Out this week: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Madden NFL 18, The Escapists 2, more

Annual sporting update season is upon us once more, with Madden NFL 18 and F1 2017 being first out the gate.

With an all-new story mode, Madden NFL 18 is said to be the most accessible yet, gaining a 9/10 from GameSpot, a 4.5 from US Gamer and an 8.25 from GameInformer.

IGN meanwhile went with an 8.6. “The shift to Frostbite doesn’t refresh Madden NFL 18’s gameplay much, but Longshot is a memorable single-player mode,” was their verdict.

Codemasters’ F1 2017 has gained an even steadier sting of 9/10s, with most critics calling it the best instalment ever delivered. The Telegraph opted for full marks, while The Sixth Axis felt it was worth a 9/10. “From adding more R&D options to the career to having classic cars and invitational events help break up the long racing calendar, there’s a lot to keep you engaged here,” they said.

Plenty of other new releases are vying for attention over bank holiday, with the biggest by far being the less-than-full-price Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

While it has received a few 7/10s (hello, VideoGamer) the majority of review scores are 8s and 9s. God is a Geek went with full marks, meanwhile. “The game is yet another masterpiece from Naughty Dog, and it goes to show we don’t need Nathan Drake to make a great adventure greater,” their reviewer stated.

As you may be aware, pre-orders came with Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. This means the classic platformer bounces back on PS4 this week, available for £11.99.

Other games heading to both retailers and digital stores include remaster collection Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy, first-person Korean survival horror White Day: A Labyrinth Named School, and The Escapists 2.

Sadly, it seems that Team 17 hasn’t caught lightning in a bottle twice with their prison breaking sequel. God is a Geek could only muster up a 6/10, calling it “a sandbox without much content”. It also features doubtlessly whacky YouTube personalities as new characters. Oh joy.

It’s a ridiculously busy week on the download services, with a fair few games hitting both Xbox One and PS4. These include fantasy adventure Mages of Mystralia, Super Comboman: Smash Edition – a beat’em up set in a world formed of stickers – 2D puzzle/RPG hybrid SwapQuest, the colour-based Portal alike ChromaGun, and Bleed – a run and gunner with a purple haired protagonist.

The Xbox One also gets belated releases of the fully voiced pause-for-tactics RPG Masquerada: Songs and Shadows, top-down drifter Absolute Drift: Zen Edition, and Knock-Knock – a psychological take on hide and seek. They’re joined by two others – strategic war sim Battle of the Bulge, and ACA NeoGeo Puzzled. The PS4 is without any NeoGeo re-releases this week, it seems.

Then on PS4 there’s Freedom Planet – which should appeal to fans of Sonic Mania, originally being a Sonic fan game – plus Adult Swim’s 2D shooter Duck Game, One Piece: Unlimited World Red – Deluxe Edition, popular point ‘n clicker Thimbleweed Park, Unreal 4 powered platformer Spartan, and Soul Dimension – a PSVR puzzler developed in China. At a mere £3.69, it may be worth a look.

Next week: Yakuza Kiwami (PS4), Life is Strange: Before the Storm (PS4/XO), Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Switch), Rabi-Ribi (PS4), Warriors All Stars (PS4), Culdcept Revolt (3DS), Redout Lightspeed Edition (PS4/XO), Killing Floor 2 (XO), Absolver (PS4), Everybody’s Golf (PS4), Dead Alliance (PS4/XO), Surf World Series (PS4/XO), Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition (PS4/XO), Resident Evil Revelations (PS4/XO), The Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor (PS4/XO), X-Morph: Defense (PS4/XO), White Noise 2 (PS4/XO) and Sparc (PSVR).

Leave a Comment