What games are you guys playing at the moment?

[Steve]

Last night I checked out Bramble: The Mountain King, which is currently part of Game Pass.

It's an action/adventure game with some light puzzle elements based on Nordic fairy tales and myths, with a theme that often delves into horror.

If you have Game Pass, just play it. It's great. I'm not gonna say anything more than that cos nobody reads this shit anyway, but if you can play it, do so, as it's excellent!

[Dan]

Forza Motorsport, paid 26 quid to unlock the premium version. Uninstalled it after a few races, bloody waste of 26 quid.

[Steve]

7 hours ago, Dan said:

Forza Motorsport, paid 26 quid to unlock the premium version. Uninstalled it after a few races, bloody waste of 26 quid.

What don't you like about it?

I don't like the way it makes you do practice laps before races in the career mode - I wish you could skip that.

The sound of collisions is totally unrealistic - like something out of a video game from the 90s.

I also really didn't like how sometimes you would do a side-on collision with a drivatar and it was like you were glued to them, so you couldn't steer away from them and they would drag you off the track.

The graphics didn't blow me away either. I used the regular performance mode, but graphically it's not even as impressive as FH5 IMO. It was hard to tell if the crowd was moving/cheering or not at times.

All of that said, once I played through the initial (rather lengthy) tutorial section and unlocked the main menus, and I disabled several assists that were making it feel like I wasn't really in control of the car, I was quite enjoying it. I'll give the online racing a go today at some point, but if it's full of rammers and dickheads, I won't be surprised, even though (to their credit) they've put warnings in the game about the code of conduct.

I've never been a massive fan of the mainline Forza series though, so I kinda knew this wouldn't be for me, but I can't see big fans of the series being blown away by this tbh.

[Dan]

I thought it looked shit really, nothing like what they showed in the run up to release. FH5 and Grid Legends looked better. I also didn't like the way it handled, something just felt a little "off" to me even with most assists off.  

[Steve]

I'm a short way into Alan Wake 2. I'm really enjoying it so far.

You start off playing as an FBI agent called Saga Anderson, then later you get to play as Alan Wake. I really like the detective elements, where you can access a pinboard and try and discover evidence and figure out clues to get further in the case.

Graphically it looks excellent. In the initial intro cinematic, the sound was quite badly out of sync, but thankfully it's been fine after that.

It's one of the best-rated games so far this year, with an average score of 89/100 from 60+ reviews.

[mfsop]

Just pulled the trigger on Steam and got Red Dead Redemption 2 while it's on sale. Factoring in my internet connection, it should only take three months to download those meager 120 GB. Pretty sure that Windows updates and other file clutter will show up once it's installed, so no more disk space for savegames. Oh well, perma death mode it is...

[Steve]

I've been playing Pinball M.

It's a pinball platform from Zen Studios, specifically created for 18-rated horror-themed tables that they wouldn't be able to put on Pinball FX (their main pinball platform) without censoring them.

It's free to play, but only 1 table is included for free. There's 4 other tables available to purchase atm: -

• Wrath of the Elder Gods: Director's Cut (included for free)
• Chucky's Killer Pinball
• The Thing Pinball
• Dead By Daylight Pinball
• Duke Nukem's Big Shot Pinball

I like all of the tables. There's your usual array of modes, views, challenges, and unlockables that you get with Zen pinball.

Each table costs £4.59 and you can buy all 4 in a bundle for £16.74, which is a kinda stingy discount for a bundle IMO, but if you like pinball you're gonna get your money's worth at less than a fiver per table.

[djdiggla]

Been playing Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope on Switch. It's the second game in the series. Dropped last year. It's turn-based strategy so probably not for everyone but I absolutely love it. That's my favorite game genre. Not many good ones since Intelligent stopped making the Advance Wars series in favor of Fire Emblem. 

Other game i recently played was the new Super Mario Bros. Wonder. I don't own it yet but will have to get it. It's a fun new takes on the Mario franchise. Good of course like most all of the series. 

[Steve]

I've been playing a cool puzzle game called Grindstone.

Rather than me explain what it is, here's a short review: -

I'd highly recommend it if you're into puzzle games. It's available on a bunch of different platforms.

[Steve]

Last night I checked out Stumble Guys, which is a shameless rip-off of Fall Guys. It's free to play with a premium battle pass option.

The game starts out with 32 players. A course is selected at random. The first 16 that make it across the finish line qualify and the rest are eliminated. A new course is then selected, 8 players are eliminated, then a final course is selected and whoever makes it across the line first wins. I actually won in my very first game, lol: -

The controls are very simple. You use the left stick to move and A to jump. If you press A again shortly after jumping, you'll dive forwards on to your belly. The courses have a mix of themes. There's one with water slides. One has a ton of trampolines, so you have to bounce from one to another. One has floor tiles that disappear shortly after you step on them. There's a bunch of different courses.

There's a ton of stuff to unlock; characters, skins, emotes etc., but a fair bit of it is locked behind the premium battle pass. It's all cosmetic though, so there's no pay to win shit going on.

It's pretty good fun and it's very easy to play so young kids can play (it has no voice chat, so you don't hear annoying squeakers thankfully, lol), but it's not something you'd play for hours on end. It has a party system so you can group up with friends. Matchmaking takes no more than 15 seconds at the moment. It's available on mobile, Xbox, PlayStation and Windows and it has cross-platform play.

[Steve]

Last night I checked out Go Mecha Ball, which has just been added to Game Pass: -

It's a mix of twin stick shooter, Marble Madness, and playing Wrecking Ball from Overwatch. You can move around really fast when you're in ball form and you can boop enemies off the map, or slam down on them from above. There's lots of different weapons and upgrades to pick up. The weapons have a limited amount of ammo, but when you slam into enemies in ball form, they will drop ammo that you can pick up.

It's wave-based, so on each level you have to survive 3 waves of attacks, then you can move on to the next level, and there are boss battles every so often too.

It's good fun and definitely worth a try if you have Game Pass.

[Steve]

I've been playing Neon Abyss. It's a rogue-like with procedurally generated levels. It's a fantastic game IMO.

It's a 2D run and gun shooter, so you basically enter a room, kill everything in there, pick up coins, weapon drops, power ups etc., then it's on to the next room, then eventually you get to a level boss.

What's awesome about it is the sheer number of weapons and upgrades you can find. There is a ridiculous amount of variety, for example, there are 60 unique weapons, all of which can be powered up. Also, you can pick up eggs that will float in a line behind you, and every now and then one will hatch into a little minion that can help you in some way, and those minions can also level up and get stronger. You can play as several different characters, each of which has their own specific strengths.

It's available on Windows and all consoles. It's part of Game Pass, plus it's on sale for £3.99 on PlayStation until Feb 14th.

Here's a gameplay video: -

 

[Steve]

I tried out HAWKED, which is a new F2P looter shooter that's PVPVE.

You play in groups of 2 or 3. The idea is that you solve puzzles to retrieve glyphs and when you have enough, you can unlock a final treasure room containing artifacts, then you have to take them to an extraction point and survive long enough to extract them.

The map you play on is large and is split into various areas, such as beaches, jungle sections, ancient ruins etc. You not only encounter AI enemies, but other groups too and if you kill them you can steal their stuff.

You can get around nice and quickly as you can sprint and slide, plus you also have a hoverboard and grappling hook.

I think the game has a lot of potential, but it needs some work. For instance, I found it hard to tell if a weapon I'd found was better than the one I already had equipped. Also, the AI enemies are just too weak IMO, as you can shred them with pretty much any gun, even the bigger bosses. My team made it to the final treasure room and I grabbed the major artifact, which seemed to mark me as a target, but nobody came and challenged us - neither AI, nor real players, and when we got to the extraction point, we just had to stand around for 60 seconds or so and that was it. I expected a bunch of AI enemies to attack, or teams of real players to turn up and try and steal our shit, but nope; nothing.

It's definitely worth giving it a go though IMO. It's available on Windows, PS4, PS5, and the Xbox Series consoles. It's F2P with in-game purchases and a battle pass - the usual shit - but it doesn't seem to be pay to win from what I've seen. It has crossplay, so you can play with people on different platforms, and you can group up with friends in a party.

[Steve]

Tonight I've been playing a F2P game called Queen's Quest 5: Symphony of Death.

It's a point and click puzzle game. You play as an alchemist who is investigating the kidnapping of several children. You have to collect items, craft potions, and solve puzzles to progress through the story.

On PC it's $15, but it's free to play on other platforms, including Xbox. You start off with 5 free hints you can use if you get stuck, then you can pay to get more if you need them, but given that there are walk-throughs on YouTube, you don't really need to do that. If you do want to support the developers the price of buying hints is super-cheap anyway, plus they give you 1 extra free hint every day.

If you like chilled puzzle games, I'd definitely recommend it. Apparently it's 3-4 hours long, which is perfect for a game like this.

[Steve]

I've been playing The Quarry, which is an interactive horror game.

You get to play as 9 different characters who are trying to survive their last night at Hackett's Quarry summer camp. The decisions you make along the way affect the ending of the game, and there's a whopping 186 different endings.

It's primarily a single player experience, but it can be played in local co-op where you take it in turns to play different characters, plus there is an online mode where 1 person plays the game, and up to 7 other people get to vote on what decisions are made, which could be pretty cool if you're streaming.

It takes about 9 hours to do a single play through, but there is obviously a ton of replayability due to your decisions affecting what happens in the story.

On Xbox Series X, the graphics are excellent, particularly the character models and facial animations. The writing is also really good and draws you in pretty quickly. I would say the only minor negatives are that sometimes the camera can be a bit quirky, plus it would be nice if there was a run button so you could get around a bit faster when you're exploring.

The game is currently part of Game Pass on Xbox One/Series consoles, and it's also available on PS4, PS5 and PC.

I highly recommend it if you like story-driven games, particularly if you're into horror.

[Steve]

I finished my first play through of The Quarry, and it was great! The latter part of it I streamed on Twitch so a friend of mine could watch and take part in the decision making, which was cool.

One major criticism I have is that if you're someone who likes to mop up missing achievements after an initial play through, the way this game handles chapter replays fucking SUCKS. Once you complete the game, you unlock the ability to replay it starting at a particular chapter, but it wipes out all of your progress beyond the chapter you select, including the chapter replay ability! For example, if you go back to chapter 5 to collect some items you missed, the game basically forgets everything you did from chapter 5 onwards, including the ability to replay chapters, so you can't grab the missing items from chapter 5 then back out and jump into a different chapter; you have to play all the way through the entire game again!

That aside, I loved this game. As long as you're more into the horror-based story than challenging game play, you will likely love it too.

[chile]

i been playing baldurs gate 3. havent been on it in a month got booored. Im near the end of act 2. super long.

[Jimmy]

Is anyone into Elden Ring? I dont play it but know more than i should from my mate and also watching youtube play throughs. 

[Steve]

7 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Is anyone into Elden Ring?

It looks amazing, but I just know I would find it frustrating. I'm not into super-hard games where you have to repeat the same boss fight over and over.

[djdiggla]

Steve, did you see they are coming out with a Boarderlands movie? Looks pretty fun TBH!

[Jimmy]

3 hours ago, Steve said:

It looks amazing, but I just know I would find it frustrating. I'm not into super-hard games where you have to repeat the same boss fight over and over.

Yeah, it does look like you have to learn boss attacks etc to be able to beat them. 
It’s also so open world that I feel I’d get lost on some side quest and just set up a mining guild or something. 
 

in general I think games are too hard. Aren’t they supposed to be relaxing? I peaked at goldeneye. 

[Steve]

33 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

Yeah, it does look like you have to learn boss attacks etc to be able to beat them.

I posted this in the thread earlier, but I'll post it again. This guy was a pro player in the Overwatch League, so he's certainly good at video games. Check out how hard he finds beating this boss (she appears about 2 minutes in): -

There are definitely times when I like games to be challenging, but this is just too much for me.

[djdiggla]

1 hour ago, Jimmy said:

Yeah, it does look like you have to learn boss attacks etc to be able to beat them. 
It’s also so open world that I feel I’d get lost on some side quest and just set up a mining guild or something. 
 

in general I think games are too hard. Aren’t they supposed to be relaxing? I peaked at goldeneye. 

I agree. Games are too hard. Not all but a lot. If it has a long learning curve, requires me to be fast or remember a lot, or if I die constantly then just gonna play something else. I don't have time to be good at videogames. That all said, embarrassingly I'm playing Clash Royale lately. Largely just to beat my son and his friends. I suck but apparently used to play and am in a clan... which is weird because I don't recall that at all... maybe was during the drunken times of THE COVIDS.

[Jimmy]

11 hours ago, Steve said:

I posted this in the thread earlier, but I'll post it again. This guy was a pro player in the Overwatch League, so he's certainly good at video games. Check out how hard he finds beating this boss (she appears about 2 minutes in): -

There are definitely times when I like games to be challenging, but this is just too much for me.

thats enlightening. 
I watch these guys - https://www.youtube.com/@RKG/featured
their whole thing is that one of them is good but doesnt play, he just knows the lore inside out, one is there for banter and rory (the player) is shit at dark souls type games so its basically him being an idiot. mostly its funny, but also sometimes its 2 hours of him trying to beat a boss. and thats edited down, i think it actually takes all day.

Quote

 I don't have time to be good at videogames

I think this too. like for fun and stuff i get it, especially the social side of it all. but like we're saying, if its taking hours / days / weeks to progress then I'd rather put my time into something else. and i dont even have kids or anything! 

 

[Steve]

I've been playing a racing game called Trail Out.

It's a budget game created by a core dev team comprised of just 4 people. It doesn't have particularly high production values, but it reminds me of older arcade racers like Burnout and FlatOut. It's just silly mayhem a lot of the time, ramming other racers until their cars blow up, and using nitrous to fly past everyone into first place.

The story and voice acting are bad in a good way; the game feels like a parody, even if that was not intentional.

There's a bunch of stuff to unlock, various different types of races and events, including demolition derby, and overall you get a decent amount of content for your money, with more supposedly on the way. A large free update to the game is supposedly coming very soon that will add new modes, a new map with dynamic weather/time of day, new cars, and various other improvements.

The main focus is on the single player campaign, but there's also other single player modes and local multiplayer for 2-4 people. The game has no online racing at all, which kinda sucks cos I think it would be a ton of fun to play with/against real players, but as far as I can tell, they have no plans to add it.

It's been out on PC for a while, has just come to Xbox Series consoles (although unfortunately, not on Game Pass), and is supposedly coming to PS5 later this year. If you're looking for a highly polished experience, you want a sim racer, or you want to play online with friends, this won't be for you, but if you want to reminisce back to the days of fun arcade racers it's worth picking up IMO.

Trailer: -

This is the original trailer from 2022. They have improved the game's performance a fair bit since then, although it's still kinda janky at times, particularly when there's a ton of stuff going on.