Last Commander Standing – Remembering Ubisoft's R.U.S.E.
Ubisoft's R.U.S.E. was real-time strategy game based on World War II, and I remember getting sucked into the game through a few friends, back when it was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2010. My friends who were hooked continued loving the game so far as to buy it again on Steam when it was ported the following year.
Fast forward to 2020 and believe it or not there are still die-hard R.U.S.E. rebels fighting it out on the beaches. I caught up with players Oliver, Brooks and Tim about why they still play the game.
What draws you to R.U.S.E. and not other RTS war games?
Brooks: There's no other game like it.
Oliver: I feel like this game is quite easy to pick up and yet at the same time complex.
Brooks: Ruse has the fighting but it also has the Ruses which is another side of it. The other games don't have "Ruses" they just have combat.
Oliver: It had something different about it. You're meant to play deception not just rock paper scissors with units.
I'm not usually one for these kinds of games but the element of "Ruses" really made this underrated Ubisoft hit more about deception and fooling the enemy rather than tactical RTS gameplay. Ruses allowed for players to deploy fake units, spy on the enemy, affect unit behaviours and more. As you can imagine, playing a game that relies so heavily on back-stabbing and trickery between friends made for an… interesting time. Needless to say I soon stopped playing the R.U.S.E..
Due to an expired military license, R.U.S.E. was pulled from Steam in later 2015, only five years after its original launch. That said, the game's multiplayer servers are still online.
So, does R.U.S.E. still have a sizeable number of people playing online matches?
Brooks: No, we meet the same people a lot. We know which players are good.
Oliver: You do get new faces but It's quite distinguishable who's new or not because of the levels and most people are level 100, the max level. You'll get very few people who aren't level 100, and if they aren't level 100 there can be discrimination against lower levels.
What's the difference between level 100 and 0? Are there unlockable weapons, abilities, units etc.?
Brooks: No it's just a status thing. You could be level 95 and join a lobby and you'll be kicked.
Can you tell how many people are on at any one time?
Brooks: No, but there are games, you can see how many games are on. You can see how many servers are open.
How many servers do you normally see?
Brooks: I don't think we have ever seen anything more than 7 *laugh* Normally 3 or 4.
Ubisoft officially closed its dedicated servers for both console versions in November 2017 though they remain open on PC. The peak number of players reached within the last 30 days from the beginning of this month was 229, but averaging at 110.3 at any given time.
With R.U.S.E. no longer listed on Steam, buying into this niche multiplayer scene comes at a premium – you'll be looking to pay £50 if you want to purchase access via someone else's Steam account.
Is R.U.S.E. really worth the cost, in 2020?
Oliver: Yes.
How much did you originally pay for it?
Tim: I paid the lowest of £2.50 on Amazon.
Brooks: I paid a fiver and we all originally had it on Xbox.
Oliver: Yeah I was gonna say, we bought it on Xbox and then on the PC because there wasn't a unit capacity, so your Xbox could only handle a certain amount of units in a game whereas your PC could handle more. So we bought it twice.
How long have you played it for?
Oliver: According to my Steam I played it for 589 hours.
Brooks: 368 Hours.
Tim: Mine is 539.
Do you have any funny/interesting stories of your time with the game online?
Brooks: You get little Hitlers sometimes, they're way too serious.
Oliver: Extremely bossy.
Brooks: Typical toxic behaviour, quit the game if they're losing
Oliver: They'll leave even though it's quite rare to get a game
Have you made friends with anyone in the community from the game?
Oliver: I've chatted to some people in Austria through the game. It's quite international.
Brooks: I've met people from Mexico on there.
Oliver: I think the game is for World War II nerds and at that point you get into a weird realm about men who would change their steam names to a general or a historical figure and also have their steam picture changed and you do sometimes see ones that are Nazi related. I've even seen Rommel.
Are most of the people are historic enthusiasts rather than RTS fans would you say?
Oliver: I do wonder if it's people who love history or the glorification of World War II. This game is obviously based on real life historical events but I feel like if you are respecting the history you wouldn't want to replicate Nazis.
Our players finished with some closing comments on the game:
Oliver: There is a community sense in the game. There's been multiple times I've been like "I have to rush downstairs to do something or go to the toilet" and the game allows you to chat with other people on the opposing team and I'll say don't attack me, and people will be very sportsman-like and respectful.
Brooks: There's also a Discord channel for R.U.S.E. and they do other games as well so it crosses over but I see so many of the same people who play online on the Discord server.
The story of how R.U.S.E. was wiped from the Steam store is sadly all too familiar. As previously mentioned, Ubisoft didn't renew their military license which meant they could no longer sell the game as it included real military manufacturers. We've seen Microsoft do the same with past Forza games due to pricey vehicle licenses – if there aren't enough players driving up engagement and spending money, these games are removed from sale. While good for business, it sucks for the niche communities keeping older games like R.U.S.E. alive against all odds.
It's quite fitting for a game called R.U.S.E. to be so in the shadows when it comes to what the game's playerbase. Unsurprisingly, Ubisoft have yet to hint at a sequel or some kind of return to R.U.S.E. but for some people, it doesn't look like that's needed. Upon further conversation with the game's last clutch of commanders, it was evident they've found ways to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of this ageing RTS and they aren't going to give up on R.U.S.E anytime soon.
It's time for The Legend of Zelda to give us a Female Link
Hyrule Warriors had some interesting points about it when looked at it in comparison to the main series of Legend of Zelda games. It saw another new Link, Zelda, and Ganon, as well as a Hyrule that acted as a nexus for the wider Zelda multiverse thanks to the sorceress Cia pulling fragments from other worlds. With some of their characters dragged along for good measure.
Most importantly, Hyrule Warriors brought forward one of the strongest arguments for the possibility of a female Link appearing in future Zelda games. All beginning with a young girl oversleeping and waking to notice that Hyrule Castle was in trouble. A young girl with a magical gold compass with the ancient symbol of Hyrule engraved into it – Linkle.
Linkle poses an interesting turning point for the series at large, if you think about it. Although she begins as a kind of comic relief character, getting lost and only involved initially because she believes she is the legendary hero reborn. However, if you look at what she achieves in her adventure through a Hyrule strewn with fragments of alternate realities of the world, she is undeniably heroic.
She rescues some known and familiar faces and locations in Hyrule, including the Great Deku Tree, aided by the one creature Link himself could never tame nor defeat – Cuccos. She even steps up to the plate to save Hyrule Castle itself from a monster invasion while the "true" hero and Zelda are swanning off somewhere sealing portals to other worlds or something similarly banal.
Also, if any more evidence was needed for her worth as a hero and defender of Hyrule, Linkle can effortlessly and stylishly wield dual hand crossbows in large scale conflicts. We have irrefutable proof in the form of the 2007 Wii spin-off, Link's Crossbow Training, that even the supposed and glorious "Hero Chosen by the Gods" can only wield one at a time and very poorly at that!
Although, that might be down to my prowess with the game, but I digress.
Hyrule Warriors and its brand new sequel, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, are full of immensely powerful female characters, and every one is more than capable of saving Hyrule alone. Impa in Hyrule Warriors with her water summoning giant blade or Urbossa having mastery over bolts of lightning in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity being merely two examples. So it's galling the "hero" is always male.
This being said, the mythos surrounding the "hero" – whatever iteration they might be – always refer to them as male. In Wind Waker, the hero that defeats Ganon in the opening sequence is referred to as a "young boy clad in green". In Ocarina of Time, the prophecy states that "a Hero is destined to appear…and he alone must face the person who began the Great Cataclysm".
So, the evidence is there to support Link always being a "boy clad in green", or at least is for the most part. However, legend and myth are fickle mistresses and rarely do they reflect the truth of events. After all, there was once a time that we attributed all phenomena to gods that lived on an easily scalable mountain that we didn't think to climb, but that doesn't mean they existed.
It could be proposed the stories that underpin Zelda's mythos, like all stories, have changed over time and are altered even at the point of delivery. Let's just say the opening segment from Wind Waker is a tale being told to Link by his grandmother, she very easily could be tweaking the details to inspire our young chap in lobster pyjamas, just the same as stories of a hero were told to Linkle to inspire her.
Although it is true that the legend of the hero being a young boy forms a tradition on Outset Island, this rendition of the legend may not fully resemble the original tale. After all, if the Link in this tale is the "Hero of Time", a lot of the pretty important details are glossed over for the sake of brevity. If we didn't experience this story for ourselves, the hero could have been anyone.
This is the point. The hero in The Legend of Zelda could be anyone.
The only real prerequisite to being the hero is being chosen by the gods or goddesses, depending on the game. Whether this is by a link (get it?) to the Triforce alike the hero in Link's Adventure or being destined for the Master Sword, you just have to be chosen to be a hero. Everything else is merely additional fluff, like being asked by the king to help or other such nonsense.
But what does this have to do with Linkle? Well, it could even be argued her actions were ordained by the goddesses themselves, because of her compass. In Hyrule Warriors, this object was inherited from her grandmother and had the power to repel evil to some degree. This was seen early on during her adventure, during an encounter with Skull Kid when he attempted to steal the item from her.
Linkle had nothing more than faith she was the hero and her compass, and yet she saved Hyrule from disaster. She deserves to at least return again in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity or, better yet, to be her own hero. Nothing would be lost by the Hero in Green in a main game being Linkle, but what would be gained is the knowledge that heroism isn't in destiny, it's in actions.
Something for the Weekend – 21/11/20
While some are missing out due to various degrees of skullduggery, I'm sure there's an awful lot of you that are now settling in for your first weekend of next-gen current gen gaming. Have you rinsed every droplet of joy from Astro's Playroom yet? Swung through New York City as the other Spider-Man? Are you venturing into the painful world of Demon's Souls? Or perhaps it's one of the many cross-gen and cross-platform releases that has caught your eye?
Whatever you have planned this weekend, I hope you have a great time, but if you're already here, let's get stuck straight into our weekly round up!
In the News This Week
- Amazon promise to "put it right" after reports of missing PS5 deliveries other skullduggery
- IO Interactive announce Project 007 – They're making a James Bond game!
- The PlayStation 5 download queue bug has a fix, details here
- Xbox exclusive shooter CrossfireX has been delayed to 2021
- Far Cry 6 will be out in May, according to the Microsoft Store
- Star Wars: Squadrons will be getting two new content drops, including map and fighters
- University of Oxford study finds video games are 'good for well-being'
- Capcom hack: Information on 350,000 people stolen along with sales and financial reports
- [UPDATE] THQ Nordic say the TimeSplitters 2 leak was a joke
And both Sony and Microsoft have kicked off their digital sales on the PlayStation and Microsoft stores:
- The PS Store Black Friday sale is now on – Save on PS Plus, PS Now, Ghost of Tsushima, TLOU Part II & more
- The Xbox Black Friday sale is now on – Save on Forza Horizon 4, Gears 5, Game Pass Ultimate & more
Games in Review
We've continued to dive into a wide range of games for review, including passing our final judgements on some of the biggest launch titles for the new generation:
- Tetris Effect: Connected – XSX – 10/10
- Demon's Souls – PS5 – 9/10
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – NSW – 9/10
- NBA 2K21 Next-Gen – PS4, XSX – 9/10
- Observer: System Redux – PS5, XSX, PC – 9/10
- Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm – NSW, iOS – 8/10
- Sniper Elite 4 (Switch) – NSW – 8/10
- Cardpocalypse – PS4, XBO, NSW, PC, iOS – 8/10
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, PC – 7/10
- Bubble Bobble 4 – PS4, NSW – 6/10
- Godfall – PS5, PC – 5/10
And we had a couple hardware reviews as well:
- Thrustmaster T.16000M Space Sim Duo – PC – 9/10
- Logitech G733 – PS5, PS4, PC, Mac – 7/10
Featured Articles
While all the new consoles are hogging the spotlight, it's easy to forget that they're not the only vision for the future of gaming. One year ago, almost to the day, Google Stadia launched and so Dom looked back at the Stadia's first year on the market and what its future might hold.
There's also some more games just around the corner for us to preview. Alan went hands on with Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, while Gamoc shared his thoughts on the real time action of Worms Rumble.
Finally, What We Played featured lots of Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 gaming with Demon's Souls, Astro's Playroom & Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Trailer Park
Here's Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X and Xbox Series X gameplay
Marvel's Avengers Kate Bishop DLC launches in December
IO Interactive announce Project 007 – They're making a James Bond game!
Katamari Damacy Reroll has rolled onto PS4 and Xbox One
Your Achievements
Here's what you in our community has been up to this week:
- MrYd's next-gen gaming got underway with the arrival of his… PS4 Camera Adapter! So he's basically just played exactly the same as last week, with the addition of Rock Band 4, because it was on sale.
- TSBonyman is holding out on the PS5 and is more than happy to keep on playing No Man's Sky, Dreams and Bloodborne.
- Picking up an EA Play pass for the year, hornet1990 has sunk his teeth into Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
- Crazy_Del's PS5 arrived yesterday (one day late), so he's been having fun setting that up after a week of Assassin's Creed Valhalla on PS4.
- Dan Jones dove into his PS+ back catalogue for some "bloody hell it's difficult" Bloodborne.
- And it felt like Christmas came early for Andrewww when he unwrapped his PS5 and made sure it was working OK by playing… Alien: Isolation. Then Astro Bot, then Bugsnax (which he's not sure will last long on the SSD), and then Demon's Souls. He loves the new controller, but reckons the PS5 UI is a mess.
And with all of that out of the way, I'll let you crack on with your weekends! Have fun gaming!
Epic users can get Elite: Dangerous for free, MudRunner next week
Swing by the Epic Games store over the next two weeks and you'll be able to get your hands on two very different kinds of sim.
From now until November 26th, anyone with an Epic Games Store account can log in to redeem their free copy of space-faring fan favourite, Elite: Dangerous. Trust us when we say this is a game you can get lost in, studio Frontier Developments having recently launched their free Elite: Dangerous Horizons expansion which adds planetary exploration. Epic are also giving away spell-slinging indie, The World Next Door.
Next week we're getting something a little more grounded with MudRunner. This popular truck simulator is a precursor to one of our favourite games of 2020, Snowrunner, tasking players with rescues and deliveries while combating rough terrain.
For the full catalogue of free games Epic have given away in the past, look no further.
Epic Games store free games list
| Game Name | Dates Available |
| MudRunner | November 26-December 3, 2020 |
| Elite: Dangerous | November 19-26, 2020 |
| The World Next Door | November 19-26, 2020 |
| The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia | November 12-19, 2020 |
| Dungeons 3 | November 12-19, 2020 |
| Wargame: Red Dragon | November 5-12, 2020 |
| Ghostbusters The Video Game – Remastered | October 29-November 5, 2020 |
| Blair Witch | October 29-November 5, 2020 |
| Layers of Fear 2 | October 22-29, 2020 |
| Costume Quest 2 | October 22-29, 2020 |
| Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs | October 15-22, 2020 |
| Kingdom New Lands | October 15-22, 2020 |
| Rising Storm 2: Vietnam | October 8-15, 2020 |
| ABZU | October 8-15, 2020 |
| Pikuniku | October 1-8, 2020 |
| Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition | September 24-October 1, 2020 |
| Football Manager 2020 | September 17-24, 2020 |
| Watch Dogs 2 | September 17-24, 2020 |
| Stick It To The Man! | September 17-24, 2020 |
| Railway Empire | September 10-17, 2020 |
| Where The Water Tastes Like Wine | September 10-17, 2020 |
| Into The Breach | September 3-10, 2020 |
| Hitman | August 27-September 3, 2020 |
| Shadowrun Collection | August 27-September 3, 2020 |
| God's Trigger | August 20-27, 2020 |
| Enter the Gungeon | August 20-27, 2020 |
| The Alto Collection | August 13-20, 2020 |
| Remnant: From the Ashes | August 13-20, 2020 |
| A Total War Saga: Troy | August 13-14, 2020 |
| Wilmot's Warehouse | August 6-13, 2020 |
| Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP | July 30 – August 6, 2020 |
| Barony | July 30 – August 6, 2020 |
| 20XX | July 30 – August 6, 2020 |
| Next Up Hero | July 23-30, 2020 |
| Tacoma | July 23-30, 2020 |
| Torchlight II | July 16-23, 2020 |
| Lifeless Planet: Premier Edition | July 9-16, 2020 |
| The Escapists 2 | July 9-16, 2020 |
| Killing Floor 2 | June 9-16, 2020 |
| Hue | July 2-9, 2020 |
| Stranger Things 3 | June 25-July 2, 2020 |
| AER Memories of Old | June 18-25, 2020 |
| Ark: Survival Evolved | June 11-18, 2020 |
| Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection | June 11-18, 2020 |
| Overcooked | June 4-11, 2020 |
| Borderlands: The Handsome Collection | May 28-June 4, 2020 |
| Civilization VI | May 21-28, 2020 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | May 14-21, 2020 |
| Death Coming | May 7-14, 2020 |
| Crashlands | April 30-May 7, 2020 |
| Amnesia: The Dark Descent | April 30-May 7, 2020 |
| For the King | April 23-30, 2020 |
| Just Cause 4 | April 16-23, 2020 |
| Wheels of Aurelia | April 16-23, 2020 |
| Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments | April 9-16, 2020 |
| Close to the Sun | April 9-16, 2020 |
| Gone Home | April 2-9, 2020 |
| Drawful 2 | April 2-9, 2020 |
| Hob | April 2-9, 2020 |
| Totally Reliable Delivery Service | April 1-8, 2020 |
| World War Z | March 26-April 2, 2020 |
| Torment x Punisher | March 26-April 2, 2020 |
| Figment | March 26-April 2, 2020 |
| Watch Dogs | March 19-26, 2020 |
| The Stanley Parable | March 19-26, 2020 |
| A Short Hike | March 12-19, 2020 |
| Mutazione | March 12-19, 2020 |
| Anodyne 2 | March 12-19, 2020 |
| Gonner | March 5-12, 2020 |
| Offworld Trading Company | March 5-12, 2020 |
| Inner Space | February 27-March 5, 2020 |
| Faeria | February 20-27, 2020 |
| Assassin's Creed Syndicate | February 20-27, 2020 |
| Aztez | February 13-20, 2020 |
| Kingdom Come: Deliverance | February 13-20, 2020 |
| Ticket to Ride | February 6-13, 2020 |
| Carcassonne | February 6-13, 2020 |
| Farming Simulator 19 | January 30-February 6, 2020 |
| The Bridge | January 23-30, 2020 |
| Horace | January 16-23, 2020 |
| Sundered: Eldritch Edition | January 9-16, 2020 |
| Darksiders Warmastered Edition | January 1-9, 2020 |
| Darksiders 2 Dethinitive Edition | January 1-9, 2020 |
| Steep | January 1-9, 2020 |
| Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair | December 31, 2019 |
| Hello Neighbor | December 30, 2019 |
| The Talos Principle | December 29, 2019 |
| Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun | December 28, 2019 |
| Hyper Light Drifter | December 27, 2019 |
| FTL: Faster Than Light | December 26, 2019 |
| Totally Accurate Battle Simulator | December 25, 2019 |
| Celeste | December 24, 2019 |
| Ape Out | December 23, 2019 |
| Little Inferno | December 22, 2019 |
| Superhot | December 21, 2019 |
| Towerfall Ascension | December 20, 2019 |
| Into the Breach | December 19, 2019 |
| The Wolf Among Us | December 12-19, 2019 |
| The Escapists | December 12-19, 2019 |
| Jotun: Valhalla Edition | December 6-12, 2019 |
| Rayman Legends | November 29-December 6, 2019 |
| Bad North | November 21-29, 2019 |
| The Messenger | November 14-21, 2019 |
| Ruiner | November 7-14, 2019 |
| Nuclear Throne | November 7-14, 2019 |
| Costume Quest | October 31-November 7, 2019 |
| Soma | October 31-November 7, 2019 |
| Layers of Fear | October 24-October 31, 2019 |
| Q.U.B.E.2 | October 24-October 31, 2019 |
| Alan Wake: American Nightmare | October 17-24, 2019 |
| Observer | October 17-24, 2019 |
| Surviving Mars | October 10-17, 2019 |
| Minit | October 3-10, 2019 |
| Metro 2033 Redux | September 26-October 3, 2019 |
| Everything | September 26-October 3, 2019 |
| Lego Batman Trilogy | September 19-26, 2019 |
| Batman: Arkham Collection | September 19-26, 2019 |
| Conarium | September 12-19, 2019 |
| ABZU | September 5-12, 2019 |
| The End is Nigh | September 5-12, 2019 |
| Celeste | August 29-September 5, 2019 |
| Inside | August 29-September 5, 2019 |
| Fez | August 22-29, 2019 |
| Hyper Light Drifter | August 15-22, 2019 |
| Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden | August 15-22, 2019 |
| GNOG | August 8-15, 2019 |
| For Honor | August 2-9, 2019 |
| Alan Wake | August 2-9, 2019 |
| This War of Mine | July 25-August 2, 2019 |
| Moonlighter | July 25-August 2, 2019 |
| Limbo | July 18-July 25, 2019 |
| Torchlight | July 11-18, 2019 |
| Overcooked | July 4-11, 2019 |
| Last Day of June | June 27-July 4, 2019 |
| Rebel Galaxy | June 20-27, 2019 |
| Enter the Gungeon | June 13-20, 2019 |
| Kingdom: New Lands | June 6-13, 2019 |
| City of Brass | May 30-6, 2019 |
| Rime | May 23-30, 2019 |
| Stories Untold | May 16-23, 2019 |
| World of Goo | May 2-16, 2019 |
| Transistor | April 18-May 2, 2019 |
| The Witness | April 4-18, 2019 |
| Oxenfree | March 21-April 4, 2019 |
| Slime Rancher | March 7-21, 2019 |
| Thimbleweed Park | February 21-March 7, 2019 |
| Axiom Verge | February 7-21, 2019 |
| The Jackbox Party Pack | January 24-February 7, 2019 |
| What Remains of Edith Finch | January 11-24, 2019 |
| Super Meat Boy | December 28, 2018-January 10, 2019 |
| Subnautica | December 12-27, 2018 |
The Epic Games Store also hosts a growing number of online free-to-play hits including Fortnite, as well as Rocket League, Dauntless, Rogue Company, and more.
Source: Epic Games
The PlayStation 5 download queue bug has a fix, details here
It turns out the recent update to the PlayStation 5 firmware has fixed the download queue bug that struck many owners of the consoles, but you need to do a little more to get it to work. The bug stopped games from downloading and left them in the queue, leaving the payers in limbo.
The fix is simple, if a little time consuming, here's what you need to do.
- Make sure you have downloaded the latest system update for the PlayStation 5.
- Start you PS5 in Safe Mode. To do this, turn your console off and wait until it has powered down. Now press and hold the power button, you will here a beep as the console starts up but keep the power button pressed down until you hear a second beeo.
- Connect a Dualsense controller via USB so you can navigate the menu
- Selection option 5, "Rebuild Database"
- That's it, wait for the PS5 to do it stuff and when it reboots you should be back in action
In other PS5 news,a number of claims have been made online of PlayStation 5 orders placed at Amazon going missing by various means. Consoles have gone missing through deliveries being falsely labelled as successful or packages with incorrect contents, with even one of our regular TSA writers having been affected.
In response to these claims, Amazon issued a statement to VGC saying, "We're all about making our customers happy, and that hasn't happened for a small proportion of these orders. We're really sorry about that and are investigating exactly what's happened. We're reaching out to every customer who's had a problem and made us aware so we can put it right. Anyone who has had an issue with any order can contact our customer services team for help."
PlayStation 5 Guides and more from TheSixthAxis
- PlayStation 5 Console Review
- DualSense Controller Review
- Astro's Playroom Review
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review
- PS5 Guide – What are Accolades and how to earn them
- PS5 Activity Cards and how they work
- PS5 Trophies – what new features to expect
Source: Twitter
Sony have kicked off their Black Friday sale today and, just as with the Xbox Black Friday event, there's a focus right now on the PlayStation Store and cutting prices on PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now subscriptions, as opposed to slashing the prices of games consoles.
So let's start with those subscriptions. PlayStation Plus (which includes the PlayStation Plus Collection on PS5) and PlayStation Now can both be had for 25% off a 12-month subscription, both dropping down to £37.49. You an also get PS Now's 3-month sub for 20% off at £18.39.
The PS Store, meanwhile, is playing host to a wide range of discounted games from now until 30th November. This includes 2020 PlayStation 4 blockbusters The Last of Us Part II for £31.34 and Ghost of Tsushima for £39.04, or there's Star Wars Squadrons for £21.69, Resident Evil 3 Remake for just £16.49, and so, so much more. There's a few games in there with free PS5 upgrades as well, including Watch Dogs Legion, No Man's Sky, FIFA 21, WRC 9 and Borderlands 3.
We don't have a price list to post, but we do have a list of the games on offer. To see the prices, you can follow these links to your respective PlayStation Store.
And here's everything that's gone on sale today. Let us know if you find any bargains!
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
- A Fisherman's Tale
- A Plague Tale: Innocence
- A.O.T. 2
- A.O.T. 2: Deluxe Edition
- A.O.T. 2: Final Battle
- A.O.T. 2: Final Battle – Upgrade Pack
- ACE COMBAT
7: SKIES UNKNOWN - ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN Season Pass
- Amnesia: Rebirth
- Apex Legends – Bloodhound Edition
- Apex Legends – Lifeline Edition
- Apex Legends – Octane Edition
- Apex Legends – Pathfinder Edition
- Arizona Sunshine
- Arizona Sunshine – Dead Man DLC
- Arizona Sunshine – The Damned DLC
- Arizona Sunshine® – Deluxe Edition
- Arizona Sunshine® – Deluxe Upgrade
- ARK: Aberration
- ARK: Extinction
- ARK: Genesis Season Pass
- ARK: Scorched Earth
- ARK: Survival Evolved
- ARK: Survival Evolved – Explorer's Edition
- ARK: Survival Evolved Season Pass
- Assassin's Creed Origins – Deluxe Edition
- Assassin's Creed Origins – Gold Edition
- Assassin's Creed® Odyssey Deluxe Edition
- Assassin's Creed® Odyssey Ultimate Edition
- Assetto Corsa Competizione
- Atelier Ryza: Digital Deluxe Edition
- Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout
- Batman: Return to Arkham
- Battlefield V Definitive Edition
- Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle
- Black Desert: Conqueror Edition
- Black Desert: Explorer Edition
- Black Desert: Traveler Edition
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
- Borderlands 3 PS4 & PS5
- Borderlands 3 PS4 & PS5
- BOXVR
- Budget Cuts
- Catherine: Full Body
- Catherine: Full Body Digital Deluxe Edition
- Cities: Skylines – Mayor's Edition
- Cities: Skylines – PlayStation 4 Edition
- Cities: Skylines – Premium Edition 2
- Civilization VI – New Frontier Pass
- CODE VEIN Deluxe Edition
- Control: Ultimate Edition
- Cooler of Nuka-Cola Quantum
- Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
- Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
- Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled – Nitros Oxide Edition
- Crysis Remastered
- Cuphead
- DARK SOULS: REMASTERED
- Darksiders Genesis
- Dead or Alive 6
- Dead or Alive 6 – Digital Deluxe Edition
- Dead or Alive 6 – Season Pass 1
- Dead or Alive 6 – Season Pass 2
- Dead or Alive 6 – Season Pass 3
- Dead or Alive 6 – Season Pass 4
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Source: PS Blog
What We Played #476 – Demon's Souls, Astro's Playroom & Assassin's Creed Valhalla
It's finally happened! The PS5 has launched around the UK, meaning that various members of the TSA team have wrestled Sony's gaming behemoth to fit it into TV cabinets that were designed for a DVD player and a Sky box. Miraculously, mine actually fit my cabinet, meaning that it's only the chunky Xbox Series X that gets to stay on display/run the risk of being used by a small child as part of a futuristic Lego city.
With two new consoles to play, I've been filling my eyes with new-gen loveliness then, and it's been Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Dirt 5, Astro's Playroom and Godfall for me so far. Godfall is perhaps the weakest entry of the lot, but mostly because it's so shiny that it actually hurts my eyes. I can't wait to spend more time with everything this weekend.
Aran has also continued his journey into the new generation. "So far I've mainly been playing Gears Tactics, which is a fun tactical title even if some of my plans are ruined by poor accuracy. Started AC Valhalla where I promptly ignored finishing the first mission to go explore instead, and I have also been playing Astro's Playroom which may just be one of the most joyful games I have played in years."
Jim meanwhile has been dipping his toes in Dirt 5 and CODBLOPSCW (what a wonderful acronym) but most of his time this week has been spent with Demon's Souls, telling us "It's really drawn me in despite being tough as nails and me being one of the heathens who would have liked an easy mode bolted on. I can't fault Bluepoint for the direction they've taking though. It's just a brutal and beguiling now than it was ten years ago."
Meanwhile, Steve is nearly done with his Hard playthrough of FFVII Remake, "I'm just bashing my head against the secret boss before finishing the last two chapters". He's also played some PC titles for review, picked up MH Generations for Switch on sale and tried to ignore everyone else on here tempting him with their new console experiences. "I'm looking to get back to Demon's Souls on PC – although the slightly souped up emulation doesn't look as impressive as it did before Bluepoint got involved."
Gareth has been playing Shadow Fight Arena and Chicken Police for review, with a bit of Shadow of War thrown in. Reuben on the other hand dropped into the "fantastic" Astro's Playroom and "really enjoyed all its little quirks and nostalgic references", before playing the PS4 version of Devil May Cry 5 on PS5. Over the last week he's mostly been playing NieR on PS3 "to fill a blatant gap in my gaming history" and the excellent Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity on Switch.
Tuffcub has played Destiny 2, but wait! He's also played "Spider-Man: Miles Morales which is very snazzy, Astro's Playroom which is just bloody fantastic, and AC: Valhalla which has turned out to be the first AC since Black Flag that I really like, and its got nothing to do with all the big burly bearded men. Well, maybe a little bit. There's a lot more weight to combat, it feels nicely crunchy rather than the skippy floofy combat in the more recent games. I'm also appreciating you can climb anywhere, all those mountains that other games would go "Nope, not going up there" are available to summit. Also: Thank heavens for next gen – no bloody loading screens as soon as you want to talk to someone! Yass!"
Nic B, like many others it seems, has had his PS5 mysteriously disappear when an Amazon driver was supposed to safely deliver it to his hands. Given the context of this year, that is utterly rubbish, and we hope that some solution is found exceptionally fast. Thomas Harrison-Lord was lucky enough to receive his PS5 and has played through Astro's Playroom and found it to be the perfect antidote to 2020, saying "I almost felt emotional at times, such is the love that's gone into even the smallest of details."
And finally, Tef has been bouncing around a bunch of games, from WRC 9 and Dirt 5 last weekend, to trying his hand at Gears 5 and Halo: TMCC multiplayer and their new 120Hz modes – he's been thoroughly punished for his foolhardiness, with so many more experienced players out there. He's also started his own personal journey into AC Valhalla (instead of briefly piggybacking on other people's saves), and played Tetris Effect Connected to wind down in the evenings, quite enjoying its collaborative multiplayer modes.
Now then, what have you played? Have you been getting on the new-gen train?
Amazon promise to "put it right" after reports of missing PS5 deliveries other skullduggery
A number of claims have been made online of PlayStation 5 orders placed at Amazon going missing by various means. Consoles have gone missing through deliveries being falsely labelled as successful or packages with incorrect contents, with even one of our regular TSA writers having been affected.
In response to these claims, Amazon issued a statement to VGC saying, "We're all about making our customers happy, and that hasn't happened for a small proportion of these orders. We're really sorry about that and are investigating exactly what's happened. We're reaching out to every customer who's had a problem and made us aware so we can put it right. Anyone who has had an issue with any order can contact our customer services team for help."
While most of our deliveries have been successful for TSA's writers, one did vanish into thin air. Nic B's order was simply labelled as "handed to resident" in Amazon's system, but this simply did not happen. Amazon's customer services team said it could be a mis-scan and that it would arrive by Saturday. We'll see…
Elsewhere, freelance journalist Bex April May videoed her box opening to find a… well, see for yourself.
Happy #PS5 day everyone. Tried to document our one's unveiling, but Amazon have tricked us with an unsolicited air fryer instead (after giving delivery password). Anyone else had this problem today? pic.twitter.com/99IUSzSJUU
— Bex April May (@bexlectric) November 19, 2020
We've also had reports of PS5s replaced by a 5kg bag of bulgar wheat, cat food, Nerf guns and more.
The problem is a serious one though. Even if the vast majority of PlayStation 5 orders placed through Amazon have been successfully and correctly delivered, the allegations would suggest issues running through Amazon's supply chain, both within their warehouses where items are picked and with their network of delivery drivers. While Amazon as a company probably won't gain much sympathy here, and their promises to put things right will mean replacing the PS5s or refunding the orders at their own expense, this still amounts to theft and fraud by their employees.
The PlayStation 5 is worth £449, but that's just the MSRP. The PS5 is one of a number of gaming-oriented bits of tech that has been targeted by botnets and scalpers over the last few months, alongside the Xbox Series X, Nvidia's Geforce 3000 series GPUs, and AMD's Ryzen 5000 CPUs and Radeon 6000 series GPUs. With many of these in short supply or out of stock, scalpers are flogging them on various sites for quite a mark up.
A mass of PS5 consoles have appeared on eBay overnight with some chancers asking in excess of £10,000 with prices averaging at around £700 for the PS5 Digital Edition and £750-800 for the PS5 Disc Edition. With many of these consoles being available for cash in hand via local collection, scalpers also appear to flouting the UK's lockdown laws for some fast cash. Not cool.
via VGC
Demon's Souls is one of the most brutal, beguiling games to have ever been made. This precursor to the Dark Souls series gained popularity on PS3 through word of mouth, quickly amassing a fervent fanbase around the globe as action RPG nuts obsessed over the game's uniqueness. So much of this game was shrouded in fog – a sword that cuts both ways and one that will continue to ward off potential players many years later. You'll see the words "You Died" so many times when playing Demon's Souls, they'll likely burn into your retinas.
Now a dramatically overhauled PlayStation 5 launch title, FromSoftware's landmark title is just as devious in 2020 as it was a decade ago. This action RPG has you trawling maze-like levels, each one filled with demented foes and tricksy traps, all conspiring to consume your precious slither of a health bar. Death is not the end, however. Your warrior can rise again but with fewer hit points, having also lost their stash of souls. By returning to where you previously fell, you can retrieve them, but dying again will mean forfeiting them forever.
Demon's Souls is all about risk and reward. Trial and error. It's a game of perseverance where you'll eventually master its ballet of swordplay and spellcasting only to fall down a chasm because you weren't looking where you were going. Even if you manage to survive one of the game's many gauntlets intact, each one is then bookended by a beastly boss battle. For the most part, the odds are stacked heavily against you. Coming into Demon's Souls as a casual fan of the genre will catapult you into a Sisyphean scenario that can only go one of two ways: you'll either want to immerse yourself up to the eyeballs for dozens of hours, or flog your copy of the game immediately.
Instead of crafting linear stories, the Souls series has always favoured lore and world-building instead. All you need to know is that you are the slayer of demons, harvesting their souls to save the kingdom from ruin. Along the way you'll encounter a bizarre troupe of characters who, despite having very few lines of dialogue, form a memorable cast of misfits.
Everything about the 2010 original has been preserved and polished here in Bluepoint's remake. In the same year that Demon's Souls originally launched, Bluepoint wowed PlayStation fans with remasters of the first two God of War games for PS3. From there Bluepoint would go on to do the same for Metal Gear Solid, Uncharted, and more, but they shifted gears in the latter half of the decade, first with the full-on remake with Shadow of the Colossus in 2018 and now this.
With Demon's Souls, they've been incredibly faithful though it's clear that the team have had more freedom and room to experiment. In our initial impressions of the PS5 exclusive we noted the change in art direction, Bluepoint having completely redesigned the look of character models and environments and it means that some of that carefully crafted bleakness has been lost. The game is far more detailed and still triumphs in depicting a dark fantasy world dripping with misery, though purists will have a bone to pick for sure.
However, what's most important is gameplay, that central spine which has been painstakingly recreated to perfection. Demon's Souls plays on PS5 exactly as it did all those years ago. From level layouts and boss encounters down to the basic feel of movement and swordplay, diving back into Demon's Souls is like slipping into an old pair of slippers. Ones that are no doubt threadbare by now, stained with the tears from past playthroughs.
The game's online features have also been revived with players able to help or hinder one another. Touching bloodstains left throughout the world lets you see where others have fallen, potentially avoiding the same fate. You can also read notes left by others, which can be simple messages of encouragement or more accurate tips and advice – there's the occasional fib for good measure. As a Black Phantom you can hunt down other adventurers by invading their online session, or offer them your services as a ghostly companion.
On PS5, there are some extra flourishes to celebrate the launch of Sony's newest console. Demon's Souls makes subtle use of the DualSense controller, emitting nuanced audio as you play and using the haptic feedback to immerse players further. You will notice a difference when striking different materials such as stone, wood, or metal, the DualSense speaker honing in on certain sound effects such as the mechanical winding of an elevator.
Although the temptation was clearly there, Bluepoint Games never divulge the inner workings of Demon's Souls. There are significant systems and mechanics at play (such as the mysterious "World Tendency") that are never explained. In an age where most games insist on holding your hand every step of the journey, those first few hours spent with Demon's Souls can be hugely jarring and will have you running Google searches back to back.
Love it or hate it, that's the magic of Demon's Souls. You only need to look at the mass of fan-made wikis and ancient message board posts to see how the community formed around this game, crowdsourcing answers to many of its secrets. Today, a new generation of fans will brave the fog to keep these beacons alight.
New Among Us map to be revealed at The Game Awards
A new map of murderous shenanigans is coming to to cult hit Among Us is on the way, with developer Innersloth teasing a shot of what looks like a space ship command bridge and promising a full reveal at The Game Awards on 10th December.
Take a look:
Welcome to the official Among Us Twitter
Get all the news, peeks, and fun shenanigans here and become a part of the crew.
Here's a special look at the NEW Among Us map! (For your eyes only!!) (Don't show the impostors!!) pic.twitter.com/FrCkK7ZcnI
— Among Us (@AmongUsGame) November 18, 2020
The new map was previously discussed in an updated roadmap for the game:
New Map. We're hard at work on a new map (It's Henry Stickmin themed!). This map is currently looking bigger than Polus! The map will contain plenty of new tasks and will be available for free to all players!
Among Us has been one of the indie hits of the summer, despite actually having released all the way back in 2018. The game was discovered by Twitch streamers, with its paranoia-infused multiplayer making for a lot of fun and plenty of cross-channel collaborations. It helps that the game's really cheap at just £4.
The game is built for 4-10 players, with one or more players being an "imposter", and alien interloper who has to try and murder their way through the other players as they try to complete tasks. As murdered bodies are discovered, players report them and call a group meeting to bicker, accuse, and potentially kick someone out of an airlock. There's tons of options to customise lobbies and tweak settings to balance the game for your group,
In response to the sudden boom in popularity in August, Innersloth set back to work on their now very popular game. It had achieved moderate popularity originally, allowing them to start working on a sequel, but they decided to instead cancel the sequel and put more resources into supporting their now huge audience.
So, if you're a keen imposter or a mildly fearful human just wanting to complete their tasks, make sure to keep an eye out on what's next for the game at The Game Awards in December.
Source: Twitter
With PS5 UK stock sold out, scalpers look to make a profit
It should come as no surprise that, just hours after the PS5 became available in the United Kingdom, scalpers have been flogging their consoles only for a quick bit of money.
With the PS5 completely sold out in most shops and online outlets, buyers have been left searching the internet in hopes of getting one of Sony's new consoles. Throughout launch day we were keeping track of available PS5 stock in the UK with retailers selling out almost instantly including Amazon.
Having managed to successfully secure their pre-orders, scalpers have been quick to respond to the PS5 shortage, taking to online marketplaces such as eBay, Gumtree, Depop, and Facebook to peddle their PlayStation at a premium price.
For those unaware, "scalping" is when people get hold of rare items (usually via pre-order) then sell them at launch for profit, hoping that there will be a shortage. We've seen this happen countless times in the world of gaming when it comes to consoles, and video game special editions.
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A mass of PS5 consoles have appeared on eBay overnight with some chancers asking in excess of £10,000 with prices averaging at around £700 for the PS5 Digital Edition and £750-800 for the PS5 Disc Edition. With many of these consoles being available for cash in hand via local collection, many scalpers also appear to flouting the UK's lockdown laws for some fast cash.
On top of having to pay more for a PS5 console, desperate gamers will also need to be aware of the pitfalls when buying from private sellers online. We'd strongly recommend waiting for a restock.
Keep an eye on Stock Informer which tracks retailers that have consoles. Good luck!
PlayStation 5 Guides and more from TheSixthAxis
- PlayStation 5 Console Review
- DualSense Controller Review
- Astro's Playroom Review
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review
- PS5 Guide – What are Accolades and how to earn them
- PS5 Activity Cards and how they work
- PS5 Trophies – what new features to expect
Xbox exclusive shooter CrossfireX has been delayed to 2021
CrossfireX is the latest to announce that it's being pushed back from a somewhat optimistic and constantly narrowing 2020 release window to sometime in 2021.
As is usual for game delay announcements, it's been done via a text image posted on Twitter.
An important announcement regarding #CrossfireX's development: pic.twitter.com/8L1qzgcHvw
— CrossfireX (@PlayCrossfireX) November 19, 2020
They write:
After much deliberation, and in consideration of the challenges faced by the Smilegate development team due to COVID-19, we have made the difficult decision to delay the release of CrossfireX to 2021.
Moving our release will allow us to deliver the Crossfire experience on console our team set out to create. We'll have more to share in the future.
CrossfireX is the console oriented follow up to the hugely popular PC original, which has managed to amass a staggering 650 million players. It features two warring PMC factions, the Global Risk and Black List, and it's their globetrotting escapades that a single player campaign created by Remedy Entertainment will tell. That, however, is an additional project alongside the main multiplayer that is in development at Smilegate in Korea. In fact, the single player will be part of a "premium battle pass" at its launch.
The first gameplay teaser for CrossfireX came at XO19 last year, following on from the E3 2019 announcement. At the time it was only confirmed for Xbox One, but with mention of "Xbox consoles" plural, it teased that the game would be coming natively to Xbox Series X (which was still codenamed Project Scarlett at the time).
CrossfireX is coming as a timed exclusive to Xbox One and Xbox Series X – a "console launch exclusive" as revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase. The multiplayer will be free-to-play, with Remedy's single player story campaign sold separately.
We got a behind the scenes look at a mission from the CrossfireX single player campaign and the work that Remedy have done with their first first person shooter, twisting their Northlight engine to a new use. You can read some of our thoughts and impressions, alongside input from the game's creators in our CrossfireX campaign preview.
Source: Twitter
Far Cry 6 will be out in May, according to the Microsoft Store
It's not the first time, and it won't be the last that a store page online lets slip the planned release date of a game. This time around it's the delayed Far Cry 6, with the Microsoft Store page claiming that the game will now be releasing on 26th May 2021.
Far Cry 6 will be out for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Google Stadia and Amazon Luna. As with Ubisoft's other upcoming games, you will get free cross-generation ownership from Xbox One to Xbox Series X via Smart Delivery and from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5.
The game was officially announced back in July's Ubisoft Forward event, initially with a release date set for February 2021. However, Far Cry 6 and Rainbow Six Quarantine were both delayed from this financial year in October, with Ubisoft citing the difficulties of working through the pandemic as the reasoning.
The game will feature Giancarlo Esposito, who's best known for his role in Breaking Bad, as the main villain. He's the dictatorial El Presidente of the war-torn tropical paradise of Yara. Esposito's character, Anton Castillo, rules this land with an iron fist, attempting to restore it to its former glory as a guerrilla revolution rages in the modern day. He hopes that his son, Diego, will follow in his footsteps.
You obviously don't play as either of these characters, but rather as Dani Rojas, a Yaran who's rising up against the oppressive regime. The game also takes part in a city for the first time, with Esperanza providing an urban setting for the war to take in as you fight for territory and to depose Anton from his seat of power.
There's plenty of weapons, vehicles and animal companions promised, but by far the best of them all is going to be Chorizo, a vicious little sausage dog!
Source: Microsoft Store via VGC
Bubble Bobble 4 Friends: The Baron is Back Review
In October 1987 a teenage Tuffcub rushed to WHSmith's, cash in hand, to buy the latest game for the ZX Spectrum, a conversion of the Taito arcade smash Bubble Bobble. Over hundreds of hours in the following months my next door neighbour and I played the game constantly, uncovering the many secrets and slowly getting closer to level 100, the end of the game. Bubble Bobble was, and remains to this day, incredibly addictive with fast paced gameplay as you race to complete the level before the Baron Von Blubba, or "The Grok" as we called him, appeared on the screen and mercilessly hunted down Bub and Bob.
Suffice to say I love Bubble Bobble. I have the arcade port on my PS3 and PS4 and a cuddly Bub on a shelf above my consoles, so I was very excited to get my hands on Bubble Bobble 4 Friends. The Baron is back and the good news it has all the classic elements of Bubble Bobble. The bad news is that things have also been changed.
The gameplay remains very similar; you play as Bub, Bob, or one of two new characters and jump around platforms, capturing enemies by blowing bubbles at enemies. Once encased in the bubble, the enemies and any other bubbles you blow float around screen following wind patterns. You can then burst the bubbles to kill the enemies, but the idea is the pop more than one at a time to create a chain and get a higher score.
New for Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is the ability to crouch, which lets you slip between small gaps, and auto jumping on bubbles. In other words, when you jump on a bubble it won't pop, you bounce merrily on top of it and you have to push down to pop the bubbles. This changes a key element from the original, making the game much easier. The power ups are roughly the same, but instead of appearing in the level as you play, you get them be completing a set of ten levels and then equip one at time. You also get a very limited supply of each power up to use and can only gain extra use by killing enemies, meaning that I barely used them.
The game is more like a traditional platformer rather than an arcade title, as levels require you to follow a set path to reach all the enemies. However, the level design is also very confusing. You can now only jump through certain platforms, and the game introduces spikes later on which will, of course, pop bubbles. Fooled you! Bubbles actually happily float straight through spikes, and they only kill cute green dinosaurs and their friends. Enemy patterns are also pretty basic, as many of the bad guys just stay completely still and wait for you to bubble them.
There's more to annoying Bubble Bobble fans: The classic music is only played on the first few levels not during the entire game, and despite the full title of the game being Bubble Bobble 4 Friends: The Baron is Back, Baron Von Blubba is nowhere to be seen. As I write this review, I have had the game running for 50 minutes and left Bub standing still, but the Baron has yet to make an appearance and chase me off screen.
Complete a set of ten levels and you get a boss battle, a nod to Bubble Symphony, the arcade sequel. For most of these, it's just a case of avoiding the boss, waiting until they are worn out and then attacking them with enough bubbles until you pop them. The game as a whole is very easy and you can swish the fifty levels in just over an hour. The one exception is the boss fight at the end of level four, which is much, much harder than any other level in the game for some reason and fires over a dozen fast moving enemies across the screen along with the boss itself.
One you've complete the fifty levels you can unlock a hard mode with remixed version of the levels, but while they are more challenging, they're still not really that difficult. If you fail a level three times you also get the option to play and complete the level in invincible mode so the enemies can't hurt you. You also unlock a mini arcade cabinet on which you can play the original 1986 arcade game, and that will take you much, much longer to finish than 4 Friends.
As the name suggests, you can play the game with up to four chums in couch co-op, and as with most games adding friends does make it a lot more fun. The game suddenly becomes more frantic and feels more like the original, and if you're feeling particularly mean you can mess up another player's plans with a well timed bubble.
The Xbox Black Friday sale is now on
Microsoft have got their Black Friday sale and offers going, both with digital discounts online and some smaller discounts promised for physical goods as well.
If you were even vaguely hoping to see Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on sale, then you're kidding yourself – good luck finding stock in the first place! Instead, Microsoft are cutting £20 from the ERP of the Xbox One S from 22nd November through to the end of the year, making it a rather disappointing £229.99. A bit better is that they're cutting £10 off the Xbox One controller price and £8 from the Xbox Series X|S controller, so you can get an extra pad for a bit cheaper.
The real savings are to be had digitally. In the US you can get 40% off when buying three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – it'll be $27 instead of $45 – and in the UK if you snag a three-month Xbox Game Pass for PC subscription for £23.99/€29.99, you'll get a Sea of Thieves "Parrot Starter Bundle" for free. Ultimate perks currently include a 30-day trial for Disney+, by the way.
Then there's just the massive Black Friday sale on the Xbox store. Running from now until 3rd December, there's over 750 Xbox One games and DLC expansions on sale and, if you aren't just playing through Game Pass, that includes Forza Horizon 4 for 50% off at £27.49, Gears 5 with 75% off at just £8.74, PUBG down to just £3.74, Ori and the Will of the Wisps for £12.49, and much more.
Here is the full list of games and their percentage discounts.
Source: Xbox
Cardpocalypse is a love letter to lunchtimes spent playing cards while growing up. Whether Pokémon or Magic was your playground poison, this is a game that will take you back to the good old days.
The year is 1993 and you're a kid in a new school. Your name is Jess and you love the TV show Mega Mutant Power Pets. Everything in Cardpocalypse is centred around this show. Even the opening of the game has a Saturday morning cartoon style intro theme, which tells you in no uncertain terms that "school has gone insane".
This is where we pick up the game. On your first day at your new school, you bond with some other kids over your mutual love of the show, your new friends give you some cards, and you pick up the basics of the game. Unfortunately, you then get the game banned for everyone at the school and everyone immediately hates you. Yay.
Over the next five days, as you meet other kids, form allegiances, trade cards and battle your frenemies, you get better cards and start to improve at the game, just like when we were kids.
Mechanically, the game plays like a stripped down version of Magic the Gathering's Commander format. While Magic has five colours, Cardopcalype has four — one for each of the game's four animal factions – and your choice of commander will decide the colour identity of the deck you then build. You can't have purple cards in a green deck, for example.
From there, we have the expected similarities — Deathtouch has become Lethal, Goad has become Defender, etc. Basically, if you play Magic, you already know the most of the game mechanics here.
Where the game diverges is how you win each match. Each champion starts with 30 life and has an ability. The aim is get the opposing champion down to zero life. However, as soon as they hit the half-way mark, they go mega. This powers them up, granting both a triggered ability and a more powerful passive.
As you learn the ropes and discover what each champion can do, you'll also find a surprising amount of gameplay depth on offer. Eventually you get to modify the cards yourself, using crayons and stickers to the best of your childish ability, turning this homage to a youth well spent into a game-design class for dummies.
Towards the end of the game, you even get the ability to change the rules, making everyone start with more resources, or making all cards with a certain mechanic cost more or less. Making rule changes is very important if you're to take down the big bad at the end of the week — a supernatural enemy which is bringing the game to life around you.
There's also the everyday school life aspect of the game — doing missions for your fellow kids (annoy X or beat Y at a game) to unlock new card rewards. These missions are a bit repetitive at times, requiring a lot of effort on your part, but they're worth it for that sweet, sweet cardboard. Even when they feel a bit much, they're saved by the quality writing, references and jokes.
All in all, Cardpocalypse has an excellent premise backed up by some fantastic gameplay. It really feels like the devs were trying to capture the spirit of youth as we all got into cardboard crack behind the bike shed, and they've done an admirable job. The way that each champion has a theme tune that plays when you acquire their card, and the way the kids energetically sing when you finish a mission for them will almost certainly put a smile on your face.
I also love the way they've made the main character's disability — being wheelchair bound — a core part of the game. Jess can't use stairs and she has to shrug off comments from the other kids, which range from simply curious (asking if they can have a go in the chair) to being mean (calling you a cyborg). The game is as diverse as it is good, and remember, the game is excellent.
Cardpocalypse isn't all sunshine and rainbows, and there are a couple of issues which hold the game back, making some parts of it extremely frustrating. In a couple of matches I had bugs where end-of-turn effects didn't end, making the opponent significantly more powerful than they ought to be. In Magic speak, imagine if Threaten was actually In Bolas's Clutches, but it only cost U. Yeah, that's pretty broken.
In other places, including in boss fights, the game bugged, making me watch the entire pre-fight conversation all over again before having to fight the boss a second time. That's pretty egregious as far as bugs go.
There's also a missing gameplay element which could improve the card-game gameplay, and that's having a graveyard for cards which have been used/killed. When the opponent casts something, you only see it for a second before it is gone forever, along with one of your creatures, leaving you wondering if this is another bug or if the card is supposed to work that way. Having a graveyard is a small change that would really improve quality of life through the game.
Last but not least, we have the recently released DLC — the 'Out of time' end-game pack which sees Jess trapped in a time loop. It should have come with a spoiler warning, as I loaded this up before beating the main game, but alas. Still, Out of Time is some great end-game content as it strips you of your cards and gives you a unique 'Neutral Champion' who is capable of using cards of all colours in your deck. It's like a WUBRG Commander in Magic. Your Champion is a weakling that, by all rights, shouldn't exist, but has a unique upgrade tree which allows you to build it into the right card for your play style. It's a cool idea which is fairly well executed. The only issue is that time loops can be extremely repetitive and boring to play through, which means this DLC will not be for everyone.
Watch the new five minute Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay trailer here
CD Projekt RED have released a new five minute trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 which explains the story, upgrades, and many other elements to the game. Check it out.
While the game does look amazing the upcoming release has been soured by reports of months of crunch leading to the games release. Back in March CD Projekt "more humane" approach to crunch and that it would not be mandatory, but later in the year it was revealed that had changed and that employees were required by the company to work six days a week to get the game finished.
The game was delayed back at the end of October an additional three weeks, with company bosses Adam Badowski and Marcin Iwinski explaining, "The biggest challenge for us right now is shipping the game on current-gen, next-gen and PC at the same time, which requires us to prepare and test 9 versions of it (Xbox One/X, compatibility on Xbox Series S|X, PS4/Pro, compatibility on PS5, PC, Stadia)… while working from home."
During the recent Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire the senior quest designer on the game, Patrick K. Mills, said the following.
"The difference between a completionist run and a main story run… we do know that the main story run in Cyberpunk 2077 is slightly shorter than The Witcher 3 because we got a lot of complaints about Witcher 3's main story just being too long."
"Looking at the metrics, you see tremendous numbers of people played through that game really far, but never made it to the end. We want you to see the full story, so we did shorten the main story, but we have lots to do, and in terms of a completionist campaign, I just don't have that number," he added.
Cyberpunk 2077 will be out for Xbox One, PS4 and PC on 10th December, it will be playable on Xbox Series X | S and PS5 but full on next-gen enhancements will not be there on day one.
Source: YouTube
Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm Review
Having been one of the highest profile titles on Apple Arcade, Oceanhorn 2 has been around for a little while now, but it's apt that it's now out on Nintendo Switch. This is, after all, a series that takes clear influence (to put it generously) from the Legend of Zelda series.
The first Oceanhorn was a bit of a sleeper hit, taking aspects of Zelda and applying it to a well designed isometric flooded world. Knights of the Lost Realm is billed clearly as Oceanhorn 2 but is in fact a prequel, and one that takes place a thousand years before the events of the first game. This complete disregard for the logic and chronology of reality is not entirely new in games, but this is perhaps the most blatant example in a while. Still, how does the Zelda-alike fare on the home of its illustrious inspiration?
First up, Oceanhorn is a lovely looking game, and one that feels like a tribute to both Wind Waker and Skyward Sword. The bright and colourful environments are impressively detailed with a surprisingly long draw distance and relatively little pop-in. Admittedly I was playing on a Switch Lite so it is possible that these may be more noticeable on the big screen, but the visual design really nails the Zelda vibe. In this, as with so many other aspects, though, the line between tribute and outright copy is a fine one indeed.
The storyline of Knights of the Lost Realm is standard Zelda fare. Your Hero, an unnamed Link cosplayer, must work alongside champions from other areas of Gaia to return three Emblems to their rightful locations and power the Great Core beneath the capital city. To be honest, this plot is mostly irrelevant and just serves to link (ha) your journey together.
As with Zelda, the overall battle against a big bad is delayed by a series of glorified fetch quests that take you through various dungeons, each containing an essential item or power-up. In this sense, Oceanhorn 2 is arguably a truer sequel to the series than the open world Breath of the Wild. The supporting characters are fine, with perfectly adequate voice acting, but are certainly not as memorable as genre highlights like Xenoblade Chronicles.
At first you'll be equipped with nothing but your trusty sword, but this is soon joined by a shield and the versatile Caster gun, which acts as both ranged weapon and elemental magic purveyor. You'll also unlock bombs and a hookshot as you progress, and start putting it all to use for solving puzzles with switches, lever and buttons. The Caster gun leads to some of the game's more involved puzzles, with some memorable electricity and ice related head-scratchers. Again, this all reads like I'm describing a classic Zelda adventure, because that is exactly how it feels.
The environments are clearly and easy to navigate, with only a few roadblocks where I couldn't make out what I needed to do (some of these were admittedly due to forgetting basic elemental properties). That isn't to say that Oceanhorn 2 is an easy game though, as there are a few quite fiendish moments that really force you to make full use of your equipment.
Combat is pretty frequent and is mostly fairly straightforward. You can start off by shooting from afar, quickly zoom to your enemies using your hookshot, and then pull out your sword and shield for good old-school action RPG battling. The lack of a lock-on feature is a bit annoying, but something I quickly got used to. A little more of an issue is that you have to map your shield to the same face button as your items, which makes for some fiddly moments. This makes cool combinations of items unwieldy and results in you relying on prod and roll techniques for the most part. The Caster gun's elemental spells are always available, however, and freezing or burning your enemies is a great way to give yourself an edge.
Boss battles are present and correct, mostly taking the form of mobile environmental puzzles rather than twitchy combat encounters, which leads to some lengthy sections of doing no damage until you work out the enemy's weak spot. These aren't always that obvious (until they've been exposed), which is a refreshing change of pace to most video games. Unfortunately, the less memorable bosses were the two final ones, which undermined the narrative climax of the game. Given its role as a prequel, it'll come as no surprise to hear that the ending is inconclusive, although it has been modified since the original Apple Arcade release.
Destiny 2 hotfix 3.0.0.3 is out, nerfs the Warlock Stasis super, details here
Bungie have released a hotfix for Destiny 2: Beyond Light and it looks like those who found Stasis way to overpowered have got their wish as it's been nerfed, with extra nerfs for the Crucible and attacking Guardians in Gambit. On the plus side, Witherhoard is back in action.
Here are the notes, Stasis Warlocks are not going to be happy…
COMBAT
WEAPONS
- Fixed an issue where the Coriolis Force Fusion Rifle was getting more ammo than intended from ammo bricks.
- Fixed an issue where the Witherhoard damage debuff wasn't being removed properly.
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- Witherhoard has now been re-enabled.
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ABILITIES
- Fixed exploits with the Warlock Shadebinder Super.
- Stasis breakout damage reduced (110->90hp).
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- Adjusted the curve that reduces breakout damage using Resilience.
- Increased the damage reduction effect Resilience has so that higher tiers of Resilience are more valuable.
- Caps out at 90 Resilience.
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- Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock melee) projectile speed reduced by 20%.
- Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock melee) range reduced (was 28m now 16m).
- Winter's Wrath (Stasis Warlock Super) duration reduced (was 30s now 24s).
- Winter's Wrath light attack (Stasis Warlock Super) cost reduced (was 5% per burst, now 4.5% per burst).
- Cold Snap seeker speed reduced by 23%.
- Cold Snap freeze duration lowered (was 4.75s now 1.35s).
- Ice Flare Bolts freeze duration lowered (was 4.75s now 1.35s).
- Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock melee) freeze duration lowered (was 4.75s now 1.35s).
- Winter's Wrath heavy attack (Stasis Warlock Super) no longer affects players who are not encased.
GAMEPLAY AND INVESTMENT
REWARDS
- Fixed an issue where Pinnacle rewards were not dropping at the correct Power.
- Fixed an issue where several repeatable bounties were providing more XP than intended.
ACTIVITIES
- Fixed an issue on Exodus Crash where the Spider Tank wasn't spawning.
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- Exodus Crash has been re-enabled.
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GENERAL
- Fixed an issue that was causing ARUGULA errors.
- Fixed an issue where Fragment pursuits were purchasable with a full inventory.
Source: Bungie
Marvel's Avengers Kate Bishop DLC launches in December
The latest Marvel's Avengers War Table video has been released giving us a deep dive into the first DLC character, Kate Bishop, AKA the other Hawkeye. She'll debut in the Operation Taking Aim story that continues on directly from the end of the main game. The Operation will launch on 8th December.
Kate Bishop is an interesting character, the protege of Clint Barton (Hawkeye), who has disappeared off the face of the Earth. In Operation Taking Aim, Kate returns to the fore with a single-minded mission to find Hawkeye and bring him back… from an alternate timeline. In the process, maybe she can do something about the continuing menace that is AIM and the Super Adaptoid, an enemy that can copy all of the Avengers' . It all plays out in a story arc, similar to a comic book or TV show in conception.
Voiced by Ashly Burch, Kate Bishop primarily wields a bow and arrow, but has her own distinct abilities compared to Clint. In particular, she can pull out a sword for close combat and uses repurposed AIM tech to teleport around the place.
Blink lets her double jump, air dash and more, while Quantum Shift lets her "parry" to teleport behind enemies. She can upgrade her bow with things like Razor Arrows in a three shot combo, there's Scatter Shot Arrows for crowd control, Explosive Arrows to deal stagger damage, and Smokescreen Arrows to stun and cloud enemies.
Decoy is her Support Heroic ability to spawn a holographic version of herself that shoots arrows of quantum energy. After Image then lets you swap places with a decoy and deal a burst of area damage. Her Warp Arrow heroic teleports across long distances and trigger an explosion that lifts enemies into the air – this can be upgraded to a Worm Hole for allies to use.
Finally, her Ultimate is Quantum Overdrive, which provides unlimited energy to power her bow with explosive Quantum energy.
Following on from Kate's introduction, Hawkeye himself will return in Operation Future Imperfect.
For more on Marvel's Avengers read our day one review as well as our handy guide loaded with tips for beginners. The game is out now for PS4, Xbox One and PC, with PS5 and Xbox Series X|S support now planned for 2021 after a bit of a delay, with free upgrades for players.
Source: press release
As the new console generation launches, Bloober Team has made its first offering to the gods of horror gaming. While The Medium promises a spooky trek into twinned realities, it's not the company's first next-gen game. That honour instead goes to one of the developer's prior releases: Observer.
Observer: System Redux is both a remaster and a bit of an expansion of the original game that came out in 2017, boasting overhauled graphics, improved gameplay sequences, and some brand new content. While Bloober Team has changed some things, the actual experience still packs a punch.
You are Daniel Lazarski, played by the late Rutger Hauer, an Observer for the KPD. Daniel is kitted out with augmentations such as a bio scanner, tech scanner, night vision, and what is called the Dream Eater. This last piece of equipment allows you to hook up to the neural networks of other people and experience their memories, and it comes in particularly useful while scouring an apartment block for clues about Daniel's missing son. Unfortunately, these apartments hold more than their fair share of disturbing and horrifying situations. These augmentations also don't always work smoothly requiring you to take pills to reduce strain on them and Daniel's mental faculties.
Observer: System Redux is part exploration title and part detective story. You gets stuck in the apartment building soon after entering with a lockdown occurring, which happens in this world if there is a threat of the nanophage virus – how topical. So you gets to work searching for Daniel's son, but never really see anyone else aside from Janus the caretaker. Instead, the way you interacts with the majority of the building's inhabitants are through their intercoms. By talking to these people, you learns things about the building and the desperate situation of the residents, giving clues as to how this dystopian future of 2084 functions.
Some of the apartments are open though, filled with clues for either the main case or a number of side cases. Observer System Redux has three new side cases, so even those who played the original will find a reason to come back.
While exploring and using the Dream Eater to jack into people's neural connections, things start to enter the state of psychological horror and thriller. Wandering through these memories is not a nice nostalgia trip, instead letting you relive someone else's horrifying moments and twisted abstract concepts. Television sets that float like balloons and laugh like children, forests with trees made of cables, offices and corridors patrolled by a cybernetic looking Big Daddy type character that will kill you, and those are some of the tamer memory pieces.
Every one of these sequences has some interactive elements, but the main point is to find your way through the maze of memories using the environmental clues. A lot of the tension arises from never knowing what to expect next. One moment you could be wandering down a corridor and the next you are hearing voices while things shift around you quickly. It gets to a point where it becomes difficult to ascertain what is real and what is not, as the impact of reading other's memories hits Daniel.
Observer System Redux looks stunning on the Xbox Series X. The rundown cyberpunk environment of the apartment block and the memory sequences all shine in their own way, with the smallest details rendered really nicely. The soundwork transfers over well too with the noise keeping you edge while the voice acting, especially Rutger Hauer's, is very good. The characters get across the feeling something is not right and that they are tired of how life has turned out.
The game is not without a few issues. In some areas there were moments where interacting with objects was not particularly smooth, with the prompt only appearing at certain angles and in one instance not appearing at all. While work has been done to make some of the dream eater sections more streamlined, there were also moments where what to do next was not clear, leading to a slowdown of progress.
IO Interactive announce Project 007 – They're making a James Bond game!
Hitman developer IO Interactive have revealed their new game, Project 007. That's right, they're making a James Bond game!
There's precious few other details about this project, with a simple and effective teaser to announce the project, as you can see here.
IOI have also teased that this will be an origin story for the world's most famous spy.
No platforms have been confirmed by name, but it will be made "for modern systems and platforms," and is using IOI's in house Glacier engine. In other words, we can expect it for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and depending on how deep into development the company are, possibly PS4 and Xbox One as well. We'll just have to wait and see, but the game is already in active development at IOI's offices in Copenhagen and Malmö.
"It's true that once in a while, the stars do align in our industry," said Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive, "Creating an original Bond game is a monumental undertaking and I truly believe that IO Interactive, working closely with our creative partners at EON and MGM, can deliver something extremely special for our players and communities. Our passionate team is excited to unleash their creativity into the iconic James Bond universe and craft the most ambitious game in the history of our studio."
Honestly, this seems like a pretty much perfect match of developer and game title, with IO Interactive best known for the Hitman series, in which a very smartly dressed assassin mingles through increasingly large and complex worlds and crowds, aiming to reach their target and then get out as sneakily as possible.
Speaking of which, IOI are putting the finishing touches to the final entry in their World of Assassination Hitman trilogy that started back in 2016. Hitman 3 will be out in January for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC and Stadia. The game will also have VR support for the first time, exclusively for PlayStation VR, which will allow you to import and go back to all the levels from Hitman and Hitman 2 as well. However, for those picking up PS5s this holiday, there's some question marks about how that will work. PSVR seems to only be supported via backward compatibility, so you might have to install the PS4 version of the game to play PSVR… Cool.
Source: press release
Treyarch nerf the MP5 Submachine Gun Alpha in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Players have been calling out for a major nerf of the MP5 (AKA Submachine Gun Alpha) in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Treyarch have relented, dropping the damage range by a whopping 33% and fiddling with the initial recoil.
#BlackOpsColdWar update: We've reduced the base effective damage range by 33% and adjusted the initial recoil for Submachine Gun Alpha.
Now get out there and try the other four!
— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) November 18, 2020
The problem stemmed from the fact that it unlocked at just Level 4, meaning that pretty much anyone could equip the weapon in their loadout and dramatically outperform the other four SMGs in the game. It could then be improved further with attachments, such as a 10.8″ Paratrooper barrel to increase damage, Foregrip to tame the recoil, Fast Mag for rapid reloading and more.
With the nerf, other SMGs in the game should hopefully become more relevant. The Milano 821 (Bravo) is unlocked at level 13 and has higher damage and lower recoil, the AK-47u (Charlie) unlocks at level 19 with a high firing rate, KSP 45 (Delta) at level 37 with a more precise burst fire mode, and Bullfrong (Echo) rounds things out at level 43, with a huge 50 bullet magazine and longer effective range.
Treyarch had previously said that they would not be making any balance changes to the game until December, but the MP5 seems to have been a special enough situation to get them to act now, and then reconsider its balance in a wider update next month.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the latest game in the series led by developer Treyarch, with Raven Software alongside. It's a tighter than usual turnaround for the company, coming just two years after Black Ops 4 was released, and in some ways it shows. In our Black Ops Cold War review, Nick said:
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a decent entry in the series, but it feels like it doesn't quite know what it wants to be. The campaign is full of underused ideas, while the multiplayer misses some of the magical charm of Modern Warfare, opting for faster paced aggressive battles which just don't feel as satisfying. While still enjoyable, Black Ops Cold War fails to recapture the magic of Black Ops 1 and 2.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is out now for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.
Source: Twitter
New PS5 owners – Follows these two tips to reduce issues with your console
PlayStation 5 is out in the UK! Hurrah! However, our American chums have had there consoles for a week and have been reporting a couple of problems which in the most severe cases leading to bricked consoles, and in others a complete factory reset.
There's no official word from Sony about these issues or when they will be fixed – the first PS5 system update earlier this week doesn't seem to have helped things – so in the meantime we recommend the following tips.
Download Queue Bug – What's going wrong, and how to fix it?
There seems to be an issue with games that have both a PS4 and PS5 version. If you try and download these titles, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War or Mortal Kombat 11, you will get both the PS4 and PS5 versions in your download queue, but only the PS4 version will download, leaving the PS5 version hanging.
The only known solution once affected is to do a full factory reset of the console, which wipes everything and you will have to start from scratch. To avoid the issues in the first place, the only safe option seems to be not to download games that have both PS4 and PS5 versions and wait until Sony fix the problem.
PS5 Rest Mode Issues – How to avoid HDD and rest mode crashes
There have been many reports of the PlayStation 5 rest mode causing issues with the consoles, sometimes forcing people to rescan and repair their PS5 hard drives and in a few cases that has failed and the console has been bricked.
To stop your PS5 going in to rest mode go to the Settings menu on the console, the navigate to Power Saving and then Set Time Until PS5 Enters Rest Mode. From here select "Don't Put in Rest Mode".
PlayStation 5 Guides and more from TheSixthAxis
- PlayStation 5 Console Review
- DualSense Controller Review
- Astro's Playroom Review
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review
- PS5 Guide – What are Accolades and how to earn them
- PS5 Activity Cards and how they work
- PS5 Trophies – what new features to expect
Dirt 5's DualSense haptic feedback will be redone on PS5
Codemasters are going to revisit Dirt 5's implementation of haptic feedback on PlayStation 5 and DualSense, as revealed by Technical Director David Springate.
Speaking during the GameOnDaily live stream, he revealed that they were not happy with how the haptics were currently implemented and would strive to improve them further.
He said (as transcribed by Wccftech):
I've seen a lot of people say 'I want to pick up Dirt 5 on PS5 because of the haptics. It's really interesting to me because I've seen a lot of people I hang out with on various forums, and I hang out in the Dirt 5 Discord…I've seen a lot of people say they really like the PS5 haptics. We're not happy with it, so we're going to be revisiting our haptics, even though I've not seen anybody say I hate the haptics in Dirt 5, we are not happy with it so we're going to go back and redo it.
That's great to hear, because in our opinion, the actual haptics available in Dirt 5 are relatively lacking in finesse. Comparing Dirt 5 to WRC 9 and their use of the DualSense over the weekend, I felt that Dirt 5's implementation was a little odd. There's great feedback in the adaptive triggers as the accelerator going loose when drifting, but that's thanks to the accelerator being very heavy and textured to start with. Similarly, the use of the actual haptics is lacking in nuance and feels quite one note in its pulses of vibration, not having the varying strengths that I found in WRC 9.
Dirt 5 update 1.04 was released on Monday, noting "Further refinements to the use of DualSense adaptive triggers." We've yet to go back to try this out, but it sounds like Codemasters aren't done yet, anyway.
Haptics or not, Dirt 5 is a great shift back toward arcade racing for the series. Tom said in our PS4 Dirt 5 review:
DIRT 5 strips away the more serious elements of the franchise and puts all its eggs in one, arcade cabinet shaped, basket. At times a riot, in other areas a little repetitive and lacking in finesse, it nevertheless delivers on the concept of an adrenaline-fueled off-road racer. It's a game that makes you sit forward in your seat and savour the joys of jumping a Dakar Rally Peugeot 3008 over a ravine.
Source: GameOnDaily via Wccftech
Worms Rumble manages to turn Worms into an action game
Worms Rumble is quite the departure from the usual brand of chaos that the series is known for. In most Worms games, teams take turns to try and usually fail spectacularly to blow up the other teams' worms, but Rumble takes all the trappings of invertebrate warfare and twists it into a fast-paced multiplayer shooter. It doesn't exactly feel like Worms, but it's still pretty good.
Instead of taking charge of a whole team, Worms Rumble has you controlling a single worm in a multiplayer match with 31 others, all of you running, shooting, and dodging around a pretty large map all at once. Your worm can now also scrunch itself into a ball and roll around Samus from Metroid-style to get around a little quicker and jump a little further, and there's also wall jumping skills for reaching high places without the use of a grappling hook. You're quite a bit more manoeuvrable than you might expect and this is good news considering you now need to aim and avoid incoming gunfire, and Worms weapons in real time are incredibly dangerous.
A ton of fan favourites return from previous Worms games, such as a sheep launcher, banana bombs, shotguns, and the trusty bazooka, but there are a few new additions too. One launcher fires a volley of rockets that just turns any room into fiery, wormy death, or an assault rifle, which is also kinda fun, I guess. You spawn with a weapon, but anything particularly explode-y needs to be found in the map, as well as grenades and utilities like the jetpack and grappling hook to help you get around even quicker. Crucially, the weapons all handle differently, so if you expect your shotgun will handle like a hand cannon, you're probably going to die.
As mentioned, it doesn't really feels like a Worms game. In fact, it feels a lot like Crash Commando, which isn't exactly a bad thing because I loved Crash Commando. It helps that Worms Rumble is also a lot of fun. When you're in the thick of things and fighting off people from multiple sides with banana bombs and a sheep launcher it's hilarious, but it plays well too. You can pull off some pretty impressive shots, often whilst dodging sheep and balls of plasma, and it becomes very satisfying once you get used to rolling around to maintain momentum while also sending rockets in the direction of your enemies. The maps have plenty of areas that are covered until you enter them, so you can pop out and ambush unsuspecting enemy as they're entering the area blind.
It all looks and sounds like you'd expect from the series, with a 2.5D aesthetic and some nicely detailed 3D backgrounds. When four players meet and all cause different explosives at each other, the difficulty seeing what's actually happening is curiously mitigated by how entertaining watching everyone explode was, especially with no frame rate drops on PS4.
Worms Rumble goes all in on customisation and unlockables, so you can tweak the look of your worm and guns with various paint jobs. You can also choose between some of the usual Worms voices for both your worm and the game announcer.
It isn't perfect though. There are some really lengthy loading times on PS4, to the point where I almost restarted the game once or twice because I thought something had gone wrong. The maps in the game are also quite large, which means you can to spend a lot of time running across a map looking for someone to shoot. Sometimes you immediately get exploded when you get there and have to do it again.
Worms Rumble is shaping up to be a pretty fun multiplayer shooter. There aren't many (any?) games where you can jetpack above a bunch of warring worms and rain banana bombs on them, or drop a holy hand grenade on an enemy and grappling hook out of the door. When you're in the thick of things the game is hectic and hilarious, but more importantly, it's satisfying to play as well. Coming out for PS5, PS4 and PC on 1st December, this has a lot of promise, so long as you're not here for the turn-based sort of mayhem.
UPDATE: PS5 Launch Day: Where to buy a PlayStation 5 today in the UK
It's PlayStation 5 launch day and if you have already secured a pre-order we wish you the very best of luck and hope it arrives on time. If you did not then a number of retailers have said they will have stock at some point today so you might get lucky, but stocks will be very limited.
Please remember that no matter where you are in the UK, under lockdown in England or footloose and fancy free in Wales, all PS5 sales will only be online, do not go to your local retailer they will not have any consoles on the shelves.
We will try and keep this page up to date as and when retailers announce they have stock, but here's what we know so far along with those important links.
Update 10am –Curry's go live has been postponed until "later today" due a to what we can only describe as 'a massive cock up'. Some customers were allowed to order before 9am, their orders are now being cancelled, more info here. ShopTo have some stock but like many of the retailers below their website has crashed.
Update 10:25am – Very stock is now live for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition.
Update 11.08am – Currys PC World's website has completely crashed. Very is now out of stock.
Update: 12.22pm – Amazon should have gone live but there seems to be a delay, keep hammering that F5 key. Currys PC World have now said "There will be no PS5s available to buy today."
Update: 12.27pm – John Lewis now out of stock, ShopTo have removed the console from their website so they seem to have sold out. GameByte have now confirmed they have no stock.
Update 1.05pm – Amazon went live, and sold out in seconds. That was pretty much your last hope for today, you may like to keep an eye on Currys PC World to see when they finally sort their mess out.
Update 3.12pm – We hear that Asda may have some stock at some point today, but no further details.
- Argos – Confirmed no stock on sale today.
- Asda – May have some stock later today. nothing confirmed
- AO – PS5 page removed so no stock available.
- Amazon PlayStation 5 (disc version) – Sold out in seconds. No stock left.
- Amazon PlayStation 5 (digital version) – Sold out in seconds. No stock left.
- Box – Confirmed no stock on sale today.
- BT / EE – Seemingly now out of stock on EE
- Currys PC World – Managed to mess things up royally, as a result "There will be no PS5s available to buy today" but they may have some in the coming days.
- GAME – All stock sold out.
- Gamebyte – Confirmed no stock on sale today.
- Go2Games – No information.
- Hughes Direct – Has the option to buy the console but crashes when you add it to your basket.
- John Lewis – All stock sold out.
- ShopTo – Appears to have sold out.
- Smyths Toys – Confirmed no stock on sale today.
- The Game Collection – No information.
- Very – Stock has sold out.
You may also like to keep an eye on Stock Informer which tracks retailers that have consoles, although the website is very slow. Good luck!
PlayStation 5 Guides and more from TheSixthAxis
- PlayStation 5 Console Review
- DualSense Controller Review
- Astro's Playroom Review
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review
- PS5 Guide – What are Accolades and how to earn them
- PS5 Activity Cards and how they work
- PS5 Trophies – what new features to expect
Ghost of Tsushima update 1.16 patch notes, read 'em here!
Sucker Punch have updated Ghost of Tsushima with a small patch that fixes a couple of issues with the multiplayer portion of the game. Here are the notes:
Ghost of Tsushima Update 1.16 Patch Notes
- Makes adjustments to Resolve gains in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends
- Fixes an issue with melee and ranged Resolve gain perks
- Improvements to various Legends bug and crash fixes
- General bug fixes and improvements
Ghost of Tsushima has now sold more than 5 million copies on PlayStation 4, Sony have confirmed. Herman Hulst, Head of PlayStation Worldwide Studios and former Guerrilla Games Director, made the announcement via Twitter, adding another interesting statistic.
#GhostofTsusima is our fastest-selling first party original PS4 game with more than 5 million copies sold since its debut in July. What an incredible achievement by @SuckerPunchProd!
— Hermen Hulst (@hermenhulst) November 12, 2020
In our review, we scored Ghost of Tsushima a fantastic 8 out of 10:
Ghost of Tsushima is an artistic triumph, capturing a real cinematic feel through its visuals, immersive world and soundtrack. However, Jin is a serviceable main character and he and his journey to save Tsushima is often overshadowed by secondary characters and smaller, more personal stories found in the side quests. Throw in some formulaic missions and an awkward user interface, and Ghost of Tsushima is at times more style than substance.
In the months since launch, Ghost of Tsushima has received numerous game updates, adding features such as New Game+ and, of course, the Ghost of Tsushima: Legends multiplayer which we've admittedly fallen in love with. A massive congratulations to Sucker Punch – we can't wait to see what they create next for PS5.
Ghost of Tsushima Guides & more from TheSixthAxis
- Ghost of Tsushima review
- The real world history behind Ghost of Tsushima
- Is Ghost of Tsushima historically accurate? We ask a samurai expert
- Where to find the grappling hook in Ghost of Tsushima
- Ghost of Tsushima Samurai techniques upgrade guide
- Ghost of Tsushima Ghost techniques upgrade guide
- Ghost of Tsushima collectibles guide – using the Traveler's Attire
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends Guides & more from TheSixthAxis
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – how to survive Gyozen's Curse
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – Gear & XP farming guide
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – all Legendary Items
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – find Oni Treasure and Gyozen's Lost Scrolls
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – 7 tips & tricks for beginners
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – Ronin class guide
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – Assassin class guide
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – Samurai class guide
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – Hunter class guide
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – how to beat the Tengu crow demons
Source: TwistedVoxel
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Thanksgiving & Christmas update is live – here's the patch notes
Animal Crossing is all set for the festive season, with update 1.6.0 out now to sprinkle the game with new events, costumes, and more for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I mean… "Turkey Day" and "Toy Day".
Turkey Day is on 26th November this year, with a cooking themed game event, before Toy Day takes over on 1st December and runs through to Toy Day itself on 24th November. There's also some New Year's stuff planned to close out the year in style.
There's also a good step forward for inclusivity, with a set of new hairstyles available that drawn from African and Africa-American hair styles.
Anyone thinking of upgrading their Nintendo Switch or adding a new Switch to their family this Christmas will now be able to spread the Animal Crossing love. A new feature for transferring save data between systems has been added, and tools are being made available so that you can either transfer a particular resident or a whole island to a different system.
Here's the full patch notes:
Ver. 1.6.0 (Released November 19, 2020)
The software has been updated if you see "Ver. 1.6.0" in the upper-right corner of the title screen.
General updates
- Two seasonal events, Turkey Day and Toy Day, have been added.
- Residents can visit Resident Services to put in a request to increase the capacity of their home storage.
- Luna can now offer random dream destinations by selecting the "Surprise me" option.
- A new feature for transferring save data between different systems has been added.
- This feature only transfers save data for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. When necessary, please use the Nintendo Switch "Transfer Your User Data" feature as well. Learn more about save data transfer here.
- The following content has also been added:
- Additional Nook Miles redemption items.
- Additional limited-time seasonal items from Nook Shopping.
- Additional DIY recipes that use seasonal materials.
- Additional Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp collaboration item.
Fixed issues
- Other adjustments and corrections were made to improve the game play experience.
Source: Nintendo
Currys PC World cancelling PS5 orders taken before 9am today day due to administrative error
I hate to repeat myself but this is going swimmingly isn't it? It turns out that Currys PC World let customers grab a PlayStation 5 before they should have gone on sale at 9am and are now in the process of cancelling those orders, issuing refunds, and putting the stock back on sale. They state they will be refunding customers within 24-48 hours.
Unfortunately due to an error on our site we were allowing customer to check out the PS5 before they went live at 9am. Due to this we have had to cancel orders and the funds will be released back to you. Please accept my apologies
This would explain this Tweet from the main Currys PC World account.
Important Announcement
Our 9am go live for the PS5 is unfortunately on hold. We're really sorry as we know a lot of you are really excited to get your hands on the PS5, we are hoping that it will go live later today.
Keep your eyes peeled on our page for more updates
— Currys PC World (@curryspcworld) November 19, 2020
This is the latest in a long line of cock ups from retailers across the globe during the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series XS. Yesterday, GAME warned that UK customers with a PS5 pre-order might not get their console on launch day, blaming delivery service Yodel. However, Yodel have hit back and denied it is their fault, issuing their own statement.
Yodel does not work directly with GAME. Our client is GFS, a fulfilment business who work in partnership with GAME. We have been consistently clear on the order volumes we are able to carry for them and it is deeply disappointing that Yodel's name has been incorrectly used in an email to customers on the status of orders. There are currently no delays within our network, and any issues regarding delivery capacity is a matter for GFS and not Yodel.
The safe, secure and timely delivery of each of these parcels is our utmost priority, and we are committed to ensuring customers receive the excellent service which we stand for.
PlayStation 5 Guides and more from TheSixthAxis
- PlayStation 5 Console Review
- DualSense Controller Review
- Astro's Playroom Review
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review
- PS5 Guide – What are Accolades and how to earn them
- PS5 Activity Cards and how they work
- PS5 Trophies – what new features to expect
Source: Twitter