Games of the Week –WRC 9, Deadly Days, Griefhelm and EA Madden 21
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WRC 9
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Genre: Racing
Price: £49.99
Full speed ahead
Variety wins for WRC’s latest title, offering a wider choice of game modes, including a new addition Clubs giving players a chance to create their own championships, as well as a tester mode to try out cars freely. Being officially licensed means the full set of drivers and vehicles, across Junior WRC, WRC 3, WRC 2 and the main WRC, which make up the key part, career mode. There is also three new rallies – Japan, New Zealand, Kenya – and some classic cars, giving plenty of new content to enjoy. Vehicle handling is great on WRC9 and you can make tweaks to the difficulty. While the driving experience has a good level of realism to it, the sound is perhaps the only thing that could be improved. But updates promise even bigger things to come, namely a co-driver mode where you must support a friend in the driver seat.
Skip to the end: Realistic and accessible racing game with plenty of modes for longevity, as well as updates offering even more soon, make for a compelling racing title that goes beyond the finishing line.
Score: 8/10
Deadly Days
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Action / Strategy
Price: £17.09
Survive the zombies
Zombie games are nothing new but Deadly Days goes down the simple is best route, opting for basic pixel art in this strategy rogue-lite. The idea is to build up base to keep it safe from a horde of zombies, sending your group of survivors out on various tasks from a mission map. These are timed, as when night falls, the zombies become stronger to the point where you have zero chance. The time doesn’t give you a great duration to properly explore each area and you have to leave some survivors to go about tasks away from view without any immediate indication of how well they are doing, you have to keep scanning across the map, frustratingly. There is plenty of energy within the game to keep you satisfied and even some special abilities, such as one that freezes all zombies temporarily, to add some freshness to the fun.
Skip to the end: Simple yet effective zombie-themed strategy fun.
Score: 7/10
Madden NFL 21
Platform: PlayStation 4
Genre: Sports
Price: £54.95
A weak run
This sporting game juggernaut continues to roll on, even if there are now some cracks beginning to show. The best thing about Madden NFL 21 is the new The Yard mode, a casual 6v6 backyard rules version of American Football that is both a great introduction to the game and sport for newbies or a fun pace change for pros. On the field too, Madden looks as good as ever – player movements and animations are smooth and the AI feels well balanced too. The issue is other areas of the game feel tired or unfinished: Franchise mode has barely changed for example, while the new Face of the Franchise story mode lacks a lot of polish. Players after an NFL fix will be happy with Madden NFL, those after something deeper won’t be.
Skip to the end: As good as ever on the field, but with work needed elsewhere to complete the experience.
Score: 6/10
Griefhelm
Platform: PC
Genre: Sword play
Price: £15.49
Swords at the ready
This 2D sword-swinging medieval fighter is one of those that are best played with friends in multiplayer for maximum results. Moving left to right allows you to progress through the main campaign mode, taking on enemies who stand in your way. Battles are challenging enough, but annoyingly objects can obstruct your view from the action, requiring you to move to see what is going on, taking your focus away from the battle at hand. Once you’ve lost your last life, progress resets to the beginning but rewards can be used to boost your chances. There are other modes to vary the fun out, such as a tug of war conflict, fighting your way to the enemy’s side of the screen, which we enjoyed. But ultimately, we found it too repetitive after a period of time.
Skip to the end: Challenging medieval fighting title offers some variety but not enough to stop it becoming too repetitive.
Score: 6/10
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