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And, unless you’re playing its tacked-on three player co-op mode, you won’t need your TV, instead spending the entire game hunched over the gamepad’s little screen. These problems are exacerbated later in the game when you’ll need to guide two Kirbies simultaneously, and even sections where he transforms into a rocket, tank or submarine get tedious before their levels are over. Unfortunately the simplicity of its controls is undermined by finickiness, as well as Kirby regularly ignoring the rainbow-hewn line you’ve just drawn in favour of trundling to his death. The game itself involves drawing lines on the Wii U gamepad touchscreen to guide Kirby towards collectibles and away from danger, a quick tap making him spin long enough to destroy a nearby enemy. Kirby And The Rainbow Paintbrush effortlessly joins this legion of meh, its tale of colour being drained from a magical kingdom proving as trite and unloveable as its pink marshmallowy hero. Poor old second-rate Kirby, a Nintendo mascot loved by few, starring in games that rarely amount to much. Yet, despite its glaring flaws and downbeat low-budget feel, it still manages to deliver a weirdly compelling recreation of the daily grind of living with marauding bands of flesh-eating undead. First released in 2013, this comes with both pieces of downloadable content and, although you’d struggle to believe it, has slightly spruced up graphics.
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That may sound easy, but State Of Decay’s dodgy controls and glitchy graphics make it surprisingly difficult to avoid the odd accidental immolation during the game’s flailing combat and messy retreats from zombie hordes. By scavenging supplies and weapons and recruiting survivors you gradually build up a resistance movement to be proud of, winning the trust of compatriots by protecting them from zombies and not running them over in your car or setting them on fire with molotov cocktails.
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Your character and his dour fellow survivors are stranded at a rural campsite and must make a dash to the nearest town to begin a quest for longevity, initially hooking up with a group who have fortified the local church. Another day, another zombie apocalypse, this time in smalltown America.
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