What We Played #211: Blur, Rocket League & Batman

Another week is coming to a close and the magical thing we call a weekend is near, which means it’s time for another edition of What We Played. Here is where we tell you all about what the staff at TSA have been playing, and we cap it off with a weekly video game question for you at the end.

Kris starts us off this week with more Batman: Arkham Knight. He’s finished the core campaign and reported that it “took me to some unexpected places, and I really appreciated that.” He just has some of the side content to finish now, which he’ll no doubt work on over the weekend.

Miguel says he’s found himself in a PS4-shaped hole this week, at the bottom of which is Rocket League, Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition, Hand of Fate and Skullgirls. While being in a hole sounds terrible, he rejected the rope I tossed down there so it must not be all bad.

Tuffcub played a variety of games this week, such as (deep breath) Destiny, Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition, Elder Scrolls Online, GTA V, Super Exploding Zoo and Geometry Wars 3. But there was one more game he played this week from back in the days of the PS3, and it inspired him to start what he calls the “4B campaign,” which stands for “Bring Back Blur! (and Burnout!).” That’s right, he’s been playing Blur, and he wanted the opportunity to tell you how great it still is.

If I could choose one game from last gen to get HD’d or rebooted for PS4 it would be Blur, absolutely no question. It’s such a shame Activision didn’t have much faith in the game because it is so much fun. All the PS4 racers these days are real world sims, there are no arcade games any more, I want trucks firing homing missiles, buggies dropping mines and the ability to bounce off walls (and opponents) rather than carefully follow a driving line round a corner.

Aran also played a variety of games this week, starting with Whispering Willows, which he reviewed here. Next was Entwined, which you may remember as the short little game Sony launched last summer around E3. He also played Rocket League, which he enjoyed despite the servers being down, as he started a season with his team, the Road Warriors, which he says is named after “one of the best tag teams of all time.” Finally, he spent some time on his lunch breaks playing 8 Ball Pool, a mobile game from Miniclip.

Stefan played a bit of Destiny after not spending much time with it over the past couple of weeks, before moving on to The Swindle, which he says he’s getting quite good at. He followed that up with F1 2015, which he’s on the road to reviewing right now. And of course, managing those vault dwellers in Fallout Shelter.

Mark played and beat Batman: Arkham Knight, though he said he wasn’t thrilled with how it ended. Like Kris, he has just the side activities to finish now. After watching the E3 trailer for Metal Gear V, Mark was inspired to pre-order it and play through Ground Zeroes again, which is exactly what he did.

Jim started his week with Hyperdimension: Neptunia Re;Birth 3 Generation V, which he said is a “Compile Heart JRPG through and through yet manages to do some fun things with the formula, especially for combat” but you can read his full review on the site today. He also played Rocket League this week (review here), but the absence of his housemates meant he had to find competition online. Here’s what else Jim has been up to:

Then there’s Final Fantasy XIV. Returning to a big MMORPG like that is usually never as fun as one might expect. However, FF14 is designed and structured in such a beautiful way that it feels as fresh as it did back in its PS3 heyday. I’m a long, long way from reaching the level cap but I’m having the most fun with an MMO I’ve had since I first got my hands on World of Warcraft!

Dom has been attempting to finish the side activities in Batman: Arkham Knight after finishing the story too, but he’s been distracted by Rocket League, which he says is a “great game to switch off to, being incredibly simple but a lot of fun!” He’s also been gaming with Street Fighter IV on PS4, which received another helpful patch recently, though he’s been having a hard time finding people to play with online. Outside of those, it’s been more Ratchet & Clank on Vita, and more Jurassic World with his kiddo.

As for me, it’s been another week of Rust with a friend of mine, though we’re just about done with it, particularly since the server we rented is about to go back. I also took the time to play through Rage for the first time. For a four year-old game, it still looks phenomenal (on a good PC) and plays like you’d hope an id shooter would play. Finally, I started Enslaved: Odyssey to the West on PC, which was one of my low key favourites from the previous generation of consoles.

Right, so last week you guys did a very entertaining job proving that you could very well be a bunch of arsonists with our weekly question. This week, in light of Batman still being a staff favourite a couple weeks after launch, we’d like you to tell us what your favourite superhero game is. We’re also curious to know whether or not that game centres around your actual favourite superhero. If not, tell us who it is and why.