The Gamer Guide - Issue 10

Tabletop Corner playing stardew valley: the board game

Love Stardew Valley? Well now you can share that love even more by bringing the board game version over to your family or friends game night! This charming game allows you to work as a team to complete goals and tasks against the ticking clock of the seasons, each having skills that can assist in the tasks whilst creating friendships with the villagers and maintaining your farm!

We were incredibly lucky to have been sent this game by our friends at Chaos Cards, who had asked us to give this a try and give our honest review of what it is like. After playing it for the first time, I can safely say that we thoroughly enjoyed it, but lets get into the nitty gritty of why that is...

Upon opening the box, we were immediately greeted with the game manual, the board, and a vast amount of cards and tokens. I amnot exaggerating when I say that I audibly gasped at the amount of little pieces there were for this game. I knew it was going to be detailed from what little knowledge I had of this game already, but this definitely took me by surprise!

Immediately I looked to the game manual to see if there was a guide as to how all of these different pieces were to be set up. Luckily there was, but as I was reading through the paragraphs as to how to set up the board, I began to feel a little bit overwhelmed with just how many different elements there were to the game. Reading further into the game rules and how the game is played, that overwhelming feeling certainly amplified a little bit with each turning page!

But, after setting up the board, I simply took a deep breath and jumped right into starting the game. It’s important to note here that at the back of the manual, there is a page dedicated to changing the difficulty of the game by eliminating some of the tasks etc. We played the easiest difficulty as the manual recommends it for your first game. Our review will be based on this version that we played.

So the main goal of the game is to complete the four random goals that sit at the top of the board that were given by your grandpa. Our goals were to ‘Reach level 12 in the mines’, ‘Complete the museum’, ‘Catch 2 legendary fish’ and ‘Upgrade your tools twice per player’. This game is 1-4 players and we played with just 2 people. At the start, each player has to choose a player card, which has a certain skill on it with a correlating pawn colour. You can choose mining, farming, foraging and fishing. I chose mining, my teammate chose fishing. You then choose a starter tool, to which I chose pickaxe and my teammate chose fishing rod.

The overall aim of the game is to complete grandpas tasks at all costs before the year is over. The game begins on the first day of Spring, and each round counts as a day. At the start of each day, we draw a Season Card to see what happens that day (for example, the card may say it is raining that day so we don’t have to water the crops that day). After doing this, we enter the Planning Phase. This is when players can discuss what they want to do for this day and trade any items with each other. When this Planning Phase is done, we move into the Action Phase. The Action Phase is our actual turn, to which we are allowed to play our turn two ways. We could either go to a location, perform two actions, and then return home, or go to a location, perform one action, move to another location, and perform one more action before returning home. These actions could be to go mining, fishing, buy some seeds, make a friend, etc. On each day, different events could happen and different items can be found that either benefit or hinder the players.

I have to say that upon starting the game, both of us were majorly confused for the first few rounds, but after consulting the manual several times and getting more of an understanding, each round started to go more smoothly. Once we got the hang of it and we began to make progress, it became an extremely enjoyable experience. I still think the game is complicated, but the good kind of complicated, and as mentioned there are ways to make the game a little less difficult as well!

Overall, I very much enjoyed playing this game for the first time! My teammate had the same initial reaction with feeling a little bit overwhelmed, but they too began to really get into the game once we achieved a rhythm. We ended up achieving all four goals by mid-summer, due to a lot fo the goals being mining focused and I had some upgrades to my mining skill that allowed us to avoid the monsters. Of course, as mentioned, we did a lesser version of the game as it was recommended. The full game added more tasks where you had bundles to complete to restore the community centre. The team could either focus on grandpa’s tasks or complete the bundles before the year is over.

I think having a full team of four would make this game harder as well, as the game scales with the players. For example, our tasks of finding 2 legendary fish would have scaled to 4 if we had a full team. Another example would be that more people doing tasks would mean more events happening etc. I personally really like that the game scales to the player amount, because it means that it is not too much for a small team nor too easy for a bigger team.

It is a really fun game, and I cannot wait to get a full team together soon and try the game in it’s entirety. Hopefully we will have a thriving farm with every task ticked off before the year is up!

Once again, a HUGE thank you to Chaos Cards

sending this game to us to try! We are forever grateful for your generosity!

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the gamer guide at EGX 2022

There was a nice buzz about EGX London, a whiff of positivity about it, people being back together, relatively unimpeded by the pandemic and playing games together again. EGX felt much more like its old self. And many of us were there, walking the halls and playing games. We can’t thank EGX themselves enough for supplying the team with a couple of Press Passes to really enjoy this event.

EGX arrived at ExCeL for its annual celebration of gaming culture showcasing a variety of new and upcoming games in addition to panels, streaming events, and an enjoyable, free-to-play arcade collection of titles. It was a broad church, appealing to both those who enjoy the opportunity to experience new titles, such as the upcoming Sonic Frontiers or Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, before launch and a broader strata of the gaming community that just enjoy the ambiance of being in a safe and welcoming environment.

It was a smaller experience than in previous years, with no real visible presence from Sony or Microsoft on this particular occasion, but still enough to enjoy over the space of a day. Though it may have lost a degree of its size and grandeur, there was a clear vision to highlight streaming and cloud-based gaming in particular.

Being fortunate to visit on a weekday first away from the weekend crowds, it was both a more relaxed and more focused experience, those in attendance eager to experience the newer releases and arriving as early as possible to get inside as soon as the doors opened. Queues formed quickly at the more popular games, though that left some space in the retro and independent gaming sections to try a few games before the general entry gates opened.

The usual staples of the gaming convention were on show, from cosplay entries to streaming platforms, and a wealth of merchandise to spend money on. It’s always interesting to take a step back to observe what different people take from an experience like this, the rush to try every new game, the extrovert showcasing a particular costume, or someone just finding a little happiness

surrounded by like-minded individuals. It brings out the more positive qualities of the gaming community.

EGX has a different sort of energy to the general Comic-Con conventions, notably a prevalence of streamers and influencers engaging in live content as they walk around the exhibition halls being filmed by others. It’s a little unsettling, watching them playing a particular title in a persona of sorts, almost a charade. It’s not something I find personally appealing but objectively an event of this nature affords an opportunity to build an audience so to each their own.

The early queues at the premier titles and the desire to be ‘the first’ allowed a freedom to explore a few of the smaller independent studios and titles on show, away from these early entrants. I was drawn to The Last Starship, as it had the feel of FTL in its presentation and style. Also, Planet Of Lana, which had a more relaxed animated style on show. And a pretty intriguing robot in the centre of its display.

Here is a rundown of some of the games we thought stood out the most and are worth a mention.

The Last Starship (Introversion Software)

A really bright and engaging display caught the eye, drawing comparisons to FTL with its topdown style and design of the ship, although this is certainly more complex in its ambition and implementation. It was interesting to try the different mechanics, such as power flow and design, navigation and flight controls. It seemed to take elements from space trading games such as Elite in the mission selection and trading but in its own, simplified way. There were systems suggestive of combat and diplomacy but it was still in an early play test state of development. On Steam it’s currently in closed testing and there’s some way to go before it is stable enough to release to a wider audience. It was enjoyable to play, and with a little gentle coaching from the team on hand, you were soon confident in keeping your ship powered up while exploring the unknown.

Planet Of Lana (Wishfully Studios)

Revealed at The Game Awards last year, this puzzle game had a more relaxed and sedate tone, in contrast to its presentation. Talking to a couple of the team on the floor, before taking a seat to try it out, it was interesting to observe and discuss the game being played. There was no real instruction or indication of what to do but each player reacted to the environmental puzzles in their own way, based perhaps on experiences with similar games and dynamics.

Whether there is a right way to play or approach the game is uncertain, but it was an enjoyable experience and brought to mind other environmental puzzle games of a similar style, such as Journey and Old Man’s Journey, but with a slight foreboding menace in the background. Also, credit for the giant robot statue on show. There’s always room for giant robots.

Door Kickers 2 (KillHouse Games)

This had the suggestion and style of the early Tom Clancy games in its planning and implementation, though entirely different in its execution. A sequel to the 2014 Door Kickers game, which involved a fictional SWAT team, this new release pivots onto the military and the special forces as they move through buildings and locations taking down bad guys and saving hostages. It’s a little graphic but not excessively so, with a deeper selection of tactics and weapons when you spend time scratching beneath the surface. This feels more like the tactical planning and execution games of old, where you have a set plan and then have to adapt to the situation. The potential to modify and share maps and scenarios is also an enjoyable prospect.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, PS5

I wish I had been able to play this game for a much longer experience and speaking to others who’ve played the demo on console, I’ve learnt there was a boss at the end that I never even got to see! As a Soulsborne-like game, I knew it would be difficult and so attempted to spend less time looking at the depth of Wo Long and more time trying to see the breadth of it. Obviously I didn’t do very well, considering I missed the latter half of the demo.

Don’t get me wrong though, I had a great time with it! I’m always up for the difficult challenge of From Software’s games, and Wo Long has had my attention since it was announced. I enjoyed the combat and the particular emphasis on blocking and parrying with the correct timing but wished I

had been able to explore the martial arts more.

One of the features that really stands out in my mind is the dynamic that vertical movement adds. You can jump and scale up walls, adding another dimension to exploration and combat. Movement in general felt much smoother and faster to me than previous Soulsbornes I’ve played. The combination of that fluidity and the martial arts is something I’m really looking forward to getting to grips with when the game comes out and I’m free to spend as much time as I need to git good.

Sonic Frontiers (Sega)

One of the busier and more popular games on show, this certainly has a more open world feel that works effectively with the dynamics of the character. It’s already well known how much inspiration it draws from Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and you do feel that influence in the opening moments of the game. It’s somewhat forlorn in tone and spirit, a world away from the rest of the series.

Reference was made to a couple of the supporting characters, and there was a few minutes of exposition, but for the most part the demo was just an opportunity to get comfortable with this new direction for the series. It did feel enjoyable to play, just very different from the traditional Sonic experience.

Summary

Street Fighter 6

Capcom’s big hitter had a fairly low-key presence on the EGX show floor, but the most important thing was that there were plenty of demo pods to jump on - and for four days, a small part of the ExCel Centre felt something like a modern day arcade where dozens of people were rapt by the latest and quite possibly greatest iteration of this iconic fighting game.

What is it that could make Street Fighter 6 special?

In part it’s how it folds in all the mechanics from recent entries, such as 3’s parry and 4’s focus, into something made all the more approachable thanks to the (optional) modern control system that apes Smash Bros. and lets you pull off specials with a single directional input. In part it’s also because this is a product of a Capcom that’s on a roll, having restored glory to the Resident Evil series and finally broken the west with Monster Hunter.

But mostly, as the bustle around Street Fighter 6 on the EGX show floor attested, it’s because this is one of those rare, incredible games that can break out beyond some of game’s traditional boundaries and bring people together. I’m already counting down the days until I can play it again.

This was our first EGX and after speaking to many previous EGXers they stated it was a notably different experience to how it was before the global pandemic, and perhaps reflective of how studios have embraced a more closed-off approach and attitude to showcasing their games, with now no real unified event for previews. It was interesting to note Nintendo were the only console manufacturer to have a presence, with both a showcase of Splatoon 3 and a Switch free play area. There were some Xbox and PlayStation exclusives on show but official presence from either Microsoft and Sony, which going into the holiday season with a more challenging market and reduced income, seemed an odd decision.

Away from the game demos there was a large area devoted to educational courses around gaming and digital design, and an area showcasing the fantastic work of charities such as Special Effect who work to provide custom designed controllers and inputs to gaming for those with disabilities. And, of course, there was a modest space reserved for gaming merchandise – though the prevalence of foam swords grew tiresome as you had to move swiftly to avoid being struck accidentally by enthused children. Did EGX suffer from the absence of larger companies? Perhaps, but at least it was enjoyable to just explore and experience the broader gaming community in all its wonderful ways.

Check out our video about EGX here!

cosplay at egx 2022

Being able to attend EGX 2022 was incredible in its own right being able to try out amazing games and speak to some fantastic developers, but another aspect of these events is the effort that some of the guests put into cosplaying their favourite game characters. When attending the weekend, we spotted some absolutely astounding cosplays, whether they were bought or made. We made sure to make the effort to attend the two cosplay showcases that took place on the Saturday and Sunday evening of the event to highlight just how amazing all of these cosplayers were! (If you spot yourself, let us know so we can tag your photo!)

The show was split into two sections, with the first being an opportunity for cosplayers to go on stage and show off their cosplay whether it was made or bought. It gave them an opportunity to get some photos taken of them under the stage lights, and the audience certainly showed their support to each and every one of them!

Even though this section was not for the competition, it was really nice of EGX to include a segment such as this, where cosplayers of any age or skill could have their moment on stage. Usually these moments are reserved only for cosplayers who make their costumes, who rightfully should have their creations shown off, but does often exclude those who may not wish to make their cosplays or know how.

This also allowed some of the younger guests of the event to have their moment on stage. It was truly heart-warming to see them come on and embrace the characters they were dressed up as, clearly having a blast as they did so. I’ve always been a firm believer of the fact that cosplay is for everyone, no matter what. For some of these cosplayers, not just the kids, this was their first time on stage. They were visibly nervous, but the audience roared with support and love for every single one of them, and it was an incredible atmosphere throughout!

I only hope that it has further encouraged these cosplayers to continue doing something they love and be confident in themselves. They were all truly amazing!

The second half of the show for both days was dedicated to the cosplay competition. This was purely for cosplayers who had completely made their entire costume, with two judges (@opal_inkcosplay and @exeliax) looking closely at the detail of each costume, the creation methods and the time taken to create the full cosplay. The talent that walked out onto that stage was incredible. Not only was each cosplay just excellent in its own right, but the amount of detail and effort put into every little piece was amazing! There were several cosplays that stood out to me in particular, but its important to note here that every single contestant was amazing and they all deserve equal praise.

One of the first costumes that I rememberparticularly well was the winner of Saturdays competition, who was cosplaying Link from Legend of Zelda (@raikiricosplay). She had actually handmade the chainmail armour that sits beneath Link’s shirt! It was an incredibly well-made costume and a thoroughly deserved win! Congratulations to her!

The two runners-up in the competition were also incredibly talented, with @creedcosplay as Ezio from Assassins Creed and @SphinxyCosplay as General Beatrix from Final Fantasy 9. Both of them had put so much effort into their costumes (Still constantly thinking about that amazing hair, General Beatrix). I hope you are as proud of your costumes as you should be, because they were absolutely gorgeous!

The Sunday competition brought even more talented cosplayers to the stage, with many, again, being incredibly memorable! The judges certainly struggled to pick their winners this time around, due to the bar that was set so high by all of the competitors! It’s important to note that the juges, too, spoke about how every single cosplay was amazing, even the ones that were not in the competition segment.

The winners of this competition all brought something incredible to the table, with it being very close between them. The two runners up were @peanutbuttercosplays cosplaying Caramel Arrow Cookie from Cookie Run Kingdom, and @emberrosecosplay as Sylvanas Windrunner from World of Warcraft. Both of them showed immense talent in their creations, with in-depth, traditional sewing methods used in Caramel’s clothes that impressed the judges greatly. Sylvanas’s armour was done very well, with great effort put into the details of each element and painted to an incredible standard.

The winner of the competition, after much deliberation, was @Jazzi_chan with her amazing cosplay as Queen Mara from Destiny. The moment she walked onto the stage my jaw dropped with how much detail was put into the costume from the makeup down to her boots. When she turned around and I saw the burn effects on the ends of her robe, I lost my mind a little bit. A very much deserved win and I cannot wait to see further creations from her in the future!

introducing decksaver ge

Decksaver; the go-to name for DJ, pro audio and music producer gear-protection is back with a surprise! This autumn, the company is proud to announce the launch of Decksaver GE [Decksaver Gamer Edition] , their first entry into the global gaming market.

This initial drop sees a total of 11 bespoke covers launched, compatible with over 20 variants of keyboard from top brands such as Razer, Corsair, Logitech and more. Made from super-tough polycarbonate plastic, a material used in the production of bullet-proof glass, Decksaver covers are built to last and will protect delicate switches, knobs and keys against dust, liquids, smoke and accidental damage when not in use, either at home or during transportation. The slim profile adds very little overall bulk to the device which it covers, making it easy to slip into a bag or rucksack when travelling. The smoked clear colour is unique to Decksaver.

Mustafa El-Etriby, the founder of Decksaver says: “Since 2008, when we created our first cover for the Pioneer CDJ-1000, we have grown the range to over 330 items for DJs, music makers, podcasters and pro audio specialists. Over the last couple of years, we have started to see a big demand for streaming gear covers and this has resulted in requests for gamer keyboard lids. Some of the keyboards we cover retail at over $200 each, so it makes sense to protect that investment and keep it safe from harm when not in use.”

The full range of covers for this first drop is as follows:

Razer Protection

Razer is a name that is engraved in the mind of anyone involved with gaming. The company makes solid gaming equipment from mice to headsets to laptops. Decksaver covers are now available for their huge-selling gaming keyboards; the BlackWidow V3 Pro, Huntsman Elite & Huntsman V2.

Taking Care of Corsair

The Corsair collection of the K100, K95 RGB and K70 RGB has had rave reviews since they’ve plunged into the gamer universe. The keyboards feature mechanical keys, RGB lighting, custom macro buttons and a whole lot more.

They have been seen not just in the casual gaming environment, but in the professional esports world as well. The legendary League of Legends player, ‘Faker’ has been seen to heavily use the Corsair K70 in his gaming. The new Decksaver GE range has covers for all three of these excellent keyboards.

Solid Steelseries Safeguards

Hailing from Denmark, Steelseries has been in the industry for over 20 years, delivering high quality gaming peripherals. Recently they have been featured in prominent esports groups FaZe Clan and Team OG, so quality is a must. A cover for the popular Apex 7 and Apex Pro is now available.

It’s logical to keep your Logitech safe!

The Logitech G Series are top-rated keyboards for gaming and these wonderful devices sit at the very crux of a gaming setup. One misplaced drink and it’s game over. Decksaver are pleased to now offer in this release, a dust-free life to the Logitech PRO, PRO X, G915 and G815 keyboards.

Elite protection for HyperX

The all-around HyperX Alloy Elite 2 features a set of dedicated media buttons and a large volume wheel, in addition to a set of wonderful mechanical keys. The hybridity aspect of the keyboard makes it the perfect peripheral to have for both video editing and gaming. A Decksaver hard-shelled cover is capable of stopping any spills, dust or impacts.

Essential Vulcan covers

The innovators at Roccat have done it again with the Vulcan TKL and Vulcan 100/120/121/122 AIMO. Their covers have been rated 5 stars by the likes of famed reviewers T3 and Rock Paper Shotgun, where they were praised for their mechanical keyboard system. These keyboards look and feel great and so Decksaver protection helps keys those knobs and switches safe from harm at home or on the go.

Decksaver makes essential covers for DJ, synthesiser, music production, broadcasting, streaming and pro audio equipment. Established in 2008 in Leeds, United Kingdom, their products are found in the greatest venues, studios and bedrooms worldwide.

Drawing on over 50 years’ expertise and innovation in plastics, Decksaver covers are the industry standard for gear protection in elite clubbing establishments across the globe including Fabric, Ministry Of Sound, XOYO, Ushuaia, Pacha, Amnesia, Cafe Mambo, Home in Sydney and Womb in Tokyo. The company is now excited to be entering the gaming market with their range of 11 covers for a wide range of popular keyboards for gamers and streamers.

All Decksaver products are designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom and the company mantra is: ‘Decksaver - We’ve Got It Covered.

out an intro video to Decksaver GE here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJkdazUDAMI

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apple september 2022 event recap

September’s Apple event was packed with new announcements from Apple. There’s the iPhone 14 line-up with four new models, the Apple Watch Series 8, the Apple Watch Ultra, AirPods Pro 2, and much more. Check out our recap below!

Apple Watch Series 8

Apple kicked things off with the new Apple Watch Series 8. The biggest change here is the addition of not one but two new temperature sensors. One of these temperature sensors is located on the back of the watch, close to your skin, while the other is located under the display. Apple says that this dual-sensor design helps to reduce “bias from the outside environment.”

The new temperature sensors are there to power new menstruation-related features. Apple says that it will rely on night-time wrist temperature as a “good indicator of overall body temperature.” As such, the Apple Watch Series 8 will sample the wrist temperature during sleep every five seconds and measure changes as small as 0.1C.

Apple Watch Series 8 is also adding a new Crash Detection feature. This feature uses “an advanced sensor-fusion algorithm” and “leverages a new,

more powerful gyroscope and accelerometer” to detect when you have been in a car wreck. If Apple Watch detects a car crash, it will check in with the user and dial emergency services if they are unresponsive after a 10-second countdown. Emergency responders will then receive the user’s device location. That information is also shared with the user’s emergency contacts.

Finally, Apple Watch Series 8 adds a new Low Power Mode that can extend battery life to up to 36 hours, so long as there is also a paired iPhone. This feature temporarily disables or limits select sensors and features, including the Always-On Retina display, workout AutoStart, heart health notifications, and more. Notably, this feature is also coming to the Apple Watch Series 4, 5, 6, and 7 as well.

Apple Watch Series 8 is available to order starting today in two sizes, 41mm and 45mm. Aluminium case colours for Apple Watch Series 8 include starlight, midnight, silver, and (PRODUCT)RED, while the stainless steel case offers silver, graphite, and gold. Pricing is unchanged and starts at $399. The first orders arrive on Friday, September 16. ing this sort of money. But the NTH-100 go without all

Apple Watch SE

In addition to the Apple Watch Series 8, there’s also a new Apple Watch SE. This new Apple Watch SE doesn’t offer many changes. There’s a new S8 processor inside, the same one inside the Apple Watch Series 8. This makes the new Apple Watch SE up to 20% faster than the previous generation. It also means that Crash Detection is also available on the Apple Watch SE.

The design of the new Apple Watch SE is the same as its predecessor. The only physical change is a redesigned matching back case made of a nylon composite material, which makes it slightly lighter than before. Apple Watch SE is available in 40mm and 44mm aluminium cases, in midnight, starlight, and silver finishes. It’s available to order today with a starting price of $249, which is $30 cheaper than before.

information for things like distance, pace, and route data.

Other Apple Watch Ultra features:

• The completely redesigned Compass app in WatchOS 9 surfaces more in-depth information and three distinct views.

• Compass Waypoints are a quick and convenient way to mark a location or point of interest directly in the Compass app.

• Backtrack uses GPS data to create a path showing where the user has been, which is useful if they get lost or disoriented and need help retracing their steps.

• An integrated 86-decibel siren is designed for emergencies, should users become lost or injured, and can help draw attention to a location.

• Utilising a new depth gauge, Apple Watch Ultra features a Depth app that displays time, current depth, water temperature, duration under water, and max depth reached.

Apple Watch Ultra has the best battery life of any Apple Watch, reaching up to 36 hours during normal use and up to 60 hours using a new lowpower setting. The Apple Watch Ultra is available to order today for $799.

Apple Watch Ultra

Where the Apple Watch really gets fun, however, is with the Apple Watch Ultra. The Apple Watch Ultra features a new 49mm casing that’s made from a new titanium formulation that is more durable than before. There’s a new Action button on the left-hand side that is customizable for a wide range of things, like starting a workout, opening an app, or even running a shortcut.

The Apple Watch Ultra has a maximum display brightness of 2000 nits, which is 2x brighter than any other Apple Watch. There are also three builtin microphones to significantly improve sound quality as well as advanced wind noise-reduction algorithms. Apple Watch Ultra features a ton of features meant for extreme sports. There’s a dualfrequency GPS that integrates new positioning algorithms for the most accurate GPS of any Apple Watch to date. This gives users more precise

AirPods Pro 2

Next up, Apple announced the long-awaited second-generation AirPods Pro. The design remains unchanged, with AirPods Pro 2 using the same in-ear form factor as before. You will get a new extra small ear tip size in the box, though. AirPods Pro 2 are powered by Apple’s new H2 audio chip, which offers a number of upgrades

Apple is expanding on Transparency mode with a new Adaptive Transparency feature. This feature works by using on-device processing to reduce loud environmental noise such as a passing vehicle siren, construction tools, or even loud speakers at a concert.

On the AirPods Pro stem, Apple has added an additional capacitive layer of controls. These controls allow you to swipe up or down to instantly adjust volume levels. You also still get the same force touch sensor as before for things like play and pause controls.

AirPods Pro offer 1.5 hours of additional listening time over the first generation, for a total of up to six hours. With the charging case, you can go for up to 30 hours. The charging case also now supports Find My with precision tracking, has integrated speakers for pinging it if you lose it, and integrated connectors for wrist straps. It can also now be charged via the Apple Watch charging puck. AirPods Pro 2 are available to order now and the pricing is unchanged at $249.

Camera technology has also gotten a big update this year. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus both feature a new 12MP Main camera featuring a larger sensor and larger pixels.

Apple has also added a new Photogenic Engine that uses hardware and software to improve lowlight and mid-light performance for all cameras: up to 2x on the Ultra-Wide camera, 2x on the True Depth camera, and 2.5x on the new Main camera. The full rundown of camera upgrades:

• A new Main camera with a larger ƒ/1.5 aperture and 1.9 µm pixels, enabling photo and video improvements in all lighting scenarios for better detail and motion freezing, less noise, faster exposure times, and sensor-shift optical image stabilisation.

• A new front True Depth camera with an ƒ/1.9 aperture that enables better low-light performance for photos and video. Using autofocus for the first time, it can focus even faster on low light and capture group shots from farther away.

• A new Action mode for incredibly smoothlooking video that adjusts to significant shakes, motion, and vibrations, even when video is being captured in the middle of the action.

• The Ultra-Wide camera, offering a unique perspective for wider shots and improvements to low-light photos with Photonic Engine.

• An improved True Tone flash that is 10% brighter and has better uniformity for more consistent lighting.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus

Moving on to the iPhone 14, Apple officially announced the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus at today’s event. The biggest change here, of course, is the addition of the iPhone 14 Plus. This model features a 6.7-inch display and replaces the “mini” size in the line-up.

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are powered by the A15 Bionic chip with a 5-core GPU, a slight upgrade over the iPhone 13 last year. They also feature support for Crash Detection just like on the Apple Watch. Both models have an updated internal design for better thermal performance and Super Retina XDR displays with OLED technology that supports 1,200 nits of peak HDR brightness.

• Cinematic mode, now available in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 24 fps.

• End-to-end Dolby Vision HDR, available only on iPhone.

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus also add support for satellite connectivity, as has been rumoured for nearly two years. Apple is referring to this as an expansion of the Emergency SOS feature.

Emergency SOS via satellite will be available to users in the US and Canada in November, and the service will be free for two years. iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will be available in midnight, blue, starlight, purple, and (PRODUCT)RED finishes. iPhone 14 is available now and availability for iPhone 14 Plus will be available from Friday October 7th.

bigger update to the screen, however, is the new Always-On Display. The Always-On Display shows the time, widgets, and Live Activities. You can also show your wallpaper in a dimmed state. The new Always-On display is made possible by an updated ProMotion screen that can now refresh at as low as 1Hz while still reaching up to 120Hz.

In terms of performance, the iPhone 14 Pro is powered by a new A16 chip, which is built on an updated 4nm process for improved efficiency and performance. Apple didn’t get into many specifics on A16 performance itself, instead focusing on how Apple’s chip technology continues to be years ahead of the “nearest competitor.”

iPhone 14 Pro

Last but not least, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. The biggest change here is the allnew “Dynamic Island” cut-out that appears at the top of the display in place of the notch alongside the Always-On display.

The new pill-shaped cut-out at the top is even more interactive and versatile than the rumours had predicted. You can tap and hold to find more options and controls. The Dynamic Island can show things like album art for content in the Music app, controls for FaceTime, specific background activities, and more. The new Live Activities feature coming iOS 16 also integrates with the Dynamic Island, meaning you can see live notifications directly in the new screen area.

“The Dynamic Island enables new ways to interact with iPhone, featuring a design that blends the line between hardware and software, adapting in real-time to show important alerts, notifications, and activities,” Apple says. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max also include major updates to the display technology. The bezels are thinner, and there is now peak outdoor brightness of 2,000 nits alongside HDR brightness of 1,600 nits. The

Camera technology for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max is just as impressive as we expected. The main camera has been updated to a 48MP lens with a quad-pixel sensor and an f/1.78 aperture. This quad-pixel sensor “adapts to the photo being captured,” combining every four pixels into one. In doing this, Apple says you can get “amazing low-light” images as well as keep the image photo size down. The quad-pixel sensor also enables a 2x Telephoto option that uses the middle 12 megapixels of the sensor for fullresolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom. Additionally, using the ProRAW feature, professionals can shoot the full 48MP resolution. The iPhone 14 Pro models also use the Photogenic Engine for improvements to low-light and midlight performance.

Outside of the new these changes, there are a number of other upgrades, including the first-ever upgrade for the Ultra-Wide camera:

• A new 12MP Ultra-Wide camera with 1.4 µm pixels, which delivers sharper images with more detail, improving already powerful macro photography capabilities.

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An improved Telephoto camera that offers 3x optical zoom.

• A new front True Depth camera with an ƒ/1.9 aperture that enables better low-light performance for photos and video. Using autofocus for the first time, it can focus even faster on low light and capture group shots from farther away.

• A new Adaptive True Tone flash that has been completely redesigned with an array of nine LEDs that change pattern based on the chosen focal length.

• Powerful computational photography benefits like Night mode, Smart HDR 4, Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting, Night mode Portrait photos, Photographic Styles to personalise the look of every photo, and Apple ProRAW.

• A new Action mode for incredibly smoothlooking video that adjusts to significant shakes, motion, and vibrations, even when video is being captured in the middle of the action.

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Cinematic mode, now available in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 24 fps.

• Pro-level workflows for video, including ProRes and end-to-end Dolby Vision HDR.

And of course, iPhone 14 Pro offers other previously mentioned features including Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via satellite. iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro max are available in four colours: Space black, deep purple, silver, and gold. Prices start at $999 for iPhone 14 Pro and $1099 for iPhone 14 Pro Max.

gamescom opening night recap

Over the last few decades, the gaming industry has grown exponentially. From home consoles to the PC market and even mobile gaming, the industry continues to push its boundaries. As it does, more high-profile events like The Game Awards crop up, each of which announces a slew of new experiences. While it may not be the oldest convention, Gamescom is certainly one of biggest.

In 2022, Geoff Keighley hosted his own Summer Games Fest event and Gamescom Opening Night Live, with plans to host his Game Awards at the end of the year. His Gamescom opener was a packed two-hour live event full of new game reveals and looks at some highly anticipated titles. From reveals like Atlas Fallen to long-awaited titles such as Hogwarts Legacy, Gamescom Opening Night Live 2022 seemingly had something for everyone.

Everywhere

The first Gamescom World Premiere came in strong with an ambitious title called Everywhere. After a vague trailer, the game’s director hinted that the game may be like a Dreams-esque, GTA-inspired experience that mixes a variety of different genres.

Dune Awakening

Another World Premiere, Dune Awakening had an impressive-looking cinematic trailer, capturing the same lofty aesthetics of the recent Dune movie. The final title card read that Dune Awakening will be an open-world survival MMO, which suits the sci-fi saga perfectly by presenting an explorable universe with Sandworms and Freemen throughout.

The Callisto Protocol

Though The Callisto Protocol has had a few trailers so far, this latest one was by far the most impressive, showing a new feature called

“Mutations” in which the game’s monstrous foes can transform into even worse abominations if the player doesn’t dispatch them fast enough. While Dead Space DNA is very much present, this trailer showed more unique mechanics like a stealth takedown, and more of an emphasis on melee combat - including a dodge mechanic. If this trailer is anything to go by, it seems like The Callisto Protocol may have some more cinematic sequences, most of which will likely end in viscera being strewn across the screen.

The Lords of the Fallen

The first Lords of the Fallen was one of the earliest, and arguably one of the most disappointing Souls likes. While it may have dropped the number from its title, this new Lords of the Fallen is certainly a sequel, though the cinematic trailer doesn’t give a great indication as to what’s changing.

Moving Out 2

A sequel to one of the most chaotic co-op games in recent years, Moving Out 2 looks to be upping the ante and providing even more wild environments for players to move furniture through. For any fans of Overcooked, Moving Out is certainly a series worth checking out.

Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy received a new trailer in which players got a good look at the Forbidden Forest, as well as some new mythical creatures. It was also confirmed that the unforgivable curses, along with some other dark magic spells, will be in the game, with the player-character choosing to either learn the Cruciatus curse or have it used on them. The long-rumoured Thestral mount has also been confirmed, along with a slew of other pre-order bonuses.

New Tales From The Borderlands

In a controversial move, Randy Pitchford took

to the stage to announce the upcoming New Tales From The Borderlands, a narrative-driven series originally helmed by Telltale. An October 21 release date was provided for the game, which sees a new group of three loudmouthed misfits attempt to break into a Vault - the usual Borderlands fare.

Dying Light 2 - Bloody Ties

Dying Light 2’s first paid story DLC showed off a new gladiatorial-like arena. A few creatively chaotic weapons were also on display, and the DLC received a release date of October 13, fitting Techland’s five-year roadmap well.

Sonic Frontiers

The rather divisive Sonic Frontiers got a trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2022. This trailer looked significantly more colourful than the last few, with some vibrant environments being showcased, most of which made the odd floating platform design look relatively normal. A November 8 release date for Sonic Frontiers was also finally confirmed.

Under The Waves

A new game published by Quantic Dream, Under The Waves is yet another narrative-driven adventure revolving around an underwater deep diver, set against the backdrop of a 1970s technofuturistic environment. As players explore the wrecks and caves underneath the ocean, they’ll learn more about main character Stan’s grief.

Goat Simulator 3

Goat Simulator 3 is back, and this latest trailer shows some incredibly absurd mechanics in play, from head-enlarging weapons to human cannons, to a full-on yoga retreat session and being swallowed whole by a whale. This is certainly a Goat Simulator game, and it knows exactly what fans want.

Return to Monkey Island

Ron Gilbert’s Return to Monkey Island launches on September 19. Along with showing off more of the game’s bold art style, this latest trailer also proved that the series’ humour is still intact, with Stan S. Stanman promising that pre-orders come

with free horse Armour that has absolutely no effect on the game at all, a little jab at Oblivion’s infamous DLC.

Moonbreaker

Set in an original universe by author Brandon Sanderson, Moonbreaker looks to be a turnbased tactics game that uses detailed tabletop minis as character models. In a unique move, these models can even be painted in-game, ensuring that each player will have their own customised units. Moonbreaker’s paint shop looks extremely in-depth, with different types of brushes, paints, and decals available to use. This marks quite the departure from Unknown Worlds’ last title, Subnautica, with the studio’s creative director saying that Moonbreaker is more like “XCOM meets Hearthstone.”

Friends Vs Friends

One of the most stylish trailers from Gamescom Opening Night Live, Friends Vs Friends introduced its vibrant and over-the-top world. It seems like Friends Vs Friends will be a firstperson shooter intended to be a party game. The real hook is that Friends Vs Friends gives players a deck of cards, each of which determines the player’s abilities, much like recent release Neon White.

Lies of P

A Souls like based on the tale of Pinocchio, Lies of P’s new trailer showed off some detailed Steampunk environments, weapons, and bosses, which go quite some way in setting Lies of P apart from the rest of the genre. It was also confirmed that Lies of P will be heading to Xbox Game Pass day one.

Atlas Fallen

A fresh IP from creator of The Surge and original Lords of the Fallen developer Deck 13, Atlas Fallen was revealed with a mostly CG trailer, showcasing some huge Monster Hunter-style weapons, two characters working together to fight a series of dog creatures, and a few brief glimpses of gameplay that showed some thirdperson action-RPG gameplay similar to Deck 13’s previous works.

One of the most iconic early PC sci-fi strategy games, the Homeworld series returns with Homeworld 3. Based on this trailer, it doesn’t seem the series has changed much, with the same general strategy loop shown off. However, the graphics have naturally gotten a lot better since the last mainline Homeworld release.

Genshin Impact 3.0

This Gamescom Genshin Impact trailer showed off some of the game’s new playable characters, bosses, and its next area named Sumeru, all coming with the 3.0 update. The new Dendro element was also briefly shown off, being an ability that controls vegetation.

High On Life

The next game from Justin Roiland’s Sqanch Games, High On Life received a new look at Gamescom Opening Night Live. This trailer showed off more of its first-person shooting gameplay, including some refined UI, and smooth grappling moves. The game’s main gimmick, it’s talking weapons, were also given the spotlight, with a Roiland-voices pistol mocking the boss that the player was fighting.

The Expanse

The Expanse, a game by Telltale based on the Amazon Prime show of the same name, received a behind-the-scenes trailer. Despite some rough visuals, The Expanse looks like it might be a solid, slightly experimental Telltale affair, with more third-person action gameplay than previous titles. As with all the studio’s ventures, this game’s quality will really depend on just how good its narrative is.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space

Coming out of absolutely nowhere, a Killer Klowns From Outer Space game was announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live. Though its genre wasn’t specified, the executive director worked on Friday The 13th: The Game, so it could potentially be an asymmetric multiplayer game like that.

Scars Above

Third-person sci-fi shooter Scars Above received a very brief reveal trailer at the event. Though it will have its own unique identity, Scars Above seems to be taking a lot of inspiration from Returnal, both in terms of its third person shooting gameplay and its environments, a lot of which include stone alien monsters with tentacles.

Wrydsong

Perhaps the most cryptic trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live debuted Wrydsong, the first title from developer Something Wicked - helmed by Bethesda alumni Jeff Gardiner. The game is set in an alternate mediaeval history and will apparently be an open-world fantasy RPG. Age of Empires 4 - Ottomans and Malians With an oddly fitting cover of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” playing in the background, this Age of Empires 4 trailer showcased some new civilizations heading to the game. The Ottomans were first shown off, with the Malians getting a brief look at the end.

Gotham Knights

Gotham Knights, one of the most tentatively anticipated titles of the year, got another trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live. This trailer showed off some of the game’s villains, including DC Comics staples like Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, and Clayface, as well as another look at the Court of Owls who seem to still be the main villains of the game. The release date for Gotham Knights has also been pushed forward to October 21, from a previous date of October 25.

Where Winds Meet

Where Winds Meet is a third-person open-world action-RPG with a lot of style revealed during Gamescom Opening Night Live. Boasting some fluid martial arts, sword-based, and bow gameplay, Where Winds Meet is set in the Northern Song Dynasty, in ancient China.

Hideo Kojima’s Podcast

One of the few non-game segments in Gamescom Opening Night Live, Hideo Kojima

made an appearance with Geoff Keighley, but not to show off any of the titles he’s currently working on. Instead, Kojima announced that his podcast titled Brain Structure is releasing on September 8, exclusively on Spotify. Apparently, Keighley will have his own news segment on the show, and the podcast will be available in both Japanese and English.

Park Beyond

A theme park simulator in a similar vein to Frontier’s Planet Coaster, Park Beyond takes things one step further, putting creativity and customization at the forefront. From the look of the trailer, players will have an unprecedented amount of freedom in creating their own shops, roller coasters, and decorations.

Blacktail

Blacktail is a newly announced first-person shooter that focuses on bow combat, putting players in a dark fantasy world. It seems as though players will face off against a variety of fantastical foes, centred around the legend of the Baba Yaga, each one twisted from their usual fairy tale appearance.

Dorfromantik

A game that gives immediate chill vibes, Dorfromantik got a brief trailer to announce its Nintendo Switch port. This game tasks players with building out their own city, one hexagon tile at a time, all while lo-fi beats play atop a pastel colour palette.

The Outlast Trials

First announced at last year’s Gamescom

Opening Night Live, The Outlast Trials received another trailer this year. As fans would expect, there’s plenty of blood, torture, subliminal messaging, and horrifying human dolls, among many other horrors throughout the experience. It was also announced that some fans will be able to play the game later this year via a closed beta.

Dead Island 2

Dead Island 2 finally reared its zombie-infested head at Gamescom 2022, years after the game was first announced. A makeshift shotgun with a bayonet played a big part in the trailer, perhaps hinting that some Dead Rising-style combo weapons will be a main feature of the longawaited sequel. Surprisingly, Dead Island 2 was given a February 3, 2023 release date, which seems soon for a game that went radio silent for nearly a decade - though it has apparently been fully in development for four years with the new development team. In a brief interview after the trailer, it was confirmed that Dead Island 2 is set in Los Angeles.

Further surprising audiences, some Dead Island 2 gameplay footage was then shown at Gamescom Opening Night Live. It seems as though the game is leaning hard into an irreverent, over-the-top tone, with some humorous dialogue and brutal zombie killing. If the game can stick closely to this tone, it may manage to break away from its modern-day competition, Dying Light 2. So there we have it, Geoff Keighley showcased some amazing new games and we became even more excited for what the future holds for gaming. What was your best reveal? Ours most certainly was to finally see some Dead Island Two Gameplay!

Tokyo game show 2022 recap

On September 15th Xbox we presented their Tokyo Game Show Xbox 2022 stream for fans in Japan, across Asia, and around the world. During this event Xbox shared updates on 22 games from Xbox Studios, Bethesda, and more from their developer partners. This included 13 games from developers in Japan, as well as two games developed in China.

Please find below a recap of all the news which was shared by Xbox at this year’s Tokyo Game Show.

Play Assassin’s Creed Odyssey  today with Xbox Game Pass

Available now with Xbox Game Pass, delve into Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and live epic adventures in a world where every choice matters. From an outcast Spartan mercenary to a legendary Greek hero, embark on a Breathtaking journey to uncover the secrets of your past and change the fate of Ancient Greece, a war-torn world shaped by gods and men, where mountains and sea collide.

Experience seamless naval exploration, and brand-new ways to fight. Meet Ancient Greece’s famous figures and interact with them during a pivotal point in history that shaped western civilization.

Play Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony today!

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is out now on Xbox and Windows PC! This is the newest mainline entry in the Danganronpa series known for its high-speed deduction action class trials used in uncovering murder culprits. This entry revitalizes the series’ setting and characters with a “psychocool” theme in visuals and presentation that brings excitement to an all-new story unfolding in an all-new academy.

Let the kitsune guide you! Kiriko joins Overwatch 2 as the newest Support hero. Teleport through walls to protect teammates with a healing ofuda or dash towards enemies to take them out with your kunai. Overwatch’s newest hero joins the fight at the launch of Overwatch 2 on October 4.

Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Remastered from Level-5

Available for the first time on Xbox and with Game Pass, Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Remastered will let players explore the world of Ni no Kuni as if they were inside a Studio Ghibli

Kiriko dashes into Overwatch 2 on October 4

i film themselves! With music from Joe Hisaishi, players will immerse themselves in a variety of beautiful environments throughout the story and visit vast and endless fields, streets filled with lush greenery and water, and a dungeon with a peculiarly enticing atmosphere. To celebrate the beginning of TGS 2022, Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch™ Remastered is available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC. The second instalment, Nino Kuni II Revenant Kingdom, will launch on Xbox in 2023.

Guilty Gear –Strive– coming to Xbox Game Pass

The latest entry in the Guilty Gear series, Guilty Gear -Strive-, is now coming to Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows! With revolutionary graphics, an intense story mode, online multiplayer pitting players from all over the world against each other, and more, Guilty Gear -Strive- provides the cutting edge of the fighting game experience.

The highly acclaimed game, after receiving such awards as The Game Awards 2021 Best Fighting Game and 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Fighting Game of the Year, is now coming to Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows. The day you’ll face the strongest the world has to offer is on the horizon!

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Special Edition coming to Xbox Game Pass

Three masterpieces from ATLUS’s Persona franchise — Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable — announced their debut on Xbox and Windows. Kickstarting this, Persona 5 Royal will be available on October 21! Student by day, thief at night- the protagonist, one day transferring to a high school in Tokyo, will manoeuvre through the shadows to steal the distorted desires from the rotten adults. Our newest trailer will introduce you to the protagonist and his unique team’s awakening of their Persona. Don’t miss this dramatic reveal of their true selves!

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Special Edition, complete with all DLC included, is now coming to Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows! BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle lets you create your own cross-over dream team with the beloved characters from a total of 8 titles! Fight with your favourite characters from the popular titles BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena, Under Night In-Birth, RWBY, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Arcana Heart 3 LOVEMAX SIXSTARS!!!!!!

XTEND, Senran Kagura: Estival Versus, and Akatsuki Blitzkampf. Get ready for a dream tag battle crossing series lines!

Updates on Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, the highest backed Kickstarter game of 2020, will be featured at Tokyo Games Show with an allnew gameplay trailer featuring dialogue from some of the Japanese voice actors who will be featured in the game.  Stay tuned to Tokyo Game Show for an exclusive Xbox Eiyuden Chronicle interview and exciting surprises featured during the 505 Games live stream. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes launches in 2023 on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Game Pass.

A Brand-New Trailer from Persona 5 Royal is Incoming! Remastered Versions of Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable Are on Their Way to Xbox and Windows

Palworld coming to Xbox

From PocketPair, the creators of Craftopia, Palworld is a brand-new, multiplayer, open-world survival crafting game where you can befriend and collect mysterious creatures called “Pal” in a vast world! Make your Pals fight, build, farm, and work in factories.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel available now with Game Pass!

From CyberConnect2 and available starting today with Xbox Game Pass, Fuga: Melodies of Steel is an RPG where you place children, each with their own unique characteristics and skills, at different gun turrets in a tank to fight against the enemy. CyberConnect2 also showed off a brand-new trailer for Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2.

Harness the power of the stars in Dyson Sphere Program with PC Game Pass

Build the most efficient intergalactic factory in space simulation strategy game Dyson Sphere Program! Harness the power of stars, collect resources, plan and design production lines, and develop your interstellar factory from a small space workshop to a galaxy-wide industrial empire. Dyson Sphere Program launches Oct. 13 with PC Game Pass.

Take On Prehistoric Hordes in Exoprimal!

Suit up, Exofighters! Sudden dinosaur outbreaks have engulfed the globe, and the only thing between them and humanity’s extinction is you! Wield cutting-edge, customizable Exosuit technology in a 5-vs-5 team-based action game as your squad fights through unrelenting swarms of ravenous dinosaurs and other players in a variety of dynamic PvE and PvP missions assigned by the mysterious, all-powerful AI “Leviathan”. The wargame begins when Exoprimal releases in 2023. Coming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

Exciting updates for Naraka: Bladepoint

Naraka: Bladepoint, the unchained action battle royale for 60 players, had an exciting August! The team expanded the world of Naraka with the new map Holoroth, added a new hero to the roster, and released the first chapter of a new PvE campaign mode called Showdown. During TGS we shared the second chapter of Showdown will be available to players in October, and Yushan Ruins, a new area on the Holoroth map, will soon be unveiled. Already available on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, Naraka: Bladepoint will be released on Xbox One on Dec. 22.

A Deeper Dive into Wo Long Fallen Dynasty

Fumijiko Yasuda (Nioh Franchise Director) and Masaaki Yamagiwa (Bloodborne Producer) joined us during TGS to discuss the latest ‘masocore’ action-RPG from Team NINJA, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and on Windows PC with Game Pass on day one in early 2023, learn more from the creators about the game’s combat system, demo and inspiration behind the title and location for the game.

DEATHLOOP comes to Xbox

DEATHLOOP is Arkane Lyon’s take on an assassination experience, seamlessly blending single player gameplay with multiplayer drama. The winner of more than 300 “Best Of” awards, DEATHLOOP pits two rival assassins in an endless battle for the future. The Xbox release of DEATHLOOP comes with all updates released for the game since its launch, so players can look forward to photo mode, additional accessibility

options, cross-play matchmaking, and a host of quality-of-life fixes.

In addition, Arkane Lyon is also releasing the GOLDENLOOP Update to the game, which brings a new weapon, a powerful new ability, new enemy types, an extended ending, and more! DEATHLOOP is available for pre-order on Xbox Series X|S or pre-install with Xbox Game Pass now ahead of its release on September 20, 2022.

Forza Horizon celebrates its 10th Anniversary

Xbox Game Studios’ Playground Games are kicking off the celebrations for the 10-year anniversary of Forza Horizon in October, sharing an all-new trailer showcasing the Horizon Festival’s incredible journey travelling across Colorado, France, Italy, Australia, Britain and Mexico. The studio will be sharing more details around Forza Horizon’s 10th Anniversary next month

Xbox september 2022 showcase recap

Microsoft has taken to stage once again this time in September with another one of its predominantly indie-focused ID@Xbox digital showcase events. And if you missed its typically meandering reveals, you could check out everything that appeared below.

Eville

Eville is a multiplayer social deduction game from developer VestGames that’s coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Game Pass on 11th October. It sees up to 13 players working together - or otherwise - in order to unmask Conspirators hiding in a village beset by murders. Those cast as Villagers must weed out the suspects by day, while those in the role of Conspirators can decide who should be bumped off next by night.

Developer WildArts’ light-hearted adventure Born of Bread serves up a blend of Paper-Mario-like exploration and turn-based combat in which players - in the role of a flour golem - must travel the world, from the mysterious ruins of the Forest of Roots to the bustling metropolis of South Munch City, in order to save it from chaos. It all looks very adorable and will be coming to Xbox and PC at some currently unspecified future date.

Homestead Arcana

Homestead Arcana is yet another entry in the increasingly overloaded farming sim genre, but this one - from developer Serenity Forge - is aiming to shake things up by giving proceedings a more magical twist. Players take on the role of a farming witch who pioneers, cultivates, and crafts spells in order to restore a corrupted realm besieged by a force known as Miasma. It’s coming Xbox and PC - as well as Game Pass on Day 1 - sometime next year.

And more from Skybound...

Homestead Arcana is one of four games from publisher Skybound confirmed to be coming to Game Pass, with 90s-inspired adventure Big Con, puzzle-platformer Rainbow Billy, and Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead: The Final Season all joining the service “this year”.

Song of Iron 2

Song of Iron 2 is the second instalment in developer Resting Relic’s Nordic-set actionadventure series, and promises plenty of “visceral, merciless, run-and-gun melee combat” as players navigate a dark-fantasy landscape in order to unite the region’s clans and prepare for the coming war. There’s no release date for this one just yet but expect more details in due course.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, the sequel to Graffiti Games’ Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (which Eurogamer’s Christian Donlan thoroughly enjoyed when he played it earlier this year), sees the titular root vegetable teaming up with the fearsome Pickled Gang to stage the “weirdest heist of all time”. It’s coming to Xbox, PC, and Game Pass sometime next year.

Developer Yellow Dot’s Let’s Cook Together 2 is bringing another serving of culinary cooperative action to PC and Xbox this autumn, this time pitting players against a dystopian food government known as Nutri Inc.

Call of the Wild: The Angler

Call of the Wild: The Angler (from Expansive Worlds, the developer behind the Hunter: Call of the Wild) does pretty much exactly what you’d expect - giving players the tools they need to embark on some serious fishing hijinks as they roam a vast open-world in search of the perfect fishing spot on their journey toward becoming a master angler. This one’s out now on PC.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, which comes from Predator: Hunting Grounds developer IllFonic, is an asymmetric multiplayer game giving four players the opportunity to strap on proton packs and hunt down spectral nuisances controlled by a fifth player. There are cosmetics and upgrades to unlock, online and local play is supported, and there’s even an AI-driven solo mode. This one’s out on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass on 18th October.

SpiderHeck

If it’s spiders with laser swords you want, look no further than SpiderHeck - a “fast-paced couch coop brawler” that combines frantic web-swinging parkour and chaotic battling as players, either alone or in teams, battle to be the champion of the SpiderHeck arena. Alongside PvP, there’ll be a wave-based solo and multiplayer PvE mode when SpiderHeck comes to Xbox and PC on 22nd September.

Cities Skylines: Plazas and Promenades

Cities Skylines expansion Plazas and Promenades surprise-launches today. This, the 11th major expansion for developer Colossal Order’s acclaimed city builder, brings a new pedestrianisation focus to the game, giving budding urban planners the tools needed to add pedestrian-only streets, pedestrian zones, and zone-specific policies.

Shoulders of Giants

Shoulders of Giants is an “explosive sci-fi rogue-like” in which a sword-wielding robot and gunslinging space frog blast their way across a randomly generated landscape - combining handcrafted level design with procedural generation - in an attempt to restore “life and light to the shattered worlds”. It features co-op for up to four players, and a “best friend” mode that’ll let one player control the frog and another control the robot. It’s coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S “later this year”.

Metal: Hellsinger

Musical shooter Metal: Hellsinger is an absolute belter, having only just earned itself a Recommended badge on this very website. “A lean and tightly-restrained mashup of more than just Rock Band and Doom”, is how Chris Tapsell put it in his review, and you’ll be able to strut and strum your way through its carnage when it launches tomorrow, 15th September, on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass.

Moonscars

Moonscars is a bleak action-adventure from developer Black Mermaid, set in an “unforgiving, non-linear 2D world”. It casts players as a fierce clayborne warrior known as Grey Irma, on a quest to locate the mysterious Sculptor - a journey that takes the form of a Souls-like Metroidvania. It’ll be available on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass from 27th September.

You Suck at Parking

A “racing game where your goal is to stop”, You Suck at Parking’s 100 increasingly difficult levels challenge players to careen around courses and screech to a halt in a minuscule parking spot as quickly as possible.

It’s playable solo and in multiplayer, with global leader boards for those that want to try for parking supremacy, and developer Happy Volcano says it’ll be “ever-growing [and] always-expanding”, with new cars, biomes, customisation options, and even a level editor promised for the future. It’s out today on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass.

Amazing Cultivation Simulator

If you’ve ever lost hours to the likes of Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress, you might want to check out Developer GSQ Games’ Amazing Cultivation Simulator - a strategy sim/management game inspired by Chinese mythology. The goal is to rebuild your sect and train new disciples - researching magic and gathering mystical artifacts along the way - as you continue along your path to spiritual ascension. It’s been out for a while on PC but joins PC Game Pass today.

Ynglet

For something a whole lot more minimalist, there’s Ynglet - a “floating non-platformer” sporting a “highly reactive and dynamic soundtrack”. It’s out now on Xbox.

Valheim

And finally, Coffee Stain Studios’ hugely popular Viking survival adventure Valheim now has an arrival date on PC Game Pass. It’ll be joining the service on 29th September.

Playstation september 2022 state of play recaP

On September 13th we saw a 20-minute PlayStation State of Play which discussed 10 titles across PS4, PS5, and PS VR2. Though this event was smaller in scale, acclaimed developers like Bandai Namco, Koei Tecmo, and Ryu Ga Gotoku (RGG) Studio all had a presence, with a surprise new trailer for God of War Ragnarök thrown in to really get fans blood pumping. We have put together a recap of everything which was showcased which you can read about below.

Tekken 8

First revealed with a teaser at EVO 2022, Tekken 8 is the next instalment in Bandai Namco’s popular fighting game franchise. Its September 2022 trailer features an extended bout between Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima. Kazama has to activate his devil powers to win, which cuts to a likely symbolic shot of a chain being broken to form the 8 in its title. However, all fans learn is they should “Stay Tuned” for news about the PS5 title coming off Mishima’s recent appearance in Super Smash Bros.

Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s EdgeEnhanced Edition

After the Tekken 8 cold open, Sony’s first big PS VR2 game was Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge - Enhanced Edition, coming 2023. Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge was released for Oculus (Meta) devices in 2020, letting players explore a world inspired by the titular Disneyland and Walt Disney World attraction. It has been rebuilt to take advantage of PS VR2 features like 3D audio and haptic feedback in the DualSense controller, boosting “immersion” as players meet characters like C-3PO and Yoda voiced by their original actors. This Enhanced Edition will include the original game’s expansions.

Demeo

Another PS5 and PS VR2 game in development is Demeo, a virtual reality dungeon-crawler by Resolution Games that launched in May 2021. The game advertises itself on capturing the “creativity and chaos of a tabletop RPG,” and the PlayStation skew set to release in 2023 will be cross-platform compatible so that friends across devices can form a party to defeat the forces of evil. A PlayStation Blog post advertises the use of eye-tracking tech that will allow users to make menu selections “with little more than the blink of an eye.”

Like a Dragon: Ishin!

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a remake of the 2014 spin-off by RGG Studio, part of its popular Yakuza franchise. This Sega-published game will be released outside of Japan for the first time in February 2023, giving fans across the globe an opportunity to see a fictionalized retelling of the story behind samurai Sakamoto Ryoma. Set in 1860s Kyo (based on Kyoto), Like a Dragon: Ishin! casts Yakuza characters like Kazuma Kiryu in major roles with four unique combat styles. The game is RGG Studio’s first to utilize Unreal Engine 4, and more will be revealed in a September 14 livestream at 3:00 a.m. PT.

Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy has been embroiled in controversy due to series’ creator J.K. Rowling’s transphobic comments and a Goblin rebellion storyline that has racist undercurrents as a result of the race’s seemingly Jewish caricatures. Still, many are looking forward to exploring an openworld Hogwarts in Avalanche Software’s

upcoming title. The September 2022 State of Play details a PlayStation-exclusive quest called “The Haunted Hogsmeade Shop,” and there will be an additional pre-order bonus for PS4 and PS5 owners. Hogwarts Legacy is currently set to release on February 10, 2023.

Pacific Drive

Sony followed Hogwarts Legacy by unveiling the debut title of Seattle, Washington-based Ironwood Studios: Pacific Drive. This unique first-person survival game puts a focus on driving, with players having to scavenge resources to maintain their car so that it can take them through the “Olympic Exclusion Zone.” In Pacific Drive’s alternate reality, the real-world Olympic Peninsula was taken by eminent domain in the 1950s, but experiments by the US government resulted in “severe radiation, environmental collapse, and supernatural horrors.” Players will have to survive the “drive from hell” with roguelike elements reshuffling their environment when Pacific Drive releases for PS5 in 2023.

Synduality

After a brief pit stop to discuss the PlayStation Stars loyalty program, viewers were introduced to a Bandai Namco anime mecha game called Synduality. Producer Yosuke Futami discusses the sci-fi game’s setting of Amasia in a PlayStation Blog post and details the game’s impetus of a human teaming up with AI partner Magus to see if they can coexist and reclaim the world from climate disasters and “deformed creatures.” Futami says this project emerged from a team hoping to break into the sci-fi genre with an innovative third-person shooter, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out in 2023.

Stellar Blade

Some may recognize Stellar Blade as the scifi/fantasy game Project Eve, a title by Korean developer Shift Up that has appeared at numerous showcases. The latest trailer for this PS5 console exclusive focuses on its narrative, with Eve working alongside members of Earth’s last surviving city Xion (including the fittingly named Adam) to save the planet from demonic entities called NA:tives. The game has drawn comparisons to everything from Bayonetta and NieR: Automata to Dark Souls and Dead Space, so many will be excited to see it coming along with this State of Play trailer.

Rise of the Ronin

Another PS5 exclusive unveiled at this event is the latest action RPG by Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja: Rise of the Ronin. This title is similar to Like a Dragon: Ishin!’s general premise, following a samurai in the 19th Century, but with a heavy focus on the Bakumatsu period where Japanese people dealt with invasions from western nations and a civil war between supporters and those opposed to the Tokugawa Shogunate. Team Ninja’s openworld game is fittingly combat-focused for fans of series like Nioh and has been in development for seven years according to director Fumihiko Yasuda. However, those interested in Rise of the Ronin will have to wait until 2024, after Team Ninja’s Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty releases next year.

God of War Ragnarök

Like Nintendo capped off its event with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Sony ended its latest State of Play by dropping the official God of War Ragnarök story trailer before its November 9 release. Fans were already aware that the game takes place years after the series’ acclaimed 2018 reboot, and a constant refrain is an older Atreus questioning what Kratos wants of him, even as he hopes to become stronger so that he can protect his father. Audiences were given a glimpse at various important beats that pull inspiration from the Norse mythological cataclysm, such as Atreus shooting the sun out of the sky and Kratos clashing with Thor. Various battle scenes are depicted across the nine realms, all of which will be visited in God of War Ragnarök. There appear to be some truly beautiful settings that take advantage of the PS4 and PS5 - though the State of Play also announced a limited-edition DualSense wireless controller for PS5 that will be available to pre-order starting September 27. Even in the face of a deadly fate, Kratos assures his son that, “We will make our own destiny,” and fans don’t have to wait much longer to see this epic narrative unfold.

september 2022 nintendo direct recap

During Septembers Nintendo Direct video presentation, Nintendo unveiled dozens of announcements for games launching on the Nintendo Switch system this year and next, so here we have for you our full recap of what was announced!

The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Is Called The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Alongside another short glimpse of gameplay, we finally have a release date and a name for the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Yes, on May 12, 2023, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be released on Nintendo Switch.

Pikmin 4 Will Finally Arrive in 2023

While we didn’t learn too much about it, Shigeru Miyamoto stopped by the Nintendo Direct to announce that Pikmin 4 will finally be released on Switch in 2023. This news is a long time coming as Miyamoto had previously stated that the game was “very close to completion” in 2015.

Fire Emblem Engage Announced As a New Mainline Game, and It Features Marth

Fire Emblem Engage is the next main entry in the Fire Emblem series and it will follow a story set a thousand years after four kingdoms sealed away the great evil known as the Fell Dragon. In Engage, players will become a Divine Dragon called Alear who must work to collect Emblem

Rings to “bring peace back to the continent of Elyos.” Along your journey, you will even be able to have other previous Fire Emblem characters join your party like Marth and Celica.

Fire Emblem Engage will be released on Nintendo Switch on January 20, 2022.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Brings a Wii Classic to Switch

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land was first released on the Wii in 2011 and 2023 will see it arrive on Switch in a brand new pink, puffy package. This updated title features up to four-player multiplayer and a collection of mini-games like Samurai Kirby and Magolor’s Tome Trackers. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe will be released on February 24, 2023.

Octopath Traveler 2 Announced With New Heroes and the Same Wonderful 2D-HD Art Style

Octopath Traveler 2 will be released on February 24, 2023 and will bring with it a whole new group of heroes and a brand new story to experience in

the world of Solistia, all with the same wonderful 2D-HD art style that set the original apart from other JRPGS.

Octopath Traveler 2 will not be Switch exclusive and will also launch on PC (via Steam), PS5, and PS4.

Final Fantasy Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line Is a Celebration of the Franchise’s Music, and It’s Out Early Next Year

Final Fantasy Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line is the ultimate celebration of the franchise’s music, and it’s a brand new entry in the series that began on 3DS. This new game will feature over 385 songs, and it will let two players play locally and up to four players online. It will also have a season pass that will add 90 new songs, including some from Nier, Octopath Traveler, and Live a Live.

Final Fantasy Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line will be released on the Nintendo Switch on February 16, 2023.

Goldeneye 007 (With Online Play!), Mario Party, and Pokemon Stadium Lead the Pack of New N64 Games Headed to Switch

Nintendo revealed some upcoming games that will soon be added to Nintendo Switch Online, and perhaps the most exciting is Goldeneye 007. If that wasn’t exciting enough, Goldeneye will even feature online play. In addition to Goldeneye, Pilotwings, Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Stadium 2, 1080 Snowboarding, and Excitebike 64 will also be joining the service in 2022 and 2023.

platforms on December 13, 2022. It will tell the story of Zack Fair and will be a remaster of the PSP classic.

Wave 3 of Mario Kart 8 Deluxes’s Booster Course Pass Will Include Tracks from Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart DS

Wave 3 of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass will launch this holiday and will include eight courses, including Merry Mountain from Mario Kart Tour and Peach Gardens from Mario Kart DS.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Wave 2 of DLC Adds a New Mechanical Hero Called Ino

The second wave of DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will add a new mechanical hero named Ino. It will also add Challenge Battles and new outfits. The DLC will arrive on October 13, 2022.

Splatoon 3’s First Splatfest Will Have Inklings Choose Between Gear, Grub, or Fun

The first Splatfest for Splatoon 3 will arrive soon, and it will ask players to decide if they’d rather bring Gear, Grub, or Fun with them to a deserted island. This first Splatfest will take place on September 23 and will run through September 25.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Will Be Released on December 13, 2022

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion will officially be released on Switch and other

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Is Getting a Remake as Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life

GameCube’s Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is getting remade as Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, and it will be released on Switch in Summer 2023.

Fae Farm Is an RPG with a Mix of Magic and... Well... Farming!

Fae Farm is a farm-sim RPG for up to four players that mixes the best of magic with the fun of building and caring for your very own farm. Fae Farm takes place in Azoria and players will need to use their skills and spells to help rebuild the world.

Harvestella Gets a Demo Today Ahead of Its November 4 Release Date

Square Enix has announced that Harvestella will be getting a demo today ahead of its November 4 release date. Furthermore, the demo will let you transfer your save to the full game when it is launched.

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Comes to the West

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, which was first released in Japan on the Wii in 2008 and never made it to the West, will arrive on Nintendo Switch in early 2023.

Tunic Adventures to Switch Later This Month

Tunic, the adventure game starring an adorable fox that takes great inspiration from The Legend of Zelda, arrives on Nintendo Switch on September 27, 2022.

It Takes Two Arriving on Nintendo Switch in November

It Takes Two, the charming co-op adventure, will be released on Nintendo Switch on November 4, 2022. The game can be played on one system, on two systems via local wireless, or online with the included Friend’s Pass that lets you gift a free copy to your co-op buddy.

Danganronpa Creators Have Announced Master Detective Archives: Raincode

From the creators of Danganronpa, Master Detective Archives: Raincode will cast players as the amnesiac detective Yuma as they work to solve crimes in a corporate-controlled metropolis that never stops raining. Master Detective Archives: Raincode will be out in Spring 2023.

Spongebob Squarepants: Cosmic Shake Swims to Switch in 2023

Spongebob Squarepants: Cosmic Shake will bring Bikini Bottom to Switch in 2023, complete with the show’s voice actors.

Rune Factory 3 Is Getting a New Life in 2023, and a New Rune Factory Is Also On Its Way

Rune Factory 3 was first released on Nintendo DS in Japan in 2009 and, like many other games in this Direct, will be getting a new life on Switch in 2023. Rune Factory 3 will have players farming, building relationships with locals, caring for monsters, and much more. There will even be a new mode that will let you “enjoy quality time with your in-game spouse.”

Additionally, it was confirmed that a brand-new Rune Factory game will be released in the future. Ib Is a Creepy Adventure Game Set in an Art Gallery.

Ib Is a Creepy Adventure Game Set in an Art Gallery

Ib looks to be a creepy adventure game set in an art gallery that stars a young girl who must unravel what is actually going on. Choices matter and will determine which of the seven endings players will get to see.

Just Dance 2023 Edition Will Get Switch Owners Grooving in November

The latest entry in the Just Dance franchise will arrive on Switch on November 22. Just Dance 2023 will let you dance to BTS’ Dynamite and many other new songs with friends or solo.

ubisoft forward recap

The latest Ubisoft Forward went live on September 10th 2022 and it was bursting at the seams with new game announcements and updates on future Ubisoft projects, including Assassin’s Creed, Skull and Bones, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, and many more. In case you missed it, we’ve got you covered with a full recap of the show.

Assassin’s Creed Showcase

The Assassin’s Creed showcase revealed the next entry in the franchise: Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which takes place in 9th century Baghdad. The story centers on Basim Ibn Is’haq, a character first introduced in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, when he was a young man first learning the ways of the Hidden Ones. Mirage is built as an homage to the early Assassin’s Creed titles.

Ubisoft Forward also teased a glimpse of what’s to come. Assassin’s Creed Codename RED will take players to feudal Japan for an open-world RPG experience, followed by Assassin’s Creed Codename HEXE. Assassin’s Creed Codename INFINITY will be a hub that connects players through different types of Assassin’s Creed experiences, including RED and HEXE. For players on the go, Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade will be a AAA RPG action-adventure mobile game set in ancient China. Finally, Ubisoft is partnering with Netflix to create a live-action adaptation of Assassin’s Creed and is developing a mobile game exclusively for Netflix members.

Skull and Bones

It’s almost time to set sail and become a pirate kingpin, because Skull and Bones launches November 8. At Ubisoft Forward, the Skull and Bones team unveiled The Helm, in-game trading networks that provide opportunities for you to grow your Infamy and climb the ranks. The presentation also shed light on some of the different ships you can expect to build and sail in the game, and numerous ways to customize them to suit your playstyle. For a chance to play the game before it goes live, PC players can sign up for Skull and Bones’ Insider Program. Skull and Bones launches November 8 for PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Stadia, and Amazon Luna.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Rayman is coming to Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope in the game’s third DLC expansion. At Ubisoft Forward, the Sparks of Hope team debuted an all-new teaser video showing Rayman with Rabbid Mario and Rabbid Peach.

In addition to this post-launch announcement, a gameplay video for the game’s main adventure showed Mario and friends fighting to save the planet Terra Flora from the villainous Cursa. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope launches October 20 on Nintendo Switch, and the DLC

featuring Rayman will be available for standalone purchase, or as part of the Season Pass.

Mythic Quest

Welcome to the year of Brittlesbee. Mythic Quest Season 3 is releasing soon, and to celebrate, Apple TV+ gave Ubisoft Forward viewers a sneak peek at what’s to come. Ian Grimm and Poppy Li have kicked off GrimPop Studios, struggling to work together (and driving Dana crazy) as they take a leap into the metaverse. Meanwhile, back at Mythic Quest HQ, David Brittlesbee finds himself truly in charge for the first time, with the ever-militant Jo by his side - and a “newly reformed” Brad as the office janitor, definitely not plotting anything. Be sure to check out the next chapter of this workplace comedy when it launches later this fall.

Ubisoft+

To celebrate the third anniversary of Ubisoft+, players can get Ubisoft+ Multi-Access for free on PC, Stadia, and Amazon Luna until October 10. With this subscription service, you can get access to over 100 Ubisoft titles, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, Watch Dogs: Legion, Child of Light, and more.

The Division

There’s a lot on the horizon for Agents of The Division franchise. The Division 2 Season 10: Price of Power is launching on September 13. Agents will embark on a new Manhunt to track down General Peter Anderson, a True Sons leader trying to ally with the Black Tusk against The Division. As you progress through the quest, you and your fellow Agents will earn rewards and cosmetic items during apparel events. Looking ahead to the future of the franchise, The Division Heartland is coming to PC, consoles, and cloud in 2022-2023, and seeks Agents to sign up for its next testing phase. Likewise, The Division Resurgence, the upcoming mobile game, is recruiting players to register for its next testing phase, which will focus on PVP action, including the Dark Zone and Conflict mode.

Brawlhalla

Brawlhalla-vania, the next Epic Crossover for the free-to-play fighting game, is coming October 19, a fang-tastic event landing just in time for Halloween. In collaboration with Konami Digital Entertainment, two new fighters will join the fray: Simon Belmont, an Epic Crossover for Jhala, is a 17th century vampire hunter wielding a Vampire Killer whip, and Alucard, an Epic Crossover for Ezio, who is Dracula’s son, bringing expert sword skills and dark magic to the battlefield.

Photo mode Contest

Show off your incredible in-game photography skills by entering Ubisoft’s Photo mode Contest. Submissions are open now through October 16, with categories for portrait, outdoor & wildlife, experimental, still architecture, motion, sports, and narrative. Winners will be selected by a jury of five photography pundits; the top three winners will win a trip to NYC to see their photos featured in a photography

Just Dance 2023 Edition

Get ready to dance your heart out with Just Dance 2023 Edition, coming November 22 to Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Switch. This new era of Just Dance sees the game revamped as a dance-on-demand platform, bringing new features like online multiplayer and a redesigned user interface - not to mention regular free content updates. Just Dance 2023 Edition is coming with 40 new songs, including “Physical” by Dua Lipa, “More” by K/DA ft. Madison Beer, (G)I-DLE, Lexie Liu, Jaira Burns & Seraphine, “CAN’T STOP THE FEELING!” by Justin Timberlake, “Sweet but Psycho” by Ava Max, and more.

Netflix Netflix and Ubisoft are partnering to bring three exclusive Ubisoft mobile games to Netflix members: a Valiant Hearts sequel, a new roguelite-inspired Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, and an original Assassin’s Creed game. These games will be available for members to download at no extra charge, with no ads or in-app purchases, through the Netflix mobile app.

Rainbow Six Mobile

Operators, assemble! Rainbow Six Mobile, the upcoming free-to-play mobile game, is looking for players to sign up for its closed beta on Google Play, which starts September 12. The test phase is open to Android users in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, Singapore, and India, and will feature Rainbow Six Mobile’s new progression and Operator unlock systems, 16 Operators, the Bomb and Secure Area game modes, and the Bank and Border maps. At launch, Rainbow Six Mobile will have 5v5 matches, cross-play, and voice chat for iOS and Android devices.

The Crew 2 Season 6 Episode 2: Dominion

Frozen begins on September 14. The new Season introduces ice tracks to The Crew 2 for the first time ever. The nine new events will be available over the course of the episode and will challenge your precision driving. The Season’s new Motorpass also adds 50 tiers of rewards, including specialedition vehicles such as the Saleen S7 TwinTurbo Glacier Edition (Hypercar), the Mazda RX-3 Supercharged Edition (Street race), and the Dodge SRT Viper GTS Lightning Edition (Street Race).

Riders Republic

Riders Republic Season 4: Freestylin’ is making its way to the Ridge on September 14. The new Season is rolling in the BMX Sport add-on, including a career mode and special events, as

well as a BMX-dedicated zone set in Canyonland. Freestylin’ also marks the start of the Vans. partnership, and brings in new sponsors like Cult, Odyssey, We The People, Flybikes, and SubRosa. Players can also expect the Vans Waffle Cup and Red Bull Uncontained events, where they can put their handlebar skills to the test.

Trackmania

Ubisoft Forward also announced that Trackmania is racing to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Stadia, and Amazon Luna in early 2023. The freeto-play racing game offers more than 280,000 player-made tracks bursting with twists, turns, and obstacles, giving drivers a chance to compete and create with a community of more than 10 million people. Originally released on PC, Trackmania’s console and cloud launch will bring cross-play and cross-progression to the game.

Xbox Game Pass members can play the Early Access version of Disney Dreamlight Valley now so why not Check out what we thought after over 30 hours with the life-sim! It is a dark and stormy night in Disney Dreamlight Valley. The thunder crashes in the sky above Mickey Mouse’s house, and the lightning flashes, throwing my shadow across the front door an outline of a figure armed with a pickaxe, waiting silently for Mickey to wake up.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, I am not here to kill Mickey Mouse. When he wakes up, I will ask him to hang out. He will accept, perhaps thinking we’ll have a nice time cooking or gardening together, but no; I will accost him the second he steps outside and make him follow me on an endless mining quest for gems to sell at Goofy’s stall there is a teapot I have my eye on in Scrooge McDuck’s shop, and nothing, not even Mickey Mouse’s personal schedule, will get in my way.

Despite my villainous capitalist designs on the teapot, Disney Dreamlight Valley is, actually, very light-hearted. It’s themed around ideas of friendship, magic, and working for the good of all. There are many, many things to collect in Disney Dreamlight Valley, and many ways in which to earn them. It’s still too soon to tell if this will become overly repetitive and grindy further down the line; this is a First Impressions piece, and based on the first few hours alone, I’m having a great time with Disney Dreamlight Valley. Like many other life sims, Disney Dreamlight Valley sees you leaving the stresses of a city life behind, and, while unwinding in the peaceful countryside, we happen to somehow arrive at Dreamlight Valley;

a once-prosperous place that’s now overrun by Night Thorns and darkness. Shortly after, we meet Merlin, who explains how the Forgetting caused the Valley’s inhabitants to flee or stay behind and lose their memories. (Merlin, it must be noted, has got the crazy scientist laugh down, with a full head-back cackle.) Merlin thinks that our character has the magic needed to get rid of the Night Thorns, save the Valley, and bring back its inhabitants. By this point, you’ve customised your character to look however you’d like, and although you start off in a plain white shirt and jeans, this is soon rectified; new items of clothing are scattered throughout the Valley, with more available as you level up friendships with its inhabitants, or else can be bought in Scrooge’s shop or designed from scratch with the Touch of Magic customisation tool. With Merlin’s guidance, we claim a house for ourselves, explore the Valley, and start setting things to rights.

The sheer amount of stuff is a little overwhelming at first; you’ve got Star Coins, Dreamlight, Dream Shards, Night Shards, Moonstones for the Star Path (which seems to be Disney Dreamlight Valley’s version of a Battle Pass), gems, crops, seeds, resources, clothing items, pieces of furniture, fragments of memories, recipes, and a whole lot more. I’m getting to grips with what can be used for everything, so I am still hoarding most of it, but it seems Star Coins are your main currency for buying everything, while Dreamlight is the resource we’ll use to unlock new biomes in the Valley. Things do seem pretty expensive 5,000 Star Coins for the first backpack upgrade?! But I’ve been able to earn a fair amount

by selling gems to Goofy, clearing smaller Night Thorns, and earning bundles through levelling up friendships. The meals I’ve cooked so far don’t seem to sell for much, and instead seem more useful as gifts to quickly boost friendships. Oh, and don’t forget to claim the Founder’s Pack rewards and the Welcome to Dreamlight Valley gifts including a small treat-covered crocodile which should be in your mailbox.

I’m divided on how grindy this game may prove to be. You do run out of energy often, but there are always apples and other fruit around, which can be eaten to replenish yourself, and which grow back fairly quickly. Crops so far also grow relatively quickly, and it’s easy to busy yourself with the game’s many other tasks while you wait for them. So far, I haven’t minded circling around the Valley on a loop to mine for gems to sell, but this may prove more frustrating later in the game. When you’ve got to Level 2 of a friendship with a character, you can also invite them to hang out with you and give them a particular bonus, such as the ability to gather more forageables while they’re with you.

You’re meant to boost friendships out of feelings of love and kindness, but I admit to farming these relationships so I could progress the plot; I needed three friends to Level 5, which meant I was briefly stuck in a loop of force-feeding them all fruit salads and grilled veggies, which was all I could make from my endless supply of carrots and apples.

Oh, Scrooge McDuck wants iron ingots and topaz? Tough luck, he’s getting another fruit salad. Each character has their own schedule, too, and there are periods where they’re asleep; presumably, if you needed them to progress the plot, you’d be stuck until they wake up. You learn new recipes for crafting as you go and earn more items of furniture with various rewards. You have the freedom to make and place these items wherever you want and can redesign the Valley whenever the mood strikes you.

On the plus side, you get a lot of freedom with this decoration. On the downside, the controls for placing furniture and buildings, and decorating clothes, are currently very clunky and awkward. We’ll be kept busy in Dreamlight Valley exploring, collecting resources, farming, cooking, decorating, crafting, building friendships, and helping each character. There’s the main quest, of restoring

Dreamlight Valley and undoing the effects of the Forgetting, but each character also has their own quests for you to follow, and it’s easy to see how Disney Dreamlight Valley could frequently be refreshed with new content.

Disney Dreamlight Valley has that tantalising “start from scratch” mentality that’s proven so irresistible in other life sims which have likewise plopped you down in the middle of nowhere with only a decrepit shack to your name. There’s that irresistible urge to clean up the Valley and help sort everyone’s problems, which is compounded by the level of nostalgia these characters can summon; songs from your favourite Disney movies wind together as you run around each biome, and the characters might themselves sometimes reference the events of their familiar stories. It would be easy to deck this game out in Disney paraphernalia and rely on that strong sense of nostalgia to do the game’s work for it from just a few hours’ gameplay, though, it does feel like Disney Dreamlight Valley has a lot to offer.

The possible grindiness of this game is very much reflected in the Disney Dreamlight Valley achievements; no matter how fun it is at the moment, collecting 1,800,000 Star Coins, harvesting 4,500 vegetables, removing 3,000 Night Thorns, and starting 1,000 daily discussions will take quite some time. I’m enjoying the core gameplay loop right now — clearing Night Thorns away is quite fun, and it always feels like there’s so much to do; the only question is, how long before this gets old?

Summary

It’s not clear if Disney Dreamlight Valley will become repetitive and grindy in the future but judging from the hours I’ve spent playing the game in Early Access, and the fact that I can play with Xbox Game Pass (and not have to fork out any real-life Star Coins), makes this a Free Pass. Sawyer spent over 30 hours playing Disney Dreamlight Valley (Early Access) through Xbox Game Pass. She did not earn a single achievement in this time and does not expect to any time soon.

Call of duty officially announces warzone 2.0

Activision has lifted the lid on Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, revealing a November release date for the free-to-play battle royale shooter, Warzone 2.0’s map, AI combatants, Strongholds, DMZ mode, and more.

The long-awaited follow-up to Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 releases for free on November 16th for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. Aside from the allimportant Warzone 2.0 release date, Activision also detailed what we can expect from the free game, including “the biggest Call of Duty: Warzone map ever.”

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0

Warzone 2.0’s map is called Al Mazrah, which apparently plays a “gigantic role within the Modern Warfare II universe” and features in the campaign. Activision touts this as the “biggest” Warzone map ever with 18 points of interest.

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 Al Mazrah map points of interest

• Oasis

• Taraq Village

• Rohan Oil

• Quarry (Al Safwa Quarry)

• Al Mazrah City

• Hydroelectric (Zarqwa Hydroelectric)

• Marshlands (Mawizeh Marshlands)

• Caves (Sattiq Caves)

• Observatory (Zaya Observatory)

• Al Sharim Pass

• Ahkdar

City

Port

Port)

Village

Cemetery

Bay

Cemetery)

Naturally, Al Mazrah will support up to 150 players in the battle royale mode, and there are various vehicles, such as the UTV, Light Tank, Heavy Chopper, and Rigid Inflatable Boat, to pilot. Interestingly, some of these vehicles can also be repaired and refuelled at gas stations dotted around the map. You’ll need these vehicles as Warzone 2.0 is introducing some changes to how the Zone works. It’s possible that in some matches the Circle might split into multiple Circles before combining back into one.

The Gulag is undergoing a pretty radical change too in Warzone 2.0. It will now feature 2v2 battles, so if you die along with a squadmate, you’ll be able to fight together for a chance at respawning back into Al Mazrah. Activision also notes that “your Gulag combat can include searching for an AI combatant known as ‘The Jailer’, dropping him, and using his key as the means of escape.”

It’s not just players you’ll have to watch out for in Warzone 2.0; Activision says that the new map will also feature AI combatants that are “ready to defend their patch of land, all integrated into the fabric of the world.” Apparently, it’s up to the player to engage with these AI enemies — they will not seek out combat and won’t pursue you or squad. There are also Strongholds to explore. These points of interest have a “high density of AI

combatants with a variety of innovative features to their responses depending on your tactics,” and conquering one will reward you with some decent loot.

After numerous rumours and leaks, Activision also confirmed that Warzone 2.0 will have a mode similar to Escape from Tarkov. DMZ is a “special extraction mode” and “the main premise is about choosing your own experience within the warzone,

working socially if you wish, and collecting gear to keep in your Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 inventory and utilize from match to match.” The Call of Duty team will be sharing more on DMZ at a later date.

The Call of Duty team also gave us a rundown on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’s multiplayer modes and features, including a new third-person mode... and swimming!

bonnie ross leaves 343 industries and microsoft

Bonnie Ross, the head of Halo developer 343 Industries, has announced her departure from 343 Industries and Microsoft. Head of production Pierre Hintze has been made 343’s new studio head “effective immediately.” Ross made the announcement on Twitter, saying that she is leaving the Halo Infinite developer to “attend a family medical issue.”

“While I had hoped to stay with Halo until we released the Winter Update, I am letting you know I will be leaving 343 and attending a family medical issue,” Ross said.

“I am incredibly proud of the work everyone at 343 Industries has done with Halo Infinite, the Master Chief Collection, the Halo television series and so much more. “It has been an honour to serve alongside the team for the last 15 years and to be a part of a universe that I love.”

Ross’ statement only mentions that she’s leaving 343 Industries, but in a statement shared with Windows Central, Microsoft says she’s also leaving Microsoft. The statement also mentions that head of production Pierre Hintze is now 343’s studio head. “After more than 28 years in gaming at Microsoft, including 15 years leading 343 Industries and Halo through its most ambitious steps forward, Bonnie Ross will be leaving Microsoft and spending more time with her family.”

We are thankful for her leadership of 343 during which the team launched Halo 4, Halo 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the Halo television series, and Halo Infinite. We wish her all the best. Head of Production Pierre Hintze will become Studio Head effective immediately. The 343 team is hard at work shipping the Winter update, the biggest Halo Infinite update since launch.”

Earlier this month, 343 Industries announced that Halo Infinite’s campaign co-op had been delayed and split-screen co-op had been cancelled. Campaign co-op is now expected with Halo Infinite’s Winter update in November, alongside Forge mode.

cyberpunk 2077

‘phantom liberty’ expansion unveiled

Developer CD Projekt RED has lifted the lid on the first major expansion for Cyberpunk 2077, ‘Phantom Liberty’, a new chapter featuring a fresh cast of characters, who V will interact with in a new location in Night City. Due to drop in 2023, Phantom Liberty will also see Keanu Reeves reprising his role as Johnny Silverhand.

Introduced by Game Director Gabe Amatangelo during a special Night City Wire stream, the Phantom Liberty expansion will be released only for the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Stadia versions of Cyberpunk 2077. Furthermore, with the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Netflix anime series due to release next week, Patch 1.6 will roll out an Edgerunners Update for Cyberpunk 2077 today, with equippable items from the show.

These include the jacket worn by protagonist David Martinez, a shotgun wielded by another of the show’s characters, and other Edgerunners-inspired items. A clothing transmog system, cross-platform progression, playable ‘Roach Race’ mini-game arcade cabinets, and more will also be added. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners debuts on Netflix from 13th September, while Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is set to release for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Stadia in 2023.

hogwarts legacy delayed!

Hogwarts Legacy has been delayed to February 2023, WB Games has announced. First announced back in September 2020, Hogwarts Legacy promises a full open-world action-RPG set in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Specifically, the game focuses on Hogwarts during the 1800s, with the player taking on the role of a new student joining the school during their fifth year.

Only a few months ago, WB Games announced that Hogwarts Legacy would be launching in Holiday 2022. However, the game has now been pushed back a few months, joining the recent swath of games getting delayed into 2023.

“The team is excited for you to play, but we need a little more time to deliver the best possible game experience,” said the official announcement. Hogwarts Legacy will now launch on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC on 10th February 2023.

Embracer group deal finalised for tomb raider ip & more

As of Late August 2022 Embracer Group announced that its acquisition of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montréal, Square Enix Montréal, and more than 50 games and IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Thief has now completed. Embracer revealed back in May that it would be entering into a $300 million deal with Square Enix that would see it pick up most of Square’s western portfolio of studios and IPs, including heavy hitters like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex as well as dozens of other legacy games and brands. Today, the publishing group confirmed that this deal has now been finalised.

Embracer now owns Tomb Raider and Deus Ex

A press release issued by Embracer states that “all conditions for the transaction, including regulatory approvals, have now been fulfilled and the transaction may be completed. Embracer has, therefore, today completed the acquisition,” adding that “the companies will form the 12th operative group under the leadership of Phil Rogers and his management teams.” Unfortunately, it gives no more information about the 50+ back-catalogue games and IPs that were included in the deal beyond mentions of the big ones — Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and (wonderfully) Legacy of Kain — but we’ll hopefully learn more in due course now that the deal is done... we’d love to know whether the likes of Sleeping Dogs or Murdered: Soul Suspect might be part of this bargain deal, but we’ll just have to be patient. We’ll also be interested to find out what this means for the future of Marvel’s Avengers, although we do know that Square Enix has held onto a handful of its western franchises, including Just Cause, Life is Strange, and Outriders.

What do you reckon Embracer will do with this wealth of new brands and studios first? What hidden treasures might be in that intriguing bundle of 50-odd legacy games and IPs?

With Death Stranding being now available on Xbox Game Pass for PC we thought we’d dive into the game for the first time and provide a review for you all. Well within the first few hours of playing Death Stranding, you’ll be scratching your head, wondering what the hell it’s all about. And that’s completely fine, because no amount of trailers or nuggets of information you’ve gleaned over the past few years will really prepare you for Hideo Kojima’s latest. Both strange and confounding, Death Stranding is inventive, thought-provoking, and at times, a bit of a slog. Seldom is it boring, though.

Inhabiting the role of Sam Porter Bridges (a wonderfully gruff, taciturn Norman Reedus), a courier working to reunite the ‘United Cities of America’ in the wake of the cataclysmic ‘Death Stranding’ - which has altered the landscape beyond recognition - it falls to you to reconnect Knot cities and bring the nation back together. What this entails is taking your Q-pid necklace to cities, distribution centres, and prepper shelters, then plugging them back into the ‘chiral network’.

Except there’s not very much left of America; pockets of existence persist while the world of the dead has breached the world of the living, leaving inky BTs (Beached Things) umbilically linked to zones where timefall (rainfall that accelerates time, causing anything it touches to rust away), um, falls perpetually. Preppers live on the fringes and need convincing to join the UCA and the chiral network, which is where your delivery skills come in. Oh, and yes, there’s quite a lot of jargon to wade through in Death Stranding and all manner of ponderous speeches, delivered by a cast of oddballs, to contend with, yet despite all that, this is an experience that’s never anything less than compelling.

Labelling Death Stranding a ‘walking simulator’ is far too reductive – the truth is it’s a multitude of things. It’s a survival game, it’s a shooter very occasionally, but most of all, it’s a ‘social strand’ game, a definition coined by Kojima himself. What does that mean exactly? In a nutshell, it’s about making connections, which is achieved by building things.

Anything that you or anyone else sharing your world builds or leaves behind remains in place until it’s dismantled or eroded by timefall. Timefall impacts everything, damaging your cargo, decaying your weapons and gear, as well as any infrastructure you’ve built. Timefall decay to structures can be combated by carrying out repairs – which can be implemented together with other players – while cargo can be restored using a repair spray or timefall shelter. If this sounds annoying, rest assured that it isn’t. It forces you to look after your gear and cargo, and consult a weather forecast on your cufflinks’ (Sam’s communication device embedded in handcuffs) map before planning the best possible route.

Death Stranding is extremely intricate, and there’s a lot to take into consideration, yet it all quickly becomes second nature. Initially, traversal is a pain – simply climbing a hill littered with rocks feels like a chore, but as soon as you start to link up settlements to the chiral network, you’re able to fabricate equipment, using gathered materials and chiral crystals, that makes your life a lot easier. Gear – like the power, speed, or all-terrain skeleton –that augments your movement speed, stability and stamina prove utterly essential, but you’re limited by battery life. Hopefully, someone will have had the foresight to build a batteryrecharging generator, or you’ll have a PCC to erect your own.

Reverse trikes and trucks don’t fare too well on Death Stranding’s rugged, rocky terrain either, although they can house cargo and get you from A to B far faster than walking. That said, Sam’s boots deteriorate over time, so keeping a spare pair on your boot clip is a good idea. Have enough materials and chiral crystals to feed into the auto paver, and you can conjure roads across the UCA that, combined with bridges, make getting around far breezier. Ladders and ropes are a more basic means of climbing and crossing treacherous ground, making a potentially long and arduous journey slightly less so. There’s even shades of Dark Souls in the signs you can leave for players, warning of potential dangers and useful stuff, granting a quick stamina boost or some other perk.

And that’s the bread and butter of Death Stranding – loading Sam up with cargo before making your way to a facility where the speed, condition and volume of your delivery is evaluated. Before long, you’ll be building yourself a reputation as a porter extraordinaire, able to deliver anything anywhere, no mountain too high or valley too low. As you gain access to more and more equipment by pleasing connected settlements, like floating carrier trolleys you can tow behind you, power gloves with bladed knuckles that give you extra grip on steep inclines, or a backpack stabiliser that helps you to stay upright, deliveries become far less demanding and Death Stranding comes into its own.

In the latter parts of the game, some tasks prove hugely challenging, having you cross vast expanses, sometimes impeded by BTs that can only be dispatched using certain methods. This is where a dose of survival horror stealth comes into play, as BTs won’t detect you as long as you’re quiet, which also means holding your breath when they get too close, as denoted by their ominous tar handprints. These moments are remarkably tense, but can become something of an irritant later on, especially when you’re trying your damnedest to get a delivery to its location with as little damage as possible. The catch is that BTs are invisible to the naked eye unless you scan the area using your odradek (the little windmill device mounted to your shoulder), hooked

up to your trusty Bridge Baby (BB), or get close enough that they manifest as a ghostly silhouette comprising swirling black ash.

When you’re not sneaking past BTs, terrorists known as MULES are constantly sniffing around for cargo, because they’re addicted to stealing and hoarding it for themselves. Killing them isn’t really an option either, unless you want to add them to the legion of BTs roaming the earth. You have non-lethal options at your disposal, like sneaking up on them and binding them with rope or rendering them unconscious with rubber bullets. Sam himself is unable to die; he’s a ‘repatriate,’ meaning he’s blessed with the ability to come back to life indefinitely, death – such as it is – sending him to ‘the seam’ where he can follow a golden strand back to the world of the living.

If you haven’t already gathered, there’s an awful lot to Death Stranding. Trying to make sense of it and explain it in a review is almost impossible (especially without resorting to spoilers), but there’s no denying the level of artistry on show. At times this is a game that’s enormously frustrating, and repetitive but it’s one that quickly wins you back with its dreamlike world, arresting scenery, and rewarding gameplay. Granted, the story is incredibly complex and continues Kojima’s grand tradition of cutscenes that seem to last an eternity, but it’s worth sticking with to the bitter end.

Is Death Stranding a work of genius, then? No, it’s a work of inspired madness. It’s the work of a video game auteur given free rein to do whatever the hell he likes with a fantastic cast that counts excellent performances from Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux and Lindsay Wagner. The result is something that’s utterly bizarre and unlike anything else you’ll have played before. Clearly, Kojima’s propensity for the weird, so amply shown in the Metal Gear series, is alive and well – Death Stranding is a singular oddity, brimming with strange, disturbing and completely indelible imagery that wouldn’t look out of place in a David Lynch or David Cronenberg film. It’s a game that, on paper, really shouldn’t work, with babies in jars, a skull-masked character named ‘DieHardman’, and a typically interminable ending that thankfully sticks the landing.

Overall TGG Rating

Odd, compelling, and ultimately engrossing, Death Stranding is a genre mash-up with more than a few ideas of its own. Not quite a work of genius, it’s nonetheless something that once again demonstrates the madness and brilliance of Hideo Kojima.

Fantastic voice performances from a cast firing on all cylinders and a quavering sci-fi score lend to Death Stranding’s atmosphere. Tracks from artists like ‘Low Roar’ are bland but fit the game’s quieter scenes nicely. It’s like that bit where you reach Mexico in Red Dead Redemption, over and over and over again.

Visuals

An utterly gorgeous game with rich, detailed environments and memorable imagery that will live on in your brain long after you’ve stopped playing. Rolling green, craggy terrain gives way to knee-deep snow, black sandy beaches and rain-slicked, destroyed cities. The art design in general is superlative.

What Death Stranding sets out to do, it does incredibly well. The core gameplay issues are in vehicle handling, somewhat fiddly menus and interfaces, and moments when it looks like you can overcome and obstacle, but you can’t. At its core, however, traversal is an enjoyable challenge, making something that could have been dull feel vital and fresh.

The ‘social strand’ element of Death Stranding is excellent, ensuring that everyone pitches in for a common goal. Unlike anything you’ll have played before, Kojima’s open world deliver ‘em up can grow quite repetitive, yet there’s myriad elements here, combining to make something that’s genuinely quite special.

Brandon Sawyer

In the first Destroy All Humans!, Crypto evidently didn’t manage to successfully carry out his objective to destroy all of the humans – as per the title’s remit - necessitating the existence of a 2006 sequel, which forms the basis for this remake, playfully titled Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed. With the 2020 remake of the original Destroy All Humans!, developer Black Forest Games proved that it can pretty up an old game, but the studio had an uphill struggle in updating the original game’s dated design. Happily, Destroy All Humans! 2 is a better, albeit somewhat patchy, game, and as such, Reprobed proves a more inviting proposition. And, who in their right mind doesn’t enjoy zipping around in a flying saucer reducing landmarks to rubble? Watching Parliament burn, before toppling into pieces under the heat of a death ray, is especially gratifying.

In Destroy All Humans! 2, Cryptosporidium-137 is no more, paving the way for next-in-line clone Cryptosporidium-138 to aid overseer Pox in his mission of conquest over planet Earth, when the Furon mothership is destroyed. Opening in 1960s America, a place overflowing with hippies and a conspiracy to unleash a mindaltering drug known as ‘Revelade’ upon an unsuspecting population, DAH! 2 wastes no time in letting you loose to wreak havoc with Crypto’s alien hardware. Wrapped up in the mayhem is the KGB, which sees Crypto chasing the Soviet agency from US soil to a version of London known as ‘Albion’; a vibrant take on Tokyo called ‘Takoshima’; and the Russian

motherland, in the bleak town of ‘Tunguska’. Before long, you’ll be taking a trip to the moon, and facing a crustacean-like alien menace known as the Blisk.

From the moment you meet hippy leader Coyote Bongwater in Bay City - the game’s version of San Francisco - it’s immediately apparent that Destroy All Humans! 2 revels in grotesque caricatures and stereotypes, while its humour is all innuendoes, as Crypto makes lewd cracks towards voluptuous KGB spy, Natalya Ivanova. Black Forest even sees fit to precede the game with a message, noting how things have moved on a bit since the original version of DAH! 2 released sixteen years ago, but it’s preserved in its entirety here, without any edits or cuts. Some of the humour remains vaguely amusing, though much of it might elicit the odd cringe.

Regardless, Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed manages to provide almost unadulterated fun, albeit fun hampered by a fair few inconvenient and annoying bugs, and one specific section that’s been meddled with – a once notoriously easy boss fight, which has now been dialled up too far in the other direction, making it insanely tough, with missiles and lasers whizzing around, left, right, and centre. As for those bugs, examples include random freezing, mission progress glitching out and leaving you in limbo, NPC vehicles deciding to go off-road or shoot up into the sky, and just an out-and-out hard crash to the dashboard.

Rare texture pop-in, screen-tearing, and struggling frame rates don’t exactly cover the DAH! 2 remake in glory, which is a shame, because, when it’s not testing your patience with its litany of technical niggles, it’s actually remarkably enjoyable. Original developer Pandemic Studios hit its stride with Crypto’s second outing, improving the mission variety and dispensing with the irritating instafail stealth objectives, and, obviously, that makes Reprobed a better game than the remake of the first. It also helps that, as a remake, Reprobed is inherently superior to Black Forest’s previous effort, bugs aside, of course. Character models are still chunky and cartoonish, but markedly less hideous than they were; while the destruction is quite spectacular, and the range of exotic locations help to keep things interesting.

Hopping into Crypto’s flying saucer to rain down heat-ray death from above is never not deliriously entertaining, while frying foes using the electrifying Zap-O-Matic, breaching arses with the Anal Probe, or popping human brains from their skulls, is a singular, twisted joy. Crypto’s a proper little bastard, jealous of

Natalya’s old flame Sergei, when his leering desires for the catsuit-clad KGB agent aren’t reciprocated, and when he’s not making advances he’s seldom shy of reducing buildings and people to ashes. It’s great to embrace the warmongering extra-terrestrial’s gleefully destructive tendencies, and revel in creating pure chaos.

Odd Job missions and collectibles will also keep you playing once you’ve dispensed with all 28 of Destroy All Humans! 2’s main story missions, if you can put up with the minor issues, while multiplayer minigames like Duel Mode and PK Tennis provide ample enjoyment for two players, outside of the game’s dropin/drop-out story co-op. There are some bum notes here, and a handful of missions fall wide of the mark, including the obligatory horrible final boss encounter, which is a tedious exercise in painfully slow attrition; but overall, there’s a lot to like about this remade sequel. A wilfully silly game, laden with daft jokes and even dafter characters, Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed is rough around the edges, and could have used some extra polish, but it’s alright.

Overall TGG Rating

When you’ve got the likes of Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture under your belt, you probably know a thing or two about games. The latest from The Chinese Room –Little Orpheus – looks to continue their trend of brilliance.

Little Orpheus is at its core a platformer and a quite a simple one at that. But what makes it work brilliantly is the sheer sense of place, narrative and episodic fun. The story centres around Ivan Ivanovich, a cosmonaut from the early sixties. And what is interesting is that in the real world, Ivan Ivanovich was the name of a mannequin which was sent into space on an unmanned space flight in 1962. In this story though the cosmonaut is not sent into space, but into the depths of the planet to see if the Earth is really hollow. Though lost, and the mission dead, he pops up three years later to tell his fantastical tale to an Army Colonel, all while he is under investigation. Is he telling the truth? Can the fantastical story save him from the firing squad?

The writing and the story structure of Little Orpheus is set up to be seen as a homage to those serial programs that appeared decades ago, like the likes of Flash Gordon. Every week, you’d spend half an hour with our heroes, only for them to be left frozen in some perilous danger. A voice-over would ask ‘How will our hero get out of this?’ only for the next week to show that he always does. Little Orpheus homages this trope proudly all the way through

its nine episodes. And what makes it better is that it plays on its great B-movie roots with dinosaurs and other civilisations found living in the middle of the Earth. It’s a great mixture of adventure, sci-fi and fun, all told with excellent dialogue and fluid action.

The gameplay takes place over a variety of environments from ice frozen tundra’s to a whole sequence underwater, yet the basic gaming dynamics stay the same. You move left and right, utilise a jump button and the ability to hold onto ledges and pull yourself up. On every level something will start chasing you across the world, as things start to crumble and you find yourself running, jumping and sliding over obstacles. There are some rope swinging moments to be had, where timing is essential to get from rope to rope. There are also several devices to operate like switches, buttons, and gadgets that help you get through certain doorways or open pathways forward.

There are even some stealth sections, as you go about crouching and then running past watching eyes which will kill you instantly if they see you and believe us it’s pretty instantly. However It’s all very well done, yet I do think that Little Orpheus does become a bit familiar in terms of the gameplay, failing to spring any surprises after a while with a similar repetitiveness.

The locations themselves are a joy to behold and visually this comes with some of the best

backdrops and use of 2.5D art that we have seen in a long time. Bursting with colour and great design choices, the worlds feel creative, inspired and varied in terms of the level design choices. You bounce around the screen, escaping danger after danger. The actual animation for Ivan Ivanovich is on the humorous side, appropriate to his ‘dummy’ origins. The character bounces along the screen, falling and screaming after each adventure. It’s a lovely bit

of character work.

You’ll have a good old time with Little Orpheus. None of the platforming should be seen as tricky, it’s just a good wholesome adventure that takes you through some amazing locations that have been B-movie inspired. It’s a game that is always found to be winking at the audience, delivering some great storytelling and imagination.

Overall TGG Rating

Crammed full of visual creativity, humour and a substantial amount of heart, Little Orpheus is a love letter to the fantastic pulp adventures of yesteryear. It’s easy to like. Pity, though, that it’s generally one-note gameplay isn’t as satisfying as the rest of the experience.

7/10

The writing, and the audio work, of Little Orpheus is flawless, however, the same faults which we regularly see crop-up within the cinematic platformer space continue to rear their head here. Checkpointing at some of the more reflex-dependent sections is unforgiving, especially when the timing for jumps are not completely apparent.

Visuals

Given the nature of Little Orpheus, it’s not really surprising that one of its standout aspects is its colourful and creative backdrops. These range from primordial jungles stalked by dinosaurs to mystical desert ruins that exist outside of time, a baffling inner space, and even the squeaky insides of a whale.

Playability

While it’s not especially difficult, Little Orpheus does at least encourage replay ability with its Lost Recordings Mode. On completing a chapter, you can revisit it to gather orbs scattered around the level. These collectibles unlock making-of content, with comical commentary by Ivan, as well as alternate outfits for our hapless hero.

In the end, Little Orpheus is visually inventive, immersive and immensely likeable. That’s an applaudable achievement, as few games manage to tick all those boxes. The Chinese Room have succeeded in crafting an interactive flight of fancy to distract people from the gloomy real world for a few hours.

Since Agents of Mayhem failed to do justice to the Saints Row universe, it was inevitable that developer Volition would end up going back to the drawing board. The result is essentially a back-to-basics approach, taking the titular gang right back to its roots, telling the story of the Saints’ inception. And this rebooted take on Saints Row feels a bit like an open world experience from a decade or two ago – it’s as if Grand Theft Auto V never happened.

This is both a blessing and a curse, Saints Row’s main problem being the surfeit of optional filler that’s been stuffed into its relatively compact desert-encircled city of Santo Ileso. On the positive side, Saints Row has immediate, uncomplicated thrills by the bucketload, but a great deal of it feels hackneyed and derivative. The main storyline only accounts for about a third of the game’s completion percentage, which should give you an impression of how many ‘Side Hustle’ missions, Empire-building Business Ventures, and other superfluous busywork Volition has managed to cram into the game. Some of it’s good fun, like the Saints Rows of old, and a lot of it is eye-rolling, repetitive stuff that soon outstayed its welcome.

Despite Saints Row casting you in the role of a burgeoning crime boss, assembling a new posse with former gangland rivals and friends Neenah, Eli, and Kev, Volition has you carrying out practically all of the work. For someone who’s supposedly the boss, there’s very little delegation being done – then again, there wouldn’t be much of a game if all you did was dole out tasks to underlings. The primary issue is the sheer amount of side content – after the umpteenth ‘Riding Shotgun’ mission,

for instance, you’ll be desperate for them to disappear from the map.

A lack of mission variety doesn’t help much either. The majority of objectives involve either driving somewhere really fast against the clock, or shooting a procession of enemies until you’re told to stop. Wingsuit Sabotage, Mayhem, masked Heists, and Insurance Fraud are among the highlights, but the likes of Pony Express and Laundromat clean up missions are effectively the same thing, and, as such, grow very tiresome, very quickly. Saints Row’s most egregious crime is that it’s frequently quite boring, saving its best moments for the story, where the set pieces come thick and fast.

Once you’ve dispensed with the story, the scrappy vehicle handling and gunplay will only sustain your interest for so long, and while the process of building your Criminal Empire from the Saints’ church HQ proves somewhat engaging, that, too, starts to wear a little thin, having saved up the necessary millions to buy up every business venture. Not that there’s much to it, mind. You’ll consult the map from your base, place your chosen venture, based on those available at your current Empire Tier, then set about completing a set number of missions to increase the amount of cash that each of Santo Ileso’s fifteen regions (and fourteen ventures) generate for you.

This being a Saints Row game, there are plenty of leanings towards the outlandish, with the ability to bounce off the heads of pedestrians while gliding through town using your wingsuit or beating enemies to death with dual-wielded boxing gloves on springs. Compared to Saints

Row: The Third and Saints Row IV, however, Saints Row is a paragon of restraint, doing away with dildo bats, dubstep guns, inflato rays, and the like. In terms of tone, this lies somewhere between Saints Row 2 and Saints Row: The Third, although you can’t help but mourn the absence of some of the series’ more ridiculous touches, which helped set it apart from other similar games.

What Saints Row does have, is its fair share of irritating bugs, from minor ones, like your customised clothing colours being reset anytime you browse through apparel at a shop, to major ones, like missions failing to initiate properly, causing the game to freeze. Police cars dissolving into existence out of thin air and some ludicrous car chase rubber banding also prove to be a pain, making pursuit segments even more unfair and frustrating than they already are. You can upgrade your vehicles

with nitrous and gadgets specific to each type of vehicle, or outfit it with a tow cable, so you can drag objects and swing them around like a wrecking ball.

There’s undoubtedly fun to be had in Saints Row, in spite of the repetitious padding (including an outrageous number of collectibles) and occasional bugs, but ultimately it feels like something of a throwback to the sort of openworld crime saga you might have played in 2008, with very little in the way of anything new or innovative, and an environment short on eye-catching sights. While Volition goes big on character customisation, with a dizzying wealth of options for personalising your boss, it skimps in other departments. Not by any stretch is Saints Row a bad game; it’s just one that seems short on fresh ideas, and, as such, a slightly unremarkable way for the Saints to begin their enterprise anew.

Overall TGG Rating

As a new start for the eponymous gang, Saints Row ticks most of the boxes, but falls short in offering up anything fresh. A litany of technical and visual bugs also conspire to spoil the party, making for a solid enough, enjoyable, but ultimately uninspired, return for the series.

7/10

Santo Ileso’s radio stations have plenty of decent tunes (I found myself locking it to old-school hiphop on ‘The Cipher’), while the character voice work is, for the most part, very good.

There are various graphical settings to choose from, but whichever you opt for, you’ll be getting a nice, though ever-so-slightly unremarkable-looking, open-world experience.

Playability

While there might not be anything fundamentally wrong with how Saints Row plays, the vehicle handling and gunplay isn’t the best we’ve come across. There’s still a great deal of fun to be had here, though.

Delivery

Saints Row has hundreds of collectibles, Side Hustles, Business Ventures, and loyalty missions to complete, and unfortunately, there’s a lot of overlap and a lack of polish.

The Last of Us Part I isn’t just any old remake. When the original released for PS3, almost a decade ago, it raised the bar for narrative-driven drama in video games, and all this from a studio which, at the time, was best known for mascot platformers Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter before it graduated to rip-roaring adventure with Uncharted. The Last of Us was something altogether more grounded and grittier, and as such, it proved a watershed moment, not just for the developer but for the medium at large. The Last of Us Part I is, without question, the best way to play ND’s defining post-apocalyptic opus, the game that propelled the studio into rarified air.

Essentially, Part I brings the original The Last of Us in line with The Last of Us Part II, more than matching the quality benchmark set by the sequel, with a slew of enhancements, many of which go beyond the purely visual. For starters, the HUD and interface have been revised, so it’s clearer and more elegant, while the weapon upgrade system and workbenches have been much improved (matching their TLOU Part II counterparts) alongside the intrinsic game mechanics – it’s immediately apparent that this is a thoughtful, thorough remake, but it’s the heart of the experience itself that continues to compel. The perfect marriage of performance and story, The Last of Us Part I accentuates what was already there in 2013, bringing out more nuance in the motion-captured performances delivered by Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson, and the rest of the cast nine years ago.

Going back to the PS3 or PS4 release highlights

how superior this PS5 redux really is - it’s how The Last of Us lives in my memory, all these years on. Naughty Dog’s claims that Part I is a from-the-ground-up, completely rebuilt version of The Last of Us aren’t at all unfounded, and in the same way that TLOU wowed upon its initial release, the trick is repeated upon starting up Part I – it looks astonishingly good. Lighting is suitably evocative and cinematic, while the ramp-up in detail takes the game to another level, whether it’s dense foliage, rust and grime caked onto every decaying surface, deadly cordyceps spores swirling in the air, or the Breathtaking vistas that stretch into the distance. The Last of Us Part I is an incredible graphical showcase, regardless of which of the multiple display settings you opt to play the game with.

Gameplay refinements also bring TLOU bang up to date: the gunplay and stealth systems feel especially tight and intuitive, while the crafting, exploration, and looting of valuable resources ensure you’re constantly hooked from beginning to end, wonderfully augmented by the DualSense’s haptic feedback. It’s the inherent high calibre of TLOU’s gripping narrative that still dazzles, however, Naughty Dog’s writing firing on all cylinders to inject protagonist Joel and Ellie’s fraught journey across America with real pathos and emotion. The bond formed between the duo is expertly orchestrated, too, from Joel’s initial reluctance to take responsibility as protector to Ellie’s efforts to get through his hardened, detached exterior, to the damaged soul beneath the saltand-pepper beard and flannel shirt. And her jokes are always a treat, of course.

There’s no denying The Last of Us Part I’s credentials as a remake. Naughty Dog has done its due diligence in not only updating the game’s graphics and performance, but in also providing a surfeit of accessibility options that run the gamut. From audio description to countless controller remapping options, assistance with traversal and combat, as well as numerous features that can be toggled on and off as you see fit, the remake has been made with players of all kinds in mind, which is truly laudable. Naughty Dog deserves all the plaudits for going the extra mile to provide such a wide selection of accessibility features, alongside all of the aforementioned hallmarks that come with a remake – the overhauled visuals, the enhanced gameplay components, and so forth. This goes far beyond what you’d expect from a conventional remake, but for some the game’s prohibitively expensive price tag will still be something of a sticking point.

Ultimately, it’s a shame that Sony has decided to release The Last of Us Part I as a full-priced $70/£70 title, because at a lower price point this would have been an easy thing to recommend. Nonetheless, if you’ve yet to experience The Last of Us in any form, this is a fantastic way to play it for the first time. Conversely, if you played The Last of Us in 2013 or have previously enjoyed the 2014 remaster, it becomes slightly harder to heartily recommend Part I, at least at full price.

Personally, I’d happily shell out again for The Last of Us on PS5, even if this is the game’s third release in nine years – few games are as perfectly paced and as beautifully put together as this, and fewer still are lavished with as much care and attention as the remake. Put simply, The Last of Us Part I is a bravura piece of work: the best possible version of one of the greatest games of all time.

Overall TGG Rating

Nine years on, The Last of Us is still a masterpiece, and Naughty Dog’s PlayStation 5 remake for goes above and beyond, making an already incredible game, even better. Environments look stunning and character performances have been refined, breathing new life and texture into post-apocalyptic America – The Last of Us Part I is terrific.

Santaolalla’s haunting score remains a transcendent highlight, while the performances are uniformly superb. Sound effects and ambient noise

contribute to the tense atmosphere.

This is how you do a remake. Every inch of The Last of Us Part I has been given due care and attention, transforming the look and feel of the game, from the lighting to the level of incidental detail. Stunning..

Various refinements help bring The Last of Us in line with Part II, while the wealth of accessibility features enable you to tailor the experience to your liking. DualSense haptic feedback also lends a nice bit of texture to gunplay.

On top of all the accessibility

the Left Behind prologue DLC, bonus content from the remake and original 2013 release, and a Developer’s Commentary, which is, unfortunately, only unlocked after completing the game. An excellent package.

Fifa is a game you either love or hate, it can be a reason for smiles all around or tears and a broken controller. We see the new instalment being the last that will hold the FIFA name due to licensing which has come as a shock to some and I will give you my take on the gameplay, specific modes, and my overall score.

I’m an avid FUT (Fifa Ultimate Team) player and have been a player since the beginning and hold high hopes for it every year only to be disappointed on the release of the game. Sadly this year is no different and I have found the gameplay in FUT really underwhelming with the New Chemistry System they have implemented which is more of a puzzle than the SBCs (Squad Building Challenges) they do every year. I have also not liked the actual gameplay with dribbling being one of the highly complained about parts from myself and other players as well as the goalkeepers and defending taking a hit this year. Apart from these issues, the graphics are amazing as they get updated every year and look stunning and I really like the Hyper Motion replay system however I am yet to get to grips with the new

way of taking freekicks and corners but after enough playtime, I’m sure I’ll learn. Now onto the lighter side of this review, to the Career Mode and Volta/Pro Clubs. EA have implemented the change of being able to take over as a manager in the game as well as the norm of playing as a player or creating your own manager. I find this really refreshing being able to take over as Erik ten Hag and trying to salvage Manchester United’s season which I’m thoroughly enjoying.

With Volta/Pro Clubs I was expecting to be able to play with my friends on Playstation but it has yet to be added to the game as they have focused on making Crossplay playable on Ultimate Team which has come as a disappointment but I’m sure we will see it added later on in the season. However I cannot sing Volta’s praises enough as I have been playing it to help upgrade my pro for Pro Clubs and had a lot of fun doing so, the skill moves seem easy to do, it feels very fun and arcadelike and seems the closest we’ve been to Fifa Street 1&2 in every instalment of Fifa since so for that well-played EA!

There’s no denying The Last of Us Part I’s credentials as a remake. Naughty Dog has done its due diligence in not only updating the game’s graphics and performance, but in also providing a surfeit of accessibility options that run the gamut. From audio description to countless controller remapping options, assistance with traversal and combat, as well as numerous features that can be toggled on and off as you see fit, the remake has been made with players of all kinds in mind, which is truly laudable. Naughty Dog deserves all the plaudits for going the extra mile to provide such a wide selection of accessibility features, alongside all of the aforementioned hallmarks that come with a remake – the overhauled visuals, the enhanced gameplay components, and so forth. This goes far beyond what you’d expect from a conventional remake, but for some the game’s prohibitively expensive price tag will still be something of a sticking point.

Ultimately, it’s a shame that Sony has decided to release The Last of Us Part I as a full-priced $70/£70 title, because at a lower price point this would have been an easy thing to recommend. Nonetheless, if you’ve yet to experience The Last of Us in any form, this is a fantastic way to play it for the first time. Conversely, if you played The Last of Us in 2013 or have previously enjoyed the 2014 remaster, it becomes slightly harder to heartily recommend Part I, at least at full price.

Personally, I’d happily shell out again for The Last of Us on PS5, even if this is the game’s third release in nine years – few games are as perfectly paced and as beautifully put together as this, and fewer still are lavished with as much care and attention as the remake. Put simply, The Last of Us Part I is a bravura piece of work: the best possible version of one of the greatest games of all time.

Overall TGG Rating

Overall FIFA 23 has been a slight disappointment since its release with the gameplay which for some reason plays better on the previous generation of the game but I’m sure they will patch and make it fun again like they do every year. I would recommend playing if you miss the days of Fifa Street as Volta is amazing and cannot wait to see what updates they bring with the World Cup this winter!

5/10

Commentary is nearly identical to last year’s FIFA, and is overdue for an overhaul. The music continues to be great, however, with plenty of new tracks to discover.

FIFA 23 certainly looks great, but you’d be hard pressed to notice much improvement from FIFA 22 at a glance.

Playability

Playability has changed quite drastically this year and has become slower and at times harder to have fun on and play. A patch is supposedly scheduled for 06/10 but I will have to see if any major changes are made.

Outside of an Ultimate Team overhaul, the number of additions and improvements across FIFA 23 are low, however, Manager Career Mode being able to play as one of the managers across the globe can be considered a saving grace.

hollyrex

HollyRex is a partner Twitch Streamer with over 18.2K followers she also runs a vintage store. She mainly plays DayZ but also has other game interests. She also has a great community on discord as well as a strong following on both Youtube and Tiktok.

Hey Holly! Thanks for speaking with us! Firstly, could you tell our readers who you are and what you do?

Hey! I’m Holly (HollyRex on Twitch). I stream on Twitch as well as making gaming content for Youtube and Tiktok!

Could you tell us what made you want to get into Twitch/being a content creator?

Well I built my first PC in August 2021 and started playing DayZ for the first time, I absolutely loved it and thought about streaming while I play. I wasn’t sure if it was something I would enjoy or not so I bought some budget streaming equipment and started streaming in October 2021 and haven’t looked back since! It made playing the game even more fun for me and building a community around that was/is amazing.

We know you play a lot of DayZ. What made you want to stream DayZ?

My brothers would play a lot of DayZ on their PCs when it first launched as a standalone game but I never got the chance to play it until I built my first PC on 2021. It’s now my favourite online game because the interactions and adventures you can have with complete strangers is like no other! I decided to stream DayZ because I am completely addicted to it, it’s a game that has so many of those “OMG I wish someone saw that” moments and the interactions can be so entertaining it feels like a great game to enjoy with an audience.

Amazing! We also see you playing Phasmophobia, could you tell us what other games you enjoy playing?

When I can pull myself away from DayZ I enjoy playing games with friends and with the community. I’ve played House Of Ashes on stream, Raft, a few scary games! I also plan on playing a few other types of games I’m interested in when the time comes but I enjoy the survival, open world genre a lot!

Solid choices! We see you have a large community on Twitch and in your Discord. How important is it to engage with your community/ followers?

Engaging with my community is incredibly important to me, I hate missing messages in chat and always try to catch up.

I appreciate every single person that decides to hang out with me while I play a game that I love and to talk to people from all over the world and have them together in a community is an amazing thing!

We hear that! Have you got any advice for smaller creators on building a following/ community?

A: Engage with everyone! Sometimes, chatting to your viewers is more important than the game you’re playing, having a good balance is important.

Very true! We also see you growing on TikTok and have to say we love your content! Do you have any advice on growing on TikTok?

My advice for TikTok would be to post your twitch clips! There are a lot of sites that easily convert your twitch clips to TikTok clips so it’s actually really easy to have lots of content to post regularly on TikTok!

Great advice there! Back on the subject of DayZ we see you sometimes roleplay. How does it feel to be a different character on stream and what made you decide to do this sometimes?

Honestly, I’m terrible with accents but I wanted a way to infiltrate a group after they’d already heard my voice so I put on an accent and it grew from that. My southern character I do called “bonnie” has turned into something bigger in my community, when Bonnie’s about, it’s usually carnage.

I’m usually a very friendly player in DayZ but it’s fun to switch it up with an ‘alter ego’, I guess you could call it.

Haha we love that! What advice would you give to new players of DayZ to get up and rolling on the servers as “Freshies”?

Choose the right servers! (For the most part, I recommend Zero & DayOne servers, but there are plenty of others with great player bases too). Don’t be afraid to team up with random people, it’s the best way to learn and most friendly players LOVE teaching new players the ropes! I’m also working on a ‘How To’ Youtube Shorts & TikTok series that will be lots of quick tips for beginners to learn the things that the game doesn’t teach you.

Well we can’t wait to see that! With you playing DayZ has it ever made you want to try any other RP games such as GTA RP which is still very popular at the moment?

I’m not much of a heavy RPer but I just go with the flow of what’s happening around me. I have been interested in GTA RP but wouldn’t know where to begin!

A huge thank you to Holly for taking part

show her some support, check out

Well we hope you try it out in future! We see you made it to Twitch Partner recently, what were your initial thoughts when you reached this goal? and do you have any tips for someone who is also pushing the partner status?

I remember applying for Twitch Partner and thought “there’s no way I’ll get accepted first try” so I didn’t tell anyone that I’d applied because I didn’t want to have to tell everyone if I got declined!

So when I got the email to say I was accepted I was so excited and overwhelmed. I think consistency and a schedule probably help a lot with the partner push but if you don’t get accepted first try, don’t feel discouraged!

We also see that you run a vintage clothing business, what made you get into doing that, and do you still do it?

I do still run my online vintage store but it has taken the back seat since I’ve started streaming and editing as I’m having so much fun doing this! I’ve always been into vintage clothing since I was quite young and saw an opportunity to start my business when I was younger and was determined to work for myself so kept growing it!

We see you have grown your Twitch channel and have recently hit 18k followers. What advice would you give to aspiring/existing twitch streamers/content creators?

It’s still difficult for me to understand why I’ve grown so quickly so it’s difficult to give advice on that but I would guess having a consistent schedule helps, genuinely having fun with what you’re doing and the game you’re playing and really engaging with your viewers!

Looking ahead, what are the plans and projects for 2022/23?

Looking ahead, I’m working very hard on growing my Youtube by spending a lot of time getting more content out weekly so I hope to continue to grow that as well as my Twitch and community!

EJroll

EJRoll is an affiliate Twitch Streamer with over 3.7K followers who plays Fifa and is a massive Arsenal fan, you may have seen him on Arsenal Fan TV when they were doing their pre-season tour! He has a very positive community and also creates a lot of amazing content for TikTok amassing 31.6K followers and 1.1M likes with some amazing content.

Hey EJ! Thanks for speaking with us! Firstly, could you tell our readers who you are and what you do?

First off, thanks for having me! and my name is Eric aka EJ! I am Streamer/Content Creator but most of all a passionate gamer!!

Happy to have you! Could you tell us what made you want to get into Twitch/being a content creator?

Well I have always been big into gaming since I was little. Consuming content from some of my favorite creators was also a big inspiration for me! Although it wasn’t until COVID hit that I thought to myself let’s just take a chance and start streaming. I had thought about it in the past but just being locked in your house essentially really gave me the push that I needed to start on Twitch.

As most of us did but we share your passion! We know you play a lot of Fifa. What made you want to stream Fifa?

Well when I was l younger I got into FIFA and FIFA Street and have been hooked ever since. So naturally, when I began streaming I started making FIFA content. It will forever be the game that gets the most attention from me!

Oh Fifa Street! What a game that was! We also see you playing Fall Guys and after being in your streams we know you play Apex Legends. What other games do you enjoy playing?

Well when I first began streaming I played a lot of Warzone which I really enjoyed. Along with

that, I played a game called Rogue Company, which is a third-person shooter. More recently I have begun playing Multiversus which is a take on Super Smash Bros and have been enjoying my time on that as well!

Not to bad a fair variety! Speaking on both Apex and Fifa, who is your favourite legend and who is your favourite player you’ve used this year?

With Apex I got a few legends I like to rotate through Octane, Wraith, Horizon but at the top spot it has to be Valkyrie. The mobility on the ultimate she offers along with the missile swarm and jetpack make a very useful legend for both the person using her and the squad as a whole.

On FIFA throughout the year it has to be Moments Ruud Gullit. Near the end of the game though that FUTTIES Neymar that was released card was absolutely sensational!

Some real solid choices there! We also see you growing on TikTok and have to say we love your content! How do you come up with your ideas for your skits?

Well I really just try to have some fun with creating content and not take it too seriously. I feel like the best ideas come to you when you’re not overthinking. So I just let ideas come to me throughout the day and I’ll write them down on my phone to try to create a plan to execute it later.

They would be league challengers for sure! Speaking of Arsenal, we saw you went to a game and managed to get on AFTV (Arsenal Fan TV). How was that experience?

Yeah I got to catch two of Arsenal’s preseason games here in the states against Chelsea and Orlando City. The games were unreal of course as we won both of them convincingly. Having the honor of doing AFTV put the icing on the cake. It was an unreal experience as an Arsenal fan here in the United States. Robbie was such a nice guy and he spent a lot of time talking to the fans. Cecil did a great job as well gotta give credit to him. Lee Judges was another guy who you could just sit and talk to you for a while. Overall it was an amazing experience that I will never forget so big ups to all of the AFTV crew!

That sounds like an amazing experience! What made you decide to support Arsenal and not a team local to you?

Well I still support my local team RNYFC, formally known as the Rochester Rhinos here locally, but the competitiveness and level of the Premier League is just unmatched. I feel as though it’s the top and everyone enjoys watching the best of the best players compete week in and week out.

We’d probably have to agree with you there with most of the games being televised too! Back to Fifa are you looking forward to Fifa 23 and have you played the Beta?

I didn’t get a chance to play the BETA this year. I am absolutely looking forward to getting my hands on FIFA 23. The start of the year is always the best so I can’t wait to hit the ground running!

We’re very excited too and agree with you that the start of Fifa is the best time to play it! Many people think Fifa is Pay-To-Win and you see stories of kids spending thousands on Fifa Points without their parent’s knowledge. What do you think about the concept of Fifa Points and have you ever spent a lot of money or any money on them?

In the past, I would spend some money on FIFA points but I have really limited myself as of late.

You really can achieve any team you want on FUT as long as you put the time in, your team will be looking good. I don’t condone young kids going crazy on their parent’s credit cards haha, but if someone one chooses to spend their money on them they do it at their own risk!

A really good take there! What are your opinions on EA not holding the FIFA name after the next installment and will you continue to buy the EA-made game or move to a new football game?

It will be a little weird not having the classic title of FIFA. Honestly, though I feel it’s too early to tell what the next step will be for a lot of content creators. It could possibly be a moment where some games shift but whatever happens, I’ll be going on the ride like everyone else!

there for your community is one of the biggest aspects of streaming. Keep setting realistic goals in certain timeframes and if you achieve those, aim higher next time but just keep pushing yourself.

There will be moments where things aren’t going to work out, but as long as you stay focused on what about streaming makes you happy, you will enjoy the journey!

Some real solid advice there! Looking ahead, what are the plans and projects for 2022/3?

As I said previously I’m gonna be focused on getting YouTube Content posted regularly. That’s gonna be a big challenge for me but I’m looking forward to it with FIFA 23 around the corner. In the near future, I would love the opportunity to produce content with my local soccer/football club RNYFC.

It’s definitely a goal of mine that would open up a whole new door of content creation for me! As always I’m gonna continue grinding on Twitch, TikTok, and Instagram trying to produce as much quality content as possible! I just can’t wait to see what the future holds!!!

Some really great goals there EJ and we cannot wait to see how far you go!

It’s really going to be a wait-and-see sort of scenario for sure! What have been your Top 5 moments of being on YouTube and being in the filmmaking industry?

Well I feel as though I will be starting my own personal journey on YouTube with FIFA 23 I plan on creating content for that platform. I have featured in music videos and podcasts that have been featured on YouTube which were a lot of fun to be a part of!

Wow so you’ve done a fair bit already! We see you have grown your Twitch channel and have recently hit 4000 followers. What advice would you give to aspiring/existing twitch streamers/content creators?

I would say the best piece of advice I could give is to be consistent and persistent. Being

If you want to show EJRoll some support, check out his Twitch channel and don’t forget to follow him on his social platforms below:

Twitch:

Instagram: @ejroll_

Twitter:

YouTube:

TikTok:

Johnnycheesytv

JohnnyCheesyTV is an affiliate Twitch Streamer with over 1.4K followers who plays Fifa and is a massive Liverpool fan. A fun fact about Johnny is that his real name is Richard and his last name isn’t Cheesy! He has a very positive community and has started posting more regularly on his TikTok currently sitting on 54.7k likes.

Hey Johnny! Thanks for speaking with us! Firstly, could you tell our readers who you are and what you do?

Hello everyone! I’m Johnny Cheesy, well my name isn’t actually Johnny Cheesy, it’s Richard. My middle name is John tho… but, everyone on Twitch knows me as JohnnyCheesyTV. That is where I live stream daily.

Could you tell us what made you want to get into Twitch/being a content creator?

I used to have a seasonal job where I would go sailing 7 months out of the year and during the winter time I would take a 5 month break and just play FIFA every day with one of my good friends. I love talking to people and entertaining since I used to be a bartender so I thought why not give Twitch a try during the off-season.

Wow a 5 month break! We know you play a lot of Fifa. What made you want to stream Fifa?

Well talking about that good friend from the previous question we both grew up in Costa Rica and football is the most popular sport in that country so FIFA was always a popular game to play growing up. So FIFA has always been one of my favourite games to play and that’s what made me want to stream FIFA.

Football is loved everywhere! We also see you playing GTA and could you tell us what other games you enjoy playing?

I enjoy playing multiplayer games like Warzone, Rainbow Seige, Fortnite, Fall Guys also games

like Assassins Creed, Far Cry, God of War, and most recently Stray, yes, the cat game.

A vast collection! Not too shabby. We see you play GTA and Pro Clubs with your community. How important do you feel involving your community in your streams is?

Very important! It’s a great way to learn more about each individual person from your community and it also invites new people who want to play games with someone else. Games are meant to be played together!

That’s what we like to hear! We also see you growing on TikTok and have to say we love your content! Do you have any advice on growing on TikTok?

Do 2 part videos… I’m kidding! My main advice for anyone looking to grow on any platform is to be consistent with posting content. Also, find people who inspire you and try to implement your ideas with whatever inspired you from that creator.

We were about to have a problem then Johnny haha! We know you’re a big Liverpool fan so what we want to know is who would be your Liverpool past & present 5-a-side team?

Well If I had to choose a 5-a-side team since I’ve started to watch Liverpool it would be GK: Alisson DEF: Van Dijk MID: Fabinho MID: Coutinho ATT: Salah

That’s a solid team! Speaking of Liverpool, how do you think they will do this season after the shaky start they’ve made and what improvements would you make to the squad/ tactics/formation?

I think they will finish top 4 regardless of the shaky start and current injuries. Klopp has taught these players to dig deep and to never give up. With Darwin Nunez’s signing, the team will have to switch their tactics a bit to work with a striker like him, but eventually, they will get it and get back to their winning ways.

Well we hope so for your sake haha! What made you decide to support Liverpool and not a team local to you?

Well if I supported my local team it would be a team in Costa Rica which I’m sure no one has heard of. I started watching Premier League when I started playing FUT and I just really enjoyed the relationship between Klopp, the players, and the fans. Their football was very exciting to watch and the players seemed like just genuine humble footballers.

That’s a fair reason why! Back to Fifa are you looking forward to Fifa 23 and have you played the Beta?

I haven’t played the Beta, unfortunately, I wasn’t lucky enough to get a code but, I’m really excited for FIFA 23. I feel like one of the best moments throughout the FIFA cycle is starting from zero, upgrading your team, and learning new mechanics. I’m ready!

That’s our thoughts exactly! Many people think Fifa is Pay-To-Win and you see stories of kids spending thousands on Fifa Points without their parent’s knowledge. What do you think about the concept of Fifa Points and have you ever spent a lot of money or any money on them?

I think FIFA Points are okay. This FIFA you had to play at least 3 hours a day to keep up with all the objectives and different game modes, the grind. You don’t want to fall behind the power curve. Some people don’t have that time but do have the financial ability to spend

money on FIFA POINTS and I’m cool with that, although, I think EA should be a bit clear when it comes to telling you what you are buying because it is a gamble as you’re not guaranteed anything.

We agree completely with that! What are your opinions on EA not holding the FIFA name after the next installment and will you continue to buy the EA-made game or move to a new football game?

Some things come to an end but I’m excited about this new change. I think the thing that

us gamers buy FIFA every year is that we know how good this

EA

trying their

us that game each year.

be

to

A great achievement! We see you have grown your Twitch channel and have recently hit 1.3K followers. What advice would you give to aspiring/existing twitch streamers/content creators?

My advice would be to be yourself and make sure you are giving 100%. Brand your name/ channel and spread it everywhere. Focus on creating content on every social media platform. The more exposure you get the more people will funnel through to your channel. Most important, network and build a community. Care about your viewers, they are your family now!

We love that! Looking ahead, what are the plans and projects for 2022/3?

Keep on growing, making new friends, and enjoying gaming are the main plans. But, there’s also some stuff in the works like releasing merchandise and also creating a way viewers can engage and interact with me on Twitch during watchalongs for big football games, that last one I’m excited for!

be

a fair point! What have been your Top 5 moments of being on YouTube

being in the streaming

I just recently started my YouTube channel so there’s a few moments that stand out but definitely my top moment so far

over 800 views on my first YouTube video.