Play Station Official Magazine - UK (2020-11)

080

REVIEW

INFO FORMATPUB MAXIMUM GAMES PS4 ETA OUT NOW DEV SFL INTERACTIVE, GAMJUN

STREET POWER

FOOTBALL

Dropped the ball on this one

W

ith FIFA Street swallowed by

the main series, a new game

concentrating on street football

has... well, an open goal ahead of it. Yet

despite the fact that there’s effectively no

competition, we still can’t recommend this.

And not only (but undeniably partly) because

of the quite frankly terrifying caricatures of

real stars of the sport.

The fundamental issue of presentation

is odd. Horrific avatars aside, our first

experience of the game – heading straight

for what passes for a story mode – was

freestyle champion Sean Garnier spending

several minutes against a backdrop of game

footage telling us how great he is.^1 Once in

the game proper, we find something unsure

of what it wants to be. The players are real,

but the pitches are not. There are plenty

of flashy tricks, as you’d expect, but this

primarily consists of awkwardly mashing

r with little skill involved. More bizarre still,

there are power-ups, and special moves that

allow us to do things like leap 20 feet into the

air. It’s daft enough to be unrealistic, but not

daft enough to be over-the-top fun.

The best mode is Panna, 1v1 matches in

tiny arenas where points are awarded for

scoring goals or humiliating your opponent

with a nutmeg. Fancy footwork is initiated

by basic QTEs, a missed opportunity of

epic proportions. The Trickshot mode is

devastated by a terrible aiming system, and

Freestyle – ostensibly a show of your ball

control^2 – is a dull rhythm and QTE hybrid.

It’s not terrible, but it’s not

the game we (or anybody else)

wanted either. This game gets

tired long before 90 minutes

have passed. Luke Kemp

FOOTNOTES 1 The game is full of scenes where Garnier talks at

the player, a real (and smug) person with freakish computer people

running around behind him. Thank goodness they’re skippable. 2 No.

INFO FORMATPUB PQUBE PS4 DEVETA PLAYFUL STUDIOSOUT NOW

NEW SUPER

LUCKY’S TALE

Can you dig it?

L

il’ Lucky is Lost. Sucked into a portal

created by the dimension-bending

Book Of Ages, he’s separated from

his big sister. But searching for the book’s

scattered pages and finding a way home is

the least of his troubles as the threat of the

evil magician Jinx and his underlings looms

large on the horizon.^1

If you’re already a fan of a particular

purple dragon, then you know what to

expect from this mascot platformer. Each

themed world is brought to life with visual

direction that wouldn’t feel out of place in a

Saturday-morning cartoon, and each one’s

selection of levels sequester book pages as

well as more collectibles than you can shake

your tail at. As a fox, Lucky can pounce and

burrow to both attack enemies and uncover

secrets, and there’s a weight to the young

pup’s movement that feels in line with the

sort of barrelling around you can expect

from any toddler freshly re-energised by

their afternoon nap.^2

From side-scrolling platforming to

something that reminds us of Super Monkey

Ball just a wee bit, there’s a good variety

of levels in each world. While we say there

are plenty of hidden collectibles to find,

Lucky’s game doesn’t quite nail the sense

of exploration and discovery in the way its

mauve forbear does; you probably won’t

need the finest-toothed comb to see all

there is to see. But just because it doesn’t

resonate in exactly the same way Spyro did

for us all those years ago, it doesn’t mean

that cute-as-a-button Lucky

won’t be some small person’s

favourite, or that the game won’t

get them all nostalgic years

down the line. Jess Kinghorn

FOOTNOTES 1 The game begins with a lore dump. The colourful,

cartoony visuals are the only thing that saves this exposition-

heavy opening. 2 It takes a little bit of getting used to.

INFO FORMATPUB CLOUDHEAD GAMES PS VR ETA OUT NOW DEV CLOUDHEAD GAMES

PISTOL WHIP

A thumping ballet of bullets

T

he best thing about PS VR is the way

it can persuade even the most self-

conscious wallflower to bust a move

as long as they’re doing something that

makes them feel extremely bad-ass. Rhythm

game Pistol Whip is essentially Beat Saber’s

shooty-bang cousin, but its genius is that it

can feel just like playing an old-school arcade

lightgun shooter.

Across 15 themed levels without any

contrived plot to run through,^1 it’s a no-

nonsense on-rails shooting gallery as you

shoot, dodge, and melee-attack bad guys.

Blasting them as they pop out in front of you

from above and below is perfectly enjoyable

in its own right, but to chase those high

scores you have to start thinking how the

game wants you to play to the beat, and then

its rhythmic magic really clicks.

Shooting to the beat is easy enough thanks

to the stompy-bassy electro soundtrack –

regardless of your musical taste, it feels

totally in sync with the action, while the

visuals combine the minimalist clarity of

Superhot with the abstract psychedelia

of Rez Infinite. There’s some ballsiness to

timing shots since you could give your foe a

chance to let off a round first.^2 Even riskier

is pulling off the pistol whip of the title –

though you’re rewarded with maximum

points as well as instant reload and armour

recovery if you manage it.

Mastery is ultimately what will keep

pulling you back in, and thanks to a wealth

of modifiers, you can tweak the gunplay to

be as accessible or as challenging as you

want. Stick on Deadeye and you’ll

discover just how much you’ve

been relying on the default

aim assist. Truly a whip-smart

workout. Alan Wen

FOOTNOTES 1 More DLC is on its way, including The Concierge,

which will string together an actual story. 2 Enemy bullets travel

in bullet-time with a trail so you can dodge.

PS VR REVIEW

080

REVIEW

INFO FORMATPUB MAXIMUM GAMES PS4 ETA OUT NOW DEV SFL INTERACTIVE, GAMJUN

STREET POWER

FOOTBALL

Dropped the ball on this one

W

ith FIFA Street swallowed by

the main series, a new game

concentrating on street football

has... well, an open goal ahead of it. Yet

despite the fact that there’s effectively no

competition, we still can’t recommend this.

And not only (but undeniably partly) because

of the quite frankly terrifying caricatures of

real stars of the sport.

The fundamental issue of presentation

is odd. Horrific avatars aside, our first

experience of the game – heading straight

for what passes for a story mode – was

freestyle champion Sean Garnier spending

several minutes against a backdrop of game

footage telling us how great he is.^1 Once in

the game proper, we find something unsure

of what it wants to be. The players are real,

but the pitches are not. There are plenty

of flashy tricks, as you’d expect, but this

primarily consists of awkwardly mashing

r with little skill involved. More bizarre still,

there are power-ups, and special moves that

allow us to do things like leap 20 feet into the

air. It’s daft enough to be unrealistic, but not

daft enough to be over-the-top fun.

The best mode is Panna, 1v1 matches in

tiny arenas where points are awarded for

scoring goals or humiliating your opponent

with a nutmeg. Fancy footwork is initiated

by basic QTEs, a missed opportunity of

epic proportions. The Trickshot mode is

devastated by a terrible aiming system, and

Freestyle – ostensibly a show of your ball

control^2 – is a dull rhythm and QTE hybrid.

It’s not terrible, but it’s not

the game we (or anybody else)

wanted either. This game gets

tired long before 90 minutes

have passed. Luke Kemp

FOOTNOTES 1 The game is full of scenes where Garnier talks at

the player, a real (and smug) person with freakish computer people

running around behind him. Thank goodness they’re skippable. 2 No.

INFO FORMATPUB PQUBE PS4 DEVETA PLAYFUL STUDIOSOUT NOW

NEW SUPER

LUCKY’S TALE

Can you dig it?

L

il’ Lucky is Lost. Sucked into a portal

created by the dimension-bending

Book Of Ages, he’s separated from

his big sister. But searching for the book’s

scattered pages and finding a way home is

the least of his troubles as the threat of the

evil magician Jinx and his underlings looms

large on the horizon.^1

If you’re already a fan of a particular

purple dragon, then you know what to

expect from this mascot platformer. Each

themed world is brought to life with visual

direction that wouldn’t feel out of place in a

Saturday-morning cartoon, and each one’s

selection of levels sequester book pages as

well as more collectibles than you can shake

your tail at. As a fox, Lucky can pounce and

burrow to both attack enemies and uncover

secrets, and there’s a weight to the young

pup’s movement that feels in line with the

sort of barrelling around you can expect

from any toddler freshly re-energised by

their afternoon nap.^2

From side-scrolling platforming to

something that reminds us of Super Monkey

Ball just a wee bit, there’s a good variety

of levels in each world. While we say there

are plenty of hidden collectibles to find,

Lucky’s game doesn’t quite nail the sense

of exploration and discovery in the way its

mauve forbear does; you probably won’t

need the finest-toothed comb to see all

there is to see. But just because it doesn’t

resonate in exactly the same way Spyro did

for us all those years ago, it doesn’t mean

that cute-as-a-button Lucky

won’t be some small person’s

favourite, or that the game won’t

get them all nostalgic years

down the line. Jess Kinghorn

FOOTNOTES 1 The game begins with a lore dump. The colourful,

cartoony visuals are the only thing that saves this exposition-

heavy opening. 2 It takes a little bit of getting used to.

INFO FORMATPUB CLOUDHEAD GAMES PS VR ETA OUT NOW DEV CLOUDHEAD GAMES

PISTOL WHIP

A thumping ballet of bullets

T

he best thing about PS VR is the way

it can persuade even the most self-

conscious wallflower to bust a move

as long as they’re doing something that

makes them feel extremely bad-ass. Rhythm

game Pistol Whip is essentially Beat Saber’s

shooty-bang cousin, but its genius is that it

can feel just like playing an old-school arcade

lightgun shooter.

Across 15 themed levels without any

contrived plot to run through,^1 it’s a no-

nonsense on-rails shooting gallery as you

shoot, dodge, and melee-attack bad guys.

Blasting them as they pop out in front of you

from above and below is perfectly enjoyable

in its own right, but to chase those high

scores you have to start thinking how the

game wants you to play to the beat, and then

its rhythmic magic really clicks.

Shooting to the beat is easy enough thanks

to the stompy-bassy electro soundtrack –

regardless of your musical taste, it feels

totally in sync with the action, while the

visuals combine the minimalist clarity of

Superhot with the abstract psychedelia

of Rez Infinite. There’s some ballsiness to

timing shots since you could give your foe a

chance to let off a round first.^2 Even riskier

is pulling off the pistol whip of the title –

though you’re rewarded with maximum

points as well as instant reload and armour

recovery if you manage it.

Mastery is ultimately what will keep

pulling you back in, and thanks to a wealth

of modifiers, you can tweak the gunplay to

be as accessible or as challenging as you

want. Stick on Deadeye and you’ll

discover just how much you’ve

been relying on the default

aim assist. Truly a whip-smart

workout. Alan Wen

FOOTNOTES 1 More DLC is on its way, including The Concierge,

which will string together an actual story. 2 Enemy bullets travel

in bullet-time with a trail so you can dodge.

PS VR REVIEW