The Six Nations Championship brings fresh hope that we might finally get a great rugby game, but this engaging effort fails to convert where it counts.
Though disappointingly short, Untitled Goose Game offers an evening of entertainment unlike anything else out there. If you have Xbox Game Pass, download this goosey gem ASAP. [Issue#187, p.79]
In the end, the titular journey proves to be far more satisfying than the eventual destination, but so it is with all adventures into outer space in search of unknown powers, right? The success here is how it meshes and moulds so many familiar ideas and motifs, while remaining so alien. [Issue#187, p.87]
Ancestors contains all manner of intellectual joys – whenever you launch an evolution, for example, your efforts are rated against what science projected – and while it might not feel like much of a game at first, it certainly does when you fathom out how to approach it. As long as you aren’t afraid of games that make you work hard before yielding their rewards, you’ll find that Ancestors comes closer to letting you play god, while still entertaining you, than any game we’ve ever come across previously. How’s that for vaulting ambition? [Issue#186, p.72]
Despite its issues, there’s no question a lot of love has gone into Arise. This is a deeply personal story of love and loss, a point hammered home by affecting end credits where the team leave little messages of gratitude for their loved ones. Though this pumped-up OAP may stumble along the way, his time-tweaking quest ultimately rises above. [Issue#186, p.74]
