We’ll start this round-up with The Technomancer, as it seems that the post-apocalyptic RPG has flown under the radar. Not that it sounds like you’ll be missing much – like Spider’s Bound by Flame before it, reviews suggest that it’s a barely above average affair.
“Somewhere below The Technomancer’s drab grey and brown sand is a solid action-RPG, but it’s buried deep beneath dull player characters, cliched NPCs, boring busy-work missions and a general lack of imagination or identity†said God is a Geek before handing out a 5/10. The SixthAxis and Push Square also dished out middling review scores, as did IGN.
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens meanwhile arrives to 7/10s from VideoGamer and GameSpot, an 8.5 from GameInformer and a lofty 9.0 from IGN. “The story is great, the levels are dense with fun puzzles, and unlocking all of the secrets is a blast†beemed their rather enthusiastic reviewer.
IGN were left smitten by Playdead’s Inside too, giving the eagerly awaited follow up to Limbo top marks. “Its unimaginable twist may leave you dumbfounded, confused, and quite possibly speechless, but it will fuel heated discussion with your friends about its meaning, its message, and its intention†they said, before suggesting that you experience it before spoilers leak online. Eurogamer’s review is well worth a read likewise.
Eurogamer also re-published their review of Prison Architect this week to tie-in with the new console releases. In short: it’s a game that’s hard to fault. Could be a sleeper hit.
Another game receiving a not-quite-full-price retail release is 7 Days to Die, an open-world zombie survival game which Telltale snapped up. It was met with a lukewarm response when it hit the US market earlier this week – day one buyers were faced with glitches and extraordinarily long loading times. That’s on top of the dated visuals – it’s a conversion of a PC game from 2013 that hasn’t seen any major improvements.
At least we know what we’re in for with Resident Evil 5 HD, out now for £15.99. Not as good as RE4, but far more pleasurable than RE6, it strikes us as being a safe purchase. That’s ignoring the fact that it can be found pre-owned on last-gen for literally pence on Amazon, anyway.
Going back to retail releases, we have the allegedly disappointing Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness on PS4 – which gained a lukewarm 6/10 from Destructoid – and the currently review shy JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven, also on PS4.
The 3DS meanwhile gets the virtual pet thing Teddy Together, which is in fact a first-party release from Nintendo, while Minecraft: Wii U Edition hits, well, you can guess.
Only one digital release appears to be gracing both Xbox One and PS4 this week, and that’s Full Mojo Rampage – a rogue-like with 4 player co-op and 8 player online battles. The Xbox One also gets the promising FTP mech shooter Hawken (new trailer here), Bermuda Triangle set top-down adventure Lost Sea, The Magic Circle: Gold Edition – an intriguing first person fantasy game which entails escaping development hell – and Ethan: Meteor Hunter, which is described (by the developers) as a combination of Braid and Super Meat Boy.
The PS4 meanwhile catches up with belated releases of the curiously addictive Spy Chameleon, sci-fi scrolling brawler Zheros, cult classic A Boy And His Blob, the Pictionary alike Drawful 2 and the pixel-art shooter Steredenn. When Zheros arrived on Xbox One as a GWG freebie earlier this year it was something of a mess due to glitches, huge difficulty spikes and a lack of checkpoints. Over time the developers attempted to iron out some of these kinks, so it may be slightly less terrible now.
Also out now on PS4: side-scrolling combat-focused RPG Pharaonic, run and gunner Cast Of The Seven Godsends – Redux and the purse pleasing (£3.99) puzzler Castles.
Then on PS Vita’s there’s Square-Enix remaster of Adventures of Mana, and Aksys’ Zero Time Dilemma, the final part in the popular Zero Escape series. Also available on the 3DS eShop, it appears to be going down a treat, gaining 9.5 from Destructoid and 9.0 from EGM. “This is a twisted and thrilling tale that only certain creators or studios could produce, and it’s also a gift from a man who has spent years trying to bring this final chapter to his fans†they said.
[Update] At the stroke of midnight the Xbox One saw the following go live: The Banner Saga 2, Dynamite Fishing: World Games, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II and the popular free-to-play Minecraft/LEGO alike Roblox. The Banner Saga 2 is one of this month’s GWG freebies, so you’ll definitely want to add this role-player to your download queue.
Next week: Carmageddon: Max Damage (PS4/Xbox One), Hawken (PS4), Dex (PS4/Xbox One), LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Wii U) and Ethan: Meteor Hunter (Xbox One).