Gamesweasel

Gamesweasel podcast episode 215

Gamesweasel — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:40:35 +0000

Episode 215
This week on Gamesweasel we review Star Trek and Metro Last Light, tell you the news about the Xbox One, plus you can win an Assassins Creed 3 outfit from Ubisoft and fun-shack.com.

Buy
To play any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Star Trek and Metro Last Light pages on Amazon.com. To play any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Star Trek and Metro Last Light pages on Amazon.co.uk.

Win
We have Assassins Creed 3 outfit from Ubisoft and fun-shack.com to give away by 3 June 2013, full details of how to enter can be found on our competitions page.

Contact us
Email: gamesweasel@mevio.com
Twitter: twitter.com/gamesweasel
Facebook: facebook.com/gamesweasel

Screenshots

Metro Last Light review

Gamesweasel — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:47:31 +0000

So the sun’s finally starting to appear because Summer is almost here so it’s the perfect time to jump into a video game where you’re mostly underground in depressing metro systems because it’s too dangerous to venture above ground thanks to all the irradiated mutants roaming about the place. This is Metro: Last Light and if you fancy a journey into post-apocalyptic Russia then this is the game for you.

Set in the same world as Metro 2033, you play as Artyom, a voiceless hero (apart from the narrative story sections in the loading screens) who not only fights for his faction but is also privy to weird visions because somehow, he’s connected to The Dark Ones, an alien race who could be friend or foe. You may think this looks like an RPG but it is in fact a straight down the line FPS, however its brooding tension sand slow set pieces all add to the atmosphere immensely.

There are times in the game you’ll wander through populated areas, snatching overheard conversations about all manner of subjects that further the plot or just make the world seem more real – it’s really very well put together. The Russian accents may be a bit shonky at times but you know what? I’ve never actually been to Russia so for all I know, they may actually speak like that when talking in English! You’ll have a variety of guns to play with, such as shotguns, rifles, pistols and grenades, it’s just a shame they don’t pack more of a punch. Firing these weapons doesn’t really satisfy, however sneaking up on hapless enemies and slitting their throats does illicit some macabre fun, even if the guy standing right next to him doesn’t seem to notice because you’ve just made the area that bit darker by unscrewing a light bulb.

You can play the game with the usual HUD but you can also play the game in Ranger mode, where the HUD and crosshair disappear, ammo is scarce and everyone, including yourself, does more damage. This fundamentally changes the way you play the game and makes you stick to the shadows, opting for stealth when you know it’s the right time to pick people off one by one.

Metro: Last Light is a solid FPS with some fantastic visuals, great characterisation and convincing animations. In an odd way it does feel like a bit of a throwback akin to Half Life 2 but that’s by no way a bad thing. If you fancy a few atmospheric nights in then it’s highly recommended. It gets 8 out of 10.

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Star Trek review

Gamesweasel — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:45:17 +0000

I haven’t seen the Start Trek movie but I hear good things about it. That’s more than can be said of this official Star Trek game brought out to cash in on the movie. Reviews online aren’t favourable but I thought I’d try it for myself and see what I made of it.

So the premise, in case you don’t know, is that The Gorn have attacked New Vulcan and eventually attack Starfleet themselves and you, as Kirk or Spock, have to put a stop to all this lizard-shenanigans.

The game focusses on co-op, so you can play online with a friend or have the AI take control of either Spock or Kirk. It’s a third-person shooter featuring a bit of cover and some little puzzles where you have to hack doors and other gadgetry by matching up symbols or drawing a path from one node to another.

Straight away you’ll realise it’s all very official, the likenesses are great (apart from Simon Pegg as Scotty), voices are all from the original actors and expect all the right sound effects of transporters, tricorders and phasers doing their thing. The problem lies in that the whole game just seems unfinished and is full of bugs. For instance, when you die sometimes you just ragdoll and catapult into the air, limbs bending in impossible ways, your AI partner sometimes gets stuck and just moonwalks on the spot or leans through scenery, clipping as it does it, facial expressions are laughable at times and characters don’t even face each other to talk to you. These things were part and parcel 8 years ago but not today!

Combat is also just not all that fun. You can pop out behind cover to fire your phaser or alien weaponry like the Ravager but The Gorn just aren’t an exciting bunch of things to fight. Lizard men with guns? If you’re a Star Trek fan you might enjoy their return but for me, it all just seems a bit silly.

The action is broken up slightly with an Enterprise space battle that’s possibly the worst on-rails shooting section I’ve ever had to play and you even get to perform a ‘mind-meld’ which takes you into some flashbacks framed by what looks like the opening credits of a Tom Baker episode of Doctor Who.

Star Trek is not a great game, however, the film is so spend your money in the cinema instead. It gets a mediocre 5 out of 10.

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The Last of Us preview

Gamesweasel — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:40:03 +0000

I’ve been looking forward to playing The Last Of Us and imagine my surprise when Sony sent me a code to play a short demo featuring two scenarios on my trusty retail PS3 from the comfort of my own home. After a hefty install I fired it up and was instantly grabbed by this bleak survival game telling the story of big hairy Joel and small Ellen Page lookalike with attitude, Ellie.

The first area I explored was a short scenario in Lincoln where Joel and Ellie happen upon an abandoned town and search the area for supplies and a car to get them on their way. As with Uncharted, Naughty Dog have gone to the trouble to make the world and characters believable, with Ellie singing and stopping to look at some fireflies as I mastered the basics of movement and looked out over the breath-taking surroundings. This is one beautiful looking game. Problem solving didn’t amount to much, namely picking up a plank and moving it about to cross a gap, something repeated later on and hopefully, not the only mechanic when it comes to using the old noggin. I then got to explore an interior, raiding it for supplies which can be put together to craft more deadly melee weapons, for example, attaching scissors to a pipe with some duct tape to make it extra stabby!

Now equipped with a way to defend myself, I was then treated to my first infected, a shrieking, feral human with things sprouting from his head. They take a good few shots to put down and certainly make you jump when the serene abandoned quiet of the town is interrupted.

In Pittsburgh, I was treated to a high quality cut-scene where Joel and Ellie are ambushed by bandits thanks to a trap involving a road block, and then got to fight humans who fire back from a distance. Joel can duck behind cover and switch shoulders with a tap of R2, pick up objects to throw to distract enemies and even grapple with them hand to hand. It’s really heart-thumping stuff as you not only have to stay alive but also protect Ellie who I know I’ll start to care for and want to protect even more when the game’s eventually out. We then get to meet Bill, a ‘friend’ who owes Joel a favour – that’s after we avoid one of his many booby traps and get string up like a pig at a slaughterhouse and have to fend off infected from an upside down position while Ellie tries to free me.

I’m really looking forward to The Last Of Us. It doesn’t have quite the same ‘action movie buddy’ vibe of Uncharted, instead this is replaced by a more delicate relationship where I get the feeling the sense of jeopardy could be the most I’ve ever felt in a video game.

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Xbox One release date

Gamesweasel — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:14:15 +0000

In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft have just announced their brand spanking new Xbox called…Xbox One! Yes, they’ve gone back to the beginning with a new piece of tech that looks like it would sell well in Comet but actually packs quite a punch, delivering a one-stop shop for your multimedia living room experience when combined with the new Kinect, a lovely new controller with grippy analogue sticks and an improved Smartglass where you can use your phone as a remote.

Xbox One will allow you to instantly switch between live TV, games, movies and the internet with gestures and voice commands and can store everything in the cloud so you can access your stuff anytime, anywhere on one of their 300,000 servers powering Xbox LIVE. As you’d expect, the console is more powerful too with 5 billion transistors, 8GB of RAM, USB 3.0, a Blu Ray drive and a 500 GB HDD. They say it’s also practically silent which will be good news of old Xbox 360 owners who can’t hear their TVs above the sound of it about to take off.

The Kinect is much bigger and bulkier but does see everything in 1080p, with a wide angle lens which can see more of your living room. This basically means you can chat using Skype and it can also detect more detailed gestures and even your heart beat! No word yet if it will call an ambulance if you die on the sofa.

So, what are the games like? Well, these featured the least in the presentation but EA revealed their next generation of sports titles on Xbox One, with more realism thanks to a new engine called EA SPORTS IGNITE. Microsoft Studios also revealed Forza Motorsport 5 will be a launch title for the console and a Halo TV series with no other than Steven Spielberg at the helm. In fact there will be 15 exclusive titles for the Xbox One over the first 12 months with 8 of those being new IPs. Finally, Activision showed off CoD Ghosts for the first time and some impressive tech that really made everything look much, much prettier.

Xbox One will be out later on in 2013 and we’ll have more news about the console from E3 in just over two weeks!

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Gamesweasel podcast episode 214

Gamesweasel — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:32:48 +0000

Episode 214
This week on Gamesweasel we play Injustice Gods Among Us and Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, take a look at the headlines behind Tomb Raider, Saints Row IV and Wolfenstein The New Order, plus you get the chance to win 5 copies of Guacamelee for the PS3 and PS VITA.

Buy
To buy any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Injustice Gods Among Us and Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon pages on Amazon.com. To buy any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Injustice Gods Among Us and Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon pages on Amazon.co.uk.

Win
If you’d like to win Guacamelee for the PS3 and PS VITA then check out our competitions page before 20 May 2013.

Contact us
Email: gamesweasel@mevio.com
Twitter: twitter.com/gamesweasel
Facebook: facebook.com/gamesweasel

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Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon review

Gamesweasel — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:49:38 +0000

I didn’t know what to make of Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon when a friend showed me it. I thought it was either an April Fools gag or a mod some imaginative coder in his bedroom had made for Far Cry 3. 4 weeks later it turns out it’s real and I’m playing it after attending a launch party for the event thrown by Ubisoft themselves! In case you’re still confused, Blood Dragon is a stand-alone game you can download and it uses the Far Cry 3 engine to throw you into a brand new post-apocalyptic world of neon, 80s clichés and cyborgs wearing motorcycle helmets!

Straight away you realise the tongue is firmly in the cheek of this game as you take on the role of Rex Colt, a Mark IV cyborg voiced by Michael Biehn of 80s sci-fi action hero fame. He’s well cast as he spits out rhetoric with his squad which, if you’re a fan of films that you originally watched on VHS, you’ll appreciate greatly.

You can tell this game is still basically Far Cry 3 underneath, but there’s enough changes here to make it warrant a buy – you’ll get at least 6 hours of enjoyment out of it! Pirates have been replaced by cyborgs who explode in a shower of blue goo when you shoot them, dogs have been replaced by cyber dogs and by far the most silly and cool thing in the game are the Blood Dragons themselves – 12 foot tall beasts that can’t detect you when crouched and run to fetch cyborg hearts as if they were sticks if you lob one to distract them.

Gameplay is familiar if you spent time trying to kill Vaas in Far Cry 3. You roam the map by foot or vehicle, attack outposts, liberate bases and do side missions. Along the way you can then upgrade weapons and abilities but it’s good you start off with a massive arsenal of guns from the start so you can jump straight into the action.

The colour scheme is also nuts. It won’t be to everyone’s taste but the red sky, purples, oranges, blues and pinks sort of work. You’ll also love the soundtrack if you’re a fan of John Carpenter movies or are quite partial to a bit of Jean-Michel Jarre. All the kids say, who?

The joke may wear a little thin as you progress through the game but it’s still a solid, enjoyable shooter that will pass the hours indoors when the sun’s not shining. It gets an excellent 8 out of 10.

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Injustice Gods Among Us review

Gamesweasel — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:46:35 +0000

I first saw Injustice at last year’s E3. Behind closed doors we were treated to a demo of Superman fighting The Flash and I liked what I saw. Developed by NeverRealm, the same dudes behind Mortal Kombat, the game looked promising and thankfully, it’s delivered now it’s available to play properly.

So the question is, what would happen if Superman decided to turn bad and take over the world? Well, thanks to a parallel world story this is a possibility in Injustice and turns the tables on who is good and bad, resulting in some genuinely unsettling moments when Superman is a proper…well, I can’t say the word here because it would have to be edited. The game also, through the superb story mode explains why mere mortals can actually fight Superman and gets over the whole ‘why would Batman be fighting Batman’ problem thanks to them crossing over worlds to meet and fight with each other anway.

If you’ve played the recent Mortal Kombat, expect a similar feel here. Punches, kicks and throws really connect and feel meaty and this is further enhanced by new environmental attacks which work in different ways depending on who you play as. For example, Solomon Grundy may pick up a car and throw it, whilst Batman may just jump off the bonnet or make it explode. These attacks mix things up and you can even smash people into other areas, resulting in a fun animation as you knock a massive chunk off their health. This can make things a little unbalanced as you’re basically performing the equivalent of a super attack with just a normal kick but if you’re fighting head to head, I guess you both have that advantage.

Story mode is engaging and makes sense, but there’s also a battle mode in there which is the mode you’d usually expect from a fighting game where you battle 12 enemies and then get a little outro, you then have the S.T.A.R. Lab which is similar to the challenge tower in MK where you must fight with certain criteria in mind and try to achieve 3 stars in each round for performing various tasks. It’s all extra fun to be had after you’ve completed the story and will help improve your rank and unlock extra goodies like costumes and backgrounds.

The game’s also as deep or shallow as you want it to be. Moves are relatively simple to pull off but mastering timings, combos, juggles and when to drain your power meter are things you’ll only do with practice. Believe me, I went online and got my ass handed to me on a Catwoman-shaped plate!

If you liked MK you’ll also love this, equally if you’re a fan of DC comics, there’s a lot of fan service here. Injustice: Gods Among Us gets 8 out of 10.

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Lego City Undercover The Chase Begins review

Gamesweasel — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:36:21 +0000

LEGO City Undercover – The Chase Begins is an interesting prospect because at first glance you may think it’s the same game as the Lego City Undercover Wii U version but it actually presents a slightly different version of the game with different missions. Think of it like a remixed version of the game instead.

In similar vein to the Wii U game, u get to explore the city as Officer Chase McCain in a sandbox environment where you’re led where to go with objective markers but are also free to roam and explore for yourself to find tonnes of secrets and extras.

Missions generally are a mix of platforming and combat. You’ll be climbing and clambering around environments and using different disguises to help you progress further. For example, dressed as a burglar you can use a crowbar to lever open doors, don a workman outfit and you can fix machines to grant access to new areas and as a spaceman you can even take advantage of a rocket pack. Combat feels a bit weak though. Punches don’t feel like they really connect and the slow motion throws and special moves only really seek to slow down the action.

You can jump in a number of vehicles too to get around the city and build new ones once you’ve opened special platforms by collecting enough super bricks.

3DS capabilities have also been employed, mostly they involve using the internal gyroscopes to scan areas or lock onto frequencies but these can be annoying to use if you’re in a moving vehicle as you can’t accurately progress occasionally! The touch screen is also put to good use as a map and info point.

The Chase Begins is like a simplified version of the Wii U game. If you have kids it’s perfectly suited to them but if you’re an adult looking to play through it, the humour isn’t quite enough to pull the game through what is in essence mostly a series of fetch quests. It gets 7 out of 10.

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Wolfenstein The New Order announced

Gamesweasel — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:21:24 +0000

Bethesda have announced a brand new Wolfenstein game entitled Wolfenstein: The New Order. There’s not much to show apart from this logo so for now, just assume it’s about Nazis, supernatural stuff and a kick ass 80s band from Manchester.

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Saints Row IV release date

Gamesweasel — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:20:13 +0000

Deep Silver and Volition have released a brand new trailer for Saints Row IV. The trailer shows off just some of the ludicrous things you can do as the President of the United States of ‘Merica as you kick ass for the Saints and smash members of the alien Zin race…and besuited humans, right in the knackers. That’s gotta hurt! You can try that yourself if you’re over 18 from August 23rd 2013.

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Tomb Raider Shipwrecked out now

Gamesweasel — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:18:03 +0000

A brand new multiplayer map pack is available for Tomb Raider right now. The Shipwrecked Map Pack features a level called Lost Fleet where a massive beached ship serves as a dangerous battleground full of twists, turns, traps and other things beginning with T and Himoko’s Cradle isn’t a euphemism but in fact a mountain top shrine full of pitfalls where danger lurks around every corner. You can get it for $3.99 over Xbox Live, PSN or Steam.

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Gamesweasel podcast episode 213

Gamesweasel — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:30:05 +0000

Episode 213
On this weeks episode of Gamesweasel we review Army of TWO The Devils Cartel and The Walking Dead Survival Instinct, take a look at the news about Injustice Gods Among Us, Skyrim 2 and Castle of Illusion, plus you get the chance to win 1 of 6 copies of Battlefield 3 End Game codes.

Buy
To get hold of any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Army of TWO The Devils Cartel and The Walking Dead Survival Instinct pages on Amazon.com. To get hold of any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Army of TWO The Devils Cartel and The Walking Dead Survival Instinct pages on Amazon.co.uk.

Win
We have 6 copies of Battlefield 3 End Game codes to give away by 6 May 2013, full details of how to enter can be found on our competitions page.

Contact us
Email: gamesweasel@mevio.com
Twitter: twitter.com/gamesweasel
Facebook: facebook.com/gamesweasel

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The Walking Dead Survival Instinct review

Gamesweasel — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:43:16 +0000

I’ve just managed to finally get to the end of The Walking Dead Season 3 even though I don’t actually know why I watch it any more. Apart from the great effects and gore, it’s all rather talky and boring with characters I really couldn’t give two hoots about!

‘Survival Instinct’ tells the story of probably the two most interesting characters; Southern drawl brothers Daryl and Merle, and their plight before the TV series first began and features both the likenesses and voices of their respective actors Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker.

The game begins with no real explanation as you play as another character who soon meets his demise, and then you’re thrown into the shoes of Daryl as he goes on a road trip to find his brother, meeting other characters on the way and trying to avoid becoming a tasty snack for all the walkers out there.

Straight away you’ll see that this certainly hasn’t had a lot of spit and polish thrown at it. In fact, it’s a rather lazy first-person game thanks to a number of factors. First of all, let’s talk combat. There are a number of guns and melee weapons to choose from but to be honest, you’ll spend most of the time using the knife as that’s most effective. Sneak up on a walker and you can perform a gratuitous stealth kill – no complaints there! It’s just that if you fight one face to face, things are just a bit comical. You hit them in the face four times as they take one on the chin, and then they just fall backwards like a faith healer has just zapped them with the power of God. If you get swarmed by them, you then get to partake in a little mini game where you must move the cursor over their faces and stab them one by one until they either die or you eventually run out of energy and get eaten. You won’t want to use a gun much as they’re slow to reload and result in all the walkers running towards you because you’ve just rung a dinner bell that goes boom.

As you help people you can then get them to tag along and order them to go and find supplies whilst you do the main missions. There’s some strategy to employ here such as giving them the right weapon for the job and a risk meter which shows how successful they’re likely to be, but this definitely doesn’t have the same depth as you’d see in Assassin’s Creed when you send one of your brotherhood on a mission.

Aside from the main missions you’ll also have random stop-offs on bridges and in towns in order to push cars out of the way that block your path or find batteries and fuel to keep your wheels moving.

When it comes to presenation, Daryl’s voiceover also sounds like Norman really couldn’t be bothered to actually do any voice acting although Michael Rooker does voice Merle a lot better, probably because he’s got previous experience, such as playing a character in Black Ops 2 recently. Graphics are also nothing to write home about, they look like something from a game that came out 5 years ago.

I would say that fans of the TV series would find something extra here to transcend the mundane, repetitive experience of Survival Instinct, however, there’s not even any extra insight here into the characters or the world. If you want to kill zombies there are plenty of other better games to choose from. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct gets a below par 4 out of 10.

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Mickey returns in Castle of Illusion HD

Gamesweasel — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:55:43 +0000

Mickey Mouse fans can rejoice because the 1993 Sega Megadrive classic Castle of Illusion is due for an HD remake . The game will be download only and available on PSN, XBLA and via Steam on the PC.

Skyrim 2.0

Gamesweasel — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:53:55 +0000

Bethesda’s Skyrim team have moved onto their next project which means great news for people looking forward to another massive adventure but less than good news for anyone hoping for yet more content for your Dragonborn to adventure in. There will still be minor updates though so if you’re still frustrated by the odd bug here and there, hopefully they’ll still get ironed out in the near future.

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Injustice Gods Among Us delayed

Gamesweasel — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:51:41 +0000

It’s slightly bad news for Wii U owners looking forward to playing Injustice: Gods Among Us along with everyone else. It seems the game’s going to be delayed for a week due to unknown circumstances. Wii U owners are also missing out on the special edition versions of the game as well. Here’s an idea, why don’t you just get yourselves an Xbox instead?

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Army of TWO The Devils Cartel review

Gamesweasel — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:28:56 +0000

Army of TWO is back with new developers, new characters and a new feel as once again you play through the game solo or with a friend sitting next to you split screen or online. This time the game’s subheading is “The Devil’s Cartel” as you head into Mexico to rescue a poor individual who’s got on the wrong side of a gang of drug dealers. Every day stuff really!

Alpha and Bravo are now the playable characters, as they’re mentored and work alongside Salem and Rios from the previous games from time to time and for the most part, this is very much a 3rd-person cover shooter. Tap ‘A’ when a blue cursor appears in front of an object and you’ll either crouch behind what you’re standing next to or make a dash and slide to cover further away. When it works it’s great, however there are times when you want to come out of cover and end up dashing to an object that’s surrounded by enemies, only to be shot to bits. It’s handy then that your partner AI if playing in single player rarely gets into trouble and is adept at picking you up again! Enemies aren’t as clever though, and usually spawn in batches of three by bursting through doors or jumping over walls and either stand in cover or charge at or beside you for target practice. Hit zones are also a bit odd. You can fire at someone point blank with a shotgun and miss, but then kill someone with the same weapon from a distance. Quite frankly, that doesn’t make sense!

And neither does the motivation of the characters really. The game definitely has a more serious tone but there are still wisecracks from the pair which don’t really hit the mark. And the fact that they’re wearing masks all the time means you don’t really warm to them. Technically the game doesn’t look all that great either. Animations are stiff, screen tearing rips through cut scenes, textures visibly load in front of you and invisible walls sometimes prevent you from walking into clearly accessible areas.

The saving grace is the addition of Overkill which is actually a lot of fun. Get enough kills and score enough points and you can tap LB to enter Overkill mode, which basically means you’re invincible, have unlimited ammo you don’t need to reload and can just go crazy annihilating everything in your way. This mindless destruction is actually a blast and thankfully just marginally lifts the game above average fare.

This latest iteration of the Army of TWO games certainly isn’t going to win any awards but if you want a mindless shooter with tonnes of destruction, you may find something here to pass the time with. It gets 6 out of 10.

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Gamesweasel podcast episode 212

Gamesweasel — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:43:35 +0000

Episode 212
On this weeks episode of Gamesweasel we review BioShock Infinite and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, plus we are giving away Sly Cooper Thieves in Time for the PS3 in our competition.

Buy
If you like any of the games reviewed on this show you can buy from the BioShock Infinite and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 pages on Amazon.com. If you like any of the games reviewed on this show you can buy from the BioShock Infinite and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 pages on Amazon.co.uk.

Win
We have Sly Cooper Thieves in Time for the PS3 to give away by 15 April 2013, full details of how to enter can be found on our competitions page.

Contact us
Email: gamesweasel@mevio.com
Twitter: twitter.com/gamesweasel
Facebook: facebook.com/gamesweasel

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Luigis Mansion 2 review

Gamesweasel — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:48:05 +0000

Poor old Luigi. He’s always playing second fiddle to his brother Mario but in Luigi’s Mansion 2 he actually gets to be star of the show for a change instead of just showing gamers how to complete a level of a more traditional Mario game.

I never played the original game back in the day. I knew the premise was to catch ghosts by sucking them up with a big vacuum cleaner whilst exploring spooky mansions by torchlight but what I wasn’t prepared for was one of the most charming games featuring either of the brothers in a long time. The thing that hits you immediately is how much personality they’ve managed to put into the green outfitted plumber. You see the thing is, he’s actually terrified of ghosts and so plays the role of the reluctant hero as the baby-faced Professor E. Gadd sends him a series of fetch quests into haunted mansions in order to retrieve pieces of the Dark Moon he needs to get back for one reason or another.

Luigi makes a variety of noises as he’s scared out of his wits by the ghostly goings on around him and even hums along to the theme song that plays as he explores. Animations are also great whether he’s wrangling with a ghost to get it in the bag on his back, finding new secret doors or falling through floors. It’s like watching a cartoon, especially with the dynamic lighting which really gives the game a different feel to the usual Mario fare.

As you make your way through the mansions you’ll get more and more tools to help you catch ghosts and explore the environment around you. A flash light is used to operate light sensitive machinery and stun ghosts, a dark light is used to reveal hidden areas or follow ghostly foot prints and you can suck and blow the environment around you to pull sheets off beds, spin fans or even lift the carpet to look for keys and coins. If you like games where you are rewarded for exploring every nook and cranny then this game is definitely something worth trying out. You’ll definitely feel rewarded!

There are some frustrating moments where you may be wandering around wondering what to do next but eventually you will work out what to do, so you decide whether this is something that would have a negative impact on your enjoyment. The 3D is also something that doesn’t really work. There are frequent moments where you use the gyroscope to look about and unless you keep your head in an exact sweet spot, the picture will go all funny on you. It’s really best to keep it switched off on this one, the added benefit being you’ll have some extra battery to play with too.

If you’re looking for yet another decent adventure on your handheld this is definitely worth adding to your collection. It gets a quality 8 out of 10.

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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 review

Gamesweasel — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:58:41 +0000

Another year brings us yet another Tiger Woods game with next year’s number on it, and PGA Tour 14 gets an added boost as Tiger Woods is now world number one yet again! The game series has also had its ups and downs in the past and to keep things fresh, EAC have tried a number of things.

Two years ago the game franchise managed to bag The Masters but now, for the first time ever, all four major golfing events are present and correct – those being the United States Open, The Open Championship, The Masters and the PGA Championship. You can also play in the LPGA TOUR as one of the ladies and compete in the biggest draw of this iteration, the Legends of the Majors mode. Shown in retro sepia-vision, this mode lets you go back in time and compete as and against iconic players of the past, going all the way back to 1860. If you’re familiar with your golf history you’ll be in your element here – for others, only more recent players such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player are going to float your boat.

When it comes to game mechanics, things are left largely unchanged – it seems the putting meter is more user-friendly this time around though, where you adjust your aim depending on what the preview shows you and then attempt to hit the mark on screen as you take your delicate swing. Players also have their own unique swing styles that match their own real life swings.

If you fancy taking your game online, they’ve also included the new connected tournaments feature where you can play live in real time tournaments with other golfers from around the world. If you like being social they’ve also extended the club feature to accept up to 100 members and you can chat with them at any time.

When it comes to presentation though, things are actually a bit disappointing. Player animations can jerk in between poses and always freeze between different points of view and the Tiger Woods model looks like he’s just had his wisdom teeth out – he’s really jowly! I also wish they’d put the sarcastic commentary back in which I enjoyed before these very serious voices took over.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 certainly provides fan service for those who like their golf games, but for everyone else, I can’t really recommend shelling out for this version. If I were you, I’d wait until the next generation rears its beautiful head which will in turn, demand a complete revamp of the series.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 gets 7 out of 10.

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BioShock Infinite review

Gamesweasel — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:41:34 +0000

Some people won’t have played the previous two Bioshock games set in the underwater city of Rapture. They’ve asked if it’s possible to play Bioshock Infinite even if they haven’t touched previous games and the good news is you can, as it’s a completely different story with different characters doing different things. Well, there are some similarities which I will cover in just a second.

You play from the first-person perspective of a guy called Booker DeWitt who’s taken on the mission of finding a girl called Elizabeth so he can pay off ‘the debt’. The game begins with a surreal exchange between you and an odd couple in a rowing boat who you’ll see countless times again on your journey, and soon you make the ascent to Columbia, a city in the sky that’s an absolute marvel to exist in. Although this twisted version of a 1912 wonderland is highly stylised, it’s one of the most convincing places I’ve ever been to in a game. Usually I don’t stop to smell the metaphorical roses but this time I savoured every moment, listened to every character and found lots of fun things to see and do. In fact, some of the sections of the game where you’re not in combat are actually the most engrossing.

That’s also down to the superb characterisation of Elizabeth. Not only are there plenty of game devices involving the damsel in distress, she’s also a great companion. Sort of like a troubled Disney Princess, she holds your hand through the game and helps to keep some semblance of narrative through fantastic voice acting and facial animation. She certainly makes Infinite a less lonely experience than previous Bioshocks.

So, what about combat? Well you have a variety of guns you can shoot and upgrade and also Vigors at your disposal which are basically Plasmids with all new powers. you can send a murder of crows to attack enemies, fire lightning at them, whip them with water and much more! Elizabeth can also play with other dimensions by ripping open tears in the world to access new realities and also throw you health and ammo when you need it most. She’s also pretty handy when it comes to picking locks!

Bioshock Infinite is a great yarn but be warned, it’s bonkers and doesn’t actually make sense when all is said and done. Think of it like the video game equivalent of the TV series Lost. This is without a doubt one of the most beautiful, engrossing first person shooters I’ve ever played so it gets a sky high 9 out of 10.

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Gamesweasel podcast episode 211

Gamesweasel — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:19:55 +0000

Episode 211
This week on Gamesweasel we review Gears of War Judgment and Trials Evolution Gold Edition, take a look at the headlines behind Sky Sports on Xbox 360, Deus Ex Human Revolution Directors Cut and Yogify, plus you get the chance to win 1 of 6 copies of Metal Gear Rising Revengeance for the Xbox 360 and PS3. We’ve got a review of Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate, a sneak peak at Metro Last Light and a Saints Row IV review on the Gamesweasel blog. Plus we’ve got some great ways to save money at Godaddy for all your web domain and hosting needs!

Buy
To play any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Gears of War Judgment and Trials Evolution Gold Edition pages on Amazon.com. To play any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Gears of War Judgment and Trials Evolution Gold Edition pages on Amazon.co.uk.

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If you’d like to win Metal Gear Rising Revengeance for the Xbox 360 and PS3 then check out our competitions page before 1 April 2013.

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Gears of War Judgment review

Gamesweasel — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:16:29 +0000

Gears of War: Judgment marks a change of tack for one of Microsoft’s AAA titles because not only does it not feature Marcus Fenix in the main campaign, it also mixes things up with the gameplay with a faster-paced game that’s more objective based and which tracks your every move so you can earn achievements and boast to fellow grub-punishers online.

The story follows the actions of Kilo Squad during the climax of Emergence Day and it’s all told through a series of flashbacks as Baird, Cole, Sofia and Paduk all testify of their innocence to the council. In single player you’ll play through campaigns where you take on the role of each of the four as they give their point of view of the action, and the gameplay is split up further into smaller sections where you must meet objectives to earn stars which in turn unlock new upgrades and another short campaign called Aftermath that feels similar to a deleted scene from a movie that plays through a campaign set during Gears of War 3.

At the start of each section simply walk up to a red Cog marker on the wall and you’ll be able to alter the action slightly. For example, you might change the story to say there was dust effecting visibility in the next section, or that your comrades are going to set off poison gas in four minutes resulting in instant death if you don’t get to the exit in time. It’s meant to make the challenge harder but my question is why would you not want to accept all of the extra challenges? It would almost feel as if you were missing out or being a pussy.

Because the action is a bit more frantic and you’ve got three AI team mates with you who tend to rush forward, you’ll find you’re not shooting from cover as much either. Gears controls have always been a bit clunky and this can lead to chaotic moments when you’re not sure where the enemies are coming from and you can’t turn or shoot quick enough if they decide to sneak up behind you.

As you’d expect from Epic and their subsidiary People Can Fly that made the fun, b-movie-like FPS Bulletstorm, everything’s very slick. Graphics are glossy even though they’re all mostly a shade of brown or grey once again, characters are colourful and have their own quips they like to throw into the mix when killing Locusts, and there are some new monsters to fight along with new ways to kill them that mostly go boom!

You can play through the whole campaign alone or with up to three friends and there’s plenty to keep achievement hunters busy as the game tracks almost everything you do and keeps you notified with progress bars in the bottom right hand corner. And if you like your action online then the fun doesn’t stop there. There’s a survival mode to keep you busy where you must protect objectives from waves of enemies to prevent your squad from being pushed back through a map and of course a full competitive multiplayer mode with Team Deathmatch, Free For All, Domination and a new class-based 5 vs 5 mode called OverRun.

I know people complain about cover shooters but Gears of War did it very well in the previous Gears of War trilogy. This game mixes things up a bit and to be honest, I personally wish they’d kept the gameplay a little more classic and not opted for the bitty challenges that break up the story. Still, this by no means ruins the game and if you want change, then you’ve got it. I judge this game to be an 8 out of 10.

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Saints Row IV preview

Gamesweasel — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:04:23 +0000

I’ve just seen something truly bonkers, yes even more bonkers than Saints Row The Third. Can you guess what it is? Yes, it’s Saint Row IV. In a move to usurp the already over-the-top sandbox action adventure, they’ve gone all out in this fourth iteration of the game and this time, you’re the President of the United States. Yes you heard me, the President! In a demo that lasted about 5 minutes we were treated to a multitude of silliness that left me well and truly gobsmacked when the leader of the Saints started kicking ass in the street to save Steelport from an alien race called the Zen.

Things already seemed crazy and then he got out the big guns. The first weapon of choice was the Inflato-Ray, just point it at an unfortunate’s noggin and his head will inflate, then his eyes, then…well he just sort of bursts. Funny and gross – now there’s some bang for your buck. If that’s not your style, why not try out the Dubstep gun? Just pull the trigger and make everyone and everything dance to death whilst tunes akin to Skrillex come blasting their way in a soundwave of death.

Next on show was a monster truck. It’s a perfect way to get around the city because if you can’t go round it, you can go over it, crushing cars beneath those big rubbery tyres like they were grapes. And if a large car is still a little too pedestrian for you, why not try getting suited up in a Mech to deal destruction? Mayhem’s back where you have to destroy everything around you for Gold status but this time you can do it inside a giant robot. This game just gets more nuts the more you see it!

I thought I had saw it all but then we saw that the President also has super powers. You can use super sprint and super jump to get about the city and it really looks amazing when you jump higher than the tallest building and ground pound a load of enemies before picking them up using TK and lobbing them into the nearest church. You can also race around the city streets faster than ever before, completely negating the need to use cars if that’s your bag. Oh, and did I mention you can also freeze people and cars and then smash them into itty bitty pieces? No? Well, I just did.

Finally we were treated to another super-powered bad guy to match your abilities – The Warden. He’s basically one of the Zen and about to kick your ass and…well, that’s where the demo ended but trust me, it looks a lot of fun and plays super-smooth too. I personally can’t wait to get my hands on Saints Row IV and fool around in this virtual playground for myself.

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Keep fit with Yogify

Gamesweasel — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:42:08 +0000

Electronic Arts has released a yoga app for iOS called Yogify. Seen as the spiritual successor to the EA Sports Active software, the app if free to download and will teach you the basics and more advanced techniques of yoga where you can do stuff like balance on your head. You’ll be able to buy extra classes as you progress to bag yourself up to 35 hours of content and 275 poses. Best get stretching!

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Play Deus Ex for the Wii U

Gamesweasel — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:38:10 +0000

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut for the Wii U has been made official by Square Enix and apparently it boasts “striking visual improvements”. You wouldn’t yet believe it but the Wii U can actually display high-res PC textures – the game will also feature overhauled boss fights thanks to fan feedback and offer Miiverse integration and all that lovely dual-screen loveliness you’ve come to expect.

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Watch Sky Sports on the Xbox 360

Gamesweasel — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:34:05 +0000

Xbox 360 owners can now get pay-as-you-go Sky Sports access thanks to a new initiative that’s part of their Now TV package. Previously you had to subscribe to monthly membership if you wanted to watch Premier League football and other sports on your console but now you can pay £9.99 for 24 hour access to all the sports channels including F1. It may be more expensive but if you only care about that big game now and then, and think you’d spend more in the pub, it’s good news!

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Metro Last Light preview

Gamesweasel — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:15:33 +0000

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited down to the nightclub Cable during the day to try out Metro Last Light, the latest in the series of angsty subterranean Russian games where you spend some of your time top side fighting monsters and a lot of your time going underground where you’ll meet a lot of folks who now live in the subway system. And there’s the link with the venue – Cable is underground below the London tube network and I’m currently writing this preview without a phone signal and with the smell of damp filling my nostrils.

My gaming experience began some way into the game where I donned my gas mask and headed above ground to investigate a downed plane. After a sequence where I presumably started seeing visions and a flashback of how the plane crashed, I then had to fight off a number of mutated beasts with my comrade before being lead into an underground station that also doubled as a bazaar for buying and selling ammo and kit and a theatre. Here’s a hint, stay and watch the action after the ladies do the Can-Can to be treated to some extra on-stage action that you’ll miss if you follow the leader into the next section of the game.

For reasons I won’t go into here (avoiding spoilers), I then ended up in a stealthy section of the game where I had to make my way through an enemy base and escape through to the other side. The world is interactive so you can blow lamps out, shoot out lights and pull levers to shut down floodlights and use one of multiple routes to find your way to your goal, consulting a clipboard with a tap of the ‘back’ button that has a handy green compass arrow to keep you on track.

Once through the enemy base, I then ended up controlling a rail car to travel between stations, stopping off on my way to clear obstacles or rescue people who happen to have got in with the wrong crowd. Then, it was time for lunch and I that’s where my game experience ended. It was fun, and that’s down to a number of factors.

So, first of all, let’s discuss the way the game looks. Running on Deep Silver’s own engine called 4A Tech, the game has its own style that’s really quite atmospheric. Like previous Metro games, it uses a muted colour palette to portray a feeling of despair and decay. The game isn’t quite finished yet so textures are a mix of quality, however NPCs do seem lifelike and there’s plenty of life when you enter habited areas or bases. There’s a lot going on around you, whether it’s people trying to get some kip or an uncle entertaining kids with shadow puppets and you can either stop and smell the roses and listen to what they have to say or move on and mind your own business, it’s really up to you!

In terms of combat and exploration, the gas mask is back and you’ll have to manage how and when you use it. With a tap of LB you can wipe I clean and you must constantly scavenge for new filters which you’ll have to swap out for new ones when the timer runs out and you begin gasping for air.

Weapons are also varied. There are pistols, shotguns, rifles and launchers for you to find and customize and the return of military grade ammo you can find and either use to enhance the damage your gun does to enemies, or sell at shops to buy more ammo and kit to help keep you alive. Thankfully, Deep Silver have also listened to feedback from the last game and made it very obvious in terms of the feel and sound of the military ammo so you definitely know that you’re firing it into the heads of humans and monsters to avoid any nasty surprises when you get to a shop and realise you’ve spent all your currency!

There are also a number of secondary weapons including throwing knives and grenades and you can access all of these by holding down LB and using either the d-pad or the command buttons – it’s really very intuitive.

My one criticism would be that, at the moment, checkpoints seem randomly spaced out. There were moments when I died and then had to watch a cut-scene play out simply due to the checkpoint being in the wrong place. Hopefully, these will be optimised before the game comes out.

Metro Last Light is looking like a top quality first-person action game. It seems to have a good mix of action, stealth and exploration. Add to this the unique atmosphere and Deep Silver should have a hit on their hands.

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Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate review

Gamesweasel — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:36:17 +0000

I’ve only ever been a fan of Castlevania games on the DS so I was keen to get my hands on this latest adventure which actually bothers to tell some of the back story when it comes to the Belmonts, their lineage and why they’ve got beef with Dracula in the first place.

The game begins with a bit of back story and then plays through a tutorial as you actually play as Simon Belmont’s Grandfather Gabriel. You happen upon the castle as you are taught through the basics and then are promptly thrust into the familiar form of Simon who this time has red hair and is Scottish! Konami are playing around with the Castlevania world a bit here but somehow, this Celtic look and sound sort of suits him.

If you’ve played any of the previous DS games you’ll notice straight away that this game is far more gothic and less of an arcade experience than before. Whilst there are some more comic moments when you’re attacked by dwarf hunchbacks, the game is actually played fairly straight as you’re led into the castle by an eerie floating masked figure that at first, doesn’t even speak. It sort of just gestures as if part of some tragic mime act.

Although this game is on the 3DS, you’ll actually be playing this in what I like to call 2.5D. In essence this is a classic side-scrolling platform adventure but the action does on occasion move in and out of the screen when you’re performing special moves or during quick time events. It’s also one of the best looking games on the handheld to date. Because of this there can be some slowdown occasionally when there are a lot of enemies on screen at once but it’s nothing that will make you throw your machine across the room in anger so if you don’t have contents insurance, you’ll be okay.

The game is actually played across three acts after the prologue. You’ll begin as Simon, then play as Alucard, who I only just realised has Dracula’s name spelt backwards! Duh! And you’ll also finally play as Alucard’s human form Trevor and find out how he became a vampire in the first place. Each character has different abilities which you’ll garner as you explore the castle. For example Simon eventually gets his grapple so he can swing around the place, has two spirits on his side that can protect him from enemies and the elements and fight on his behalf, and can throw axes and fire bombs, Alucard can turn into a wolf, summon bats and turn into mist form to heal and project himself through walls and Trevor can use light and shadow magic to open new paths previously inaccessible. The focus of combat and exploration changes in each act too. Simon has a mix of both, Alucard primarily will be fighting all manner of beasts and things and solving some puzzles and Trevor mainly has to deal with surviving the cogs, fire and pitfalls of the castle itself. You’ll also be fighting a fair few bosses including an eight-legged talking wolf thingy, a succubus who wants to do all manner of horrible naked things to you and of course, Dracula himself. In previous games I found the boss battles a little frustrating but thankfully each battle has two midway checkpoints that mean if you die, you can continue halfway through a fight with more health and magic. This game is definitely a little more forgiving for less hardcore gamers.

This is without a doubt one of the best games on the 3DS to date. It has a genuine story even though it’s a little silly at times, great presentation in terms of gothic visuals and music and a reason to go back and collect everything to try and get 100%. It’s also slightly easier than previous games on normal settings but don’t worry, if you like punishment you’ll unlock hardcore mode when you complete the game so you can go back and try it all again.

Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate may have an overly long title but it still gets 9 out of 10.

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Gamesweasel podcast episode 210

Gamesweasel — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:08:19 +0000

Episode 210
This week on Gamesweasel we play Tomb Raider and LEGO City Undercover, take a look at the news about Thief, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of the Shadows and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, plus we are giving away Far Cry 3 Insane Edition for the PC in our competition. Also watch our interview with John Lloyd, Community Developer at RedLynx about Trails Evolution for the PC

Buy
To buy any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Tomb Raider and LEGO City Undercover pages on Amazon.com. To buy any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Tomb Raider and LEGO City Undercover pages on Amazon.co.uk.

Win
We have Far Cry 3 Insane Edition for the PC to give away by 25 March 2013, full details of how to enter can be found on our competitions page.

Contact us
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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 release date

Gamesweasel — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:04:48 +0000

The Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 demo is out now for Xbox 360 and PS3. The demo will let you experience golf in the past and present and let you play as Arnold Palmer in the all-new Legends of the Majors mode. You can also play the golf videogame as one of the ladies in the LPGA Tour and get a taste of the Connected Tournaments feature where players can compete online. The full game’s out on March 26th.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come Out of the Shadows

Gamesweasel — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:01:42 +0000

Activision have announced a brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game subtitled Out of the Shadows. Based on the Nickelodeon animated TV series, the game will be download only and is a 3rd-person brawler with 4 player co-op as you attempt to stomp out the Foot Clan and stop them tormenting your turtles. You can download it in the Summer.

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PC Thief hits the shops

Gamesweasel — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:59:21 +0000

Thief is back with a reboot for PC and PS4 to be made by Eidos Montreal. Once again you play as Garrett in what is sure to be a tasty looking game as you use your wits to sneak about, nick stuff and probably slit a few throats and lodge some arrows in eye sockets along the way. There’s not much more info but prepare to play it some time in 2014.

LEGO City Undercover review

Gamesweasel — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:52:11 +0000

LEGO City: Undercover brings the popular toy set to life, expanding not only on what’s gone before with LEGO Batman, Indiana Jones and Star Wars into a single player experience that’s more of a sandbox experience you’d see in something like GTA. In fact, kids should definitely be playing this instead of pestering their parents for 18 rated titles but that’s another issue – rant over.

The story is simple – you’re a cop called Chase McCain who’s moved to LEGO City to track down an escaped convict called Rex Fury. You’ll visit the police station, get your briefing and then head into the open world to explore and complete missions.

The first thing you’ll notice is that this game is very funny – it’s full of amusing lines and pastiches of characters and movies that you’re going to get if you’re an adult. If you’re a child it will go over your head but that’s a good sign that this game works on many levels. Controls and gameplay are simplistic so this extra level of humour does just enough to make this game enjoyable for all ages.

Because it’s a LEGO game you should know the score. You run about, smash stuff up, build things to access new areas and find new disguises and outfits that give you new abilities, so you can access areas later on in the game you couldn’t get to before. There are also tonnes of studs and bricks to collect which you can use to buy extra outfits and vehicles or to build new vehicles such as cars, helicopters and even ferries.

Missions show that familiar meter at the top of the screen where the object is to collect enough studs to fill it up, and there are secret gold bricks and extras to find while you’re there – you can also replay missions at any time if you’re going for 100% completion.

The Wii U GamePad is also put to good use. You can use it to receive video calls from dispatch, scan the environment and navigate via the map and it all fits seamlessly into the gameplay.

There are some negative points which will annoy seasoned gamers. Loading times can be as long as 30 seconds when changing areas or embarking on missions, the gameplay can seem a little slow in terms of character movement in general and steering vehicles is a bit twitchy resulting in some frustrating crashes. I’ve also encountered the odd bug such as floating above the environment and it’s a shame they didn’t put the city itself to more use. Although you can explore and collect stuff, there isn’t really anything in the way of meaty side missions or interior locations to explore that aren’t part of a mission.

Still, despite these niggles, LEGO City: Undercover is a charming game with a genuine wit and is definitely a game worth checking out on the Wii U whether you’re 7 or 70. Aptly then, it gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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