Paul Renshaw
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Pure XboxLatest Reviews
In pride of place on Azkend 2's feature list is the phrase "8 different backdrops!" and that really seems to be all you're playing the story mode for here - the chance to see a different barely animated backdrop before more puzzling is thrust upon you. Luckily, the game is not overly pricey at $7.99 and the alternate modes help to keep the interest up, with score chasing on the leaderboard always available to be relied upon to add some interest. With that said, match-3 games are generally good for relaxation, but with the control gremlins to contend with, this isn't one that we found to be terribly restful.
The Battleborn experiment has been largely successful. Fusing humour and shooting together with the mechanics from a MOBA sounds like it should be a recipe for disaster, but the charm of the graphical style and characterisation lifts the whole game. The story (or lack of it compared to Borderlands 2, say) is a bit of a let down, but it does enough to keep you interested and eager to see the next mission. There are issues with online play, which we're hoping get ironed out, but there's fun to be had as you and your fireteam roll up the battlefield, combined with the genuine laugh out loud moments.
All in all, Hitman is a very promising start to the reboot series. The visuals are good, the voice acting is excellent, and with the longevity promised in Contracts mode it should be a series that runs and runs. The issues with the AI can be addressed in future episodes, we hope, and if that happens then the game will certainly hit a higher score than we can give it this time. With five further episodes to come in 2016, the future's looking bright for our shiny-headed assassin.
In conclusion, this another Traveller's Tales LEGO game, with all the baggage that entails. As an example of the breed, it's a very good one, but the age of the model is now starting to show and some sort of revolution (rather than a gradual evolution) must now be overdue. However, given the strength of the source material of these films, it makes a very decent fist of being a good game, as opposed to just being one of the better LEGO games.