Starblade (PlayStation 5, £69.99)
Verdict: Almost too slick
Want a crash course on video games in the 2020s? Then play Stellar Blade. It’s a mix of some of the best games of the last decade.
There’s the die-and-try-again brutality of Dark Souls. The enhanced combat of Final Fantasy VII: Remake. The sloppy post-apocalypse of The Last of Us. And the plaintive sci-fi tone of Nier: Automata… oh, and also the sword-wielding future babies from the same game.
Although ‘hodgepodge’ may be a bit unfair. Stellar Blade is one of the most inventive games I’ve ever played. In everything from its fluid combat to its exciting cutscenes, it shows what can be achieved today, given enough time and money. It’s not so much about stealing things from other places as it is about renovating them and wrapping them in a pretty bow.
Stellar Blade is one of the most inventive games I’ve ever played. In everything from its fluid combat to its exciting cutscenes, it shows what can be achieved today, given enough time and money.
A super soldier named Eve, who tries to take back the Earth from terrible monsters, is the main protagonist of the game.
There is a lot of fuss and a lot of fun too. Although there’s always something about Stellar Blade that feels too polished, like it’s a game advertisement in 2024.
Or do I mean a corset? There’s no getting around the fact that Stellar Blade’s main character, a super soldier named Eve trying to take back the Earth from terrible monsters, is treated like some kind of doll. You can change the length of her hair in the options menu, although her legs always remain incredibly long and there are a variety of skimpy outfits to dress her in. This is not how she would save the planet.
Still, there are many things around Eve that also attract attention. Stellar Blade is an impressive looking game, one of the few in this generation that really exercises the PlayStation 5’s capabilities.
But, in a way, that’s also the problem. There is a lot of fuss and a lot of fun too. Although there’s always something about Stellar Blade that feels too polished, like it’s a game advertisement in 2024.
Lunar Lander Beyond (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, £24.99)
Verdict: a retro rocket
Let’s go back. Way back. In fact, until 1979, when Atari released a game called Lunar Lander. The concept was originally inspired by moon landings: you, the player, controlled an unwieldy spaceship, using thrusters to propel and stabilize it, hoping to make a safe descent to some extraterrestrial surface.
Now let’s move on. Way to go. In fact, until 2024, when humans have colonized Mars, we’ll all be traveling in flying cars, and Atari rebooted Lunar Lander as Lunar Lander Beyond.
Beyond is, as expected, much more sophisticated than its predecessor. An entire narrative has been superimposed on the experience (of galactic anomalies and brave crew members) and is told through clever animated sequences.
Beyond is, as expected, much more sophisticated than its predecessor. An entire narrative has been superimposed on the experience (of galactic anomalies and brave crew members) and is told through clever animated sequences.
Within the levels, there are new abilities, challenges and threats, including the possibility of your beaten pilot going crazy and starting to see pink elephants and other pleasant distortions.
Within the levels, there are new abilities, challenges and threats, including the possibility of your beaten pilot going crazy and starting to see pink elephants and other pleasant distortions. If they do, you can put them in psychiatric care and deploy another pilot in their place, with their own strengths and weaknesses.
However, beneath all of Beyond’s innovations, in a rather charming way, lies the same classic gameplay. You have to control an unwieldy spaceship and then land it safely. And again. It’s pretty simple, really.
Except, for a player as clumsy as me, it’s also pretty difficult. Those moments when I fully understood the flight of my ship seemed wonderful to me, but they were few and far between. Better players will have more reasons to keep going, striving for mastery and higher scores.
To them I say: good luck. Your planet needs you.