We’re right in the middle of summer now, and it absolutely feels like it with the weather being what one can only describe as “scorchio”. OK, I’m sure there are more, less made up adjectives for the temperature, but you know what I mean.
That heat hasn’t stopped it from being a busy old week in video games, so let’s dive in and catch up on the news, reviews, previews and more from the end of July.
In the News This Week
- Halo Infinite’s multiplayer will be free-to-play and 120fps confirms 343 Industries [Updated]
- PlayStation 5’s instant access system is called “PlayStation Activities”
- Battletoads release date has been confirmed for August
- Ubisoft’s battle royale Hyper Scape gets full PS4, Xbox One and PC launch in August
- Peaky Blinders: Mastermind launches this August
- Star Wars: Squadrons will not be getting a next-gen upgrade
- Animal Crossing: Hew Horizons Summer Update – Wave 2 brings fireworks, Dream Suite and island backups!
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales will reportedly bundle in a remaster of the original Spider-Man game
- Ghost of Tsushima update adds Lethal difficulty option
- The free £10/$10 PSN credit is being given out randomly
And with the end of July, there were the usual set of free game announcements:
- August’s free PS Plus games are Modern Warfare 2 & Fall Guys
- August’s Games with Gold include Portal Knights, Red Faction 2 & more
- August’s Twitch Prime Games offerings includes more SNK titles and Shaq Fu 2
- August’s Stadia Pro games have been confirmed by Google
Games in Review
We had a pretty full slate of review this week, covering all manner of different genres and topics.
- Fairy Tail – PS4, NSW, PC – 8/10
- In Death: Unchained – Quest – 8/10
- Othercide – PS4, XBO, NSW, PC – 8/10
- Jump King – PS4, XBO, NSW, PC – 7/10
- Maid of Sker – PS4, XBO, PC – 7/10
- Megadimension Neptunia VII – PS4, NSW, PC – 7/10
- Destroy All Humans! – PS4, XBO, PC – 6/10
- What Happened – PC – 6/10
- Tannenberg – PS4, XBO, PC – 5/10
And we had an intriguing hardware review, where the question was as much whether you should consider the product, as it was whether or not it was any good.
- GameSir VX2 Aimswitch Gaming Keypad – PS4, XBO, NSW, PC – 7/10
Featured Articles
As busy as it was in the review pool, the previews and features were no less packed. Dom and I shared our thoughts on how Pokémon Go Fest 2020 was a virtual success.
Last weekend also saw a technical beta test for Fall Guys, which Jim and I absolutely adore, while Dom went hands on with One Hand Clapping, and Tom had his hands full raising monsters in the ‘Pokémon for grown ups’ of Monster Crown.
I then had a look at how Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered is resurrecting the classic GameCube co-op action RPG, and Futurlab’s ingenious time-twisting puzzler Peaky Blinders: Mastermind.
And I went hands on with not one, but two upcoming racing games, with accompanying videos. First up was the very different Project Cars 3.
And then we had a look at WRC 9, with what some might call the best headline ever to feature on the site: WRC 9 Preview – Keep right into caution, big console jump, 100.
Dom spoke to EPOS on making a new generation of gaming headsets, and finally What We Played featured Ghost of Tsushima, Fall Guys and Pokémon Go.
Trailer Park
Cuphead is out now for PlayStation 4
UFC 4 Career mode trailer details new additions including Coach Davis
Hawkeye confirmed for Marvel’s Avengers, beta details outlined
Carrion: Behind the Screams released by Devolver, kind of goes behind the scenes
Microsoft Flight Simulator PC VR and TrackIR support announced
Your Achievements
Here’s what you in our community has been up to this week:
- hornet1990 finished two of the war stories from Battlefield V, finding them a buggy slog.
- ron_mcphatty finished the “emotionally gruelling and bleak” The Last of Us Part II, but he still loved it!
- It was Skater XL for tactical20.
- Popping on his dreaming hat, TSBonyman dove into the wonderful world of Dreams VR, spending just a little bit too long in the virtual space for his head to handle.
- And MrYd’s brain melted while playing “Advanced Horse Testicle Simulator”, “I’m a Satsuma”, “Hideo Kojima’s Falling Over Simulator”, and “Call of Duty: Whatever it is”. Sounds like a fun week?
I hope you have a good (and relatively cool) weekend and I’ll see you on the other side!
