I’ve been been starved of my creative writing for over a year now and I’m hungry. With limited time I have managed to put together the odd review but my energy has mostly been funnelled into homeschooling with my son and keeping the household ticking over. Memories of my own time at school have been flooding back with my distain for maths and conversely my love for science. I will say that while I adore teaching my son about the world at every opportunity, I’m not school teacher material. Alas, we have all survived and the schools have finally reopened (hopefully for the foreseeable future). It’s time to dust off the cobwebs and get back to writing.
With the website in semi-stasis for so long, I’m now wondering; is this now time for some changes to the way of things? The games industry has been thriving, in spite of the global pandemic, and gaming has become a refuge for so many people trapped indoors. With that said, the continuous effects of development teams from working from home have slowed many down to a crawl with subsequent delays now starting to become evident.
The months of March and April this year were fairly dead in terms of releases, so I decided to have a serious go at some games I’ve been wanting to replay: looking back I’m pretty impressed with how many I rattled through. GTA 5, Arkham Knight, Horizon Zero Dawn and the Wolfenstein saga to name but a few. I’ve always loved the way that when you improve your rig, all of your games also get improved in the process and the new GPU has made gaming at 1440p such a treat. Of course, the beast we have been saving for will now likely include a 3080ti: it’s just the small matter of finding one that doesn’t force us to remortgage the house.
Having secured a PS5 before Christmas means we have been able to enjoy games like Miles Morales and the remastered 2018 Spider-Man. It’s also been fantastic to play games like God of War and Days Gone in full 4K while running at 60fps: console and PC gaming has never been so close. As we hit June there are still huge shortages of both the new generation consoles and it’s been a real shame seeing so many people not able to enjoy them. Let us hope Sony and Microsoft can start getting more of these much sought after console out into the wild (and the scalpers all get dysentery.)
In my last blog post I had been looking forward to the imminent release of one of the most hyped games ever made. In a shocking turn of events, the release was an unmitigated disaster and Cyberpunk 2077 has already become a cautionary tale in its own time. On one front the game’s performance (especially on last-generation consoles) was all over the place and with so many issues it was unplayable for many. Six months later in the cold light of day, it still seems like a different game came out and the real juggernaut from CD Project Red is still undergoing finishing touches. PC gamers did come off the best with my own playthrough being relatively issue free. The really sad part was that I could see the huge amount of work that had been put into the game and at times the city was intoxicating. However, the real issue for me wasn't the technical problems but the missing content and advanced systems promised. After comparing it to the 2018 E3 ‘gameplay’ demo it feels like this was an intentional deception and that is where this developer lost my support. According to CD Project Red, they are now working on some substantial improvements to the game (despite being badly hacked) and so we wait.
On a far more positive note, Assassins Creed Valhalla (in a slew of big open-world games from Ubisoft) landed just before Christmas and it was a belter. This was honestly a pleasant surprise as the early gameplay did look like a departure from what I loved about the Creed games. Once I embarked on this epic journey it was clear that this was in fact one of the best Assassins Creed games to date. Ubisoft has stayed the course with the new (increasingly less popular) open-world formula, but with this game, they added some much-needed meat. With such a wonderful and interesting landscape that is obviously near and dear to my heart, how could I not love it? Even the combat, that I was initially very worried about, turned out to be brutal and fun. You can check out my full review here and I’ll be working through the new DLC as it arrives.
My more recent reviews include both Subnautica Below Zero and the much anticipated Mass Effect Remaster. Below Zero spent a long period of time in early access but as the story’s conclusion unlocks with the 1.0 release, it was time to give my final thoughts on this aquatic adventure. Like the first Subnautica, Below Zero does a fantastic job of immersing you in the experience of underwater survival. While at a glance you could think they were the same game, this new chapter does add a respectable list of refinements, interesting features and new creatures. This is definitely a game I can recommend but if you need any more convincing you can find my review here.
The Mass Effect trilogy (Legendary Edition) was an absolute joy to sink into and certainly brought back a lot of fond memories. I always did want to review Mass Effect and this facelift gave me the perfect excuse to go back. As I detail in the review, it is the first game that has seen the most dramatic changes with rebuilt assets, higher resolution textures and many more well-considered changes. It makes me so happy to see this wonderful space epic get a remaster that breaths new life into the ageing bones while respecting the original material. All three games now feel like a more consistent experience to be enjoyed by veterans or new players alike. You can find my full review here.
Of course this week the gaming news has been coming thick and fast with the onset and conclusion of E3. I know the show has been getting increasingly lambasted by critics for waning relevance, but I still see it as an important port in the gaming calendar. I think part of the issue is that gaming has started to go more mainstream and so as you would expect, more localised gaming shows have started to crop up. The way we consume gaming media is also evolving rapidly with people watching their favourite streamers, as opposed to a review on IGN. This year Ubisoft had a fairly meagre offering and personally, I think they should have just skipped it altogether. I am really excited to see more Assassins Creed Valhalla content coming soon and another discovery mode will be more than welcome.
In my opinion, the Microsoft and Bethesda conference was the one that stole the show, with an absent Sony they had the stage to themselves. The other smaller shows from Take-Two Interactive and Capcom were pretty awful to be honest, I’m not sure why they even bothered turning up. The cringe-machine that is the PC Gaming show once again provided a few interesting titles but mostly shovel-ware scraps which Microsoft discarded. Just once I would love to see a PC gaming show that not only gives the indie games some love but also shows off what a powerful PC gaming rig can do. Stand out E3 moments were the incredibly entertaining Devolver Digital show and the trailer for The Outer Worlds 2. Please check out my highlights list here which includes all relevant trailers.
So that is all for now folks. I am hoping to resume my blog on a more regular basis moving forward. This coming month there are a few things to look forward to including the Sea of Thieves update and also a new content drop for Grounded. Take care of yourselves and each other.
