Currently Playing

[Animalmother]

I believe Game Pass has issues if there is more than one user account on the PC.

Played Avowed for a bit yesterday. It's very pretty and the colour pop on the screen, the lighting in some areas is just beautiful. The character models and voice acting all seem to be mostly pretty good. Enjoying it so far but finding the combat a little frustrating, enemies are far too tanky for this early in the game. Those lizard spear throwers are a fucking ballache. I've upgraded my sword a number of times but it still feels as weak as when I first found it.

Anywho I'll keep at it and am genuinely looking forward to playing it later.

[Animalmother]

I've about 12 hours into Avowed now and still enjoying. The progression is a tad glacial, after 12 hours I'm only level 8 and still pretty squishy (I am doing a lot of wandering rather than quests). Did find a pistol that can one shot most low level enemies if you sneak up on them which is handy. The parkour mechanic is good if a bit basic, if you can find a way you can climb up most buildings or cliffs. Someone working on the game must have been somewhat influenced by Dishonored I think.

I've seen the game getting panned for being too "woke". Apart from it having a healthy mixture of people with different skin tones I can't fathom where this is coming from, but that's all it takes to be labeled with that apparent slur these days.

[Rusty]

I think pretty much every relationship is same sex. All people in power are female. If a male is in power then they is dumb and shouldn't be in power.
I would say that that is where this is coming from?

However, I say it doesn't make a blind bit of difference.
Finished the game in around 30 hours or so, enjoyed it but will probably never go back to it.
It's a one and done type thing. Got a bit samey near the end.

[DjchunKfunK]

I've really been enjoying Avowed, helps that I have a soft spot for the Pillars lore as PoE 2 is one of my favourite cRPGs. I think the combat is a lot of fun, some of the best melee combat I've used in one of these types of games. I also like the smaller maps and more low key feel to the game. I've found most of the characters to be pretty good and although there are not a lot of dialogue choices that lead to story altering choices I like that they give you a lot of options in terms of the types of replies. It makes the conversations feel more natural and allows you to roleplay a bit more.

[ManBearSquid]

The Invincible

I picked this up for £3 from CD Keys and I feel like a thief! I adore it.

Gorgeous sci-fi adventure/walking sim game with a great story (based on a book) and I'm just really enjoying the atmosphere and the journey. I truly feel transported to somewhere alien.

[Snowy]

The shots you posted on Discord look really nice. For £3 I could take a look at that.

[ManBearSquid]

I sat an played 2.5 hours straight before I even realised it! It's like being part of a really good sci-fi movie. It's also a nice change of pace from Helldivers and Dark Tide.

[Alan]

Shadow Gambit
I'm getting through this a lot slower than I did their previous games and thats mostly because of the open world thing where theres only 8 levels that you play on again and again and again and again. Different missions move some elements around but a lot of it is quite static. You can also land at different spots on the island and approach things differently and use different characters but I just feel the bespoke levels of their other games were so much better. Its unfortunate because the core game is fantastic, their different character archetypes are the most fun theyve come up with, the DLC is great and the missions are interesting. There's just a lot of levels that I start and sigh because I need to take out the same bunch of guys yet again. Its a great game, I do love it... I just wish I loved it a little bit more.

Finished it, pretty much feel the same way. Fantastic game on nearly every front except level selection. Well most of the stuff on the boat is crap too but thats all optional. Now theres a secret final member of the crew to unlock at 85% total completion which may take some time but I can see myself coming back to it in bursts in the future. It does feel like they planned more DLC but because they shutdown it was cancelled, just little things like still earning upgrade points and the game telling you you have points to spend even though youve bought everything seems to point to either the DLC characters originally having an upgrade or for more upgrades as DLC later. Its minor, just a curiosity.

Right, I'll give that Sumerian Six game a shot next!

[Lenny Solidus]

Warhammer 40k: Darktide.

I came to the party a bit late on this one, the rest of my very good-looking cooperative group had already sunk several hours into each and it took me a while to get to grips with every...they've read all this shite before Dave...well I was just...move on. Steam tells me that I'm now close to racking up 300 hours surpassing most of the group, hardly surprising given that we play it religiously...you're doing it again...ahem nothing quite ends an evening better than a quick run or two on it to ease the pressures of the day in gibs blood ragdolls and a lot of bullets. The gibs blood and ragdolls part all of which I'm now experiencing for the very first time and my god is it distracting as all fuck...I end up marvelling/laughing at it all so often mid-fight it may explain why I'm constantly being picked up off the floor.

The games longevity might one day be a factor we're not there yet as a group, and we've now moved into Havoc territory, for us at least it always delivers a bond pleasing momentum filled with laughs banter small randomised amusements and a great deal of death. Given what the community at large seem to express ie at the very least feel it hasn't got enough content and the devs are for whatever reason consistently "taking the piss" blah de blah there's a lot of useless noise on there. A new update releases tomorrow as it happens so we shall see what comes from that. I have a level 30 zealot and a level 30 vet and I do feel I much prefer the guntastic nature of the latter now even if I sometimes struggle to stay on my feet more often than not by a group of fucking crushers who insta-slam me into oblivion. Though not much beats sticky bombing an entire cluster of them with a vet grenade and watching them explode and fall over.

No game I can think of in recent memory has such a tightly contained structure, some would say highly repetitive nature - yet gives you an experience few other games can match each and every time you join in.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director's cut.

Forza Horizon 4.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.

More on the above soon.

[Snowy]

Dave is absolutely correct on this one, Darktide really needs calling out. Above are four of the five of the wrecking crew (with ManBearSquid being the fifth man), from left to right El Gaucho's Zealot, Dave's Veteran, my Ogryn (god I love that character) and Raid's Veteran.

We have been playing it since launch - it has been on Gamepass from day 1 and we have pretty much been playing for the same amount of time. It is one of the exceedingly rare games that just gets it fucking right. Now I can't speak for this lot:

Given what the community at large seem to express ie at the very least feel it hasn't got enough content and the devs are for whatever reason consistently "taking the piss" blah de blah

However for me, the experience of Darktide just rips in a way very few other titles do. We have reached what we have felt was a difficulty plateau a number of times now, but we refine our gameplay and overcome. Levels 1 through 5, occasional Auric difficulty, and now most recently Havoc, and we just keep on improving. It's so nice too, as we have remained a core group.

This is limiting, in that playing externally to that core team makes the game so much less - it really is a game where with a good team it wildly exceeds the sum of its parts.

What really makes it for me is the AI director. On the higher difficulty level, the game batters you, it hurls swarms of unyielding enemies at you, many of them specials with mutators that make for unique tactical challenges that then all get mixed in together. At its peak, you are carving through swathes of enemies, clinging to the possibility of victory by your fingernails with the slimmest of margins between that and ignominious defeat. When you lose, you know why. The game may have fucked you, but you know the mistake that pre-empted the wipe. Winning though, you surf through by the slimmest of margins, you get rescued by your mates, you pull one another up off the ground, you hurl yourself into areas where your strengths will count.

For example, my character is big, heavy and ponderous. I can run but doing so drains stamina and stamina is needed to hold my enormous shield in the way of enemy attacks, so I tend to be slow. Snipers and gunners are not my friend, but I know that if I tag an enemy, either Dave or Raid will vapourise it, or El Gaucho will emerge behind it and eviscerate it, within a split second of me tagging it. At the same time, I can soak immense amounts of damage so when we get attacked by the melee stalwarts, who left unchecked will cause carnage in our ranks, I dive in with a taunt, a shield slam to knock them off balance, a shove to stop them in their tracks, anything to break up their attacks. I don't need to kill them (although I do, a lot ¬_¬), the rest of the team will do that, I just need to fuck up their attacks until that happens.

Added to the AI director are the visuals, which are gorgeous in a vile way. Enemies splatter, often bursting into a maggot-filled putrescence. Gibs rip parts clean off, enemies have pieces of them vapourised in clouds of blood and offal. Gore sprays across surfaces. Ragdolls, erm, ragdoll.

Also the voice lines in the game - these are really special and get added to constantly. My character, the hulking brute that is the tanky Ogryn, has some peaches. An inability to say complex words such as 'Medicae' as well as more basic ones like 'Ammo' can add in a sparkle of comedy, lightening the moment as you pound through an army of Nurgle-obsessed grunts, but to be honest all the voice options you can choose for the characters injects loads of colour to proceedings.

It is extremely rare that our co-op group has such a solid mainstay game that lasts for so long, but Darktide is that game. It does require a solid co-op team, without it I suspect that mileage would vary enormously from our experience, but my word what a fabulous game.

Here's an Ogryn-eye view of a mission from one of our recent games:



And finally I love my Ogryn character so much I have had him commissioned by our very own artist-in-residence (AKA Dave)

[Raid]

If Snowy's the group's tank, then I'm our sniper. My Veteran, the extremely cocky Irish lass (the game has a surprisingly wide range of regional British accents; Irish isn't exactly uncommon, but there are Scouse, Brummie, Lancashire, and they're all bloody entertaining - the voice acting in this really is top notch), wields a Spearhead Boltgun which is basically a cannon that does pinpoint accuracy, but that can also empty its 15 round magazine in a couple of seconds, and every round has the capacity of vaporising a weaker enemy. It's the most satisfying weapon I've ever used in a shooter. I can also yell at things with such vigour that it stuns enemies (often knocking them to the ground) and grants our team a defensive boost for a few seconds. My favourite trick of late is to run right up to one of the giant monstrous enemies, yell at them to get them to rear backward, and then unload a full Bolter magazine into their throat in the couple of seconds it takes them to regain their composure, often killing them outright (in fights that used to take us a minute or two). It is hilariously effective and satisfying.

Here's my viewpoint of that same mission. You don't get the full effect of the boltgun from Snowy's angle because his character's ears are so far from the ground.