Although quite a few retail releases are out this week – six, unless mistaken – they’re unlikely to take away precious self-space from EA’s Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.
Reason being, they’re all something of an acquired taste. Kirby: Planet Robobot and Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter do however stand a very good chance of penetrating the UK’s top 20 next week. The top ten may be pushing it a bit.
All signs (well, reviews) point to Kirby: Planet Robobot being the pink blob’s best game in years, with scores being a heady mixture of 8s and 9s. We gave it a slightly bigger shout-out during our weekly eShop round-up.
As for Sherlock Holmes, the crime solving series has built up a cult following over the years. Scores for The Devil’s Daughter haven’t been great so far though, with critics claiming that it’s time for Frogwares to strip back and refine – there are lots of ideas here that work really well, but they’re bogged down by stuff that doesn’t. Trusted Reviews handed out a 3.5 while GameSpot went for a 6.
The remaining three retail releases really are niche though – the budget price, and also belated, point ‘n click adventure The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 on Wii U, 2D brawler Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- on PS3 and PS4, and JRPG Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book on PS4.
Unwritten Tales 2 and Guilty Gear appear to be safe purchases, while Atelier Sophie has garnered mixed reviews including 6.5 from PlayStation Lifestyle and a somewhat higher 9/10 from The Sixth Axis.
Onto this week’s star attraction – Mirror’s Edge Catalyst. This is the sequel fans demanded, and after many years of mulling it over EA finally gave in. The original gained decent reviews but was lost during 2008’s busy festive period, and subsequently fell in price quickly. We aren’t even sure if EA broke even on it; something that seemingly made this sequel doubtful at one point.
As shown during our review round-up, scores have been a curious mixture of 8s and 6s. The plot, voice-acting, character design and combat all received a panning and whereas some critics could look past these faults, others couldn’t. Have a browse of some verdicts here.
Both Xbox One and PS4 see more digital releases than usual, too. Arriving on both, we have Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 6: A Portal to Mystery, 2D pixel art platformer Fenix Furia, acclaimed first-person adventure Soul Axiom, and Ducati – 90th Anniversary, a less-than-full-price racer from the creators of RIDE.
Cyberpunk shooter remaster Hard Reset Redux makes its PS4 debut, a week after launching on Xbox One, while Roguelike top-down shooter Neon Chrome does the opposite. We spent an hour or so with Neon Chrome yesterday and recommend giving the trial version a go. Its randomised nature give it something of an addictive streak.
Also on Xbox One this week: hidden object thing Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride, colour-based puzzler Color Symphony 2, local co-op puzzle/platformer hybrid HeartZ: Co-Hope Puzzles, Professional Farmer 2017, Dovetail Games Euro Fishing and In Between – a very good physics-based puzzler that should appeal to fans of Limbo, Braid and Super Meat Boy. We’re working on a review.
Then back over on PS4 there’s the excellent SteamWorld Heist, the world warping adventure RETSNOM, arcade robot shooter Broken Bots, and Kitten Squad – PETA’s first console game. You can find footage here, courtesy of Kotaku.
The PS3 and Xbox 360 aren’t without something new either, although the term ‘new’ is pushing it somewhat. Both systems receive a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Bundle, including all three Modern Warfare games plus their first DLC packs for £29.99.
It’s the thought that counts, right?
Next week: Valentino Rossi The Game (PS4/Xbox One), Grand Kingdom (PS4/PS Vita), Tour De France 2016 (PS4/Xbox One) and Mike The Knight and The Great Gallop (3DS).
