The Spy Who Dumped Me ★★★★☆

Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon team up in ‘The Spy Who Dumped Me’ to create one of the most hilarious and badass double acts that I’ve seen in a while. Although the plot is a bit questionable and predictable, the comedy and action in this film does a great job at distracting from it.

Recently dumped Audrey’s (Kunis) life is suddenly kick-started when she finds out that her ex-boyfriend was in fact a spy. Along with her best mate Morgan (McKinnon), she soon gets tangled in international affairs as she sets out to complete her ex’s last mission: deliver a package to Vienna. But, of course, nothing is ever that simple. The pair soon find themselves racing around Europe fighting bad guys and generally just getting themselves further into trouble whilst trying to save the world. Whilst this may seem far-fetched, the film really captures the essence of ordinary people in an extraordinary setting. Throughout the film, Audrey and Morgan are followed by undeniably handsome, English spy Sebastian (Sam Heughan) who constantly attempts to convince them that he’s on their side. Of course, as the film progresses, so does the sexual tension between Audrey and Sebastian (who saw that one coming ay?). However, the pair manage to keep their feelings to one side for long enough to muster up a plan to save the lives of many innocent people. Eventually, Audrey realises who she can trust as the film comes to a spectacularly satisfying end. 

Considering the comedy value of this film, some scenes are surprisingly violent and actually quite gory. It’s certainly not short of gruesome deaths, gun shots and explosions to put it lightly. Personally, I think the level of action in this film sets it apart from other films of a similar nature. But, what I will say is, this certainly isn’t for kids (or those easily offended).

Overall, whilst this film isn’t exactly anything original, Kunis and McKinnon do keep the laughs coming. The sparks between them are more than enough to distract from the dragged out, predictable plot. Amongst the flying body parts, brutal fatalities and excessive gun shots, this film really reinforces just how important true friendship is (especially when saving the world). 

★★★★☆

Georgia Hughes

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Fallout 76 ★★★☆☆

In case you’ve somehow missed the hype (and fan fury), ‘Fallout 76’ is now out, Bethesda’s latest game that serves as a spin-off rather than a mainline game (despite people seeming to forget this). Unlike the other games in the series, ‘Fallout 76’ is the first to be multiplayer and online, with up to 24 players on the map at any one time. Now you can interact with your team, trade items, kill others and so on, with the online play making higher level areas and the end game play easier once you have nuclear resources.

The rest of the game is fairly similar to previous games, apart from one thing – there are no human NPCs. Instead, there are just enemies and robots, with the majority of your quests coming from them as well as books and holotapes. This can make the world feel lonely at times but it’s still a strong story, just a different way of executing it which may discourage some people from playing.

The map of Appalachia is four times as big as in the ‘Fallout 4’ universe, packed with loads of different locations which can contain quests, loot, or an event (quests in a certain area that can be undertaken by everyone in the area, similar to ‘Destiny’ world events). It takes lots of cues from other MMOs with its world design which has both pros and cons – as it’s not your own world enemies and items respawn very quickly which, although it means it’s possible to restock your stuff quicker, it also makes exploring the world tiresome when you keep having to fight enemies in the same area. Fast travel costs caps so exploring is encouraged.

The settlement mechanic returns this time round as C.A.M.P.S, a mobile base be packed up, including inventory management and crafting tools whenever you need them. The stashbox, which is always safe from others, is your storage and can hold 400 items, although this can’t be upgraded and it fills up pretty quickly. Once you’ve built something you can save it and then store it away, ready to be opened exactly as you designed it next time you need it, which is actually quite a good idea.

Unfortunately, building is one of many mechanics within the game that should have been worked on before release – it’s very buggy, and even more so than a standard Bethesda game. Some bugs that have been encountered are ending up with negative weight, losing items when logging off, enemies with giant extended necks, and even one player who can’t take any damage whilst playing. A lot of the bugs affect gameplay and performance so hopefully, this will be sorted out. 

If you’ve played ‘Fallout 4’ on Survival Mode then you’ll notice lots of similarities, such as hunger, thirst, and disease. Food now goes off (and very fast, at that) so you have to be strategic in how you use it. Under level 50 you get S.P.E.C.I.A.L points each time you level up and a perk card that you can assign to the category – once level 50 and over you just get a selection of perk cards every five levels, meaning there is almost uncapped character progression.

Another new feature is the concept of challenges, which come as daily, weekly, and standard. These reward you with atomic points which can then be spent in the store to buy cosmetic items. Some of the items cost a lot of atomic points though, meaning that (yep, you guessed it) you can also buy these points with your own real money. Bethesda have said that they have a roadmap of updates and improvements and will update regularly with new events and content – this is the first real online game for Bethesda Game Softworks so it will be interesting to see what they have learnt from Zenimax, the sister studio that does ‘Elder Scrolls Online’.

I can’t completely recommend the game as there are so many glitches in its current state, but hopefully, future updates will improve this. From exploring unopened vaults to fighting the new, quite creepy range of enemies, there’s something in ‘Fallout 4’ to please every fan. Just remember – it may be part of the ‘Fallout’ franchise but it’s really its own game. Lose the expectation of it being one of the ‘Fallout’ games you know and love, and you’ve got hours of fun to enjoy. 

★★★☆☆

Sam Love

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LG G7 ThinQ ★★★☆☆

LG is down but not out, after the low sales on the G6 last year, LG launched the G7 ThinQ (is it pronounced  Think?) early this year assuming they’ll get a good share of the market. Only time will tell if that’s the right move but till then let’s go over a few points to consider if you are looking to buy one... 

It’s a really nice looking phone if this was 2017, The G7 is the successor to G6 featuring a stunning 6.1” screen with QHD display & perhaps the brightest screen ever in sunlight (if you drag the brightness slider all the way). It’s got the Love it or Hate factor with the notch design, but you really can’t ignore it in 2018. However, still not an edge to edge screen with a chin which defeats the purpose of the notch really. One pain point was it being a little difficult for one hand operation since the phone is quite big for its screen size, they could have definitely made it with a better ratio so it's easier to grip. Also, the stainless steel finish with the glass back (which allows wireless charging)  makes it slippery, unlike matte finish in G6.

The G7 ThinQ has got the latest Snapdragon 845 with 4GB RAM & 64GB memory or 6GB RAM & 128GB memory options with colour choices of New Platinum Gray, New Aurora Black, New Moroccan Blue, & Raspberry Rose. The 4GB variant is obviously cheaper and gets the job done as I feel the 6GB RAM on most phones is an overkill. 

In terms of the most talked about the feature being the dual rear camera setup which has the main 16MP lens and a wide-angle 16MP lens to capture wide-angle shots. This is unlike most smartphones that use a monochrome 2nd lens to get the bokeh/background blur effects which as we know from Pixel phones can also be done neatly with only a single camera and really good software. It’s one of the best lenses no doubt but feels a bit left out in terms of quality on offer from the Pixel 3 / S9 / iPhone XS. The front camera @ 8MP can take wide-angle shots as well but is only average.  This is one of the main reasons the G7 ThinQ is not a very popular phone even though it’s much cheaper than the competition.

The good feature, however, is the 32bit hi-fi Quad DAC basically giving you rich quality sound which you can appreciate via a good 3.5mm jack headphone. The audio software also has presets which not many phones currently offer. This should be your choice if you’re an audiophile. In terms of the UI, there’s still quite a bit of bloatware and feels similar to G6 where LG didn't really take user feedback onboard. It’s not as fast as the Pixel 2 (let alone 3) which has an older processor and you can notice the few seconds the apps take to load. They do work without any lag or freezing issues though.

The G7 is still running on Android 8.0 & as we know LG has a poor record with Android updates even for its flagship phones. Finally, as we’re aware LG starts dropping prices if they see other new launches hogging the limelight so if wireless charging, waterproof certification and Quad DAC Audio are your thing, you can “thinQ” about buying the G7 ThinQ. 

★★★☆☆

Pritesh Khilnani

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Super Mario Party ★★★★☆

Ever since earning my Mario Party palm calluses -Trademark Nintendo 1998- from playing rotation minigames with an N64 controller, me and my friends have been avid fans of the friendship-destroying series. Eleven games later and countless lost friends, the latest edition for the Switch makes that need of friends obsolete. Mario Party finally has an online mode. Sadly this is only relegated to a set of minigames and not the full dice rolling experience, but that's slightly understandable. No one wants to play 50 turns of a board game to then lose connection or have a player rage quit after losing at Social Climbers, probably due to finicky motion controls, and ruin the game.

Super Mario Party (MP) has a smorgasbord of game modes and a really useless and unnecessary hub area to select them. Thankfully, once each mode has been played, they're then selectable from the quick menu, by pressing "Y". Which should be the only menu, to begin with. Like many a good game of generations past, there is a bunch of stuff locked behind simply playing the game, and not a paywall. Imagine that, EA, Ubisoft and Capcom, games with content. There's an extra board (final board) to unlock and a few extra characters and also a game mode; which is a slightly odd one. 

In the traditional main Party Mode, -that Nintendo seemed to forget about in the last two games- the computer opponents are too easy, and make some pretty stupid moves, even on very hard; but is great fun with some friends. The boards are slightly smaller than they used to be and stars are only half the price. As everyone earns money more frequently than in previous games, this makes the game's pace seem that bit faster, with everyone picking up or stealing a star every couple of turns; making for some crucial last few turns. With only four boards to pick from, there's not much variation but the other modes make up for this. 

A stupid raft mode, River Survival, where you work together to get down rapids as fast as possible, collect time extensions that you don't need, whilst also rowing the dingy into as many mini-games as possible; along the way. The path branches out like at the end of an OutRun race, giving a variety of routes to take and adding some replayability… but I can't see me ever going back to it, personally.

Sound Stage offers a bunch of rhythm-based mini-games, to compete in, against friends and is probably the shortest to play through. Thank Jebus. The best new mode is Partner Party, which is clearly taken from Mario vs Rabbids, playing like an X-Com style variation on the board game mode; with more freedom to movement. Played in pairs, it makes for a more strategic game of route optimisation to collect more coins than the rivals. In a reverse on the main mode, the computer seems to cheat, in this mode, and they will coincidentally get rolls that benefit them while you will roll just shy of (or over) what you need.

As Nintendo, for some reason, need to fit every gimmick of their system into the game, a few of the mini-games are only playable in undocked mode; in an area called Toad's Rec Room. Most can be played on a single screen but are enhanced when two systems are linked. The Banana Split mini-game, however, requires a mandatory second Switch. I tried this out for the sake of review but really, it's not worth the effort.

Whilst the mini-games are a main focus of the game, there's around 80, I didn't feel a need to talk about them as they're mostly just as fun as ever… however, I do have a personal loathing of waggle controls, so finding out that the only way to play is by using the uncomfortable Joy-Cons and that the really expensive pro pad you bought, to play your games with, doesn't work here didn't go down too well. Mario Party is the second game I've played this month that doesn't support the Pro Pad - The World Ends With You also only allows for a single joycon or touch controls, and neither of those work very well.

On the plus side of it being on the Switch, it's relatively easy to take the game to that friend's house, who basically refuses to ever leave his home, and make the hermit play. The first two are still the best Mario Party games but unless you still have your N64 or -here’s hoping- Nintendo decide to re-release them one day.

★★★★☆

Bry Wyatt

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Luigi's Mansion (3DS) ★★★★☆

It feels like just yesterday I picked up my Gamecube - which was pre-owned, and came with two games - one of which was the infinitely memorable Luigi’s Mansion. While being cartoonish, fun and creative, the game was also spooky in a very lighthearted kind of way - that kept you a little bit on edge while also able to laugh at yourself about it. When I recently heard that this game was released in 2001, and realised that it was already 17 years old, I considered climbing under my bed to clutch my retro consoles and never come out again.

But I pushed through it, and took joy in my nostalgia by excitedly picking up the remake of Luigi’s Mansion for the 3DS. I think I made the right choice. Even after these 17 long years, this game is a little treasure. Like most Nintendo games, the lighthearted aesthetic is timeless and spending time walking Luigi and his quivering mustache around a haunted mansion is just an absolute treat. If you’re a total newcomer to the series - you play this game as Mario’s taller and meme-ier brother Luigi, who finds himself searching a haunted mansion for his brother, who has gone missing. But you aren’t unarmed - you wield a back-mounted vacuum cleaner ghost capturing device called the Poltergust 3000. After using the device’s flashlight to solve puzzles and expose the adorable and troublesome ghosties, a mini-boss fight ensues until you can weaken the ghost enough to capture it. 

The mansion has a tardis-like feel. The rooms seem to go on forever and are divided into four separate sections. They’re filled with your standard ghosts, but there are also 25 ‘special’ ghosts to capture and collect that create satisfying puzzles themselves. You have to use their individually characterised personalities to figure out how to defeat them, such as (spoiler alert) distracting a ghost doggy with a bone. Once you’ve captured a special ghost, it becomes a portrait that you can visit later in case you feel like gloating. Later on, in the game, you can also unlock special elemental properties for your Poltergust 3000 by sucking up specific spectres, which adds another gentle layer onto the complexity of the puzzles you have to solve in a very traditionally Nintendo fashion. 

But what’s new in this remaster compared to the Gamecube original? The game offers a co-op mode and has a download play option if you only have one copy of the game. The download play option is a significantly reduced experience, however, and a little research online tells me that this does have a tendency to lag. There’s also additional motion and touch screen controls included, as well as Amiibo support, that will help you muddle through an already pretty achievable game difficulty if you’re getting suck in a particular area. Having two screens also brings some pretty handy features along with it, such as always having the map open without having to navigate into the menu. The graphics are also an improvement on the Gamecube original, but as you’d expect with the 3DS, they’re still not exactly beautiful either. The game’s heaps of personality, clever level design and very underrated soundtrack more than make up for this.

My final words on this game are that if you never had a chance to play the original Luigi’s Mansion on Nintendo Gamecube, then this is definitely the perfect time to play it. Like most Nintendo games, it’s incredibly well built and carries so much personality that it’s an absolute pleasure to play through. The music is catchy and the mechanics are satisfying to pull off. If did play the original, then replaying this game is almost entirely worth it for the nostalgia alone. 

★★★★☆

Jake Turnbull

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South Park: The Stick of Truth ★★★★★

South Park has been around for an incredibly long time, as we are now deep into it's twenty-second season at the time of writing.  Surprisingly, apart from a few false starts in the Playstation and N64 era, there has never really been a good South Park game, or even an ok one for that matter.  Four years ago Ubisoft enlisted Obsidian Entertainment, the developers of Fallout: New Vegas, to create a game with the South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Parker and Stone have been pretty consistent with quality in their show, and it was very exciting to see them tackle this themselves. South Park: The Stick of Truth hit every mark available, the challenge of bringing it into the video game world as a sequel to an episode of the show had to be flawless. Which it is.

Now available on the Nintendo Switch, after the success of the near flawless port of Fractured But Whole, Stick of Truth feels like a fresh slice of portable heaven.  There is no feeling more wonderful than hanging around a bus stop and wrapping your hands around a firm, quality dick joke.   

The plot of Stick of Truth involves the boys (and girls) working hard to retain or capture the titular Stick, a weapon that can control all of reality if you buy into the fart obsessed mind of a child. This basic premise is mushed together with alien invasions, Khloe Kardashian's Nazi Zombie Aborted Foetus and more fart jokes than you would think was possible to get away within a single game. The game mechanics are, while simple, also complicated enough to require tactical thought and planning, as well as quick reaction times and a muzzle on your inner political correctness. The correct timing of attack and defence and Buddy use means that every battle is more interesting than any other twenty-something-season-show's tie-in could offer.  

I played The Stick of Truth the first time around, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and the switch release has given the game a whole extra lease on life.  The music, that sounds like a mixture between the Skyrim and Lord of the Rings soundtracks, is unbelievable.  The gameplay is addictive and easy to understand and the ability to live out my dream of taking a shit, putting it in my pocket and throwing it into the face of a Homeless Nazi Zombie on an alien spaceship, has been re-realised.

Its TV episode quality, including graphics and dialogue, mixed with fresh but retro gameplay mechanics make this game an absolute gem. For anyone who is a fan of the show or RPGs in general, South Park: The Stick of Truth is a must own, and I have nothing bad to say about it. But remember. Never fart on another man's balls.

★★★★★

David Roberts

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Warface ★☆☆☆☆

Originally released in 2013 (in the US and UK, I believe), Warface was intended to be the game that pulled Crytek out of a financial crisis (I’ve avoided making the obvious Crysis joke. Wait.) The marketing put the gameplay as somewhere between Call of Duty and Titanfall. Unfortunately, I wish I could say that Warface has any amount of polish comparable to those series. From presentation to movement, Warface feels… unfinished, for lack of a better word. Mechanically, it boasts a couple of features that, in theory, adapt and advances the military FPS formula, but in practice, they simply hinder the experience.

For example, snipers benefit from height, providing them with an overview of the battlefield to pick off targets. To accommodate this, and encourage a class-based style of play, there is a mechanic which allows players to reach high vantage points by being boosted up by another player. The player providing the boost can select whether or not they wish to be pulled up afterwards. The problem, however, is that if your teammates don’t respond to your boost prompted (a frequent occurrence) you’re left on the ground with a sniper rifle and no tactical advantage.

Additionally, there is a slide maneuver which (admittedly) feels fluid; practicing in the tutorial I was anticipating its usefulness. During multiplayer, however, it proved useless. I’ll admit to even having forgotten about it until I started rebinding my controls. Shocked at my oversight, I set out with the intent to implement the slide mechanic in as many firefights as possible, expecting to dodge incoming fire and catch my opponent off guard. It didn’t go particularly well. I assumed that this was a result of my own lack of skill, with my intention being to improve. What then struck me, however, was that no one else ever used the mechanic because the time to kill was bizarrely slow.

As previously mentioned, the gameplay in Warface attempts to mimic that of the Call of Duty series, yet the time it takes to kill another player feels almost doubled. And this is where the problems of Warface being free-to-play surfaces. Yes, it takes a surprisingly long time to kill another player… with the standard weaponry (you can see where this is going.)

With my suspicion of the games’ balance rising, I found a weapon from a dead player that had clearly been paid for; FAMAS F1, red-dot sight, foregrip. Here we go. What followed was, what I can only describe as, an obnoxious killstreak. That speaks for itself. Warface isn’t worth playing on its own terms as a result of the, both derivative and unnecessarily “innovative”, gameplay. Factor in that a financial investment will give you an objective advantage, and, well… 

★☆☆☆☆

Lewis Hill

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Call of Cthulhu ★★☆☆☆

\“In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”

That one sentence has always scared me in a way that I’ve never been able to fully understand. The ancient gods of Lovecraft’s work - the ‘Great Old Ones’ - demonstrate the insignificance of man in this vast universe, and will drive a person insane from the mere sight of them. Conceptually that is a distressing and overwhelming thing indeed. What has always repelled me from the idea of Cthulhu specifically (as a character; as a being) is that it’s dead. Yet, whilst being dead is simultaneously dreaming… and waiting.

And this is where I have to praise to the latest game adaptation of The Call of Cthulhu; for all its mechanical and conceptual faults, it does manage to capture the overwhelming feeling of the unimaginable entity being present, if not truly there. I’m not talking about the overt moments here. A dream in which a tentacle drags you into impossible space is visually exciting, but too on the nose. It’s the subtle world-building touches; piles of butchered sea life (whales, sharks, etc.) placed as offerings, quiet whispers about “The Great Dreamer” and an awakening. 

Yet, despite the ethereal mood these touches successfully create, the mechanical and conceptual problems I mentioned earlier are far too prominent for Call of Cthulhu to succeed on atmosphere alone. There are five categories which you can level into (two are levelled up over time through exploration and discoveries): Investigation, Strength, Psychology, Eloquence, and Spot Hidden. Each skill gives you different options with different levels of success depending on the percentage of that skill. As an idea: great. Conversations and relationships can be altered in different ways, items can be found, alternative paths can be created.

And yet, despite not levelling up - for example - spot hidden I came to a room with a secret passage underneath. The pieces of a winch to lift the hatch were scattered in the environment. I found each piece, quickly, and without much effort. Spot Hidden was starting to appear useless. However, I tried to turn the winch to discover that my strength wasn’t high enough, and it broke. Alright, I thought, now the diversity of the skill selection is revealing itself. I checked my diary to find an alternate route before noticing that because I’d interacted with the winch, the game responded as though I had actually succeeded in taking that route. The diary entry talked about a creature that had attacked me which I’d never encountered, and certain dialogue following this suggested that I had indeed taken that passage.

In short, I can only describe Call of Cthulhu as an elegant mess, though it pains me to say. During Chapter 2, I stood in the courtyard of a mansion atop a cliff, and looked over the edge; a lighthouse split through the thick fog; the ethereal green light of the town flickered below; the sea wind whistled and howled as the idea of an ancient cosmic god residing below this town sent shivers down my spine. And all I could think is, what the hell happened? Call of Cthulhu had a lot of ambition. It just needed a budget.

★★☆☆☆

Lewis Hill

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Star Trek: Discovery: Season One ★★★★★

Star Trek has been many things over the years, often exemplified by the captain and their various idiosyncrasies. Kirk relied on his senses, never afraid to throw a fist at a perceived problem. Picard tended to prefer the cerebral approach, while Janeway never gave up on her mission to get the crew home. Archer was the first of his kind, while Sisko was a static target, always trying to outmanoeuvre his enemies in an intriguing political landscape.

Discovery breaks from tradition almost immediately, this time placing the focus on the second in command. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) may not be a captain, but she’s next in line under Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) of the USS Shenzhou. She’s the Riker to Georgiou’s Picard, who fills in as a mentor for the Vulcan-raised human.

Things begin to unravel fairly quickly, which makes sense given the timing of the saga. Events take place a decade before Kirk’s exploits, which means there’s a war with a retconned Klingon empire to deal with. The Battle of the Binary Stars is a major plot point in the history of the Federation, but the marauding alien race only takes up half of the plot in a season that’s packed with twists and turns at every corner. Jason Isaacs is soon introduced as Captain James Lorca, serving at the helm of the experimental USS Discovery. As a wartime leader, he offers new insight into the role of a Federation officer when the pressure is on, enlisting Burnham in the process.

Discovery is still a sci-fi show at heart, but there’s a strong emphasis on drama and a serialised plot. Burnham is forced to deal with her emotions as she struggles to keep up with the turmoil around her, and the story moves forward at a satisfying rate. Cadet Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) also fills in as an audience surrogate to help new viewers so you don’t have to be a fan of Star Trek or the genre to enjoy the story, although it will help the process. A lack of high concept episodes is a slight flaw, but less filler ensures that the story stays in the forefront. There’s always something going on, although it does take an episode or two to get going properly.

In another break from tradition, less time is spent on the bridge, which is still an impressive sight to behold. Almost every backdrop is stuffed with generous dollops of detail, and nothing seems out of place, from the blockbuster starship battles to the reimagined Klingons and their battle regalia. The same can be said for the violence itself. There’s certainly a darker tone in the latest update to Star Trek, along with a season-long arc which concludes in a fairly satisfying fashion. Morals and choices are a major theme at play, which is fun to watch when overlayed with the Federation’s strong sense of idealism. There are a few growing pains when it comes to the dialogue, but it all wraps up nicely in the end. With a second season on the horizon, it’s interesting to see what the second season holds for the Discovery crew.

Like her predecessors, Burnham isn’t afraid to throw a fist, but she also relies on logic heavily thanks to her Vulcan upbringing. She’s the first non-captain main character, and she’s an iconoclast for the Klingons who would love nothing more than to see her dead. Partly influenced by all of the protagonists before her, she and the surrounding cast work to build a more believable universe for a modern audience, and arguably the second-best big-budget sci-fi show out right now behind The Expanse. 

★★★★★

James Millin-Ashmore

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LEGO Harry Potter Collection ★★★☆☆

When I reviewed Lego DC Supervillains, I told you guys all about the undue shame I feel about having so much love for the Lego video games series. I’m a huge fan of a game studio that remembers the meaning of ‘fun’, and resists the temptation to overdesign and over complicate their games. Too commonly do recent releases collapse under the weight of their own features and ‘improvements’. One of the biggest trends in this bracket right now is Remasters, adding erroneous and unrequired features to old games in order to justify a new-game price tag once they’ve finished souping up the graphics.

I played the first Lego Harry Potter game, and I remember loving it. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and have been since reading the books as a kid, and have followed every part of the franchise. There was no voice acting in Lego games yet, but the visual comedy made it easy to remember the exact scene from the film they were replicating. However, if I’m being frankly honest, coming to this game fresh of playing Lego DC Supervillains, this collection is absolutely showing its age. There are very few if any updates to the mechanics or playstyle, and even the graphics don’t look that much more impressive than they used to - they’re definitely not as polished as Lego DC Supervillains. When a remaster is announced, it’s every cynic’s first thought that they’ll do nothing but update the controls for a new system - and it kind of feels like that might be true about Lego Harry Potter. 

As with all Lego games, if you’re buying this for a younger gamer, they’ll absolutely love it and all of these criticisms are moot. The game is full of nostalgic throwbacks to the movies, and this collection covers all 8 of them. If you’ve played one of these Lego games by Traveller’s Tales before, then the mechanics will feel incredibly familiar. Button-mash the single attack command to clear out an area of enemies, before smashing open the environment to collect all of the shimmering little tokens that burst out of them, drop in multiplayer, infinite lives - it’s risk free, it’s easy and it’s destined to be fun if you let it. The character roster is enormous (there are hundreds) and there are a variety of spells to unlock to keep the gameplay fresh. As you unlock new spells you can return to previously explored levels to unlock new areas, which again will sound very familiar if you’re a veteran of these games.

There’s very little wrong with this game, but I just found it reminding me how far these Lego games have come. When a game like Lego DC Supervillains makes such fantastic use of voice talent, it reminds me that although the physical comedy of the old Traveller’s Tales games was great, it was probably done out of necessity, not preference, by the developers. Being a full collection of all levels from both games means there’s also an insane amount of play hours here. You will absolutely get your money’s worth for it. It’s also affordable, which is especially notable as the game has been released for Xbox One and Switch long after it was already available for the PS4. To give it a ‘New Game’ price tag would have been pretty insulting. 

Final verdict? This was a great game when it was released, and it’s a decent game now. Harry Potter fans will love it, and there’s hours upon hours of play time available too. The huge character roster covers even the most obscure Harry Potter pals and is hugely satisfying to fully unlock, but fans of more hardcore gaming and outright Harry Potter haters might not look upon it with the same rose-tinted glasses. 

★★★☆☆

Jake Turnbull

LEGO Harry Potter Collection at CeX

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Assassin's Creed Odyssey ★★★★★

"If we steal thoughts from the moderns, it will be cried down as plagiarism; if from the ancients, it will be cried up as erudition"

- Reverend Charles Caleb Colton

Assassin's Creed, here we are again.  When I think about Assassin's Creed I think about spending thirty hours playing a game just to realise that I have been bored for nearly thirty hours.  I was a huge fan of two third's of Ezio Auditore's Trilogy back in the day but every game since felt like Ubisoft thought they were going to do an entertaining fart and then crapped themselves accidentally. Except for Black Flag, which feels like they thought they'd soiled their pants but in fact ended up on the poop deck of a Pirate Ship.

I didn't play Assassin's Creed Origins when it came out because I had been let down and lost the thread of the overarching story a long time ago. However, like a man who has been hurt too many times in the past, but goes on a date out of boredom and gets married, I have fallen in love with Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Which, incidentally, when translated from the original Polish means "The Witcher 3".

I had whipped myself into a frenzy about Odyssey over a period of days, so last minute that I forgot to accept the review copy of it from Ubisoft and had to go and buy it like everyone else. It begins with a choice of character Alexios and Kassandra, a male or female version of each other, but with enough subtle differences to make them feel like fully fleshed out characters in their own right. More importantly, it suggests that you choose exploration mode if you want to have a feeling of freedom.  Normally, as I'm sure you are familiar with, Ubisoft stomp into your games console demanding that you tidy up the mess they made, occasionally demanding that you've missed a bit, and you need to go to the blue dots, or else Satan is gonna tickle your tits just as you're falling asleep. 

So now, I'm a mercenary in ancient Greece. I played for nearly ten hours with interesting side quests and well developed all-encompassing storylines galore. Once I had interactions with Odysseus's great great great grand-daughter and she refused to sleep with me, I jumped on a boat. Once I stepped on the boat I was greeted by 'Ubisoft Presents' and overly aggressively said to myself "You have got to be fucking kidding me", as it continued with 'ASSASSIN'S CREED ODYSSEY', almost ten hours in and I hadn't started playing the game yet. 

Everything from the interweaving storylines, the music and the horse mechanics are politely and shamelessly inspired by the Witcher 3, the 'you-can-climb-anything' mechanic seems inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' and the Mercenaries by Shadow of Mordor. But you know what? I'm fine with it. Those were good games, and it doesn't feel cynical, Ubisoft Quebec has been paying attention and learned a lot. I am overjoyed and pleasantly surprised that this title was managed so well, and I'm not just saying that because I kinda fancy one of the Ubisoft product managers. Everything from the music, to the mechanics and story, have been recrafted, improved and it is hard to see the seams.  It is a world I'm happy to live in for hours at a time, unlike Red Dead Redemption 2 which I will get to soon enough.

I think the most important thing they have learned from the Witcher series, or possibly created independently, is the idea of having two armies at war as the background plot. As this effects, everyone you meet, one way or another, the side quests don't really feel like side quests that often, it all feels intertwined. The Spartan/Athenian problem is a great place to flourish as a mercenary and has a visible effect on the game population when you overthrow a section of Greece. There are even exciting mythical creatures to deal with, all with their own individual complications.

It's been a long time since I have enjoyed a game this much, and I am very optimistic about anything Ubisoft Quebec handle in the future, especially with the tasty plethora of DLC they are giving away for free. It is an absolute gem of a game and you'd be hard pressed to name a better title this year. 

★★★★★

David Roberts

Assassin's Creed Odyssey at CeX

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Life Is Strange 2 ★★★★★

‘Life Is Strange 2’ follows on from ‘Life Is Strange’, an indie classic by Dontnod Entertainment in 2015 that ended up with quite a large following due to its wonderful design and focus on making choices that have irreversible consequences throughout the game. In between 1 and 2 Dontnod Entertainment also released ‘The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit’, a much smaller demo for ‘Life Is Strange 2’. As the newest game is also episodic, like the first one, and I’ve only played the first episode ‘Roads’ so far it’s still unclear as to how the demo links in with it if at all, but I’m sure it will make itself apparent at some point in the game.

This time around you play as Sean Diaz, a Mexican teen living in Seattle with his Dad and brother Daniel, 9. Unlike ‘Life Is Strange’ events quickly get out of hand during the first couple of scenes, leading to Sean and Daniel having to run away from Seattle together with a need to stay undiscovered and no idea of where they are actually going. The pace seems to have a lot more highs and lows this time – whereas the original was a slow build-up of tension leading to quite an explosive end, the second game is constantly flitting between calm scenarios and dramatic situations.

As before, choices make a big part of the gameplay, with a clear focus on the relationship between the two brothers and how your choices affect that. Although only one episode has come out there’s been several major choices already (which are actually quite hard to make at points), and so it’s likely that players will go back and play the game again just to see where those other choices could have taken them. Interestingly, the choice you made at the end of ‘Life Is Strange’ impacts your playthrough, with the results of your choice already apparent near the end of episode one.

Gameplay and design is very similar to the first game, though this I’m glad of as the original just did it so well. The art direction is still beautiful, and the music is a treat to listen to, emphasising the emotions of the game exactly as it needs to. Background conversations now continue as you go about with your day, leading to more flow in game. The characters are great and again it’s hard not to be pulled in by their stories – they’re easy to empathise with and quite layered already, even within such a short space of time. Playing as Sean I found it hard not to feel protective of Daniel, though it’s good that you can adjust Sean’s character to suit who you want to play.

There are some new features in the game as well, from a meaningful inventory of items that you can use to get more of an idea of character emotions and backstory (Sean has a sketchbook that you can contribute to which is nice, and this also gets added to during cutscenes), and instead of photos the collectables are small souvenirs which are difficult to find, but you can use them to decorate your backpack. Money is also counted, which can affect your actions – you’ve got to be able to afford food and other things, and so this is something you have to keep in mind. 

‘Life Is Strange’ is a hard game to beat, but Dontnod has somehow managed to refine it into a game that’s just as gripping. The writing is humorous and charming and the story is heart-breaking at points, wholly capturing that essence of naivety so well as our characters have to grow up fast. The political theme of racism is very current too, making it easily relatable. ‘Roads’ is a stunning introduction to what promises to be a wonderful game, so even if you haven’t played the first game ‘Life Is Strange 2’ is well worth checking out. 

★★★★★

Hannah Read

Life Is Strange at CeX

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 ★★★★☆

It’s best to start by addressing the elephant in the room.

Despite the large array of content, the lack of a single-player mode in Black Ops IV is a strange decision. It’s a big middle finger to fans who were eager for a typical all-action campaign, but maybe they were right to focus on multiplayer matters. It’s not like recent titles like Spider-Man and Red Dead Redemption 2 have shown there’s a willing audience for solo experiences, but it was culled nonetheless. Instead, Activision Blizzard opted for a Battle Royale mode to accompany Zombies and normal multiplayer.

Dubbed Blackout, the trend-following addition follows the same generic formula, as you hop out of a plane with no equipment, battling against other players for the best loadout you can find on the ground. Whatever your misgivings about COD copying Fortnite, PUBG and their ilk, there’s no denying the fun that can be had when you make it into the final ten. The pressure builds like Search and Destroy on steroids, while the area gets ever smaller, and shots get nearer and louder with each passing second.

If Blackout is the sole reason for your interest it’s still worth checking out, but it’s hard to argue for the overall value when their main competition offers the first hit for free. It’s still refreshing to learn the large map slowly, and classic COD weapons and areas make it a nostalgic experience for older players.

Activision Blizzard are aiming to extract the largest amount of cash from player’s wallets, so there’s the usual range of DLC outfits and extras for each character. That’s along with the decision to begin “redefining the digital content season”, or making it more expensive to purchase map packs individually. It leaves a sour taste, and it’s a shame to see from a former industry leader. Even so, if you’re still sitting on the fence, you can be safe in the knowledge that you’re getting a lot of content for the (initial) asking price.

Zombies are back once more, with the four-player co-op mode placing you in the shoes of a new set of distinctive characters. The story is unrelated to previous versions, but there’s nothing wrong with a fresh take on an idea that’s already arguably run its course creatively. It’s as grindy as ever, but there’s still a thrill when you’re the last one alive, desperately trying to survive with low ammo while being chased by a rampaging horde. Normal multiplayer is back on the ground, with specialist characters that have different classes and abilities. The usual suspects from Black Ops 3 make a return, and there are 14 maps in the base game. (Nuketown will be free for everyone in November, making 15 in total.)

The specialists and weapons are still being balanced nearly a month after release, giving some indication as to the amount of time and effort being put into making the online mode a success. If you’ve played a COD game you’ll know what you’re in for, while Blackout is more reminiscent of PUBG than anything else. That’s by no means a bad thing, allowing for something in between cartoonish violence and an attempt at realism. COD is just as immersive as either of the main competitors in the world of Battle Royale, with production values to match the massive marketing budget. After several years and numerous iterations, the latest Call of Duty game does break the mould, although not always for the right reasons. The core mechanics are still good enough to enjoy for a couple of hours, but it’s hard to say whether it’ll be as popular after the likely Xmas influx of players.

★★★★☆

James Millin-Ashmore

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