Call of the Sea has been turning heads for a while now, its preview footage promising beautiful, almost cel-shaded exploration and an emotional and mature story that takes influence from HP Lovecraft in an original way. Rather than focusing on the usual aspects of a descent into madness and evil tentacled deities working behind the scenes, Call of the Sea is billed as a story about an awakening from delirium and the acceptance of one's true nature.
Set in the isolated Pacific islands of the 1930s, Call of the Sea makes good use of this novel environment to create a sense of loneliness that seems at odds with the lush and fertile surroundings. Your character, Norah, travels to the island in search of her missing husband, Harry, who is looking for the cure to her mysterious illness. As you progress through the island you move from tropical paradise to stormy beaches and weird structures too large to be made by human hand. Whilst this would normally set the metaphorical scene for a character's increasing madness, here Norah instead begins to feel more at ease and physically recuperated as she delves further into the island's mystery.
Aesthetically, Call of the Sea is gorgeous. Everything is bright and bold with an organic style that looks like a cross between hand-painted and cel-shaded. In a year where new consoles and powerful graphics cards can push fidelity further than ever, it is great to see a game that makes full use of visual design rather than throwing extra textures at the screen to create its effect.
The voiceovers are excellent as well, with both Cissy Jones and Yuri Lowenthal bringing a real feeling of emotion to their performances as Norah and Harry respectively. Their recurring use of 'dear old pal' as a term of endearment gives an intimacy to their letters and voiceovers that really connects you to their story. The original music is a genuine highlight too and composer Eduardo de la Iglesia has done a fantastic job at matching the tunes to the setting and feel of the game.
Call of the Sea is a hybrid of walking simulator and environmental puzzles inspired by the likes of Myst and The Witness. Some of these involve finding objects to open up doors while others are far more elaborate and involve collecting clues from several locations to work out what to do. There were several occasions where I felt stuck enough to stop playing, but then went back after mulling them over and having an epiphany. The sense of satisfaction from solving a difficult puzzle is always great, and it really added to my enjoyment that I couldn't lean on a walkthrough as a crutch to get through. I would definitely recommend working through this with as few spoilers as possible, although it has to be said that it would be a shame to leave the story unfinished if you find yourself irrevocably stuck.
My only real niggle with the puzzles was that, with some of the more complex examples, it wasn't made clear that I hadn't yet discovered all the clues. A simple voiceover of 'I have everything I need', or 'I need to find out more' would have helped alleviate the frustration in at least one of my examples.
While I breaks out of the homogenisation of so many other Lovecraft adaptations, I was a little apprehensive going into this game, as itsl use of a Polynesian setting could have resulted in a simplistic white saviour or noble savage narrative. Developers Out of the Blue made sure to bring in a consultant from the la Ora Tahiti International School, a foundation whose goal is to teach and promote Polynesian culture. As a result, the setting feels sensitively treated and the mystery aspects are not simply colonial fantasies.
Lovecraft's own bigoted representation of racial difference is well known by now and I shudder to think how this story would have worked in his hands. The fact that Call of the Sea features a female lead character feels like a substantial step forward and the game makes it clear that the primitive civilisation hidden on the island predates the human residents. Rather than a damsel in distress, Norah is an active protagonist who shows remarkable bravery and self-control throughout her story. The final decision of the game is unusual in that it cannot be simply reduced to a good or bad choice, and even after playing through both endings I couldn't tell you which I preferred or felt more true to the character.
I finished my playthrough after a little more than eight hours and was initially a little surprised at how soon the ending came. Looking back, the narrative is so well paced that it doesn't need to be stretched out and my surprise was more because of how much I was enjoying the game.
Cyberpunk 2077 Review Round Up – Where's our Cyberpunk 2077 review?
Time is up on the review embargo for Cyberpunk 2077, ahead fo the game's release on 10th December for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. However, as much as we'd love to share our opinions and give a verdict today, we can't do that for one simple reason: we haven't played the game.
We also aren't alone in that fact, in the realms of gaming websites. As you can see for the reviews below, it seems that CDPR have restricted access to the PC version of the game, with console code having to go through several extra layers of certification before it can be pushed live. We requested PS4 code for review, and once it arrives, we'll get to work reviewing the game as soon as we're able to.
For now, we can share some of the opinions that have been released. The running theme? It's very good, but it's also pretty buggy, which has affected scores to varying degrees.
VG247 – PC – 5 Stars
In the midst of such intense anticipation and scrutiny, it's easy to get carried away with what Cyberpunk 2077 could have been. The final experience might be more familiar than many predicted, with plenty of elements that aren't perfect, but it's dripping with detail and engaging stories. With so much to see and do, Cyberpunk 2077 is the kind of RPG where you blink and hours go by, which is just what we need to finish off 2020.
PC Gamer – PC – 78/100
Cyberpunk 2077 is a game about V coming apart at the seams, in a city coming apart at the seams, in a game coming apart at the seams. Play it in a few months.
The Gamer – PC – 5 Stars
I'm V and the game is Silverhand – I can't get Cyberpunk 2077 out of my head. I've had it a week and played 70 hours, which is probably about as healthy as scooping out my face and replacing it with electronics, but it didn't feel like work. Like a digital personality loaded onto a biochip, it felt like stepping into another life for a while. It's a life I can't wait to relive.
Gamespot – PC – 7/10
it's hard to get into Cyberpunk 2077's world in general. So much of it is superficial set dressing, and there's so much happening all around you–ads going off at all times, gunfights breaking out in the streets, texts coming in about cars you'll never buy–that a lot of the game feels superfluous. The side quests and the characters they showcase are the shining beacon through the neon-soaked bleakness of Night City, and they give you room to explore the best the core RPG mechanics have to offer. These are what carried me through an otherwise disappointing experience.
IGN – PC – 9/10
Cyberpunk 2077 throws you into a beautiful, dense cityscape and offers a staggering amount of flexibility in how you choose to take it from there.
Gamesradar – PC – 5 Stars
Cyberpunk 2077 is a paragon of open-world gaming, offering the kind of freedom to explore and define your character that provides a new pinnacle for the genre. It takes everything we celebrate about open-world games, and learns from it, implementing best-in-class variations in a world that's so dense and detailed. Add in the human-like level of reactivity and emotional depth that it brings to its narrative, and it all combines for the most spectacular experience. Take a trip to Night City immediately.
Game Informer – PC – 9/10
Cyberpunk 2077 is dark and disturbing at times (frighteningly so), but the majority of its content is fascinating, and loaded with depth through the various RPG systems and lore. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Night City, and Johnny Silverhand is a great partner to see the sights with.
Windows Central – PC – 5 Stars
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world masterpiece that features some of the most immersive and liberating storytelling this industry has to offer. With full freedom to choose V's personality, looks, and gameplay style, Cyberpunk 2077 gives the player an unrelenting amount of control in a world that delivers dozens upon dozens of hours of high-quality content. Cyberpunk 2077 is a mammoth achievement and solidifies CD Projekt RED's place at the top of the pile.
True Achievements – PC – 4.5 Stars
It might not reinvent the genre in every aspect, but for a fantastic story, an insanely detailed word, and brilliant dialogue, you've got to try it. The achievements will likely take you quite some time, mind: in over 30 hours of playtime, I unlocked six.
RPG Site – PC – 9/10
Right now, Cyberpunk is therefore a game that ultimately falls short of the heady heights CD Projekt RED set for itself with The Witcher 3 – though that is mostly down to clear struggles with the source material and the previously-mentioned raft of bugs and issues. Hopefully these are fixed in time. It remains a mind-boggling achievement, however – and a game whose influence is likely to be felt for years to come.
Regarding the delay on console version reviews, CD Projekt Red have notably been in mandatory crunch for the last few months, pushing hard to finally complete a game that has been delayed several times. It was even delayed after it had gone 'gold', pushed back from a November release to 10th December. All of that combined with the additional certification that console games and updates go through (not to mention that the PS4 and Xbox One are going to be several technical steps behind the game on PC) has likely had CDPR reticent to hand out review codes for consoles.
Incidentally, CDPR have publicly asked members of the public not to stream the game before launch to preserve the story for those eager to play the game on day one. This was necessary because Best Buy started delivering console collector's edition versions of the game to some buyers ahead of time. It's from this that we know the game has a huge 43GB Day One patch, that it's total install footprint in around 60GB, and that there is a Quality mode and Performance mode for the graphics on next-gen platforms.
Will Worms Rumble come to Xbox and Nintendo Switch?
Worms Rumble has finally launched on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC, translating the series' tactical 2D carnage into a bombastic multiplayer shooter.
So far, Team17's latest entry in the long-running series seems to be going down relatively well, Worms Rumble sitting on a comfortable OpenCritic average of 67. One of the game's strongest features is how it allows for cross platform play between all current versions with PC players able to team up and/or throw down against those on PlayStation consoles.
However, with previous Worms games having appeared on Microsoft and Nintendo systems, some of the series' fans are asking if Worms Rumble is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and the Nintendo Switch.
Developer and publisher Team17 have yet to confirm whether Worms Rumble will be made available elsewhere or whether it will remain locked on PlayStation and PC.
On the surface, there's no reason why Team17 might want to avoid these platforms. The Xbox family of consoles is more than capable of running Worms Rumble and, as we've seen with games such as Fortnite, Dead By Daylight, Rocket League, Dauntless, and others, crossplay between Sony and Microsoft systems is doable.
The same goes for the Nintendo Switch which seems like such a good candidate for Worms Rumble. Although not as powerful as its current or last gen counterparts, we've seen plenty of big multiplayer games make the jump to Nintendo's handheld.
There could be several factors behind why Worms Rumble hasn't appeared on other consoles at launch. With PlayStation being the market leader, Team17 could simply be testing the waters instead of committing to the development and ongoing support of multiple versions of the game.
Also, it's hard to ignore the fact that Worms Rumble is the headline game for this month's PlayStation Plus offering. Although unconfirmed, there's a chance Sony and Team17 have some kind of exclusivity deal in play (maybe similar to the one that got Fall Guys onto PS4?).
Worms Rumble Guide – 7 essential tips & tricks for winning
In our review, Gareth awarded Worms Rumble a 7 out of 10, concluding:
Although purists may balk at Worms Rumble, I found Team17's reinvention to be a welcome change in direction for the series. Real-time action wrapped around the battle royale genre works a treat here when combined with the zany, explosive world of Worms, but in order to become a multiple mainstay it needs more depth both in terms of strategy and player progression.
Hopefully we'll see Worms Rumble wriggle its way onto more platforms in 2021.
WRC 9 update adds co-driver mode, new stages and new vehicles
A free update has been released for WRC 9 adding the promised co-driver co-op mode, new stages and new vehicles to the game, but there's a catch. The update is only available for PS4, Xbox One and PC, with PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players having to wait a little longer for the update to the next-gen versions of the game.
This second major content update rounds out KT Racing's post-launch plan for the game, with four slices of content for the game. You get:
- The GR Yaris Rally Concept from Toyota GAZOO Racing
- Six new stages for Rally Portugal
- The new Co-Driver mode for two online players to race in the same car
- The Pirelli Tyre Team livery, featuring Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger in the Citroën C3 WRC
It's not clear when this update will arrive on the new PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, but it's relatively trivial for PS5 owners to play the PS4 version of a game via backward compatibility. On Series X|S with Smart Delivery, it's not so easy… In fact, I don't know of a way!
This follows on from the 'Blind Jumps' update that arrived in late October, which was focussed on adding stages to Rally Finland and the photo mode. Of course, KT Racing had also had to prepare for the new generation of consoles, releasing native updates for both PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, the former having support for the DualSense controller's new haptics and adaptive triggers.
WRC 9 came out at the start of September, building on everything from WRC 8 with three new rallies set in Japan, New Zealand and Kenya. It also boasted a new Clubs Mode for online racers to create customised championships.
We rather enjoyed the game at its release in September. Tom said in our WRC 9 review:
With driving that is now on par with the competition, WRC 9 will keep sucking rally fans back in for more. Elements around the core rallying action could still do with some added finesse, but when the basic premise is so solid, those issues fade into the background. At last, Kylotonn has delivered on the promise of authentic driving experience, and for a rallying game, I think that is the single most important element.
Source: press release
Tetris needs no introduction, but depending on where you are in the world, Puyo Puyo might. While gaining greater international recognition beyond its native Japan where it's a respected national esport, it can still however do with a bigger push, especially if the little bean buster wants a shot at sharing the stage with games like Street Fighter, Rocket League or Fortnite. So it makes sense for not just a new Puyo Puyo game, but a follow-up to the surprise puzzle mash-up that gave it its worldwide breakthrough.
While the two puzzle styles seem quite different, offering distinct advantages and disadvantages over one another (the current consensus in the community is that Tetris players, with all their fast T-spins and wide combos, have the upper hand), they both work terrifically well as competitive puzzlers as you race to drop, pop and clear the most Puyos or Tetrimino lines and bury your opponent with garbage until they top out. It's as straightforward as a fighting game, but like a fighting game, also incredibly daunting and esoteric once you start watching a match between high level players putting together eye-watering chains at lightning speed.
Fortunately, newcomers needn't throw themselves at the mercy of online multiplayer right away. Besides a fairly comprehensive Lessons mode to give you the basics and a few tricks on combos, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 comes with a fun and substantial single-player Adventure mode to ease you into all the different play styles and modes. The story is quite silly, as our colourful characters find themselves on a mission to save the world through puzzle battles while discovering the meaning of friendship and all that jazz. The map where you move between missions is a little disorientating to navigate, especially as it occasionally branches out or bonus missions might pop up further back from where you currently are – fortunately you can press a button to enter a shortcut where everything's displayed much more clearly.
It's a good place to get a handle on all the various game modes beyond just standard Puyo Puyo and Tetris, such as the signature Swap mode, where you swap between both play styles, or the more complicated Fusion mode, where you swap between Tetriminoes and Puyos on the same screen. These are by no means difficult if you're an experienced player, though I appreciate the option for beginners to lower the difficulty if they're struggling against any of the challenges. That said, fans and veterans will still want to give Adventure mode a go to try and ace each level with a three-star ranking, while there are also opportunities to aim for a four-star ranking. Suffice to say this is a mode where earning 100% does not strictly mean you've actually finished.
You're also introduced to the all-new Skill Battle mode where you make a team of three characters, each with their own unique skill that can be used during a match. It's a bit of light RPG mechanics thrown into the puzzle battling, so you can regain health, boost your attack or defence. There's even skills that can manipulate the pieces you have, such as rearranging your messy Tetriminoes for an easy Tetris clear or turning all your Puyos into the same colour to instantly pop a lot of garbage blocks. Considering the large roster of characters have essentially been little more than cheery mascots up until now, it might incentivise you to mix things up a bit, especially as some have skills that only work for Tetris or Puyo Puyo.
Unfortunately, I'm unable to really gauge just how in-depth Skill Battles is and whether it will prove a worthwhile addition to the rulesets where most of the hardcore players just stick to the fundamentals like 'Puyo Tsu'. With Adventure mode only having a small fraction be Skill Battles, I rarely ever needed to use my skills, since I'm already capable of pulling off powerful chains that instantly KO an opponent anyway. It's ultimately something that will need to be put through its paces when the game launches.
The good news is that Sega has planned plenty of free post-launch content to support the game, including new characters, which will hopefully provide more options in Skill Battles. It also comes just in time for the new console generation, so PS4 or Xbox One players can upgrade to the next-gen versions for free, even if you're probably going to scratch your head to think just what next-gen features a puzzle game can make use of.
The long-term is still in its online mode, where you can now more easily jump into a friend's game, while ranked play has been split into different leagues. For Puyo Puyo or Tetris mains worrying about balance, they can opt to just focus on their respective leagues, although the classic Puzzle League is still available featuring all modes (though players can still filter what modes they get matched for), as well as the aforementioned Skill Battles league.
For newbies afraid of getting stomped by a veteran Japanese player from the off, there's also an option to start each league with lower points, meaning you'll hopefully match with similarly lower skilled players or will win more points when you beat a higher ranking players (you can however still opt to leave an unwanted match-up, even if it's a bit unsporting). Failing that, you can always just play solo modes for practice, local multiplayer that supports up to four players, or attempt the classic solo challenges like Tetris' Ultra and Sprint modes and see where you place on the leaderboards.
The one bugbear is that although cross-gen play will be supported between PS4 and PS5 players or Xbox One and Series X|S players, there won't be cross-play between platforms. Considering this is a worldwide launch (although PC is due early next year), a first for the series, and that it's across multiple platforms and generations, it's disappointing not to see this being implemented when cross-platform play is becoming the norm, especially with mainstream online games like Fortnite, Rocket League and Brawlhalla.
Master Chief is DJ Space Cat in 'Lucid Odyssey' directed Taika Waititi
Now I'm not suggesting that the Xbox Series X looks like the monolith from 2001 and will be invading your dreams, but Jojo Rabbit director Taika Waititi is. Microsoft have got Waititi to direct a new short in which we see the real dreams of a gamer who goes by the name of MoonLiteWolf.
"To make this film, Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi used real dreams MoonLiteWolf had after playing the Xbox Series X," say Microsoft. "To capture MoonLiteWolf's dreams, a method known as Targeted Dream Incubation was used. She was guided to a sleep state known as hypnagogia, which was tracked by the Hypnodyne (EEG) headband she was wearing. When she reached this state—known to feel like light sleep and even meditation—she was asked to recall her dreams."
"Tapping into the state of hypnagogia is nothing new. Throughout history, several great minds have used it to inspire their thinking, including Aristotle, Thomas Edison, Edgar Allen Poe, and Mary Shelley. Once MoonLiteWolf's dreams were recorded, renowned Director/Writer/Actor Taika Waititi brought them to life."
Along with whales and neon bunnies we also meet Master Chief who turns out to be a cat who like to drops beats in deep space.
Now you may be thinking this a load of made up marketing rubbish, but nope, Microsoft actually recorded people's dreams using hypnagogia, and here's the proof.
Personally I think this all just a little bit creepy and does the exact opposite of making me want an Xbox, get that dream scanning monolith as far away as possible from me please!
Microsoft's Liz Hamren, CVP of Gaming Experience and Platform, ahs confirmed that the launch of the Xbox Series X|S is the biggest console launch in Xbox history. This means it has beat the original Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One when it comes to launch numbers. The Xbox Series S brought in the highest number of new players percentage wise compared to other Xbox consoles. 3,594 different games were played collectively by users in the first 24 hours of the Xbox Series X|S launch, with Game Pass now doubt having an impact there. In fact, 70% of Xbox Series X|S users are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass
Source: YouTube
Worms has been a mainstay in video games for close to thirty years now – a quintessential British series that has now put its turn-based roots to one side to try and snag a larger modern audience.
Instead of dropping squads of invertebrates into highly destructible battlegrounds, this new Worms games leans closer to the multiplayer battle royale trend. More importantly, it's all in real-time, boldly setting fire to the formula that made Worms a household name.
Worms Rumble is best described as a 2.5D shooter that fans of genre will find quite familiar. It's a lot like one of our PS3 favourites from back in the day, Crash Commando or, to go even further back, a bit like Soldat, but its' even more like the Worms Rumble open beta that we previewed a few weeks ago. Shocker.
You and up to 31 other murderous minibeasts will battle it out using trademark Worms weapons and, of course, a mixture of traditional and non-traditional Worms hilarity. The result is a combination of chaos and control, where one moment you can cleanly take out a worm with a couple of well placed shots, but in the next stumble into a room like a drunken octopus only to get taken out yourself. It's certainly different and a lot faster than the turn-based team strategy of the regular line of Worms games, but it still sounds and looks like Worms.
A brief tutorial is on hand, running new players through a brief gauntlet as they learn how to fire guns, lob grenades, and navigate the maze-like arenas of Worms Rumble. For those acquainted with the series, moving your little squishy soldier around will feel familiar though their mobility has been elevated to keep the action flowing. You can roll up into a ball as well as bounce between walls to evade opponents, these techniques also being useful for setting up an ambush. The jetpack is also back, along with a grappling hook, ramping up the tension of those one-on-one duels as you furiously zoom around, trying to clip your rival with a stray projectile.
There seem to only be three maps in Worms Rumble at the moment, which is a disappointment, but the maps that are present are really good at least. In addition to being large and full of varied environments to blow up, they're also packed full of covered areas for some covert sneakiness, as you can't see inside places like vents and cubicles unless you're in them, so you can leave traps or lie in wait. Each map also has some kind of interactive element as well, with one having a giant rocket launch mid-match, changing the landscape. A lot of attention and care has been put into designing the maps that are here, even down to background details like cars driving in and out of the carpark you're battling in, I just wish there were a couple more at launch.
Similarly, there are only three modes available at the moment as well. There's your standard Deathmatch with 32 players, whilst the others are Last Squad Standing and Last Worm Standing. The latter two are basically battle royales in which you choose where you spawn, the action gradually focused in one area as map sections get closed off by hazardous gas. All the modes on offer are a lot of fun and you could really do well in a squad of players who know what they're doing, but some more team based modes wouldn't have hurt. At least a team deathmatch, maybe capture the flag too.
One place that does feel pretty well filled is your arsenal. There are ten weapons to mishandle in Worms Rumble, from shotguns and assault rifles to Worms mainstays such as the Sheep Launcher and Holy Hand Grenade. Each of the weapons behave and handle differently – the shotgun shoots projectiles in an arc, the hand cannon fires powerful shots slowly, etc. – so players need to adjust how they play according to the weapon they have as if you stumble into a long range fight with a shotgun or a close quarters scuffle with a plasma gun, you're going to struggle.
It's important to bear this in mind, because Worms Rumble is not an easy game. There are moments of quiet while you're looking for a worm to shoot, but even these are punctuated by explosions in surrounding rooms or the telltale sound of a rolling worm somewhere nearby, but most of the time it's fast, frantic action. There are bullets whistling through the air, bananas exploding, sheep running around, and missiles screeching past in most encounters and that's just a one-on-one skirmish. Even when you think you're wormo-a-wormo there's a good chance three more worms will suddenly appear out of vents and cubicles to join in, bringing their rockets and jetpacks along with them. It's absolutely glorious.
Worms aren't the only bugs you'll find here. Although there's nothing game-breaking, framerate stutters and the occasional stripe of server instability can upset the flow of matches. Barring these issues, it's the most multiplayer fun I've had in ages. Sure, it's hilarious and silly, but you can pull off some pretty impressive feats as well. It's not just the usual long-ranged, high accuracy shots either, as you can literally deflect rockets with your baseball bat, or ninja rope yourself around with amazing accuracy. What I'm getting at is that it's a skill-based game. It's not just chaos, it's chaos you can plan for, harness, or otherwise cut through with skilful play.
There's a progression system in Worms Rumble, though you'll only be unlocking new cosmetics and other bobbins for your worm, including headgear, eyewear, skins, costumes, and player cards. It's a good enough hook to keep players coming back though Worms Rumble could do with more appearance options or maybe even a free battle pass to make that engagement feel more worthwhile.
As for visuals, it's exactly what you'd expect from Team17 in 2020 – vibrant colours splcied with bold characters and environments. Worms Rumble accompanies its toonish battles with appropriately cute voices and a punchy soundtrack that features a modernised version of that classic Worms theme.
PS Now's December update adds Horizon Zero Dawn, Wreckfest, The Surge 2, and more
PlayStation Now's December update has landed and the new games this month are Horizon Zero Dawn, Wreckfest, Broforce, Stranded Deep, Darksiders 3, and The Surge 2. That's a good bunch of games, let's take a look at them.
Wreckfest scored a fabulous 9/10 in our review. "Wreckfest is a surprising triumph in blending the best that sim and arcade racers have to offer in an explosive and visually gratifying package. A few visual issues and overly aggressive AI do little to spoil one of the best driving games of 2019," said Thomas.
Horizon Zero Dawn only scored 8/10 which is ridiculous, robot dinosaurs should always get a 10/10. "Horizon Zero Dawn is a bit of a slow burn, but there's more to Guerrilla Games' latest than just its staggeringly pretty graphics. The story surprises as it takes several twists and turns and explores the past, but the game's beating heart is with its excellently tense and engaging robotic monster hunting," said Teflon.
Also getting 8/10 from Teflon is Broforce. "Carving your way through a level in Broforce is chock full of muscle flexing carnage, and it's brilliant for it as explosions rock the screen and you tear through the scenery. Though inventive, some of the boss fights halt that fun, and the way co-op deals with lives is too unforgiving, but it's always throwing out something new, whether it's a different looking environment to blow up, a new type of enemy to blow up or another new bro to add to the team and blow things up with," he said.
The Surge 2 scored a good 7/10, "Hugely satisfying combat and some smart world design carries a decent Souls-like that feels like a solid, if safe, alternative for genre fans. The Surge 2 is competent, with flashes of excellence, but loses some of its own identity in the shadows of its inspirations," commented Thomas, he gets a lots of reviews doesn't he?
We did not review Stranded Deep but it has a Metacritic rating of 64% on PlayStation 4, and if you haven't played Darksiders 3 by now then there's something wrong with you, it came out in 2018 and was put on PS Plus in late 2019.
Source: PS Blog
Submerged: Hidden Depths Review
It's easy to appreciate people who try to do things differently, unless you despise any kind of change. The ebb and flow of evolution, of progress and the unending advance of time bare an infinite number of possibilities and outcomes. Through it all, two things remain constant: firstly, that all things must end, and secondly, that humanity will consistently endeavour to undo itself in any number of creative ways.
Submerged: Hidden Depths explores a decaying world, while contemplating what it once was. There's no combat, no insistent wave of enemies, just the waves lapping against the bones of a civilisation for you to explore. Marooned amongst a milieu of hacking, slashing and shooting, it is quite simply fantastic.
The Mass is an oozing, glistening black morass of tentacles that you find wrapped around the decaying architecture of this submerged world. It's referred to as The Black Plant, and it's clear that it's a living organism, its black depths pulsating with red ichor. It's lethal to all people, but you have inexplicably gained an innate ability to harness it to create life instead of take it, with the resulting taint shown by a wrap of flower-sprouting tendrils around your arm.
Your task is to reclaim the city from The Mass, though it's not the case that you're eradicating it. When you return seeds to it, you find that the Mass reflects your own growth-giving power, blooming into glorious green tendrils of colour, bringing life where there was none.
Exploration is at the heart of Submerged: Hidden Depths, and it crafts an engaging and atmospheric world for you to explore. Within moments of starting I was drawn in by the decaying civilisation, the personable pair of characters, and the tender orchestration. I simply had to know what happened here, and what is going to happen.
Much of that exploration is done via clambering and climbing across the submerged ruins, and the main character does so with the same snappy surety of Lara Croft, Ezio or Nathan Drake. It's an assured performance, and it comes together far better than you'll find in many indie titles that have tried to ape the genre's mainstays.
When you're not jumping from vertigo-inducing shelves you're navigating in your boat, drawing on some Wind Waker-like point to point travelling. Since it's limited to the city, you don't find yourself adrift at any point with nothing in sight, and you can always whip out your telescope and soon find the next point of interest to head to, making exploring the landscape a mostly frictionless affair.
There's some light puzzling as well – a heavy stone to put on a switch here, a platform to pull down using the rope on your boat there – but it's not exactly what you would consider challenging. The mechanical elements simply serve to help you to believe in, and interact with, the world. There's no mind-melting confusion as to why things have been put in your way, rather they add authenticity to your experience.
You build a picture of events through cutscenes and diary entries, found across the city. There's something of the iconography found at the end of Pixar's Wall-E, and a hint of Moana's mythology, and I couldn't shake the sensation that Submerged is playing to that same environmentally charged ideology. It works fantastically well and manages to do it all without resorting to blunt-force trauma, operating as it does with next to no dialogue. As ever, it feels as though humanity is at the root this world's ills; a message we would do well to remember.
The Black Mass has stolen life from those it touches, and creates frozen copies that are strewn across the decaying buildings, but as you approach they bloom back into life, regaining a moment of animation before fixing once more into their revery. It's a really effective way of making the world feel alive, even when it's been robbed of nearly everything else.
There's no combat to talk about in Submerged: Hidden Depths, and I found that incredibly freeing. It gives you the time to sink into the world and to engage with it, letting the atmosphere wash over you. There are a number of additional tasks to keep you going though, with Flowers, Lookouts, Upgrades and Relics all waiting for you to find them amongst the debris. With the clambering, collecting and exploring it starts to feel like a combat-free Assassin's Creed, and I'm absolutely fine with that. If anything, those are my favourite aspects of the AC games, and Submerged hones in on them to remarkable effect.
There are one or two concessions here as an indie title, and despite the game's overarching beauty and exceptionally strong atmosphere, it can appear on occasion to be an amalgamation of a jumble of generic feeling assets. That doesn't diminish the ideas, or the craftmanship that's gone into the city itself, but it's not all glamour.
The soundtrack however shines throughout. Its string and piano-heavy compositions set the tone; they carry the weight of expectation, and the echoing loneliness of this place, but there's the opportunity for hope. There's jazz-tinged moments where you take control of the power-less brother, and an uplifting crescendo as you return a seed to its place, bringing The Mass back to life.
Epic are adding two huge RPGs to their list of free games
As we swing into the Christmas period there should be no shortage of games to play, whether finding time to clear that backlog or throwing money at those end-of-year sales.
If you're looking to hunker down with some traditional RPG style goodness then you'll want to visit the Epic Game Store next week. From December 10th to the 17th, Epic are giving away both Pillars of Eternity: Definitive Edition and Tyranny: Gold Edition.
This pair of roleplaying games are developed by Obsidian Entertainment who have also worked on Star Wars, D&D, and Fallout in the past. Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny will definitely keep you playing for hours during the festive period if CRPGs are your jam.
In the meantime, you can redeem a free copy of all-time indie classic, Cave Story.
Below we've published the full list of Epic free games, complete with their availability dates and review links.
Epic Games store free games list
| Game Name | Dates Available |
| Pillars of Eternity | December 10-17, 2020 |
| Tyranny | December 10-17, 2020 |
| Cave Story+ | December 3-10, 2020 |
| 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
Rune II Interview – Studio 369 take us through the saga of the game's rescue from its own Ragnarok
In anticipation of Rune II: Decapitation Edition launching on Steam last month I had the opportunity to virtually sit down with Matt Candler and the team at Studio 369 to play some multiplayer Viking action and chat about the unholy saga that they have faced in turning the game around from its frankly disastrous and cursed initial release on the Epic Games Store last year. If you aren't familiar with the story then you can check out our coverage here and here.
Alongside beating up vicious Draugr with their own detached limbs and avoiding talking about the US election that was taking place at the same time, we had a wide ranging and enjoyable conversation that covered everything from the Liverpool match against Atalanta that evening to the best Shakespeare quotes to accompany the onscreen action. But, mainly, of course, we talked about Rune II: Decapitation Edition.
TSA: Obviously, the whole Zenimax saga sounds like a complete nightmare. What was the sequence of events that saw Studio 369 take over RUNE II?
Matt: After Nov 13 2019 we repeatedly requested the final source code, and they repeatedly refused to return our property. During the first few weeks, we spoke to about six top Unreal Studios about the opportunity to take over RUNE II, the immediate work we wanted to tackle (Bugs, Optimizations, Localisations) and then future plans for the game. Every studio inquired about the status and quality of the codebase and assets.
Unfortunately, because we didn't have source code and raw assets getting a work proposal and agreeing to a statement of work/schedule was impossible, because the scope could not be fully evaluated. Hiring a replacement studio would be very difficult because of this.
However, one of the teams was Symmetric Gaming. We had worked with Dan Nikolaides and Vic Lopez on other projects, and they are very, very good in using the Unreal engine. We started addressing the Core Systems that needed priority attention – Combat, Loot, Enemy Spawns, and we delivered this patch in April and May of 2020 (Lazarus Update).
Studio 369 was incorporated in March 2020 when it became clear that the team was working really well together. We were very effective being a distributed studio, we were having a lot of fun with the game, and we wanted to have a long-term plan for employees (benefits, stock) and the community.
TSA: Could you tell us a little more about the studio? What size is it, what prior experience did you bring onboard?
Matt: Most of the team has worked together on other projects at Phosphor Studios and Paramount Studios and Activision. Most of the team is in Vegas and Chicago, but also in a handful of other locations. Everyone was pretty much working from home offices at the start of the year so there was no impact [from Covid 19] to us whatsoever. We're up to 18 people now and continuing to grow. Our prior experience is Unreal expertise: action, RPG, survival, building/crafting, online multiplayer games and operations, alongside F2P and premium monetisation.
TSA: The initial Epic Store release was a mess, although it has been improved since then; will current owners receive the Decapitation Edition or is this just a Steam release?
Matt: RUNE II: Decapitation Edition will be available on both platforms so the same version of the game will be in every Store. We initially made a custom Armor set for Steam User; but came to our senses and that Armor will be available to everyone who has previously bought the game and for a limited time after Nov 13 2020.
TSA: In some senses, the Epic exclusivity means that this will feel like a brand new release when it hits Steam. Has this given the team encouragement that they will be able to reach a new audience for their hard work?
Matt: The exclusivity expiration certainly gave us a definitive 'target' for us to focus on, and we had a lot users reserve RUNE II: DE on Steam Wishlist, so that made the goal very tangible as there was a clear demand for the game on Steam. We also looked at the one year anniversary with a grim reminder of what happened to us on Nov 13, 2019 and there was an intense desire to fix that. We've been updating the game on EGS throughout the year and this has been super helpful to receive that customer feedback and confirm that we're on the right track. The RUNE II Community Discord has really grown and developed into a very good resource for us.
TSA: I guess the elephant in the room is the convergence of release dates with Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. What does Rune II have to offer for gamers looking for an alternative to Ubisoft's title?
Matt: Well, RUNE II: Decapitation Edition is extremely loot and level focused, we are way closer to an open world Diablo or Skyrim experience than we are to Assassin's Creed. We're quirky and wild; an out of control action adventure that you play with your friends and have a great time, kill a lot of shit and get a lot of loot.
A few other direct feature differences include: Our skill system focuses on the 3 Gods and the Godless (heathen). You can swap and re-spec your skills out at any time (while not in actual combat). We have Cooperative Campaign with a variety of difficulties so you can find that sweet spot of fun. We also have updated our PVP Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes. We don't really see this as the 'Elephant in the Room' as we have been laser focused on Launching Nov 13, 2020. We don't have any cutscenes either, our dialogue and quests are pretty hilarious and meant to just be entertaining and fun. And well, we're going to be on Steam.
TSA: What are your hopes for RUNE II in terms of player base and reception?
Matt: We hope players say, "hey this is a fucking awesome game and I'm having a wild time," and "holy shit, you can do WHAT in the game" and "this is a great example of not abandoning and walking away and doing what is right for the customers." We're already seeing a lot of positive feedback and thumbs up on our discord and other channels. The reception has been fantastic and exactly what we hoped for.
TSA: After a hard-earned break, what's next for Studio 369 (aside from the inevitable bug fixes and patches)?
Matt: We have a patch planned for before Thanksgiving that is based on community and streamer feedback. We also have a December patch planned with a new dungeon, new loot, and new enemies.
We'll probably be looking at a few other big ticket items that we've been working on and the community asked for (i.e. UI changes, dual wielding, TBD). We also have a new game design and concept that we've been pitching to investors/publishers and has been picked up; we will start production on in January 2020.
Rune II: Decapitated Edition is available now on Steam and Epic Games Store.
The VR3000 is the first gaming headset from Japanese audio specialist final
We love a good gaming headset here on TheSixthAxis – by 'we' I mainly mean me and my continuing attempts to make my tinnitus find new and exciting tones to fill my ears with – and just in time for Christmas we've had word that Japanese audio specialist final are set to unleash their first gaming headphones onto the public in the shape of the VR3000.
final have been in the audio business for over 50 years, and throughout that time they've continued to innovate in the space, continually pushing cutting edge technology and design out to an appreciative audience.
The VR3000 is final's first pair of earphones created specifically with gamers in mind. Taking the form of an in-ear monitor they're designed to be small and extremely lightweight so you can listen and play for hours without any of the regular signs of fatigue that over or on-ear sets might cause.
They've been designed to deliver headphone-like spacial sound with pinpoint accuracy and clarity, while the in-ear design allows for improved mobility and device compatibility when you compare them to some of the unwieldy, power-hungry sets you find out there.
The VR3000 connects via 3.5mm jack, meaning they're compatible with nearly everything from your Oculus Quest 2, PS5 and Xbox Series X thought to your trusty old Nintendo Switch. They're built from sturdy ABS, and feature an in-line mic and a 3 button controller, while boasting an impedance of 18 ohm and a sensitivity of 101dB.
final have aimed for a design that manages to deliver deep resounding bass as well as top end detail, which they've aimed to achieve through their own in-house designed 6mm dynamic driver. It certainly sounds like they've put a lot of thought into the design and we can't wait to put them through their paces.
The VR3000 will retail for £69.99/$79.99 and releases on the 10th of December 2020.
Exclusive – check out behind the scenes footage of Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister
The VR space is currently enjoying another resurgence after the arrival of the Oculus Quest 2, bringing the medium ever further into the mainstream. Amongst the big hitters this winter is Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister, a VR FPS based on Games Workshop's iconic and brutal science fiction universe. Having had a chance to go hands on with it in the run up to release we've definitely been impressed with what we've seen, and now you can take a gander at the work that the team at Pixel Toys have put into it!
Battle Sister sees you become a member of the Adepta Sororitas, the military wing of the Adeptus Ministorus – humanity's state church. These Battle Sisters head into combat in a smaller version of the power armour you see the huge, enhanced Space Marines wearing, and they share in much of the same technology. Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister allows you to wield it for yourself. You can grab Bolt Pistols and Boltguns, while getting up close and personal with Chainswords and Power Swords, with a host of Chaos-worshipping ne'er do wells to dispatch along the way. It is, as the world demands, brutal, weighty, and ever so satisfying.
The Oculus Quest 2 launched in October, and improved on its predecessor in every way, bringing the cable-free standalone VR to the next level, with higher quality lenses and screens, the ability to hit a 90hz refresh rate, while, most importantly, reducing the size and weight of the headset. In our review I said, "the Oculus Quest 2 is the next step in home VR that builds on the foundations of the original Quest's genre-defining standalone setup. This is a truly next generation VR console that's beating Sony and Microsoft to the punch." If you're interested in VR, the Quest 2 should be at the top of your list.
Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister releases on the Oculus Quest and Quest 2 on the 8th of December 2020.
Arrowhead Studios announces it is working on a co-op third person shooter for new generation
Arrowhead Studios, the developers behind Helldivers, Magicka, Gauntlet, and The Showdown Effect, has announced that it is now working on a third person co-operative shooter for the new generation of consoles. Previously, the studio has released games on PC, PS4, Vita but never on an Xbox platform. Whether that will change for this yet unnamed title remains to be seen, but we can almost guarantee a PS5 release considering the studio's track record.
We are incredibly excited to create a new, next-gen, co-op experience for our fans and community. We are looking for talented developers to join us on this journey and are looking forward to sharing more details about the project at a later date." said Johan Pilestedt, Game Director and CEO.
There is no more detail really about this game aside from being third person, co-op, and ways to alter the story. It will also feature satirical humour. A screenshot from the new project has been released, showing what appears to a view from the ground in a desert landscape. You can check it out below.
We will just have to wait and see what other reveals the studio will give over the next couple of years.
Source: Arrowhead
Something for the Weekend – 05/12/20
It's really felt a lot like winter the last week or so as temperatures have really taken a dive, even in the southern reaches of the UK. Another reason to stay inside and play video games, not least because the new consoles and high-end PCs can churn out plenty of heat when they're running at full tilt!
In the News This Week
- Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah are leaving BioWare
- Metal Gear Solid movie seems to have found its Solid Snake as Oscar Isaac tapped for role
- Amazon UK offer priority PS5 stock to customers whose orders disappeared
- FIFA 21 & Madden 21 PS5 and Xbox Series X|S free upgrades are now available
- Microsoft Flight Simulator VR update will be a free upgrade coming out in time for Christmas
- Persona 5 Strikers is coming West, releases in February for PS4, Switch, and PC
- Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War & Warzone Season One delayed by a week
- Destiny 2's PS5 and Xbox Series X|S upgrade will need a full download of the game
- Watch Dogs Legion Update 2.30 does not fix Xbox Series X|S save issues
- Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer is a "standalone product", next gen cross-save confirmed
- Control is actually coming to Xbox Game Pass this week in a stacked update to start December
Games in Review
There's not one, but two huge Ubisoft open world titles that we've delivered a verdict on, as Jim finished his long journey through Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and Aran soared through the original take on Greek mythology of Immortals Fenyx Rising.
- Immortals Fenyx Rising – PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, NSW, PC, Stadia – 8/10
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla – PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, NSW, PC, Stadia – 8/10
- Chicken Police – PS4, XBO, NSW, PC – 8/10
- Crimzon Clover – NSW – 8/10
- ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos – Oculus Quest/Rift – 8/10
- Morbid: The Seven Acolytes – PS4, XBO, NSW, PC – 8/10
- Twin Mirror – PS4, XBO, PC – 7/10
- Per Aspera – PC – 7/10
- Partisans 1941 – PC – 7/10
- Total War: Warhammer II – The Twisted and The Twilight DLC – PC – 7/10
- Phogs! – PS4, XBO, NSW, PC, Stadia – 6/10
- Shut In – PC – 6/10
- Ikenfell – PS4, XBO, NSW, PC – 5/10
Featured Articles
In the rest of the features, Nick returned to Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate to sample the game's three new fighters and the next-gen upgrades to the game as a whole. He said it's "a great jumping on point for a new generation of console."
Tom dove into the dino-blasting co-op of Second Extinction, but found that the Early Access title has some way to go before it can reach its potential, while the potential of Everspace 2 was clear to see being realised in its closed beta by Miguel.
Ade was delighted to see Override 2: Super Mech League embracing the silliness of the original, as Nic R sailed and swaggered across the seven seas in his King of Seas preview
We also had a Review in Progress for Empire of Sin, with Reuben enjoying the systemic design of the game so far, but struggling with far too many bugs and issues at launch.
Alan Wen called the English dub of Yakuza: Like a Dragon a triumph for the series, and with this week's launch of Immortals Fenyx Rising, Ade spoke with the game's writer Jeffrey Yohalem about finding a new, humorous and original twist on Greek mythology.
Rounding things out as always, What We Played featured Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Immortals Fenyx Rising.
Trailer Park
Dauntless Reforged launches with huge new update
Planet Zoo: Aquatic Pack announced, and it's out next week
State of Decay 2 gets Xbox Series X|S optimisations and new Lethal difficulty
DOOM Eternal will release on Switch next week
Your Achievements
Here's what you in our community has been up to this week:
- hornet1990 has dropped the difficulty down to Story Mode for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and found it far more enjoyable.
- Also enjoying something more than he expected is MrYd, who's been playing Worms Rumble from PS+. That's alongside Wreckfest from PS Now and a sale purchase of Two Point Hospital, which is "just too much fun."
- Andrewww played The Bunker on PS4, but also managed to sneak in the Astro's Playroom platinum once he was able to play his shiny new console after his kids had gone to bed!
- TSBonyman has returned to Bloodborne after 2 years away and managed to beat the Celestial Emissary!
- Another week another platinum for Crazy_Del, who didn't actually have much fun with Bugsnax. Then there was a lot of Call of Duty Zombies and Worms Rumble.
- And it was a platinum trophy for doomsday6109, who played through Miles Morales on PS5. He was also convinced to play Fortnite after months of his kids pestering him.
And with all of that out of the way, I'll let you crack on with your weekends! Have fun fiddling with the radiators and playing video games!
Neil Druckmann becomes Co-President of Naughty Dog, new Vice Presidents announced
There have been some changes in personnel at the the top of Naughty Dog, Company President Evan Wells has announced. Well, that is now Co-President Evan Wells as Neil Druckmann has been promoted to the same role. That is not the only change as Alison Mori and Christian Gyrling have been confirmed as Vice Presidents of Naughty Dog. Both have a history with the developer with Alison previously being Naughty Dog's Director of Operations, while Christian was the Co-Director of Programming. Evan Wells said in the announcement post:
As we close out a year that has seen its challenges as we all live through a global pandemic, there have been bright moments too. One exciting moment for Naughty Dog was the long-anticipated release of The Last of Us Part II in June. Another moment comes today as we wanted to share some other terrific news about the studio.
We have such an incredible team at Naughty Dog and being able to work alongside each and every one of them is especially meaningful these days. I feel proud of the team when I'm able to recognize their accomplishments and contributions to the studio. Please join me in giving them all a big congratulations!
Naughty Dog's most recent release was The Last of Us Part II, which received a new trailer this week. In our review for The Last of Us Part II, Jim wrote:
Metal Gear Solid movie seems to have found its Solid Snake as Oscar Isaac tapped for role
Deadline is reporting that Sony has found who will be playing Solid Snake in its Metal Gear Solid movie, and that actor is Oscar Isaac. Oscar Isaac has been prolific recently having starred in the recent Star Wars movies Poe Dameron, be a major part of the upcoming Dune movie, will be starring as Moon Knight in the show of the same name, and has also been in the recent Addams Family movie. Previous work also includes Ex Machina, A Most Violent Year, and Inside Llewyn Davis.
The Metal Gear Solid movie is being directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts who counts Kong: Skull Island and The Kings of Summer amongst his directing resume. Derek Connolly is handling the scriptwriting duties. His previous work includes Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Kong: Skull Island, and Detective Pikachu. Producer Avi Arad, who worked on Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Venom, and a lot of other Marvel properties will be producer on Metal Gear Solid too.
A production start date for the Metal Gear Solid movie is not yet known due to the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, as well as Oscar Isaac's own filming schedule. So I would not expect to see any trailers for this movie for a couple of years at least. Currently, Sony is working on the Uncharted movie which is expected to be released in October 2021, having faced a number of delays over the years due to the change in directors over the years. Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg will be starring in that.
Source: Deadline
Tennis World Tour 2 will be released in March for Xbox Series X|S and PS5
NACON and Big Ant Studios have confirmed that their latest tennis game Tennis World Tour 2 will be released in March for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game was released for PS4, Xbox One, PC and Switch earlier this year. Alongside the announcement of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S release the publisher also announced details of Tennis World Tour 2's annual pass upcoming content. Today, two new players in the form of Sofia Kenin and Karolina PlíÅ¡ková were released.
The next batch of content will drop in January which will include Juan Martin Del Potro and Victoria Azenrenka. Then in March 2021 six more players will be added along with a new tournament, new stadiums, new equipment, and new uniforms. In our review for Tennis World Tour 2, I wrote:
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War & Warzone Season One delayed by a week
Activision have decided to push back the start of Season One of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War's multiplayer and the new Cold War inspired era of Warzone by one week. The updates will now drop on 16th December, instead of the previously planned 10th December.
As I'm sure many an eagle-eyed gamer will note, that means that Activision have dodged out the way of a Cyberpunk 2077 shaped bullet, though they obviously won't admit that's a factor.
Instead they're keen to stress just how big these updates are, stating that they're the largest fee content drop that a Black Ops game has ever seen.
Black Ops Cold War will see the return of 2v2 Gunfish from Modern Warfare, which will come with four new maps for the mode, while there will be a new Fireteam map set in the Hollywood Hills. Yup, the popular Black Ops II map Raid will be returning for this update.
Season One will see a string of rewards to chase after through Season Challenges, new Zombies modes and a cross-title Seasonal Prestige system.
Of course, this will also be when Warzone receives its major overhaul to match. There will be a brand new Warzone map and mode at launch, with 30 Black Ops Cold War base weapons and a number of Blueprint variants thrown into the weapon pool. They're also mixing up how the Gulag works.
So yeah, there's a lot of moving parts, and Activision say that "For this to occur, we're taking a few more days to finalize everything before unleashing this massive drop of new, free content to the community."
To assuage fans that might for whatever reason feel slighted by this, they will be flicking the switch to enable Double XP and Double Weapon XP for Black Ops Cold War, starting at 6PM GMT on Saturday 12th December and running through to the start of Season One.
Additionally, there will be two free bundles that you can grab between 6PM GMT on 8th December and 7AM GMT on 16th December, which include:
"Field Research" Bundle
- 1 Epic Operator Skin (Park)
- 1 Epic SMG Weapon Blueprint
- 1 Epic Reticle
- 1 Epic Calling Card
- 1 Rare Weapon Charm
"Certified" Bundle
- 1 Epic Operator Skin (Garcia)
- 1 Rare Assault Rifle Weapon Blueprint
- 1 Epic Reticle
- 1 Epic Weapon Charm
Source: Activision
Project Cars 3 update 3 adds the Bahrain International Circuit
Slightly Mad Studios has released the third update for Project Cars 3, and the main addition is the new track Bahrain International Circuit. Aside from the new track addition the update also fixes some online issues including players moving at different times, fixes car unlock issues in the career mode, fixed some of the issues on tracks including holes in Mojave's terrain, and slowed the AI Legendary lap times on Sakitto National by 2-3 seconds. You can check out the full patch notes below.
Online
- Issue with online players moving at different times during rolling starts fixed with automatic race delay countdown
- New lobby browse flow
- New post-race flow in MP
- Fixed host assist settings for all MP participants
- Fixed an issue that caused MP options to become inactive after reconnecting ethernet cable
GUI
- Fix for Photo Mode vignette effect
- Fix for pressing the "Hide HUD" button during the post-race spectating sequence
- Fix for when you hit "0 attempts left" in Rivals Mode and the Race button wasn't greyed-out
- Fixed button to toggle between loaner and owned cars being labelled as "0" in vehicle select
- Fix for decals being replaced while applying decals in certain slots and scrolling through decal placement options
- Fix for highlighting the GT Open tab causing the Road E class picture to appear
- Disabled the "Resume" button when Photo button pressed
- Changed sort order of proximity arrows
- Added number of attempts left in Rivals to pre-race menu and pause menu
- Fixed the track loading screen background flashing at the beginning of the "Welcome to" screen
- Improved framerate during video playback
- Fixed a crash exiting replays
- Updated to the latest Nissan logo
- Missing skip tutorial label in Brazilian Portuguese and Neutral Spanish added
Career
- Fix for cars not unlocking when user levelled up without leaving post-race screen, interrupting Career progression (this fix retroactively corrects any profiles which were affected by this issue).
Physics
- TrueForce initial implementation. Implementation uses haptic thread to provide high-frequency procedural waves for the rumble effects
- Modulated TruForce slip rumble based on surface wetness
- Fine tuned slide threshold for TrueForce
- Fixed TrueForce curb rumble at speed
- Fixed rolling start discrepancy when TC is enabled
Characters
- Fixed female character 1
Environments
- Willow Springs Horse Thief Mile: Removed "rallycross" tag that was making cars pick the dirt tyre option in all-weather conditions
- Mojave: Fixed various holes in the terrain
- Fuji: Sponsor updates for the track
- Azure Coast Full: Fixed the AI turning abruptly after the finish line in the post-race screen
- Knockhill National: Fixed the AI contacting the edge of the barrier when attempting to squeeze past slow or stopped cars
- Sakitto National: Slowed AI lap times 2-3 seconds at Legendary
- Zolder: Fixed a flickering glass window issue
- Monument Canyon B: Fixed the 32nd grid spot being slightly in front of the 31st
- Yas Marina: Fixed various LOD popping on track
- Zhuhai: Fixed some tree rendering on the track
- Hockenheimring GP Classic: Fixed some trees popping
- Added Bahrain to the track list
Vehicles
- Fixed crash when user applied a racing conversion kit to the last car in their garage
- 2015 Ford Mustang GT Racing: Made interior dark grey instead of white
- Honda Civic Racing: Made interior dark grey instead of white
- Mercedes A45 TCR: Made interior dark grey instead of white
- Caterham 620R + Racing: Tyre update to stop colour popping when selecting factory livery
- BMW M6 GT3: Tyre fix to stop logo popping at distance
- Removed exceptions for McLaren P1 GTR, now all custom rims can be chosen
- Honda 2&4: Fixed missing animation for accelerating and braking
- Audi R8 LMP900: Edited front suspension to avoid clipping with bonnet
In our review for Project Cars 3, Thomas wrote:
What We Played #478 – Miles Morales, Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Immortals Fenyx Rising
It's such a lovely time of the year, as we're able to legitimately refuse to go outside and can instead curl up in front of our brand new consoles. This week has remained a busy one, but I've still snuck in some more Dirt 5 and Sackboy, both of which are already amongst my favourite games this year. Other than that I'm hoping to get in some time with Fenyx in Immortals Fenyx Rising this weekend, while wondering about whether adding my to my backlog with Cyberpunk is a good idea.
Tom Harrison-Lord was first in line this week and he's been playing Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered on PS5 and "getting into the swing of things (ho ho)." He's also been playing Liftoff Drone Racing which "is very tricky so far."
Steve meanwhile has been a busy bee playing games for review on his PC, telling us, "I clocked the terrifying Visage which left me somewhat scar(r)ed, Morbid The Seven Acolytes which was more than just alright, enjoyed visual novel ALTDEUS virtually on my lovely Oculus, was a pretty grumpy sod about Twin Mirror by DontNod, and then finally, began to play The Call of the Sea."
Aran played Immortals Fenyx Rising for review and enjoyed his time with it. That's not all he told us though; "I've also been playing Miles Morales, and just need to complete the game on NG+ to platinum it. I've really enjoyed it and excited to see what the next game in the series will be like."
While he had high hopes for it, Nic B was unltimately a bit disappointed by Phogs, thanks to "how buggy it is and how repetitive the puzzles are." Gareth finished Watch Dogs Legion, "which was fun", and some Rocket League. Sadly he always says "I've also been playing the "Got the Money for a PS5, but no PS5″ game, which gets 0/10."
Rolling his way through the week, Jim's either been on four wheels in the superb Dirt 5, or a growing ball of nonsense in Katamari Damacy Reroll. He says, "Dirt 5 has been great fun, straddling the line between arcade racer and racing sim. There's an obvious smack of MotorStorm to it and although I probably won't throw myself into the online crucible, I'm having loads of fun simply dipping in for a few career races at a time. Katamari has been just as enjoyable. A joyfully silly remaster that everyone needs to play. There's something extremely therapeutic to rolling your Katamari around each stage, consuming as many objects as you can and watching it balloon into a kaiju-sized monster."
Reuben has been sharing his time between Miles Morales on PS5, "which is gorgeous and such a heartwarming game," and NieR on PS3, "which is less gorgeous and has combat that is so clunky I want to hurt myself. Loving them both though."
Nick P has mostly been playing Demon's Souls this week, saying he's "enjoying it a lot so far. I also got the plat on both Spider-Man games as well as putting in some time into MK11 Ultimate – really enjoying Mileena and her awesome face."
Ade has been throwing all his free-time at the unbelievably massive Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, saying, "It is totally Thorsome and probably my favourite Assassin's Creed yet." while Miguel meanwhile has been playing a lot of Black Ops Cold War. He then played some Apex after being away from it for a few weeks and had a very rough time readjusting. He continues "I'm also getting a bit back into Fortnite now since the new season has started up, but I've been falling off of Yakuza Like A Dragon a bit because I'm really not a fan of the combat, but I did plow through the entire Management minigame over the weekend, aaaaand I've been getting back into Genshin Impact after the new update introduced a very "explicitly designed for Miguel Moran" character in the form of Xinyan the fire guitarist."
Tef spent most of the week playing Per Aspera, which is a really cool management sim about terraforming Mars that's just let down a bit by how easily the dialogue can get jumbled up and out of order. Finally, Tuffcub has been playing Destiny 2 and Valhalla, and says we should expect this to be his new default. Hooray for variety!
Now then, what have you played?
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne update 15.10 adds the Movie quest
Update 15.10 has rolled out today for Monster Hunter World: Iceborne with the big addition being a new quest related to the upcoming movie. Capcom has confirmed that you will need a Master Rank 1 or higher to take part in the quest. Aside from the movie quest there are some changes and bug fixes to the main game. That includes player scaling in the Red Dragon siege event, and an issue in the Black Dragon quest where players could not return to camp. The full patch list can be seen below.
General
Artemis "Monster Hunter" Movie Quest has been added, and is available as event quests for a limited time.
* To participate in the Artemis "Monster Hunter" Movie Quest, you must be Master Rank 1 or higher.
* For details on the availability of the event quests, please check event schedule available on the official site, etc.
System
New BGM can now be played in your room in Seliana.
Miscellaneous
- The Red Dragon siege event will now feature 1 and 2 player scaling difficulty.
- You will no longer be able to send or approve squad join requests.
(If you are in the same Gathering Hub as a player, you can still join squads and send invitations.) - The following items can now be melded at the Elder Melder:
– Spring Blossom Tickets, Summer Twilight Tickets, Autumn Harvest Tickets, Winter Star Tickets, and Appreciation Tickets.
The following items can now be melded at the Elder Melder:
– Full Bloom Tickets, Sizzling Spice Tickets, Fun Fright Tickets, Joyful Tickets, Gratitude Tickets.
– VIP Full Bloom Tickets, VIP Sizzling Spice Tickets, VIP Fun Fright Tickets, VIP Joyful Tickets, and VIP Gratitude Tickets. - In line with the event quests being available indefinitely, mentions of availability for the quests "The Evening Star", "Dawn of the Death Star" and "Fade to Black" have been removed.
- Fixed an issue where if you set comments for certain gestures from "Off" to "On", the setting would change back to "Off" unintentionally if you go back to the title screen and load the data again.
- Fixed an issue where item order would change unintentionally when equipping a loadout.
Bug Fixes and Balance Adjustments
- Fixed a rare issue during the quests "The Black Dragon" and "Fade to Black" where guest players couldn't return to camp.
- Fixed an issue where after completing the special assignment "The Black Dragon", if you don't speak to the General while on an expedition afterwards, an exclamation mark would appear indefinitely on the mini-map when descending to Castle Schrade when joining the special assignment as a guest player.
- Fixed an issue that caused a space to appear on the base of the Fatalis monster figure's right wing.
- Fixed an issue that occurs when playing offline in your Seliana room where an exclamation mark would appear next to the name of a decor category even if none of the individual decor items in that category have an exclamation mark.
Monsters
- Fixed an issue that caused Scarred Yian Garuga to become trapped or unable to land on certain terrain in the Ancient Forest.
- Fixed an issue where if Fatalis is on top of a trap, the monster would not be affected by the clutch claw's claw attack, parts could not be broken, it would not flinch from parts being damaged, it could not be knocked down by heavy weaponry, nor could it be afflicted with paralysis or sleep.
Player
- Updated the model of the Deathbow Vaal Velos bow and Blackveil Vaal Hazak layered weapon parts, as they were using the normal Vaal Hazak model and not Blackveil Vaal Hazak.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Safi α+ Layered Torso to stretch when it was equipped along with the Passionate Body α+ or Passionate Layered Chest armor on female characters.
- Fixed an issue on male characters where the black pupil in the Dragonhide β+'s eye would disappear when the armor was equipped at the same time as other specific head armor.
Source: Capcom
Destiny 2's PS5 and Xbox Series X|S upgrade will need a full download of the game
While Bungie launched Destiny: Beyond Light in November, their work wasn't done last month, and they've been busily preparing to roll out the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S optimised version of the game.
Ahead of the free new generation upgrade, Bungie have revealed that it will require a full re-download of the game, albeit handled through the regular update process. This won't affect the PS4, Xbox One or PC versions of the game, but will be a big old install for the new machines.
The estimated patch sizes for Update 3.0.1 based on platforms are as follows:
- Xbox Series X|S 3.0.1's patch download size: ~70.0 GB
- PlayStation 5 3.0.1's patch download size: ~67.0 GB
- Xbox One 3.0.1's patch download size: ~2.35 GB
- PlayStation 4 3.0.1's patch download size: ~2.09 GB
- Steam 3.0.1's patch download size: ~1.5 GB
Additionally, you won't be able to pre-load the update as you could for Beyond Light's launch, as Bungie say that pre-loads are typically reserved for major expansions.
The download will be worth it though. Xbox Series X and PS5 will both run at 4K, while Xbox Series S will be at 1080p, but all will now run at 60fps, with PS5 and Series X both supporting 120Hz in the Crucible. Then there's the Field of View slide and even faster loading times with the full download enabling to adapt the file storage to the SSDs.
Update 3.0.1 does more than that, though. Here's the abbreviated patch notes, with full details set to drop on 8th December when the patch becomes available.
Dungeons – Prophecy
- The Prophecy Dungeon will be returning to Destiny 2 on December 8, 2020.
- This endgame activity is free to all players.
- Powerful rewards may be earned from each checkpoint once per week.
- Players may complete the dungeon once per week to obtain a pinnacle-powered reward.
- Previously featured weapon and armor rewards are available once more.
Destiny Companion App – Bounties
- Beginning next week, players may acquire bounties from Destiny 2 vendors using the Destiny Companion App.
- Bounties may only be acquired when players are Offline, In Orbit, or in The Tower.
- This will be introduced through a Companion App update, which is planned for December 8, 2020.
- Stay tuned to @BungieHelp for more on this Companion App update.
New Light – Resolved Issues
- Fixed an issue with the New Light subclass quest where Ikora's waypoint was suppressed.
- Fixed an issue where veteran players with two characters of the same class were blocked from acquiring their subclasses.
- Fixed an issue where a step on the New Light pursuit was not granting experience.
- Fixed an issue where players who skip the Shotgun chest in the first mission did not receive Special ammo when the Shotgun was granted.
Monument to Lost Lights
- Fixed an issue where the waypoint on the Exotic Archive Vendor continues to flash for players who own all Exotics.
Collections
- Badges and Armor in Collections correctly select player's class.
- Fixed an issue where the UI would forget which page the player was on after previewing an item in Collections.
- Fixed a bug where some new armor mods had incorrect sources listed in Collections.
Crucible
- Updated the mercy rule for Control and Clash to prevent it from triggering too early in the match.
- Fixed an issue where the "Survivor" medal could be awarded to players who were defeated during the round.
- Fixed an issue where the "Untouchable" medal could not be earned.
Beyond Light Exotics
- Icefall Mantle
- Fixed a bug where the Icefall Mantle's description did not mention the slow field it generates when activated.
- Mask of Bakris
- Improved the readability of the visual effects when another player wearing Mask of Bakris shifts directly toward you.
- Updated the description string of Mask of Bakris's perk to correctly describe its damage bonus, which applies only to combatants and affects all Arc weapon damage and all damage against slowed or encased enemies.
-
- Additionally, fixed an issue where this damage bonus was applying to players who are slowed or encased in Crucible and Gambit.
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- Necrotic Grip
- Fixed an issue where being killed by the effects of Necrotic Grip would show as being "Killed by the Architects."
Source: Bungie
Ever aware of a spot of nostalgia-tickling, playing Ikenfell constantly took me back to playing the Mario & Luigi RPG games. Ikenfell is it's own game and its differences outweigh its similarities by far, but there are several elements that I found reminiscent of those Nintendo classics. In this 8-bit style tactical RPG, you play as a girl recruiting friends to go and adventure around a school of magic in the hope of finding your sister who has mysteriously disappeared.
The first comparison to those plumber RPGs comes in with the turn-based battle system. Battles take place on a small grid where up to three characters can traverse the board, but you're able to avoid taking some incoming damage through some timed button presses.
Of course, there's the possibility of you getting the timing wrong, and you sometimes have animations pop up to aid with your timing or might have to rely on sound cues. There was the odd moment where I felt cheated out of a button press but, for the most part, the timings were accurate. That said, there were also times where the patterns were too convoluted and just too much to even begin figuring out where the button press was. As you can imagine, that leads to a grumpy gamer.
In general, Ikenfell is a very user friendly game to dive into. The controls are easy to learn through the tutorial and the gameplay gets more interesting with the introduction of additional characters. Then it stops evolving. After getting used to to having three characters, the game settles into its groove and battles start to become a chore of moving chess pieces around a particularly long, thin board. You'll find yourself starting to avoid combat, but when the story doesn't progress particularly fast, you can start to run out of reasons to play this game. That leads me however to one of its best features.
It's weird to say, but one of the best features of the game is the ability to skip battles, letting you focus instead on the story. You can also disable the timed button mechanic, and if you're a fan of tactical RPGs that might be your preferred way to play. It deals with smaller numbers in its health, damage and things of that nature, which is great for numerically challenged like myself and doesn't trail off in thousands of points of damage instantly. This is definitely a game made to be understood quickly and much like its story's themes, invites people of all gaming abilities to play.
Personally, this freedom was great to have. As the game progressed I found myself questioning the battle system a lot and drifting off into thought while mindlessly getting through fights. Grinding is one thing, but the enjoyment you will have in this game really depends on what you want to get out of Ikenfell. Story? Battles? Artistic value? Maybe a combination of these elements?
The music is a winner no matter which of those you choose. A combination of acoustic instruments and 8-bit chiptune sounds, it sounds incredible and really suits the vibe of the game, but it doesn't make for particularly exciting battle themes. Subjective opinions on music aside, the overall presentation of the game is stellar and perfectly suits the atmosphere of this grandiose adventure taking place on a small scale.
Happy Ray Games have absolutely nailed the visual style they were going for. Although mostly taking place in a Hogwarts-like school, the landscapes somehow manage to vary and seem different enough without going overboard. The characters are chibi-like and cute in the overworld, but gain a more distinct look to them when you transition into a battle. One slight bugbear is that the chibi characters don't have faces, which instead are shown when text is on screen. It's very hard to add personality onto small sprites without faces, and just leaves them feeling oddly blank.
Still, it's the story that will be the tipping point for many people. The main character, Maritte, has come to the world of Ikenfell to look for her witch of a sister – no seriously, she is a witch. The game feels very progressive and Steven Universe-esque, which isn't a complaint in the slightest, but won't be everyone's cup of tea. It's also cutesy as hell, and some of the monster types are very interesting but always have a bit of cuddliness to them for the most part.
The main cast of characters has to be commended for its inclusivity and stepping away from the norm, but while inclusive, it's not really that diverse. It's an atypical lineup with no cis-gendered males to play as, but of six playable characters four are white girls, and the remaining girl and non-binary person are both black. While a bit restrained, it's still a great cast and feels progressive.
I personally found it hard to engage with these characters and what was happening in the story. Most parts were fetch quests in order to find clues to the missing sister's whereabouts which isn't a problem, but when there isn't much fun to be had on the way, things can get a bit too serious and sometimes dull in places.
It's difficult to express emotion and tell a story through an 8-bit, top down, retro game without voice acting. You're constantly reading text from barely moving chunky sprites, and that can become tiresome. This is why games like the Mario & Luigi RPGs rely heavily on slapstick humour and over the top silliness to keep a smile on the players face and keep them interested. There's a deep story that the developers want to tell in Ikenfell, but it could do with a bit more levity and fun along the way.
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered update fixes visuals
EA and Criterion have popped the garage doors to reveal their first major Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered update.
As a remaster of a ten year old game, don't expect new features or content for this Hot Pursuit remaster. However, "Update 1" does make a shopping list of fixes and improvements following the game's rerelease last month on PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
The new patch will roughly weigh up to 500MB depending on which platform you're playing on. Criterion and developers Stellar Entertainment have mainly be working on audio and visual fixes while also improve online stability. You can view the full changelog below.
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered Update 1 Patch Notes
Audio
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Fixed an issue that could cause audio stuttering during races and cinematics.
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When you change the VOIP / Microphone settings, it should now persist to the lobbies you join going forward.
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VOIP system is now working as intended if a headset is plugged in after joining a multiplayer lobby.
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Speech to text should now be functional for players on the same platform.
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A similar issue also affected the text to speech audio being distorted, this is now resolved.
Lobbies
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Interceptor lobbies should now be limited to two players, as intended.
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The "Change Access" menu now properly disappears after a selection is made.
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Fixed an issue where players wouldn't transition from the lobby to the race.
Visual / UI
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Players should no longer see voice icons from other platforms. In-game voice chat is available when cross-play is turned off. When cross-play is turned on, voice chat is restricted to each platform's party chat system. This hint is now also shown in the privacy settings.
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You should no longer be able to get stuck on the driver details menu.
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When a friend beats your time, the correct date should now be displayed in the Autolog notification.
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When busted as a racer in a Hot Pursuit multiplayer event, the player list is now only shown once on screen.
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Autolog notifications should now display in the respective language if you change the console language and local settings.
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Trophies you should receive (for Cop / Racer ranks) should now unlock correctly, even retroactively if there are any you should have received, but haven't.
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When using custom colors, the color displayed in the "last/recent" slots should now display correctly. It did most of the time, but there were a few scenarios where it wouldn't.
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Fixed an occlusion issue on a mountain along Boulder Road.
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The Porsche Boxster Spyder now allows you to recreate "Speed Yellow" using the custom color palette.
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Some events were missing Speedwalls, these are now present and visible on the career map.
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The "Beauty and the Beasts" summary screen now shows the bounty earned for placing 3rd.
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When losing connection and reconnecting, the player avatar is shown correctly on the Speedwall.
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Notifications that a friend beat you in an Intercept event will no longer be cut off when scrolling at the bottom of the map screen, nor should they display random question marks.
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During the Most Wanted event intro, the correct names and symbols should now be displayed above vehicles.
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You should no longer encounter a short black screen when going to submenus from the pause menu during a multiplayer race.
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The car shadow should no longer flicker in the Police Station parking lot on Cascade Terrace Road.
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When you are viewing your own profile on PS4, the game you're currently playing is now correctly shown.
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After sending/receiving a game invite request from a friend, a confirmation notification will now show as intended.
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When you're in a single player race, the correct game mode is now reflected in your friends list and dashboard.
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The player avatar frame now disappears after the first loading screen.
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Player avatars should now be better aligned with names in result screens.
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When cross-play is enabled, the platform identifier should now also show next to the name during a race, not only on the leaderboard.
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With cross-play enabled, all platform identifier icons have the same shade / opacity of white.
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The VOIP icon no longer overlaps player names in cross-play multiplayer race outro screens.
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Players can now be added to the friends list from the "Recent Players" tab.
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In Photo Mode, the top part of the police car sirens is no longer blacked out when the "Show Damage" toggle is set to "on".
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Removed a redundant line from the User Agreement.
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After changing the resolution multiple times, the intro cinematic to "My Career" should still render at full screen now.
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As some if you had pointed out, there was a Rank 21 shown as next rank. This was unintended and has now been fixed – Rank 20 is the highest rank.
Localization
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Traditional Chinese: The "Jammer" text in the HUD is now in the right place when all charges have been exhausted.
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All languages: Updated the localized Technical Support files in the Support folder of the game installation.
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Spanish: Long player names should no longer be overlapping in the "autolog recommends" section.
Stability
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When the "Most Wanted" quits during an ongoing race, all players should return to the menu as expected.
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Fixed an issue that could cause the game to crash when selecting career events.
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Restarting an event multiple times should no longer cause the game to crash.
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Fixed an issue that could cause the game to crash when selecting the Autolog Recommends menu.
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When joining a friend's lobby while in photo mode, you should no longer encounter a black screen.
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Fixed an issue that could cause a crash during an arms race session.
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Fixed two issues that could occur during the "Unreasonable Force" event.
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Resolved an issue that could lead to the game hanging when sharing your time on the wall.
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You should now be able to frictionlessly join a friend after your game has been suspended on your console for a while.
Xbox
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When switching controllers while the Xbox menu is open, the game should now behave as expected when hitting the "back" button.
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When disconnecting a controller while on the title screen, the button prompt to continue to the next screen should still be displayed.
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Fixed an issue that could cause a crash when you started the game without being signed into your profile.
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From the wall, you can now access other players' gamercards.
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"View Player" prompt no longer appears on the friend list screen if your friend list is empty.
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When using "instant sign-in" and having the console powered down to stand-by, rebooting and resuming the title should now work smoothly.
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Other Xbox players are now identified as such before and during races.
Nintendo Switch
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Online status of friends is now showing correctly in the friends list.
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Improved visual performance on Barnstormer, Awe Inspired and Under Pressure.
Steam
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The Steam client should now show the "Badge" section for Need for Speed
Hot Pursuit Remastered (not related to the client update, but might as well mention it here). -
The game doesn't show "pre-purchase" anymore instead of the normal buy option.
Dom reviewed the game at launch, awarding it a 7 out of 10:
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered is the perfect reminder of what Criterion brought to the franchise, with a blisteringly fast arcade racer that's made all the better if you've got the ability to play it at 60fps. The main downside is that your Autolog wall is more likely to splashed with your solitary achievements, rather than the consistent flow of competition you experienced a decade ago.
There are no firm details on exactly what we can expect from EA's racing franchise though we do know the keys have been handed from Ghost Games to Critertion. A recent EA teaser gave us our first look at an untitled Need for Speed planned for current-gen systems.
Source: Reddit
Persona 5 Strikers is coming West, releases in February for PS4, Switch, and PC
Atlus has itself leaked that Persona 5 Strikers will be released in western territories on February 23rd, 2021. The leak came via an unlisted video on the company's YouTube channel. That video has since been made unavailable. However, this being the internet mirrors of the trailer have appeared on online to confirm that Persona 5 Strikers will release for PS4, Switch, and PC in early 2021. The game released in Japan earlier this year as Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers.
Persona 5 Scramble is a collaboration between Atlus and Koei Tecmo and it shows. In the brief footage shown, we see Persona 5 protagonist Joker and his friend laying the smackdown on hordes of enemies. Persona 5 Royal released earlier this year worldwide adding more content to the base Persona 5 experience. In our review for that, Nic wrote:
Source: YouTube
Dead Cells next DLC is called Fatal Falls, out early 2021
Motion Twin has announced a brand new piece of DLC for Dead Cells, and it is called Fatal Falls. The studio has stated it is aiming for a Q1 2021 release and that Fatal Falls will cost $4.99. It is available to wish list now. The new DLC will add two extra areas which will continue Beheaded's journey while outside of the Castle. There will also be a new boss to challenge who is not actively hunting the player, but instead just minding their own business.
This is not the first piece of DLC to be released for Dead Cells. Earlier this year, the Bad Seed DLC was released. That added the add new territories including The Swamp, The Arboretum, and The Nest. Prior to that The Bad Seed's release the Rise of the Giants DLC came out for Dead Cells.
In our review Jason wrote:
With incredibly satisfying gameplay, a constant stream of unlocks, and a world that challenge every cell of your being, Dead Cells is a must own for anyone who likes even one aspect of what has been mentioned here. Every success will fill you with endorphins, every failure will inspire you to get better. When you finally take out the final boss you will be elated. It is here that Dead Cells lets you know that it is just the beginning, there are a few more go around yet, and each one gets harder and harder. This is the kind of game that can last you forever, you just have to let it beat you in the head a few times.
You can read the full Dead Cells review here.
Source: YouTube
Fall Guys Season 3 teases DOOM Slayer crossover skin
When we think Fall Guys we think of the perfect family game, dripping with silly set pieces as its clumsy and colourful beans duke it out for a big shiny crown. Oh, and Doomguy. Wait, what?
It looks as though Fall Guys will be welcoming the mascot for M-rated gaming in its upcoming Season 3 update, if not sooner…
…time to suit up
S O O N pic.twitter.com/XfkOwfpFNq
— Fall Guys
(@FallGuysGame) December 2, 2020
There's no denying the similarity between the silhouetted figure in the Fall Guys teaser and the demon shredding protagonist of Bethesda's DOOM series.
Similar to other crossover character skins, the Doom Slayer will likely be available for a limited time in which players can exchange crowns for the top and bottom halves of his costume.
Fall Guys has already featured a variety of crossover cosmetics for games including Hotline Miami, Half-Life: Alyx, Untitled Goose Game, and a very chonky Sonic the Hedgehog.
It looks as though the breakout battle royale sensation will be making at splash at this year's Game Awards. The big end of year show, once again hosted by Geoff Keighley, will likely be crammed with new game reveals and announcements. It's expected that Fall Guys will make an appearance, giving us our very first look at Season 3.
Fall Guys didn't quite manage to grab our top prize but walked away with an excellent 8 our of 10 in Stefan's review. Here's how he summed up his time with the game:
Full of cute and cuddly jelly beans bumbling into each other in a race for the crown, Fall Guys is just about the most wholesome battle royale imaginable, and a whole lot of fun.
Fall Guys was made available for free on PlayStation Plus back in August and quickly became it's most-downloaded complimentary game.
Source: Twitter (@FallGuysGame)
Lord of the Rings Online, DCUO coming to next-gen consoles
If you're hoping to get your MMO fix on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S then you're in luck as two long-standing entries in the genre are headed to current gen systems.
Following the recent acquisition of Daybreak Games by Swedish company, Enad Global 7, an investor's presentation has been shared online and it's full of juicy details about the firm's portfolio of online games. The Daybreak stable includes multiplayer titles such as PlanetSide 2, DC Universe Online, and the EverQuest series.
What's perhaps most interesting to console gamers is EG7's plans to bring both Lord of the Rings Online and superhero MMO, DC Universe Online, to next-gen systems. With DCUO having previously launched on systems including the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, it's not hard to imagine a new edition with spruced up visuals coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
However, for Lord of the Rings Online – a well-established MMO that has been running since 2007 – this will be the game's first leap from PC to console. Here's what was said about LOTRO in the investor presentation:
Planning visual and technical updates for LOTRO for PC and nextgen consoles to capitalize on Amazon's highly publicized large investment (~$500mm) in LOTR TV series.
This update is planned for some time in 2022 and while a visual upgrade for LOTRO seems like a natural step to take, translating its traditional style MMO gameplay for consoles sounds like a huge undertaking, even if the game does get buoyed by the potential popularity of a LOTR TV show.
In the years since launch the game has catered to a small yet active hardcore fanbase. According to the presentation, it boasts 108K monthly active users with 41K subscribers. Developer Turbne have been delivering numerous expansions, taking players from The Shire all the way to Minas Morgul.
Speaking of numbers, DC Universe Online stands out as Daybreak's best performing game. The unique action-MMO has 419K monthly active users with 40K subscribers, followed in second place by PlanetSide 2 with 198K/25K.
Source: Enad Global 7
Second Extinction has untapped potential, but is it running out of time?
Second Extinction is a game that sounds great on paper. Developed by a small studio of veterans from within Just Cause creator Avalanche Studios, it's a Left 4 Dead style co-op shooter that pits players against an army of vicious dinosaurs.
There's a lot to get excited about, but unfortunately, Second Extinction has yet to live up to what it could be. Fortunately, it's still an early access title, so there's still plenty of time for Systemic Reaction to unlock its full potential.
Let's dive into what's available so far. The base game comes with six missions at the moment and four operators. Each operator has a unique set of weapons and abilities, ranging between a heavy character which carries a machine gun to a nimble sniper geared towards stealth. These distinct characters are well balanced and provide an indication of how Second Extinction is geared toward team play.
The game's six missions are all set across one large map, which features areas with varying difficulty. Each mission plays similarly to a Left 4 Dead mission, with an evolving number of objectives that take players across a large area. However, while Left 4 Dead creates suspense through the AI Director massaging the pacing of its campaigns, Second Extinction falls flat and relies too heavily on hordes of dinosaurs to challenge the player while having them run between a number of objectives.
My first big issue with Second Extinction came from its balancing. While clearly a co-op game, there is the option to play alone instead of partying up with other players. That's what I tried first, to play with the game's mechanics and get an understanding of the basic gameplay systems before jumping into multiplayer. This was a big mistake. Second Extinction is entirely designed with cooperative play in mind, and playing on your own is near impossible as the dinosaur hordes massively outnumber you. It's something that could easily be remedied by balancing the dinosaur numbers, but right now the option is effectively redundant.
That leads to my second issue, which is that the player counts are already dwindling. Through November, Second Extinction's have dropped; the peak of concurrent players in November was 404, down from the peak of 2,000 in October. At the rate Second Extinction is losing its player base, it will soon become virtually unplayable – extinct, if you will. While Early Access games go through peaks and troughs with the number of active players, this is a genuine issue that could well be difficult to remedy with the co-op multiplayer focus.
Weapon upgrades and a contract system add some depth to the game, providing players with additional goals and motivation to repeat missions. Unfortunately, I don't think these systems do enough to make the game itself interesting. The missions themselves feel like uninspired busy work against a mostly unremarkable environment that does little with an excellent premise. This isn't to say Second Extinction doesn't have potential though.
The dinosaur designs are excellent. There are some genuinely intriguing enemies that present varying challenges to the player, while also looking pretty great. With balancing, I think the dinosaur engagements could be a lot more fun and much less frustrating. The character designs are also noteworthy, bringing four distinct characters and builds to the mix with a great amount of diversity as well. Each character has their own passive, tactical and special ability which help even the odds in battle.
As it stands, Second Extinction is an interesting concept that falls short of what it could be. Fortunately, Avalanche Studios past experience with the Just Cause series could be just what the game needs to bring it inline with player expectations, but only time will tell.