You may recall we were concerned about Activision’s Deadpool game after hearing that it’ll be less-than-full-price and that developer High Moon was being downsized upon the game’s competition.
Were we right to be concerned? Perhaps. It’s a short game with little replay value, which we assume is why Activision dropped the price to around the £30 mark, but most reviewers agree that while it lasts it’s pretty good, not to mention genuinely laugh out loud funny. Currently the Metracritic stands at 65% which isn’t a bad score as licensed games go, but nowhere near as glowing as the studio’s previous game – Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.
A Wii U version of Deadpool was rumoured but everything seems to have gone quiet on that front. The Wii U does get bonkers mini-game collection Game & Wario this week however, and although it’s not the major shot in the arm the system needs right now it should tie you over until next month’s Pikmin 3. Eurogamer gave it a 6/10 while the Official Nintendo Magazine handed out a not too shabby 75%. It too is a purse pleaser – £24.39 from Wow HD is the best price currently.
Funnily enough, every game arriving at retail this week is available for under £30.
In the case of Ride to Hell: Retribution that £30 price tag is clearly for a reason. Hardcore Gamer called it “an offensive abomination†in their 1/5 review and Destructoid felt the same way as well. 1/10? Good Lord – that’s Superman 64 territory.
The pleasingly relentless shooter Painkiller: Hell & Damnation fairs much better – reviews have been pretty good so far. A demo is available if you’re curious.
The retail release of Minecraft on the other hand can be found for around £12.99. We’re predicting this to go shooting up the chart next week – Microsoft claims it’s the “fastest selling game†in the US currently. It’s one of those games that we’re always overhearing people asking for in the likes of GAME and HMV, only to be pointed in the direction of the Microsoft Points cards.
Speaking of Microsoft Points, you’ll need precisely zero for this week’s XBLA release – Ubisoft’s Spartacus Legends. That’s available now as a free-to-play game, while Friday sees the release of Doodle Jump Kinect – an increasingly elusive 400 MSP title.
The latest Borderlands 2 DLC – Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep – arrives on both PSN and XBLA, as does Magic 2014 – Duels of the Planeswalkers. Indie hit Hotline Miami makes a call to PSN also, complete with cross buy support. NowGamer handed out 8.5, calling it one of the PS Vita’s must have games.
Then over on the Nintendo eShop there’s F1 Race Stars: Powered Up on Wii U for a slightly eyebrow raising £39.99. A very hard sale considering the PS3 version was available on Amazon for a mere £4.99 last week. We’re not sure if this is getting a retail release or not – it seems to have vanished off the pre-order lists. The week’s 3DS downloads look far more exciting thankfully, featuring Dillon’s Rolling Western: The Last Ranger, Mighty Switch Force! 2, Aqua Moto Racing 3D, URBAN TRIAL FREESTYLE and something called Mon Haras 3D – Au gallop vers l’aventure. We paid enough attention during French at school to know that’s about horses. And adventures.
A handful of Virtual Console releases for your consideration now – the Game Gear’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Crystal Warriors make an appearance on the 3DS VC for £4.49 and £3.59 respectively, while the Wii U gets Balloon Fight (£3.49) and Vegas Stakes (£5.49). The only thing we recall about Vegas Stakes is that the legendary bargain bins of the ‘90s always contained a copy or two.
Finally, the Android-powered Ouya console made its UK début on Tuesday for just under £100. 181 games are currently available, with stand-outs including Final Fantasy III, The Bard’s Tale, Canabalt, Giana Sisters and Pix’n Love Rush.
The manufacturers have been keen to tout its ability to run emulators, which strikes us as being a little naughty. Especially so when they’ve been sharing pictures on Twitter of the NES’s Super Mario Bros running on it. Tut!
Next week: Project X Zone (3DS), DARK (360, PC) and Scourge: Outbreak (XBLA).