Games of the week: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Never Yield, Mighty Goose, and The Wild at Heart
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Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Platform: PlayStation
Genre: Action/Adventure
Price: £69.99
Age rating: 7+
Family-friendly fun that spans dimensions
An unlikely source for arguably the best demonstration of the PS5’s power to date, but Rift Apart is indeed the perfect example of console power in 2021. The latest Ratchet and Clank adventure sees the furry Lombax and his little robot companion catapulting through dimensional rifts to vast, engaging and frankly amazing worlds in pursuit of the evil Dr Nefarious. It is a sci-fi caper the kids will love, but adults will marvel at too, as you jump between dimensions and incredibly vivid, detailed worlds with effortless ease. If nothing else, it is a brilliant technical feat. But the best thing is, there’s plenty else – humour, joy, a dash of peril and engaging gameplay to keep everyone more than happy and coming back for more.
Skip to the end: Cross-dimensional fun that’s also a technical powerhouse.
Score: 9/10
Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield
Platform: Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, PC
Genre: Side scroller
Price: £9.99
Age rating: 12+
On the run
Never Yield is an autorunner title with little in the way of story or substance, not that the latter is an issue; sometimes basic is what we need. In the role of Wally, you must keep outrunning your enemies in 3D side-scrolling fashion, dodging obstacles that come your way. The story does not go into great detail, but you get the gist of it through little cut scenes, matched with great visuals and a stellar soundtrack. Run, jump, slide or dash are the options available, testing your ability to time hits as colour-coded prompts appear on screen. It is easy enough to follow. There are various difficulty levels to suit any player. Despite obvious repeatability, games like this can often become quite repetitive…
Skip to the end: Although Never Yield gets repetitive, there is still plenty to enjoy at such a reasonable price point.
Score: 7/10
Mighty Goose
Platform: Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, PC
Genre: Action / Platformer
Price: From £13.99
Age rating: 12+
Goose on the loose
This run and gun shooter sees you in the role of bounty hunter Goose who must defeat swathes of foes standing in his way. The plot does not really develop more than that, with things getting pretty hectic early on, so be prepared for it to be difficult from the offset. The checkpoints can be far apart too, which might be a bit frustrating when struggling to move forward. It gets messy when huge hordes of enemies attack all at once, with danger coming at you from every angle. You start with a hand cannon but will pick up stronger weapons as you progress, though ammo is not unlimited. With the ability to jump, duck and shoot upwards, there’s plenty of variety to control. Plus, the retro pixel art style is on point.
Skip to the end: The difficulty can be off-putting, but Mighty Goose is an otherwise solid run and gun shooter.
Score: 7/10
The Wild at Heart
Platform: Xbox, PC
Genre: Adventure
Price: £20.99
Age rating: 7+
The runaway indie title
The first thing that strikes you about The Wild at Heart is its beautifully detailed art style; it really hits the right note for this tale of a boy called Wake who is fed up with home life and decides to run away into the woods. Meeting with a friend, Kirby, the pair soon find themselves in a mysterious hidden realm dealing with an array of magical creatures who you must help, as a darkness known as the Never attempts to destroy anything in its path. Along the way you collect small Spritelings, which enable you to do tasks such as breaking items or fighting foes at your command. It all wraps up into a nicely told, well presented adventure that hits some emotional notes.
Skip to the end: A beautifully presented indie title that focuses heavily on story, to its strength.
Score: 8/10
