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Tom Orry, Editor – Guacamelee, PS4
I’ve really only dabbled with Guacamelee, one of the games given to PlayStation Plus members in May, but I’m already enjoying it a lot. The most striking part is the art style, which really doesn’t come across anywhere near as well in pictures as it does in motion. This is a gorgeous game, with lovely background art, great characters and top music to boot. I’ve heard the final stages ramp up the difficulty and cause annoyance, but hopefully I’ll be having so much fun on the way I won’t mind too much.
Steve Burns, Deputy Editor – Splatoon, Wii U
Hey! Guess what? That game I couldn’t talk about was Splatoon. Surprise! Anyway, now that I can talk about it, let me say that it’s both excellent and a let down. I know, just like me. There are so many good ideas in it, from the movement to the ink to the emphasis on changing your environment rather than your gun, that it seems a huge shame for its campaign’s stages to be rather uninspired and its multiplayer to be bogged down in grinding and waiting in lobbies. The full review obviously has more words in it than that, but you get the gist.
PES? PES.
Simon Miller, Head Of Video Production – Magicka 2, PS4
I really liked Helldivers. Although a few years ago the sheer amount of twin-stick shooters that flooded the market threatened to kill the genre once and for all, when someone gets them right, they’re still damned fun to play. Given that the original Magicka was made by the same developer, then, I thought – even with a new team at the helm – that its sequel could be pretty decent.
And it is.
Although more complicated than Steel Battalion back in the day, Magicka 2 has the wonderful setup of seeing yourself get better the more you play. What’s horrendously confusing in minute one is soon far more comfortable after a couple of hours, leaving that nice sensation in your stomach that you’ve achieved something. Even though you’re just smashing buttons in front of your television.
It’s also one of the few games that allows you to sit down on a sofa with other human beings and play together at the same time. Online multiplayer is all well and good, but it’s a unique treat to be able to hurl insults at a friend when they’re literally no more than a few feet away from you. It’s a reminder how good games can be when they’re treated as a social experience.
Magicka 2 certainly didn’t blow me away – and its fabled humour is rubbish – but I still think it’s kind of alright…
