In yet another colossal week of mega-releases, Dragon Age: Inquisition leads the pack of blockbusters jockeying for your attention. Joining the epic RPG is Assassin’s Creed Rogue, the excellent soccer game PES 2015, a trio of family games in the Wii U version of Super Smash Bros., Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham and LittleBigPlanet 3. I also took a look at Amazon’s latest, greatest tablet, the Fire HDX 8.9.
Reviews by Phil Villarreal. Phil is an author, blogger and Twitterer. Publishers provided review copies.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue
(Xbox 360, PS3, $60, Mature)
Expanding on the seafaring ways of Assassin’s Creed III and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the twist is that you play from the perspective of the Templars, who have always been the de facto villains of the series. Set during the French and Indian war, you play as a vigilante with divided loyalties who plays one side against the other. A mix of combat, stealth and naval missions keep things fresh as the usual Assassin’s Creed history lessons come rolling in.
It’s easy to overlook Rogue, given that it’s lurking in the shadow of the shiny, gorgeous, current-gen Unity, but this is the better game in man ways. Kudos to Ubisoft for refusing to go the easier route and push out a scaled-back version of Unity for last-gen gamers. While Rogue may lack the visual pizzazz and feature set of Unity, its writing and gameplay equal it in most ways and surpass it in some.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
(Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, $60, Mature)
Buy Dragon Age: Inquisition here
Developer BioWare makes amends for the oddly narrow and constrictive Dragon Age II. Following the path of Dragon Age: Origins, and taking more than a little influence from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Inquisition is the sort of sweeping, grand affair that is reserved for the word “epic.” You choose from an array of classes, take it through hundreds of customization options, then set out to take on a dizzying array of missions, sidequests and upgrade trees.
Combat usually tends to be the weakest part of BioWare affairs — you don’t remember Mass Effect fondly for the shooting sequences, after all — but it’s a finely tuned and rigorous affair here. If quick slashing, casting and defense maneuvers aren’t your thing, you can also freeze the action and step back to a tactical cam, coordinating your party’s attack to most effectively take down battlefield hazards. Added to the mix to top Origins and Skyrim is a beast of a multiplayers suite, which taps into the obsessive community and allows for competitive and cooperative thrills you may have dreamed up while playing Dungeons & Dragons in the basement. Inquisition is the definitive answer to the high fantasy RPG void.
Fire HDX 8.9
($380)
Don’t call it a Kindle. In an aim to be taken more seriously as an iPad contender, Amazon shed the e-reader moniker for its latest wave of tablets. Lighter, speedier and more powerful than the previous Fires, the tablet is Amazon’s fiercest stab yet at relevancy in the fading market. Versatile enough to use for work, as well as play, the tablet is a sleek, smooth slate that’s ready to compete with the iPad and Galaxy S tablets.
The Kindle works excellently as a gaming device, tapping into Amazon’s ever-growing selection of apps. The company gives out one free app a day, as well as a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime with purchase. The latter service lets you draw from an impressive bank of TV shows and movies to stream and download, many of which you won’t find on Amazon. It’s disappointing that the tablet can’t draw from the Google Play store.
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
(Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, 3DS, Vita, Xbox 360, PS3, $60, Everyone)
Buy Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham here
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes managed to avoid franchise burnout letting nearly every well-known DC superhero run free in a lavishly detailed Gotham City. The threequel attempts to step things up by expanding out to the galaxy, letting your band of heroes hop from one Green Lantern-protected world to another.
The expanded scope and varied environments keeps the missions fresh, and the writing is as subversively snappy as ever, but the game, though vast, plays more like an expansion of the previous game than something that stakes out its claims on territory of its own. Collection and tedious task-oriented levels become tiresome, although it helps that checkpoints keep you from having to truck through entire chapters in single sittings. As always with the Lego games, it’s co-op where the game really comes alive. Few franchises are better at providing adaptable playgrounds that allow experienced gamers to play along with newbies, and Beyond Gotham maintains that standard.
Little Big Planet 3
(PS4, PS3, $60, Everyone)
Sackboy returns for another adorable Sony platforming romp, which makes its way onto the PS4 for the first time. If you’ve played any previous LittleBigPlanet, you know the routine. Romp through creative levels, picking up whatever item globes you can get your hands on along the way, then use the goodies you’ve unlocked to build your own games and levels. Aside from visual enhancements to an already gorgeous franchise, the gameplay in the campaign has been amped up, filled with clever new power-ups and level mechanics that echo the best of Mario.
Just as with LittleBigPlanet 3, there’s no limit to what you can build. First-person shooters, RPGs, racers and other sports titles are all possibilities. It’s fun to tinker around and build your own stuff, but you can also just sit back and download all the wonders pumped out by the community, which is made up of wannabe game developers with too much time on their hands. LittleBigPlanet 3 works as an excellent gateway drug into game creation, making for a proving ground that lets you see if you have the skill or interest to pursue the job further. For everyone else, it’s an endless platformer that’s a no-brainer purchase.
PES 2015
(Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, $60, Everyone)
It’s been close to a decade since Konami’s entry into the soccer fray has been a serious contender to the FIFA behemoth, but the game’s current-gen debut manages to pull even with its rival, providing a viable alternative to soccer nuts looking for something different. While the visuals and licensing agreements don’t match what FIFA has to offer, convincing animations and gameplay adjustments provide as stunningly realistic a soccer match as I’ve seen. Players move with lifelike fluidity, and the ball caroms around the field with convincing physics.
Defense, in particular, is more lifelike than before, resisting canned animations for an action-reaction reliant metagame that challenges you to approach, slip in a leg and extract the ball for a clean tackle, or muddy things up with some mild aggression meant to set your opponent on his heel. Set plays and offensive strategies are easier to execute by preloading touches before the receiver gets the ball. Goalies lack suction cup hands and tend to deflect shots into scattershot rebounds that lead to improvised goals. A rich and meaty soccer sim, PES 2015 nails the online and GM aspects just as it does the gameplay. This season makes for an embarrassment of riches for video game soccer addicts.
Super Smash Bros. Wii U
(Wii U, $60, Everyone 10+)
Buy Super Smash Bros Wii U here
Nintendo’s exuberant, time-swallowing fighter is a testament to fan service, as well as the capabilities of the Wii U’s unique controller setup. The second screen not only works for off-TV play, but lets you hook up new Skylanders-like Amiibo toys that add characters and save progress, letting you transfer it to friends’ games. Even without Amiibos, the game is a gorgeous and invigorating riot, with smooth balance, exciting smash finishes and countless references to games in Nintendo’s sprawling universe.
Crawling with characters — both well-known and obscure — from Nintendo’s storied past, the game is well worth plugging hours into, even for those who have worn out the recent 3DS version. Once you’ve unlocked all the characters and levels, multiplayer is where you’ll spend the long haul. The Wii U has struggle to find a foothold in sales in its two years of existence, but now — along with Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2 and Hyrule Warriors — is approaching the critical mass of must-own software to make the system relevant.
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