Firewatch Adaptation in Development from Snoot Entertainment and Campo Santo

Firewatch

In a story from The Hollywood Reporter, production company Snoot Entertainment is developing an adaptation of 2016's Firewatch with creator Campo Santo.

Snoot Entertainment's Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder will produce the adaptation alongside Firewatch developer Campo Santo's Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin. No director, screenwriters, casting announcements, or release dates have been announced yet. This is the latest attempt at making a Firewatch adaptation after Good Universe partnered with Campo Santo in 2016 on a movie adaptation.

"Jess and Keith are hard-working and visionary film producers with impeccable taste in video games," said Vanaman via THR."Not unlike when we met Joe Drake and the team at Good Universe in 2016, we knew in our first conversation with Jess and Keith that they'd make great partners. We have no doubt in their expertise, their taste and their passion and assume that our experience as so-so game developers will make us first-rate producing partners."

Firewatch released in 2016 from developer Campo Santo. The narrative first-person game follows Henry, a fire lookout assigned to the Shoshone National Forest. Set in Wyoming in 1989, Henry stays in touch with his supervisor Delilah via walkie talkie as he uncovers a mystery in the forest. As the story continues, you have dialogue options that shape your relationship with Delilah and the story as a whole. Valve acquired Campo Santo back in 2018 while developing In the Valley of Gods, their latest game.

Snoot Entertainment was founded in 2004 by Keith and Jess Calder. They've produced films such as 2018's Blindspotting, 2019's Little Monsters, and the recent Blair Witch movie. Additionally, their next major film is One Night in Miami, directed by Watchmen's Regina King.

"Firewatch is a stunning accomplishment, a beautiful and heartbreaking piece of art," said Calder. "I'm delighted that Sean and Jake are letting us ruin their perfect video game by turning it into a movie and/or TV show."

Firewatch is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. As more news comes out about the adaptation, we'll be sure to let you know.

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Higurashi Mei: Character Profiles, Story Summary, Tamurahime no Mikoto Confirmed

Higurashi Mei Characters Ichiho Miyuki Nao Tamurahime no Mikoto Feature

The official site for Higurashi Mei was updated with a story introduction and profiles for the new characters appearing in this gacha game. A new trailer was published as well. We translated everything below so let's take a look.

Note that this article, and Higurashi Mei as a whole, is geared towards those who already know the Higurashi story line, so we've got spoilers.

First off, here's the story introduction:

On Summer 1983, poisonous volcanic gas suddenly emerged in the village of Hinamizawa, killing around 1200 residents. This event is known as the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. Higurashi Mei begins ten years later, on June 1993. A girl who lost her family in the disaster, Ichiho Kimiyoshi, decided to visit her now abandoned hometown. There, she ended up discovering monsters she's never seen before. Ichiho desperately ran away, but got cornered. As she was about to be killed, Ichiho was saved by Tamurahime no Mikoto, who introduced herself as a goddess. Ichiho received from Tamurahime no Mikoto a special power which allows her to fight against the Tsukuyomi, the monsters. And as per Tamurahime no Mikoto's instructions, she headed towards the Furude shrine ceremonial tools' shed, the Saiguden. When she entered Saiguden, Ichiho suddenly found herself in a nostalgic, peaceful Hinamizawa. It seems like Ichiho time-traveled to before the disaster.

Tamurahime no Mikoto is a character was was first introduced in Higurashi Hou, the "Utimate" version of Higurashi first released in 2014 on PC. Entergram later made a Switch port, and then a PS4 port. These are only available in Japan. Tamurahime no Mikoto appears in Kamikashimashi-hen, one of Higurashi Hou's new chapters. While she's a goddess like Hanyuu, the two don't get along. Tamurahime no Mikoto is voiced by Yoshino Nanjo. It seems like she'll actually be one of the key characters in Higurashi Mei.

Next up we have the profiles of the characters of Higurashi Mei.

Note that no official reading was published for the characters' names, so the kanji in their names might be read in a different way than the way I've translated them.

Higurashi Mei Watanabe Akio artwork characters Ichiho Kimiyoshi

Ichiho Kimiyoshi, voiced by Mayu Sagara.

Ichiho is the granddaughter of Kimiyoshi Kiichiro, the former mayor of Hinamizawa, who is a side character appearing in multiple Higurashi chapters. Due to the 1983 disaster, she lost her entire family and lives in a dormitory, with financial support from a distant relative. Her profiles says she likes Japanese food, and has "I'm sorry " as her catchphrase, so she's the type who immediately apologizes all the time.

Higurashi Mei characters Watanabe Akio artwork Miyuki Akasaka

Miyuki Akasaka, voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro.

Miyuki is the daughter of Mamoru Akasaka. Like her father, she has an incredibly sharp mind. She's a cheerful girl who isn't afraid of interacting with older kids or strangers.

Miyuki already appeared in multiple Higurashi side chapters, either as a child or as an adult. Her adult version is named Miyuki Sorimachi, using her husband's name, and is one of the main characters of Yoigoshi-hen. (Note that Miyuki Sawashiro also voices Dlanor in Umineko.)

Higurashi Mei Watanabe Akio artwork Nao Ootori

Nao Ootori, voiced by Rie Takahashi.

Nao is a girl from Tokyo. She visited Hinamizawa with a certain objective in mind. We don't know what this objective is though. She's incredibly confident, trusts her instinct, and has a strong resolve.

Profiles and artwork for Rika, Rena, Satoko and Mion were shared as well. K1 also appears in the trailer. It's only basic info you already know if you read this article in the first place though, so we won't be translating them. What's interesting though is the narration and out-of-context dialogue lines in the trailer:

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Mei First Trailer

The lines in the trailer indicate that not only Ichiho, but Miyuki and Nao as well are actually from a 1993 Kakera where everyone in Hinamizawa died. It looks like Miyuki doesn't know the truth behind the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, and is trying to investigate it. Meanwhile, Nao is unhappy with her life in 1993, and wants to change her fate.

Another interesting fact we can deduce from the lines K1, Rika and the other classic characters are saying: They're aware something supernatural is going on, and it seems like they're their selves from after one of the good endings, where everyone survived June 1983. It's hard to tell for sure though, with only the typical out-of-context one-liners of Japanese trailers. Another thing we can deduce from the trailer is that Ichiho, Miyuki and Nao will all start living in Hinamizawa with the others, going to the usual school.

Higurashi Mei's scriptwriter is Saichi Kanou, who worked on multiple chapters initially made for the console Higurashi ports by Alchemist, and Ryukishi07 also worked on the draft, so it'll definitely be interesting. I'll be keeping an eye on all this as a Higurashi fan, so stay tuned.

The trailer features Higurashi Mei's theme song, Frustration, sung by Ayane (彩音), and with lyrics and composition by Chiyomaru Shikura. Comments from Ayane, battle BGM composer Motoi Sakuraba, and the seiyuu were published too. We'll be covering that in another article.

A Pre-registration campaign for Higurashi Mei is ongoing. Currently, it's at over 50K accounts:

Developed by D-Techno, Higurashi Mei is scheduled to launch later this summer in Japan. It's an RPG with gacha mechanics. It's also tied in with the new Higurashi anime adaptation starting in October 2020. They both use Akio Watanabe as character designer. You can read more details here and here.

A live stream for Sinoalice with new details on both the Higurashi new anime and Higurashi Mei will also be coming August 21. If time permits I'll be doing a full summary.

The post Higurashi Mei: Character Profiles, Story Summary, Tamurahime no Mikoto Confirmed by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

Hitman 3 Game Modes Are Familiar Fare for Franchise Fans

Hitman 3, IO Interactive, PS4, PS5

Hitman 3 was announced earlier this year as part of the PS5 reveal stream. The game is set to launch early next year, and now fans have a better idea of what will be on tap. While it doesn't appear that IO Interactive is introducing anything massive, series fans will be happy to see most of the modes they know and love coming back. Give it a look below.

Obviously, the Hitman 3 campaign remains the major focus for the team. That's the series' bread-and-butter. You can't expect them to change that with the final entry in this current trilogy. However, it's far from the only way to play.

Elusive Targets have always been one of the most exciting ways to play Hitman. They return, though the team is committed to making some changes. IOI just isn't ready to reveal exactly what those are yet. Contracts and Escalations are also sticking around. For franchise newbies, Escalations slowly add new wrinkles to a hit, forcing you to learn the ins-and-outs of each map. Contracts let you set up your own special hits, which you can then share with your friends.

The team is also bringing back the Sniper Assassin mode; however, this go-around you'll only be able to play it solo. IOI is also sunsetting the Hitman 2 co-op servers, so you won't be able to play the mode through multiplayer anymore.

Finally, Hitman 3 will not feature Ghost Mode. The Hitman 2 servers for the mode are going offline on August 31. So, get in those games, if you want before it's gone forever.

Hitman 3 is set to drop in January of next year for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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Did You Spot Neil Druckmann's Secret Cameo in The Last of Us Part II?

Editor's Note: Some late-game spoilers for The Last of Us Part II are present in this article. Read at your own caution.

The Last of Us Part II is a game filled with plenty of Easter eggs. Not only does it feature some callbacks to Naughty Dog franchises of yesteryear such as Uncharted and Jak & Daxter, but it also contains quite a few secrets of other kinds, too. Now, it seems as though one player has discovered yet another previously-unknown secret that is tucked away near in the game's final hours.

Spotted over on Reddit by u/SpiderChundi, it seems as though The Last of Us Part II director Neil Druckmann and co-writer Halley Gross both play character roles within the game itself. While not actually going as far to do motion capture work like actors Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, and Troy Baker do for The Last of Us Part II, Druckmann and Gross instead seemed to have lent their talents with their voices alone.

In a video shared on the Reddit post, which you can watch below, Druckmann and Gross seem to play the role of two WLF members that are conversing over the radio. This sequence transpires in the final hours of The Last of Us Part II when Abby finds her way into the theater to eventually face off with Ellie. The conversation between Druckmann and Gross in-game even seems to end with Druckmann's character, who is named Briggs, either dying or being overrun by opposing forces. It's a brief sequence and is one that I imagine most players could have easily missed given where it happens in the story.

I might be tripping but that lowkey sounds like Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross over the Radio. If someone from ND somehow sees this please tell us if you know. from r/thelastofus

And in case you don't believe that this is actually Druckmann and Gross' voices that you hear during the game, Druckmann himself seems to have confirmed as much. In response to the post, Druckmann replied via his official Reddit account and simply said, "Good ear." The voice cameos for both Druckmann and Gross are their second such appearances in the game in some capacity that we know of, as the writing duo also has two cards based on each as well.

While it remains to be seen if there are any other appearances from Druckmann, Gross, or other members of the Naughty Dog team in The Last of Us Part II, the title is surely filled to the brim with other Easter eggs that fans haven't found just yet. Just like in this instance, we'll surely start to see more of them revealed over time as even more players continue to experience the game.

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Fast & Furious Crossroads Review — Ejecto Seato From This One, Cuz

Fast and Furious, Crossroads, Slightly Mad Studios

Last year, I excitedly went to see Hobbs & Shaw in theaters on opening night. Sure, it didn't star the Fast & Furious characters I personally cared about, but I still figured it could deliver based on its star power. Speaking for myself, I thought the movie was okay. It had its share of over-the-top action, but it lacked the certain something that makes the Fast & Furious franchise special. In a series all about family, this felt like we were following two weird uncles on a bender after a particularly spicy Thanksgiving dinner. Entertaining, but not what we're here for.

Fast & Furious Crossroads feels somewhat similar. Except, replace two major action stars who have real ties to the series with two leads I couldn't care less about. One is a bore and the other is the kind of person who thinks they're funny, but painfully isn't. Now, sure, Crossroads does bring in some fan favorites, but not even Dominic Toretto is enough to save this mess.

Let's talk first about the story. As someone who's maybe too invested in the franchise lore, it feels appropriate to start there. In short, it's incredibly bland. I won't spoil everything for you below, but it's not worth worrying about spoilers anyway. The main mode is only about four hours long, and you can guess what's going to happen from the first few missions.

The thrust of the narrative is that two friends named Vienna and Cam are on the run in Barcelona. There, they meet up with Letty, who knows V through everyone's favorite tech whiz Tej. The duo decides to join Letty in her hunt for a secret clan of road criminals who are trying to destroy the US. Or maybe the world? I stopped caring pretty early.

From there, the three meet up with Dom and Roman as they try to infiltrate the bad guys and figure out what they're doing. It's all action film hogwash that kind of makes sense and only serves to funnel you from set piece to set piece.

Here's the thing though. This is a full-priced, $60 game. It's using a major license that features several big-name characters that fans love. Heck, Slightly Mad even went and got Peter freaking Stormare to voice the main bad guy. If any game in 2020 has Hollywood star power behind it, it's this one.

So, why in the world am I playing as two characters I have no reason to care about? I guess you could argue that new fans to the series need someone they can relate with. But for one, it's cute of you to think this thing is going to bring in new fans. More importantly, like 90% of the "jokes" won't land if you haven't seen the movies. So, again, why is the focus not these major stars that, presumably, are the reason you need to charge $60?

Look, this isn't meant to be a knock on V and Cam's actors. They actually do a decent job with what I found to be bad material. However, people don't come to Fast & Furious to hang out with new characters they've never heard about. They come for the family. It's just baffling that we got these two and not Mia, Tej, Han, or even Sean.

I mean, it's not like Lucas Black is drowning in work these days. The dude is even on NCIS: New Orleans which is where the last act of the game takes place. The jokes write themselves!

That said, even if Crossroads did get the team back together, it probably wouldn't be enough. As much as I would love to tell you that the team absolutely nailed what a Fast & Furious game should feel like, they simply haven't.

The driving is so far past arcade racing that it feels more like you're driving a boat after downing a few too many Coronas. The whole game feels like you're Brian from that first race against Dom in the original movie. If Vin Diesel were sitting beside me while I play, I feel like he'd constantly just be yelling "You never had your car!" as I wildly swing around each track.

And, this is surprising given that the developer has put out two well-received sim racers. I guess the switch between the two styles of racers is just a much bigger gap than I imagined. Who knows?

It's a shame too because, for as bad as the game feels, Crossroads does have a decent understanding of what makes the spectacle of Fast & Furious work. Obviously, in a perfect world, we'd get a fully-realized GTA-like game for the series, but that's unlikely to ever happen. So, splitting the difference and adding some car combat is a good step.

Unfortunately, because the cars handle like the discount RC car my grandma got me for my tenth birthday. You don't really get to put your tools to use all that much.

Take for example the level where you're trying to catch a speeding train. Each character in your party has their own special skill and you can swap to them at any moment. That's rad. In a better game, it would make for an awesome moment that you'd talk to your friends about.

In Crossroads, it's a frustrating mess. Not only is your car sliding all over the place, but you also need to deal with scores of enemy cars knocking you around. At the same time, you're trying to get through timing-based mini-games with your various skills. And, if a car bumps you too far off the track, the mini-game drops off and you have to wait for its cooldown to finish and try again.

On top of all this, there's stuff exploding everywhere and lights flashing all over the screen. It's just a complete mess that doesn't feel fun to play. I can count on two fingers the number of times I thought "Whoa, that was awesome," but I don't know if I have enough hairs on my head to count how often I thought of ripping them all out of my skull. It's beyond frustrating.

The game is just shooting itself in the foot at every corner. Another great example is that, about halfway through the game, you have to take part in a lengthy street race. Keep in mind, you literally never do this at any other point in the game outside of a race you can't lose. This is the first and last time you'll be in a race with actual consequences.

And, if you're me, you'll lose a lot. Then, you'll start over from the top, listen to an unskippable string of dialogue, and do it all over again. It is, maybe, my least favorite gaming moment of 2020. Not only do the cars handle like slippery dookie, but they don't even give you a mini-map. That may sound small, but in racing games, it's actually massive.

You have no idea which turns are coming up, so you can't plan out the race. Instead, you're just going on blind hope. You can't even watch the racers in front of you. When they slow down for a turn tons of smoke comes out of their tires, which means you can't see anything. I'm screaming just thinking about it.

Again, how is this in the game? Project Cars has a mini-map. Why can they not just give me that tiny little feature to make this race slightly more bearable? Even without that, every other mission checkpoints you when you fail and makes it much easier to progress. This just starts you from the top over and over again. I just can't believe this made it into the shipping product. Like everything else, it boggles the mind.

As if that wasn't enough, visually the game looks dreadful. I'm sure you already knew that from the trailers. However, the first time we saw Dom's car in the prologue, my wife and I could only muster a disappointed, "Oh no." And it gets worse. While the whole game looks like, at best, a PS3 title, the first tech in some of the cutscenes looks straight out of the original PlayStation. It's almost laughably bad.

Then there's the multiplayer. Or, at least, this is where I should talk about the multiplayer. The problem is that I sat in a lobby for an hour on a Friday night a few days after release and never got into a game. I don't want to judge it without playing for myself, but I think that tells you everything you probably need to know.

As I said before, Crossroads really is a shame. Outside of John Wick and superhero movies, Fast & Furious is probably the best Western action series of the last decade. It certainly brings the heat at the box office. And, Vin Diesel has a history of helping put together some great games. Sadly, they just haven't been able to make it work with this franchise.

And, truthfully, there are a few ideas here that could make a great Fast & Furious game. The switching between characters to use different abilities could be sick, and the game does have some jaw-dropping scenarios that would be a blast if the game played better.

But it doesn't. Fast & Furious Crossroads is like if Hobbs & Shaw was called Orange Julius & Slap Jack. While I appreciate the five of you out there who understand that deep cut 2 Fast 2 Furious reference, I think we can all agree that that movie would be a slog. You're probably safe to sit this race out. It's not a quarter-mile worth living.

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Spider-Man PS4 Deepfake Video Will Make You Nostalgic for the Tobey Maguire Films

While Insomniac Games did its part and eventually added the Raimi suit to Marvel's Spider-Man a few months after the game launched in 2018, the variant costume clearly wasn't enough for some folks on the Internet. No, for one creator, they wanted to see what the entirety of Marvel's Spider-Man would look like if the main cast was replaced with the actors from the beloved original series of films.

A YouTuber by the name of BabyZone put together a new deepfake video that sees the stars of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy overlayed on the character models from the video game iteration. Tobey Maguire, of course, plays Peter Parker, Kirsten Dunst steps in as Mary Jane Watson, Willem Dafoe is back as Norman Osborn, and even Alfred Molina makes a brief appearance as Doctor Octopus. The video, which is about five minutes long, gives us a startlingly-accurate representation of what the Raimi characters in Marvel's Spider-Man could look like along with backing music from the game's score.

You can watch the full video here:

Look, while I loved Marvel's Spider-Man and its take on the iconic superhero as a whole, I'd pay some decent money to get a fully-modded version of the game redone with this Raimi era cast. As someone who grew up in the early 2000s adoring these movies, this video definitely scratches a nostalgic itch for me I didn't know I had. In many ways, this cast is what I think of whenever the idea of Spider-Man as a whole pops into my head. And yes, the Raimi trilogy (even Spider-Man 3) is fantastic to this day, so don't you dare even try to argue with me about it in the comments.

While we'll surely never see any mods or implementations of this kind in Marvel's Spider-Man, Insomniac Games is still hard at work on the future of the series. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is set to release on PS5 later this year with a full-blown sequel being in the works as well.

The post Spider-Man PS4 Deepfake Video Will Make You Nostalgic for the Tobey Maguire Films by Logan Moore appeared first on DualShockers.

Take-Two Interactive Has Already Registered a Domain Called GTA Vice City Online

GTA Vice City

Take-Two Interactive, the parent company for Rockstar Games, seemingly owns a GTA-related domain called GTA Vice City Online, which has ignited the rumors around the next Grand Theft Auto entry once again.

It's been nearly seven years since the launch of Grand Theft Auto V on PS3 and Xbox 360, and still, we haven't got any official announcement on the next iteration of the series. That said, some reports suggest that GTA VI is in the early stages of development and probably won't release anytime soon. This sounds reasonable as Rockstar Games will be launching Grand Theft Auto V in 2021 for PS5 and Xbox Series X, which probably means there would be no official announcement for the next game in the series at least until 2022.

Take two interactive own a domain named "gtavicecityonline" and in updated it alongside "gtavi.com". Information via user u/Conla- from GamingLeaksAndRumours

Recently, a reddit user has found something interesting related to the Grand Theft Auto series. Apparently, Take-Two Interactive owns a domain named GTAVICECITYONLINE.com, and as you may guess, the original GTA Vice City game has never featured an online section.

While some believe that many companies try to acquire different types of websites related to their projects and titles, some other assume that the next Grand Theft Auto game will be set in Vice City, and would probably be called VIce City to demonstrate the "VI" symblem.

As always, we suggest you to take it with a grain of salt, but to be honest, it would be great to get back to Vice City once again over 18 years after the original launch of GTA Vice City.

Los Santos probably won't seem interesting for the fans of the series after exploring it for years in GTA San Andreas and GTA V, so it's a high possiblity to see that next game in the series is set in a whole new city or at least one of the cities that was featured in the franchise years earlier.

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New Batman Game Teaser Released by WB Montreal, Court of Owls Essentially Confirmed

As they have done many times in the past, WB Games Montreal today took to social media to release yet another teaser for the studio's upcoming Batman video game.

This time around, WB Montreal's latest teaser takes a few different forms. Primarily, the studio let loose a video teaser that features a few flashing symbols. Of the symbols that we can get some quick glimpses of, one of them appears to showcase an owl. This lines up with all of the previous rumors that we have heard about the title indicating that the Court of Owls will be the primary villains of the latest Batman title.

In addition, WB Montreal also set up a new Twitter account (which will likely be the game's official social media channel) to go along with a teaser website. The site specifically reveals a message that states, "We have been expecting you," along with the date of August 18, which is tomorrow. Whether or not we'll officially see something substantial of this yet-to-be-revealed Batman game tomorrow, or if it will just be another teaser, remains to be seen.

Regardless of how WB Montreal continues to roll out this reveal, we do know for certain that its new Batman project will be full shown off this Saturday, August 22. The studio is confirmed to have a panel during DC's FanDome event, meaning that this will likely be the venue in which we learn the most about the forthcoming game.

Personally, I'm holding out hope that we actually get something substantial with whatever is planned for tomorrow. Even a confirmation of the game's title, which is reportedly said to be Batman: Gotham Knights, would be wonderful. We'll keep you up to date with this whole saga as it continues to develop this week.

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Beat Saber Adds Linkin Park Tracks as Latest DLC

Beat Saber Linkin Park Music Pack

The rhythm game scene isn't what it used to be. Gone are the days of yearly updates to both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises and weekly additions to their soundtracks. One game that's proudly carrying the torch forwards however is Beat Saber.

The virtual reality rhythm hit has been a huge success since dropping on Oculus and PSVR and is the perfect game for VR officionados and casual players alike. The game has been no stranger to recieving additional music packs, with songs from Imagine Dragons, Green Day and Panic! At The Disco being added since launch. Now, after teasing it on Twitter for a couple of days, Beat Games has confirmed who their latest crossover is with – everybody's favourite nu metal band, the legendary Linkin Park.

Revealed with a stylish trailer, the latest music pack comes complete with 11 of the bands biggest hits, including Numb, In The End and What I've done and launches today. The full list is as follows;

  • Bleed It Out
  • Breaking the Habit
  • Faint
  • Given Up
  • In The End
  • New Divide
  • Numb
  • One Step Closer
  • Papercut
  • Somewhere I Belong
  • What I've Done

That's not all the pack comes with either. Head of Marketing for Beat Games, Micheala Dvorak, confirmed on the Playstation Blog that:

"With this music pack, we are releasing a brand new game environment – a fully enclosed game area inspired by the tunnel scene you might remember from the 'One Step Closer' music video. The environment is also accompanied by a new four-color lighting scheme."

The latest additions to Beat Saber coincide with a huge milestone for Linkin Park's first album. Hybrid Theory, which is also considered one of their best albums, was released 20 years ago this October, a fact that will no doubt make all of us out there feel incredibly old.

If you've not been lucky enough to play Beat Saber, you can check out our review, where we scored it an 8.5.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator Review — On Cloud Nine

When I think of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the first memory that enters my mind is sitting in my cousin's bedroom in the 90s and begging him to let me play his plane game. Taking control of the joystick and zooming through the skies with a huge grin on my face whilst being told to "Get off, you're going to crash!" is probably one of the best gaming memories I have. This is not only due to the nostalgia attached to this memory, but also because I was obsessed with the notion of being as free as a bird without having to leave your seat.

Thankfully, many years later, that feeling hasn't subsided and in the trying times we've all found ourselves in right now, being able to feel mentally unchained in such a restricted world has never come at a more perfect time. What I wasn't prepared for, however, is how Microsoft Flight Simulator helped ease my fear of flying while also allowing me to experience one of the most accurate and in-depth gaming experiences I've ever come across.

For those who feel a bit out of their comfort zone when dealing with a flight simulator or maybe have never taken on a sim like this before, I'm here to reassure you that no matter your skill level, developer Asobo Studio has you in mind. If you need extra guidance or pointers throughout your gameplay, they are all there at the touch of a button. Regardless of your skillset when it comes to flying games, my advice would be to jump straight into the Microsoft Flight Simulator's training mode that will either refresh your previous knowledge or offer a clean slate for newcomers. In this mode, players will be taken through all the ins and outs of the game. This includes learning the instrument panel buttons, taking off from the runway gracefully, flying in a crosswind, landing, and many more features that will aid you to have an enjoyable flying experience.

Whether you want to jet across the globe in a small propeller plane, a jet, or a Boeing 747, the choice is completely up to you. In the premium edition of Flight Simulator that I played, I had the opportunity to take my pick of 30 airplanes — three turboprops, three airliners, two jets, and 22 propellers — and 30 hand-crafted airports with hundreds of smaller airports, too. Naturally, depending on which one you decide to jump in, they will fly differently with each handling elements like wind, turn speed, taking off, and landing in correlation with its size and maximum speeds. Once you have picked one you feel most comfortable with — I personally loved the Textron Aviation, Cessna 152 due to its larger windows for sightseeing — the sky is the limit.

What I loved a lot is that you aren't forced into a situation you don't want. For example: If you just don't fancy taking off from the runway, then you can spawn straight away in the sky. Or, if you wanted to give flying the boot for a while and take in the scenery, get your co-pilot to take over while you put your feet up.

Although, in saying this, I did let my co-pilot take over for a while whilst I enjoyed looking around and eating my lunch but for whatever reason, they decided that crashing in the middle of a small village was a great idea. I'm not sure if this was a slight in-game bug at that moment or if it was something wrong on my end, but from that moment on, I demoted my flying partner to remain sitting on their hands for any further journeys.

Thankfully, I found a much easier way to take pictures while also flying (and not plummeting to the ground) and that's by using a feature called Active Pause. When Active Pause is, well, activated, it allows the plane to stay still in the air while the world carries on around you. You'll see clouds moving, cars going past on the highways and byways below you, other player's planes shooting through the sky, and one of the best features – it'll allow you to change the weather.

Microsoft and Asobo Studio have put together an astonishingly realistic weather system that truly captivated me from the off. No longer do you have to put up with blocky clouds or skies that look so out of place and bland that it breaks up that feeling of being completely immersed. Rain droplets coat your plane and windows as it would in real life and if you set the temperature to cold outside, your plane will start to form patches of ice. As much as the ice build-up effect is an incredible feature, it also serves a purpose and will affect the plane's performance if you don't take care of it and de-ice it. You'll also experience a true day/night cycle and, let me tell you, watching the sunrise or set while gliding through Microsoft Flight Simulator's skies is honestly a breathtaking encounter. Also, being able to fly in real-world weather conditions with live air traffic due to the game's Bing integration gives this simulation serious brownie points.

If you have ever wanted to fly during a thunderstorm without the feeling that you might die, Asobo Studio has those needs covered. Traveling thousands of feet into the sky and having the luxury of witnessing gigantic forks of lightning and loud claps of thunder from the comfort of your chair is mindblowing. The best part is that it's all within an easy reach of your in-game menu throughout your flight.

One of my favorite moments in Microsoft Flight Simulator was watching the sunset over a location like the Grand Canyon or off the coast of Santa Monica. I had a true feeling in those moments of complete detachment from the chaos of the real world. Another beautiful feature is slowly flying over a city like New York City and setting it to nighttime to watch the lights of the buildings come to life and twinkle as the cars travel beneath them within the city's roads.

Flight Simulator 2020's world is crafted from data from Microsoft's Bing maps and is then drip-fed into an Azure cloud server where huge amounts of information are pushed through to offer the player a 3D representation. The attention to detail here is second-to-none and you can even fly over your old school, childhood home, or anywhere you fancy, really.

Throughout my playtime, I tried to find as many iconic locations as possible that included the beautiful island of Hawaii, the west coastline of America, the Grand Canyon, Ayres Rock in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, The Tower of London, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and many more. Even though many of these places looked fantastic from the air, getting up close and personal to some buildings and other structures was a real eyesore. The textures were patchy and seemed like they hadn't loaded-in properly. When flying across London, in particular, I noticed that Westminster Bridge outside the Houses of Parliament had completely disappeared. leaving all the cars to travel underwater. It's times like this, coupled with the long loading times, where the immersion that's so heavily implemented comes to an end for a brief period and you're forced to acknowledge some of the downfalls of the game.

Regardless, one of the many highlights of my experience with Microsoft Flight Simulator was being able to participate in some multiplayer action. Thankfully Ben Bayliss, who is a fellow DualShockers Senior Writer, was able to jump in to give this side of the title a whirl with me. After some initial issues trying to find each other on the map and then tweaking some settings in the general options menu, we were able to meet up on the remote island of San Andros in The Bahamas. As much as Flight Simulator can be played beautifully in isolation, there's something about soaring the skies with a friend as you experience the breathtaking scenery together. Being able to say, "Wow, can you see that sunset?" or, "Hey, noob, I just saw you crash!" is quite enjoyable. Other than trekking the globe with a friend, you can spot plenty of planes as you travel from one place to another. Other players are also easily recognizable on the map and are highlighted by a green plane symbol.

As I previously mentioned briefly, I have a fear of flying. Even though it doesn't stop me from flying, it causes a lot of anxiety. It's not so much the fear of being thousands of feet in the air, it's more my lack of understanding in how it stays up there. It's not a natural feeling for anyone to be flung into the air in a metal tube with countless strangers, but it's the lack of control on my part if a situation did occur.

This is why I partly wanted to experience Microsoft Flight Simulator. Even though Flight Simulator is obviously a game, it offered me reassurances throughout the training that there were measures in place for incidents. By learning through guidance what certain levers and buttons were for, it actually helped to ease my anxiety in that I could actually give up control as there are so many safety nets to keep the plane in the air and it wasn't solely down to one or two pilots. The knowledge of the inner workings of these planes and how they conquered the skies greatly helped me gain clarity – so much so that I'm actually looking forward to my next flight once it's safe to do so.

It's honestly hard to describe how amazing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 feels as there's so much to unpack, but from what I've experienced so far, I can truly say that this will be a game I'll keep coming back to time and time again. From the impeccably detailed aircraft and the challenges you can participate in, to the unbelievably stunning world and gorgeous weather system, Asobo Studio has lovingly and meticulously crafted something special here that suits players of all levels and abilities. All you need is the love for adventure, the trill for escapism, and the desire to have your mind blown. I can't recommend it enough.

The post Microsoft Flight Simulator Review — On Cloud Nine by Rachael Fiddis appeared first on DualShockers.