As you may have heard, the fate of the Xbox One version of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is more up in the air than Spider-Man himself.
After some vague statements from Microsoft, Activision and Beenox – all to the tune of working their hardest to ensure a release – the movie tie-in made a surprise appearance on the Xbox One’s US marketplace earlier this week. Some believed to be an error, but that’s wasn’t the case – the trio found a way to release it in time. A retail release is still ‘TBC’ however.
It’s out Friday on Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, 3DS, Wii U and PC. The few reviews to surface so far are from lesser known websites, and they all suggest that it’s a missable experience.
Cheat Code Central had issues with the camera, combat and the web-swinging – rather than being able to attach webs to ‘thin air’ like in other Spidey games, there now has to be a building or such nearby to attach a web to. Sometimes the game doesn’t recognise what you can and can’t swing to, and it also restricts Spidey from getting around with ease and grace.
Screw Attack’s video reviewers – who played the last-gen versions – enjoyed it enough to see it through to the end, but ultimately felt that gamers would be best off waiting for the price to drop. Kids and Spider-Man fans will get the most out of it, they claimed, which is something we certainly don’t doubt. One neat idea is the chance to swing by a comic book store owned by Stan Lee and read a few Spider-Man comics:
The only other review at the time of typing is from The Games Cabin, who gave it a 6.5.
As well as The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 3DS owners get another three titles – Mario Golf: World Tour, JRPG remake Etrian Odyssey Untold The Millennium Girl and Hometown Story.
If you haven’t played the previous Etrain Odyssey role players then worry not. Gaming Age reckons that “you’re not likely to find a more perfect jumping on point if you have yet to experience the seriesâ€. They went on to give it an A-. Pocket Gamer meanwhile gave it an 8/10 but did stress that occasionally the journey is “more hassle than funâ€.
Mario Golf: World Tour is well worth a look too, backed by some solid review scores – 9/10 from Nintendo Life, 8/10 from Eurogamer and another 8/10 from The Metro (nee Game Central).
As for Hometown Story – from the creator of Harvest Moon – you may want to approach this one with caution. The Official Nintendo Magazine handed the twee store management sim a mediocre 50%. It’s “as dull as a real-life Saturday job”, said magazine newcomer Kate Gray.
The only other retail release out this week is the grizzly arena brawler Blood Bath, a budget-priced PS3/360 offering from the chaps who gave us last week’s belated Kick-Ass 2 tie-in. We really don’t hold out much hope for it. At all.
Over on the download services Ubisoft’s Child of Light is causing a stir. The lovely looking 2D RPG has gained plenty of praise, with the PS4 version in particular currently sitting pretty with a Metacritic of 90%.
Not every critic has been taken by it however – EDGE and Polygon gave it 5/10 and a 6.5 respectively, with EDGE describing it as feeling “oddly emptyâ€. Polygon shared this emotion: “It’s a beautiful, familiar trip evoking stories I’ve heard and places I’ve imagined before. But it’s all so ephemeral — less than a day after finishing it, I can already feel my memories of my time in Lemuria and the characters I met there drifting awayâ€.
Finally there’s Daylight on PS4 and PC from Zombie Studios – the chaps who made Blacklight: Retribution and, a very long time ago, the SAW movie tie-ins. It’s a psychological thriller set in a randomly generated world. It also has built-in Twitch support, if showing off your gaming skills is your thing.
Despite being brave enough to experiment with randomly generated environments, it apparently has ended up being just that – an experiment. The Metro found it to be repetitive and frustrating, with a weak script and laughably bad puzzles. Venture Beat didn’t think much of it either, reporting a mere 2-3 hour runtime.
If you’re still curious, it’s £8.20 for PS+ subscribers (and £10.25 for non-Plus users) until 14th May. After that, it’s going to shoot up to £12.79.
Next week: God of War Collection (PS Vita), Bound By Flame (PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, PC), Raven’s Cry (PS3, 360, PC) and Peggle 2 (XBLA).