3 Game Reviews in 3 Minutes — Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, MLB: The Show 22

OK, we don’t want to lie from the outset. We’re not exactly sure if this article takes 3 minutes to read, but it’s somewhere in the ballpark. We’re writers, not mathematicians here!

Anyway, with all the massive games releasing this season, it’s quite difficult for gamers out there to keep track of what’s releasing when and what’s worth picking up (for one reason or another); so, in the spirit of being as thorough as possible, we’ve reviewed 3 of the biggest titles that have released within the last month in one convenient article, rounding up exactly what games have released, if they’re any good, and which one you should buy.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Available on: PS5 | Xbox Series X | PS4 | Xbox One | PC

What is it? A spin-off of Gearbox’s beloved Borderlands franchise, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is another over-the-top first-person shooter full of guns, great humour, and some outlandish bad guys to dispose of.

Is it any good? While Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands piggybacks off the mechanics, foundation, and design of its bigger brother franchise, Borderlands, the game is a surprisingly confident and self-contained shooter, that brings similar humour and shoot-’em-up flair that fans of Borderlands will love. The fact that the game and story doubles-down on the table-top RPG/Dungeons and Dragons spoofing is great and fits in well with the tone, and the abilities and spells are a blast to use in conjunction with your weapons. With that said, it does tend to retread a lot of the same grind-y mistakes that Borderlands does, culminating in a lot of work to push some XP and level numbers up.

It’s still a fun time though, and shooter fans and those in-the-know of D&D and the like will love the satire and inside jokes strewn across the adventure.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Available on: PS5 | Xbox Series X | PS4 | Xbox One | Switch | PC

What is it? While it seems like there’s a Lego Star Wars game coming out every odd month, this title is the big one – it’s the creme-de-la-creme of the Lego Star Wars franchise, combining the entire Skywalker saga story, and reinventing the gameplay with new combat mechanics, an over-the-shoulder shooting system, and a whole lot of new tricks.

Is it any good? A fully-fledged Star Wars game exploring the Skywalker saga would be nice, but we’re happy to do it even if a Lego one is the closest we’re going to get. Thankfully, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker saga is a fantastically well-designed experience, giving you simple yet incredibly enjoyable combat and exploration. It won’t deliver the most nuanced gameplay experience to hardcore gamers, but even those who enjoy light platforming and action games of a more ‘mature’ setting will find a lot to indulge in here.

Even if you’ve played previous Lego Star Wars games and are overly familiar with the Star Wars story at this point, this is still a hilarious and enjoyably blocky retelling of the iconic scenarios with enough gameplay twists to keep things fresh.

MLB: The Show 22

Available on: PS5 | Xbox Series X | PS4 | Xbox One | Switch | PC

What is it? The latest instalment of the official Major League Baseball game, that has garnered quite the following since its reinvention a couple of years back.

Is it any good? Baseball might be a somewhat obscure and niche sport for South Africans to love, but the quality of the MLB: The Show releases can’t be disputed, and MLB: The Show 22 doesn’t break that untarnished run. The moment-to-moment gameplay is fun and snappy, with pitching and hitting as simple or intricate as you’d like, being very accessible to newcomers and rewarding for baseball-nuts too. Off-field, there is a lot to enjoy, with the customisation tools being bolstered dramatically this year, giving essentially a baseball-themed RPG adventure, where you can tweak the abilities of your created players and build them up throughout the leagues.

It’s hard to recommend a game to someone that doesn’t have a love for the sport, but if you have the slightest inclination to dabble in some baseball action, you are not going to find a better gateway drug than MLB: The Show 22.

Will you be picking up any of the above games? Let us know by tweeting @MenStuffZA, posting on our Facebook page, or commenting below.