Akiba’s Beat
PS4, PSVita, Pqube, cert: 12
★★
The third entry in Acquire’s Akiba series returns to Japan’s otaku (“nerd” in Japanese) paradise Akihabara, but its location is the most successful facet of a sadly flawed title.
While the representation of the district feels a little underdeveloped as a whole, its character does shine through when focusing on specific individuals, locations and the relationships between them. The cracks appear early, however, as the hack-and-slash combat feels oddly hobbled by an action-points system that breaks up fights with periods of inactivity. The dungeons are cookie-cutter hallways, with fairly minor changes to their visual themes and early reskinning of enemies. The biggest failing is the dialogue, which is choked with pop-culture references and snark in a way that can feel almost petulant. The worst offender is the mascot Pinkun, a floating, rabbit-like creature who finds it necessary to comment on everything one does (or, indeed, goes remotely near) from a small collection of soundbites. For anyone looking for an engaging JRPG, Persona 5 deals with the psychological elements better, while Tales of Berseria has a similar, but smoother, combat system. MC
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III
PC, Relic/Sega, cert: 16
★★
When the original Dawn of War was released in 2004, it was a breath of fresh air for the real-time strategy genre, combining base-building and resource-gathering with a gloriously, fun and gory violence. It had the added bonus of being a considerably cheaper way of playing Warhammer 40,000 than actually buying the tabletop version from Games Workshop.
Unfortunately, in the intervening 13 years the franchise hasn’t moved on. DOW III is still largely enjoyable but there is nothing new here other than slightly improved graphics, while the sublime moments – such as Ork Waaagh! towers blaring heavy metal – are undermined by the ridiculous, such as the shocking cover mechanics. The one-player campaign jumps between the three main protagonists – Space Marines, Eldar and Orks – in an attempt to provide a wider perspective to the conflict on the curiously named planet Cyprus Ultima, but succeeds only in making the story feel disjointed. Multiplayer should offer more depth, but with only one game mode, three races and a handful of maps to choose from, replayability is limited. Not the new dawn the franchise needs. RF
Syberia 3
PC, PS4, Xbox One, Anuman, cert: 12
★★★
Thirteen years after Syberia II’s unresolved ending, lawyer turned adventurer Kate Walker returns. The previous instalments fused steampunk settings with fanciful imagery that drew on the best of Franco-Belgian comics, exploring curiously anachronistic European towns and discovering lost tribes and legendary creatures.
That quest that continues here, b.ut while visuals have improved with the passing of time, and creator Benoît Sokal’s storyline expands in mesmerisingly weird directions, Syberia 3’s mechanics do little to evolve the old-school, point-and-click gameplay. Puzzle-solving is often a chore, lacking clarity on how to interact with objects, while progression is stilted due to vague objectives. Voice-acting, so essential in adventure games, is also found wanting, with many characters poorly cast – a sadistic older female doctor has the voice of an ingenue, for instance – and these miscastings shatter immersion in many scenes. Fans of the genre or series will enjoy Kate’s return, but it is no entry point for newcomers. MK
