Sebastien Loeb is regarded as the most successful rally driver in world rally championship history, placing the man’s name on the front of your box means the enthusiasts have a watchful eye on you. If it wasn’t obvious already this is a simulation-based racing game, and in many instances it’s justified. Milestone’s fascination for the motorcycling scene is evident. Most recent titles such as RIDE and MotoGP 15 are some of their finest.

Transitioning to the area of rally it’s an interesting if not a curious affair as to what the studio will do in order to standout amongst its competitors. Common to most racers the most prominent reason for playing resides within the career mode. Requiring the player’s details such as name, nationality and racing number, the player will also be asked to provide details of their team serving as an avatar within its career.

"Consisting of single stage racing, time trail, championship and rally cross, players can participate in any event so long as they meet the vehicle requirements."

While this is traditional it’s also contradictory to its primary feature: The Loeb Experience. While neither detracts from the other, first impressions have players assuming the role of Sebastien Loeb. This infact remains exclusive to the Loeb Experience. Browsing through the main menu the variety of content is satisfactory at best. Players are presented with a career, quick mode, garage and The Loeb Experience.

Consisting of single stage racing, time trail, championship and rally cross, players can participate in any event so long as they meet the vehicle requirements. Conveniently there’s a rental section should the player be in need of a ride. Once the player progresses and earns enough credits they can visit the dealership. This rental section is essentially a car selection screen and doesn’t require actual fees. The downside however is that credits and awards will not be earned upon completion. Naturally this differs in the career.

The good news is that some vehicles will be unlocked at specific moments in the game, assuming the player has become good enough to participate in these events. The game will always provide a reason to play and will do so without the mundane techniques of grinding for credits or force-feeding an ensemble of poorly developed filler-content. Making things a touch more interesting is Pikes Peak; an international time trail event which pits the player against a harsh and vicious hill climb which Loeb took the championship for in 2013.

"There’s no doubting the enjoyability and the distinctive touch the studio has given in making the game unique, but in a similar manner to recent first-person-shooters it feels like it’s trying its hardest to bore players to death."

Reliving Loeb’s career through certain events that he experienced at specific times in his life, the game literally puts the player in the racer’s seat in The Loeb Experience. Appropriately titled The Early days, A Young Champion, The All-Time Greatest and so on there’s a lot to do, each with their own rules and game modes, all immersive and enjoyable.

In addition, this feature delivers commentary speaking on the highlights of his career. It’s almost as if the game’s paying homage to a dead man who’s still blitzing the track. Nevertheless, gaining some insight on his passion for the sport was interesting. Unlike Forza’s Jeremy Clark who’s oblivious to the fact that he’s outstayed his welcome, rest assure, Loeb doesn’t narrate your menus or bore you to sleep. It’s exclusive to the mode itself and is one of it’s only redeeming features. While all this is great the game itself holds an incredible amount of Deja Vu with an ever-lingering feeling of “I’ve done this all before”.

There’s no doubting the enjoyability and the distinctive touch the studio has given in making the game unique, but in a similar manner to recent first-person-shooters it feels like it’s trying its hardest to bore players to death. There are a few noticeable exceptions but the majority appear to be nothing more than refined regurgitations of the last, give or take a few lighting effects. It’s fine for newcomers and a norm for enthusiasts. One noticeable aspect is Loeb’s favouritism for Citroën. Other manufacturers are available but the game is highly set on delivering the Loeb experience.

"It can’t be stressed enough as to just how claustrophobic the experience can become when it feels as though you’ve had your head duck-taped to the steering wheel in one car, only to be super-glued to the rear-passenger seat in another. "

Thankfully, the range of motors available do span the ages and each one feels authentic. Rally is an intense sport and while the game does well in managing its difficulty, I don’t expect newcomers to feel intimidated nor frustrated. It’s simple enough yet detailed for enthusiasts. As one would imagine, car tuning does hold a fair amount of depth for those willing to invest the time and there’s also an “Advanced Settings” menu to take things further.

The extent to which they’re incorporated is gratifying and proves noticeable during gameplay. While the game has every gear-shift, braking and surface transition feeling authentic, I sense the enthusiasts may be the only ones able to notice. I’d even go as far as saying DiRT Rally is more convincing and this stems from the lack of feedback I obtained from the handling model. In terms of the game’s environments and locations the variety is decent. Whether you’re smooth cruising across the tarmac mountains of San Romolo or skimming the harsh, snowy tracks of Monte Carlo, the locations on offer always deliver challenge.

As stated previously, the game caters to new-comers primarily through the means of preset difficulties and driver assists. But this doesn’t mean the game won’t bruise you when least expected, as the environmental terrain and weathering features go hand-in-hand with player feedback and vehicular control. Now, while the game is for the most part an enjoyable experience it’s not without issues, some quite major.

With such a mighty degree of emphasis and authenticity on delivering such an immersive and simulative experience, where’s the field-of-view slider? While it’s traditional for console games not to include visual and performance options, most recent games as well as upcoming ones do.

It can’t be stressed enough as to just how claustrophobic the experience can become when it feels as though you’ve had your head duck-taped to the steering wheel in one car, only to be super-glued to the rear-passenger seat in another. It’s disorienting and frustrating. The title claims to appeal to the “hardcore” yet, two of the three platforms it’s shipped on fail to incorporate such a basic feature. The game isn’t exactly visually stunning, therefore can’t be technically demanding.

"Visually, it’s best described as “It’ll do”, so I at least expected it to abide by the standards of technical performance."

Which leads to my final point: This is simulation-based rally and that’s great too see but, there was one thing above all that completely hampered my experience. Seen by many as a subject of debate, my ignorance grants me elitism. Thirty frames per second is by no means playable when you consider the fact that anything below it becomes a nausea inducing slideshow. Especially for a racer.

Targeting the lowest common denominator in which people have forced to become accustom to is setting yourself up for failure, evidently. What’s worse? rear-view mirrors update at half the rate as the rest of the game…do the math.

Visually, it’s best described as “It’ll do”, so I at least expected it to abide by the standards of technical performance. PC owners, relax, drool over Fraps until your heart’s content. Did I mention there’s an extraordinary amount of pop-in with vegetation and trees? While some of the tracks faired okay and everything was rendered as it well, should’ve been, other tracks seemed to be random even if they weren’t as detailed or dense. In certain instances it seemed as though someone had crept onto the track and planted magic beans, leaving me to outrun a horde of wild beanstalks.

The comparisons to be had against DiRT Rally are justified. Both titles release on identical platforms during a similar time, people will be playing one or the other, not both. So where does this leave Sebastien Loeb Rally? Well, given a hypothetical situation where the casual player who buys five games a year seeks recommendation, let’s be honest. DiRT Rally is hands-down superior, but Sebastien Loeb Rally emphasizes a world rally champion.

“Which ever one’s cheaper, mate”.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation4.

Taking on the role of a skilled mercenary during the one hundred years’ war between England and France in the 1400s, much like Koei Tecmo’s most popular series Dynasty Warriors, the game takes advantage of real-life historical battles while mixing in some fantasy fiction for good measure. While the original title is at best an HD upgrade it’s the Nightmare sequel that holds the most promise within this package.

"While the original title is at best an HD upgrade it's the Nightmare sequel that holds the most promise within this package."

Ramping up the fictional elements of the game through the use of demonic creatures, goblins, cyclops, and dragons. Nightmare mode picks up where the first game ended and places the heroic Joan of Arc as the game’s new antagonist. Overcome evil by leading an army of monsters in to the middle of the war. It’s up to the player to create a custom character, join up with a faction, and battle through the many different battles that the story has to offer.

Presented with the game’s character creation system which is where players will make their first stop. Players will be given plenty of distinct and unique choices for character creation, and this is useful as the game makes use of both competitive and co-operative online play. With choices for hair, skin tone, gender, body size, and voice tone, the game establishes the basics of character creation then expands upon this through the use proportion manipulation and more in-depth facial structures, along with basic preset variants.

" Overcome by evil and leading an army of monsters in to the middle of the war. "

As gameplay operates on a three-character party system whereby the player controls all three characters at once via a button switch. Character customisation makes use of a slot system so that multiple characters can be used throughout the game’s playthrough.

While weapon choices are fairly basic at this point, as the player progresses through, the game’s story more will become available to purchase later on down the line through the use of gameplay requirements. For those not so familiar with the series, Bladestorm: Nightmare plays as a third-person, real-time tactics game that places the player in control of multiple units being lead in to battle by the player’s custom character.

Experienced through the same perspective as Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty, Samurai, and Orochi Warrior series, Bladestorm: Nightmare sets itself apart through a timed action and execute system as the base of its combat. Switching between three main characters while executing powerful attacks and giving orders to smaller sets of troops within the player’s main unit, combat is both immersive and strategic.

"As gameplay operates on a three-character system whereby the player controls three characters at once via a button switch. "

What’s great about this approach to the game’s combat system and the way that it’s structured compared to the publisher’s other titles, is in the way it deals with the number of enemies on-screen, as well as their actual use-case in battle. This stood out to me as one of the game’s key factors for immersion as well as overall gameplay enjoyability. Said to have over 400 NPCs on-screen at once, character pop-ins are drastically improved in regards to the original last-gen variant.

While the visual upgrade serves well in keeping the game relevant for today’s standards, something that also stood out to me was the game’s disturbing frame-rate.  While all versions of the game are targeting 30 frames-per-second with the PC version most likely being down to the player’s own mileage, I did notice some inconsistencies when playing on the PlayStation 4.

Amongst the incredible amount of characters on-screen, object details, and draw distances, the inconsistent frame-rate proved to be distorting at times. Hopefully this will be finalised before the game’s March 20th release date, as everything else that the game has to offer is without a doubt an exciting and enjoyable experience with plenty of depth and content.

This game was previewed on the PlayStation 4.