The Gamer Guide - Issue 17 by The Gamer Guide

The Preamble So, you have stumbled across The Gamer Guide and you are wondering, “Why do I need a guide to gaming?” Well, we will not guide you on how to game, but we will keep you informed as to what the gaming industry has to offer to get you the best gaming experience! Now, the second thing you are probably wondering is, “How did The Gamer Guide start?” Well, it can be a slightly long story. However, the shortened version is that the journey of three Twitch streamers brought them together, and with their passion for gaming, their experiences of streaming, and their love for everything within the world of entertainment… The Gamer Guide was born. But what exactly is The Gamer Guide? The Gamer Guide is a digital magazine that focuses on everything gaming and streaming. This includes the latest/upcoming releases, reviews on gaming accessories, streaming tips, and even interviews with streamers and industry professionals from across the globe. Our readership is predominantly other gamers and streamers, just like us! We understand that the love and passion for gaming extends far beyond just playing a game, and that is what we are all about! So, who are the people behind this magazine?

Brandon Sawyer - Content Director Brandon who goes by the name of Sawyer is the Co Owner & Content Director of The Gamer Guide. Predominantly Sawyer is an Xbox Gamer where he mostly plays his Xbox Series X but also has a Gaming PC, a Nintendo Switch, and even a Playstation 5, with a variety of platforms this gives Sawyer the ability to review the latest games for TGG. Sawyers main gaming love is Gears of war and RPGs because who doesn’t love an adventure or some chainsaw slaying with a cheeky blind fire or wall bounce. Due to Sawyers vast knowledge and background within the industry he came together with Emily to form The Gamer Guide.

Emily Welfare - Creative Director Emily, also known as CreativeTrashGaming, came together with Sawyer to form the Gamer Guide, bringing her creative knowledge. Her favourite types of games are those with a compelling story, or those that just make her inner Fantasy Nerd go ballistic. She also likes spooky stuff, not just in the gaming realm but in general, and has a podcast with her two sisters where they discuss all things horror. Emily loves to dabble in the art world often, creating digital art pieces and learning new crafts. A graphics designer in her full time job, Emily is an integral part of the team whom designs the entire layout of our magazines from top to bottom!

Jamie Yong - Operations Manager Jamie joined The Gamer Guide late 2022 as the Operations Manager. With gaming experience in multiple platforms, Jamie’s preferred platform is PC gaming; from aiming down the sights in an FPS to brandishing swords in the world of MMORPGs. Jamie has come on board to bring you content on your favourite creators; from streamers and YouTubers, to cosplayers and artists!

contents 3

tabletop corner

iiyama

surfire

anker

streamplify

nacon x rig

gioteck

alta labs

the game awards 2023

microsoft developer direct

playstation state of play

gaming news

last of us 2 remastered

tekken 8

ready or not

prince of persia: the lost crown

79 83

like a dragon: infinite wealth avatar: frontiers of pandora

arizona sunshine 2

house flipper 2

loddlenaut

toobizygaming

109

sal vahed 2

The Gamer Guide's

Tabletop Corner

MagicCon is coming to Amsterdam! On June 28th-30th 2024, Wizards of The Coast and Reedpop will be hosting MagicCon in Europe! The event will feature Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3, a variety of on-demand and ticketed play events, exclusive panels, immersive experiences, merch, fan-favourite Artists and so much more! Some beloved creators have already been announced in the line-up for the event, along with amazing cosplayers and Magic celebrities. Early bird tickets are available now, which can be found in the link below!

mcamsterdam.mtgfestivals.com

iiyama trio review

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Our great friends over at iiyama hooked us up with three products to review for you all and these products range to a bunch of readers from gamers to office require setups and even content creators these 3 items are a must with one being super budget friendly for gamers. iiyama sent us two monitors one made for gaming and one more or so designed for the intense workspace of an office user, not only that iiyama hooked us up with a must for content creators and that is their very own 4k webcam. Who are iiyama? For our readers who may have not heard of iiyama let us give you a brief rundown of who they are but first how about a fun fact? Iiyama is also the name of a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. On to the actual company now, iiyama is a brand name of Mouse Computer Corporation. They produce liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors and LED display panels. Iiyama offers a wide range of products including desktop monitors, touchscreens, gaming accessories, and large format displays. They have launched various series of interactive displays and digital signage, designed to enhance collaboration in education and enterprise environments. So what are these products we have been sent to review? First up built for more office based users and that additional workload for creating content using photoshop or just basic office related or creation needs is the iiyama ProLite XUB3293UHSN Which is a 4K Ultra HD 32” IPS LCD Monitor with a built in USB Docking station. Secondly we have the iiyama G-Master Black Hawk G2755HSU which is the perfect gaming monitor on a budget for gaming of 60-100fps with a perfect 1 m/s response time. And finally we have the iiyama UC-CAM 10PRO-MA1 which is a professional 4k webcam built not just for office use but for gaming and streaming too.

A content creator would be a fool not to add such a product to their arsenal.

ProLite XUB3293UHSN The Iiyama ProLite XUB3293UHSN-B5 is a 32inch monitor designed for professional use. It incorporates a 32-inch IPS panel with a 4K resolution, it also supports resolutions up to 3,840 x 2,160 at 60Hz. The contrast specification is 1,000:1, brightness of 350cd/m2, and 4ms grey-to-grey pixel response. The ProLite includes DisplayPort, HDMI and USB-C ports allowing this to be a great console gaming monitor too, the USB-C port can also output 65W of power so it can charge a laptop surprisingly enough. There’s also a USB Type B input and an Ethernet port, giving this screen complete KVM functionality. The design is sober and the build quality is high with a very solid, heavy stand. Ergonomic adjustment is comprehensive, including height adjustment, swivelling, tilting and pivoting into portrait orientation. A great addition however is that this monitor does have built-in speakers which are stereo 3W speakers. Additionally, there’s a minijack for headphones too, so you can enjoy sound directly from the monitor or use headphones for a more personal experience.

Price The monitor is priced at around £499.99 however for 4k and the connectivity and solid design this price is really justified at a reasonable value. Overall The Iiyama ProLite XUB3293UHSN-B5 is a competent business and professional screen with detail-rich 4K resolution, excellent colour accuracy when calibrated, and a USB-C enabled. However, the brightness uniformity and gamut could be improved. With all that in mind and such a monitor more designed to cater to a professional nature in some cases maybe an overkill? But with added USB hub and additional requirements for needs I could see this being easily a go to monitor for creators who make use of products like adobe which many creators need and use daily for their work. On that note, the price could be a bit distracting but with what comes with this monitor and only slight issues with brightness and gamut, I would state that this monitor does compare somewhat favourably to what else is on the market within its range. With all that in mind then this product deserves a reputable score of 8/10 for TGG.

The monitor does a good job of making 100Hz the new standard. However, it has middling colours. We in-depth tested out this monitor mostly with PS5 games with the likes of God of War Ragnarök & Spider-Man 2 and we seemed to be able to play with ease and enjoyment, yes at times the graphics seemed a little duller than 4k but you have to take price into consideration here for £100 can you complain? a bog standard tv would cost more than this and not have near the 100hz or response time. Why not see this in action over on TikTok here: The Gamer Guide® (@the.gamer.guide) | TikTok Price The monitor is priced at around £115 however I have seen this as low as £95 making this the ideal starter gaming monitor as its super friendly on the budget and gives a decent gaming aspect to your setups.

G-Master Black Hawk G2755HSU

Overall

The Iiyama G-Master Black Hawk G2755HSU-B1 is a 27-inch monitor which is designed for gaming.

The Iiyama G-Master Black Hawk G2755HSU-B1 is a budget-friendly gaming monitor that offers a high refresh rate and fast response time However, you might need to make some adjustments to get the most out of it indeed this is what I had to do a handful of times to make games pop more and look much better.

This monitor features a VA panel with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 at 100Hz. The contrast specification is 4000:1, brightness of 250 cd/m², and 1ms MPRT response time which is very much needed for gaming. This monitor includes HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, and a USB Type-B that feeds two Type-A ports. The design is understated and fits both work and play seamlessly. However, it lacks cable management with a pretty basic clip on the back of the monitor not really making this look better for the setup management and the stand is noticeably shorter than most which is a pain depending on desk spaces as such. The screen features a 100x100mm VESA mount if you’re happy to attach it to a wall or desk clamp which to me is the more ideal approach. 7

This monitor comes with two integrated highquality 2W speakers. Additionally, there’s a headphone connector for you to plug in your headset and enjoy. So, you can enjoy sound directly from the monitor or use headphones for a more personal experience.

I would recommend this monitor more towards console gamers or the younger audience as this monitor would match up well for switch users or casual gamers on Xbox or PlayStation, with the average 60 frames per second you could match this up with a bunch of game pass or PS Now games and have a nice graphical enjoyment. With the middling colours and the tweaking of settings and lack of cable management and a shorter stand it does fall short a little here but for the price I don’t think you can compete with not many on the market able to provide 100hz and 1m/s response time for this price leading our rating to a respectable high 7/10.

UC-CAM 10PRO-MA1 The Iiyama UC-CAM10PRO-MA1 is a professional 4K webcam designed for video conferencing but for me is an ideal camera for streaming and or content creation. The Display offers a 120° field of view (FoV) and auto-framing. Auto framing adjusts to your position, placing the user in view at all times which is super ideal for streamers. Equipped with an impressive 5x Digital Zoom and integrated 8 microphone array. The strong audio detection with a range of up to 8 metres guarantees all users will be seen and heard which again is superb and very convenient for your creation. Thanks to a 15° tilt adjustment feature, the camera can be customised to fit your needs, not only that if you are particularly cautious about privacy, a manual privacy shutter ensures your camera can only see you when you want it to which come on we have all been caught off guard with our webcams especially while eating. This lightweight camera works in any environment large or small whilst supporting all leading conferencing software like Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and more. Price The Webcam is priced at around £280 however I have seen this lower in some cases, with the price

in mind it is super premium and it is expected with all the features that are included, remember the saying buy cheap buy twice, well with this webcam you have that ease that you are getting the bang for your buck. Overall The Iiyama UC-CAM10PRO-MA1 is a professional 4K webcam that offers automatic framing and speaker tracking, making it a great choice for video conferencing. The webcam no doubt compares favourably with other webcams in its class.

With intense review periods and a bunch of comparing with other webcams we found this to be a top contender with little to zero issues while using this webcam it is a must for many streamers and or creators to obtain in their setup, most defiantly setting the bar for premium 4k quality webcams. With all that in mind the price is the leading factor to put people off, however you get what you pay for and this is a superb webcam and a 4k too making you look ever so clear and professional. To rate such a webcam is easy for us as this is a comfortable 9/10. Well that’s a wrap, three great products by the wonderful team over at iiyama, why not head below to check out their site and socials too and while you’re at it why not pick up some of their products today!

Website: www.iiyama.com Facebook: @iiyamaCo X: @iiyamaCo YouTube: @iiyamamonitors

surefire gaming bundle Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Our great friends over at SureFure sent us a trio of products which all tie into a super budget friendly setup. SureFire gave us a Kingpin M1, a Vinson N2 and a Harr Who are SureFire?

Price

SureFire Gaming is a specialist European brand owned by Verbatim GmbH. They provide storage and accessory products for the gaming industry. Their products are designed for both PC and console gaming enthusiasts. SureFire Gaming products are built to last, easy to use, and offer great value for money.

Priced at around the £39.99 mark and available via Amazon, making this a very budget friendly option for gamers.

They offer a range of gaming products for consoles and PCs, such as keyboards, headsets, and more. For instance, they have a 60% mechanical RGB gaming keyboard with a 1ms response time and a lifespan of 50 million key presses. They also offer a high-performance 7.1 virtual surround sound gaming headset with a detachable microphone. Kingpin M1 60% Mechanical Keyboard KingPin M1 is ideal for streamlined setups where desk space is a premium. Perfect for taking to events, LAN parties or tournaments. The lightningfast mechanical SureFire gaming keyboard in a compact 60% form factor. Specs 60% gaming keyboard. Mechanical red linear switches – 1ms response time. 50 million key presses lifespan. Multi-optional RGB lighting – 6 active modes. 100% anti-ghosting keys. 3 multimedia shortcut keys. Adjustable settings via software. (Windows only) 1.8m braided USB cable. 2-year warranty.

What do we think? The KingPin M1 has a minimalist aesthetic with a black colour scheme. It features an array of RGB lighting modes that are programmable via simple commands listed in the manual. The keyboard is made of ultra-resistant ABS plastic. The keyboard is equipped with red mechanical switches that have a 0.4mm travel time and 100% anti-ghosting keys, this ensures an impressive urgency with each keystroke. The keyboard comes with a 1.8m braided USB-A cable. It also features 100% Anti-ghosting keys, 3 multimedia shortcut keys, and a 1ms response time which is fairly impressive for the price. The KingPin M1 should be praised for its competitive pricing, sleek design, and sturdy construction, making it a perfect companion for minimalist setups. Compared to other 60% keyboards in the market, the KingPin M1 offers a competitive package of features at an affordable price. However, some competitors may offer more advanced features. Rating I came across little to no faults with this is did exactly what is says on the box and looks great and gave me the required room I would need option for a 60% keyboard, with a slick design and a wonderful finish this keyboard is defiantly the choice for you to keep your budget happy and

provide hours of gaming enjoyment. The only thing I would say is the noise and the features where this product lacks, however for this price we don’t need to be picking slim problems now and on that note 9/10 we can safely produce for the Kingpin M1. Harrier 360 Surround Sound RGB USB Gaming Headset With 7.1 virtual stereo surround sound, RGB lighting and detachable microphone, the SureFire Harrier 360 Surround Sound USB Gaming Headset will give you the spatial awareness you need to keep you one step ahead of your opponents. Specs High performance 7.1 virtual surround sound. RGB gradient lighting. For console and PC gaming. High quality sound. Highly sensitive detachable microphone. Super comfortable ear pads. Flexible ear cups. Remote volume control. Compatible with PC’s, laptops and PS4/PS5 games consoles with a USB interface. 2-year warranty. Price Priced at around the £39.99 mark and available via Amazon, making this again a very budget friendly option for gamers. What do we think? The Harrier 360 has a sleek black design with red stitching along the edge of the headband. It uses predominantly plastics and synthetic leather for materials. The headset also features RGB LED lights on the outer of the earmuffs with 3 different modes. The headset is quite sturdy, with rigid earmuffs. The cushion on the earmuffs is balanced, providing a good level of comfort. However in some cases you can feel a clamping pressure and a sharp finish on the product lowering this rating. The main thing for the headset is its audio and this headset delivers strong bass-fuelled 360-degree noises, providing a cinematic-like experience. However while the sound quality is decent, it’s not stellar which is expected for the price.

The headset comes with a detachable, bendable, omnidirectional microphone and from what we tested the microphone is pretty decent and doesn’t sound staticy or echoing whatsoever. The headset comes with a USB headphone cable equipped with a control dial which is a nice addition and very convenient at times. Some slight concerns here are mainly with the build quality. If anything feels cheap it seems cheap, not super comfortable but it’s expected at the costs and then wanting to perfect audio and voice firstly. Rating Unfortunately for me comfort is a must for those long sessions and the clamping and cheap finish was a big let down but the audio and voice you have produced something great for the priced and with that note it will have to be a 6/10 mainly down to comfort is a must for gamers we have these headsets sat on our heads for hours at a time not just great comms we need that nice comfort too. Vinson N2 RGB Headset Stand Unique clip-on gaming headset stand to declutter and organise your desk space. Conveniently store your headphones and plug in your devices to the USB ports. Specs Dimensions: 280mm x 135mm x 100mm Weight: 308 g Power via USB-A to Micro-B Cable (included) Cable length: 100cm Power-off memory function Material: ABS plastic Six RGB lighting modes: Wave (Rainbow colours) RGB Spectrum (Rainbow colours) Pulse (Rainbow colours) Blink (Blue) Fully Lit (Green) Render (Purple/Green) Off USB Hub: 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 (USB-A) Charging port: 1 x USB Type-C (max. 4.5W) Audio output: 3.5mm Plug (supports 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound) Price Priced at around the £29.99 mark and available via Amazon, making this again a very budget friendly option for gamers.

What do we think? The Vinson N2 has a sleek black and red colour scheme. It features RGB LED lights with 3 different modes. The stand has a clean and sleek look, especially when combined with the RGB lights. The stand features an anti-slip rubber base, allowing it to be positioned anywhere to offer more space for gaming. The retractable rack can hold one or two headsets, saving space around the play area. Not only that, the stand comes with a built-in USB hub. The Vinson N2 is a good-looking and functional gaming headset stand. It offers a bit more flavour compared to some of the other headphone stands out there. Rating The sturdiness was great however the product felt

like I could snap it very easily but that wasn’t the case holding two super heavy headsets it had no problem whatsoever and the usb hub comes in super handy and who doesn’t love RGB right? With all that in mind we can give this stand an 8/10 just down to the fact it feels flimsy and cheap and the price can fluctuate from what is listed before making it out of the budget for what it is but still an 8/10 is a respectable score from us here at TGG. To Conclude SureFire Gaming produces great products across the board not just the three we have reviewed today and they are super budget friendly and more aimed towards someone who requires A little less overkill for some casual gaming if anything. With all that information why not head over to their website below and see what you could add to your setup today.

Website: www.surefire-gaming.com Facebook: @SureFire Gaming X: @SureFireEU YouTube: @surefire.gaming

nebula mars 3 air review Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Our great friends over at Anker once again hooked us up with something very special and this time it is with their Nebula Mars 3 Air, this product is a very portable and compact projector with built in speakers and one of the first projectors with built in Google TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime with the ability to add a range more of wonderful apps. What is Nebula? Nebula represents a new and exciting class of smart, portable entertainment devices. This includes Nebula Mars and Nebula Capsule, the world’s first smart portable cinema. Nebula combines smart capability with immersive audio and visuals. The Mars 3 Air The Nebula Mars 3 Air is one of the best, brightest low-cost portable projectors around and comes with Google TV streaming. With strong picture quality at 1080p resolution, 400 ANSI Lumens brightness and impressive colour performance, Integrated Google TV streaming which is nearly foolproof to set up and built-in audio with a stereo 8W sound system and an integrated 65Wh battery. The Nebula Mars 3 Air takes what works with previous models and cuts out all the extras for a low price projector competitor aimed at the masses. The unit itself is bigger than the pint-sized Capsule 3, but still gives you a compact desktop footprint of 178 x 122mm and stands just 133mm high. It weighs a mere 1.7kg, and there’s a faux leather carrying handle at the top that comes in handy if you’re carrying from room to room at home. While Google TV will be your main source of content, you still get an HDMI 1.4 input for games consoles and Blu-ray or DVD players, plus a single USB-A port for powering an external streaming stick or playing movie files. Alternatively, the builtin Chromecast enables you to cast content directly from a laptop browser, tablet or smartphone.

Although Anker supplies a remote, you also have a set of controls on the top of the device, so you’re not stuck without the ability to pause or adjust the volume just because you can’t track down the remote while you’re sitting in the dark and also with the likes of the Nebula Connect app you can run all this via your smartphone too. Setup Setting up the Mars 3 Air was very simple and easy, most people would have no worries with this projector. To make things fairly easy you can run through the automated setup with your smartphone via the Google Home app or enter your Wi-Fi settings and Google account credentials manually, making this hassle-free. Most of your core streaming apps, including Netflix, will be installed and ready at launch, but any that aren’t included can be added from the Google Play Store once you’re up and running. Google TV is arguably the best software out there so we can see why this was the go to choice for the Mars 3 Air. Not only with the use of Google Tv you can also access all the major UK streaming services, and the UI itself feels slick, fast and intuitive. Picture Configuring the picture won’t give you any headaches, either. Just point the Mars 3 Air at a wall or screen, click a button on the remote and it will beam a test picture at your chosen surface and adjust the focus and geometry for you. You’re then free to fine-tune the image to your heart’s content. Most of the time this is unnecessary

but on rare occasions it may have missed focus which led me to a simple manual tweak and it was looking sharp again. With 400 ANSI Lumens to work with, you have to be realistic about the levels of contrast. Black is never going to look as inky as it does on an OLED TV or monitor, and you can’t expect the clarity or brightness of a more expensive laser projector. However, pictures do look sharp and detailed and colours look rich but natural, both in the Standard and Cinema picture modes. As long as you can watch in a darkened room, you’re going to get a very watchable image. In testing, the Mars 3 Air’s colour reproduction covers 89.3% of the sRGB gamut and 72.3% of DCI-P3. These are fantastic figures for a portable projector at this price point. And given the Mars 3 Air goes noticeably brighter than most competitors, it has the edge on overall picture quality, putting it as the market leader for us. It’s also worth mentioning that the Mars 3 Air’s 1.2:1 throw ratio means you don’t need huge amounts of space to use it effectively. Sit it 2.12 metres away from your screen and you’ll get a sizable 80in image, while 2.66m will boost that to a huge 100in. The brightness settings make that a more sensible maximum screen size than the specified 150in. Audio The Anker Mars 3 Air’s audio is pretty good and it makes the most of its 8W stereo drivers. The output is a little clearer than most competitors with more subtlety and less thump at the low end, and you can push it up to higher volumes before it starts to sound boxy. What’s more, the stereo speakers give you a more immersive soundstage when you’re watching movies, even if it’s not going to replicate what you’d get from a soundbar or proper hi-fi setup. For movie nights or parties, you’re not going to need anything more. Battery Life With this being built for portability let’s get down to the most important part and that is of course battery life now with such power and what you can use this projector for do not expect for something like this to last forever however in our testing periods we found that the Nebula Mars 3 Air has a battery life of up to 2.5 - 3 hours in eco mode,

which is enough for most movies. However, this may vary depending on the brightness level, volume, and content you are watching. If you use the projector as a speaker which is great with apps like Spotify, the battery can last for 7 - 8 hours. Overall quite impressive and if you match this with say the Anker Solix C1000 you could have this projector on the go for hours on end. Price The Nebula Mars 3 Air is priced at around £549.99 with Anker regularly holding holiday sales as such, however for this price and this compact and user friendly this is the monitor on the market that excels any and all competitors. Final Verdict The Mars 3 Air is a great portable projector, delivering exceptional levels of image and sound quality with a slightly better movie watching experience than its competitors. Not only that we played some call of duty on this, although it was only 1080p it was super fun to load up some 1 v 1s with friends at home, it was great. On the higher end to have a projector that runs Google TV and streams Netflix out of the box is a winner for me and anyone in the market for a projector that brings that little bit of ease. It’s easily one of the top-tier portables in the £400 to £600 price range, and one of the few that can work convincingly as an entry-level home cinema projector too. Rating and Recommendations As for ratings and recommendations, I personally couldn’t find any faults on the tech side of things, the price may put off a small number of people but you get what you pay for and this is premium with all the good quality you want and need. Scoring on that note I give this a 9/10 with just the price being a consumer factor but to me this product is great, super portable and super convenient over all definitely something to get out for social gatherings. On that note I do recommend this product with a TGG stamp of approval and a strong 9/10. With that in mind why not head over to Ankers site below and pick up this product or check out their range of other wonderful products too.

Website: www.anker.com Facebook: @Anker X: @AnkerOfficial TikTok: @ankerofficial YouTube: @AnkerOfficial 16

streamer bundle

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

The great team over at Streamplify hooked us up with everything you need to start your journey as a streamer. They gifted us five products to become a streamer and those are their Screen Lift/Green Screen, Mic, Cam, Mount Arm and Light 10 Ring light. With all these products you too can start your journey as a streamer and on a budget too. Who are Streamplify?

based on your needs.

First up let us give you some insight into who Streamplify are and what they do. Streamplify is a brand that aims to simplify streaming and make it accessible to all. They provide quality yet affordable equipment for live streaming and content creation. Their product range includes webcams, microphones, ring lights, green screens, and more. They also offer various accessories and streaming bundles.

Ease of Use

Their products are designed to be easy to use. For instance, the Streamplify CAM which we will be reviewing is a plug-and-play webcam that doesn’t require any drivers or software. This makes Streamplify a great choice for aspiring streamers and content creators looking to get started without breaking the bank. With all that in mind let us introduce you to their products and let’s simplify streaming together. Streamplify CAM First up as we have just mentioned it we might as well start off with the driverless, software less Webcam which goes just by the simple name of CAM. Video Quality The Streamplify CAM offers smooth video output at 1080p/60fps. The quality is decent for video calls and the autofocus feature centres on the streamer’s face/central object. Build and Design The camera has a sturdy build and good looks. It is compact and comes housed in a swivel on top of a mounting clip, allowing you to adjust its angle

The Streamplify CAM is a plug-and-play webcam, meaning it doesn’t require any drivers or software. This makes it very user-friendly. Privacy The webcam comes with a built-in privacy slider, which can be used to cover the webcam when not in use. Audio The webcam has integrated dual microphones that deliver clear audio.

stereo

Price The Streamplify CAM is priced at $70 / £60, making it an affordable option for those looking to get into content creation. Cons Software: The lack of accompanying software may not suit some users. Photo Quality: Still photos can look a little grainy. Build Quality: While the build quality is generally good, the included tripod mount feels a bit cheap. Overall The Streamplify CAM is considered a decent budget webcam that delivers quality video output for its price, however with the photo still looking somewhat grainy but expected due to price and the tripod seeming very flimsy and cheap then we can safely rate the CAM a 7/10.

Streamplify MIC

Versatility

Second up, what goes with a cam? A mic of course! The Mic from Streamplify is a great budget choice to add to the streamer setup.

The Mount Arm is a versatile desk mounting solution for microphones, cameras, lights, and anything else that will connect to the cold shoe mount rail that runs across the top of it.

Audio Quality The Streamplify Mic offers clear audio output. It has a cardioid recording pattern, which is ideal for streamers and podcasters. Build and Design The microphone has a sturdy build and good looks. It comes with a dedicated pop shield to help soften the plosives.

Design The Mount Arm has a good range of included attachments and a nifty cable management feature. Ease of Use The Mount Arm is easy to use and can suit a wide range of use cases.

Ease of Use

Price

The Streamplify Mic is a plug-and-play microphone with simple USB connectivity. It works with Windows, Mac, and consoles.

The Streamplify Mount Arm is priced at £44.99, making it an affordable option for those looking to get into content creation.

Price

Cons

The Streamplify Mic is priced at $65 / £60, making it an affordable option for those looking to get into content creation.

Colour: The Mount Arm is only available in white.

Cons

Build Quality: Most of the construction is plastic.

Software: The lack of accompanying software may not suit some users.

Overall

Recording Pattern: It has a single recording pattern. Physical Controls: There are no physical mic controls. Overall The Streamplify Mic is considered a decent budget microphone that delivers quality audio output for its price, however with the single recording pattern and the use of zero physical controls where a gain button could have been a great addition then we can safely rate the MIC a 7/10. Streamplify Mount Arm Three out of five into the Streamplify Setup and we have the mount arm, you want that mic close to you and what better way than having a great mic arm that looks slick and sturdy.

Weight Load: It can sag a bit with a heavy mic and other items mounted.

The Streamplify Mount Arm is considered a decent budget mount arm that is versatile and affordable, however with the sag and the plastic feel with only white this does bring in a lower score in which we can safely rate the Mount Arm a 7/10. Streamplify Light 10 fourth on the list you obviously need a good glow because lighting is key right? And the light 10 is a nice compact ring light to add to the setup. Lighting Quality The LIGHT 10 offers good lighting quality with adjustable brightness (10 levels) and colour temperature (3 levels). It provides a range of choices based on the users’ preference and needs. Design The LIGHT 10 comes with an adjustable tripod, phone mount, and camera mount. The tripod can also double as a selfie stick.

Ease of Use

Size

The LIGHT 10 is easy to use with in-line controls. It’s a great tool for enhancing video output during online meetings or streaming.

With the screen measuring 1.5m x 2m, it fits comfortably behind a desk and provides a sizable backdrop with plenty of extra room.

Price

Material

The LIGHT 10 is priced at £19.99, making it an affordable option for those looking to get into content creation.

The green screen material is of excellent quality. It stays taught for better Chroma Key results.

Cons Build Quality: Most of the construction is plastic. Tripod: The included tripod is made of plastic and is lightweight. A big con here for me which happened to me is the buttons for the light fell apart and the wire became exposed after barely any use dropping the score pretty high because of how hazardous this could have become. Overall The Streamplify LIGHT 10 is considered a decent budget ring light that offers good lighting quality for its price, however as mentioned the huge con which happened to me and it could have been a flaw in my product not everyone but this drops the score to a 5/10 with the light looking great but the tech issue was a big let down Streamplify Screen Lift Finally we come to the final piece of the puzzle for our streamer bundle and here we have the screen lift which is a great green screen that can do wonders to your setup. Design and Build Quality The Screen Lift is extremely well built. The casing is solidly built and easily matches up to the quality of its competitors. The aluminium frame felt robust throughout the process. Ease of Use The lift itself felt smooth and didn’t get stuck at any point of moving. With hydraulic lift arms and lockable front wheels, this green screen isn’t going anywhere. Size With the screen measuring 1.5m x 2m, it fits comfortably behind a desk and provides a sizable backdrop with plenty of extra room.

Price The Screen Lift is priced affordably at £139.99 but is currently on sale as of writing this at £109.99, making it a good option for those looking to get into content creation. Overall The Streamplify Screen Lift is considered a decent budget green screen that offers good performance for its price. Not only that I found this to be great, its competitors don’t have wheels making this super convenient to wheel around your streamer space, the material felt great and its chroma key matched up perfectly, the price point is super budget friendly and this is highly recommended with a score of a 9/10 easily. Final Verdict Streamplify does simplify streaming and make it super affordable, we just kitted out a streamer with everything they need to start their creation for a grand total of £325 and that’s including a green screen! With that in mind you can really get going for a great budget friendly price. Overall across the board we will score the bundle a 7/10 in which we do recommend you check out Streamplify and start your journey as a streamer today. Head over to their website below to see what you need in your setup and why not check their socials below too.

Website: www.streamplify.com Instagram: @streamplify_global Facebook: @Streamplify YouTube: @Streamplify

power gaming bundle Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Our great friend over at Nacon & RIG hooked us up with a special gaming power bundle which includes 2 Gaming Controllers and one Gaming Headset, Those are the Revolution X Pro Xbox Controller, The Pro Compact Xbox Controller and the RIG 600 Pro gaming headset. We will be diving into all three of these products today and explaining to you what we think and why you should add these to your gaming arsenal. Who are Nacon? But first let us introduce you to who Nacon is. Nacon, formerly known as Bigben Interactive, is a French video game company based in Lesquin. They are involved in designing and distributing gaming accessories, and publishing and distributing video games for various platforms. Nacon offers a range of products including PS5/ PS4/XBOX/PC Controllers, Headsets, Keyboards, Mice, and Gaming Chairs. They also publish and develop AA games, with a line-up of more than 100 video games for console and PC. Nacon differentiates itself from the competition by focusing on niche areas that are neglected by the AAA publishers and are therefore less competitive. Who are RIG? Secondly let us introduce you to RIG, RIG Gaming is a brand that develops premium gaming headsets and mics for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. They offer a wide range of products, including wired and wireless headsets, earbuds, and advanced game controllers and accessories. RIG Gaming is known for its next-generation gear for competitive gamers, esports players, and streamers. They offer a variety of headsets with

features like Dolby Atmos 3D audio, lag-free game audio, and personalization options. RIG Gaming was acquired by Nacon back in 2020, RIG was originally introduced as the new sound of PWR for Nacon which then led to the acquisition completely. Nacon Let us first start with Nacon and their products, where we will deep dive into their controller market in which Nacon sent us two wonderful controllers designed and perfected for Xbox users, however Nacon do provide alternatives for these controllers for the PlayStation too. Revolution X Pro First up with have the Revolution X Pro controller by Nacon which is a premium controller designed for competitive gaming on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows 10 PC. Design and Features At first glance The Revolution X controller is lightweight and made from plastic, which originally came across as a more budget lower end controller. The controller itself seems wider

than the standard Xbox controller but features the same offset thumbsticks layout. Included is a nearly 10-foot-long detachable USB-C cable with a thick, braided design for durability. The controller itself and all included accessories fit nicely into an included hardshell zippered case.

price point and amazing customizability options we can happily score this a 7/10 as a great alternative to the box standard xbox series x controller.

Customization

Secondly we have the Nacon Pro Compact Controller which is a versatile wired controller designed for Xbox. It offers great ergonomics for all types of players and a comprehensive range of settings usually found on professional peripherals.

The Revolution X Pro offers near-endless customization options with four rear buttons, customizable profiles and a selection of interchangeable thumb sticks, thumb stick shafts, and weights. The thumb sticks are lightweight, snappy, and responsive. The Revolution X Pro package includes a set of extra thumb sticks and shafts of differing sizes. Performance At initially our first test run the face buttons and triggers don’t feel particularly good to press, often resulting in a too clicky feeling. The D-pad is pretty low-profile and a bit stiff but has a nice press to it. The triggers are slightly bulkier than preferred and have an odd bumpy design. However the depth of customization rivals the excellent Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 which to me seems to be their perfected niche.

Pro Compact

Design and Features The Pro Compact controller is 15% smaller than the official Xbox controller, making it comfortable to hold. It is also a wired controller that comes with a generous three-metrelong cable. All the buttons from the new Xbox Wireless controller are accounted for, including the share button, oversized face buttons, and a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom of the pad. On the back is a toggle to switch between two customizable profiles.

Cons

Customization

The controller doesn’t impress much beyond its customization options due to a lacklustre design and awkward rear button placement with the triggers feeling slightly off. A big downfall for this controller is the lack of no wireless as there is no option to go wireless whatsoever and you need an app for button mapping.

Nacon has provided an app for both Xbox and PC, allowing players to adjust the Pro Compact’s triggers and sticks; this offers some decent, accessible customization options through the software.

Price

The controller doesn’t match the ergonomics of the official Xbox Wireless Controller, although It’s a fine alternative if you’re looking for a cheaper, wired option. The Pro Compact however comes with the added bonus of granting users access to Dolby Atmos. The controller’s smaller form factor means players with larger hands may find it slightly awkward to hold which for me was the main issue.

Currently as of writing this controller is actually priced at %50 off but retails at around the 99.99 euro range.

Verdict In conclusion, the Nacon Revolution X Pro Controller is a solid upgrade over the standard Xbox Series X controller and a worthwhile investment for those who regularly spend hours gaming on a controller. However, it has some drawbacks that might be worth considering before purchasing. Rating Due to the list of cons we have but the great

Performance

Cons The controller lacks a little bit of body and stature next to the standard Xbox pad and has a lack of rubberized support. The shoulder buttons are shorter and the D-pad is small and placed near the controller’s share button which for me 26

wasn’t great with bigger hands trying to play some MW3 and to top it off the analogue sticks are slippery and sensitive making my 360 no scopes more and less frequent. Price Currently as of writing this controller is actually priced at %20 off but retails at around the 49.90 euro range. Verdict In conclusion, the Nacon Pro Compact Controller is a great wired controller for those on a budget. It includes some decent, accessible customization options through the software. However, it has some drawbacks that might be worth considering before purchasing. Rating Due to the list of cons we have mainly smaller controller issues however great for children maybe? As this is super budget friendly at a great price point, we can happily score this a 7/10 as another great alternative to the box standard xbox series x controller. Overall Nacon and their two controllers can safely sit at a comfortable 7/10 TGG Stamp of Approval and on that note if you would like to secure your own then head over to Nacon below.

www.nacongaming.com RIG 600 Pro Finally to finish this off we have the RIG 600 Pro gaming headset having previously tried out RIG and their gaming headset it was great to see them back again with a new version to really test out and see what we thought this time around. Sound Quality The RIG 600 Pros boasts astounding audio quality and clear-as-crystal microphone input which offers good sound quality in conjunction with Dolby Atmos. The headset itself handles well-rounded and detailed audio, especially the lower end, which sounds satisfyingly deep and punchy without muddying the overall audio profile. 27

Design and Features The headset feels very lightweight but feels primarily plastic and somewhat cheap. The headset features a three-position, snap-in ear cup design with a flip-out/flip-in-flush mic. The headset comes in two versions, one for Xbox (the HX) which we obtained and one for PlayStation (the HS), though they both work with the Nintendo Switch, PC, and any platform with Bluetooth audio which is a bonus. Performance The headset handles directional audio sublimely, making it a superb choice for online multiplayer gaming when partying up with friends, however The microphone is decent only after tweaking as it seemed a little off originally. Cons The build quality feels relatively cheap and somewhat flimsy which is a huge shame and brings. comfort issues mainly due to the three-position design of the earcup and the microphone is pretty average. Price The particular headset retails at around the $99.99 price point. Verdict In conclusion, the RIG 600 Pro Gaming Headset is a surprisingly feature-packed wireless gaming headset for its price with good audio quality and customization. However, it is let down by an average microphone and comfort issues. Rating Due to the list of cons we have mainly the cheap flimsy feeling and average microphone issues, however this isn’t too pricey and has great audio, we can happily score this a 7/10 as a great alternative to many other price ranged headsets on the market. Overall RIG can safely across the board sit at a comfortable 7/10 TGG Stamp of Approval and on that note if you would like to secure your own then head over to RIG below.

www.riggaming.com www.nacongaming.com

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Gioteck happened to attend a couple of events in which we did too back in 2023 where they showcased some of their products which we was very much so eager to learn more about, however GioTeck reached out to us first in hopes to share their products and explain why they are great and super budget friendly.

Who is Gioteck? Gioteck is a British company established in 2008. They design and manufacture gaming accessories. Gioteck offers a variety of products for gaming and audio enthusiasts, including wireless controllers, headsets, charging stands, and more. Their products are compatible with various platforms such as PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC, and mobile devices. They also provide firmware updates for their products for continuous improvement. What did Gioteck supply us to review? We originally wanted to target all audiences so we searched throughout GioTeck and their huge range of products to find key items needed for each platform and this is what we found. • • • •

1 x Gioteck Essential Pack For Xbox 1x Gioteck Duo PS5 Controller Charging Stand 1 x WX4+ Wireless RGB Controller ideally for the Nintendo Switch 1 x Smart TV+ Duo Wireless Controller for PC & Mobile/Cloud gaming

The Gioteck Essential Pack for Xbox Level up your gaming experience with the Gioteck Essential Pack for XBOX Series X, S and One. Designed with customization, comfort and power in mind, this bundle pack offers the must have accessories to enhance your XBOX and offers exceptional value. Each pack includes: •

1x Rechargeable 800 mAh battery with x3 battery covers for extended gameplay

•

HC-9 Gaming Headset with suspended headband and athletic mesh earpads for ultimate comfort

• • • • •

Solo Charging Stand with 5 swappable faceplates to mix and match with your XBOX wireless controller x10 Thumb grips for comfort and precision USB-C Charge Cable 1 Year Manufacturer’s Warranty (2Yr EU). Priced at: £34.99 with a current as of writing sale price at £27.99

What do we think? The Gioteck Essential Pack for Xbox is designed to enhance your gaming experience on Xbox Series X, S, and One. The pack includes a headset, charging stand with battery, thumb grips, and a USB-C cable. The pack is designed with customization, comfort, and power in mind, offering must-have accessories to enhance your Xbox and exceptional value. It is worth mentioning that the battery seemed to get a little hot during charging and I have noticed this to happen to a rare bunch of customers, however with that note I have seen customers praise Gioteck’s customer support for offering to replace the item free of charge. However we must note that the charge itself is great and possibly lasts longer than most licensed charge packs. As for the headset which is the Gioteck HC9 the quality seems to be really good and after several hours of usages it seems fairly comfortable however this is very cheap so the sound quality is not the best and the microphone seems a little flimsy and needs to be super close to your mouth to avoid any jittering. Rating With all this in mind the price is the main selling point here and I would personally think about this if you were on a budget and maybe want to introduce your child to gaming and online

multiplayer with friends making this an ideal tag team to play with friends on Fortnite. To rate such a bundle it does have some slight drawbacks but the price point is good, a comfy headset and a charger that produces a great battery life we can safely rate this product an 8/10. The Gioteck Duo PS5 Controller Charging Stand Charge and display your PS5™ DualSense Controllers with the DUO Charging Stand from Gioteck. Not only can you charge two controllers at once, but the included swappable faceplates also allow instant customization to match your PlayStation set up for an eye-catching display. • • • • • • • •

Swappable Faceplates with 6 different colours included Charge two controllers simultaneously Vertical design saves space and keeps your controllers ready Extra USB-C port for charging additional devices LEDs show charge status Includes USB-C charge cable 1 Year Manufacturer’s Warranty (2Yr EU). Priced at: £19.99 with a current as of writing sale price at £14.99

What do we think? The Gioteck Duo PS5 Controller Charging Stand does its job really well. The pads go into the charging cradle easily, and a handy front light indicates when the unit is on and charging your controller1. The best part is that it turns itself off when the pad is fully charged. The Duo is made of reasonably high-quality plastic and comes with a selection of faceplates so you can match the dock with the colour of your controllers or PS5. The setup is straightforward. Just plug the charger into the back of a spare USB port in the back of your PS5 (or into the mains with one of the many USB plugs you have around the place), drop your pads onto the dock, and away you go. The Duo would be fully charged in about an hour or so, while there was always a spare pack to switch to if needed. Rating With all this in mind the price is the main selling point here as its possibly one of the cheaper

charging stands on the market and customisable too, not only that it produces great notification for charging and shuts off once fully charged saving you precious electricity with all that in mind a solid high score of a 9/10 for this one. WX4+ Wireless RGB Controller Upgrade to the latest version of our best-seller, the WX4+ Wireless RGB Controller for Switch from Gioteck, now features customisable RGB lighting, enhancing your gaming experience. A precise directional pad brings together lightningfast performance. • • • • • • • • • • •

Wireless freedom. Quick-fire triggers. Ergonomic design with programmable back buttons. Motion & vibration support. PC compatible. Nintendo Switch compatible. Nintendo Switch OLED compatible. Wireless. Batteries required: 1 x Li-Ion (included). 1 Year Manufacturer’s Warranty (2Yr EU). Priced at: £24.99 with a current as of writing sale price at £19.99

What do we think? The WX4+ Wireless RGB Controller is available in several different colourways and has all the functionality you’d expect. A big selling point here is that it’s less than half the price of the Switch Pro Controller. It’s light, yet the build quality doesn’t feel cheap and it’s comfortable to hold. The controller has additional features like two programmable back buttons and supports motion and vibration. I would recommend using this controller for the Nintendo Switch only due to its Switch layout but it is compatible with PC. Worth noting are that the d-pad and shoulder buttons do feel a little plasticky and the shoulder buttons and triggers have an odd amount of resistance. The shoulders and triggers are labelled as L1/L2 and R1/R2 instead of L/ZL and R/ZL which is a pain and they should have stuck to a full Nintendo switch layout. Overall, it’s considered a good value for its price, however the texture might feel a bit different due to the camo finish.

Rating

What do we think?

With all this in mind again it’s the price which is the main selling point here as its possibly the cheapest alternative to a Switch Controller not only that we got the dark camo version and it looks great and impresses in any setup, with all that in mind we can safely score this a high 8/10 for this one mainly down to the layout not fully going with the Switch layout and the resistance pulls and feel.

The Smart TV+ Controller is available in nice slick white/grey design and has all the functionality you’d expect. A big selling point here is that this is the ideal budget controller for cloud gaming having this connect to any mobile tv or cloud gaming device almost instantly and very easily at this, with a great battery life and some slight RGB to the thumbstick, however the feel is as of a smaller controller which isn’t ideal for the bigger handed individuals like myself, but do not let that put you off for the price and the connectivity it is really ideal. This controller is also compatible with PCs which is a win- win regardless.

Smart TV+ Duo Wireless Controller Finally in this gaming bundle for all we have the Gioteck Smart TV Controller. Connect with ease and alternate between platforms with the flick of a switch. Packed with technology including dual-band low-latency wireless and automatic repairing you will always be game ready. Ergonomically designed with enhanced grips providing supreme comfort and personalised with your choice of RGB colours makes you truly stand out from the crowd. •

Multi-format switch (2.4gHz, iOS, Android, PC)

•

Dual-band wireless

•

Vibration support

•

RGB lighting

•

1 Year Manufacturer’s Warranty (2Yr EU).

•

Priced at: £24.99 with a current as of writing sale price at £19.99

Rating With all this in mind again it’s the price which is the main selling point here as its possibly the cheapest cloud gaming / portable Controller on the market and connects flawlessly providing hours of joy, with all that in mind we can safely score this a high score with a 9/10 for this one with very little flaws mainly just the feels as such. To Conclude Gioteck is a great brand specifically used to target those on a budget or the younger generations who do not need as much power or overkill as such with accessories, I would recommend GioTeck to any and all with a across the board of an 8.5/10 for the budget gaming bundle. With that all noted why not head below to their website and check out their products and why not follow their socials too.

www.gioteck.com Facebook: @officialgioteck X: @GioteckArmy Instagram: @officialgioteck YouTube: @officialgioteck

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Every Gamer needs a stable internet connection and with that each gamer needs fast and reliable internet, how does one secure the best speeds of their internet? a wired connection? Normally that is the case but with Alta Labs they make your Wireless connection ever so stronger. Alta Labs sent us Two AP6 Pros which are WiFi 6 access points. They feature proprietary antenna design for superior performance, seamless roaming for ultimate convenience, simplified security for easy network protection, and PoE+ powering capabilities. They also supplied us with a S8 PoE which is a compact switch with eight 10/100/1000 ports, four of which support PoE+. It can be placed on a desktop or mounted on a wall. All of the Alta Labs switches include Bluetooth functionality for seamless device setup.

Who are Alta Labs? For those who may not be familiar with Alta Labs let us discuss who they are and what they do. Alta Labs is a US-based networking technology manufacturer that creates revolutionary networking technology driven by their proprietary software and hardware designs. They offer highspec access points, network switches, and more. The company was created in 2022 and is part of Sound Vision Technologies.

Wireless Network Colour Coding: Allows you to assign groups to wireless SSIDs and then assign membership to wireless access points Cloud-Based Management: Control your network from everywhere Their innovative networking products are set to transform the way businesses connect and communicate. They have also officially launched in the UK.

Their products include features such as:

Alta Labs AP6 Pro WiFi 6 Indoor/Outdoor Access Point

Unrivalled Performance: 99.99% Uptime

Specifications

Unmatched Speeds: Lightning-fast internet access for seamless browsing, streaming, and downloading WiFi 6 with WiFi 7 Benefits: 4096 QAM - 6.3 Gbps combined WiFi Capacity Content Filtering: Restricts access to inappropriate or unauthorised websites Multi-Password Authentication: Enables the use of different WiFi passwords to separate network traffic and manage connectivity

WiFi 6 @ 6.3Gbps (up to 573 Mbps on 2.4Ghz and up to 5.8Gbps on 5Ghz) MIMO 2x2 on 2.4Ghz and 4x4 on 5Ghz Intelligent mesh Seamless roaming One-click network security Alta Labs Cloud Management (free) IP54 rated for outdoor use

The Alta Labs AP6 Pro WiFi 6 access point, which is the advanced level access point in Alta Labs current product lineup. It’s IP54 rated, which will protect it from sprays of water and other particulates in small quantities. The A6 Pro also features 4096-QAM modulation technology, which offers higher throughput rates than other standard access points. The A6 Pro features proprietary antenna design for superior performance, seamless roaming for ultimate convenience, simplified security for easy network protection, and PoE+ powering capabilities. AltaPass multi-password technology allows clients to connect to a single SSID using different passwords. Depending on which password is used, clients will then be given different network and internet access levels and can also be associated with a specific upload and/or download rate, VLAN, set to bypass the filtering rules, bypass hotspot and ignore a defined schedule. The Alta Labs AP6 Pro is mesh capable, with its intelligent mesh formation for maximum throughput, it has a combined WiFi capacity of 6.3Gb per second. It’s also easily mounted to a ceiling or wall with its Quick Mount technology (included in the box). Alta Labs AP6 Pro can easily integrate with the Alta Labs Cloud Management software for seamless monitoring, configuration and network management. The lightweight Alta Labs cloud technology offers a wide range of features without any additional cost, all standard features are totally free. What do we think? Performance and Speed: The AP6 Pro supports the latest 802.11ax standard, delivering lightningfast connectivity, accommodating a wide range of devices and bandwidth-intensive tasks. It features both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, ensuring seamless connectivity for a multitude of devices. The impressive throughput rates make it ideal for streaming 4K content and gaming. Cloud-Based Management: One of the standout features of the AP6 Pro is its cloud-based management platform, which offers remote control and monitoring capabilities. This means you can fine-tune your network, troubleshoot issues, and optimise performance from anywhere via a web browser or a mobile app.

Versatility: Its IP54 rating makes it suitable for deployment in various environments, making it a versatile choice for those looking to expand their wireless coverage both indoors and outdoors. Super simple to set up, easy to plug in and get going, does require a PoE however so match this with the S8 and you won’t regret it. You need to head over to manage.alta.inc to get going first of all, upon here it’s a very easy update and set up process once that is done. The next step is to set up a wireless, password protected ideally and you can connect any and all devices to this if you wish. You can monitor from this area your usage, what devices you are using and the speeds you are getting which is overall a great peace of mind. We tried and tested this product outdoors in the horrible UK winter weather and rain, wind and the typical bad weather we have here in the north did not affect the AP6 Pro not one bit making this the ideal access point. We trialled distances with the Wi-Fi powering reach to power office spaces within back gardens superbly, the easy access and control via the cloud management makes this something special. There isn’t much to rival Alta Labs here in the UK and I can only express my excitement with what Alta Labs could possibly create with this originally innovation, as a magazine that caters to massive internet users we could see this being the go to for creators to powder multiple Wi-Fi required devices or if you have a bar or office space at home in your garden away from router access the this is the thing for you. Whether you’re a business seeking robust network solutions or a tech enthusiast wanting top-tier performance, the Alta Labs AP6 Pro presents a compelling option to meet your wireless networking needs. Price Currently you can only really get the AP6 Pros at Linitx.com which isn’t a commonly used seller to our knowledge within our industry however seems to be the best starting place for Alta Labs with a retail value currently of £176.40 however you can get better cost efficient bundles too which I do recommend you check out too. Rating The AP6 Pro is a phenomenal piece of kit, not only does it look good it works fantastically, the only

small problem we could note here is the needing to be cabled to something at all times with options to mount and screw into surfaces now here in the UK we don’t have internet cables running around in our ceilings so for the average home users this could be a problem. We had top trail cables and managed them and even then they were not totally hidden, but that’s down to the user as these are great for your desk and can be hidden under and positioned very well. The price point I think is totally what to expect with what you get so there is no issue right there, only just being available in the UK more stores for availability would of course be much better but it is early days. So a TGG Score of a 9/10 can justify this great piece of kit very well with a recommended buy now, who needs boosters when you can have a very reliable access point. Alta Labs S8-POE 8 Port PoE+ 60W Powered Network Switch Specifications 60W Power Over Ethernet 8 x Gigabit Ethernet Ports

Power Over Ethernet: The Alta Labs switches feature PoE+ connectivity with a number of ports capable of providing up to 30 Watts of power per port. The switches support the 802.3at PoE+ standard and are backwards compatible with the 802.3af PoE standard. The S8-PoE offers four PoE+ ports with a PoE budget of 60 Watts. Power your Alta Labs Access Points and other devices that support 802.3at or 802.3af standards. Bluetooth Setup: The Alta Labs S8-PoE includes Bluetooth functionality allowing for seamless setup using the Alta Labs mobile app. Mobile App: Monitor and manage your networks from the convenience of your mobile device. The management interface is easily accessible via mobile app or web browser. Sign up for an Alta Labs account using just your name, email, and password or use Google Authentication. Scalable Cloud-Based Management:

Status Snapshots

Alta Labs provides an intuitive and easy-to-use cloud-based management interface for Alta Labs access points and switches. Designed for optimum scalability using a high-availability architecture for the ultimate in convenience and worldwide accessibility. Built on a worldwide content delivery network to optimise response and latency, the Alta Labs global cloud infrastructure ensures geographically optimised connectivity through the Alta Labs redundant network. Deploy and manage multiple sites quickly and easily. Add, delete, or rename sites instantly. Toggle between sites from a site selection drop-down. Each site contains its own data set.

Device Cards

Egress and Ingress Rate Limiting:

4 x PoE+ Ports Bluetooth Setup Mobile App Scalable Cloud-Based Management Egress and Ingress Rate Limiting IGMP Snooping 802.1X Authentication Network Loop Detection Customisable Dashboard

Site Manager Versatile Connectivity: The Alta Labs S8-PoE is a compact switch with eight 10/100/1000 ports, four of which support PoE+. It can be placed on a desktop or mounted on a wall. All of the Alta Labs switches include Bluetooth functionality for seamless device setup.

The Alta Labs S8-PoE switch offers egress and ingress rate limiting. This allows inbound and outbound traffic to be limited to a portion of the available bandwidth per connection. For example, a hotel may want to provide guests with free 5 Mbps internet download (egress) connections but require guests to pay an extra fee for 100+ Mbps speeds. The upload (ingress) speeds from the guests devices can also be limited

IGMP Snooping:

Mounting Flexibility:

IGMP Snooping functionality is incorporated into Alta Labs switches to optimise network performance by reducing unnecessary traffic. This is particularly helpful for IPTV or multicast video streams.

The S8-PoE switch has padding for desktop placement and notches for mounting on the included wall-mount bracket.

802.1X Authentication: Alta Labs switches support 802.1x Authentication to allow for more dynamic methods of network authentication.

The Alta Labs S8-POE 8 Port PoE+ 60W Powered Network Switch is a compact yet powerful networking device designed to enhance connectivity and streamline power management. Here’s a detailed review:

Network Loop Detection:

Seamless Connectivity:

Network loops can deteriorate performance or even cause network failure. The Alta Labs built-in network loop detection functionality is designed to help you eliminate any potential network loops.

The S8-POE Network Switch provides 8 ports that combine both data and power in a single solution. This allows you to connect devices directly to the switch, eliminating the need for additional power sources.

Alta Labs Cloud Management Platform: The Alta Labs Cloud Management Platform provides many features that can be utilised on your Alta Labs Switches. Customisable Dashboard: Customise your dashboard with the information you want to see: IP address, Load, number of devices, MAC address, firmware version, network colour assignment, and real-time status details. Details are sortable by column. Status Snapshots: View upload and download throughput with a visual timeline on the dashboard for each device displayed along with the number of connected devices, average processor load, channel load, and average connected devices. Select a snapshot of the last minute, last hour, last two days, or last two months. Device Cards: Easily view connection details and configure your ports by clicking the device icon. Site Manager: The Alta Site Manager provides an overview of all sites, displays the number of devices for each site, and shows when updates are needed. New sites can be added and current sites can be duplicated or removed. Use the search option to look for a specific site.

What do we think?

Effortless Power Distribution: Equipped with PoE+ (Power over Ethernet Plus) technology, the S8-POE switch delivers power to compatible devices with ease. This not only simplifies your setup but also ensures consistent and reliable power delivery, making it ideal for IP cameras, wireless access points, and other PoEenabled devices. Compact Yet Powerful: Despite its compact size, the S8-POE Network Switch boasts remarkable capabilities. With support for a 60W power budget, it’s capable of driving multiple power-hungry devices simultaneously, making it suitable for both home and small business environments. Plug-and-Play Simplicity: Experience hassle-free installation with the S8-POE Network Switch. Its plug-and-play functionality means you can effortlessly integrate it into your existing network infrastructure. Designed for Reliability Built: With quality and durability in mind, the Alta Labs S8-POE Network Switch ensures reliable performance. Its robust construction and intelligent power management features safeguard against overloads, voltage spikes, and short circuits, enhancing the longevity of your devices. The Alta Labs S8-POE 8 Port PoE+ 60W Powered Network Switch is a versatile and efficient solution for those looking to enhance their network setup.

Price

Overall

For 8 switches and a ton of great tech aspects the price for such a product is premium but well justified and is retailing as of currently at £146.40 however as mentioned before the bundles they supply are more cost efficient and highly recommended.

I am quite pleased with Alta Labs. Not only have they shocked me and introduced me to something great, new and powerful but they have also made efficiency here at TGG HQ 10x much faster.

Rating The slick design and easily a perfect addition to any gamer or creator desks, with that being mounted underneath or comfortably placed on top, this S8 PoE is a great product with little to zero faults, a great aesthetic lovely RGB placement you would be a fool not to add such a great product to your ever growing setups. Again availability is the main problem here but that will soon change as Alta Labs are set to storm the market no doubt and are welcomed here in the UK. Again a comfortable 9/10 rating from us here at The Gamer Guide.

Such a great team and wonderful products, with a great score of 9/10 from us here at The Gamer Guide. If you want to check out Alta Labs socials and all their products then you can do so below.

www.alta.inc Facebook: @alta.labs.inc Instagram: @alta.labs X: @AltaLabsInc

The Game Awards returned once again with host Geoff Keighley back on 7th December 2023, The Game awards was packed out with great new announcements and trailers and of course a bunch of awards for some well-deserved people. First up we will go into detail what was announced at The Game Awards then we will go on to who won what etc, make sure to read all of our full recap below. Game Awards 2023 Announcements The Game Awards 2023 is a wrap, and it was a night full of huge video game reveals. From new AAA games like Capcom’s Monster Hunter: Wilds, to the long-awaited reveal of Hideo Kojima and Xbox’s OD, here’s everything that happened this year at the show. Here’s every game that was newly announced or covered at the 2023 edition of Geoff Keighley’s TGA show. Monster Hunter Wilds Reveal Monster Hunter: Wilds will kick off the sixth generation of Monster Hunter when it launches on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2025. The reveal trailer showed off flying mounts, a desert area, and of course, huge monsters. This marks the first new generation of Monster Hunter since Monster Hunter World kicked off Gen 5 back in 2018. The last generation of Monster Hunter saw the franchise gain enormous popularity across the globe, with both World and Monster Hunter Rise selling over 10 million units. Hideo Kojima Officially Reveals Xbox Project, Now Titled OD (Overdose) We finally got the reveal of the long-awaited Kojima Xbox project, and the man himself took the stage at The Game Awards 2023 to talk about it. Jordan Peele was also revealed as a collaborator

on the project. The game features Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier, and it’s being touted as much more than a game. Free God of War Ragnarok DLC named Valhalla which dropped a week later PlayStation came to The Game Awards in a big way with a free DLC expansion for God of War Ragnarok. Titled Valhalla, it’s out next week, and it takes elements of the roguelite genre and infuses it with God of War combat. The DLC is a free download coming on December 12, 2023. Marvel’s Blade Is In Development at Arkane Studios Arkane Studios, the developer behind Dishonored and Deathloop, is partnering with Marvel to develop a brand new Blade game. It’s going to be a “a mature, single-player, third-person game set in the heart of Paris.” Development just started on Blade, so it could be a while until we see it again. SEGA Announces Five New Games Development, Including Jet Set Radio

SEGA dropped a huge announcement at The Game Awards, revealing five new games in development: Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Crazy Taxi, and more. No dates or other information was given, but this is very exciting for longtime SEGA fans.

Embark’s The Finals Is Available Now Finals — Embark’s competitive shooter — shadow dropped at The Game Awards 2023 and is available to play on PC now. Embark is a studio created by former Battlefield developers, and their first project is the game show shooter where players compete for fame, money, and sponsorships. No Man’s Sky Developer Hello Games Shows Off Light No Fire Hello Games, developer of No Man’s Sky and The Last Campfire, has revealed its next game. It’s called Light No Fire, and it looks to be a very ambitious open world, online multiplayer game. The gameplay showed building, dragon riding, and cooperative elements.

Fortnite Rocket Racing Gets a New Trailer which dropped 8th December 2023 Fortnite’s take on Rocket League which dropped the day after the awards, Epic showed off a new trailer at The Game Awards. Ori Developer Moon Studios Reveals No Rest for the Wicked No Rest for the Wicked is the next game from the developers of Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and it’s Moon Studios’ take on a Diablo-like ARPG. The reveal trailer showed off a gorgeous world with plenty of creatures to fight and treasure to find. No Rest for the Wicked comes to PC via early access in Q1 2024, with a full release coming later on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

Final Fantasy 16 DLC Announced

BioWare Veterans Reveal New RPG

Square Enix revealed two waves of DLC for Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide. Echoes of the Fallen is out today with new story chapters that take place just before the final battle, and The Rising Tide is coming Spring 2024.

A team of ex-BioWare developers have revealed their new sci-fi RPG. It’s called Exodus, and it’s in development at Archetype Entertainment. The trailer revealed that players will take the role of the Traveler, exploring the universe while avoiding enemies known as Celestials.

Rise of the Ronin Gets a March 2024 Release Date Rise of the Ronin is officially coming to PlayStation 5 on March 22, 2024. Team Ninja’s upcoming open-world samurai game got a lengthy new trailer in addition to the new date.

Big Walk Is the Next Game From Untitled Goose Game Developer

Skull and Bones Release Date Revealed

We got a look at the next game from House House, the team behind Untitled Goose Game. The trailer showed the game’s super strange atmosphere with its spherical protagonists. The game is coming sometime in 2025.

After half a dozen delays, Skull and Bones has yet another release date: February 16, 2024.

Kemuri Is the First Game Ikumi Nakamura’s new studio, Unseen

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage Is the Next Game from Life Is Strange Creator Dontnod

Ikumi Nakamura took the stage to reveal her first independent project since leaving Tango Gameworks. It’s called Kemuri, and it’s a bright, colourful, gorgeous action game.

Don’t Nod, the creator of Life Is Strange and developer of Jusant, Twin Mirror, and Tell Me Why, revealed our first look at its next universe. Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is coming next year to PC, Xbox, and PS5, with a story that focuses on friends who reunite after two decades. Dragon Ball Sparking Zero Gets a Proper Reveal We got a new trailer for Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, the previously teased Budokai Tenkaichi game that now has a proper title.

Dead by Daylight Spin-Off The Casting of Frank Stone revealed Behaviour Interactive and Supermassive Games have revealed The Casting of Frank Stone, a new story-based game set in the Dead by Daylight universe. Jurassic Park Survival Coming from Saber Interactive We got a look at a new first-person Jurassic Park

game from Saber Interactive. Titled Jurassic Park: Survival, it’s a revival of a cancelled action game from the early 2000s. We don’t yet know if this is a proper revival of the plans for the cancelled game, or if it will take the Jurassic Park series in a new direction. Visions of Mana Revealed by Square Enix Square Enix revealed the future of the Mana series with Visions of Mana. Visions of Mana is a brand new game in the Mana series, set to release on PS5, PS4, Series X|S, and PC next year. Hellblade: Senua’s Saga showcased a Lengthy Musical Performance and Trailer We got another lengthy look at Hellblade 2, but no release date beyond its previously confirmed window of sometime in 2024. Still, the gameplay trailer showed off a gorgeous look at the upcoming sequel. Josef Fares’ Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Is Getting a Remake Josef Fares is the creative lead on co-op games like It Takes Two and A Way Out, and now his first big game is getting a remake. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on February 28, 2024. Former Payday Developer Reveals Den of Wolves 10 Chambers brought Den of Wolves to The Game Awards, which the Swedish developer describes as its “techno-thriller cooperative heist game.” 10 Chambers told IGN Den of Wolves has “been on the team’s mind for a decade, inspired by our Payday roots. We’re back on that heist sh*t.” Black Myth: WuKong Has a Release Date Upcoming fantasy adventure Black Myth Wukong is coming on August 20, 2024, with a release on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC via Steam and Epic. However, developer Game Science has still not responded to reports of sexism. Tales of Kenzera: Zau Is Coming April 23, 2024 EA Originals showed off Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a stylish looking 2D sidescoller coming from Silver Rain Games. The game is out April 23, 2024, on PS5, Series X|S, Switch, and PC. Sergent Studios founder and CEO Abubakar Salim said the game will tackle the grieving process.

Rise of the Golden Idol Revealed We got a look at Rise of the Golden Idol, the follow up to the indie hit The Case of the Golden Idol. It’s coming to Steam, PS5, PS4, Xbox, and Switch As Dusk Falls Coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 The choice-based game As Dusk Falls is getting a release on PS4 and PS5 on March 7, 2024. The PS5 version has haptic feedback, touchpad controls, and audio description accessibility on both the PS4 and PS5 versions. Last Sentinel Revealed from Lightspeed LA Last Sentinel is a narrative-focused open-world game coming from Lightspeed Studios and Lightspeed LA. Check out the reveal trailer, which shows off a futuristic Tokyo. Zenless Zone Zero Is Coming in 2024 HoYoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero has a 2024 release window on PC and Mac. Space Marine 2 Is Coming September 9, 2024 Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 finally has a release date of September 9, 2024. Saber showed off another trailer ahead of next year’s launch. Mecha Break Gets A Flashy Combat Trailer Developer Seasun Games showed off a look at its multiplayer mech sci-fi game, Mecha break. The First Descendant Gets a Summer 2024 Release Window The First Descendant got a Summer 2024 release window today, along with a new trailer that showed off the third-person looter shooter combat. Exoborne Is an Open World Extraction Shooter Set in a Post-Apocalyptic U.S. Beset by Extreme Weather Sharkmob showed off Exoborne for the first time today, a post-apocalyptic extraction shooter set in the U.S. after extreme weather has taken over. It’s in development for both PC and consoles and has both PvP and PvE elements. The First Berserker: Khazan Revealed The First Berserker: Khazan, a flashy action game coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

Supernatural Action Adventure Usual June Revealed The TGAs brought the reveal trailer for Usual June, a supernatural-looking action adventure with a cel shaded art style. It’s coming sometime in 2025. Daniel Mullins’ Next Game Is Pony Island 2: Panda Circus We got our first look at Pony Island 2: Panda Circus, which showed off the creepy atmosphere featured in Daniel Mullins’ new upcoming game. Harmonium: The Musical Harmonium: The Musical is an upcoming musical narrative adventure coming to Xbox Game Pass. The game follows Melody Macato, an energetic 10-year-old Filipina-American musician who became Deaf at a young age. Dead Cells Studio Motion Twin Reveals Windblown Windblown is the next game from Motion Twin, the team behind the acclaimed 2D roguelike Dead Cells. Windblown has an emphasis on co-op gameplay, with fast-paced action, and gorgeous anime-esque cutscenes. Motion Twin said it was craving a lightning-fast combat roguelite, but it didn’t exist. So, they started development on Windblown! Thrasher Announced from the Developer of Thumper Indie dev Drool showed off Thrasher, which looks to be cut from the same cloth as their previous game, Thumper. Flashy colours, thumping music, and lots of action was shown off in the reveal trailer. It’s coming to PC sometime next year. World of Goo 2 Revealed We got a reveal trailer for the sequel to World of Goo, the physics-based puzzle game from 2008. The sequel is coming from 2D Boy and Tomorrow Corporation, the same duo that put out the first game.

The Matchless Kung Fu Reveal Trailer The Matchless Kung Fu got a new trailer early on during The Game Awards 2023.

Fresh Look at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League We got a lengthy trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which is still set to release next February. Ready or Not Version 1.0 Coming On December 13 Void Interactive’s first-person shooter Ready or Not is leaving early access on December 13. Honkai Star Rail Gets a New Trailer Honkai Star Rail got a brand new trailer at The Game Awards 2023. GTFO’s Final Update Gets a Trailer GTFO’s final update got the spotlight at TGAs 2023, six years after the game was revealed on the very same stage. Asgard’s Wrath 2 Is Coming to Meta Quest Out Now VR game Asgard’s Wrath 2 which launched on Meta Quest on December 15. Starcraft-like Stormgate Gets New Gameplay Trailer Simu Liu took the stage to reveal that Stormgate is coming to early access Summer 2024. Next up we will dive into all the awards that were up for grabs and list the nominees and the winners who won those awards, each winner will be highlighted in bold. Awards up for grabs with Nominees & Winners Game of the Year Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)

Arknights: Endfield Is Coming to PlayStation 5

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)

Action RPG tower defence game Arknights: Endfield is getting a PlayStation 5 release.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE) Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Game Direction

Best Score and Music

Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)

Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)

Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2(Insomniac Games/SIE) Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo)

Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)

Best Adaptation

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/ Netflix)

Best Audio Design

Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)

Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)

The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/ Nintendo/Universal Pictures)

Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)

Twisted Metal Peacock)

(PlayStation

Productions/

Best Narrative Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)

Hi-Fi Rush Softworks)

(Tango

Gameworks/Bethesda

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE) Resident Evil 4 (Capcom) Best Performance Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)

Cameron Monaghan, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)

Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix) Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE) Best Art Direction Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)

Hi-Fi Rush Softworks)

(Tango

Gameworks/Bethesda

Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)

Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2 Sponsor Message Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3 Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Innovation in Accessibility Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment) Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)

Hi-Fi Rush Softworks)

(Tango

Gameworks/Bethesda

Best Debut Indie Game

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Cocoon (Geometric Interactive)

Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games) Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Interactive/Annapurna

Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17) Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza) Venba (Visai Games)

Games for Impact A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus) Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)

Viewfinder Publishing)

(Sad

Owl

Studios/Thunderful

Best Mobile Game

Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)

Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)

Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)

Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix) Venba (Visai Games)

Hello Kitty Island Entertainment)

Best Ongoing Game

Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)

Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)

Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver/Netflix)

Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)

Best VR/AR Game

Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)

Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)

Fortnite (Epic Games)

Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)

Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/ Firesprite/SIE)

Best Community Support Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red) Destiny 2 (Bungie) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Interactive/Annapurna

Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17) Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio) (Sad

Owl

Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom) Synapse (nDreams) Best Action Game Armored Core VI: Fires (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

Rubicon

Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)

Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)

Viewfinder Publishing)

(Sunblink

Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)

Best Independent Game Cocoon (Geometric Interactive)

Adventure

Studios/Thunderful

Hi-Fi Rush Softworks)

(Tango

Gameworks/Bethesda

Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing) Best Action/Adventure Game Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE) Resident Evil 4 (Capcom) Star Wars Jedi: Entertainment/EA)

Survivor

(Respawn

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)

Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games) Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio) Studios/Bethesda

God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games) Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games) Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment) Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube) Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Unleashed

Turbocharged

The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/ Ubisoft) Best Multiplayer Presented by Discord

Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney) Party Animals (Recreate Games) Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo) Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega) Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo) Best Sim/Strategy Game Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/ Nintendo)

Party Animals (Recreate Games) Street Fighter 6 (Capcom) Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/ Nintendo) Most Anticipated Game Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega) Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/ Ubisoft) Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika) Players Voice Award Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red) Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Order/Paradox

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega) Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/ Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

(Colossal

Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)

Hades II (Supergiant Games)

Best Family Game

F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)

Best Fighting Game

Cities: Skylines Interactive)

EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/ EA Sports)

Hot Wheels (Milestone)

Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)

Game

Best Sports/Racing

Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)

Best RPG

Starfield (Bethesda Softworks)

Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Content Creator of the Year

Fnatic (Valorant)

IronMouse

Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)

PeopleMakeGames

JD Gaming (League of Legends)

Quackity

Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Spreen

Best Esports Coach

SypherPK

Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses - Valorant)

Best Esports Game

Danny “zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons Counter-Strike)

Counter-Strike 2 (Valve) Dota 2 (Valve) League of Legends (Riot Games) PUBG Mobile Games)

(LightSpeed

Studios/Tencent

Valorant (Riot Games) Best Esports Athlete

Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem Overwatch) Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality Counter-Strike) Yoon “Homme” Sung-young (JD Gaming - League of Legends) Best Esports Event

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)

2023 League of Legends World Championship Blast.tv Paris Major 2023

Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (CS:GO)

EVO 2023

Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)

The International Dota 2 Championships 2023 VALORANT Champions 2023

Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty) Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (League of Legends) Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)

Best Esports Team Evil Geniuses (Valorant)

So that’s a wrap with everything announced and all of the glorious winners too. We hope you enjoyed this year’s game awards and we look forward to diving more into what was shown and hoping to see more from the winners next year too

microsoft developer direct january 2024 recap Microsoft rolled out their 2nd Developer Direct video presentation on January 18th 2024 and much like the first we got a clear roadmap of what future releases from team Xbox are rolling out. We were originally expected to get updates from Obsidian (Avowed), Ninja Theory (Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2) and Oxide (Ara: History Untold), however Microsoft surprised us with a special appearance by Square Enix, who were there to give more details about Visions Of Mana. This Developer Direct focused on the teams and less so on giant reveals, so let’s take a closer look at what was shown at the showcase. Avowed

Visions Of Mana

The Outer Worlds studio Obsidian Entertainment showcased gameplay from their new first-person fantasy action RPG Avowed. Obsidian showed off how the Avowed combat system works. We get a wide variety of weapons and spells as well as firearms. There is no linear hacking and slashing, you will need to focus on how to get out of combat situations. You will be familiar with how Avowed deals with character interactions as they are very similar to Fallout: New Vegas. Obsidian showed off the region of the Living Lands, which was a colourful and dull blend.

Square Enix’s Mana team made a surprising appearance at the games showcase. The Mana team gave viewers a glimpse of the latest instalment of their work: Visions of Mana. They revealed new and returning creatures, as well as your own animal companion created by the father of the Mana series Koichi Ishii. The dev team worked closely with composers to make every moment in the game feel unique and interesting. Visions Of Mana is expected to release this summer and is slated to release on Xbox Series X, Windows PC, PS5 and PS4.

Avowed is expected to release in the Fall of 2024, and it will be available on Windows PC and Xbox Series X and will launch on Game Pass on day one.

Ara: History Untold

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 Ninja Theory showcased a long deep dive into its much anticipated sequel of its 2017 hit Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. The latest look into the game puts a spotlight on steps the dev team took to immerse a player in Senua’s journey. Taking place in 10th century Iceland, the game uses binaural audio to immerse you in Senua’s mental battles. This takes you to the darkest parts of her mind. The game is expected to use combat and puzzles to get through it and it is expected to take you 7-9 hours to beat, very much like the first game. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is set to be released worldwide on May 21, 2024 and is confirmed to be digital-only, at a price of $49.99 USD.

Oxide games gave us a look at its historical strategy game: Ara: History Untold. They are poised to set themselves apart from the other historical strategy games out there with crafting systems, a procedurally generated earth and different leaders to run your different nations. Ara: History Untold is Set to release this fall on PC. Indiana Jones And The Great Circle The main event of this showcase was the first gameplay look at Indiana Jones and The Great Circle. Wolfenstein developer MachineGames and Bethesda studios showed off their first person adventure Indiana Jones game which takes place between the events of “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” and “The Last Crusade”, The Great Circle will send Indy on a worldwide adventure.

MachineGames showed off the game’s villain, named Emmerich Voss, who’s in a race to gain the same treasure as Indiana Jones. The footage showed off how some of the first person gameplay worked, such as puzzle solving, gunplay and whip mechanics. This game is set to show off a bunch of amazing locations, set pieces and immerse you in your own Indiana Jones adventure. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set to release sometime this fall on Windows PC, Xbox Series X and will launch day 1 on Xbox Game Pass. This was a great presentation for Xbox who gave us a much clearer roadmap for their offerings in 2024.

playstation state of play recap january 2024 PlayStations first of 2024 State of Play offered insight into what we’ll see arriving on PS5 during 2024 and beyond, with a selection of surprises mixed in with updates for titles we all already knew were heading our way. Whether you missed the show or simply want a rundown of all the announcements, along with some of the trailers, you’ll find all the show’s reveals listed below.

Helldivers 2

Dave the Diver

The show began with a look at Helldivers 2. This sci-fi shooter will be released on 8th February, so you don’t have long to wait if you’re looking forward to Helldivers 2!

It was then revealed that hit indie game Dave the Diver would be arriving on PlayStation 5 in April. This was followed by an even better reveal - Godzilla will be emerging from the depths within Dave the Diver in May.

Stellar Blade Next up came an extended look at Stellar Blade Where we met Eve, the game’s protagonist, and learnt more about the post-apocalyptic world she inhabits. Along with this, the trailer shows off different aspects of the gameplay - from combat to how side quests will work. If Stellar Blade has caught your eye, then you only have to wait until 26th April to get your hands on it. Sonic X Shadow Generations The blue hedgehog raced in next, but his trailer was quickly stolen by Shadow. (Anyone else remember the ‘edgy’ Shadow-the-Hedgehoghas-a-gun game?) The newly-announced Sonic X Shadow Generations will be released in autumn 2024. Zenless Zone Zero After this came the reveal that the PlayStation 5 version of Zenless Zone Zero - the next game from HoYoVerse the makers of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail - is in development. Foamstars We then got a preview for Season 1 of Foamstars, which will be arriving on 6th February for both PS4 and PS5. It will also be part of the PS Plus monthly games.

V Rising We were then treated to the trailer for the gothic V Rising. This top-down action game will be released later this year. Silent Hill: The Short Message The spooks continued as we got a look at the next instalment in the Silent Hill franchise from Konami Digital Entertainment. Silent Hill: The Short Message is now available - it’s a shadow drop! and you can play it for free. Though I do have to wonder why people keep visiting that town... Silent Hill 2 The Silent Hill news continued with another showing for Bloober’s Silent Hill 2 remake, though there was no release date yet in sight. This latest look saw our hero fight off a number of torsos. Judas Next up came a look at Judas - the next game from Ken Levine, creator of Bioshock. While there’s no release date in sight, it does seem like this game has something to say about social media. (Don’t we all.)

Metro Awakening

Until Dawn

After this came our first PlayStation VR2 game for the presentation - Metro Awakening. This game will be arriving in 2024. (I’d recommend reading the novels this series is based on if you haven’t done so already.)

Fancy a relaxing trip to the woods? Well you won’t get that in the newly-announced remake of Until Dawn. This narrative focused game where the wrong choice always leads to death will arrive on both PlayStation 5 and PC later this year.

Legendary Tales

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Going from the post apocalyptic to mediaeval fantasy, next came a trailer for Legendary Tales. This action role playing PlayStation VR2 game will be released on 8th February. Dragon’s Dogma 2 The fantasy vibes continued with a trailer for Dragon’s Dogma 2 from Capcom. If you’ve been looking forward to this sequel, then you only have to wait until 22nd March. Rise of the Ronin It was then time for Rise of the Ronin to take the stage. During this trailer we got a good look at what the gameplay will entail, including the combat and different modes of transportation. Rise of the Ronin will be released on 22nd March.

We were then treated to a great, if rather gruesome, trailer for Death Stranding 2 - now officially subtitled On the Beach. Coming, of course, from Kojima Productions this game looks like it’s going to be as strange as the first. (With another good amount of walking too.) The trailer gave us some insight into both the gameplay and story, and our first look at Elle Fanning’s character in action. As for a release date... Death Stranding 2 will be arriving in 2025. This wasn’t the only news from Kojima, however, as he made an appearance in the presentation after the Death Stranding 2 trailer to reveal a huge new partnership with PlayStation on a fresh action espionage game - and also movie? Finally, if you were hoping for some Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth news, sadly, you’ll have to return on 6th February. Hope you enjoyed January 2024’s State of Play!

Fntastic developer of the day before shuts down due to terrible launch The supposed-MMO was released in early access on 7th December 2023 to be shut down just four days later. The Day Before developer Fntastic has announced a sudden shut down, just four days after the game entered early access. In a statement shared on social media, the studio said that The Day Before had “failed financially” with the developer “lacking the funds” to continue. The Day Before was originally due for release in June 2022, before being delayed until March 1, 2023. At the start of the year, Fntastic revealed that The Day Before would be delayed by eight months after the studio failed to trademark the game’s name. It was then delayed once more, before finally entering early access last week. It was available to purchase for $39.99 (£31.85) via Steam but quickly racked up over 10000 negative reviews while Fntastic asked players not to accuse them of “scamming”. At one point, The Day Before was the most wish listed game on Steam but quickly became the lowest rated game of all time on the platform. “We really wanted to release new patches to reveal the full potential of the game, but unfortunately, we don’t have the funding to continue the work,” said Fntastic, confirming the shutdown of the studio.

“All income received is being used to pay off debts to our partners,” they confirmed. ”It’s important to note that we didn’t take any money from the public during the development; there were no pre-orders or crowdfunding campaigns. We worked tirelessly for five years, pouring our blood, sweat and tears into the game.” The statement went on to say the future of The Day Before and Fntastic’s other game Propnight is “unknown” but servers will stay operational for the time being. “We apologise if we didn’t meet your expectations. We did everything within our power, but unfortunately, we miscalculated our capabilities. Creating games is an incredibly challenging endeavour.” Throughout the development of The Day Before, Fntastic had repeatedly told fans that the game wasn’t a scam but were forced to defend the use of unpaid “volunteers’ ‘ and were accused of ripping off Call Of Duty and The Last Of Us. The title was originally announced as a zombie survival MMO, but the game released was an extraction shooter. Since the statement, The Day Before has become unable to be purchased via Steam while trailers have been taken down from YouTube and Fntastic’s CEO Eduard Gotovtsev has seemingly left social media.

around 1900 roles lost due to microosoft layoffs It’s been a terrible time over the last 12 months for the gaming industry with mass layoffs all around and another huge hit just recently impacted with Microsoft laying off around 1900 jobs within their gaming sector. Phil Spencer, Head of Gaming at Xbox, announced that Microsoft will be laying off around 1,900 staff across Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard, in what he calls a “painful decision”. The cuts follow Xbox’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard. “Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth,” said Spencer in an email to staff (obtained by IGN via VGC). “As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team. The Gaming Leadership Team and I are committed to navigating this process as thoughtfully as possible.” Spencer added that Microsoft will provide “full support” to staff affected by the “transition”, with severance benefits to be issued, as “informed by local employment laws.” On top of that, Blizzard President Mike Ybarra has announced his departure via X, alongside Chief Design Officer Allen Adham. Furthermore, Blizzard’s survival game, headed up by former Far Cry boss Dan Hay, has been cancelled as part of the changes. “Looking ahead, we’ll continue to invest in areas that will grow our business and support our strategy of bringing more games to more players around the world,” Spencer added. “Although this is a difficult moment for our team, I’m as confident as ever in your ability to create and nurture the games, stories and worlds that bring players together.” We are sorry for what is happening to those affected and wish them all well with their future.

s.t.a.l.k.e.r 2 release date delayed again but for good reasons STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has been delayed once more, having been tentatively pencilled in for a Q1 2024 release. Developer GSC World notes a “frankly challenging development process’ ‘, during which it highlighted a series of “technical imperfections’ ‘ with the game. “Seeing the scope of polishing and understanding that we can’t push your patience too much, we were absolutely dedicated to releasing the game in Q1 2024, and we worked extra hard to meet the release window,” the Ukrainian studio explained. “That, however, doesn’t change the fact that at the beginning of this year, we still witnessed the certain amount of technical imperfections that hold S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 below the expected standards for the final experience our fans are waiting for,” the developer added. GSC Game World has been through the wringer developing STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, with the war in Ukraine putting work on hold in March 2022, before resuming shortly after. The game had then been moved to 2023, then, in March of that year, the studio had been targeted by an alleged Russian hack. In September, the developer’s Prague offices then suffered a fire. “We know that you are waiting for this moment, as well as we do. But the preparation needs to be done so that the journey into the Zone goes smoothly and as planned,” the studio stated. “Thanks for your patience and continuous support and be ready to see a lot of info about the game further this year.” GSC assures that the “final release date” for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl on Xbox Series X|S and PC is 5th September 2024.

e3 has been cancelled permanently E3 is officially no more, having been one of the largest video game industry events in the calendar since its inception in 1995. After the cancellation of E3 2023, the ESA had intended to bring back the LA-based event in 2024, for the first time since it went digital in 2021. “After more than two decades of hosting an event that has served as a central showcase for the U.S. and global video game industry, the Entertainment Software Association has decided to bring E3 to a close,” ESA President and CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis told The Washington Post. “We know the entire industry, players and creators alike have a lot of passion for E3. We share that passion,” he added. “We know it’s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it’s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners.” With major publishers like EA and Ubisoft pulling out of past E3s, and platform-holders including Sony and Nintendo deciding to no longer attend the event, the writing has been on the wall for the Electronic Entertainment Expo for some time. A “complete reinvention” had been on the cards for E3 2025, but it appears that will no longer be happening. Shows like The Game Awards, Summer Games Fest, and individual showcases from publishers and developers will seemingly become the norm going forward, then, and E3 will be nothing more than a hazy memory. Fare thee well, E3.

While The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is a long way away from being the quickest remaster in history to release after the original game, it’s not far off. It all comes down to what you classify as a remaster, though. For instance, was GTA V on PS4 and Xbox One a remaster or a new-gen release? On the flip side, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered doesn’t exactly come across as a remaster, despite the moniker. I’d argue it’s more of an Extended Edition. When something is traditionally labelled a remaster, we tend to think of fancy new visuals and a shiny new exterior. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, in that respect, doesn’t really meet that criteria. Sure, it does now run in 4K resolution at 30 frames per second, or 1440p and 60fps, but you’d be hard pushed to tell the difference between this version and the PS5 patch that already exists for the original. The truth is, the PS4 Pro version of The Last of Us Part 2 was already stunning, so the two PS5 updates seem more like refinements than a reinvention of the wheel. As aforementioned, however, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is more about the new features than the supposed lick of paint. For fans of the original, the ‘Lost Levels’ - though incredibly short (you can play all three in about 20-25 minutes) - are pretty neat additions. And you don’t need to replay the game to access them - they’re available from the get-go via one of the front-end menus. For our money, the development commentary, which can be toggled on or off upon completing the story once, is a truly fascinating addition. Our only complaint is that there just isn’t nearly 63

enough of it. While it’s great to hear from director Neil Druckmann and lead actors Troy Baker, Ashley Williams, Laura Bailey, and the like, these commentary sections only take place during the game’s cutscenes. Personally, I’m perhaps more interested in some of the game design during gameplay sequences, but that’s not really catered for. Different strokes for different folks and all that. The biggest, and by far, best part of TLOU2R is the new roguelike game mode, ‘No Return’, which has you battling through random scenarios, decking out your character and build with each run, in an effort to get through to the boss stage. These self-contained runs have their own crafting mechanics, reward boxes, in-game shop, currency and modifiers, which make every experience truly unique. If you wanted to play as Joel again, or play as Tommy, you can unlock more characters, too, each with their own set of abilities and strengths to lean into. Anyone who played the original The Last of Us Part 2 on PS4 will already know how excellent the combat is, and in this compelling environment, it truly shines once more. With tons of familiar maps, different enemy types, encounter types, options and more, No Return is a fine addition. If you’re paying for the upgrade, No Return is worth the price of admission alone, and will go some way to quelling the disappointment that stemmed from the recently cancelled The Last of Us multiplayer game. Is The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered the best edition of the game, then? Absolutely. Is there much of a difference between the main game

and the PS5 patch for the PS4 version of TLOU2 that Naughty Dog rolled out a few years ago? Absolutely not. You’d be hard pushed to notice the difference, in truth. That said, with the new roguelike No Return game mode (which is bloody ace), the developer commentary, and Lost Levels, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered

is actually a fantastic package. If you own the original, No Return makes the upgrade worthwhile, and the developer commentary is just the cherry on the cake. And if you haven’t yet played The Last of Us Part 2, the Remastered version is the best yet, and most definitely the way to go.

Overall TGG Rating Adding No Return and some riveting developer commentary onto what is already an absolutely stellar game makes The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered the perfect package for both new players, and those who are making the upgrade. Just don’t expect much of a visual overhaul.

9/10 Audio 9/10 The music and acting is still best in class. Throw in the new developer commentary on top of that, and you’ve got the perfect package.

Visuals 9/10 The Last of Us Part 2 was already one of the best looking games I’ve ever played, and it still is - even without the massive visual update.

Playability 9/10 It still plays like a dream, and with No Return, the combat gets a chance to shine even more.

Delivery 9/10 The developer commentary, Lost Levels and No Return mode, add to what is already a pretty special game.

Version tested: PlayStation 5

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Seriously, what’s going on with the Mishima family? I know there are families out there that have trouble getting along, but few (as far as I know) have resorted to throwing one another off a cliff or into the heart of an active volcano. Family feuds hit differently in Tekken, then, and for Tekken 8, the father-son bickering has moved down the bloodline from Heihachi and Kazuya to Kazuya and his son Jin Kazama. But none of the drama has diminished – the Mishima-Kazama battle rages on, and nothing less than the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance. It’s good to see that Tekken’s story is still utterly unhinged after thirty years. And that these games still have the capacity to deliver dynamic, exciting, and intricate fighting mechanics, entirely on its own terms. One thing about Tekken that has remained unchanged for three decades, apart from its knowingly nutty narrative, is the core fighting system, wherein each face button is attached to your fighter’s limbs. It makes stringing basic combos together feel slick and intuitive, as it always has, but Tekken 8 adds a few new tricks of its own, including the Heat System – something that fundamentally alters the ebb and flow of a fight, especially against online opponents. It’s another tool in your arsenal, one to bust out at the touch of a button when you need to turn the tide. Crucially, it works well, and complements the Rage Arts finishers introduced in Tekken 7. The whole thing hangs together beautifully, with the nuts and bolts easy to learn, and the more intricate bits slightly tougher to master. The addition of recoverable health lends another layer of strategy to proceedings, any damage taken, chip damage or otherwise, appearing as a white window in your health bar. Go on a counteroffensive and you can win some of that lost health back, so it can pay to play aggressively, especially when you’re able

to flip the odds back in your favour. It might seem like there’s an awful lot to take in, when it comes to Tekken 8’s various systems and mechanics, but Practice Mode and the Replay & Tips feature (more on that in a bit) have you well covered in that regard. The traditional Arcade experience and Character Episodes provide short, punchy solo battles ideal for cutting your teeth, too, before you feel confident enough to venture into the viper’s nest that is online competition. Arcade Quest mode proves to be a good place to start, easing you in gently with a few ghost battles and a handful of simple tutorials to help you get to grips with the essentials. The new ‘Special Style’ control scheme (available to toggle on and off with a press of LB) also offers a way for beginners to get involved and acquainted with the various intricacies of Tekken, enabling the unleashing of moves with little more than a few simple button presses. Saved replays can also be viewed with contextsensitive tips (in the aforementioned Replay & Tips), so you can see where you’ve gone wrong during a bout and attempt to improve in the areas where your skills might be lacking. Bandai Namco has seemingly thought of everything, even suggesting possible combos or windows during which you can turn the tables and punish an opponent. Outside of Arcade Quest, there’s a lot more story to be had, ‘The Dark Awakens’ seeing Kazuya and Jin butting heads, as the former initiates a new King of Iron Fist Tournament, while the latter grapples with his ailing devil powers. The whole thing is completely ludicrous of course, much as you’d expect, and in keeping with fighting game tradition, there’s a horribly egregious and cheap boss battle to contend with. This might actually be the worst boss battle we’ve had the displeasure of facing in a fighting game, which is saying something

– there’s a deep well of shit bosses in fighting games to draw from. If you thought Tekken 7’s final boss encounter was interminable, you ain’t seen nothing yet. This one is truly wretched. Still, godawful bosses come with the territory, and you can always dial down the difficulty level if you’d like to preserve your sanity. Boss fights aside, Story Mode is good fun, even managing to squeeze in a neat homage to the old Tekken Force beat ‘em up mode at one juncture. Tekken 8’s story also conjures its own line in eye-popping spectacle, too, the game’s Unreal Engine 5 visuals making for easily one of the best looking fighting games around – it’s outstanding. That it also happens to play like a dream is the icing on the cake. Chuck in a fantastic online offering, complete with cross-play support, stable rollback netcode (with options enabling you to prioritise fluidity or response), leaderboards, and the expansive Tekken Fight Lounge arcade lobby, and you have something rather special.

On top of that, there’s the immediate joys of Tekken Ball, the bonus mode first featured in Tekken 3, in which you punch and kick a giant beach ball back and forth until one of you misses and gets smashed in the face. This alone provides hours of competitive fun from your sofa, which, let’s be honest, is the best way to play Tekken. Then again, any way to play Tekken is the best way. In a period of resurgence for the fighting genre, Tekken 8 stands out with its ridiculous story, stunning visuals, generous suite of character customisation options, and glut of modes. As fighting packages go, this is just about as good as it gets. Tekken 8 rules, with an Iron Fist. More than the sum of its parts and some really quite magnificent visuals, Tekken 8 is a truly terrific fighting game, which, in the midst of a resurgence for the genre, is quite something. After thirty years, Tekken 8 proves there’s a lot of life left in the series yet.

Overall TGG Rating More than the sum of its parts and some really quite magnificent visuals, Tekken 8 is a truly terrific fighting game, which, in the midst of a resurgence for the genre, is quite something. After thirty years, Tekken 8 proves there’s a lot of life left in the series yet.

9/10 Audio 8/10 Aggressive techno to complement the aggressive fighting styles and pyrotechnics on show. It fits the bone-crunching action to a tee. There’s also a jukebox of tracks from throughout the entire series, which is a nice touch.

Visuals 9/10 Tekken 8 raises the bar when it comes to its graphical fidelity in a fighting game, blowing Mortal Kombat 1 and Street Fighter 6 out of the water. Here, Unreal Engine 5 really showcases how stunning this game is.

Playability 9/10

Simply superb. ‘Special Style’ controls mean newbies can get involved, while Tekken veterans can get to grips with new systems and hone their skills with the ‘Replay & Tips’ feature. Tekken 8 plays like a dream.

Delivery 9/10 Story Mode, Character Episodes, Arcade Quest, Tekken Ball, a generous online offering, and all of the standard stuff you expect from a fighting game. Tekken 8 is bulging with content and features – there’s nothing missing. Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

The great team over at VOID Interactive hooked us up with their highly popular game Ready or Not to review. Ready or Not is a tactical firstperson shooter (FPS) which is developed by Void Interactive. Following an armed police unit in the fictional Los Suenos Police Department, you’re thrust into the polished boots of a Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T) commander tasked with managing a team of officers both in and out of the field. The detailed gunplay is superb from the getgo and the wide variety of options when you’re selecting or tweaking your squad’s gear opens the door to plenty of tactical possibilities. Throw in an intuitive control scheme that allows you to perform complex actions with ease, and you have a formula that’s perfect for online co-op play. The overall package is let down by the singleplayer Commander Mode, however, which replaces your team of up to three other human players with four wildly inconsistent AI. These computer-controlled squad mates are mostly adequate, but there are far too many situations in which they completely bug out - which leads to unfair deaths. The same is true of the enemies who range from completely oblivious to near-omniscient, landing impossible potshots through walls with surgical precision. There are 18 main stages to tackle, each selected from a map screen in the briefing room of the police station hub world. Containing a basic firing range, a small training facility, and equipment boxes to change out your current loadout, this is where you prepare for your next excursion. 71

These missions are mostly the kinds of situations that one would expect to encounter in a S.W.A.T simulator, with many like the hospital terrorist attack or nightclub shooting, however Ready or Not does not pull any punches when it comes to its depictions of violence. Gore is frequent and the blood-chilling realism of its overall visual direction leads to some genuinely disturbing encounters. Playing with friends in co-op mode goes a long way to help alleviate some of the grim atmosphere, shifting the focus instead towards team coordination and tactics. It’s in this setting that Ready or Not is at its absolute best, challenging you all to work together to overcome increasingly dire odds. Each locked door or open entryway presents a range of opportunities depending on your equipment, the current situation, and your preferred play style. Breaching shotguns, battering rams, and C4 charges all allow a well-coordinated squad to overwhelm their opponents with sheer power and noise. Using your lockpick in conjunction with a mirror gun (a telescopic camera that can sneakily poke under doors), on the other hand, helps you gain a foothold undetected. No matter your approach, gunfights are almost inevitable and this is another area where Ready or Not excels. The arsenal of weapons on offer is highly detailed, with plenty of options from conventional police pistols, shotguns, and SMGs to heavier assault rifles. They handle impressively realistically, with punchy sound effects and impactful animations. A handful of mechanics more traditionally found in hardcore mil-sims, like aiming stances and checking

ammo counts by unloading your weapon, are also present, but bound to such convenient inputs that they quickly become second nature. Successfully pulling off a meticulously coordinated manoeuvre with your friends just doesn’t get old. The feeling of kicking down a door and carefully clearing a room with great efficiency is a reward in itself and provides a fantastic rush of excitement every time. When you’re selecting your loadout, it is essential to carefully consider factors like fire rate, bullet penetration, and ammunition calibre before each mission lest you find yourself wholly outgunned or at risk of causing collateral damage. This encourages you to experiment with a wide range of options rather than just sticking to a few old favourites and the ability to add a handful of weapon attachments offers even greater depth. There is also a solid selection of less lethal options like tasers or beanbag launchers which, thanks to strict rules of engagement that massively penalise you for unnecessary violence, can be a useful way to drive enemies to surrender. Your choice of Armor is also hugely important, with increased protection offering the chance to withstand more hits at the expense of movement speed - a basic but effective risk vs reward mechanic. There’s a great rhythm to keeping watch for your teammates as you methodically clear room after room. The small element of procedural generation, which spawns enemies and objectives in different locations for every attempt, does a good job of keeping you on edge. Enemy behaviour can be surprisingly complex too and it’s not uncommon to encounter foes hiding underneath beds or inside cupboards. Enemy fire is lethal, often putting you down in a matter of seconds, which adds tension for the most part but does make the odd moment where systems go wrong incredibly apparent. In a game that demands the fastest reflexes and the most considered strategy, instantly dying to an enemy shooting right through walls due to no fault of your own is incredibly frustrating. There are a few accessibility options in Ready or Not, including colourblind filters and the ability to highlight dropped enemy weapons

in the environment. Although there is no controller support, you can also customise the keyboard control scheme to suit your individual requirements.These frustrations are doubly apparent in the single player Commander Mode, where your squad of AI teammates is liable to similar issues. There were a handful of occasions when my squad would completely freeze up, unable to respond to commands and stood blocking my way which was such a pain. Some of the maps are absolutely massive and without friends to chat to, trudging around them alone can quickly become a huge drag especially if you miss one tiny thing to move forward with the mission. The game itself becomes a lot easier to notice many of the crude jokes hidden throughout the levels, with gags that feel massively out of place and seem to represent a startling immaturity on the part of the developers. Bursting into the shady den of a video game streamer, it shortly became disappointing to notice what appeared to be AI generated visual assets plastering the walls. Posters of wonky-looking anime figures are abundant and there are similar assets to be found across other levels, which often undermines the otherwise impressively highbudget look of the game. To top it all off, the handful of new mechanics introduced in this mode are clearly underbaked. Each officer has a trait that manifests itself after a handful of successful missions, but buffs like marginally improved Armor really don’t make a tangible difference. You are also tasked with keeping the mental health of your officers in check by scheduling visits to a therapist at the station in order to avoid them quitting the force. This sounds like an intriguing mechanic, but there is little reason to ever engage with it and retain squad mates when a literally endless supply of new officers can be instantly recruited at no cost with just the click of a button. The sloppiness here sits in stark contrast to the strength of the co-op mode and means that Ready or Not is incredibly hard to recommend to those who don’t have a dedicated team of friends to play with. If you do and are all comfortable with the gruesome subject matter, then this is a decent tactical experience that should scratch that SWAT 4 itch. 72

Overall TGG Rating h Ready or Not is an excellent tactical shooter that really immerses you into the role of a heavilyarmed law enforcer. However, there are some annoying issues in the single-player campaign and a few conspicuously missing features.

8/10 Audio 8/10 Great immersive sounds with life like gun recoil and shell drops however slight lack of surround sound and confirmation of where footsteps may arrive.

Visuals 8/10 The game’s visual direction leads to some genuinely disturbing encounters due to its blood-chilling realism but The lighting effects work very well in bringing atmosphere and providing contrast within each level.

Playability 8/10 With fantastic gunplay and a wide variety of options for you and your squad, a great co-op addition and 18 stages to tackle this has hours of great immersive experiences with or without friends.

Delivery 7/10 With the Lacklustre commander mode and Inconsistent AI meaning this is best played with a lobby full of your friends, however a great immersive setting all around with lots of gore and realism. We can’t wait to see what more they bring in future updates. Version tested: Steam PC

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

73 99

Pros Fantastic gunplay: The detailed gunplay is superb from the get-go. Gripping co-op mode: The wide variety of options when selecting or tweaking your squad’s gear opens the door to plenty of tactical possibilities. Varied arsenal: The game offers a wide variety of weapons. Immersive experience: The game really immerses you into the role of a heavily-armed law enforcer, with all the split-second life-or-death decisions that entails. Cons Barebones single-player: The overall package is let down by the single-player Commander Mode. Inconsistent AI: The AI is wildly inconsistent, leading to unfair deaths. Performance issues: The game has been reported to have performance issues since its alpha stage. Controversial content: The game’s focus on depicting real-world events may be too overwhelming for some players. Please note that this review is based on the information available as of December 2023 and the game’s performance and reception may have changed since then.

74 100

Our first duty, when it comes to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, is to work out when, exactly, the crown was lost. Scholars may point to the year of our lord 2007 A.D., when Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed, which leapt from an aborted princely project and all but dethroned him. There is a strong argument for 2010, when Jake Gyllenhaal clipped on a leather-and-bronze breastplate and grew his hair into a greasy waterfall for the Prince of Persia movie. Or maybe we ought to go further back to 2004, and the release of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. It was that game, after all, in which the prince turned up scarred and scowling, shipwrecked on a bleak isle, and the soundtrack was thrashed off course by waves of heavy metal. Wherever you point to on the timeline, however, there is no looping back, as our hero would have done, to fix the fall. We can only press on. The new game hinges on Sargon, an elite soldier and royal guard to the kingdom of Persia, but the hinge doesn’t swing in or out. This is a side-scrolling platformer, a 2.5-D metroidvania. That’s the genre to go for, when you’re saddled with a plot and characters as dry as the dunes. You hardly need the motivation of a story, when you’ve got a knotted clump of map to unpack, and who needs depth the slow teasing-out of personality when you have a slew of dead ends to crumble and blow away? Stripped to the waist, wielding a pair of curved swords and a killer hairdo, Sargon certainly looks the part. And to begin with he’s all 75

swagger: “Death has come for you,” he says to an enemy general, pronging the man with his own trident. Before long, though, he falters; a slave to the flash and swing of his own moods, he admits to one of his mentors that he is “trying to stay humble,” to “find what is at the end of my blade.” In other words, to work out what he’s fighting for the ethical and philosophical underpinning to why he so often reduces other people to shashlik. Thus, the crux of The Lost Crown is not just to safeguard Persia from those who seek its ruin, and to rescue the kidnapped Prince Ghassan from insurrectionary forces, but to banish the Warrior Within. This is less than brilliant news. If you’re going to vault over an adversary, pirouette, and then slash him in the back, and you’re fretting about motivation, the correct answer is: because it looks really cool. This is partly why Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is revered as the best entry in the series. The hauteur of its hero was in direct proportion to the amazingness of his feats; if he could climb the air, as if on an invisible staircase, then why wouldn’t he see everyone else as having slid to the bottom of the bannister? He was an arsehole, primed to inherit an empire, but his arrogance was constantly pricked, and over the course of the adventure, in a clever visual motif, the clothes were torn from his back. He was brought low and likeable. Here, we don’t get much of a handle on Sargon, who doesn’t belong to the monarchy but merely tends to their well-being. At one point, he meets a young girl and asks her the whereabouts of the missing prince. “There

hasn’t been a prince here in so long,” she says. “I’ve only seen you.” Ouch. Still, on the upside, the developer, Ubisoft Montpellier, has given the action a sharp pace and charged it smartly with challenge. The combat has real bite, all wrist-juddering counters and careful dodges. Now and then, you will trigger a finisher and get treated to a sunburst of cartoon hues that break over the final blow as if Sargon could slip, without obstacle, into Street Fighter. He wouldn’t look out of place. There is a chunky softness to the art style that makes you think of Fortnite: textures brushed to a sugary matte finish, characters that could have been peeled from the top of a cake. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth for that look. More than anything, it made me miss the cel shading of the 2008 Prince of Persia reboot; the colours there were drawn less like paint than like fresh blood, pulsing with life. Outside the fights, our man’s acrobatic credentials are impeccable. There are poles to whirl on and whip off at all angles, walls on which to leap, and mid-air dashes that warp you across gaps, leaving a shimmer of purple-blue shards. The time powers in this game are bound to the theme of universal crack-up. You can also leave a copy of yourself, go about your business, and zap back to that position at will handy, if you want to avoid large foes, and crucial in the solving of puzzles. These are of the vast and mechanical sort towers hewn from the living rock and fuelled by water, gates that feed on chains and chattering cogs and they entail not just Sargon’s brand of gymnastics but the brain-powered kind, as well. This is the best thing about The Lost Crown; there is a lovely, liquid smoothness in your movement through it, and Mount Qaf, where the entire thing unfolds, is like a Middle Eastern dream of Dracula’s lair in Castlevania.

You never want for sheer spectacle. We get colossal statues that loom above rusted forests; endless libraries of stone tablets; and a sea that has stopped in time, with a frothy blue tongue curling over to lick a doomed ship, and forever falling short. As was the case with Metroid Dread, it’s a joy when a big developer works in a narrow mould, with a limited budget, and the result is precise, thinly lacquered with a high-production gloss. Ubisoft has been here before, with Assassin’s Creed Chronicles. Those games, developed by Climax Studios, were 2.5-D, and their great coup was what that lack of depth brought to them – or pressed out of them. The Triple-A bloat that so often blighted the main games was gone, and the movements of its lethal figures had the lightly starched grace of a pop-up book. The problem is, Prince of Persia isn’t something you need, or want, slimmed down. What so amazed about these games, in the pomp of their PlayStation 2 era, was how free of weight they felt. You were plunged into cavernous palaces and faced with halls of byzantine machinery, but you flew through it like a bird, and spooled backwards in time until you were pleased with its flow. Even in 1989, when the series began, in crisp tones, on the Apple II computer, it seemed ripe with possibility and clear of baggage. The trouble with The Lost Crown is not that it’s new, a departure from something beloved; it’s that it fits in the oiled groove of an established template, and reminds you, with a pang of sadness, that these games were new, that they rewrote the course of their genre, rather than bowing to its comfy guidelines. And what’s next for this series? Full steam ahead to the Sands of Time remake, which seems lost in a limbo of its own. “No one cares about the Ancients,” someone says to Sargon. “The Present rushes blindly forward, erasing the Past.” Try telling that to Ubisoft.

Overall TGG Rating Fluid platforming and frenetic combat, with some lovely spectacle and a dull story.

7/10 Audio 7/10 Gareth Coker collaborates with Mentrix to deliver a Middle Eastern medley of strings and woodwind. Exactly the sort of sounds you would expect, though not Coker’s best.

Visuals 7/10 A 2.5-D style and some great spectacle and stylistic flourishes, with some slightly underwhelming character design.

Playability 7/10 Precise platforming with a pleasing difficulty, and some frenetic counter-driven combat, broken up by some cleverly designed puzzles.

Delivery 7/10 A polished and nicely paced adventure, with a good blend of platforming and combat, but a dull story.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Welcome to Hawaii, home of sun, surf, and hula. Home to violent criminal gangs and a cult of religious zealots. Home to a mysterious island no one quite knows the truth about. If you were hoping that Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Ryu ga Gotoku 7) protagonist Ichiban Kasuga was simply going to enjoy a nice holiday in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, think again. Yes, there’s ample frivolity to be had, but, as ever, there’s a dark tale to be told, with Kasuga and his comrades caught up in the mess. And this time, Kazuma Kiryu is along for the ride, harbouring a troubling secret of his own. Infinite Wealth (aka Yakuza 8) represents another narrative balancing act for developer RGG Studio, then, but if anyone can pull it off… It all starts off happily enough, as Kasuga strolls through Yokohama’s glitzy Ijincho with a spring in his step, still high on life as people celebrate his newfound status as the ‘Hero of Yokohama’. He’s even got a new job at Hello Work, helping ex-yakuza get back on their feet – everything seems to have worked out well for Kasuga. Of course, there’s no drama to be wrought from one guy enjoying minor fame and contentment – before long, the shit inevitably hits the fan, and it’s off to Hawaii. Interspersed between all of that story are the usual mini-games and side activities, and in that regard the game can feel a little too front-loaded. For the first six or seven chapters, it’s difficult to focus on 79

the narrative, as the brakes are slammed on to teach you about the ins and outs of ‘Miss Match’ dating via your smartphone, competing in a Sujimon Tournament, making friends with the Aloha Links social app, taking part in a Photo Rally, and getting to work on Dondoko Island, to name but a few. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio might have done better to spread out Infinite Wealth’s myriad side activities a little more evenly, as the surfeit of tutorials and new things frequently thrown at you during those opening chapters quickly becomes exhausting. By the time you’ve reached the sixth chapter, and ploughed hours into the Animal Crossing-style Dondoko Island, you’re then able to take or leave as little or as much of the side content as you like, and, finally, Infinite Wealth’s narrative comes into much sharper focus. As long as you go in knowing that it’ll take 20+ hours to get to that point, you’ll be golden. It’s initially quite hard to really get invested in what’s going on until you’ve put in the hard miles, but when Kasuga and Kiryu’s twisty-turny yarn hits its stride, it’s as good as anything you’ve experienced in previous Yakuza entries. Furthermore, there’s a lot more Kiryu in this than you might expect, which for the longtime Yakuza faithful will come as a welcome surprise. It’s a celebration, too, of the main

man’s journey from Kamurocho and beyond, offering nostalgic reminiscences that will transport you back in time to the heyday of the Tojo Clan and the numerous tumultuous times the Dragon of Dojima has faced over the years. Kasuga remains the lynchpin of the narrative, with new faces Chitose and Tomizawa joining the party, packing their own jobs and weapons. Old friends like Adachi, Nanba, and Saeko return, and those crunchy turn-based mechanics still have the capacity to elicit joy, especially with Kiryu and his brawler, rush, and beast fighting styles present and correct. Positioning during combat is crucial, as you’re able to send multiple enemies reeling with a single strike – it’s a natural evolution of what RGG introduced with Yakuza 7, presenting deeper turn-based RPG systems to drill down into, without muddying the waters. You can mitigate damage with a perfect guard by pressing B at the right time, and, if things are getting desperate, you can still dial for a summonable Poundmate to step in and lend a hand. As your bond grows with your party, you’ll also unlock passive combo moves and tagteam abilities, adding more and more strings to your bow as you progress and level up. Amid the RPG action and story, it can be easy to get swept up in substories and side stuff, not least the aforementioned Dondoko Island. From clearing the island of rubbish and persistent

interlopers looking to retain the island’s status as a dumping ground, to crafting all and sundry at your DIY table, be it buildings, lampposts, toilet facilities, arcade machines, furniture for your home, gumball machines... you get the idea. Once you’ve created your own beach paradise, you can then purchase and place accommodations for paying guests, then put those Dondoko Coins to good use expanding your home, boosting your farming endeavours, and further fleshing out your idyll away from mainland Hawaii. It’s a gameplay loop that proves enormously addictive – without even thinking, I’d lost a good five hours to messing around on Dondoko Island. And it felt like I’d barely scratched the surface. Suffice it to say, then, that Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a massive game. By a country mile, this is the most content-laden instalment yet – far and away the largest in terms of narrative scope and sheer size. Hawaii alone is enormous, before you even factor in the whole of Ijincho and Kamurocho. But size isn’t everything, and sometimes, Infinite Wealth’s breadth can be slightly overwhelming. Once the story finds its feet, however, Kasuga and Kiryu’s saga gains propulsion, making for every bit the compelling yarn RGG Studio consistently manages to cook up. Stick with it, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth rewards your patience in spades.

Overall TGG Rating After a bit of a difficult start, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth soon manages to hit the gas, its story proving an engaging affair amid an ocean of mini-games and other distractions. This is a massive game, but one you’ll want to dive headfirst into.

8.5/10 Audio 8/10 As always, Like a Dragon conjures up memorable tunes, although a lot of them have been carried over from previous games. Voice performances (especially the native Japanese language version) are excellent, too.

Visuals 9/10

The series has never been a slouch when it comes to visual loveliness, but Infinite Wealth kicks things up a notch, with rich, detailed character models and environments. Considering the sheer amount of content here, it’s remarkable that the level of fidelity is consistent throughout.

Playability 9/10 If you enjoyed the turn-based RPG action of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, then the evolution of those systems in Infinite Wealth are sure to delight. That’s when you’re not wrapped up in the myriad diversions peppered across Honolulu and Ijincho, of course.

Delivery 8/10 You can’t have too much of a good thing, and that rings true of Infinite Wealth. The issue is that it’s all thrown at you during the game’s opening chapters. Miss Match dating, dungeons in the Labyrinth, Dondoko Island, Sujimon... It’s a lot.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is one of those licensed properties that is surely an anomaly in games - although, perhaps less so these days. Marvel games aside in recent years, history tells us that these were the kind of games that were usually farmed out to the studio that can turn it around for the cheapest amount of money and in the shortest amount of time possible - a practice that still goes on today. The second major Avatar game is anything but that. Developed by the hugely talented Ubisoft Massive, and announced way back in 2017, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora certainly shows the extra time and effort afforded to Ubisoft’s latest title. This isn’t a movie tie-in cobbled together to make a quick buck.

The truth is, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s biggest draw is the eponymous planet itself. There’s no doubt about it - Pandora is a wonderfully creative and technical marvel. It truly is one of the most breathtaking openworlds I’ve seen in some time. From the floating mountains to the bioluminescent fauna, Pandora is just a place of wonder, one that makes Frontiers of Pandora a true currentgen game that perhaps we’ve not seen enough of, especially this far into the current console generation. It’s a place comprising beautifully diverse biomes, from epic waterfalls and towering moss-covered pillars to dense forests and towering mountains. Pandora is a pleasure to spend time in.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora sees you jumping into the shoes (bare blue feet?) of an unnamed Na’vi on the surface of Pandora. After years of cooperation between natives and humans (the RDA), tensions start to reach boiling point on the vibrant, idyllic world, when the RDA becomes more unhinged and erratic under the guidance of the psychotic Mercer, putting the future of the planet under threat. As such, it falls to you to reunite the Na’vi clans and take back control of Pandora.

Where Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora does falter ever so slightly is in its gameplay. Aside from a few noteworthy set pieces like climbing the Ikran Rookery to bond with your Ikran, the quests themselves are a little samey. That said, there are some visually stunning spectacles that the game throws at you, as you venture through its narrative.

At its core, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a first-person open-world action-adventure game. The best way to describe it is a little bit of Far Cry and a little bit of Horizon, and a whole lot of Pandora. That means you’ll be infiltrating outposts however you choose, using your trusty bow and arrow to take down a whole host of bad guys and beasts, and using the local wildlife to traverse a lush and hostile planet full of colour and creativity. 83

The minute-to-minute gameplay hardly sets the world alight either, and with only a handful of bows and RDA guns, the game doesn’t really evolve all too much as you progress. That’s not to say it’s bad - it’s actually pretty great - but it doesn’t quite match the ambition of the Pandora setting itself. That said, when you get into the flow with the game’s parkourstyle platforming, you’ll experience Frontiers of Pandora at its best. The open-world itself is (like any Ubisoft game worth its salt) also chock-full of busy work

activities to get stuck into. These can range from a plentiful range of side quests to helping out the inhabitants of Pandora, as well as liberating installations and outposts. Naturally, there are myriad collectibles to seek out and activities like the Sarentu Totems and Memory Paintings to partake in, too. Nothing to blow you away, per se, but pleasant distractions from the main story quests, nonetheless. I can’t say that I’m a fan of the levelling and progression, with it almost forcing you into the game’s crafting systems. And it’s pretty essential that you keep on top of your gear, too, as regardless of the difficulty you’re playing on, you’re seemingly made of glass, meaning it’s not the easiest of games. Dying regularly truly highlights the game’s questionable checkpointing at times, to boot. On top of that,

while most triple-A games these days have a fluency and a flow to them, the constant fade to black moments and load screens are a touch jarring. While Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s gameplay is nothing outstanding, the experience itself is one to truly savour, thanks, in no small part, to the awe-inspiring world of Pandora. We’re not exaggerating here when we say that Pandora is one of the most remarkable and wondrous open-worlds that we’ve seen in recent times, perhaps ever. It’s a visual spectacle if ever there was one. The truth is, though, that while incredibly fun and enjoyable for the most part, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora remains an epic visual showpiece, one that is a little shallow and somewhat lacking in substance, something, ironically, that’s been said about James Cameron’s blockbusting films themselves.

Overall TGG Rating Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s true draw is Pandora itself, and while the gameplay can get a little repetitive and samey, there’s enough here to keep you engrossed from start to finish. Come for the sights, stay for the sights.

8.5/10 Audio 9/10 The perfect complement to Pandora itself, Frontiers of Pandora boasts an original score that oozes class and style at every turn.

Visuals 9/10

Truly one of the most visually inspiring and creative environments you’ll perhaps have the pleasure of experiencing. If it wasn’t for the odd visual bug, it’d undoubtedly score higher.

Playability 8/10 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s gameplay, while not truly outstanding, doesn’t match the ambition of Pandora, but is pretty great in its own right, if a little shallow.

Delivery 8/10 Ubisoft Massive has done a sublime job in bringing Pandora to life and filling it with enough opportunities to truly experience one of the must-see open-worlds. The game’s story is thoroughly enjoyable, too, with some great visual set pieces to get swept up in along the way.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Arizona Sunshine 2 is a thrilling and entertaining virtual reality zombie shooter game The game offers satisfyingly tactile gunplay, a brilliantly well-paced campaign that’s filled to bursting with wonderful environmental design, huge hordes of zombies to slay, and some of the most impressive set pieces in a VR title. The game also features a witty script, consistently excellent voice-acting, and some of its more destructive weapons are very cathartic. However the game has clunky controls, a bunch of many bugs and too little variety in its challenge. What is the Story? Arizona Sunshine 2 takes us back to the deserts of Arizona, where we once again take on the role of our unnamed protagonist. While partaking in some target practice against the various Fred’s (Zombies), our hero is interrupted by a helicopter crashing down next to him. We head out to reach the helicopter and hope to find any survivors. Though hoping to find humans, he discovers a dog named Buddy, and the two of them join forces to hunt down patient Zero in hopes of finding a cure for the zombie outbreak and perhaps for our hero to cure him of his loneliness by finding more humans. There isn’t much in the way of the story, and 87

VR settings? Being a VR title you get your standard VR settings to help those with motion sickness that can be fully adjusted to help everyone. You can play the game seated down or standing up, and I recommend the standing option due to how often you have to reach down and grab your guns from your holsters, which is much easier to do standing up than sitting down. Arizona Sunshine 2 features some of the most precise shooting I’ve experienced in VR. It’s so satisfying to shoot at zombies precisely and watch them react. You can equip two holster guns from handguns, Uzis, and a doublebarrelled shotgun. You can also store two extra guns with Buddy with a vest with two gun holsters. Along with your one-handed weapon, you can equip one heavy weapon like a pump action shotgun, assault rifle, and flamethrower. Weapons, Weapons and more Weapons… Weapons are easy to grab by reaching down your left or right hip and pressing the R1 button to equip. The heavy weapons have you reaching behind you and pulling the gun off your back. It is a fun process and feels immersive.

Shooting at zombies is extremely satisfying, and the new gore system in Arizona Sunshine 2 stands out with plenty of zombie damage.

like pipe bombs or grenades. Some cool things you can do are take a grenade, shove it into their mouths and watch it explode.

Shooting a zombie in the head can blow off half their head, exposing all the gory bits inside. Shooting off their legs or shooting them in the body exposes the intestines and rib cages. One of the best features in the game is the manual reloading, which you can turn off if you choose. Reloading your weapon as you go through all the motions of reloading: Popping out the expanded clip, grabbing a new one off your vest, inserting it into the gun, and then cocking the gun to load it.

Sadly throwing objects such as grenades is a nightmare at times and I can’t figure out when to release the grenade with my hand and motioning it to fly more than two feet which can be a problem.

New addition with Melee Weapons Melee was missing in the original Arizona Sunshine, but it found its way into the sequel. Melee weapons are few and far between, but they are satisfying for short bursts. The melee weapons are weighted; utilising them will give you a workout. Melee has a brutality to it. Weapons get stuck inside the undead if your strike isn’t strong enough, and you must pull the weapon out, sometimes dragging the body with you. Unfortunately, these weapons degrade rather quickly. Sometimes, after four strikes, there isn’t a dedicated inventory slot on your character to keep them. You can save them to the two inventory slots on both arms, but that would mean giving up something more substantial,

Buddy the Zombie Slaying Companion Buddy isn’t just for show. You can order him to attack zombies and even retrieve items for you. You can use him to solve puzzles and clear paths for you blocked by dead bodies by having him squeeze through areas to move them out of the way. You can play fetch with him with balls and even zombie parts like arms or legs, and of course, you can pet Buddy all you want. CO OP & VR? Yes Please! The campaign can be played entirely through online co-op, with a four-player horde mode. Unfortunately, I couldn’t try out the horde mode due to not finding any players during the review process, but I did try out some co-op. It was a blast, and I didn’t run into issues in my short time with it. Arizona Sunshine 2 is easily one of the best PSVR2 and VR titles out on the market today. Arizona Sunshine 2 released on PlayStation VR2 on December 7, 2023

Overall TGG Rating Arizona Sunshine 2 shows just what fun the PSVR 2 can be if utilised correctly. I had a blast blowing off limbs of the undead and participating in some extremely satisfying reload animations. It may not win awards for its story, but it’s easily one of the best titles to utilise the power and technology of the PSVR 2. There is endless fun to be had alone or with up to four buddies.

8/10 Audio 9/10 The sound design is equally solid. The zombies sound terrifying, and our protagonist does a great job even though hearing him call every zombie Fred gets annoying rather quickly.

Visuals 8/10 Visually, the game is very impressive. There is plenty of detail worldwide and many more locations than the original, from town neighbourhoods. Hospital buildings and military bases are just a few examples.

Playability 7/10 Not much of a memorable story, but plenty of fun with Cooperative play and various ways to take down the undead..

Delivery 8/10 Arizona Sunshine 2 is an absolute blast. With its fantastic and precision gunplay, other titles would do well to follow it in the VR landscape. It may not feature a memorable story, but it’s easy to make your memories with all the various ways to take down the undead. Version tested: PSVR 2

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

For those who just like to have a cosy game where they get to renovate old houses to whatever their imaginations allow, this game is an absolute winner. As a fan of the first House Flipper game, I was beyond excited when it was annoucned that Frozen District were making a second one. Whilst I adored the first game, its options on what one could do in terms of renovations and decor were somewhat limited, so I was very much looking forward to seeing how they would be expanding on an already amazing game. In contrast to the first game, where you are a character that is thrown into the depths of house flipping without much of an explanation, Hosue Flipper 2 has a bit more of a storyline to follow, with fully voice-acted characters and scenarios attached to all of the properties you go to. I quite enjoyed having more of an idea of who my character was, even if it’s still left relatively open as to who you specifically are and what your style is. The game begins with very limited options as to what you can do, starting with the ability to simply pick up trash and clean. Over time as you visit more properties, the owners will ask for more tasks to be done, and whilst achieving those tasks, you gain skill points that can be used to improve your abilities. For example, the base cleaning is simply scrubbing a stain from a wall for a few seconds, but after a few skill points are spent, you acquire a spray bottle that 91

can be used to ‘wet’ the stain and make it wipe away ten times faster. Whilst some people may just want to do the renovations from the get-go, I quite enjoyed the fact that it encourages you to take your time and take things step by step. It certainly lengthens the amount of time one spends playing the game as well. That is to say, gaining the skill points doesn’t feel grindy or annoying. I managed to get level three in cleaning within my first hour of playing, as you gain the skill points by simply using the ability. It’s important to add that it also doesn’t feel overtly easy as well, with some of the abilities being ones you don’t use as often and therefore a little harder to level up. The abilities themselves are pretty simple, with some new ones added onto the exisiting ones from the first game. For example, in this one you are able to not only knock down walls but build brand new ones, with more options on how to shape the rooms to your liking. You can even edit the wiring in the room, and the Flipper Tool has options where you can copy the colour of your furniture and put it on another, or just simply duplicate that piece all together. The music and sound effects in the game are all simple and pleasant, adding to the cosy atmosphere. I think if the music had been less simple it would have overwhelmed everything, seeing as you are already doing quite a lot of

tasks and don’t want it to feel stressful. The controls are easy to understand and master, with some of the abilities (like the painting) being a little cumbersome at first, but with the upgrades you get from the skill points, it becomes easier with time. One downside to the game is that I found the furniture options to be somewhat limited. Whilst there is an all new colour and pattern system, which allows plenty of options for that, the actual choice of furniture is quite low. Perhaps my memory is serving me wrong, but I do remember there being slightly more options for decor in the first game, but the colour schemes were limited. In this game, it seems to be the other way around. I do hope more options will be added in the future! For now though, the choice you have is pretty good

and not at all bad. Overall I think the game is extremely fun. Having more of a story to follow with individual scenarios on your jobs adds more depth to the game than the previous one. Having the ability to renovate your own house that your character is staying on in your own time is also great, as it brings the old House Flipper ways into the new game, whilst also having the new scenarios on top of that. Not only that, but you can actually put furniture outside now, which is pretty damn exciting, I must say! However you choose to play this game, whether that is completing the various jobs, focusing on your own properties, or both, I feel like this is an excellent next edition to what I hope becomes a series of games in the future! Thank you to Frozen District for making such a fabulous game, I can’t wait to play more!

Overall TGG Rating A fabulous cosy game to play when you just want to let your imagination make up your dream home!

9/10 Audio 9/10 Simple soundtrack with clear but simple sound design for the environment. Very natural and easy on the ears.

Visuals 9/10

Excellent graphics and beautiful environments with great attention to detail. Lots of variation in each scenario.

Playability 9/10 Very simple and easy to understand controls. Some abilities can be a little difficult at first but improve over time with the upgrades.

Delivery 8/10 A wonderful game, but could use a little more variation with the furniture and decor, as it still feels a little bit limited in choice. But overall an excellent second game!

Version tested: PC

Reviewed by: Emily Welfare

Way back in the summer of 2023, I was lucky enough to be at WASD x IGN, where Secret Mode had a stand for a wonderful little game named Loddlenaut. It was an early access version at the time, but I enjoyed it so much, that I just had to keep an eye on it’s official release. Well, it’s finally out, and it absolutely did not disappoint. The premise of the game is that you are an interstellar custodian visiting an alien planet that has been overtaken by pollution. The damage it has caused to the planets eco-system to greatly suffer, and it is your responsibility to venture forth and help clean the waters and restore the life to the planet. You begin the game in your base, which you will return to regularly in order to put all of the trash you have collected into the recycling machines. Those machines will then give you materials that you can use in order to upgrade your equipment and do your job a million times better and more efficiently. What I enjoy about the game is that whilst there is a small storyline, you are allowed to simply venture out and go where you want to begin your ocean clean up. There are places that you cannot quite venture, as you need to upgrade your equipment in order to do so, but for the most part there are no limits to what you can do and how you play the game. As you explore new areas, you are given a goal to clean that place up fully, collecting the trash and using your lazer gun to zap away the horrid goop that is preventing the plants from thriving. One of the best elements in this game are the little creatures you encounter. These are known as Loddles. They are tiny Axolotl-like creatures that you can find in the various biomes in the 95

game, often covered in the same tar-like goop that the plants are coated in. Taking them back to your base and cleaning them up, you can then feed them, pet them, and make them happy again. They are absolutely adorable, and I made it my goal to find them all and ensure that they were happy and comfortable. Whilst you feed them and spend your time cleaning the surrounding area, the Loddles slowly grow into their adult forms, which are just as adorable. Once fully grown, you learn which environments they thrive the best in, and once those biomes are clean, you can return them back to their homes where they will continue to thrive. It’s an absolutely wonderful game, with very cosy vibes and no high stakes. Whilst there is an oxygen meter that is capable of running out, you are simply just taken back to your base if that happens, and nothing is lost. The Loddles can get hungry, but they will not die. The aim of the game is to not cause stress of the player, but to allow them to partake in something great without the added stresses of survival. The story is told in the form of data chips that are found throughout the ocean. We learn that not much care or consideration was put into caring for the environment when it comes to the corporation that bled it of its resources, simply leaving everything behind when the planet was deemed uninhabitable. We find that they have moved onto another planet somewhere, but that’s not explored much further as the Loddlenaut’s prime concern is cleaning up the planet they are currently on. I do wish that there was a little more exploration into the story of this corporation and the damage they so willingly cause to a planets eco-system for their own gain, as it is a very real thing that we

are currently experiencing in our own oceans and environments as a whole. Whilst this game is very much ‘switching-yourbrain-off-and-just-playing’, with very cosy and warm vibes in its colourful environments and cute creatures, it would be a lie to say that the looming overall message isn’t extremely serious. Sometimes, I found myself having moments where I wondered if this effort I was putting into restoring this planet was all for nothing, due to this mystery corporation still being at-large and causing havoc on other planets. Not only that, but after completely cleaning a biome, my progress sometimes backtracks when trash and pollution drifts in from elsewhere, so I find myself wondering if my job is ever truly done once I have left. I suppose that is a question that reflects into real life as well. If we were to clean up our ocean, who is to say it wouldn’t be bad again in a few years time? Would it just be a constant cycle? Existential moment aside and returning to the positive, this game, whilst carrying the message of very real implications of pollution,

is an absolute delight to play. The zapping of the tar-like goop is extremely satisfying and the controls do not feel at all cumbersome or slow. Not only this, but the sound of the environment and the music is very soothing, to the point that even the deep dark areas do not feel frightening when in other games it would. The length of the game is not particularly long, though it is up to you how long you spend on each area and whether or not you achieve 100% clean areas or not. Whilst I was sad to leave my Loddle friends behind, I was happy knowing I had given them their home back. I feel it is important to mention as well that this game is in partnership with WDC (Whale and Dolphin Conservation), and have pledged to donate a portion of their profits to the charity. It’s an amazing cause that aims to help save the whales all over the world, who are integral to the oceans health and fight climate breakdown. If you want to learn more about this chartiy and would consider donating to their fantastic cause, follow the link below: games.whales.org

Overall TGG Rating An overall wonderful game to play with beautiful environments, music and low-stakes gameplay. It holds a beautiful message about keeping our oceans clean, whilst carrying an energy of warmth and colour.

9/10 Audio 9/10 Wonderful sound design and music that doesn’t feel too in-your-face or overwhelming. I feel suitably relaxed whilst playing.

Visuals 9/10 The graphics are very simple, but the way the environments are coloured and animated make it feel so nice and warm. The effects of the equipment are also brilliant.

Playability 9/10 Very easy controls that are smooth and not at all cumbersome. A proper controls menu with the possibility of re-binding would be great, though!

Delivery 9/10 A beautifully made game that is very clear in its message but very pleasant to play. A stronger storyline would have been welcome, but it’s understandable that the vibes would have been slightly different with a deeper one. Version tested: PC

Reviewed by: Emily Welfare

toobizygaming Tré, also known as “TooBizyGaming” is a UK content creator with a focus on gaming and tech. You can find Tré streaming a variety of different games on Twitch or drop by his YouTube channel for some insightful gaming content on a variety of different games. Alongside all of this he also hosts a gaming event known as The Lan Party! It would seem the man is TooBizy not just in name!

Hi Tré! Hope you had a fantastic Christmas break and a Happy New Year! Thank you very much for taking the time to chat with us. How have you been and what have you been up to recently? Yo TGG, Christmas break and new year have both been amazing! Thank you for having me, honestly. I feel honoured and grateful for being selected. I’ve been good! Using a lot of January to get prepared, get into the right mind state to go crazy this year alongside a lot of content planning and aligning my goals with life. Let’s start from the beginning, tell us a little bit about your content creation life? How long have you been doing it, and what made you want to start? Ah! So I’ve been content creating within the gaming space for about 5 years but I’ve always been around creating in general. I used to do Artist Management and helped direct a company when it came to things like socials, building brands for artists and putting on events. Shortly after; that was when my content creating journey started within the gaming space. It took a little while to muster the confidence to get started but I had actually served my good friend Alex when I worked at apple who created Arekkz Gaming alongside his team and he said “Just get started!” I think the main thing for me that was the catalyst to begin content creating was to

build a community of like-minded people who ultimately enjoys gaming and introduce this realm to more culture. Gaming with people and friends was a ritual in my household every Thursday and I really wanted to expand on that as my friends were perplexed that I didn’t do any form of content creating already! What was your equipment like when you first started creating content? LOL listen, my equipment when I first started was the PS4 camera and my laptop. I did have a capture card with no PC and a 290p camera.. I don’t know the exact resolution but that low figure should give you an idea on how bad the quality was. For you, what do you think are the essentials that you personally can’t create content without? I’d have say my camera and my PC.. Oh and my mic as my name has been remixed to “TooBizyWaffling” so the mic must be important. These 3 essential pieces to me allow viewers to interact and become a huge part of the community, conversation and for some; seeing that there’s somebody who looks like them creating content that they might really enjoy. What would a standard content creation day/ week be like in the life of TooBizyGaming? So starting from Sunday evening; I start planning the week and the first thing is what games will I be covering/streaming. Throughout the stream days which fall on either Monday, Wednesday

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or Friday I begin planning what content needs to be recorded and edited during the nonstream days being Tuesdays and Thursdays. That content consists of YouTube, shorts, emails, TLP planning or any activations that need to be reviewed and executed. Aside from the above; I plan meetings with the TLP team and review release dates to pitch to either tech companies or community managers. Once everything else is done or to give myself some time, I spend it in the discord or playing with the community and get some feedback to grow the brand. How/where do you find inspiration and keep up the creativity to generate new ideas for your content? I actually look a lot of the other content creators within this space and think about what else I’d personally like to see, what they might think is missing and look at what I commonly search when researching a game or looking for new streamers. Another big part of inspiration is the growing TooBizyGaming community and what they have interest in. This could be things like making the space more welcoming, channels they’d like to see come life within the discord or even ideas in regards to content/streams I put out. Involving the community is the most important part as I’m nothing without them. Now creativity comes from everything I do and see. From putting an outfit together, thinking about how to make my streams more fun and bringing more people together. These things push my brain to think outside the box and if I can’t find more information or anyone else doing it a certain way; that’s when the creative juices flow the most.

Which gaming platform do you usually find yourself switching on and what draws you to it? Hmm is it fair that I say YouTube and Twitch equally??? A bit of a cheeky response I know but hear me out! You learn on YouTube and execute on stream on Twitch and you support others. They sometimes swap their roles but for the most part that’s how it goes down. Both gaming platforms have come a long way, still got some work to do but they are extremely helpful to all things learning and creative. Do you have a guilty pleasure game that your friends may poke fun at you for? And what makes you enjoy playing it? HA! Mario Kart. My friends just do not understand and will not stop being confused when I get excited to load it up. Now listen, I stream this every Wednesday and I complain how its stressful but, have you ever had such bad luck and then the universe just makes it work out for you and you win?! That feeling is amazing and the main part of that is because its against 11 members of the community; hitting them with shells, bombs and all other items just feels amazing. What would you consider to be your top 3 favourite games and why?

Oooooft! I have yet to get this question and its got me! I’d have to say; “Be fearless, be hungry and believe in yourself, no matter what.”

I’d have to say; Monster Hunter World, Final Fantasy 7, Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. I’ve played and sunk some unreal hours into the Monster Hunter franchise (3000 hours on one, 1500 hours on another) across 8 games. The first game I streamed and built a community from was Monster Hunter world and Capcom supported my small channel when I started out so it will have a special place in my heart.

That’s the line I’d say but honestly, believing in yourself and the content you provide the world

Final Fantasy 7.. I don’t think there’s enough space in the magazine to explain this one.

What advice would you give to the young TooBizyGaming that was first starting out as a content creator?

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has a special seasoning that only you can add to whatever it is you are cooking.. and, just do it. I think this advice goes to everyone but don’t slack and put that content out there. 1 view? Brilliant. Why 1 view? 1 million views? Brilliant. Why 1 million views? Just keep working. And lastly… Enjoy yourself!

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Story, music, characters. If you haven’t played it, play it.

each other which makes planning the events even better.

Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 was just a time and I took that fighting game SUPER serious. From the FGC being in the best place, game being so unbalanced, and I mean, Wolverine Vs. Vergil from Devil May Cry!? Absolutely ridiculous. The hype was off the charts when that game dropped and I’m not sure it’ll ever peak like that again.

Of course, we get a lot of assistance from brands and advice from people who have been in the space and done events longer than we have which is always taken onboard. This helps us shape the business and when it comes to enhancing the customer experience; we turn to our attendees which is the best feedback as they want it to be the best it can be. So its really a joint effort from everyone and that’s what makes it so special.

You recently hosted The Lan Party 4 and from the photos it looked absolutely amazing! Can you tell us about what The Lan Party is and how it came about? Yeah of course! The LAN party (TLP) is about bringing the online community, offline. Listen, we love playing games online together, having a laugh over discord and more but NOTHING beats human interaction like a good, old fashioned, offline event and that’s what I wanted to bring back. Like I mentioned before, me and my friends would get together every single Thursday to watch Naruto and play Smash Bros til crazy o’clock. TLP is pretty much that. Good vibes, everyone matters, heavy on the culture and an opportunity to meet those online and give them a big hug! Initially, I wanted it to solely be about games, but I couldn’t shy away from introducing the culture to these nights as I felt the gaming industry was lacking it. Now, blending the two gives you The LAN party and all 3 have been absolutely amazing. Plenty of dancing, gaming, SOME drinking but nothing but fun! Putting on an event is no easy feat, let alone a successful one that gets people returning to it! Do you plan and organise the entirety of The Lan Party events yourself? Well the very first TLP was all me with assistance from my friends but once that one was over I realised this is a team effort and in order for it to grow, get better and be a hit every time; a team is needed. The team consists of the people I grew up from primary school and we all have similar interests and lots of respect for

Aside from The Lan Party, we saw you were recently at EGX in October. What are your thoughts on attending events like these as a creator? What do you as a creator get out of being invited to events like EGX? Yeah! This was my first EGX and I really enjoyed it. I attended with the TLP team and we spoke to a lot of the community managers, brand ambassadors and more which offered brilliant opportunities to pitch TooBizyGaming and the TLP so they can get involved and be a part of the culture as well. This goes back to human interaction. Emailing, teams and discord calls are fine but its different when you meet the rep in person and that’s why I’m always grateful for these type of events. As a creator; capitalising on things like this makes it better as you can not only pitch your brand but yourself as well. You represent your brand and there’s nobody better to build that rapport with! On the topic of events - are there any events, anywhere in the world, you would love to attend either as an invited creator or even a general attendee? I’d have to say either EVO or Final Fantasy 7 Orchestra and general attendee just to experience the hype and feed the love I have for fighting games and the Orchestra simply because I’m a gaming OST fiend. Hearing some of the songs played live? I don’t know where my spirit will be lifted to.

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Away from your content creation life, what do you enjoy doing in your spare time? You know what? I love cooking, gaming (of course) watching films, looking at trends and relaxing. A mixture of all of the above gives me the much needed break to come back to Content Creating harder evvvvvvery time. I always say, give yourself a break and don’t worry about how long it is. If you don’t take a break, your body will. With 2023 behind us, what are your goals for 2024? My goals for this year I’d say is to cover more of my favourite and more anticipated titles, work with more companies outside of gaming, collaborate with more creators, continue to have fun and love what I’m doing and of course; host more events. I actually don’t think the people will let me stop hosting! All of the above comes with the caveat of giving myself time to go on holidays and rest to create better. This is actually another goal this year. What have been your favourite moments being a content creator so far? Building one of the best communities, working with brands I could only dream of working with

alongside meeting people I look up and hosting events. I get emotional when I think about those achievements as it really feels like I’m living a dream. It may not be full time but the amount of love I’ve received, achievements I’ve accomplished and support I’ve got just keeps me going but none of this comes without hard work and believing in yourself. Finally, what are you currently working on that you’d like our readers to know about? We are currently planning TLP5 & 6 and will be filming for our famous date reveal video for 5 soon. This is actually the first I’ve mentioned that! There’s a few other events that we are collaborating on to launch some amazing titles in the future and we’ve got some amazing new content dropping on YouTube soon so for the readers; keep it locked as we load up. Also some bits I cannnnnnnn’t talk about just yet but keep an eye out ;) And that’s it! Thank you very much again for taking the time to have this interview with us, it’s been an absolute pleasure. We wish you all the best in the future!

If you would like to check out TooBizyGaming on any of their socials, you can do so below!

Twitch: @toobizygaming Instagram: @toobizygaming Twitter: @toobizygaming TikTok: @toobizygaming YouTube: @toobizygaming Discord: Click Here

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Sal Vahed Sal, also known as “Sal Vahed”, is a UK content creator on Instagram and TikTok. His content has a focus on gaming, tech and lifestyle space; from working with industry leaders on amazing product photography and product insight/overview videos, to cinematic-style game launch shorts (check out Sal’s Call of Duty MW3 video if you haven’t!) and collector’s edition unboxings that will leave you green with envy.

Hi Sal! First of all, we would like to say Happy New Year, and a massive thank you for taking the time to chat with us! How have you been and what have you been up to recently? Hey, appreciate you having me. Happy New Year! I’m not doing too bad, just trying to bounce back from the holiday break. It’s always awesome to take some time off for family, friends, and myself, but getting back into the groove can be a bit challenging. Making progress though! A break is a must but like you said, getting back into the groove can be a little bit of time. We’re glad to see Sal content back on our feeds! Let’s start from the beginning, tell us a little bit about your content creation life? How long have you been doing it, and what made you want to start?

You were streaming on Twitch early on in your content creation journey. What influenced your decision to step away from streaming? When I first started out, I thought you had to be on YouTube or Twitch to be a content creator. I did a bit of streaming and whipped up a couple of YouTube vids. It was fun, but I didn’t see it as a must-do alongside my product photography and unboxing content. I aimed to push my photography content to the forefront of my creative game and can always circle back to gaming videos when the time feels right. You’ve experienced amazing growth as a content creator. Have you ever had times where you feel you may have missed out on potential opportunities because you don’t have a streaming side to your content creation?

I kicked things off in 2020, kind of accidentally. Let me explain: I began posting gaming pics on Instagram without any plans of becoming a content creator. It was just a way to kill time during lockdown as a hobby. Skip ahead a year, and bam, a major brand slides into my DMs, wanting to use one of my photos. Then another brand jumps on board, and before I know it, I’m getting offered products in exchange for content.

I take a lot of pride in the work I do. If an opportunity doesn’t match up with my interests or goals, I usually pass on it. There are some really awesome streamers and video creators out there, so I’m always happy to steer brands and developers towards them to make sure they pick the best creators for the job.

Soon enough, that hobby turned into a something I could monetise. Come late 2021, I decided to give my platform a makeover and dive into content creation alongside my 9-to5 job. And you know what? I’m loving every minute of it.

I really miss the diversity in games. Right now, most of the work I do revolves around games that I personally enjoy. When streaming or making gaming videos, I notice that creators often step out of their comfort zones to play something their audience has asked for. I’d love to give that a shot someday too.

Is there anything you miss about the streaming side of content creation?

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What was your equipment like when you first started creating content? I kicked off my ‘content creating’ with a Nikon camera I snagged from the Facebook Marketplace, for about £150. Even though my smartphone could capture awesome shots, I wanted to master using a proper camera, and I can confidently say it was the smartest move I made. For you, what do you think are the essentials that you personally can’t create content without? Good lighting, be it natural or artificial, is essential. The subject should be well-lit to grab the viewers’ attention. Once you’ve got the basics down, playing around with filler and accent lighting is a lot of fun. I am also making more talking head videos and focusing on enhancing my audio because I understand it’s just as crucial, if not more! What would a standard content creation day/ week be like in the life of Sal Vahed? Since I work full-time, I mostly create content during evenings and weekends. I plan out the week’s content and then either bang them out on a Saturday morning or a weekday evening. This way, I’ve got some breathing room in between to stay on top of socials, catch up on the latest news, and squeeze in some gaming. How do you keep up the creativity and generation of new ideas for your content? Thankfully, there are constantly new games, tech, and accessories hitting the scene, which helps me stay occupied. My goal is to enhance every piece of content I create, drawing inspiration from both community responses and general feedback. Films also play a big role in fuelling my creativity, always serving as a great source of inspiration to keep those creative juices flowing.

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From everything you have learned so far, what advice would you give to the Sal Vahed that was first starting out as a content creator? Start, now! I’ve delayed creating the content I am today for too long, and I’m still putting off diving into other content I want to explore. I used to make excuses, like not having the right gear or equipment, but the truth is, anyone can start creating content with just a smartphone. So, if that’s your situation, start now! Create that video you’ve been wanting to make. We’ve run into each other at a few events in 2023 and it was lovely meeting you and chatting with you. As a creator, why do you attend these events? Is it a social outing? Is there some benefit you get out of it? Or are they events you would have attended as a fan regardless of whether you were a creator or not? Absolutely! Something I learned in 2023 is the significance of community. Initially, I went to these events to connect with brands and test out games, but soon enough, I realised the primary reason was to meet fellow creators I already knew through social media. Whether you’re a creator or not, attending these events is all about spending time with these awesome folks, sharing ideas, and chatting about games. Are there any events, anywhere in the world, you would love to attend either as an invited creator or even a general attendee? Gamescom and CES are on my radar! E3 was in the plans, but well, press F to pay respects. I’m crossing my fingers to make it to Gamescom this year, even if it’s just as a regular attendee. CES, on the other hand, has always been a distant dream for me, a chance to dive into the incredible world of tech that could shape our future.

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As a content creator that has a focus on gaming, what are the top 3 games you have played and why? Let’s see, gotta include The Last of Us Part 2. Part 1 used to be my top pick until Part 2 dropped; it outshone in every aspect, especially in gameplay. The smooth combat mechanics, and jaw-dropping level design kept me hooked from start to finish. Once again, Naughty Dog has set a new standard.

Away from your content creation life, what do you do in your spare time? I work full-time as a graphic designer. Additionally, I see myself as a massive foodie, happy to travel far and wide to savour new flavours and cuisines. Other than that, I engage in monthly airsoft sessions! With 2023 behind us, what are your goals for 2024?

Next up, Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s a crazy journey through an insanely vast open world that feels genuinely alive. From breath-taking landscapes to bustling towns, every street is filled with life and detail. The dynamic interactions with the environment and diverse characters make it an absolute banger!

I wanna get better—enhancing my skills in content creation, excelling at my job, and simply becoming a better version of myself. I’ve neglected my personal growth for too long, and I am determined to rectify that. In 2024, the focus is not only on the content but also on the creator behind it.

And last but not least, my go-to racer, Midnight Club 3 – the best street racing game ever. The cities, the cars, the progression, and the soundtrack – everything is spot-on and still plays well even today.

What have been your favourite moments being a content creator so far?

Which gaming platform do you usually find yourself switching on and why? I mostly game on the PS5 because I’ve got this huge backlog from my PS4 days, and I’ve been rocking with PlayStation since the beginning. But I also enjoy my Series X, especially for the exclusives like Forza and Flight Sim. The Switch takes a bit of a backseat – I mainly take it out for travel and some fun co-op sessions with friends and family. Do you have a guilty pleasure game that your friends may poke fun at you for? And what makes you enjoy playing it?

I have greatly enjoyed attending game launch events, never envisioning that I would receive invitations to such awesome events for major games. Meeting developers and the teams behind those games was a fantastic experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. Finally, what are you currently working on that you’d like our readers to know about? Several exciting titles are set to launch in early 2024. Stay tuned for game launch content, events, and special unboxings! And that’s it! Thank you very much again for taking the time to have this interview with us, it’s been an absolute pleasure. We wish you all the best in the future!

I’m not sure if it qualifies as a guilty pleasure, but right now, I’m totally hooked on LEGO Fortnite.

If you would like to check out Sal Vahed on any of their socials, you can do so below!

I’ve dedicated numerous hours to constructing villages and gathering resources—it’s my goto comfort game. I’ve definitely clocked in way too many hours on it in the past few weeks!

Instagram: @salvahed TikTok: @salvahed Twitter: @salvahed

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