You take the good with the bad in video games. Hayden Meikle has been on the sticks long enough to know that, so here he offers the good and the bad of two recent releases.
For: PS4, Xbox One, PC
From: Electronic Arts
Rating: (M) +
Two and a half stars (out of five)
The good
The setting (open world, moody vibe, dark streets in a town with hundreds of nooks and crannies) is hugely impressive.
Graphically, this is as good as any driving game I've seen.
Handling is a nice balance of simulation and arcade.
It's almost unique in that regard, being neither too simple nor too tricky.
The game has plenty of longevity with lots of missions and online possibilities.
The bad
Gaarrgghhhhh.
Need For Speed has the worst rubber banding in the history of driving games.
No, seriously.
For the uninitiated, rubber banding refers to the ability of AI cars to catch up with you (or fall back to your pace) regardless of your actual skill or performance.
When you lead a race, it is only a matter of time before you drop back to third or fourth.
Similarly, if you trail, it is only a matter of time before you regain the lead.
This results in constant jockeying for position that has nothing to do with driving skill or the speed of your car.
All you can do is hope the finish line looms up when it's your turn to be in front.
So frustrating.
I have never seen a game so suited to that epilepsy warning at the start.
Constant flashing lights, ugh.
The story mode is painfully ''hip'' with a bunch of annoying characters.
Or am I just getting old?
For: PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360
From: 2K Sports.
Rating: (M)
Three stars (out of five)
The good
The Showcase mode, focused on Stone Cold Steve Austin, is a wild ride and features loads of cracking old footage.
The old stuff is best - and that's the bottom line, 'cause Stone Cold says so.
Dozens of modes and options and settings provide infinite gameplay possibilities, and a deep customisation tool allows you to create your dream wrestler.
The range of moves is really quite impressive.
Classic wrestlers!
From the get-go!
This old WWF fan was delighted to be able to step straight into the boots and muscles of Macho Man Randy Savage oooohhhh yeeeaahhhhhh.
The bad
So bad it can fill this category all by itself.
The reversal system.
Sigh.
Much like the rubber banding in bad car racing games, it serves only to prolong a match and annoy the heck out of gamers.
You can be dominating a match before, out of nowhere, your opponent reverses your attack and takes over.
As in previous years, you get plenty of chances to sneak in your own reversals but the game persists with the frustrating button-press system that gives you about a tenth of a second to react.
Just a horrible, horrible part of the game that comes close to wrecking it.
