The First Descendant (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, free)

Verdict: Not nearly the first of its kind

Rating:

An Earth-like planet has been invaded by a race of nondescript monsters led by a cackling space-authoritarian. It’s up to a band of superheroic humans, known as Descendants, to fight back using their guns and special powers. 

They go from mission to mission, mowing down waves of increasingly powerful enemies. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

OK, then, I’ll stop — because you surely have heard this one before. The story of The First Descendant is basically that of the Destiny series — and so is its gameplay. 

Or Outriders. Or The Division. Or any number of live-service games where you’re expected to keep on hopping back into online firefights.

Even the best part of The First Descendant — its pleasingly varied roster of playable characters — is straight out of games like Overwatch and Apex Legends.

This derivativeness doesn’t mean that The First Descendant is bad. It isn’t. Though the missions themselves are a little unimaginative and repetitive, the moment-to-moment gameplay — the jumping, shooting and special powers-ing — is extremely slick and satisfying. 

And the whole thing feels impressively expensive; its graphics are very pretty, and its cinematic cutscenes overcome their own silliness with their sci-fi splendour.

What more could you ask for from a game that is very inexpensive — well, technically, it’s free — to download and play?

Except it’s not really free, is it? The First Descendant wants its players to spend real-life money on various in-game items, from better weapons and abilities to, it seems, progressively skimpier outfits for the game’s female characters. 

If you have teenage sons, lock up your credit cards. Or you might find yourself disowning your own descendants.