So, last week brought us a brand-new but disappointingly dumbed-down Civilisation Revolutions, and more standard hack ‘n slash nonsense in the shadowy form of Ninja Gaiden 2. Still, this is the summer drought, so anyone hankering after any triple-A titles was always going to end up a little disappointed.
Still, it’s Friday and that means no work for a few days complimented with a batch of fresh-baked games just like Mum used to make. First up, we’ve got the return of the famously not-as-good-as-Resi survival horror series Alone in the Dark. After some respectable outings on the PC, the series turned its attentions to the consoles (in the form of the PS1 and Dreamcast) and delivered dollops of sloppy Resi 1-style action.
Alone in the Dark: Quite possible terrible.
Well, this all-new instalment promises some horrifying first and third person action and might help bridge the gap between now and Left 4 Dead, the next scheduled horror game that actually looks to be quite good. That said, a suspiciously long period of silence from all the review outlets combined with rumours of horrible controls and a suspiciously short lifespan mean this might be a try before you buy kind of purchase. I’d recommend waiting a couple of months for the inevitable price crash. Especially if this turns out - as expected - to be another Condemned/Darkness/Jericho style piece of blandware.
For those of you with kids, or a mental age of under ten, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian offers the usual mix of combat, collecting, exploration and puzzles that you’ve come to expect from a kids game. It’s rather receiving a pummelling from games journalism across the world though, so you may just be better off buying your child a copy of GTA4 whilst saving up for their therapy bills and bail money in advance.
Topspin 3: Insists all female players apply turtlewax to their legs before playing.
Finally, Top Spin 3 is out just in time for the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Top Spin was something of a critical hit on the original Xbox but last year’s sequel on the 360 was largely joyless thanks to bland graphics and stiff controls. I’d recommend Virtua Tennis 3, but despite what the play-it-for-five-minutes reviews may have told you, it’s completely awful. Tennis fans may do well to break out the Dreamcast or even a SNES for their tennis gaming fix.
