Last week saw the amount of new releases begin to slow. This week it’s all but a trickle, with just one title heading to retail. The last retail release of the year, no less.
That game is Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris: Gold Edition, which includes the season pass, a Lara figurine, an art book and a map. It’s available for between £20-£25 whereas the standalone game can be downloaded for £15.99 on PSN and £14.99 on Xbox Live. Making that difference in price slightly easier to swallow, PS Plus members can get it for £13.49 for one week only along with some ‘Hitman DLC’.
The first review to surface was from good old GamesMaster magazine. They gave it 87%, lavishing praise on both the puzzles and boss battles. Since then we’ve seen an 8.1 from IGN and 7/10s from both Eurogamer and VideoGamer. “Playing alone, discovering the different flavors of each new temple and figuring out the solution to a brain-busting puzzle all by myself is satisfying; replaying with others doubled that satisfaction because developer Crystal Dynamics renews the challenge with creative new twists on previously conquered obstacles that require teamwork to overcome†said IGN.
Also causing a stir on the download services, and not necessary for the best of reasons, is Destiny’s first piece of significant DLC – The Dark Below.
To quote the Metro’s “sort of reviewâ€: “What you’ve got here are three new story missions, one new Strike (two if you have a PlayStation 3 or 4) and one new Raid. And that’s it, except for three new competitive maps and sundry new weapons, armour, and a gaudily-painted new speeder bike. By the low standards of most DLC it’s not that bad, but then most DLC doesn’t cost £20 (or £35 if you buy the Expansion Pass that also includes the next one)â€.
If you couldn’t tell by their tone, they wasn’t very impressed. “It’s particularly offensive give [sic] the high cost and the fact that Xbox owners are denied the better (relatively speaking) of the two Strikes, and yet are expected to pay the same price†they continued.
Eurogamer wasn’t exactly sold on it either. “It’s not an overhaul in the style of Blizzard’s ground-shaking expansions, or an introduction of new, exciting systems that can win back those who have turned their backs on the game. It is, instead, a sliver of content gently inserted into the existing world, prolonging that grind in a way that will delight as many as those who will despairâ€.
It would appear that the only other title heading to Xbox One this week is colourful platformer Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams Director’s Cut. It’s out on PS4 too, along with ZX Spectrum influenced shooter Rock Boshers DX: Director’s Cut (£4.49 with PS Vita Cross-Buy support) and Awesomenauts Assemble! (£34.99).
The PS3 meanwhile gets family-friendly multiplayer party game Juju (£12.99 or £10.39 with PS Plus), leaving PS Vita owners to consider adding platformer Flyhunter Origins (£5.79) to their download queue. It looks a darn sight more appealing than that PS Vita-exclusive Muppets game from a few months back.
Next week: Another bunch of seemingly random downloads, no doubt.
