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The Sims has always been pretty bizarre, when you think about it. It's different to most forms of escapism in that it turns the monotonous tasks we hate doing in real life into a game, replicating the very thing most of us are trying to avoid by playing it in the first place. The Sims 4 is the latest and best in the long running franchise and there's absolutely nothing else like it on the market for PlayStation 4. It's the most faithful recreation of the drudgery of daily life on the market, but it's also marred by a bewildering array of control quirks, annoying bugs, and overnumerous menus. If you're prepared to persevere with the more clumsily implemented aspects of the game then there's a lot to love - and there's a ridiculous amount of content - but some will likely be put off by its often obtuse nature.
With a huge web of choices to make and an enjoyable competitive mode to boot, there's a lot to like in this crime analysis. Hidden Agenda proves that the PlayLink initiative can be taken advantage of in more than just casual party games, but this particular outing doesn't quite realise its full potential. This investigation is absolutely one worth experiencing, but one too many caveats with the app itself holds things back from greatness.
Far From Noise is not a game for everyone. If you go in expecting traditional gameplay, you will be highly disappointed, but if you approach it with the understanding of it being almost like a picture book, then you will be in for a magnificently written reflection of yourself as well as musings on some of the heaviest topics about life. We went into this expecting a short title with a bizarre premise, and walked away having consumed a beautiful, occasionally melancholic story that helped us understand ourselves a little better along the way.
Star Wars Battlefront 2's saving grace is its multiplayer. A strong offering provides you with a number of ways to play and a variety of locations to battle on, and if it manages to stick to a level playing field once the infamous microtransactions are added back into the game, it's an experience we'll continue to return to. But this is not enough to excuse the abysmal campaign. Any uniqueness dissipates all too quickly, and what follows is a boring set of missions that often feel misguided and unrealistic.
London Studio's latest karaoke effort may have a decent Party mode and PlayLink functionality, but its one-note tracklist and lack of four-player functionality make it a poor choice for a party game. SingStar: Celebration certainly doesn't live up to its name, then – it's only marginally more fun than a Jehovah's Witness' birthday bash.
School Girl/Zombie Hunter is a rough, low budget release that's a guilty pleasure for all of a few minutes. Awful cutscenes pepper a forgettable story mode, and the online co-op is stunted. Rather than being so bad that it's actually good, the game's simply below average, weighed down by too many issues.
Somehow, de Blob still feels contemporary, and it'll cheer you up if this year's other 3D platformer efforts have left you feeling blue.
While it's not as unique or charming as its predecessor That's You, Knowledge Is Power is a solid, fun quiz game for when you've got friends or family around. While it's a little light on actual quizzing, the Power Plays allow for plenty of game-changing moments and inject some tension into the game as everyone scrambles to wipe virtual goo off of their phones and answer first. With another solid game added to its lineup and many more coming over the next few months, Sony's PlayLink service won't be going away anytime soon.
Tokyo Tattoo Girls is a simple strategy game which can be fun in small doses but is sadly not interesting enough to keep you playing for long. The story is poor, the characters are strange (and not in a good way), and the gameplay is lacking. The artwork and tattoos look gorgeous, so it's a pity they weren't in a better game.
Virtual reality breathes new life into an already excellent campaign. While you'll have probably seen everything that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR has to offer before, you'll never have seen it quite like this: vast, varied, and like an actual living, breathing place. Bethesda's proven that blockbusters can make the transition to PlayStation VR – and on this evidence, it's something we'd like to see happen more often.
Ben 10 is an enjoyable little beat-'em-up romp. All 10 of Ben's aliens feel fleshed out and vastly different from one another, and jumping from enemy-to-enemy in the fast-paced combat is suitably satisfying. Fans of the show will be thrilled with the faithful recreation of the show's art style and general feel. Unfortunately, it's a little bit let down by the afterthought upgrade system, incredibly short length, and non-existent difficulty.
One of the best detective games of all time, L.A. Noire on PS4 will certainly give you bang for your buck thanks to its improved graphical prowess and neat package containing all of the original's content. It may not be the greatest looking remaster overall, but visuals aside, it's still the engaging storylines and the complex characters that you'll come back for. Team Bondi may have been shot three days before retirement, but its spirit lives on.
Final Fantasy XV: Comrades ends up being a missed opportunity.
Need for Speed Payback is a real-world example of microtransactions gone wrong. As an open world racer, the game's inoffensively average – but when paired with its bafflingly bad progression system, it's frankly an embarrassment. It's scary to think that publishers are quite literally sabotaging their own games in pursuit of a bonus buck or two these days.
Cat Quest is a decent little game that we'd definitely recommend, with a charmingly cute presentation and a solid combat system that together form an overall enjoyable experience. Although you will definitely feel the pangs of repetition, there's just about enough here to keep you engaged until you reach the title's satisfying conclusion. If you're a big RPG fan or you're a cat purr-son, then Cat Quest is going to be right up your alley.
It's a broken, bewildering, shambolic mess, and never speak of it again.
Guardians of the Galaxy has been a bumpy ride, with the occasionally poignant character moments and amusing dialogue exchanges drowned out by perfunctory action sequences, tepid puzzling, and the unshakeable feeling that the whole endeavour is just a pale imitation of the Guardians movies. The finale's heightened pace plays to the series' strengths, removing much of what made previous episodes so frequently frustrating, and so perhaps if there is a second season of Telltale's Guardians -- and, like any Marvel movie, you should probably stick around until after the credits for hints as to what might happen next -- we can only hope that it follows the blueprint of Don't Stop Believin'. It's not perfect, but if you're a fan of Telltale's formula or the eponymous Marvel characters, the improved latter half of the series makes Guardians of the Galaxy just about worth playing.
Playing LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 is a constant battle between being pulled in by TT Games' charm and being pushed away by the repetitive gameplay. For every excellent moment there are seemingly multiple forgettable ones, but if you can stomach the lows of the story, then there are some fun times to be had. Still, this middling effort shows that the LEGO series is in need of some revitalising changes.
Touching base with your origins is necessary to not lose touch with your audience, and that's exactly what Call of Duty: WWII does without simply regressing. It gets to the core of its key modes and seizes on their intrinsic appeal with some neat, little twists thrown in. However, its campaign and zombies modes (while solid) feel unusually safe, whereas the multiplayer suffers from lacklustre map design and technical issues. You could say this Call of Duty is a sign of hopeful action to ground the series once more, but doesn't go beyond its iconic namesake to deliver something truly special.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood may be a few years old now, but though its visuals don't always hold up, its gameplay certainly does. The ingenuity of the physics and puzzles in the game allow for some truly mind-boggling moments at times, while the exhilarating chase set-pieces will set your heart racing. Its price tag is a little steep, but de-pen-ding on your passion for puzzle platformers, it's a good buy.