4 GAMES TO PLAY ...
Mothergunship
PC, Xbox One, PS4 Mothergunship fuses the modern first-person shooter with the unrelenting danger of the old-school 2D shoot’em-up; games known for challenging you to survive a “bullet hell”. There’s the added spice of a unique and creatively flexible gun-crafting option, enabling you to forge multibarrel monstrosities that can launch rockets, lasers and bullets simultaneously, to aid in your mission of hopping between invading craft attacking Earth. The satisfyingly fluid controls and twitch-style action don’t sit comfortably with the leaden jump movement, and there’s a cheap and chunky feel to the no-frills corridor battlefields, but the expansive experimental options in your arsenal make Mothergunship an explosive, frantic and enjoyably “shmup”.
Tour de France 2018 PC, Xbox One, PS4
The
first impressive moments of a race in Tour de France 2018 evoke the jostling, perilous excitement of competing as just one Lycra-lover among a crowded pack of dozens of rival riders. Until the jostling really begins and you discover it’s just an illusion. Riders bounce harmlessly off one another (crashes are almost impossible and look daft), while each cyclist moves and looks like a clone of the next, albeit with a different coloured jersey. The actual racing turns out to be a drearily repetitive case of holding one button while occasionally bashing another. Tour de France 2018 has obvious passion for the strategic, team-based elements of the sport, but this is lost beneath the boring and lifeless gameplay.
Dream Alone
PC, Mac, Xbox One, PS4, Switch Dream Alone wants to recreate the magic of sombre platforming classic Limbo, but has none of the critical elements to make it work. Beyond the appropriate aesthetic (from the creepy visuals and unpleasant horror-glimpses, to the eerie mystery story of a boy saving his town from a strange illness), there’s a frustrating procession of unfairly hidden dangers that repeatedly set you back, and signposted puzzles with no room for improvisation or thought. There’s no attempt at enlivening the formula or attempting something new, and powers like switching to “the other side” to find ways to progress, are now hoary gaming cliches. If you’re craving something like Limbo, you should try Inside or Little Nightmares, and leave this well alone.
Paperbark ipad/iphone FIRST
point of business: Paperbark’s wonderfully hand-drawn artwork demands to be appreciated on as big a screen as you can manage. A smartphone just isn’t the right arena for this charming wombat-led meander through the Australian bush, not to mention that thumbing some of the intricate details as you wander around collecting flora and fauna is occasionally awkward on a small scale. Second point of business: Paperbark’s sound design is so full of delicate touches and inspired atmospheric flourish that playing it without headphones would be doing yourself a disservice. It’s not strictly a game, so much as an interactive picture book telling the story of a hungry mammal, but it’s a heartwarming experience.