This Friday sees the return of one of the biggest franchises around – Assassin’s Creed. Wisely, Ubisoft has ditched multiplayer in favour of bringing Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s single-player mode back to the glory days of Assassin’s Creed II – often referred to as a defining moment in the series.
Although we don’t doubt that it’ll fare better than last year’s sloppy and almost universally disliked AC: Unity, it still may not be the glorious reinvention that the series desperately needs. We hope to bring you a review round-up once the embargo lifts. (Update: it’s here).
Speaking of embargos, reviews of The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes are starting to surface and, well, they aren’t as glowing as some may have expected. GameSpot handed out a mediocre 5/10 (“Tri Force Heroes offers us the means to work together, but not enough reason to do soâ€) while EGM gave it an only marginly better 6/10. “Tri Force Heroes is a Zelda game in name only. When you dig just past the surface, poor gameplay mechanics and key missing elements for a Zelda title tarnish what is otherwise a serviceable adventure game†they said, damningly.
Even some of the Nintendo sites were left feeling a disappointed with Link’s latest, such as Nintendo Life who also dished out a 6. “ Tri Force Heroes isn’t a bad game, but it’s not on the same level as its illustrious predecessors†they said.
IGN found much to enjoy however, giving it an 8.5. The Metro enjoyed it too, although they did warn that the single-player mode “is no fun†and that “the online makes communication difficultâ€.
We have a feeling that Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash – another one of Nintendo’s big Christmas games – could end up facing a mixed reception as well.
From mild disappointment to surprise greatness – Guitar Hero Live sees the franchise bounce back with a bang, with scores including 9.5 from Destructoid, 9.0 from God is a Geek and 9/10 from Polygon. IGN wasn’t quite as enthusiastic though, giving it 7.9: “Guitar Hero Live might not return the series to the heights of its heyday, but it’s definitely the freshest and boldest Guitar Hero game in a very long timeâ€. Most reviews were surprised to find that the FMV backdrops actually work really well. How quick we all were to write that feature off.
Sticking with the musical theme for a moment, this week also sees the release of Just Dance 2016 – out on everything, even the Wii – Just Dance Disney 2 (which is eluding the PlayStation formats, oddly) and Now That’s What I Call Sing (PS4 and Xbox One only). Now That’s What I Call Sing is hitting the download services for £24.99 but bear in mind that a microphone is required. Let’s Sing 2016 is also due on PS4 this week, via PSN, for £39.99. It’s a sequel to a former Wii-exclusive that pretty much went under everybody’s radar. We hadn’t even heard of it until now.
Tri Force Heroes isn’t the only new 3DS game out this week – Ubisoft’s Gravity Falls: Legend of the Gnome Gemulets is out as well. It uses the UbiArt Framework engine that powered the likes of Valiant Hearts and Rayman Legends. We’re mildly confident about this one, and that’s despite the £20 price tag. The PS Vita meanwhile gets the anime horror adventure Corpse Party: Blood Drive and Space Hulk – a belated conversion of Full Control’s reasonably well-received strategic board game. That last one is available on PS3 too.
This leaves us with Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers (PS4) – the latest in a series that has never managed to get off the ground – and Hasbro Family Fun Pack (PS4/Xbox One) which includes Risk, Boggle, Monopoly Plus and Trivial Pursuit Live – five games that were released singularly on the download services.
With both Codemaster’s Overlord: Fellowship of Evil and PC conversion Forced available now, Xbox One and PS4 owners are well catered for action RPGs currently. Overlord leaves behind the third-person perspective from its predecessors in favour of a top-down view. Alas, it’s another that’s review shy despite launching earlier this week. We aren’t too impressed with the price difference between formats either – £14.99 on Xbox One and £17.99 on PS4. Reviews of Forced were positive when it launched on PC, but it might be worth bearing in mind that was over two years ago.
The PS4 also gets Arcade Archives A-JAX (£7.99), Laserlife (£11.49) and the invitingly colourful 2D brawler SkyScrappers (£17.99) while Code: Realize Guardian of Rebirth (£28.99) and BlazBlue Chronophantasma Extend (£34.99) head to PS Vita. The PlayStation Blog has the skinny on SkyScrappers, including a trailer and a developer interview.
Hot on the heels of last week’s double-whammy of Back to the Future and Minecraft: Story Mode comes another double dose of episodic adventures – the final chapters of both Life is Strange and Tales from the Borderlands. Both contain shocks aplenty, apparently.
Finally, Xbox One and PS4 both see the release of Curve Digital’s Instant Indie Collection: Vol. 2 which includes Nova III, Pumped BMX + and The Swindle for a not too shabby £19.99. They aren’t Curve Digitial’s finest moments but you certainly can’t knock this collection for variety.
Next week: Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One), WWE 2K16 (Multi), Divinity Original Sin: Enhanced Edition (PS4/Xbox One), Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition (PS4/Xbox One), MX vs. ATV: Supercross Encore Edition (PS4), SMT Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker (3DS), Minecraft: Story Mode – Season Disc (Multi) and a retail release of the almighty Shovel Knight (PS4/3DS/Wii U).