I’m currently sat in a dark basement room playing Laser League, and it’s pretty great. There’s a lot of new things that the Roll7 guys have added to the fast-paced laser multiplayer fun, and it’s as compelling as ever. This is definitely one to pay attention to when it releases next month.
Aside from that, my gaming time has been relatively light. I also had the chance to play The Crew 2, and it’s ludicrously freeform spin on the arcade racer, put a little more time into Mario + Rabbids on Nintendo Switch, and spent last weekend playing through the turn-based mech warfare of BattleTech for our review
Also on review duty was Gamoc, who played Swords of Ditto and rather enjoyed it outside of a few odd decisions. Rise of the Tomb Raider has also been on his playlist, which is surprisingly timely, and he’s trying not to be overwhelmed by the vastness of Elite Dangerous.
Tuff’s had a tricky week of only being able to see out of one eye, but had his sight restored enough to play the Detroit: Become Human demo, which he absolutely loved. Dave also played and enjoyed it, and said it still looks really good on base PS4, poo-pooing those reports of a downgrade a few weeks back. Alongside that, it was the implausibly named Crisis on the Planet of the Apes in VR, the new Hearthstone expansion, and a game called A Robot Named Fight!
God of War was in Jake’s console, who’s been trying to wrap up some of the side missions (which he’s really enjoying), and also trying to finish off more of the challenges in Fortnite before the series ends next week. Strangely for Jim, he’s not returned to God of War since reviewing, despite always replaying the previous games right away. Instead he was feeling a bit fatigued, Â so played WipEout VR and For Honor to reset.
It was Pinball FX3’s The Last Jedi and Dusty Raging Fist for Ade’s reviews, as well as the start of A Way Out, which he’s been quite impressed by. Meanwhile, Steve’s found the start of Azure Saga: Pathfinder a bit slow, but it finally got its hooks into him, while he played Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers and Finn and Jake Investigations with the kids which has been “refreshingly algebraic.”
Aran popped up to tell us that he’s blasted through Star Wars Battlefront II’s campaign, finding it fun but a little short, while new boy Jason listed Divinity: Original Sin 2, Â Adventure Pals, Trackmania Turbo, Naruto: Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy, before questioning why anime games always have crazy names.
It’s been a busy for week for Miguel, who’s just finished up a school semester and is heading home to NYC for the summer. That said, he got to play a little bit of Occupy White Wall, which is in alpha right now.
Finally, Dom has also been playing God of War, but said he found “a boring bit in God of War last night. I am really enjoying it overall but that bit took the shine off it.” There’s also been a spot of AO International Tennis and Mario + Rabbids.
How have you been enjoying God of War and any other games your playing this week? Let us know below!
MrYd
The same random things I’ve been playing for the past few weeks (minus the ones I’ve platinumed)
I’m now 2 trophies away from the platinum for Killing Floor 2, but that still involves surviving a game on the hardest difficulty (or getting lucky and joining one on the last boss level to save time?) and that horribly unbalanced VS survival mode, where the zombies always win. Every single time.
And I also started on Ni no Kuni II, which I’m enjoying although I’m not convinced it’s as good as the original game. Started off interesting, then all got a bit predictable and linear, but with a million sidequests bolted on. The kingdom building stuff is quite cute though. The skirmish battles are horrible though. Trying for that magical Studio Ghibli charm (which all their films have, except for that one I can’t even think about watching again), but apart from the music, it’s not quite got it right. A decent enough RPG, but just falls a bit short of what it could be.
Also quite a bit of Skyforge again. Must remember not to miss the trophies for the invasion bosses, otherwise I’ll have to wait another year for them to come back around again. Who thought a trophy for killing a boss was a good idea when the boss is only available for 8 weeks, and you probably need to do daily events for 7 of those weeks to stand a chance At least the events stack up so you don’t have to do them every day, you can do more on 1 day, but still. And if you miss it, there’s 4 more invasions to come before you have another chance. And at that point, the boss has got harder. Probably explains why the platinum is still an “ultra rare” 0.1% job after a whole year.
JR.
Just God of War for me.
At first I wasn’t sure if it worked. I went in feeling quite open-minded and ready to embrace the new direction. And yet, despite my best intentions – something felt ‘off’.
It did. I tried to reserve judgement until I’d given the game a chance to win me over but in the back of my mind I was thinking how much I didn’t like it. It’s too different! Kratos isn’t angry enough! It’s just not God of War! Were just some of the things going through my mind.
I’m not sure exactly when it stopped being an issue but I suddenly found myself enjoying the game a lot. Maybe it just takes a while for some players to adjust, I don’t know. But I’m at a point now where this is exactly what I want from a GoW game.
It’s strange, because even though the gameplay is so different, after a while you almost forget that anything has changed. And a lot has changed but it still feels very much like a classic God of War game.
It doesn’t hurt that the game looks so damn good! Much has been said about the striking visuals and I couldn’t agree more. This game is a real beaut on the Pro. One of (if not the best) looking games on the PS4. Or any current gen console for that matter. A real show-stopper on both a visual and technical level – with not a single glitch or game crash in my 20-25 hours so far. Sony first party studios are unmatched in this regard.
In the weeks leading up to the game’s release, I saw many reviewers comparing GoW to the latest Tomb Raider game, ie. linear with mini-hub areas. But I think a more obvious comparison would be the Darksiders games – Darksiders II in particular with GoW now embracing various RPG elements. I love the Darksiders games so this is a big positive for me.
The Father/Child dynamic will obviously be compared to Joel and Ellie from the Last of Us but more so reminds me of the relationship between ‘the Man’ and ‘the Boy’ in Cormac McCarthy’s incredible novel, ‘The Road’ (not to be confused with the dreadful move adaption).
Like ‘the Man’ in the novel, it’s Kratos job to protect ‘the Boy’ but also to guide him and teach him to survive in a brutal and unforgiving world.
Initially, Kratos is quite cold and abrupt with Atreus but as the game progresses, Kratos’ steely demeanour begins to soften. He’s still cold and abrupt (it is Kratos after all) but you do start to feel that he does care for the boy and it never once feels contrived. Think Darth Vader and Luke in the original SW’s movies.
This is a man (sorry, God) with many regrets and he doesn’t want his Son to make the same mistakes. I found the evolving dynamic between them very interesting… I won’t say any more because I wouldn’t want to spoil anything. However, I will say that it just works.
Prior to the games release, the Father/Son pairing was one of the aspects I was least looking forward to. Bur now, having actually played the game, I feel it was one of the strongest elements.
Also, props for having one of the greatest surprise videogame moments since MGS IV!
Overall I couldn’t be happier with God of War. After an initial adjustment period, I can honestly say the decision to overhaul the gameplay was a good one – and ultimately the right one. This game doesn’t deserve 8/10 or even 10/10. This game is a masterpiece! 11/10.
Tony Cawley
Just Horizon Zero Dawn for me, absolutely loving it. Great story, great setting, great combat mechanics. Just plain brilliant.
TSBonyman
More Bloodborne, continuing to level up my character, weapons and courage ;) . I’m also back playing No Man’s Sky again.
Eldave0
Usual handful of games for me this week. PUBG, MarioKart8, Splatoon2 and Rocket League. Also pre ordered my copy of Donkey Kong now its up on the eShop.
tactical20
Far Cry 5. Done the first area, although still seems to be loads of ‘story’ quests to do, even though the area boss is dead.
gernboes
Just God of War for me this week, and no regrets at all!
da_siz
Just been playing Sly 2 on my vita at the moment, moved out of my house so no real time to play ps4.
Wanting to get a ps4 pro for when i move back in , but cannot get get one, sold out everywhere!