It’s finally here! Personally speaking that’s the Nintendo Switch I’m talking about, but for PS4 owners this exclamation can quite happily cover the fantastic Horizon Zero Dawn as well. In a gluttonous manner I’m trying to consume Horizon and Zelda at the same time, and while there are various design elements that are shared between them, they both feel utterly different, yet are just as compelling.
Nintendo’s handheld/home console hybrid seems off to a relatively positive start – helped by the incredibly strong reviews Zelda has received – but they’ve still got a lot do in terms of online infrastructure and expanding the system’s usability beyond simply gaming. Thankfully these are things that can be improved through updates, and the system itself is quite delightful, particularly when you use its party trick of moving from handheld to TV play.
Still, I’ve also managed to play a spot of Bomberman R for a post-weekend review, and the Lego Batman Movie Pack for Lego Dimensions which should have been a tap-in, but is really a bit of an own goal.
Miguel has had a “wack” week, meaning he’s only managed a little bit of Atelier Firis and the occasional dip into Fire Emblem Heroes. He also remained unimpressed by the Ghost Recon Wildlands beta, but Aran enjoyed it a lot more, while readily admitting that you really need to play with friends to get the most out of it. He also played some For Honor and made a start on Loot Rascals for review, before downloading the free to play 3v3 Basketball game which is also pretty fun.
Jim played Warhammer 40,00: Deathwatch, which carries an eye-watering premium on PS4. He’ll tell you more in his review next week. He also tried out Horizon, and the “dope” Zelda on Wii U, but with those and various other huge games looming, he decided to finally finish off The Witcher III. Dave meanwhile played forma.8 and Hollow Knight for review, as well as his weekly stint in Hearthstone’s Tavern Brawl.
Tuffcub got into Horizon (yay!), while also playing yet more Titanfall 2, at the same time as reviewing Ghost Blade HD, a Dreamcast port making its way to PS4, and Dying Reborn on PSVR. Jake made time for both Horizon and Titanfall 2, as well as a spot of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.
Last and probably least, Stefan was the dutiful soul who got to play with our review Nintendo Switch console, bringing us a review of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and 1-2-Switch alongside it. Had he not already played through and reviewed Horizon Zero Dawn, he’d probably have played that as well, but simply couldn’t find the time to dip back in this week.
Now then, did you get Horizon? Or a Switch? Either way, what have you been playing?
Youles
Finally – after months of waiting and trying – I restored 100% trophies to PvZ Garden Warfare 2 after there was finally a slightly easier Boss Hunt mode. Stupid this mode was often only available 3 days over a 2-month period.
Completed the Human Conditions DLC on Watch Dogs 2. The Elite missions were pretty tough as I did them solo. Annoyingly if you failed the last part you had to start all over again and they often had 3-5 objectives.
Played through and completed Sniper Elite 4 on Authentic difficult with Crazy_Del (with no manual saves) and also did one of the 2 Overwatch missions together. Really enjoyed it, even though we encountered a rather annoying glitch.
A few goes on Mantis Burn Racing too – very close to the platinum now.
Tony Cawley
Mostly For Honour for me, teamed up with Crazy_Del. We make a pretty awesome team and Roynaldo has just bought the game so hopefully the three of us will make a formidable team.
When not playing For Honour I have been playing Dragon Age: Origins which is quite enjoyable to just sit down and chill with.
ron_mcphatty
Many hours of Horizon for me. It looks incredible, I really like Aloy, the environment is lively and interesting, and those dinosaurs are just spectacular. I can see myself wasting a lot of time on this game.
Crazy_Del
Been playing Sniper Elite with Youles and exactly what he has said. Also played For Honor with Tony exactly what he has said lol.
Currently playing For Honor right now and have 4 characters prestige while using my main as a 2nd prestige hoping to reach a 3rd over the weekend.
Andrewww
Wasn’t really that excited this week gaming-wise. The Switch is not for me, and Horizon’s story seems quite ridiculous, playing a young girl hunting down machines with a little bow. When I was young, we watched the first Terminator and learnt that when machines take over, we’ll all be dead within minutes, well, almost. Thank God artificial intelligence is still a hype and all Alexas and Siris and their colleagues together are still as stupid as a plank of wood, miles away from anything I’d call intelligent.
But I get carried away…
I played Ghost Recon Wildlands, had some good fun with a friend, and I quite liked the environment, but I wasn’t as sold as I was back then with The Division. Will probably reconsider when the price comes down. My co-op partner convinced me to get good old Far Cry 4 instead, so I ordered that. Played some more The Valley, as I still want to finish it, and went back to Drive Club, to deal with a drift challenge, that game is still good fun..!
ron_mcphatty
I’m really enjoying Horizon’s story, the reviews don’t much mention the collectibles which you can start stumbling across 3-4 hours in, much like Deus Ex they really flesh out the background of the world and give a lot of character to the immediate area too. I also think the first 3-4 hours has a good dose of setup which it’s less about the zords and more Aloy, her background, her tribe and a very insular point of view of the world. Then comes the first little twist and the world opens up a bit. It’s really good :)
Andrewww
Now, collectibles sounds good. I’ve realised recently that they’re quite important to me, as I spend a considerable amount of my playing time searching for them, e.g. in Tomb Raider, Until Dawn, The Division, etc. And they can add a lot to the game world, if done well and giving interesting information or background.
To be honest, I was exaggerating a bit, I’ll put Horizon on my Waiting-for-a-sale list, I’m just not as hyped as everyone else seems to be, but that also got to do with my ever increasing backlog.
ron_mcphatty
Yeah I know what you mean, and I guess we’re nearly opposite in the year to silly season so its prime backlog beating time. You should definitely add it to your list though, I think in years to come it’ll be looked on as a standout piece of work.
double-o-dave
I wasn’t too hyped for Horizon, but felt it was time for a Pro, which Horizon came free with – now I can’t put the game down. If it wasn’t for stupid work, I’d be on it now.
Stefan L
The story in Horizon Zero Dawn will surprise you, if you ever decide to give it a chance.
Eldave0
(As usual), my excitement for new tech got the better of me and I ended up picking up a Switch on the way home from work last night. Haven’t spent much time with it yet apart from the demo for Snipper Clippers, but the hardware itself is great. Will likely pick up a copy of Zelda this weekend.
Also put a lot of time into The Division this week. Finished up the main story, all the encounters, all the collectibles and then hopped into the Dark Zone for a bit. After all that, I’m a little burnt out at the moment but will come back to it at some point to check out the DLC.
Finally, I finished up RE7 and made a start on the DLC (thanks to the awesome person on Reddit who gifted me the Season Pass!). Haven’t played much of it yet but ’21’ is devilishly addictive. Survival+ is really tricky!
CR8ZYH0RSE
Back on the Division on my sub account,my character is much better than the one on my main account. Looking towards doing the underground dlc and a couple of incursions later.
Well done Nintendo on the Switch launch,hopefully it really takes off and i can take the plunge with confidence.
tactical20
Got the Watch Dogs 2 platinum when PS+ was free, then randomly started playing GTA5 again.
colmshan1990
Can’t stop playing Zelda. So good.