This year’s Summer of Arcade promotion begins with the fairytale adventure of Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons, developed by Starbreeze Studios of The Darkness and early Xbox eye-popper Enclave fame.
“This is one journey you will never forget†claims Microsoft, and review scores suggest that they aren’t wrong.
The first few reviews appeared in gaming magazines quite some time ago, but it would seem that the game was then pushed back to headline Microsoft’s yearly download-only promotion. GamesMaster dished out a mighty 91% back in July, describing it as “Limbo meets Ico, in Fable’s world,†while 360 Gamer also bagged an early review which was incredibly favourable.
Most of the online outlets reviewed it earlier this week though, with scores including 9/10 from Eurogamer, 5/5 from Joystiq, 8/10 from Destructoid and a 7 from EDGE.
“This is a puzzle-platform game pared down to its base essentials, with a sweet, simple tale and an artfully imagined world wrapped around that core,†was EDGE’s verdict. Most reviewers agreed that controlling the two brothers with one analogue stick each works much better than that idea initially sounds.
It’s also due out on PlayStation 3 and PC, although no release date is yet known.
Over on PSN not one but two free-to-play titles are launching – Spartacus Legends, which we didn’t think much of when it arrived on Xbox Live late June, and the three-on-three MOBA shooter Deathmatch Village. The latter is for both PlayStation 3 and PS Vita, and is based around a rebellious redneck community. Yes, pig snatching does feature.
The PlayStation 3-exclusive RPG Tales of Xillia is the week’s only retail release. IGN said it wasn’t as good as Phantasia, Destiny or Symphonia, but still a worthy entry to the series.
Other reviews echo this, including the Metro’s 7/10. They also shared IGN’s opinion that the graphics are a bit so-so. It has taken two years for Tales of Xillia to arrive in the west, so maybe that was to be expected.
Don’t be put off if you haven’t played any of Namco’s Tales games before – there’s little story connection between them, save for the few numbered sequels that have been released during the franchise’s 15 year history.
It’s a reasonably busy week on the Nintendo eShops – the SNES’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms: IV Wall of Fire arrives on Wii U Virtual Console, as does good old Galaga.
They’re joined by Spin the Bottle: Bumpie’s Party, also on Wii U. Don’t be quite so quick to roll your eyes at this £5.99 party game – by all accounts it’s very good. The Official Nintendo Magazine gave it an impressive 88%, praising the numerous innovate ways the GamePad is used.
Then on 3DS eShop there’s the platformer SteamWorld Dig for £7.99, puzzler Tangram Style for £5.39 and the animal brutality simulator Deer Drive Legends for £4.49. It lets you hunt animals that are about to become extinct, and we think that’s all you need to know.
Next week: Payday 2 (PS3, 360), Angry Birds Trilogy (Wii, Wii U), Disney Planes (Wii, Wii U, 3DS), Battle Vs. Chess (PS3, 360, Wii, DS) and DuckTales Remastered (PS3, 360, Wii U).