This week sees two big hitters, both of which are available to purchase right now – Remedy’s time-altering shooter Quantum Break and Codemaster’s console conversion of DiRT Rally.
We rounded-up Quantum Break’s reviews late last week. In short: scores have been mixed, varying from Digital Spy’s 5/5 to Giant Bomb’s 2/5. The majority of reviews are around the 8/10 mark however – the negative reviews are relatively few, with most complaints linked to the live-action TV sequences. “Quantum Break isn’t a perfect game; it’s a bold experiment in how two mediums can tell a larger story, and at times it pays off†said Game Informer, who gave it an 8.5.
For the uninformed, DiRT Rally made its debut on PC late last year to incredibly positive reviews, including 8/10s from both EDGE and gamesTM. It appears to have lost nothing in its jump to console, bagging a heady mixture of 8s and 9s. If Metacritic is to go by, it’s yet to receive a review score lower than 8/10 in fact. God is a Geek in particular was smitten by it, handing out a lofty 9.0. Judging by Amazon’s sales rank it looks set to storm the charts next week.
If only we could say the same for Mario and Sonic: Rio 2016 Olympic Games on 3DS. With scores including 4/10 from LazyGamer and 5/10 from Nintendo Enthusiast, general consensus has it that it’s a hastily cobbled togther package that’s mediocre at best. Hopefully the upcoming Wii U version will fare better.
Other retail releases for this week include MXGP2: The Official Motocross Videogame on PS4 and Xbox One, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles on PS Vita and the colourful 2D brawler Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel on PS4 (PS3 release digital only). We’re working on a review of the PS4 iteration as we speak. First impression: it’s accessible but a lack of depth could be an issue. The £29.99 asking price may sway help things, however.
Sticking with the PlayStation formats, new PS Plus freebies Shutshimi (PS4/PS Vita) and Dead Star (PS4) are available now. Both are shoot’em ups which couldn’t further apart – Shutshimi is of the pixel art variety starring a muscle-bound fish, while Dead Star offers 10-vs-10 space battles and has a sprinkling of RPG elements. We’ll see if we can squeeze some words out about them soon. In the meantime, there’s a handy beginner’s guide to Dead Star here.
The PS4 also gets procedural dungeon crawler Enter the Gungeon – which the PS Blog has more on – Curve Digital’s allegedly pretty good Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure, and the abstract FPS Lovely Planet. And in addition to Nitroplus Blasterz, the PS3 sees the release of Amplitude and Samurai Warriors 4 Empires.
The Xbox One has an altogether different line-up, including TRON RUN/r – which is due Friday, after taking a short hiatus – and the Bookworm Adventures alike Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey Remastered. We’ve also spent some time (quite a bit, in fact) with this one in preparation of a review. It’s quite possibly the first word game to work well on a console. Take that, smelly old Boggle.
Next week: Dark Souls III (PS4/Xbox One), Stories: The Path of Destinies (PS4), Soda Drinker Pro (Xbox One) and the new Wii U Selects line-up (New Super Mario Bros. U, LEGO City Undercover, DK: Tropical Freeze, Wii Party U and Wind Waker HD).