Games of the week – Bleeding Edge, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, Moons of Madness and Charrua Soccer
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Bleeding Edge
Platform: Xbox One, PC
Genre: Team brawler
Price: £24.99
Edge of your seat action
Bleeding Edge is a stylish and sassy gladiatorial brawl set in the year 2057. The idea of this multiplayer is to rise above an opposing team of four players. A varied mix of misfit characters with their own special abilities and customisation options give added flavour, though the choice of only two game modes at launch feel limited. Power Cell Control mode tasks you with finding and collecting more power cells and safely delivering them to your team's drop zone. Meanwhile, Objective Control requires you to capture and hold objectives to increase your team's score. The map designs are glorious, with enough game play and action to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Skip to the end: Action-packed team brawler with an alternative edge to keep your hungry for more.
Score: 8/10
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Genre: Adventure / Action
Price: £49.99
Omega Force musou at its best
The fourth instalment of the Pirate Warriors video-game series, based on the One Piece franchise, compresses almost 900 episodes-worth of the source material into a single 15-hour campaign, using the voices of the original Japanese cast to delight any fan. Anyone familiar with the Omega Force musou genre won't be disappointed, as you plough through hundreds of enemies single-handed, though they don't offer much resistance. Game play moves fast, with combat pretty simple – if sometimes a bit repetitive. Some elements are also reused from the previous games. While Pirate Warriors 4 serves its purpose, it can only really be fully enjoyed by those completely aware of the story arc.
Skip to the end: A well-condensed performance for devoted fans of the series but not one for anyone else.
Score: 7/10
Moons of Madness
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Genre: Horror
Price: £24.99
Many moons away from being scary
Ever wanted to explore the darkest depths of Mars? Moons of Madness sees you take on the role of Shane Newehart, an engineer stationed on the red planet, who is faced with some of the horrors hidden beneath – well, sort of. There are jumpy moments designed to scare and tense scenes, but generally the psychological horror is shortcoming. We found it hard to attach to the protagonist because there is so little communication, bar the odd chatter from colleagues on his radio, though it fails to add any real substance. We wanted to love Moons of Madness with its well-developed visuals but the lacking story lets the side down.
Skip to the end: Cliché jumpy moments make for unstable psychological horror, missing key communication drivers needed to build any attachment to its main character.
Score: 6/10
Charrua Soccer
Platform: iOS
Genre: Sport
Price: £4.99 per month on Apple Arcade
Football for those who don't like football
If you're in the 'don't like football' camp (like me), you might still be pleasantly surprised by Charrua Soccer. Its less serious take on the sport makes it less intimidating than more famed titles out there. Why? Put simply, the friendly and fun animations and super easy-to-use controls make it accessible to all, even if football isn't usually your thing. Its lack of realism is what makes it work so well. Charrua Soccer is confident with its place and doesn't try to be something it's not. You can play alone against the app, or against a friend on a second device.
Skip to the end: Football is made less intimating for those not fully into it with its retro visuals and easy controls.
Score: 7/10
