Games of the week – Tennis World Tour 2, WWE 2K Battlegrounds, AVICII Invector and A Monster’s Expedition
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Tennis World Tour 2
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Genre: Sport
Price: From £34.99
Plenty to love
Tennis World Tour 2 is generous on content, packing lots of new features, including the ability to play doubles matches with up to four players locally and online. The sheer volume of game modes, ranging from the usual career mode, to a quick match or a tournament to name a few, gives you more serves for your buck. Official licensed players, including Nadal and Federer, among the ranks is an obvious bonus. In terms of experience, Tennis World Tour 2 is smooth, thanks to an improved serve system and a new shot timing mechanic. You can also earn coins which can be used to buy cards to boost your performance. The only real downside would be the average graphics.
Skip to the end: The biggest attraction of Tennis World Tour 2 is the wide choice of game modes available, providing plenty of replayability for your money.
Score: 8/10
WWE 2K Battlegrounds
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch PC, Stadia
Genre: Simulation
Price: £34.99
K.O.
With the flagship WWE franchise on hiatus for 2020, 2K Battlegrounds has stepped into the ring with ‘over the top, in-your-face arcade action’, as developers put it. Well, it certainly does that, making it a more simple experience than the usual WWE offering, with a more limited move list – which is actually welcome. Going for cartoon-like art doesn’t feel right for this sort of game, even if the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin appear. The roster of names is huge at 70 and there are plans to add 60 more in the future. But it’s a risky move overall that is likely to disappoint devoted fans of WWE gaming, who are used to greater depth.
Skip to the end: WWE slams into the unknown with 2K Battlegrounds and deserves kudos for changing things up and taking a simpler approach to controls, but fans may find this less appealing.
Score: 6/10
AVICII Invector
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Music
Price: From £15.99
Music to our ears
This rhythm-action game celebrating late Swedish DJ Tim Bergling, better known to many as Avicii, makes its way onto the Nintendo Switch for the first time, with some added tracks available if you opt for the Encore Edition. AVICII Invector works nicely as a handheld title, as you fly on a ship through the rhythmic regions of unexplored space, collecting and shooting objects in sync with the beat. Each track matches the on-screen visuals beautifully. It starts pretty straightforward but will become quite difficult in the harder levels to follow.
Skip to the end: A well-executed celebration of one of music’s finest DJs, which works well in handheld form.
Score: 7/10
A Monster’s Expedition
Platform: iOS
Genre: Puzzler
Price: From £4.99 per month with Apple Arcade
Down beat
Not all monsters are bad, as A Monster’s Expedition, which weaves puzzles into the story of a monster who finds creatures on an island and uncovers the history of humanity. There are some unexpected moments, which add to the flavour of this chilled-out title. Some of the challenges might make you feel a bit stumped at times, but once you get them that eureka moment is incredibly satisfying, as you hop from island to island. A Monster’s Expedition hits the right tone visually too.
Skip to the end: A Monster’s Expedition proves that challenging doesn’t have to mean frustrating.
Score: 7/10
