As 2020 seems intent on keeping you firmly locked up indoors like a modern day hermit, we’re here to find the silver lining in it all. If you’re gonna be cooped up for the near foreseeable future, you may as well make it fun with some LEGO and video games!
Hands on with the LEGO Technic Lamborghini Sián FKP 37
Unless you’re a devout LEGO fan, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a simple child’s play thing. How wrong you are, though. Compared to the Super Mario LEGO we got our hands on recently, the Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 is another beast entirely.
Packing a mammoth 3,696 LEGO pieces (and six boxes), this is a serious set that demands some serious hands-on time. No, seriously… we stopped counting at the 10-hour mark, and that’s excluding all the time we spent embracing our inner control freaks and breaking down each LEGO box into separate colour-coded zip lock bags – trust us, it’s a bloody nifty strategy.
But the Sián is also an incredibly entertaining build. The joy of Technic – compared to your more run of the mil LEGO creations – is the brand’s focus on more mechanical elements.
That means there is a great sense of satisfaction in constructing an intricate system of gears only to watch it all come together during the home stretch. In between these magical moments there are many steps out of the 1,000 that require more fiddly attention, but there was something bizarrely peaceful about the whole process, and we enjoyed chucking on a podcast and plugging away at it all – reigniting a LEGO itch that had long been dormant.
Oh, and remembering the fact that some poor soul had to spend the time designing the highly intricate set in the first place is absolutely mind boggling.
It’s worth noting that due to the limitations and bulkier nature of Technic parts you shouldn’t go expecting the most authentic and sleek replica on the market, but if you can afford the hefty price tag (this thing retails for a tidy $569.99), it’s still plenty worthy of a spot in the pool room.
Fast and Furious Crossroads (PS4, XBO, PC)
If there’s two life mantras that the Fast and the Furious series has taught us over the last decade, it’s to live your life a quarter mile at a time and that granny-shifting is never the solution to any of life’s woes, so when news broke that we’d finally get Crossroads – a game greenlit by the almighty Vin Disel himself, needless to say we were a little jazzed.
The sad news though is that this racer-fighter hybrid isn’t able to hit the NOS to boost itself out of a track of mediocrity. It’s hardly a game of the year contender, nor is it so woefully bad to the point of accidental hilarity.
If you’re a full-throttle fan of the series, there are plenty of winks and nods to the series’ lore and you’ll be introduced to new characters like Sonequa Martin-Green’s Vienna. The rest of it is mindless car-nage that is relatively repetitive and bland to look at.
One day we’ll get a game that’ll have us raising our Coronas in celebration, but today is not that day.
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Fall Guys (PS4, PC)
To the casual observer, Fall Guys sounds like something concocted during a wild cheese dream – control a jellybean-like character and navigate them through a series of obstacle courses and mini-games in the vein of Wipeout and Takeshi’s Castle until 60 players are whittled down to one eventual winner.
But put away that side-eye, friend, because this game is an absolute bloody hoot and without question one of the best games of 2020. The mini-games themselves – ranging from working your way up an obstacle course as deadly slime rises up to eliminate you, to running up a moving ramp as giant pieces of fruit try to flatten you – will bring a smile to your face, and each round is over in minutes – making it perfect for pick-up-and-play sessions.
Team games can get slightly more irksome depending on the skill of your comrades, but linking up with a bunch of mates online help alleviate some of those woes.
Skater XL (PS4, XBO, PC)
With the skating genre seeing something of a resurgence of late, it makes sense that Skater XL has entered the fray, hoping to lure die-hard fans with its ultra-realistic gameplay. You see, the game’s big hook is its control scheme – seeing you independently control both your left and right foot with your controller’s respective analogue stick.
The result of this is a double-edged sword, because while it certainly makes the gameplay one of the most ‘real’ representations of skating in video games, it also presents one hell of a difficulty curve. Face plant you most definitely will – and quickly at that.
Granted we’re hardly a whiz at the real thing ourselves, but it took a decent amount of time to fall into the groove of it all. Once things click there’s a lot of fun to be had, however while the actual act of skating is exemplary, there’s just not all that much to actually do outside of a handful of challenges.
Much is left to your imagination as you create your own goals amongst the various sandboxes, so those looking for a meatier package will be a tad disappointed.
Destroy All Humans! (PS4, XBO, PC)
Even 15 years ago Destroy All Humans was an incredibly quirky adventure that perhaps never got quite the amount of love it deserved, so here we are in 2020 with this zhuzhed up remaster. For those unacquainted with the game, you control a highly aggressive alien Crypto as he invades 1950’s America and causes off sorts of chaos.
We’re talking lazer guns and flying cows here people – the whole nine yards.
The visuals have definitely had a beefy upgrade and control is thankfully a whole lot smoother, but if you didn’t enjoy the mainline action the first time around, that’s pretty much unchanged here – including slightly annoying timed objectives.
The good news is that if you’re willing to look past those niggles then there’s plenty of charm and humour on offer to help see you through to the end. And besides, with 2020 in mind, humanity would almost rather an alien invasion, right?
TY the Tasmanian Tiger HD (Switch, PS4, XBO, PC)
There’s unfortunately not a whole lot of video games that celebrate Aussie culture, so we should cherish the ones that do, and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger has a true-blue crack at doing exactly that.
It’s still almost a 20-year-old game, so expect a bit of that old-school jank, but struth this game couldn’t be more ocker if it bloody tried – all the way to side characters like Maurie the Cockatoo and Julius the Koala. In a world where much of our video game content is created abroad, it’s a refreshing change of pace to hear our local accent in full force.
Gameplay is pretty standard PS2-era platformer fare, with plenty of busywork like collecting Thunder Eggs that eventually summon a boss to duel, but the varied environments prevent things from feeling too repetitive.
It’ll also take some time adjusting to just how Ty jumps and moves, especially as you try to make the most of his boomerangs in battle. As a whole package though, this is an admirable remaster that deserves your attention.
Who knows, with enough goodwill, maybe it’ll help conjure up a modern sequel?
Crysis Remastered (Switch)
Remember the days when ‘But can it run Crysis’ was uttered by countless video game snobs around the globe. Well now that very game runs on Nintendo’s itty-bitty console and does a rather remarkable job at that.
Sure there are a few graphical concessions that have had to be made in order to ensure things remain stable, but this could very well be the new benchmark for the system’s visual output. The core game remains unchanged, so many of the original criticisms still hold true here, but if you’d like to go back and see what all the fuss was about, then this is an excellent way to do it.
Superhot: Mind Control Delete (PS4, XBO, PC)
Superhot wowed us back in 2016 with its uber stylish gameplay and a visual palate that looks as though you’ve slapped on a pair of ‘90s 3D glasses. This third entry in the series continues to provide the goods with a neat twist on its formula.
The core loop remains intact – time moves only as you do, meaning you have ample opportunity to take out waves of heavily armed polygonal foes in classy fashion, but this iteration takes a few notes from the trusty roguelike.
As a result you’ll work your way through numerous ‘nodes’ that consist of multiple stages that must be completed in a single life. Fail, and you’ll bid farewell to any handy modifiers that make your life easier, and start again from scratch.
This naturally creates a more difficult run, but allows for much more strategy – breathing new life into this gem of a franchise.
