What We Played #289 – Halo Wars 2, Resident Evil 7 & Wii U

So Nintendo have finally showed their full hand for the forthcoming Switch last week, and, well, it’s not a very full hand. There are various aspects of the handheld/home console hybrid that you can take offence at, whether it’s the hugely overpriced peripherals, or the relatively short battery life depending on what you’re playing, but really those things matter far less to me than the fact there are only going to be a handful of games available on the day it launches. OK, one of those is going to be Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, which will almost certainly be a candidate for game of the year, but aside from that there are simply no essential-looking titles, at least not at the prices that are being charged.

Even after a £10 price cut, Konami are still expecting gamers to hand over £50 for Bomberman R, while 1-2 Switch is a fun looking set of mini games that just doesn’t scream that it’s a £40 must-have title. What I understand least about the whole situation is why didn’t Nintendo just hang back a month? When there are games launching later in March it simply doesn’t seem that wise to launch with one of the sparsest software line-ups for a console launch in the last twenty years.

Having said all that, I’ll be picking one up, because the concept as a whole works for me and I’ve had a fantastic four and a half years with my Wii U. There’ll be exclusive titles that you can’t get anywhere else, and if they’re anything like the Wii U’s catalogue, they’ll be brimming with quality.

When not re-watching the Breath Of The Wild trailer, I’ve nearly finished Uncharted 4 – I think – and utterly loved the second half of the game. It really doesn’t get going properly for far too long, but once it does it is spectacular. Besides that I reviewed The Flame In The Flood Complete Edition, which is well worth checking out, as well playing a touch too much Overwatch at 3am.

Tuffcub was the first to chime in this week, and he’s taken Titanfall 2 out of his PS4 disc drive in an attempt to stop playing it and give something else a go. He managed an hour or so of Battlezone and The Last Guardian before going back to the giant robot friend simulator. Having spent the equivalent of nearly four solid days playing it, I think it’s safe to say that he loves it. Besides that he and the hubby got into some old PS+ offerings with the fun Tiny Towers and Table Top Racing: World Tour.

Steve platinumed God of War 2, despite some annoying glitches, and finished his first run of Ratchet & Clank on PS4. He also had a look at Tiny Troopers on Vita, which sadly is no Cannon Fodder despite being fairly pleasant, and started work on his Memoranda review to boot.

Jim has been scaring himself silly, as well as finding time for more multiplayer shenanigans;

This week I finished Resident Evil 7 for review – brace yourselves for early next week – before dipping in again to try the tougher difficulty setting and some more VR. I’ve also been slogging my way through Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst. I adore the original, but it’s as if DICE completely misunderstood what made that game so fantastic. While it sounded exciting, the open world stuff is basic and adds little to the game.

Overwatch made yet another big return to the playlist. Once again, I’ve been trying to claw my way up the competitive ranks and so far I’m doing well though falling short of my 3,000 target. There’s always next season, I guess!

It looks as though the Switch announcement made Miguel rifle through the Wii U’s amazing back catalogue with time spent on Splatoon, Fast Racing Neo and Xenoblade Chronicles. He also finished up Doom and Double Dragon Neon, while he made a much needed start on Danganronpa 2. Oh, and be sure to check out his reviews of Yakuza 0, Fate/Extella and Atelier Shallie Plus!

Tef also felt compelled to boot up the Wii U and play a couple hours of Mario Kart 8, having played it and a bunch of other Switch games at the end of last week – see what he’s written about the system and its games here. Despite realising he hadn’t touched the game’s second DLC pack, he managed to stay on the podium for half a dozen races. He also got a sneak peak at Halo Wars 2, sampling both its early single player and a handful of modes from the multiplayer, which included Blitz.

Meanwhile Aran is struggling in his third season with Ebbsfleet in Football Manager and beat the somewhat frustrating Titan Souls. Finally Dave has only had time to play Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice and Poochy & Yoshi’s Wooly World. Maybe next week he’ll have some spare time!

Now then, what have you played?