August is rattling by, and so the good news for those that hate the summer gaming lull is that we’re getting closer to Gamescom. I felt E3 2021 was a bit lacklustre, so I’m hoping that Gamescom delivers a few more surprises.
Before we look to the future, let’s look to the past with a round-up of all the gaming news, reviews and more on TSA this week.
In the News This Week
- The Diablo 2: Resurrected open beta begins on August 20th
- GTA Remastered Trilogy reportedly coming to consoles, includes San Andreas
- Dead Space remake will remain faithful to the original game but will be modernised
- Forza Horizon 5’s map of Mexico revealed
- Xbox Gamescom 2021 stream will take place on 24th August
- Three more senior staff leave Blizzard following DFEH lawsuit
- Frostpunk 2 is set in the age of oil, 30 years after the original survival city builder
- Splitgate update for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S is coming
- Idris Elba will voice Knuckles for the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie
- Evil Genius 2 is coming to PlayStation and Xbox later this year
Games in Review
We had a few good games under the microscope this week:
- The Ramp – PC – 8/10
- Synth Riders PSVR – PSVR, Occulus, SteamVR – 8/10
- GRIME – PC – 8/10
- Foreclosed – PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX|S, NSW, PC, Stadia – 7/10
- Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle – NSW – 7/10
- Lawn Mowing Simulator – XBX|S, PC – 6/10
And just one hardware review, with Nic taking a look at Enacfire’s Gaming Earbuds:
Featured Articles
Kicking off the previews, Dom was full of praise for the JRPG, Tales of Arise, while Thomas was similarly impressed by Exo One.
Next up, Jim shared his thoughts on Back 4 Blood, a co-op zombie shooter from the developers of Left4Dead which has an open beta this weekend. He also went hands on with Marvel’s Avengers: War for Wakanda, the free expansion that arrives next week to introduce Black Panther into the mix.
Meanwhile, Adrian explored the historical significance of The Siege of Paris which forms the basis of the new Assassin’s Creed Valhalla DLC, as Christian looked back fondly at the early Lord of the Rings games from EA.
Last up, Jason implores everyone to play Hades, describing it as “one of the best games of the last few years”, while What We Played, featured that game, Marvel’s Avengers: War for Wakanda & Death’s Door.
Trailer Park
Aragami 2 has a new story trailer that focuses on protagonist Kurai
Tetris Effect: Connected is coming to Nintendo Switch in October
Going Medieval update has a lovely rack
Your Achievements
Here’s what you in our community has been up to this week:
- Free of his family, Andrewww had plenty of time for gaming, finishing up the story for Shadow of the Tomb Raider. He also spent some time with Outlast 2, Resident Evil 7 VR, AstroBot and the Spider-Man demo.
- MrYd has has a week of PS5 problems, with a power cut forcing him to wipe the system software and download everything again. Still, he got in plenty of Generation Zero, Watch Dogs Legion, and GRID, after it was added to EA Play.
- And willbuchanan did get the 100% for Borderlands 3, and decided that he’d follow this up by trying to platinum Monster Hunter World and its Iceborne expansion.
That’s it for this edition. Have a good week and I’ll see you again in no time!