All eyes are on Monaco this weekend for the Formula 1 after last year’s hiatus, and I can’t wait to see the drivers giving it their all in qualifying today – it’s basically my favourite hour out of the whole racing calendar!
Meanwhile, it’s been pretty miserable in the UK weather-wise, so plenty of reason to stay inside and play a few games.
In the News This Week
- The Last of Us Part II performance patch for PS5 is out, targets 60fps
- Timesplitters to return via Deep Silver’s new/old studio, Free Radical Design
- Returnal update 1.3.7 is out – here’s the patch notes
- Victoria 3 is finally confirmed by Paradox Interactive
- Xbox exclusive The Falconeer is coming to PS5, PS4 and Switch in August
- Xbox Game Pass update makes SnowRunner available now, Conan Exiles coming next week
- GTA 5 PS5 and Xbox Series X|S release date set for November
- F1 2021 lets your recruit some racing icons to your My Team, if you buy the Digital Deluxe edition
Games in Review
While it was a relatively subdued week for big releases, some pretty good scores were handed out:
- Mind Scanners – PC – 9/10
- Quantum League – PC – 8/10
- The Wild at Heart – PC, XBO – 8/10
- Anodyne 2: Return To Dust – PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, PC, NSW – 8/10
- Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance – PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, NSW – 6/10
- Gravity Heroes – PS4, XBO, PC, NSW – 6/10
- R-Type Final 2 – PS4, XBX|S, XBO, PC – 6/10
And there was just one hardware review this week:
- Nacon Pro Compact Controller – 7/10
Featured Articles
This week Stefan had an in-depth look at Victoria 3, the freshly confirmed grand strategy game from Paradox Interactive at their PDXCON show. It’s looking like it’s going to be exactly what fans wanted, and he also spoke to the developers about memes, diplomacy and the Market system.
Sticking with the grand-strategy theme, and also sticking with Paradox Interactive for that matter, the first major expansion for Crusader Kings III, Royal Court is shaping up to offer players even more ways to control and expand their kingdoms.
Doing a complete 180 from the other previews, Steve went hands on with PowerWash Simulator as it launched into Early Access, with FuturLab managing to deliver an almost “meditative experience”.
Last up, Stefan tried out Xbox Cloud Gaming iOS Beta to see how close we are to having on-the-go gaming absolutely everywhere, while What We Played featured Biomutant, Mass Effect Legendary Edition & PowerWash Simulator.
Trailer Park
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart zany weapons and new moves revealed in new trailer
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey launches on PC tomorrow – here’s a snazzy launch trailer
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness has a new trailer and gets a release date
WRC 10’s new Croatia Rally revealed in new gameplay trailer
Hearts of Iron IV: No Step Back trailer teases new Soviet Union expansion
Your Achievements
Here’s what you in our community has been up to this week:
- Bocking87 only recently got their PS5, but has been enjoying Astro Bot and Demon’s Souls
- ron_mcphatty has been giving Mario + Rabbids a go, and so far is loving the gameplay and the humour
- Beside celebrating his 14th wedding anniversary (congratulations!), willbuchanan has been getting stuck into the Borderlands 2 DLC.
- And MrYd has bounced between more Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the PS5 upgrade to Subnautica, the new expedition in No Man’s Sky, and giving Knockout City a quick go, which is “actually quite fun”.
Enjoy your weekend’s and I’ll see you again soon!
