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PS4 / PS5 Game Review


Pack shot

The Crown of Wu

 

Format: PS4 / PS5
Publisher: Meridiem Games
Developer: Red Mountain Consulting
RRP: £15.99 / £19.99
Click here to buy - store.playstation.com
Age Restrictions: 12+
Release Date: 24 March 2023


Explore a new world inspired by Journey to the West, a traditional Chinese tale about the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. You’ll explore the future-past fantasy world as Sun Wukong, fighting alone against enemies and overcoming complex obstacles to retrieve the great Crown stolen by the antagonist Zhu. With Zhu waiting to fight and kill you, will you be able to get back the Crown and save your world from destruction...?

Gameplay image

The Crown of Wu is an action game which is punishingly difficult

The Crown of Wu is an action game which is punishingly difficult, yet for some it will be satisfyingly fiendish.

For the ridiculously cheap £16 RRP I wasn't expecting the game to look and feel as polished as it was. However, scratch beneath the surface and the game's issues soon materialise.

To say that the controls are not intuitive is an understatement. I played this for a short while, put it aside for a few days and came back to it. My save point had left me in an area with two enemies that I needed to defeat. For the life of me I could not remember what buttons I needed to press in order to use health to heal my character. I tried all sorts of combinations until I finally discovered the correct one (the control setting was no help). But that was pretty much in vain... It takes a short while for the healing to start, so I was vulnerable to all attacks, which meant I was killed pretty quickly. The only way to really beat them was to hit them and then run away... over and over again.

Other elements are fiddley and annoying. The jumping system is so hit and miss that you'll be shouting out at the TV because you missed a jump, or overshot the target when you really shouldn't have.

Gameplay image

The game is inspired by the traditional Chinese tale Journey to the West

But if you ignore these slightly frustrating issues and you're a fan of Journey to the West (best known in the West through its '70s adaptation as Monkey) then you might find much to enjoy in The Crown of Wu.

As you progress you'll learn new skills and be able to harness the powers of air, fire, earth, and lightning. Each of your powers gives you a way to work with the environment or against your enemies.

Personally, I found it a little too frustrating - needlessly so. I think, if I'd bought this I would have rage quit earlier than I did. If punishingly difficult games are your thing you might get something out of this. If you pay an extra £4 you can also get the Definitive Edition, which includes 10 exclusive avatars as well as the game's original soundtrack.

5

Nick Smithson

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