethora of technical problems and uninteresting level design win out over the positive aspects, and this experience is below par as a consequence. Listen and look at it by all means – just try to avoid actually playing it.
Color Guardians is a charming little title that will be appreciated by endless runner fans. The inconsistent difficulty is a problem, and its lack of variety means that it's best played in short bursts – but if you want something simple to brighten up your day, then this will do the job adequately.
Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster on the PS4 is the best that the games have ever looked. Sharp, crisp visuals bring the always enticing world of Spira to life on the big screen, while the core elements of both titles remain rock solid and impressively polished. The collection represents a great opportunity to jump back to a time when Squaresoft was seemingly unconquerable, and if you're totally new to the franchise, it's difficult to think of a better starting point.
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood has its fair share of problems – but it's still worth playing. With an enormous amount of content available for such a slender sum, fans of The New Order shouldn't hesitate when it comes to this alternate history treat.
Tropico 5 is a real treat – and not just because it's something a little bit different. The game's sharp sense of humour tallies well with its accessible yet intricate economical action, and while it's always likely to be an acquired taste, we're hoping that it sparks a swell of console construction games. If you're even the slightest bit intrigued, you should give this a go. And just so that we're clear: that's an order.
There's no school like old-school, and Ziggurat serves as a reminder that there's still fun to be had in 2015 with what's essentially an 'arena' shooter. Whether the shooting is good enough to stand on its own without the rest of the package is up for debate, however the smartly implemented Roguelite trappings, as well as the well pitched difficulty, help to cast a spell that'll have you heading back into Ziggurat time and time again.
Games like Project Root make you contemplate the futility of existence, and not in a good way like the philosophical musings of Postman Pat. It's not a bad game – not like Rambo or Ride to Hell: Retribution – it's just very, very boring. There needs to be a reason to play, and there's just nothing here to get excited about.
There are already a ton of platformers to choose from on both of Sony's current home consoles, but the good news is that Aaru's Awakening is free to anyone with PlayStation Plus for the time being. If you fancy something artsy and with some challenging gameplay, then we think that you should consider giving it a shot. Everyone else will want to pass on this one.
Don Bradman Cricket is an incredibly competent cricket simulation game. With a slew of modes, countless customisation options, and numerous clever design choices, it provides an accurate and fun digital version of the popular sport. Shoddy menus, poorly implemented tutorials, and an overall lack of visual and audio polish certainly diminish the experience, but not enough to stop this sporting sojourn from being worth taking out for a spin.
When all's said and done, Broken Age makes an excellent case for why the adventure game genre deserves to exist in this medium. Indeed, it's a wonderfully charming title that really feels like a celebration of the point-and-click format. Sure, it doesn't necessarily do anything ground breaking, but it doesn't really need to. If you're a fan of Tim Schafer's previous work, then this is unmissable.
LA Cops has inoffensive intentions, but its execution is as flawed as its characters' fashion sense. The pleasant presentation represents the still-edible icing on this otherwise stale, circular snack – but glaring design issues have left us close to dialling 911.
Tower of Guns proves to be a fun diversion that unfortunately falters in a couple of key areas. While it at least manages to keep its Roguelite membership by randomly generating a decent amount of enjoyable content, the relatively gentle difficulty ends up diluting the impact of its perma-death quite a bit. This ends up robbing the experience of any strong sense of accomplishment, so when you best the tower for the first time, it'll feel more like a damp squib than a twenty-one gun salute.
As a whole, We Are Doomed doesn't quite meet its asking price. While what's here can be compelling for a short while, it quickly loses appeal. However, it's certainly not doomed, as it's a solid arcade shooter with a gorgeous – if occasionally distracting – art style and fitting music. Take it all in slowly, then, and you may be able to appreciate it like a fireworks display that you're in control of.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is an absolutely solid spin-off in almost every way. Traversal is fluid and fun, combat is enjoyably simple, and the level design is often lovingly crafted, but it never comes close to stepping out of its comfort zone and trying something remotely memorable. Even outside of Ubisoft's main series, the confining walls of Assassin's Creed remain recognisable and reliable, but they're in increasingly desperate need of a new lick of paint.
Krinkle Krusher is a competent tower defence title with a colourful theme, but it's best played in short-bursts and doesn't really excel on the DualShock 4. There are some nice ideas here – we especially enjoyed the incentives to return to earlier levels once we'd powered up – but this is a straightforward experience at best, and, on the PS4 at least, it still has a few Krinkles that should have been ironed out.
Our first hour with Titan Souls was fantastic, but after that the cracks start to show. It's not a bad game, and the atmosphere is excellent, but you'll get to the end knowing that it could have been better. The lack of information about the world makes you feel like you're just roaming a random castle or tower, like those Mega Drive roguelikes where the only goal was to get to the end. The length and price just help to make this excellent idea more unattractive.