If you're finding things a little lean on the games front right now, you're not the only one. Thanks to the traditional mid-year, post-E3 lull, there are few triple-A titles making it onto shelves. That's usually an excuse to head back to an old fave, pick up something you might have missed, or discover smaller releases.
That's where Entwined could fill a nice gap: the E3-announced title from new Sony developers PixelOpus certainly looks amazing, with lush, sweeping scenery and beautifully coloured textures that will make you wish you'd invested in a bigger TV.
Entwined's gameplay is mesmerising too: the single-player arcade-style release puts players in charge of two characters, with the left analogue stick controlling a fish, and the right stick a bird. The idea is to navigate the pair through a series of increasingly difficult challenges so these "lost souls" can eventually find each other. Which might suggest Entwined has some major statements to make about life and love. But whatever they might be, they end up getting lost in repetitive levels that revisit the same old tricks, and gameplay that will leave you with sore thumbs and crossed eyes.
Initially hypnotic, Entwined wins up as a curiosity that might kill a couple of hours, rather than an essential addition to your catalogue. A missed opportunity, then.
Platform: PS4, PS3, PS Vita
Rating: G
