Something for the Weekend – 01/05/21

Returnal Header art

With the May bank holiday weekend upon us and so-so weather forecast across the country, it’s looking less like early barbecue weather and more like staying inside and playing video games time.

The reviews for Returnal have been glowing this week, but it’s also the first major test of Sony’s decision to charge $70/£70/€80 for their video games this generation. Who’s picking up Housemarque’s latest? Has the price put you off the purchase?

In the News This Week

And we had the reveal of the May games for both Games with Gold and PlayStation Plus

Games in Review

Obviously there was one game grabbing all the attention this week. See how Returnal holds up in our review.

Featured Articles

With Returnal and time-loops on everyone’s mind, guest writer Aaron pondered how Returnal and Deathloop are evolving the roguelike genre last weekend. Meanwhile, Jim and I cooked up 10 essential tips for those venturing into Returnal for the first time.

We dove into a bunch of games for preview this week, with Jason checking out the cutesy voxel spin-off Earth Defense Force: World Brothers, as Jim played the more gritty medieval wargame Chivalry 2, calling it a “masterclass in multiplayer mayhem”.

I brought us some previews of a pair of upcoming ID@Xbox titles, with the shooty Cyberpunk sci-fi of The Ascent and the focussed time-looping narrative of Twelve Minutes both providing intriguing indie experiences. I also went hands on with Apex Legends: Legacy’s new Arenas mode.

Finally, What We Played featured Returnal, Maskmaker and Rain On Your Parade.

Trailer Park

Watch 15 minutes of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart gameplay in this new video

Let’s Build A Zoo announced for PC and console, gameplay footage released

The Persistence Enhanced brings the sci-fi horror to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground gameplay revealed

Your Achievements

Here’s what you in our community has been up to this week:

  • tactical20 has been giving Breath of the Wild another go, hoping that it’s third time the charm after a couple false starts in the last few years.
  • Crazy_Del is one trophy away from the Dirt 5 platinum, has wrapped up Subnautica, and has continued his co-op adventures in Zombie Army 4.
  • willbuchanan has been playing Borderlands 2, but can’t decide if he’s glad not to have his old PS3 save to fall back on while replaying it.
  • And doomsday619 has been replaying Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS5, finally managing to complete it again on Thursday.

That’s all for this week’s gaming round-up. As always, have fun at home, stay safe if and when you’re out, and we’ll see you next week.

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I'm probably wearing toe shoes, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!