Games of the week – Saints Row: The Third Remastered, Minecraft Dungeons, The Otherside and Winding Worlds
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Saints Row: The Third Remastered
Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC
Genre: Action / Adventure
Price: From £32.99
A shiny upgrade fit for 2020
Nine years on from Saints Row: The Third’s first outing on PS3 and Xbox 360, this remastering is all about the looks. The gameplay and storyline remain completely unchanged in all its absurdity – for those unfamiliar with this title, it chronicles a criminal gang at the peak of their notoriety who are threatened by a rival gang attempting to stamp on their parade. The developers have given its PS4 and Xbox One return a complete up and down visual rework which pays off. Environments, characters and weapons all gain from the richer artwork, improved lighting model and other visual upgrades that make it much more pleasing on the eye compared to its 2011 outing. There were, however, a number of glitches which we hope will be sorted out with an update at some point.
Skip to the end: Fans of the original game will want to try this shiny upgrade, though don’t expect any fresh gameplay.
Score: 8/10
Minecraft Dungeons
Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC
Genre: Action RPG
Price: From £15.99 / Xbox Game Pass
Forget mining…
Don’t expect anything along the lines of the main Minecraft hit in this new spin-off, as it’s only similarity is in its looks. Gone is the mining and crafting, instead you’re confronted with a series of randomly-generated dungeons filled with various monsters, traps and treasure to uncover. While you can choose to take on the dungeons alone, it’s best to team up in groups of no more than four. The plot is fairly limited, as is the campaign, giving a lack of depth to the game on the whole but the huge selection of weapons and equipment offsets this ever so slightly and helps keep it fresh. Minecraft Dungeons is very safe, sticking to a tried and tested formula – though this doesn’t stop it from being super fun and entertaining, all with its distinctive look and feel.
Skip to the end: Familiar design but new outlook as a dungeon crawler works for Minecraft, even if the story and campaign are lacking. Plenty of fun to be had with the huge selection of weapons and equipment at your disposal.
Score: 7/10
The Otherside
Platform: iOS
Genre: RPG / Strategy / Board game
Price: £4.99 per month with Apple Arcade
This medley of gaming genres is fun but doesn’t offer anything compellingly new, with a generic story, focusing on you taking charge of four survivors attempting to overcome monsters by solving puzzles and moving forward across a virtual animated board game. The visuals are impressive for a smartphone and show just how much mobile gaming has evolved but it is marred by how tricky it is to simply rotate your view of the board – not to mention the very repetitive music. If you can overcome those drawbacks, the various maps and card-based strategy element of the game are interesting and entertaining, and levels do become progressively harder.
Skip to the end: Small but noticeable oversights make navigating The Otherside unnecessarily frustrating but the gameplay itself stands up.
Score: 6/10
Winding Worlds
Platform: iOS
Genre: Puzzler
Price: £4.99 per month with Apple Arcade
You spin my world right round
Winding Worlds is a sweet, puzzle game that is more about style over substance. It’s not really that challenging and really quite short, but the narrative, visuals and music give it a certain charm we can’t shake. The puzzles are all based around the idea of twisting objects, simply using one finger to navigate and figure out which way to slide in order for elements to turn – this can range from unlocking a lift door, to switching on a wind turbine. For all it’s weirdness, it works, if only it was a little longer and challenging. If you’re looking for something slow and intriguing, this will be your cup of tea – probably best played with an actual cup of tea alongside you at that.
Skip to the end: Style over substance isn’t enough to make Winding Worlds a game changer but it’s certainly a title to calm the mind.
Score: 6/10
