Payday 2: Crimewave Edition; Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy; Steins; Gate, gaming reviews

The definitive console release of Overkill's high-concept, co-op larceny simulator is a thrill to play

Payday 2 on next-gen still suffers from muddy textures and shoddy AI

Payday 2: Crimewave Edition

****

PS4, Xbox One (£34.99)

Bringing high-octane heists to next-gen, Payday 2: Crimewave Edition is the definitive console release of Overkill's high-concept, co-op larceny simulator. Despite promising full 1080p visuals and an improved framerate, Payday 2 on next-gen still suffers from muddy textures and shoddy AI (pictured), but the absurd amount of additional content over the vanilla game justifies the upgrade. With new characters and franchise-crossover heists, it's is a thrill to play with fellow crooks online. Worth snatching up.

Oliver Cragg

Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy

**

PS Vita (£39.99)

Hey! Do you like overly complicated games that make you trawl through hours of bland boring environments and dialogue for little to no reward? Then I have just the thing for you! Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy is a Japanese first-person dungeon crawler that deftly combines impenetrable plot and impenetrable mechanics. The menus are dense and unintuitive, which could be forgiven if the gameplay itself was any fun. But for a game of 40+ hours, fun is not something you will experience often. Some will like the wilfully complicated nature of it, not I though.

Jack Fleming

Steins; Gate

***

PS3/Vita (£29.99)

Based on the popular anime, Steins; Gate tells a leftfield tale of time travelling teens whose link to the past is a modified microwave. Being a visual novel, traditional gameplay is limited, with player interaction mostly confined to pressing a button to advance the text. With no puzzles to break up reading, it's fortunate that the story is as gripping as it is bizarre. Fans of the genre will hold this up as a highlight, but it won't win over those who prefer action.

Jack Turner