From gripping stories and action-adventure, brainteasers to sports and more, games have always had the power to bring you out of your living room, past the controller and screen, to experience things you might otherwise miss out on.
The proof of this is the return of the world's favourite skateboarder, Tony Hawk, whose catalogue of video games has converted legions of fans into die-hard skaters.
But that's not all - other games to check out this week include charming puzzlers and platformers, and a return to form for branch-narrative adventure-seekers...
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4
I'm a seasoned skateboarder, despite never having technically hopped on a board in my life. This is thanks to one man, Tony Hawk, whose string of legendary video games over the last two decades has utterly transformed the video game landscape. We've all grown up and fallen in love with each and every one of his releases.
Well, Hawk and company are back to modernise and revolutionise skating once more, this time revisiting two massive hits from the early 00s, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4. Repackaging them into one ambitious remake, the result is a balance between pure nostalgia and modern magic.
Jumping straight into a level without first refreshing your muscle memory in a tutorial is unwise. Though you might remember doing an endless array of ollies, kick flips, vert tricks, and other manoeuvres, remembering how to do them is another story entirely. Like a fighting game, entering commands randomly into your controller yields…interesting results.
An endless library of tricks will keep creativity rolling
Once you get humbled in the tutorials and start re-learning how to skate, jumping into the Career Modes sends you flying back into familiar challenge levels, with 2 minutes on the clock to tick off objectives.
Levels in THPS are a playground for you to pull off your wildest tricks imaginable, as virtually everything you see can be interacted with in some way. Whether it's gliding through the pristine airport, flipping across a cruise ship, or just getting your bearings in the foundry, these levels burst with visual eye-candy. Though two decades have passed since these games were first released, they feel as fresh and inviting as ever.
Trust that you're almost always beside a rail to grind, or there's a makeshift ramp within sight that catapults you sky-high, eager to keep you racking up a high score. Trying to string all of your newly learned moves together in a successful combo, while balancing on your skateboard, keeping your eyes on what's ahead, and also landing in one piece, is a Herculean task. This is the basis of THPS, a blend of extreme difficulty of your own making and also downright luck.
No matter how simple or complex your routine, or how often you wipe out, you'll have a blast. A variety of multiplayer modes rekindle your childhood memories of the original, only this time you're battling it out online with people from around the world. An expanded skater roster, combined with originals like Bam Margera (whom many thought was cut), pays equal tribute to the new and old heroes of the sport.
One thing seasoned skaters will notice (and may be disappointed by) is the change made to the Career mode in THPS 4, which reverts back to time-based challenges. That game laid the foundations for the story modes we loved in subsequent Hawk games, such as Underground, so the omissions may vex gamers who were looking forward to revisiting that form of gameplay.
You might also notice a reduced soundtrack from the originals, which I'll hedge my bets and blame on possible copyright issues. That said, it could well be that this new Tony Hawk game aims to introduce new music to legions of fans, just as its predecessors did. The likes of Fontaines D.C. are now included, whom Hawk reportedly selected himself, so give the tunes a chance, as this new soundtrack may well become as iconic as its predecessor.
I'm still holding out hope that either a brand new game or a story-based remaster could be on the horizon - the world certainly has an appetite for it. But until that fabled day, THPS 3+4 is as close to modern magic as you can get on a skateboard. It's fun, inventive, but still has that signature style that only Tony Hawk could pull off. Just try to stick the landing, and you'll be grand.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 is available to play on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch/2
Tempopo
Gamers on the lookout for challenging brainteasers with an inescapable soundtrack, your search has ended. From the creators of Unpacking comes a brand new, psychedelic soundscape puzzler game, Tempopo.
The story is simple: Hana's garden of musical flowers has been scattered across the sky. She enlists the help of pink blobs known as Tempopo to trek through the lands, gathering them back for her. Across 60-plus levels, you'll need to direct these strange pink allies across unique 3D maps, each of which contains all manner of obstacles, including thorns, gaps, and snapping skeletons.
The start of the game (combined with its cutesy graphics) does give you a somewhat false sense of security. Directing one or two little blobs around to collect flowers is pretty manageable. But after the first world or so, the level grows in complexity. Uh-oh.
Soon, you'll need to manage four or five different routes at the same time, planning when and where each Tempopo interact and intersects with one another across the landscape. The flowers in question are often placed in awkward positions, forcing you to think outside the box about how to collect them safely and direct the Tempopo to the end tile.
Add in a limited supply of ability tiles, and you have all the ingredients for an inventive puzzler that is easy to pick up and play in both small and long bursts. Despite the difficulty of some levels, the game never punishes you for making a mistake or taking your time. An abundance of accessibility options, including Puzzle and Adventure mode settings, opens up the joy of the game to younger players in particular, while also making it equally enjoyable for older gamers in the room.
Tempopo is available to play on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch
Ruffy and the Riverside
Ruffy is one of the quirkiest platformer games you'll get to play, promising unique gameplay in a retro-like world bursting with colour. While your overarching mission is to restore the village of Riverside by collecting letters, the true goal is to enjoy yourself in this game's distinct gameplay mechanics.
Controlling the titular Ruffy, players wield powerful 'Swap' magic that lets them copy and paste textures around them. And this is where the inventiveness and creativity are unleashed. From turning a waterfall into climbable vines, or swapping unbreakable concrete with wood, you can overcome all manner of obstacles laid before you.
The world of Ruffy is also a mesmerising delight, blending 2D and 3D elements throughout. As such, you'll always be on the hunt to explore your environment for new textures to adopt and throw at objects. With buckets of charm and originality, its style is as much a tribute to classic platforms, but mechanics promise players something entirely new to experience and experiment with.
Ruffy and the Riverside is available to play on PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch
Lost Records: Blooms & Rage
From the creators of Life is Strange comes a new, coming-of-age narrative game brimming with both 90s nostalgia and supernatural mystery - Lost Records. And now that both parts of this episodic game have been released, it's the perfect time to dip in for the complete 12-hour storyline experience.
Lost Records follows four teenage friends, Swann, Nora, Autumn and Kat, who, unhappy with the quiet life in Velvet Cove, aim to make their summer vacation one to remember together. However, life is rarely that simple, and a reunion 27 years later proves that buried secrets from their teenage years never truly disappear...
Set across both 1995 and 2022, players take control of aspiring photographer Swann, helping her document her time and shaping relationships with those around her. 90s gamers will be impressed by the wall-to-wall nostalgia of the era, while the 'modern-day' timeline still has the aftereffects of a worldwide pandemic. This helps complement the stark changes we see in the cast between both periods, beckoning players to piece together the reasons why four best friends swore never to speak to each other again.
Lost Records pushes branch narrative gaming into interesting, new territory. Narrative choices you make can change depending on who you're looking at, or how much of a conversation you listen to. And the dual-timeline story means that you can essentially rewrite Swann's history to your fancy. Mix in a sprinkling of heart-warming and heart-breaking narrative scenes, beautifully rendered visuals, and a healthy dose of unexplained paranormal antics, and this winner reaffirms studio DON'T NOD as leaders in branching narrative gaming.
Lost Records: Blooms & Rage is available to play on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
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