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REVIEW
INFO FORMATPUB FATSHARK PS4 ETA DEVOUT NOW FATSHARKWARHAMMER:
VERMINTIDE II
There’s a rat in my kingdomW
arhammer, like Twitter, is one of
those things you either dedicate
an unhealthy amount of time to,
or ignore completely. Also like Twitter, it’s a
universe with an endless supply of odious
creatures where the good guys have to stick
together in order to survive. A four-player
co-op game such as this, therefore, makes
perfect sense.
Don’t worry if you haven’t played the first
game, or if you have little to no interest in
the tabletop roots. The paper-thin story
works fine on its own, and Vermintide II will
appeal to anybody who likes the idea of a
first-person action game set in a fantasy
world. Especially if they like tongue-in-cheek
presentation, ratlike enemies,^1 and seeing
foes having body parts lopped off.
All five available characters have ranged
weapons, but only the Battle Wizard is a
viable choice for fighting at a distance (she
doesn’t rely on ammo, but will inconveniently
spontaneously combust if you don’t let her
fiery powers cool off). The experience mostly
leans on melee combat, therefore, which
is handled in a most impressive manner
here. Sure, you can flail your arms about as
though you’re being chased by a bee, but you
don’t have to.
With just 13 (visually interesting and well-
designed) levels, the long-term appeal lies
in loot grinding; earning chests for better
weapons^2 and accessories, while levelling
up each character individually. Otherwise,
it’ll only last you about five hours. Bot AI and
server activity can support this
approach, though whether your
tolerance for playing the same
levels again and again can is
another matter. Luke KempFOOTNOTES 1 One such enemy type wields a “Ratling Gun”, which
almost justifies a purchase by itself. 2 A personal favourite is a
shield-ignoring flail for the hammily acted Witch Hunter.INFO FORMATPUB XSEED GAMES PS VITA ETA DEVOUT NOW KARIN ENTERTAINMENTLONDON DETECTIVE
MYSTERIA
Love is the greatest mystery of allL
ove 19th- and 20th-century detective
fiction, especially when it’s spiced
with a dash of romance? Then London
Detective Mysteria should interest you. But
you’ll have to look past its presentation as
a fairly rigid-feeling visual novel, which in
places very much feels like the port of a
2013 PSP game that it is.^1
The plot follows Emily Whitely as she
enrolls in what is essentially a Victorian
London school for detectives. Emily’s given
a ring from Queen Victoria herself, which
is nice, that gives her special permissions
as an investigator for the Crown, and she
ends up solving a series of intriguing crimes
alongside her classmates. The cases she
investigates are, for the most part, self-
contained episodic stories.
Adding to the flavour, almost all these
side characters are based on other famous
detectives from popular culture, mostly
being relatives. The sons of Holmes and
Watson feature most prominently, but so
too do the niece of Miss Marple, the son of
gentleman thief Lupin, and the much-less-
fictional Jack The Ripper. And, as this is an
otome-styled game,^2 you can romance most
of them if you get a good enough ending with
them. Saucy Jack indeed.
While the detective stories are fun
enough, there’s often not a lot to them. This
makes the game feel a little too lightweight,
as it flirts with the idea of having more
detective gameplay but never really manages
it – for example, you’re able to save
statements in your diary, which
is fairly pointless, as the most
complex it gets is giving you
some multiple-choice decisions
to make. Oscar Taylor-KentFOOTNOTES 1 Though VN fans already know it often takes a long
time for them to get localised. 2 A popular Japanese visual novel
genre that often revolves around romance.INFO FORMATPUB CURVE DIGITAL PS4 ETA OUT NOW DEV SOLAR SAIL GAMESSMOKE AND
SACRIFICE
Mother on a missionA
t first glance, you’d be forgiven for
thinking that Smoke And Sacrifice is
just another survival game, but while
you do spend a good chunk of your time
gathering and crafting,^1 it’s woven around
the framework of a good – if grim – story,
set in a dark, steampunk-like world. You
play as Sachi, a mother who, seven years
after reluctantly sacrificing her first-born
to the Sun God, has been given hope that he
may still live and is transported to a bleak
underworld in search of him.
In this survival RPG, you progress by
completing quests for the unsettling,
gas-mask-wearing locals, who will then
reward you with crafting recipes and items.
Crafting a lantern will ward off the deadly
smoke that only appears at night, but it’s
not just the environment that can kill you;
the enemies you encounter are no pushover
either. Combat is simple and smaller enemies
won’t pose much of a challenge but packs
can be deadly and larger boss-types make
short work of the unprepared. Luckily, save
points are frequent^2 and most areas have
“travel tubes” which prove invaluable for
backtracking when you need a crafting table
or to farm a particular resource.
The game keeps you busy collecting
crafting recipes and materials while giving
you a purpose other than to simply survive.
Sure, most of Smoke And Sacrifice comes
down to inventory management and what
are essentially fetch quests, but unlike the
sandbox-y nature of other survival games,
this one gives you a solid reason
to keep going as you root for
Sachi to uncover the secrets
surrounding the fate of her
missing son. Sarah JamesFOOTNOTES 1 Don’t Starve players will feel right at home with this
game’s crafting system. 2 Yes, you have to save manually. Oof.
Whatever else you do, don’t forget to save.