It’s been a good couple of weeks for Great Britain at the Olympics. Witnessing some of the world’s best athletes performing at the highest level can be both wondrous and inspiring, and there’s every chance that having watched an array of sporting heroes you may now be in possession of a new badminton racket or pair of running shoes. Mind you, some of us may live a somewhat more sedentary lifestyle, with gaming being a window into sports and activities that we can’t play, whether due to poor health, or a lack of… erm… skill.
As we approach the yearly entries of our favourite sports games then, with Madden first to the blocks, it’s clear that gaming can take you to places and put you into situations that you likely couldn’t hope to be in in real life – of course not everyone wants to be shot at – and this remains one of its indelible strengths. Escapism plays a role, but wish fulfilment is the stronger psychological element to a hobby that can help everyone do things they’ve only ever dreamed about.
Despite all of the sport on our telly box I’ve still snuck in plenty of gaming this week, though the lion’s share has gone to F1 2016 which I reviewed and greatly enjoyed – I think F1 fans are going to lap it up! (Puns are nearly always intended). I’ve also been cracking on with our review of King Of Fighters XIV which I can’t talk about yet because of one of those pesky embargoes, as well as taking a whole day to make my first foray into No Man’s Sky. After about eight hours of playing I am absolutely loving it. There’ve been a couple of crashes, and some annoyances with that blasted inventory, but it is escapism at its best, and a game where your imagination can fill in so many of the gaps.
Jake has been catching them all in Pokemon GO – 120 of them! Undoubtedly it’ll have been good for his cardio as well as his roster, and it’s not often we get to say that. Unless you’re heavily into Kinect Sports. On the other hand Dave has worms… Worms WMD that is! And he’ll be reviewing it next week! That’s after his hugely enjoyable run through Deus Ex: Mankind Divided which sounds fantastic.
Tuffcub also popped in to let us know what he’s been up to this week;
“I’ve been playing Bears Can’t Drift!? for review, which is a frustrating yet charming kart racer. I’ve  also been dabbling in some slightly improved Transformers: Fall of Cybertron on PS4, a smidgen of Destiny and a little Gravity Rush Remastered. However, this week I have been mostly playing Infamous: Last Light, which is an awful lot of fun, even the challenge rooms which are the sort of thing I usual avoid like the plague. I’m trying to clear through my pile of shame.”
For Aran this week has been all about No Man’s Sky. He seems to find it very relaxing, but how couldn’t you when you discover planets with oceans of Ribena? (Please note that Hello Games are unlikely to have put advertising into their game, it’s just Aran’s imagination. I think). Besides that he’s continued to play through Civ 5, with Attila making a bid for Aran’s territory. He managed to fight him off, make peace, and then raise an army of his own and take some of Atilla’s land. He’s not been back since.
Miguel has been playing Overwatch in an effort to grind out those special summer skins, as well as squashing giant bugs in EDF. Meanwhile Jim has also been squeezing in time for some multiplayer, with both Uncharted 4 and Overwatch making for the tag team. He’s also managed to sit down with Deus Ex GO which he thinks is going to be the perfect accompaniment to Mankind Divided.
Finally it’s Kris’ turn to talk about his games;
“Plenty of Spider-Man Unlimited on iOS. It’s a basic infinite runner with card mechanics, but it’s Spider-Man and I’m properly hooked. It does a decent job of weaving a lightweight narrative into a genre that shouldn’t really work with one, and it’s got a good range of characters to collect. It’s free-to-play but I’m edging towards dropping money on it.
Also lots of Reigns, a new kingdom management game that Tef has talked about on the site before. I’m playing that with intent to write something up about it, so watch out for that”
But enough about us – what on earth have you been playing? Or have you been too busy watching sports?
double-o-dave
The only thing I’ve played on my PS4 in the last month or so is Netflix and Spotify.
No game since Uncharted 4 has caught my attention lately & I didn’t think much to that. I’m sure when BF1 is released you won’t be able to pry me from it. Luckily there are a whole load of PS4 exclusives what I’m interested in releasing throughout next year so I’ll be back on the case. Need to try out the PSVR too.
ron_mcphatty
Plenty of No Man’s Sky. I’m happy to say I’m really enjoying it, every time I boot it up there’s a beautiful new horizon to see. I’m addicted and my imagination is getting a good workout.
TSBonyman
Have you tried landscaping/sculpting with grenades? I think i could lose a bunch of time to just doing that.
ron_mcphatty
Oooh, no but it’s now top of the to do list!
da_siz
Havent really played a lot on the PS4 since i finished uncharted 4.
Although i did finish saints row gat out of hell last week, that was quite fun.
Started Rebel galaxy this week, didn’t think too much of it at first but after around 3 hours gameplay, really quite enjoying it..
Bought the amazing spiderman for VITA too, only £6 (i think), whilst it def looks very dated, its quite fun
R1MJAW
The usual Dead island with Forrest and Pixel and GTA online with Forrest, Pixel and heedbaw.
Been mainly playing No Man’s Sky, got the platinum in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Still quite a way from the centre of the galaxy but I’m blazing a trail towards it to see what happens.
phantom5813
Kind of put big games on hold for now and dipped into smaller ones as I’m on my second run through Bastion and started up Transistor. Chasing the plat on Persona 4 Golden and in and out of a few mobile games…nothing special really. Need to get back to Uncharted 4 and Star Ocean at some point.
TSBonyman
A few quick goes of Binding of Isaac and Driveclub but mostly No Man’s Sky, 45 hours in now and i’ll be pumping another inordinate amount of time into it this weekend – might even get around to actually following one of the paths soon! :)
Avenger
Quite a lot of Rainbow Six Siege which is surprisingly awesome. Not miffed in the slightest that it’s multiplayer focused, as it suits the game well. Ticked off most of the extras, and now just enjoying the Ranked multiplayer in a team of 3-4 people. Also played a bit of Elite Dangerous and Halo 5.
I’ve also just played a bit of Titanfall 2 and I must say I’m well and truly shocked. Visuals aren’t nearly as good as the first game, and the game modes, sound, interface, shooting mechanics all feel a bit off. It’s pre-alpha though, so fingers crossed everything will come across in leaps and bounds over the next two months. As it stands though, I’m not aching to play it an awful lot this weekend.
I’m hoping to be a bit cheeky and maybe buy F1 2016 next week, and I’ll probably be playing a ton load of RS6 too.
hornet1990
Just Battlefield 4 MP. When I can find a server that doesn’t give me the high latency icon and lag I can comfortably hold my own and really enjoy it; any other time it sucks big time. Here’s hoping they do a better job of the netcode for BF1.
spartanstriker
Been a backlog week this week – picking off the trophies on Don’t Die Mr. Robot on the Vita on my commute. It’s a good time stealer. Plus been addicted to Clash of Clans on iPhone.
On the PS4 some Tricky Towers, Pacman 256 – might try the other PS Plus offering later Rebel Galaxy.
Andrewww
I continued The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, which is still good, and I’m currently facing a riddle that got me stuck for a moment. I kept myself from checking online and got an idea, so have to try that out.
And I started playing Abzu with the kids, and that is brilliant. We all love it a lot, as my little ones are into sea animals anyway, it is the perfect game for us. Very beautiful visuals, and jumping out of the water, hanging on to an orca is so cool..!