Games of the week
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Nintendo Labo: VR Kit
Platform: Switch
Genre: VR
Price: £74.99
Build your own VR adventure with Nintendo's new Labo
Labo: VR Kit is a perfect demonstration of Nintendo's admirable attention to quality and detail. The full pack includes six build-it-yourself cardboard kits, including the VR headset and five unique Toy-Con that each enable their own engaging VR experience – from shooting games with the superb lock-and-load blaster, to undersea photography with the wonderfully tactile camera. Even the 'how to' guides are a work of art, providing ultra-clear instructions on each build and making the intricate construction a joy. No other VR system is so accessible (anyone aged seven and over can play) or generates such fun, and with the full VR update to Breath of the Wild now available, the Switch can boast one of the best VR platforms money can buy.
Skip to the end: Affordable VR with boundless potential for fun.
Score: 9/10
God's Trigger
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Genre: Action
Price: £11.99
Angels and demons
With its ultra-violent skirmishes, top-down view and one-hit-kill difficulty, God's Trigger is directly influenced by the killing-sprees of Hotline Miami. The gore is less vivid, but the sometimes bewildering action is in exactly the same mode. God's Trigger casts you as a biblical odd couple, an outcast angel and Earth-bound demon (which you can switch between mid-game) who team up to cut down the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who have each installed themselves as ruthless mob bosses in our world. You can blast away in singleplayer but co-op is more entertaining, with combinable skills and the ability to revive one another improving the otherwise haphazard firefights.
Skip to the end: Quickfire violence with neat multiplayer appeal.
Score: 8/10
Rush Rally 3
Platform: iPad/iPhone
Genre: Racing
Price: £3.99
Hurry up and race
Rush Rally 3 sells itself as console-quality racing zipped down into mobile gaming. Obviously, it's too much to expect the big-screen visuals of Dirt Rally or Forza Horizon, but the strength here is in experiences rather than appearances – Rush Rally 3's smooth speed gives an impressively convincing feel to the racing that combines well with forgiving handling and reliable touchscreen controls, though obviously the inbuilt controller support provides best results (we reviewed using a SteelSeries Nimbus: steelseries.com/nimbus). With 72 stages, over 60 cars and impactful weather effects, Rush Rally 3 has all the features of a big title, plus some ideas of its own including skill games of avoiding traffic or roadworks and a nifty bird's-eye-view camera.
Skip to the end: Admirably well-rounded racing in a small package.
Score: 8/10
The Padre
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch
Genre: Survival horror
Price: £15.99
House of horrors
The Padre is a love letter to early survival horrors, like Alone In The Dark or Resident Evil. There's the spooky mansion, item-juggling riddles and restrictive camera perspectives combined with tank-like movement geared towards making you feel vulnerable and threatened. And to this old-school mix, The Padre adds some crudely drawn cultural references (a crowbar is affectionately named 'Gordon'), an offbeat and hit-and-miss narrative voiceover, and Minecraft-style pixel art visual design. There's a nice range of well-planned puzzles and an unusual but undeniable shabby charm to it all, but by bolting on some rudimentary and un-engaging combat, The Padre quickly becomes an awkward and unenjoyable trudge.
Skip to the end: Quirky but inadequate homage to survival horror classics.
Score: 6/10
