Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars starter pack
(PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox 360; Disney Interactive Studios; cert: 7)
★★★★
This year the Disney Infinity series of toys-to-life games has a trump card over the competition – Star Wars. The collectable figurines that unlock characters and adventures when placed on a console peripheral now have a galaxy of household names and craft available from the franchise.
The starter pack includes adventures for the Episode I-III era with characters from Rebels and Clone Wars also making an appearance. But further purchases are necessary to get the stuff everyone really wants: the classic Episodes IV-VI or the upcoming The Force Awakens.
In gameplay terms, combat and piloting are enhanced with more melee moves and excellent lightsaber sword-play, while space exploration and pod-racing join up the different planet-based missions. The toys, however, lack the innovation of Skylanders’ articulated vehicles but the attention to detail, improved combat and Star Wars fan service make this a strong addition to the Infinity series. AR
Super Mario Maker
(Wii U; Nintendo; cert:3, out Friday)
★★★★★
This might not be the first platformer to allow players to design their own levels, but it is unquestionably the most significant. Since 1985 the Super Mario Bros series has written the blueprints for the entire genre, defining the gold standard for movement, control and design and now, finally, gamers have the chance to see whether they can match Nintendo’s finest moments.
Super Mario Maker is a comprehensive level editing tool-set that turns the Wii U GamePad into a perfect canvas to draw your own courses. Being Nintendo, that toolset is both elegant and intuitive. It rewards serious tinkering and allows wannabe designers to knock out playable courses in just minutes, or to labour for hours over intricate masterpieces.
There are 64 pre-made concept levels included to encourage creativity and naturally everything can be shared online for what will no doubt turn into an endless Mario resource. Just like the games that inspired it, this package is bursting with personality, ideas and surprises and can make a homebrew Miyamoto out of anybody. RH
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
(PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC; Konami; cert: 18)
★★★★★
The silver screen has long influenced the Metal Gear universe, unsurprisingly given that series creator Hideo Kojima is an avowed film fanatic. His games are distinctly cinematic and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is no different. Like its predecessors it takes the form of a military thriller delivered as a stealth-oriented shooter.
Yet this game is also much more than that. Borrowing from westerns, war films and even the narrative structuring of contemporary high-budget television, Kojima’s latest is a remarkable achievement. It is a vast creation that excels in providing dramatic tension and action, and surpasses the previous iterations in letting player choice rule supreme. Numerous hostile missions let you decide your approach, strategy and method, shaping the experience as it is played, and making for an empowering undertaking, complemented by tremendous visual and aural polish.
This may be Kojima’s final contribution to the series; if so, he is bowing out with what could well be his magnum opus. WF
Devil’s Third
(Wii U; Nintendo; cert: 18, out now)
★
Developer Valhalla studios have ended up with a Frankenstein’s monster – clunky and severely dated, the game disappoints in every respect.
The mixture of gameplay types is severely imbalanced from the off. Guns are less risky and more efficient than the dubious melee combat, which only allows players to attack one enemy at a time. Equally, an ineffective dodge and tiny regenerating health pool also make ranged combat more favourable but no less repetitive.
Then, there is the game’s campy plot about global insurrection and military fetishism – predictably mediocre and never pushing the goofiness far enough, it ensures that what could have been a guilty pleasure is instead a dismal bore. The poor quality of the experience comes to a climax in awfully designed boss battles where one wrong move means instant death and it is never clear what exactly constitutes a wrong move.
Devil’s Third has clearly been stuck in development hell for some time and borrows heavily from Call of Duty – but about five years too late. Avoid. RS
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
(Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC; Microsoft; cert: 18, out now)
★★★★
On its debut, almost a decade ago, Gears of War was significant for its contribution to the development of blockbuster gaming. The third-person sci-fi shooter’s focus on making the player find and fire from cover had a huge influence on game design that can still be felt today. Now that original release is back on a next-gen console, given a graphics update, expanded with the previously PC-exclusive content, and sporting an improved online multiplayer mode.
The original, populated with somewhat relentlessly adrenalin-charged space marines, played infamous tribute to many of the “bro” subculture’s archetypes, and today that tone feels no less brash. Yet Gears’s machismo is but a front for a shooter surprisingly sensitive to its players’ needs. This is a fast game that never wants to leave you unsure of your goals, and keeps you in stride with the superbly paced action. The AI and gameplay’s age is now showing, but along with Gears’s modest primitiveness there is also a clarity of purpose sometimes absent in newer shooters. The result is distinct, engrossing and well worth revisiting nine years on. WF
