The Gamer Guide - Issue 13

The Preamble

So, you have stumbled across The Gamer Guide and you are wondering, “Why do I need a guide to gaming?” Well, we will not guide you on how to game, but we will keep you informed as to what the gaming industry has to offer to get you the best gaming experience! Now, the second thing you are probably wondering is, “How did The Gamer Guide start?” Well, it can be a slightly long story. However, the shortened version is that the journey of three Twitch streamers brought them together, and with their passion for gaming, their experiences of streaming, and their love for everything within the world of entertainment… The Gamer Guide was born.

But what exactly is The Gamer Guide? The Gamer Guide is a digital magazine that focuses on everything gaming and streaming. This includes the latest/upcoming releases, reviews on gaming accessories, streaming tips, and even interviews with streamers and industry professionals from across the globe. Our readership is predominantly other gamers and streamers, just like us! We understand that the love and passion for gaming extends far beyond just playing a game, and that is what we are all about!

So, who are the people behind this magazine?

Brandon Sawyer - Content Director

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

Emily Welfare - Creative Director

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

Jamie Yong - Operations Manager

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

The Gamer Guide's Tabletop Corner

Dungeons

and dragons: Honour among thieves movie review

After many months of waiting, the highly anticipated Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves movie was released on the 31st March 2023! As mentioned in a previous article, I was extremely excited to see this movie after attending a panel with the directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and producer Jeremy Latcham. We got to see some exclusive clips, and I came out of that panel feeling very optimistic after previously being extremely apprehensive. We all know that a movie adaptation of the well-loved tabletop game has been made before, and it didn’t turn out so well, so I think it is quite understandable that many had their guard up when this was announced!

I naturally had to ensure that I got tickets for the release day, because I wasn’t about to have this movie ruined for me by the internet. I entered the cinema with an air of caution, but came out smiling from ear to ear. It’s important to preface here, this review will contain spoilers!

The basic storyline of the movie largely follows the main character Edgin Darvis, a bard who, along with his friends Holga Kilgore (Barbarian), Simon Aumar (Sorcerer) and Forge Fitzwilliam (Rogue), inadvertedly assisted a mysterious Red Wizard named Sofina in stealing an ancient artefact. This caused a great evil to be set in motion, with Edgin and Holga landing in prison and the other two splitting off. The prison is where the movie begins, where we learn of how the characters got to where they are and the dilemma of Edgin just wanting to return to his daughter, whom he asked Forge to protect if he managed to get away before his imprisonment. The movie then follows Edgin and Holga as they

escape the prison and re-unite with their friend Simon, gaining a new friend in Tiefling Druid, Doric. Little do they know that their old friend Forge had double-crossed them all along, had poisoned Edgin’s daughter against him, and was in the process of assisting the evil Red Wizard in executing a deadly plan. We see this team attempt to prevent this great calamity from happening in high-action and intense sequences, including many iconic creatures and spells.

The movie was a joy to watch from start to finish. As someone who is a huge Dungeons and Dragons fan, I truly appreciated how careful the writers and directors were with the settings,

creatures, spells and other such important elements to the well-loved TTRPG. There are many moments in the movie that would make a seasoned DnD fan laugh with an air of recognition, such as the hilarious scene where Simon repeatedly uses Speak With The Dead in order to get answers in a graveyard full of soldiers. I really appreciated how the characters used certain spells as well, as if we were watching their players in real time taking the idea of a spell and asking their DM if they could use it in a slightly more clever way. A prime example of that was them using the Hither-Thither Staff in order to create a portal on the back of a painting, which then got them inside the vault that was otherwise locked behind an enchanted door. There are many creatures that made me grin when they appeared as well, like the well-known Mimic, Displacer Beasts, and the Gelatinous Cube. There were even easter eggs dotted throughout the movie that were a little harder to recognise unless one was a superfan, such as some background characters dressed exactly like the party of heroes from the 1980’s animation. I very much enjoyed the performances of all of

the characters. Chris Pine most definitely suited the role of a Bard, although I questioned why he seemed otherwise unable to cast spells, but I assumed that perhaps they went with a more traditional, non-magic bard for the sake of the plot. Michelle Rodriguez was a very convincing Barbarian, having trained hard to suit her role. Though they stuck with the common trait of Barbarian’s not being so smart, I loved that Holga was extremely caring and kind, especially when it came to Edgin’s daughter, Kira.

Simon (Justice Smith) was one of my favourite characters, purely because I appreciated his dry humour. Being a Sorcerer who isn’t very confident in his abilities, seeing him overcome those roadblocks and see how capable he truly is, is a very heartwarming thing to watch. I very much enjoyed Doric, though I will say that I wish she posessed more Tiefling-like traits, as she appears very human otherwise. But, that aside, it made me very happy to have a Druid in the team, as its one of my favourite classes in DnD! Though they used Wild Shape quite generously in a quick amount of time, I am no stranger to the Rule of Cool, and I for one loved that she turned

into an Owl Bear.

It would be rude not to mention the, although short-lived, but iconic appearance of Xenk Yandar (Rege-Jean Page), a Paladin devoted to justice and good. Needing a special helmet from him, the team meet him for the first time after he rescues a Tabaxi baby from the mouth of a giant fish. His character is a hero, through and through, with no sense of humour and a direct way of speaking. He was honestly such a hilarious character and I was kind of sad to see him leave only after being in the movie for 10 minutes! Lastly, there was Forge, played by Hugh Grant. One of the villains of the story, Forge is a somewhat charismatic Rogue who betrayed his party by striking a deal with the Red Wizard Sofina (Daisy Head). He got wealth and fame in exchange for allowing a great many people to perish in order for the Red Wizards to gain power. Hugh plays a fantastic

villain, I have to say, and hilarious throughout. It’s important to mention that I went to watch this movie with a group of people, some of which were also DnD fans, and others that had never played a game in their lives. Both sides of the party loved the movie. The side that were not familiar with DnD still enjoyed it just as much, which I think is an excellent testament to how good the writing was, where it didn’t alienate those that were not familiar with the lore and rules of the game.

Overall I think it was an excellent movie. Though it was not perfect by any means, as every movie has its flaws, I thoroughlly enjoyed it and I think it played an excellent homage to a game I very much love. I would highly recommend to those who are previous fans, and those who are new to DnD. If you are just a lover of fantasy, you will still have a great time watching this movie!

The Super Mario Bros Movie Review

It took nearly four decades, one spectacular liveaction misfire, and dozens of other failed video game adaptations to learn from, but none of it went to waste: Illumination and Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Movie finally gives the most iconic character in gaming the onscreen adventure he’s always deserved. Benefitting immensely from the endless creativity of the innumerable game developers, artists, and musicians who’ve made the Mario franchise a pop culture juggernaut, The Super Mario Bros. Movie rockets along with the momentum of a Bullet Bill exploding out of a cannon. The Mushroom Kingdom is realised with incredible detail and reverence, and not even a Paper Mario-thin plot can keep the magic of the games from being lost along the way.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s setup is dead simple: while on a plumbing job underneath Brooklyn, brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom through a warp pipe and become embroiled in King Bowser’s (Jack Black) plans to steal the Super Star, which would give him the power to take over the Toad-filled domain of Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Mario’s CheepCheep-out-of-water journey hits all the predictable beats of the “warrior from another world” narrative, but decades of Mario games ensure co-directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!) have an infinite well of wild scenarios and iconography to pull from to stage inventive action moments, especially once Mario’s gotten a handle of how to properly fly with a Tanooki suit.

Always has an inventive in-world solution to whatever problem pops up that relies on something easily recognizable from the games, but never withholds explanation of how that thing works (even if the why goes rightfully ignored.) Whether it’s recreating the path of World 1-1 as Mario and Luigi parkour their way through Brooklyn or the preemptive giggle fans will get seeing Mario ingest a blue mushroom instead of a red one during a fight,

The Super Mario Bros. Movie manages a great balance of accessibility for general audiences and inside jokes for those of us who’ve dipped in and out of the series over the years.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s heavy use of references isn’t a good thing in and of itself, but their inclusion feels justified because they are used in ways that feel relevant and organic to the world. At worst, sequences like the Rainbow Road race can feel a bit tacked on when they don’t fully make the case for being there with any kind of logical reason (being able to sell movie-branded Mario Kart toys doesn’t count), but then logic is not a currency anyone’s expecting The Super Mario Bros. Movie to trade in anyway. The movie trusts its audience isn’t going to care much about why platforms float, or why there are blocks with question marks all over the place full of powerups that turn people into cats and flamethrowers. Once you’ve already bought into things like that, giving 10 minutes of the movie up to staging a bigbudget Mario Kart race so that a trek from A to B feels a little livelier is an easier pill to swallow.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s visual vibrance sets a very high bar for the other animated video game adaptations which will surely follow, be that from Nintendo or another studio. Bowser’s fire-versusice siege of the Penguin Kingdom, the expansive fungi vistas of the Mushroom Kingdom, and the lush greenery of the Kong’s’ Jungle Kingdom are all super-saturated dreamscapes that coalesce into a bustling world begging to be explored further. Brian Tyler’s bombastic score takes care of the musical side of this equation, perfectly expressing the grandeur and whimsy of the games’ tracks at every turn and mining Koji Kondo’s original orchestrations to great effect. The Mario series has some of the most recognizable music cues in gaming history, and Tyler deploys many of them throughout the action just where you hope they’d drop.

The movie’s mostly excellent use of its source material does contrast with some ill-advised blockbuster animation tropes which can occasionally be grating. Kind of like someone stealing a star from you in Mario Party, the fantastic score makes the pop tracks that are shoehorned in feel lazy by comparison. A little “No Sleep ‘til Brooklyn” as Mario and Luigi parkour their way through the borough never hurt anyone, but by the time Mario and Peach are being carted around the Jungle Kingdom to A-Ha’s “Take On Me,” you may find the needle drops being a little too much of a snap back to reality. That goes double for the writers being unable to resist the urge to have Donkey Kong himself saying “it’s on like Donkey Kong.” Moments like this - as well as the frequent use of slow-mo to highlight jokes - are a bit too cute, and hint at how easily The Super Mario Bros. Movie could’ve slipped into “generic animated movie” territory had it given way to more of these low-hanging stabs at making sure Uncle Jack has his “I understood that reference!” moment, too.

The interminable Discourse surrounding the voice acting in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as expected, feels totally out of touch with what the cast actually ended up delivering: enthusiastic performances that bring life to the characters, with no real weak link among them. Chris Pratt and Charlie Day’s Mario Bros. are certainly not going to be taking home any commendations from the good people of Brooklyn on their New York accents, but each handily embody their character’s heroism and bravery (hard won though that may be for Luigi). There’s definitely been a flattening of the more cartoonish qualities to the lead characters’ in-game voices - something the movie addresses immediately - but the choice to ground conversations in more a more natural delivery balances well with the fantastical trappings of the Mushroom Kingdom. More than that, it still leaves room for supporting characters like Toad (KeeganMichael Key), Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson), and Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen) to be a little kookier and give the ensemble more range. And even though it’s a one-joke character with no impact on the plot, Lumalee’s (Juliet Jelenic, codirector Michael’s daughter) gleeful nihilism lands big laughs every time thanks mostly to the young voice actor’s unerring excitement, which bubbles behind every pitch black observation she makes while locked up with Luigi.

Jack Black’s Bowser feels like the standout vocal performance as the actor’s trademark bombast fits well with the Koopa King’s outsized sense of

self. Bowser’s thirst for power isn’t explored in any serious way: he wants to take over the Mushroom Kingdom because he’s a bad guy and that’s what bad guys do - apparently he missed the point of that group session in Wreck-it Ralph. But Black’s Bowser is frightening, impetuous, and desperate for attention at times, and those frequent mood shifts lend his scenes unpredictability. Jable’s Bowser even performs a ballad in Peach’s Honor which feels like a safe-for-work Tenacious D B-side, a descriptor I can’t imagine will upset any fans of Black’s musical chops.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is constantly and joyfully entertaining, and that’s crucial because it lacks any meaningful thematic throughline outside of “we can do anything when we work together!” That lesson feels like an obligatory afterthought considering Mario and Luigi spend the majority of this movie separated - not because of any emotional fracture between them early on, but by pure happenstance (warp pipes are crazy!) The brothers mostly agree on everything, and both are quick to enlist the help of allies when the time comes, so the little effort that went into that aspect of the story goes very much amiss. This feels especially frustrating considering the pair of brief flashbacks which give us insights into the characters’ childhoods. Both of these short scenes manage a comparatively touching tone, and hint at better avenues the story could’ve explored to make Mario, Luigi, and Peach feel more fully formed.

Verdict

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fireball of animated fantasy. Mario, Luigi, and Peach’s adventure delights with its infectious energy and smart implementations of video game callbacks, and the top-shelf animation renders the Mushroom Kingdom as an Oz-like wonderland that begs to be explored in the inevitable sequels that will follow. The assembled voice cast puts a unique spin on each of their characters, but undercooked emotional arcs don’t get the same attention as the aesthetics, something not helped by a paint-by-numbers plot that bafflingly keeps Mario and Luigi away from each other for half the movie. Illumination and Nintendo set out to deliver a Mario movie that anyone could enjoy, and that anyone with even a passing knowledge of the games could get lost in - they’ve undeniably succeeded on both fronts.

We have worked together once again with our great friends over at Brazen to produce yet another wonderful review of us trying and testing out their products. For those who do not know who Brazen are please do let us briefly fill you in, Brazen is the UKs leading gaming chair supplier, they provide gamers with the best quality product at the best price, each product is designed by gamers for gamers and have a range to choose from not only that they do other gaming peripherals including a great RGB gaming desk.

So what did we worked on this time with Brazen, well we got the chance to excessively use two products, great ones at that with one being their Esports Pro RGB Gaming Desk & the other being their Sentinel Elite Gaming Chair.

BraZen Esports Pro RGB Gaming Table

Firstly we will begin with the gaming desk as this is not their main focus we choice to dive into such a niche first and we was very much please, let’s talk technicality at a first glance this British designed table is a solid piece of functional furniture, Black with an attractive yellow and white prominently display BraZen brand, It has a steel frame and melamine/carbon fibre board table top, Quality RGB lighting with USB power connectivity and a separate controller.

The approximate table dimensions in centimetres are – Height: 73; Width: 126; Depth: 68. Recommended approximate maximum load 250 kg.

The approximate table weight – net 22 kg; gross 24 kg.

Now after using such a product for a month straight now the desk has been great very sturdy, no scuff marks and made to last, we had a slight issue with screwing in the headset clip underneath as it seemed like no matter how much force we gave it the screw just didn’t want to screw in all the way into the desk which was the only downfall, overall the look and slick design is great and the price ranges as Brazen is well known for their

sales, you can pick this great desk up for full retail of £249.95, with super-fast deliver, very reliable and they do ship overseas too.

Having tried out many other desks over the years I do quite favour this one its spacious, has underneath RGB lighting which is USB activated so plugging into your pc is easy with a control remote included you can’t really fault this, the price is far cheaper than most gaming desks out there and we can assure you the quality is second to none. What would we rate this desk?

Well as mentioned the headset clip did frustrate the life out of us, we also sat on the desk with 3 people to test out the 250 KG max load and its spot on, so with that in mind this desk gets a TGG 8/10 Rating with a recommend go to this link to buy now you won’t be disappointed.

BraZen Sentinel Elite PC Gaming Chair

Up next we have the Sentinel Elite Gaming Chair, now we have had brazen gaming chairs before and we had the premium emperor range which were fantastic but the price range is very premium so we decided why not try something more budget friendly but just as good.

So at first glance lovely black and white colour with options of 9 different colours which is a great variety for those who love anything which is their favourite colour, price range is at the moment of writing on sale at £159.95 but can go up to £249.95 so please bear that in mind.

Down to technicality now, the Brazen Sentinel is stylishly understated while being big on performance, is easily customised adjustable lumbar and neck cushions, height and recliner functionality and adjustable armrests, has excellent mobility, five quality castors and 360 degree swivelling capability, upholstered with faux leather and foam padding.

The approximate chair dimensions in centimetres are – Height: 125-135; Width: 72; Depth: 60. Recommended approximate maximum load 120 kg.

Now this chair was easy to assemble it looks great it feels great in my opinion not as good as the Emperor range but really good for the price, I tested out the weight load with me weighing 105 KG and being 6’1 and there was no problems at all for me, this chair.

What would we rate this chair? Price is budget friendly supplied lumbar neck and back cushions is a bonus not like other companies who add that as an additional price, lots of colour designs, good comfort we can’t really flaw it other than a tiny detail we have to announce after a month of usage the side clips which hide the screws can be prone to coming off and feels quite cheap but with the price in mind we can see why this part would be the bottom part as it not affecting your comfort so with all that in mind it would have to be another 8/10 TGG rating for us, with a recommend go to this link to buy now you won’t be disappointed.

Overall Rating

So overall between the two products we rate the two a 8/10 which is a great score and we do recommend both of these products for anyone’s needs, not just gamers if you work from home these are for you!

It has been an absolute pleasure as always working with our great friends over at Brazen. If you would love to check out our great friends Brazen Gaming Chairs and all their other products then you can see their website and socials below.

www.brazengamingchairs.com

Facebook: @brazengaming.chairs

Twitter: @brazenchair

YouTube: @Brazengamingchairs

Our friends at RØDE sent over the new NT-USB+ professional USB microphone for us to play with! Studio quality sound at home, versatile and portable, easy to use; we’ll dive in to put these claims to the test!

Key Features:

• Professional USB microphone

• Studio-grade condenser capsule with tight cardioid polar pattern

• Ultra-low-noise, high-gain Revolution Preamp™

• Powerful APHEX® audio processing accessible via RØDE Connect, RØDE Central and RØDE Reporter

• High-power headphone output with zero-latency monitoring and versatile controls

• USB-C connectivity with high-resolution analog-digital conversion

• Detachable pop filter and desktop stand included

• Class-compliant USB output that works seamlessly with computers, smartphones and tablets (iOS and Android)

• Designed and made in RØDE’s state-of-the-art facilities in Sydney, Australia

What’s in the box?

• NT-USB+ microphone

• Microphone desktop stand

• Detachable pop filter

• Detachable ring mount

• USB-C to USB-C cable

Design

You’d be forgiven for mistaking RØDE’s new NT-USB+ as its predecessor, the NT-USB, as they look almost identical. The NT-USB+ microphone is built within a sturdy black metal body, with a black mesh metal grille encasing the internal blue mesh pop filter. An output to plug in headphones with a 3.5mm jack sits on the right side of the microphone body for zero-latency monitoring, along with two dials; one to control the plugged in headphones volume, and the second to control the mix. The microphone has a high-quality finish and feel, giving off an aura of professionalism.

Propping up the NT-USB+ is a black plastic three-legged desktop stand. The material feels relatively sturdy but lightweight to allow for portability. However, I would make sure to pack up the stand well as I would be worried about the weight of something heavier snapping the legs if I just put it into a backpack without putting it into a box or protective case. As a stand, it does a good job of holding up the microphone, but it does have the potential to tip over if you try to tilt the microphone too far forward. The stand doesn’t have any padding on the legs; initially I thought this would translate to desktop noises and vibrations feeding

through quite easily, however I couldn’t get the microphone to pick up any general usage noises during our testing (for example, typing on a keyboard, putting a glass of water down on the desk, putting elbows onto the desk etc.). However, in a situation where we were on discord, other people in the voice chat could faintly hear the keyboard as I was purposefully speaking continuously and typing aggressively. During normal usage people in the voice chat could not hear anything apart from my voice. Please note that this was all tested with open mic and not push-to-talk.

The NT-USB+ is supplied with a 3 metre (9.8ft) USB-C to USB-C cable. This attaches to the USB-C port on the bottom of the microphone. If you have an older PC, you may not have a USB-C port, which means you will need to purchase the SC18 highquality USB-C to USB-A cable as an additional accessory. The length of the cable is more than adequate for most setups.

A black detachable pop shield is also included, which is made of the same plastic material as the microphone stand. This is secured neatly between the microphone and the detachable ring mount. The ring mount allows you to easily transfer

between different stands and boom arms.

Performance

The RØDE NT-USB+ is a side-address microphone with a cardioid polar pattern. It records 24bit/48 kHz audio - an upgrade compared to its predecessor, the NT-USB, which has a 16-bit bit depth. The RØDE NT-USB+ also has a 20 - 20,000 Hz frequency range. The microphone connects via a USB-C cable and works fantastically well as a plug-n-play microphone. As mentioned previously, folks with older PCs may have a cable compatibility issues with the default USB-C to USB-C cable, however you can purchase a USB-C to USB-A cable if needed. The USB-C to USB-C cable means the NT-USB+ has the versatility to be both your desktop PC microphone as well as your portable on-the-go microphone that can be used directly with your iOS or Android phones.

It works fantastically well as a plug-n-play device but the NT-USB+ does feature an internal DSP that allows you to control advanced audio processing via the different RØDE apps, such as RØDE Central (the microphone companion app), RØDE Connect (free streaming and podcasting software),

and RØDE X Unify. Without any configuration through the apps, the NT-USB+ does a great job at filtering out background noises. For example, my standard headset microphone would pick up my partner’s frantic screams during a game of Dead By Daylight in the other room, or even their slightly raised speaking voice. Similarly, their USB side-address microphone with a cardioid polar pattern microphone also picks up my voice from the other room. However, the RØDE NTUSB+ successfully, and more importantly with zero adjustments, blocks out background voices and noises during our testing and general usage. For recording purposes, the microphone has a 3.5mm headphone jack for direct, zero-latency monitoring. The only thing lacking is it does not have an on-mic mute feature, and a gain control. The vocal quality produced by the NT-USB+ is top-notch; rich and detailed, solid low end, with minimal self-noise. The NT-USB+ features Rode’s ultra-low-noise, high-gain Revolution Preamp. This allows the microphone to pick up louder, cleaner, and crisper audio with a lower noise floor.

Using the RØDE Central app, you can toggle features such as the High Pass Filter (HPF), Noise Gate, Compressor, Aural Exciter, and Big Bottom, however you won’t be able to fine tune or adjust any of these features.

Specifications

Acoustic Principle: Pressure gradient

Polar Pattern: Cardioid

Frequency Range: 20Hz – 20kHz

Dynamic Range @10% THD: 97dB

Input SPL @10% THD: 118.0dB (as per IEC 60268)

Output Connection: 3.5 mm headphone connection, USB-C connectivity

Analogue Outputs: 3.5mm headphone jack

Computer Connectivity: USB-C

Power Requirements: 5V @ 500mA (USB Bus Power)

Bit Depth: 24-bit

Sample Rate: 48 kHz

Minimum OS Requirements: MacOS 10.14, Windows 10, iOS 14, Android 11

Verdict

If you’re looking for a microphone that produces high-quality vocals and cuts out background noises without any additional complicated configurations, then the RØDE NT-USB+ ticks all the boxes. Personally, I would have preferred the microphone stand to be made of metal as well for improved durability and structural support, but the plastic stand does the job fine. The microphone has a £199 RRP so there are cheaper microphones out there for sure; you can get microphones with boom arms and all the accessories that make you look the part for a lower price, but the difference in quality and technology is night and day. In numerous interviews with content creators, they always highlight audio as one of the most important aspects of their setup. If you’re an aspiring streamer, vlogger, podcaster, or any form of content creation that relies on audio then the RØDE NT-USB+ won’t steer you wrong as your first good microphone, or even your second, third and so forth, to invest in.

TGG RATING 8.5/10

We can’t thank our friends over at RØDE enough for supplying this unit to review so please do check out where to buy and their socials below!

Facebook: @rodemic

Twitter: @rodemic

Instagram@ @rodemic

YouTube: @rodemicrophones

Minecraft-mad Oliver Gough, aged-5 from Nottingham, had his wish to have a Nintendo Switch granted by Make-A-Wish Foundation UK after undergoing treatment for a Willms tumour. The game console provides Oliver with a distraction after a ‘stressful time in hospital’, as his mum, 30-year-old Ceri-Anne Fleet from Nottingham, said. Following his wish, Oliver was given the opportunity to design a character for the game Star Chaser, a game developed by Sabec Ltd. The game is available to purchase from the Nintendo Switch store for £1.99 with all profits going to Make-A-Wish Foundation UK.

‘I’ve wanted a Switch for so long and now I’ve got one!’ said Oliver. After frequenting the hospital for a Willms tumour found on his kidney, Oliver received his Switch on the 29th of July 2022. ‘It’s a boring and stressful time when you’re in hospital as a child, so something that provides a distraction is exactly what they need,’ said Ceri-Anne.

Up until Oliver was 1 year and 10 months old, ‘he was completely fine, meeting all his milestones,’ as Ceri-Anne said. But this changed after a lump was spotted on his neck.

‘His GP sent him to hospital where an x-ray showed that he had a Willms tumour in his kidney.’. The diagnosis came as a ‘massive shock’ to Ceri-Anne and his dad Ryan, aged 32. ‘He didn’t have the typical symptoms of cancer,’ said Ceri-Anne.

Due to Oliver’s diagnosis, the family was invited to choose a wish from Make-A-Wish Foundation UK; the charity that grants life-changing wishes to critically ill children. ‘He has always asked for

mummy!”

a Switch. Make-A-Wish was able to make that a reality for him’ said Ceri-Anne.

Oliver is a Minecraft fanatic- ‘He spends a lot of time on his tablet playing games and watching Minecraft videos’. When he received his Nintendo Switch, Oliver delved straight into the world of Minecraft, a world that contrasts the hospital rooms where he received his treatment. The Nintendo Switch also allows the family to spend quality time together: ‘It brought him away from his tablet. Now he’s interested in playing with his family rather than just independently being on his tablet.’

Tom Hemming, Entertainment Lead at Make-AWish UK said: ‘For many of the children we serve, gaming isn’t just fun, it’s a lifeline. We love granting gaming wishes for children like Oliver, and it’s a joy to see him so excited playing the game he has helped to create. Every sale of the game will help us grant more wishes like Oliver’s. The power of gaming truly is so special.’

After having his wish granted, Oliver’s mum was contacted by Make-A-Wish, who offered Oliver the opportunity to design the main character of Star Chaser, a game created by Sabec Ltd. ‘When he found out he turned to me and said, “I’m going to be famous”. He was over the moon,’ said CeriAnne.

The game allows Make-A-Wish to harness the positive power of gaming. Players can chase stars and new high scores, all whilst helping Make-AWish grant even more wishes for children just like Oliver.

“I’m going to be famous,

Oliver was elated when he was finally able to play Star Chaser, catching stars as the character that he designed. ‘He’s challenged me and his dad to beat his high score!’ said Ceri-Anne.

Star Chaser is available to download now on Nintendo Switch here (https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/ Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Star-Chaser-for-Make-A-Wish-2364274.html) for £1.99 with all profits going to help Make-A-Wish UK.

About Make-A-Wish UK

Make-A-Wish UK is part of a global movement. Established in the UK in 1986, they exist to make life-changing wishes come true for the thousands of critically ill children across the UK.

Their vision is a world where every single one of those children, and their loved ones, can experience the life-changing magic of a wish. A wish helps to restore that childhood and puts worry on the backseat. It provides an opportunity to choose something positive to look forward to and the chance to be a child first and a patient second.

Make-A-Wish® is a registered charity and receives no Government funding. Registered charity numbers: 295672 in England and Wales, SC037479 in Scotland.

www.make-a-wish.org.uk

We were very lucky to attend this years Insomnia The Gaming Festival as Press and for those who haven’t been to an Insomnia event before, the festival takes place at the NEC and is packed with new mainstream, indie, and VR video games, along with retro games, lots of Merchandise and stages with fun and talk panels. Insomnia is split into two main parts the main floor which has all the things mentioned above and the BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) which is the UK’s biggest LAN Party, gamers from around the country bring their set-ups from the comfort of their homes to compete in esports tournaments, fight off in multiplayer battles and more. Additionally, they offer a unique indoor camping option for those looking for a cheaper way to stay over all four days of the event.

Let us begin with a thank you to the organisation, this year seemed really well thought out with the teams prior being very knowledgeable and helpful, The insomnia teams were so friendly and helpful there was never an unanswered question, they were polite friendly and very approachable so a big shout out on this one to the organisers, volunteers and staff members this year you all truly were amazing.

The Games:

Let’s dive in with the games at Insomnia, after all it is of course a gaming festival, there were plenty of games to choose from, whether it was from a major publisher or a solo indie developer, on a console, PC, or VR, there was a solid variety of options. Here are some of the best games we got the chance to check out at the show.

Park Beyond – Limbic Entertainment/Bandai Namco

The first game we played was ‘Park Beyond‘, which is a new theme park builder game from Bandai Namco which launches on 16th June 2023. I would describe it as a little bit Planet Coaster mixed with the humour and style of Two Point Hospital/Campus. You play as a newly-hired visionary architect for a struggling company and create mind-twisting theme parks, without needing to worry too much about little things like gravity… or safety… There is a story-driven campaign mode, along with a sandbox mode, where you can try out all sorts of wacky coaster creations. The controls were easy to grasp, and the gameplay felt familiar enough, but also new and different. If you like theme park builders, with a rather quirky sense of

humour, this is definitely one which should go on your gaming Wishlist.

Screaming Loaf – AshumArcade

We loved the indie games section of ‘Insomnia’ it’s wonderful weirdness you come across… Such as the first game we played which was Screaming Loaf. You play as a “Loaf”, a loaf of bread, and use his scream attack to defeat evil jams and cheeses in this wacky puzzle platformer. “Loaf” can split into sliced bread to be in several places at once, figure out where best to drop slices to solve puzzles and beat enemies more efficiently. You just have to avoid letting those evil fillings make “Loaf” into… sandwiches. It’s such a beautifully silly idea, with some really fun, and well-thoughtthrough game mechanics behind it.

Bellyflop Golem – Bellyflop Team

Second up we played Bellyflop Golem which is another quirky platformer. Here, you play as Belly, a very lazy Tree Golem, who has an ongoing dispute with the evil dwarves who are cutting down trees. As you move around the level, you can “bellyflop” to smash holes at various points in the environment, along with jumping, Mario-style, on

the heads of the dwarven invaders to squish them.

It’s a student-made game, still in development but has some solid gameplay, lovely artwork, and lots of potential.

Mobbers – Septagram Games

We then went on to play another game which is still in development but has a really interesting take on its genre, Mobbers which is a roguelike dungeon shooter takes the idea of the old video game ‘Gauntlet’ and flips it.

You play as a “monster” in a dungeon, but rather than waiting around to die at the hands of a socalled “hero”, what if you raid the dungeon and take the treasure for yourself instead, You can play solo or co-op as a Goblin, Skeleton, Slime or Kobold, and turn against the other mobs in the dungeon, loot the goodies, and escape the levelboss heroes trying to loot your home. It’s a really nice twist to the dungeon crawler idea.

Duck Race – Ibzy Studios

Next up we got to play Duck Race which is a Twitch-integrated racing game. Players can join the race using the Twitch chat command “!quack” and customise their rubber duck with a variety of hats and accessories. The ducks race around one of several river maps, and the first over the waterfall wins!

The game is really fun. It’s simple, and it is a lovely way for Twitch streamers to play with their audience.

Panels:

As always when we attend any event we focus mainly on the main stage, panels and creators, this time things really felt like they’d stepped up a notch. Along with lots of games, there was a notable difference with the guests.

They had really stepped things up, getting some great video game voice/motion capture actors to come along, and bringing in some lovely new hosts and a number of panels with them. There was also many content creators including our very own features Stallion & Mavitivo, Mavitivo went on to host his own panel called Creators Help Creators which was very well presented with a ton of knowledge.

Creators Help Creators

Hosted by Mavitivo with a guest panel of likeminded creators, (Bex_Bomb, Tigress_X & TheCaramelGamer) This live panel over on the festival stage went on to talk about everything creator related from the struggles, their goals and just how to become a creator with their wise words and assistance, The panel last over an hour nearing two but felt like it was over way too quickly with a couple of questions from the audience to end it off, the entire panel was very likeable approachable and helpful I can’t wait to see more from this wonderful bunch.

Girl Talk: Getting into Games

We then went on to cover yet another amazing panel again on the festival stage which we must say the festival stage was really where it was at and we will touch on more about that soon, So this panel has four amazing creators hosted by thee wonderful Bex Bomb & her guest panel (35p_ Ramen, Geeky Cassie & Megsoundslikegg).

Now this panel was all about a girls perspective of how they got into gaming and working within the gaming industry, now this panel was one of the best things we saw all weekend very knowledgeable and helpful filled with great questions and answers the whole audience absolutely love this we hope to see more of this at the next Insomnia because this was truly wonderful couldn’t of picked a better

panel to talk about this subject within the industry very well done Insomnia.

JackBox Party Panel

We managed to cover yet another great panel which was hosted by Jake Kulkowski & Bella Portillo, this specific show was over on the main stage where creators and the audience faced off with hilarious games provided by JackBox Party, We had a total of 8 guest creators who took part in this hilarious wonderful show these where one of our features the wonderful Mavitivio followed by Cosplay great MollyMae and the amazing BexBomb, We also had the great Toastie & Just Kaalin & the talented Nikoheart & Billietrixx, there was one final creator who unfortunately had to be replaced due to sickness and that was RageDarling who was replaced by non other than Jamie who is too very known within all these creators, all of these are fantastic creators we recommend you check out.

Another great casting from team insomnia as this was truly an hilarious and well put together show there was lots of puns and lots of meme related phrases, this show was also live broadcasted on twitch’s frontpage! As you may be aware JackBox is a game show-like game which gets the creators and the audience together to have a bunch of fun with a random bunch of games, it really was a hilarious wonderful show, we hope to see its return.

XL INZONE With Sony

We went over to the XL Streaming zone powered by Sony, we spent quite some time here as it was right next to the monster Energy Stand who provided us with some serious hydration over the weekend, those guys handing out those cans and trims were so friendly and awesome and yes you heard that right, Monster Energy was not only dishing out free drinks but free trims too, fresh fades all around! But enough about that the Excel Inzone featured some amazing streamers from the likes of MattRpd, Bekz_xx & TheePheomenal1 plus many more, we has hands on right in front of us popular streamers and their actions of how they streamed, their in person reactions this was a wonderful touch, not only that Sony had some great new Sony Inzone headphones to showcase the noise cancelling and footsteps where great!

Just Dance

Over at the festival stage there where a great atmosphere as many of the public got up and gave it their all with the team over at Ubisoft, there were families children cosplays grown adults of all sizes up there strutting their stuff and giving in their all with just dance the confidence and atmosphere happened to be probably one of the best all weekend, on the Sunday their was the Just Dance championships where Frogs_Cosplay took the victory bagging a Nintendo switch as the prize they stood out so much and deserved to take that crown.

LAN

As mentioned in our intro Insomnia is the biggest Lan party in the whole of the UK with hundreds of gamers who come together to compete or just game together in a massive hall, not only that they showcase their setups and get along with old friends and new, The Lan itself stands for Local Areas Network which means all those hundreds of people where on the same network playing with each other having such a wonderful time, we really love to see the communities come together to showcase such a wonderful passion, there was a couple of loud competitive moments to the back of the hall as you can imagine they were competing in their too so that’s expected and to top it off if you didn’t want to bring your own setup you could rent one! I believe these were supplied by PC Specialist.

Esports

Lets not forget about one of Insomnias biggest thing at their event, that would be the esports championships, not only famous names within the esports community where they but also worth a mention was the British army and their own esports team now this was new to us as we didn’t know this was a thing but they were there in full force meeting with us and having a wonderful chat they showed us their Pcs in a bus and their helicopter sims and VR equipment it was really great to see, on top of this there was a number of challenges and finals set by iSeries like the Valorant Challenges & grand finals, Rocket League Grand Final, League of Legends Grand finals, Overwatch grand finals and the CS:GO Grand finals, so as you can imagine the esports segment as Insomnia is quite a big thing.

Feature Meets

As you may know we interview creators and feature them within our magazine there happened to be a bunch of these creators at this years Insomnia who we met up with got some great shots with and those people where stallion & Mavitivo these two creators are absolutely amazing so kind humble and down to earth would do anything for their communities so it was great to chat to them get some photos and even event interview Mavitivo himself, on top of this Stallion where running around trying to hide and if you found him you won a Fnatic esports headset and some jack links jerky well Sawyer our Content director indeed did find him and won the headset! This was a fun little community thing at insomnia and we loved to see it.

Please do check out these wonderful guys below:

Stallion: All links here

Mavitivo: All links here

Additional Mentions

There was a bunch of unique things to do at this years Insomnia for example there was some great VR things and even a zombie experience and to top it off we worked with Alpine Esports and got to sit in their all new sports car, these all are most certainly worth a huge mention as their teams worked so hard and deserve the shout out.

Zombie Infection

We have previously been to an open two hour event with these before but this year was different then had a small segment in the corner with a kind of maze fuelled with amazing zombie actors and actresses, the team allowed us to film inside which we caught some amazing footage using a Insta 360, if you love zombie slaying then you need to check out these guys and get yourself booked onto their next event!

You can check out all of their socials below:

Website: www.zombieinfection.co.uk

TikTok @official_zombieinfection

Facebook: @Zombieinfection

Twitter: @infect_official

Instagram: @official_zombieinfection

Alpine Esports

We met up with Alpine esports and their creator PattyPatt89 they allowed us to sit in their all new sports car the A110 GT and even got some footage of it being revved up!

So what is Alpine Esports? The Alpine Esports Series gives sim-racers and gamers the opportunity to showcase their talent and attempt to take their virtual steps on the podium. With live broadcasts on the Alpine Twitch channel, follow the on-track action and see who will be crowned champion of the Alpine Esports Series and win once-in-a-lifetime prizes!

The whole team were very approachable, friendly and very knowledgeable, they had many people trying to set the best score and see who could win the chance to test drive their A110 GT.

Make sure to check out all of their socials below:

Instagram: @AlpineEsportsTeam

Twitter: @AlpineEsports

#AlpineHotlap

Meet Space VR

Meet Space VR has to be one of the best VR game experiences in the UK it allows you to free roam in an open area and battle away, the team at Insomnia allowed us to have access to film and capture some great shots of the public playing the game, They provide an immersive play zone with zero latency, escape rooms and VR arcade games, they have event space across the UK which we recommend you do get booked onto soon

If you would like to book on or check them out you can do so below:

Facebook: @MeetSpaceVR

Instagram: @meetspacevr

Twitter: @meetsapcevr

Website: www.meetspacevr.co.uk

Make-A-Wish

Worth a huge massive mention is the amazing team over at Make-a-wish they were there promoting a game one of their make a wish children had created and let us tell you this really touched our heart the game is wonderful and is out now! We met with Ben Moore who is the Influencer and Gaming Entertainment officer at the Make-aWish foundation UK he was very approachable professional and you could see the passion he had for this industry it was great speaking with him and he explained to us about the wishes a lot of these children are bringing to them and a lot do involve this industry so do show them all some love and support as they bring those wishes to those beautiful children.

We will be working more and producing a bunch of articles with Make-A-Wish as we continue to grow as what they do really make a difference.

Summary

To summarise the event up it was fantastic! the creators, the panels, the games, the stalls, you name it everything was great, the press information was well organised the press room did wonders for our rest time and all of the organisers where fantastic even the volunteers were great, they knew everything and helped not only us but creators and public visitors without any issues.

The wide range of indie games were an absolute treat and the fact you had everyone’s hydrating needs met for free via monster was genius, the Just dance parties were great and the after dark plans you made were wonderful for all. The merchandise stalls were very friendly and catered to all within the industry, the food court section was also great, very clean with friendly staff, I don’t think we came across any non-friendly staff the whole weekend.

Overall we are very pleased with how Insomnia i70 was planned and the way it went because we loved every minute the crowds were friendly the creators staff and other press where all very friendly wanting to work with everyone and their happy approaches, for us this event had zero issues and we look forward to attending i71 in September!

Thank you so much to Player 1 Events and the team at Insomnia for providing us with Press passes, you all are truly amazing we hope to see you in the next one!

Make sure to check out our Insomnia i70 Recap video and our Cosplay feature on the next page which is so big it needs its own section!

COSPLAY AT INSOMNIA 70!

The organisers at Insomnia are no strangers to cosplayers at their events, with it being one of the many ways that people show their love and appreciation for the gaming world and their characters. On the Saturday they held a Cosplay MAsquerade, where fellow cosplayers could show of their creations, do performances, and compete for some amazing prizes.

It’s important, in my opinion, to preface this article by saying that every single one of these cosplays were fantastic, whether they were 100% handmade or bought from a store. Many of these cosplayers were extremely nervous to be on the stage and the audience were beyond encouraging and supportive. The energy of the show was amazing, and I hope that the organisers of Insomnia keep this segment of the event for the future! Now, with that being said, lets get into the details of the show!

The performances were first, with many cosplayers giving their all on the stage with dances, acting performances, and singing.

The most notable was @mollymaecosplay, who gave an amazing show as Cat Woman from Tim Burton’s Batman (arguably the best Cat Woman, I shall not accept otherwise). Her dance, in fact, was so good that she ended up winning the prize for best performance! A throughly deserved award for an extremely entertaining show, not to mention her cosplay was fabulous!

Another hugely memorable cosplay was @DogtorIzzy as Luxray from Pokemon! Yet another great performance where Luxray is thrust into battle with another Pokemon, achieving victory after a near-loss! The entire cosplay was amazingly well-made, though I dread to think how hot it must have been inside. Above all else though, it looks like an incredibly huggable cosplay! Not to mention that the eyes reflected any light in them so they were always so intense on the stage! The judges loved this one so much that it ended up winning third place in the competition!

Other notable performances included @AmazonianCosplay, who walked onto the stage in her incredibly detailed Wonder Woman cosplay. Her gauntlets and crown were REAL METAL. She continues to blow my mind every time she comes onto the stage! Not only this, but she surprised us with her Lasso of Truth actually lighting up, the lights dipping as she gave an impressive show swinging the lasso around. A highly memorable performance, which would go on to win her second place in the overall competition! Once again, a thoroughly deserved prize!

Lastly, the overall winner of the competition. Strutting out onto the stage and giving an incredible dance performance was @richardvonwild, wearing a cosplay of Rui Kamishiro from Project SEKAI. Not only was the dance incredibly entertaining, but both the audience and judges recognised that the cosplay itself was made beautifully. As mentioned by the judges at the end of the competition, it is extremely hard to match fabric patterns so well, and this cosplaty was done to perfection and they just HAD to recognise that! A well-deserved win overall, and I am so happy that they got the first prize!!!

As mentioned before, the entire competition was incredible, with many amazing cosplays to boot. Every single one of them had so much detail and great performances, and I hope that they are as proud of themselves as we are of them! It is no easy feat going onto a stage and being stared at by potentially hundreds of people, and I applaud their bravery for doing so!

A few notable mentions (Pictures overleaf):

@_TillySuperDog_ as Celestia Ludenberg from Danganronpa. A beautifully made cosplay, including that incredible wig! The massive curls were done to perfection and I was thoroughly impressed by the dance performance as well!

@apreslulu as St Mystere from the Professor Layton games! An amazingly detailed cosplay that looked like the perfect dress to twirl in. Incredibly well made with an adorable performance to go with it. I especially loved the detail of the wind-up key in the back!

Overall this show was amazing, and I cannot wait to see what cosplayers bring to Insomnia 71! Please do check out all of the tags of the cosplayers mentioned and give them some love!

Once again we had the pleasure to attend such a great event called MCM Comic Con over in London UK at the ExCel exhibition centre at the back end of May 2023, we can’t thank the team at MCM enough for providing the team for the second year in a row Press Passes.

Thousands of fans descended on the ExCel to take on the first MCM London a comic Con of the year, with great panels, countless stalls, special guests and much more. Now owned by Reedpop, the company behind the infamous New York Comic con and many other infamous events around the globe, this particular event however had a very big buzz around it perhaps many people didn’t expect as personally I’ve never seen the ExCel so busy especially on the Saturday.

As with any comic convention, one of the biggest draws for anyone attending is the atmosphere on offer and as usual MCM certainty succeed there. Thousands of people turned up for a great three day event, it was clear that many of those who had attended were die hard fans of various different franchises.

Looking in any one direction you’d see various pop culture icons including poison ivy, dead pool, vegeta, chainsaw man which surprising seemed very popular this year and many more, cosplay is always a huge hit at MCM so we did expect to see some obscure cosplay which we wasn’t disappointed. One thing they brought these people together was their love for their fandoms, and it was in this simple connection that lent towards a

genuinely nice and refreshing air around the ExCel, something that in day to day living you may not be used just seemed to fit so well.

MCM this year however did things a little different than they normally do by inviting creators and hosting creators focused events and panels similar to how Insomnia does things which is very much so welcomed. Not only that MCM provided great and fun entertainment for all to enjoy throughout the weekend even some family fun entertainment like the Pop Asia stage or just the family fun games over at Bandai Namco and not to mention the treetop area with wonderful family fun entertainment all weekend long so if you have doubt to bring the little ones MCM has you covered, it really was a nice additional very welcomed touch.

Walking around MCM was a spectacle in itself, with everything so well organised and laid out in siloed basis. The panels where great although I had seen better in previous years the guests themselves were very interesting, there was some great ones including What we do in the shadows with Kayvan Novak and Harvey Guillen and with the likes of Ryan Hurdt, Sunny Suliic, Alastair Duncan and Danielle Bisutti from God of War: Ragnarak. It was a good time to be gamer that’s for sure.

For those with an affinity for comic books however there were a staggering 196 artist booths for you to be able to meet and greet some of the best comic boom artists currently out there, and as a while they are all too happy to talk to their fans,

with most more then happy to draw something for them too. Of course there were also several stalls for those simply wanting to spend some cash on great related merchandise, including Forbidden Planet, Tokyo Toys and Magic Madhouse, as well as a huge amount of independently owned stalls. And you couldn’t turn away from the sheer amount of pop culture memorabilia on offer.

All that said. The real stars of the shows were the fantastic cosplays to be seen, with some real thought and ingenuity out into their costumers. As with many there, I spoke to someone who mentioned it took them six months to make their cosplay, and we even had a mother and daughter duo where the daughter crafts all the cosplays and her mother rocks them with a fantastic Warhammer cosplay put together, we do however cover a lot of the cosplay aspect to the events we attend so much they have their own feature which you will be able to check all of it out right after this feature.

After all MCM London Comic Con has always been about the Cosplay some people even go as far to call it the Cosplay Con which is great as the Cosplay community is a huge and fantastic well respected one. The whole opportunity to be someone else being able to dress up and embrace the character you love leaving all those troubles behind and feeling somewhat at home all whilst everyone else around you is having an equally good time which in Jesper breeds a great, inclusive atmosphere.

Overall we had a great time, we got some amazing photos and videos, met some wonderful new people and even caught up with some of our good friends, we can’t thank the MCM team enough, the new press room with air con and hot drinks was a fantastic new touch which we welcome next time. We can see how fast MCM is growing and we love to see how each year they step up their game and raise the bar, we couldn’t fault this year at all and for us we do recommend you attend the next one even so that we did with our families and the little ones and they had a wonderful time as there really is something for everyone.

On that note we look forward to seeing MCM Comic Con London once again in October and can’t wait to report on the new additions and see what they have planned, we hope to see some of our readers there and can’t wait to check out all the new and exciting cosplays.

COSPLAY AT MCM Comic con!

The cosplay masquerade on the Saturday was incredible, with a vast array of cosplayers giving their all on the stage. All of them were outstanding, with a lot of attention to detail and excellent performances to boot! MCM Comic Con have always been good with giving cosplayers a great spotlight, with the masquerade taking place on their largest stage. It allows a huge audience to be a part of the show and really gives them the attention they deserve for all of their hard work!

The show was split into two parts, the first being the Vairety Show, where some cosplayers came onto the stage and gave various performances. We had dances, acting sequences, and even singing, all of which were absolutely phenomenal. The winner of this section was this lovely lady as Misa from Death Note. She gave a super highenergy dance that garnered an incredible response from the audience. With the use of props, such as the Death Note itself, she gave an amazing performance that gripped the judges throughout, landing her the winning prize!

Other honorable mentions of the Variety Show would be @melameme_cosplays for her incredible Star Wars ballet performance. Hers was the first performance on the stage, which one would argue is one of the hardest slots to have in a competition, but she came out with such skill and confidence that she immediately blew us away!

Another performance was the lovely @DogtorIzzy as Luxray from Pokemon! After seeing this cosplay for the first time at Insomnia, it made us grin from ear to ear to see the fluffy boy all over again! A great performance was given as Luxray was thrown into battle, and I spent the entirety of it once again needing to know how huggable the costume was, and indeed how wam it must have been inside of it!

There were so many performances, all of which were deserving of a prize. It was certainly a great start to the show! (All pictures have relevant tags!)

Following on from the Variety Show was the main Masquerade, where cosplayers could come out onto the stage and strike a few poses in order to show off their creations. The junior section kicked off the beginning of the show, with a few younger cosplayers stepping out onto the stage (some for the first time). They were all so incredible, with some notable mentions being this lovely one as Princess Zelda (top left) and another cosplay group as Natalia Romanoff, Yelena Belova and Melina Vostokoff (top right).

After the junior section came the judged section of the competition. These cosplayers came out onto the stage to show off their self-made cosplays, showing them at various angles and embodying their characters fully. Every single one of them were amazing, but there were a few that stood out to us the most. The first being the person who won the Best Beginner award, @ghostiicos, with their absolutely amazing Calcifer from Howls Moving Castle (bottom left). They had designed a human version of Calcifer, taking inspiration from Howls iconic outfit and changing the colour scheme, as well as adding various details that suit the fire demon’s theme. I have to admit, I audibly gasped when they stepped out onto the stage!

Following this were the two winners of the Judges Choice Awards. The first was @BluePrincessCosplay, who stepped out onto the stage as Queen Anna from Frozen 2 (middle right). The dress was absolutely gorgeous, not to mention the long swooping cape as well! The second winner of this award was @bbfacecosplay as Steve from Flag Means Death (middle). An excellently made cosplay with so many details, shown off with a brilliant, confident stride and fabulous poses!

Lastly, the big prize of Best Costume, which went to the amazing @touch_of_maverick and @lucy_ locket_cosplay as Woody and Bopeep from Toy Story (middle-bottom and bottom right)! These two were so amazing. They stepped out onto the stage completely in character, fully embodying the two toys with utter perfection. Their costumes were so well made as well, with their cute little performance only emphasising how convicing they looked! A thoroughly well-deserved win!!!

All of the cosplays at the show brought a really high calibre this year, and I sincerely hope each and every one of them are proud, as they should be! See on the next page some other amazing cosplays from the show!

For one night only! Huge names from the video game industry headed to Manchester on May 25th. The hugely popular FORMAT was back for 2023 and promised to be bigger and better than ever! Located at Impossible Manchester, Format plays host to some of the most exciting games studios in the industry. Including the likes of Team17 (Overcooked, Hell Let Loose), Flix Interactive (Sea of Thieves) and many more.

FORMAT is the UK’s biggest community gaming nightlife event and nightlife movement for gamers and non-gamers alike. Formerly known as Manchester Gamers Unite, FORMAT hosts industry-leading nightlife events for gamers, non-gamers, game developers, and community leaders, bringing the best of the best together for an evening of gaming nightlife fun. For their May 2023 event, they collaborated with the largest number of game showcases, brands, content creators, and community leaders they had ever taken on, not only that they added a whole new floor of exhibitors. Format is a unique gaming event that brings together a nightclub, a games expo and a B2B networking event. But most importantly, creates a space where gaming fans can relax and enjoy a night full of gaming, live music and good food and drinks.

On the night, game developers, content creators, the press and the gaming community all come together to play the latest games from AAA, AA and indie studies. This one-of-a-kind event is driven by a sense of community, unifying the game developers and the gaming community. Format has grown into the biggest gaming nightlife event in the North of the UK. The Format team have created an event that is rooted in the gaming sphere, bringing in exciting studios, brands and opportunities for the whole gaming community. This kind of event is truly one of a kind and not to be missed!

The Full List of Attendees were:

TEAM 17

Badgerhammer

Something Something Games

PQube

Anomaly Games

Arcade Club UK

Flix Interactive

UltraHorse Entertainment

Scriptoria Illuminate

Fireblade Software

Dog Box Games

Project Level Studios

Extend Mode Retro Reactor

Matt Glanville

Also at the event was an incredible line-up of partners, such as:

Rezzil

Huey Games

Leda Entertainment

Lowtek Games

Gaslight Games

innoloop

Timeless Gaming Convention

Wraith Energy, Escape Technology, Rezzil, Liquid Crimson, Flix Interactive, Neonvibes and many more. Why not head over to Formats website to check out more https://format.gg/

playstation state of play may 2023 recap

The PlayStation Showcase May 2023 featured a jam-packed show full of all the upcoming titles for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2. We saw everything from some indie gems, remakes and even a few surprises.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at everything announced during the showcase.

Fairgame$ by Haven Studios

First up was Haven Studios new competitive heist experience coming to PS5 and PC. Their first IP is “a unique take on the heist genre” which sees you join an underground movement to rob the ultrarich and rebalance society. Play as a modern-day Robin Hood and you explore forbidden locations, fill your pockets and take down the rich alongside your friends.

Immortals of Aveum by Ascendant Studios

This upcoming first-person game gifts your protagonist with a hand capable of wielding magic and the goal to try and stop the Everwar. The fate of the world hangs in the balance but Jak and the Order of the Immortals are here to save the day. Fight powerful bosses and mages as you use the different “colours of magic” to aid you. Available on PS5 on July 20, 2023.

Helldivers 2 by Arrowhead Game Studios

The sequel to the 2015 title with the same name was announced today. The top-down shooter has switched to a 3rd-person experience and the trailer brought all the fun. We see the Helldivers as they protect society from insect-like aliens. The co-op shooter allows you to team up with buddies as you wield an arsenal of weapons, drop a lot of bombs and fight off waves of enemies.

Helldivers 2 is coming to PS5 and PC in 2023.

Ghostrunner 2 by 505 Games

First released back in 2020, Ghostrunner is finally getting a sequel this year. Shrouded in mystery until now, we finally got a good look at what we can expect. Explore the world of Ghostrunner one year after the events of the original and “prepare to face off against some of the toughest opponents you’ve ever encountered in a video game.”

Phantom Blade Zero by Cruel Man Studio

The newest entry in the Phantom Blade universe was released today and showed an epic trailer filled with combat and steampunk vibes. Set in the Phantom World, you will find “Chinese Kung Fu, intricate machines reminiscent of steampunk, arts of the occult, and other intriguing elements that don’t quite fit into any of these categories.” With hack ‘n’ slash combat and Eastern influences, it looks to be an epic adventure. No release date yet.

The Talos Principle 2 by Croteam

First released back in 2014, it has been a long wait for the sequel to The Talos Principle. However, we now have a release date for the puzzle game that will “greatly expand the first game’s philosophical themes and stunning environments with increasingly mind-bending challenges.” The sequel will be a big leap forward for the series when it launches later this year.

Sword of the Sea by Giant Squid

From the creators of Abzû and The Pathless comes this new adventure that takes place in an abandoned realm where the terrain flows in constant waves. Use your Hoversword to explore the vast terrain, discover old ruins and restore life to the world as the Wraith. However, beware of the leviathans who lurk in the sunken world. Available for PS5 (no release date yet).

Neva by Nomada Studios

From the creators of Gris comes this beautiful new game that tasks you with raising a baby wolf. In this moving tale between a young woman and her wolf, you must learn to survive a rapidly dying world. Telling the story of our ever-changing earth and the beauty of life and animals was the goal for its creators and they look to have achieved that.

Cat Quest: Pirates of the Purribean by TheGentleBros

This open-world RPG tells the story of a cat on a magnificent adventure across the seas. On a search for the Northern Star, battle pirates, discover lost treasures and become a hero. The latest instalment in the award-winning Cat Quest series sees you travel alongside your spirit companion on your very own ship. It will be released sometime in 2024.

Foamstars by Square Enix

If you’ve ever wanted to experience a foam party with Splatoon-style gameplay, then you’re in luck. Foamstars is an upcoming multiplayer party shooter that tasks you with taking over your map’s territory with a bunch of foam. Use the foam to quickly slide across the arena, defend from enemy attacks and climb to vantage points to get the lay of the battlefield.

Available for PS4 & PS5 (no release date yet).

Teardown by Tuxedo Labs

This voxel-based heist game tasks you with quite literally destroying everything in your path. Tear down walls to create shortcuts, manoeuvre obstacles, experience physics-based destruction and smash everything in sight. With over 40 main missions, Teardown tasks you with keeping your ‘teardown’ business afloat even if it means dealing with some shady clients.

Release date: 2023

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater by Konami

With a trailer featuring shots of the entire animal kingdom, the camera finally panned to the Snake himself, revealing the news of a MGS3 remake. Not only that, but the trailer ended with the news that a Metal Gear Solid retro collection will launch for PlayStation 5 this autumn. It will feature the first three Metal Gear Solid games so it will be the perfect time to try them if you haven’t already.

The Plucky Squire by All Possible Futures

This upcoming action-adventure game follows the magical adventures of Jot and his friends. These storybook characters must explore the 3D world outside their book and face the evil Humgrump. Jump between the 2D and 3D world and solve puzzles, fly around on your jetpack and become the hero of your story.

Release date: 2023

Towers of Aghasba by Dreamlit

In this game, you are tasked with rebuilding a strange alien world. With a trailer showing all styles of gameplay from building, fighting, exploring and collecting, it appears to have it all. Not to mention the flying whales in the sky. With Breath of the Wild-vibes, this prehistoric survival game is set to release sometime in 2024.

Final Fantasy 16 by Square Enix

The showcase revealed a new trailer for the upcoming instalment of the Final Fantasy series. Titled ‘Salvation’ the video showed us some story and gameplay as we see protagonist Clive on his mission to save mankind. With shots of the foreboding Eikons, the exciting combat system and a few new faces, we can expect another epic tale.

FF16 launches on June 22, 2023

Assassin’s Creed Mirage by Ubisoft

The thirteenth major instalment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise also got a release date earlier tonight. This chapter follows Basim Ibn Ishaq who operated in Baghdad over 300 years before the events of Assassin’s Creed 1. With Ubisoft claiming that Mirage goes back to its roots of stealth mechanics and parkour traversal, the trailer is very reminiscent of the earlier AC days.

Release date: October 12, 2023

Revenant Hill by The Glory Society

If you are a fan of Night in the Woods like me, you would have also screeched when this upcoming title was revealed earlier tonight. Set in 1919, Twigs the cat takes up residence near a local graveyard. However, when the landlord owl starts demanding rent, Twigs must find a way to make some money. Grow crops, make friends (and enemies) and even host the occasional party.

Alan Wake 2 by Remedy Entertainment

Tonight’s showcase finally gave us what we’ve all been waiting for – a release date for Alan Wake 2. The release date trailer shows us our first look at the two playable protagonists we will have to follow through this psychological survival horror game. With Remedy assuring players that they don’t have to have prior knowledge of the series to jump right in, there’s nothing stopping you.

Release date: October 17, 2023

Granblue Fantasy: Relink by Cygames Inc

This co-op action RPG takes place in the Sky Realm where islands float in a great expanse. Join the protagonist and their little dragon called Vyrn as they team up with a mysterious young girl with powers. Journey to a fabled land beyond the skies and meet a colourful cast of characters along the way. Team up with up to four friends and take on the adventure together. (Released 2023)

Street Fighter 6 by Capcom

The latest instalment in the Street Fighter franchise is arriving in just over a week. To celebrate, Capcom has released another trailer showing more of the game’s World Tour story. We see snippets of the large roster of characters as well as a look at the player’s custom character as they train under the world warriors. The trailer also revealed some story sneak peeks so beware of spoilers.

Release date: June 2, 2023

Ultros by Hadoque

This psychedelic sci-fi side-scroller captures everyone’s attention (and eyes) during the showcase. The exploration-adventure game follows protagonist Ouiji as she wakes up following a ship crash. Now stranded on a giant cosmic sarcophagus, you must explore the everchanging levels that will take multiple runs to fully uncover. This is the first game from a brand-new studio and it’s looking epic.

Release date: 2024

Dragon’s Dogma 2 by Capcom

First released back in 2012, the sequel to Dragon’s Dogma made a surprise appearance this evening. The action hack-and-slash game is set to be a fantasy epic like never before. The trailer showed everything from exhilarating combat, monstrous creatures and of course, a whole lot of dragons. With it being over a decade since the prequel, let’s hope it lives up to the hype.

VR2 Releases

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 by Steel Wool Games

With news of an upcoming FNAF movie, it is perhaps no surprise we got news of the upcoming game this evening. Although the trailer didn’t reveal much and just stuck to the creepy atmosphere, it has been four years since its prequel released to VR and console. If you’re unfamiliar, in this game you are tasked with keeping an eye on some killer animatronics and this one looks to be no different.

Resident Evil 4 VR by Capcom

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the recent Resident Evil 4 Remake has been sweeping the review board this year. Now a few months after it was released to PC and console, Sony has revealed it will be heading to PSVR2. Follow Leon as he heads to a remote Spanish island to save Ashley, the President’s daughter.

Marathon by Bungie

Bungie took the opportunity to announce their first new project in over a decade. Marathon is an upcoming sci-fi PvP extraction shooter which sees you become a cybernetic mercenary known as a Runner. Explore a lost colony in search of riches, fame and infamy as you experience a universe filled with epic worldbuilding and lore, in typical Bungie fashion.

Arizona Sunshine 2 by Vertigo Games

The next-gen sequel to the award-winning VR apocalypse game is here and it’s coming to VR2 later this year. In a zombie-filled Arizona, you must set out on a journey for answers and make every bullet count. Wield everything from machetes to shotguns, flamethrowers to melee weapons in this hack-and-slash adventure. Not only that, but you will have your trusty dog companion alongside you.

Also by Bungie was a new trailer for the upcoming instalment in Destiny 2. The Final Shape is set to be the final instalment of the ‘light vs dark’ chapter in the sci-fi FPS and despite only being a few seconds long, the trailer was epic. Featuring a character who has been dead for quite some time has got fans speculating all over the internet. Who could it be?

Crossfire: Sierra Squad by Smilegate West

The brand-new arcade-action FPS will be arriving this summer to PlayStation VR2. Become the leader of an elite fireteam called the Sierra Squad. Being part of a highly-trained unit means you have access to over 39 unique weapons and 13 campaign missions. Go against the rival Black List organisation and emerge victorious on the battlefield.

The Final Shape by Bungie

Concord by Firewalk Studios

This upcoming PvP multiplayer AAA game set in a sci-fi universe is the “start of a new adventure” according to developers. Although not much is known about it yet, we do know it will feature vibrant worlds and a host of colourful characters. “Concord is a bringing together of peoples. It’s the power of games to build connection and inspire social play,” says game director Ryan Ellis

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games

Last but certainly not least was the highlyanticipated sequel to Marvel’s Spider-Man. In a trailer that featured a hefty chunk of gameplay, we saw Miles and Peter as they take to the skies. The 10-minute gameplay demo showed our first look at the villain, Kraven the Hunter as well as Venom himself. With both stealth and all-gunsblazing combat, the demo has got us even more excited for a release date.

And that was all the main reveals from the PlayStation Showcase May 2023.

Although it wasn’t mentioned at all during the showcase we thought we would share with you the games which are also due out on Xbox below.

Paradox Interactive announcement show 2023 recap

Paradox Interactive announced three new titles and more exciting content at the Paradox Announcement Show 2023.

Paradox have been working on some exciting projects for some time and on March 6th 2023, Paradox hosted an Announcement Show sponsored by Xbox, They finally got to share them all with the fans! Nine new content releases, including full games and expansions for titles in the Paradox catalogue.

Let’s start from the beginning, they kicked off the Announcement Show with The Lamplighters League, an original game created by Seattle-based Harebrained Schemes, featuring globetrotting pulp adventure and strategic turn-based combat set in an alternate, stylish 1930s.

The next big update was for the beloved Crusader Kings III. Alexander Oltner, the Game Director of Crusader Kings III, joined them in the studio to talk about the next expansion, “Tours and Tournaments”, which adds new actions and adventures for characters, with new ways to gain prestige at home and abroad!

The team at Paradox Tinto, a Paradox studio in Sitges, Spain, came to visit in Stockholm to tell us more about Europa Universalis IV: Domination. In this new expansion pack, many of the most popular and powerful nations are getting updated mission trees and other historical details, in an add-on with truly global reach: it’s time to change history once again!

Talking about ever-evolving scenarios, alternate stories, and looming dangers, we invited the Game Director of Surviving the Aftermath to share some interesting details about their last expansion “Rebirth.” Thanks to terraforming, it seems that with this expansion your colonists can finally see the light at the end of the Aftermath!

In their Announcement Show, they also wanted to celebrate the 8th Anniversary of Cities: Skylines coming up on March 10. But wasn’t too sure how to do just that… well they took the next step for the franchise and announced Cities: Skylines II! Much more happened during the show, with also shared updates for Stellaris and Age of Wonders, 2023 is going to be memorable for Paradox and we can’t wait to create our own stories with their games.

xbox games showcase coming 11th june

Microsoft has confirmed that despite skipping E3 this year, it will still host its usual Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday, June 11th, with a Starfield Developer Direct presentation set to follow afterwards. Lots of big names seem to be skipping E3 this year, but that won’t mean we’ll have to go without plenty of Xbox news — Microsoft has announced it still plans to run its Xbox Games Showcase presentation on June 11th, on the weekend before the trade show kicks off. The news dropped on Twitter today in sharing the newly announced Starfield release date, with a Developer Direct deep dive on Bethesda’s space RPG set to follow the broader showcase of all things new and shiny for Xbox.

Last year’s showcase saw Microsoft focus entirely on new Xbox games coming in the next 12 months, although Starfield has now slipped to just outside that window after getting delayed, and we still don’t have a Forza Motorsport release date yet. It’ll be interesting to see whether MS will do the same this year, as there are a good few Xbox Game Studios teams yet to show their hands on what they’re working on (including Gears developer The Coalition), as well as lots of announced titles we’ll be hoping to get updates on soon, such as Fable, Avowed, and Perfect Dark.

It’s unlikely that Bethesda’s Starfield will get much screen time during the main showcase, however, since we already know that the Developer Direct presentation on the game will give us an extended look at the game afterwards, a few months ahead of its September release date.

ubisoft+ available now via multi aCCESS

Ubisoft+, Ubisoft’s game subscription service, is officially available on Xbox consoles through Ubisoft+ Multi Access!* In order to take advantage of this new option, Xbox users must be subscribed to Ubisoft+ Multi Access and connect their account to their Xbox profile, gaining access to a vast and growing library of games and 10% off in-game currency.

“Partnering with Xbox to launch Ubisoft+ Multi Access on Xbox consoles enhances our subscription offering to provide more value and choice to our players,” said Ubisoft Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development, Chris Early. “Xbox console players now have access to our worlds through Ubisoft’s extensive game library.”

The Ubisoft+ library allows players to dive into flagship titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and The Division 2, and includes access to premium-edition content and DLCs, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök. Check out the full list of available games below:

• Anno 1800 (Xbox Series X|S only)

• Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered

• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (includes Assassin’s Creed Liberation)

• Assassin’s Creed Unity (Gold Edition)

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ultimate Edition)

• Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, India, and Russia

• Assassin’s Creed III Remastered

• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Deluxe Edition)

• Assassin’s Creed Origins (Gold Edition)

• Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Gold Edition)

• Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection

• Battleship

• Boggle

• Child of Light (Ultimate Edition)

• Family Feud

• Far Cry Primal (Deluxe Edition)

• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (Classic Edition)

• Far Cry 3 (Classic Edition)

• Far Cry 4 (Gold Edition)

• Far Cry 5 (Gold Edition)

• Far Cry 6 (Gold Edition)

• Far Cry: New Dawn

• Fighter Within

• For Honor

• Ghost Recon Breakpoint (Ultimate Edition)

• Ghost Recon Wildlands (Ultimate Edition)

• Grow Up

• Hungry Shark World

• Immortals Fenyx Rising (Gold Edition)

• Jeopardy!

• Monopoly Plus

• Monopoly Madness

• Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show (Gold Edition)

• Rabbids Party of Legends

• Rainbow Six Extraction

• Rainbow Six Siege (Deluxe Edition)

• Rayman Legends

• Riders Republic

• Risk

• Risk: Urban Assault

• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game

• Scrabble

• Shape Up (Gold Edition)

• South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Gold Edition)

• South Park: The Stick of Truth

• Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Deluxe Edition)

• Steep

• The Crew (Ultimate Edition)

• The Crew 2

• The Division (Gold Edition)

• The Division 2

• Trackmania Turbo

• Transference

• Trials Fusion

• Trials of the Blood Dragon

• Trials Rising (Gold Edition)

• Trivial Pursuit Live

• Trivial Pursuit Live 2

• UNO (Ultimate Edition)

• Valiant Hearts: The Great War

• Watch Dogs (Complete Edition)

• Watch Dogs 2 (Gold Edition)

• Watch Dogs: Legion (Deluxe Edition)

• Wheel of Fortune

• Zombi

Sign up for Ubisoft+ Multi Access today and connect your Xbox account to explore the rich worlds of Ubisoft games. A subscription costs £14.99 each month and will auto-renew until cancelled.

We personally think for the cost of more than Game Pass Ultimate (£10.99 per month) this is a hard pass for us and will not sit well with the majority of Xbox users.

xbox debuts pc games to nvidia geforce now members

NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming members in the U.K., the U.S., the European Union and around the world can stream Gears 5 alongside many others including fan-favourites Deathloop, Grounded, and Pentiment.

This is just the beginning stage of Microsoft’s forward-thinking 10-year partnership with NVIDIA to make PC games from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda available to their GeForce NOW members. Together, we’re accelerating access to players around the globe by letting them choose how and when they game. The initial slate of launch games spans Xboxs catalogue, providing players high-quality, immersive titles with a little something for everyone–single player campaigns, story-driven experiences, and opportunities to play with friends and family through multiplayer. Following this initial release, we’ll continue to add more content from our portfolio on a regular basis to ensure players can always find a new and exciting game.

Members will be able to stream PC hits from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda purchased through

Steam or Epic Games Store (for eligible games) on PC, Mac, SHIELD TV, and Android devices – or by visiting play.geforcenow.com on Chromebook and iOS Safari. Our teams are also working to bring support for games purchased through the Microsoft Store in the coming months.

This is the first in a series of partnerships Microsoft is activating to make their PC games available to players globally through a variety of cloud gaming services, starting with NVIDIA GeForce NOW, and with Boosteroid, Ubitus, EE and Nware in the future. Microsoft remains committed to releasing current titles from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda, and future Activision Blizzard PC games once Microsoft’s acquisition closes.

Delivering their content through more partners and cloud gaming services puts players at the centre, empowering them to play the games they want, with the people they want, on the devices they want. NVIDIA has been an outstanding partner for team Xbox over the years, and we can’t wait to see their devoted fans discover and play their next favourite PC games from Xbox.

NEW XBOX ELITE WIRELESS CONTROLLERS SERIES 2 OUT NOW

Microsoft has unveiled the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 - Core in red and blue, joining the previous white version of the Elite Series 2 - Core controller.

That said, you’ve had the ability to make a custom Elite Series 2 controller in a range of colours using the Design Lab since October 2022.

Still, you can skip all that and bag a ‘vibrant’ red or blue Xbox Elite Series 2 - Core controller, getting all of the benefits that come with it.

This includes adjustable tension thumb sticks, hair trigger locks with rubberised grips, button mapping options, 40 hours of battery life, and custom profiles via the Xbox Accessories App. You can also purchase the component Core Component Pack with interchangeable thumb sticks, paddles, d-pad, and more for $59.99/£54.99.

The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 - Core in red or blue is available to order now for $139.99/£124.99.

microsoft’s xbox mobile gaming store could launch next year...

Xbox boss Phil Spencer, has revealed that Microsoft’s Xbox mobile gaming store could launch as early as next year, providing the Activision Blizzard acquisition is approved. Following the rule changes to Apple and Google’s app stores, which are expected to be enforced by March 2024, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has said that the Xbox mobile gaming store could arrive next year if regulators approve the Activision Blizzard deal.

When replying to the CMA last year, Microsoft revealed that it planned on launching an Xbox mobile gaming store, a move the company said would allow it to “scale the Xbox Store to mobile, attracting gamers to a new Xbox Mobile Platform.” Microsoft has already said the Activision Blizzard deal would give it the expertise and library it needs to compete with the mobile juggernauts Apple and Google, but the company’s head of Xbox Phil Spencer has now told the Financial Times that its mobile store could arrive as early as next year if regulators approve the acquisition.

“We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want

to play,” Spencer said. “Today, we can’t do that on mobile devices but we want to build towards a world that we think will be coming where those devices are opened up.”

Apple and Google have held a “duopoly” over the mobile market for some time now, making it incredibly difficult for other companies to break into the space, but that could change next year. From March 2024, the EU is expected to begin enforcing the Digital Markets Act, which would designate Apple and Google as “gatekeepers” and require the firms to change their store rules for app distribution. The rules could be delayed if either of the two decides to appeal, but it sounds like Microsoft is ready to adapt the Xbox and Xbox Game Pass apps for games and subscription sales on mobile at the drop of a dime, and Spencer says it would be “trivial.”

Microsoft’s biggest challenge looks to be getting the Activision Blizzard deal approved. If successful, it would give the company access to some heavyweight mobile games like Candy Crush Saga, Diablo Immortal, and Call of Duty mobile.

microsoft activision blizzard deal blocked by cma

Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard has been blocked in the UK, by the Competition and Markets Authority. Microsoft announced the acquisition in January, 2022. The CMA began its investigation into the deal in September, 2022. The CMA’s decision will prevent Microsoft from being able to purchase Activision Blizzard. The initial concerns – and the bulk of the conversation around the deal – first centred on the idea that it would negatively impact Microsoft’s main rival, Sony. And most of the debate revolved around Call of Duty, being one of the biggest games on the planet. However, the CMA’s decision, in the end, hinged on cloud gaming. This from the CMA’s press release regarding its decision:

“Microsoft has a strong position in cloud gaming services and the evidence available to the CMA showed that Microsoft would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service.

“Microsoft already accounts for an estimated 60-70% of global cloud gaming services and has other important strengths in cloud gaming from owning Xbox, the leading PC operating system (Windows) and a global cloud computing infrastructure (Azure and Xbox Cloud Gaming).

“The deal would reinforce Microsoft’s advantage in the market by giving it control over important gaming content such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. The evidence available to the CMA indicates that, absent the merger, Activision would start providing games via cloud platforms in the foreseeable future.”

This feels strange. The idea that the decision would eventually come down to cloud gaming, rather than the games themselves, is a surreal outcome. But there you go. A spokesperson from Activision Blizzard has addressed the CMA’s decision and has said that the company will try to appeal it:

“The CMA’s report contradicts the ambitions of the UK to become an attractive country to build technology businesses. We will work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this on appeal. The report’s conclusions are a disservice to UK citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects. We will reassess our growth plans for the UK. Global innovators large and small will take note that - despite all its rhetoric - the UK is clearly closed for business.”

Shortly after Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick responded to the CMA’s blocking of the Microsoft Activision deal. The Competition and Markets authority, in the United Kingdom, has blocked the proposed $68.7 billion deal, and Microsoft will now try and appeal that decision. Kotick has issued a statement (an internal email that was published publicly), in which he says that the appeal process has already begun:

“Today, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a regulatory agency in the UK, decided not to approve our merger with Microsoft. This isn’t the news we wanted – but it is far from the final word on this deal.

“Alongside Microsoft, we can and will contest this decision, and we’ve already begun the work to appeal to the UK Competition Appeals Tribunal. We’re confident in our case because the facts are on our side: this deal is good for competition.

“The UK hopes to grow its leadership position in technology, and a combined Microsoft-Activision would accomplish exactly that. At a time when the fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence are thriving, we know the UK market would benefit from Microsoft’s bench strength in both domains, as well as our ability to put those technologies to use immediately.

“By contrast, if the CMA’s decision holds, it would stifle investment, competition, and job creation throughout the UK gaming industry.

“This merger is a complex process, and I know I’m not the only one frustrated by the hurdles and delays. We’re accustomed to a company culture that moves quickly to accomplish big goals, so it’s tough when we can’t close things out at our usual energetic pace.

“We’ll keep pressing our case, because we know that this merger will benefit our employees, the broader UK tech workforce, and players around the world.

“I’m going to do everything I personally can to advocate for us and help regulators understand the competitive dynamics in our industry. What gives me confidence is that, whether on our own or united with another company, we are one of the strongest companies in our industry, poised for continued growth, and building on our incredible IP.

“I appreciate your continued hard work and focus, and for continuing to connect and engage our players around the world. This is the best time to be in our field, and you all represent the best of our industry. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on next steps as they happen.”

The CMA’s decision ultimately hinged on cloud gaming, rather than on the possible exclusivity of games such as Call of Duty.

Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition approved by European regulators

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 million, has today been approved by the European Commission, following last week’s report that a decision would be reached by the EU by this week.

However, the EU’s approval hinges upon several commitments that Microsoft must fulfil, in relation to the cloud gaming market. At time of writing, the UK Competitions and Markets Authority’s (CMA) block on the deal remains in place, and further restrictions were placed on Microsoft’s Activision deal by the CMA last week.

The EU Commission’s approval represents a step in the right direction for the Xbox and Activision Blizzard merger, with the investigation concluding that the deal would not prove harmful to rival platform-holders and consoles, and subscription services. It does note, however, that it could harm competition to distribution of games through cloud-based game streaming services. Moving to address such concerns, Microsoft has agreed to the following licensing commitments over the next ten years (via VGC):

• A free license to consumers in the EEA that would allow them to stream, via any cloud game streaming services of their choice, all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games for which they have a license.

• A corresponding free license to cloud game streaming service providers to allow EEA-based gamers to stream any Activision Blizzard’s PC and console games.

“The commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current situation,” the EU Commission stated in response.

As for where this leaves the Xbox and Activision Blizzard deal with the CMA block and a hearing from the US Federal Trade Commission scheduled for 2nd August, remains to be seen. It looks like this is far from done and dusted, though.

fear fest 2023 Fear Fest steps

out of the shadows in September to showcase 32 upcoming horror games

Feardemic has announced that Fear Fest will return in September for a two-day event, which will include Black Summer showcase and the first-ever Fear Fest: Horror Game Awards.

This year’s horror game extravaganza from Feardemic will be arriving as a two-day event between Wednesday, September 6, 2023, and Thursday, September 7, 2023. The first day will see a slew of announcements arrive during the Black Summer showcase, which we’ve seen in previous years, but on the second day, Feardemic and IGN will be hosting the first-ever Fear Fest: Horror Game Awards.

Fear Fest 2023 arrives in September for a two-day event

On Wednesday, September 6, 2023, the Fear Fest: Black Summer showcase will see a cast of horror-focused influencers join the Feardemic team to reveal 32 horror games coming from publishers and developers big and small in 2023 and 2024. If you’re a fan of horror, it could be a show for you to watch.

Following that on Thursday, September 7, 2023, Feardemic and IGN will be hosting the first-ever Fear Fest: Horror Game Awards. The show will celebrate the best horror games of 2022 across 15 categories, with the winners taking home a golden bat trophy. Winners will be decided by a public vote via the Horror Game Awards website, which goes live in July.

The exact times of each show are yet to be revealed, but both will be exclusively streamed on YouTube and Twitch channels. With games like Dying Light 2: Stay Human, The Callisto Protocol, Martha is Dead, The Quarry, Madison, Evil Dead: The Game, Scorn, and more and more launching on Xbox in 2022, it might be difficult to choose which ones to champion.

our must play zombie games

With Resident Evil 4 Remake recently dropping we thought we would go back and list a bunch of must play zombie games! so we’ve listed a selection of our favourite zombie-slaying games on below.

When George A. Romero introduced the world to Night of the Living Dead back in 1968, he probably wasn’t aware that his social commentary about people’s inability to work together would kickstart a pop culture craze that would captivate audiences for decades to come. Those who followed in his directorial footsteps gave us shambling reanimated corpses that would comically cry “brains,” while edging towards their wouldbe victims with arms outstretched, rage-induced carriers of some mutated virus, and other interesting takes on the shambling cadavers. From comedy to horror, no matter the genre, the ravenous flesh-craving monstrosities fill us with fear, excitement, adventure, and happiness. They’re a little scary and a little exciting, but wholly awesome!

No matter if the creatures are slow and braindead or bestowed with the agility of a cheetah, one thing is for certain — people seem to love chopping and blowing them into pieces. They’ve become quite a staple in the video game world over the years, and Xbox has a fantastic selection for you to choose from. So, whether you’re looking for a nightmarish thrill, horde-decimating adventure, or a cute and cuddly experience to share with your kids, this selection of our favourite zombie games should have something for everyone.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

It’s only fitting that we feature Call of Duty: Black Ops first after name-dropping George A. Romero in our intro, because the Godfather of Zombies himself makes an appearance in the game. While many of the subsequent Call of Duty games have included the mode, much like the legendary director’s first film, Black Ops brought the Zombies mode to everyone’s attention in all the right ways. The famed Zombies mode sees four players battling for survival against waves of zombies, while simultaneously attempting to complete various “Easter Egg” objectives around the map. The catch, though, is that each wave adds even more zombies into the mix, causing you to become overwhelmed if you stop even for a second — grab a gun, run like crazy, and never let go of the trigger is the best advice we can give you for this.

Teamwork is quickly thrown out of the window on the higher waves, with each player controlling their own ‘train’ of zombies, praying that they don’t accidentally cross paths with someone else’s train. Almost every Call of Duty game has had some

variation of this mode since, but Black Ops’ varied maps, the arsenal of available weaponry, and the inclusion of Romero himself are the reasons that this game has earned a spot on our list.

Dead Rising

Dead Rising is a game that encourages you to have fun during the end of days, embrace the messed-up world that you find yourself in, and treat the shambling zombies like playthings. The game locks you inside a shopping mall and tasks you with attempting to survive by any means necessary. The mall is littered with a huge number of different items that you can use to kill, avoid, and generally humiliate the undead, with protagonist Frank (he’s covered wars, you know) using everything from candid photography to wrestling moves to put the mall’s masses in their place.

While it’s perhaps not as extravagant as some of the later entries into the series, Dead Rising still stands as one of the most entertaining zombie games to ever grace our screens. Whether

you’re slicing the undead to bits in a wrestling ring, having a shootout with a group of bandits that decide to start unloading a vehicle-mounted machine gun at you, or just putting Frank West’s photography skills to use, one thing’s for certain — you’ll uncover the truth behind the epidemic with style.

Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Dying Light would have easily made this list, but with Dying Light 2 having just launched and the fact that it builds on everything that was great about the first game, it had to be on the list. Dying Light 2 follows the story of a wandering survivor in search of his missing sister, who gets caught up in various situations between Villedor’s three dominant factions. The game allows you to bend the story to your liking, while also giving you free rein to explore its massive open world environment. Combat is extremely rewarding this time around, and the first time you split a zombie in half with a battle axe forged out of a signpost, you’ll know exactly what we mean. The parkour system also feels a lot more responsive compared to the first game, giving you fantastic ways to drop off buildings and smash a zombie’s face into the concrete. Dying Light 2 is fun, brutal, and so full of things to do that you can spend hours just seeing what body parts can be cut from... well, anyone.

Left 4 Dead 2

Building on the incredible foundations of its predecessor, Left 4 Dead 2 helped mould the coop shooter into the wonderful genre it is today, spawning a plethora of games — including the latest game from Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock Studios: Back 4 Blood. We really like the developer’s latest game, but there is little doubt that Left 4 Dead 2 was a crowning achievement. Its four-player co-op gameplay pairs perfectly with the story-based campaign that sees you fighting hordes of flesh-craving monsters through linear missions, filled with special infected, traps, and an arsenal of deadly weapons — with each level climaxing with a fight-for-your-life defensive objective that can easily bring a run to a crashing end. On top of that, the PvP mode places an enemy team in the shoes of the special infected, which can make the missions ridiculously chaotic with ambushes galore. Left 4 Dead 2 is a mustplay for anyone that enjoys the excitement offered by the living dead, which makes it all the more disappointing that we never got a true sequel.

Plants vs Zombies

if you’re looking for a more playful take on the undead, who better to turn to than PopCap? These days, Plants vs. Zombies comes in a couple of flavours so you can pick which you prefer — the original is a simple but endlessly entertaining tower defence game, with later series entries like the Garden Warfare games instead delivering class-based competitive chaos in team-based third-person shooters. They all take the same wacky approach to characters on both sides of the fence, with a host of amusing zombie types on offer that should keep you entertained if you like your undead armies to be more amusing than scary.

They’re still threatening, mind, and in the original game, poor plant placement in later stages can quickly see your garden overrun with legions of zombies of all shapes and sizes — even though there are hard counters to every enemy type in your arsenal, it isn’t easy to get them all into play once the horde is on your doorstep. Despite their comical appearance, the hapless undead of the Plants vs. Zombies games are not to be taken lightly.

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Cowboys, zombies, and the steeds that carried the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse — Red Dead Redemption’s Undead Nightmare DLC blends the open-world Western themes of the main game with a zombie apocalypse beautifully. Do we really need to say anything else? Probably not, because everything you need to know (and inevitably love) about the game is summed up in that first sentence. Undead Nightmare focuses on John Marston again, who is out searching for a cure to the zombie virus that is plaguing the Frontier.

Your adventures will have you taking on infected folk in the extremely satisfying Red Dead way, as well as hunting down various undead creatures and mythical beasts. Honestly, Undead Nightmare could well be one of the best DLC packs to ever be released, and we really hope Rockstar gives us another zombie-filled outing at some point.

Resident Evil 2

Considering how popular and brilliant Capcom’s 2002 GameCube remake of the original Resident Evil was, it’s quite surprising that it took the studio 17 years to get around to giving the sequel the same treatment. It was worth the wait, though, and by delivering familiar locations and threats in stunning 4K while toying with conventions and expectations in creative ways, Resident Evil 2 serves as a perfect example of how remakes should be done. For the most part, the old-school Resident Evil games play to the classic slow, lurching zombies trope, mixing things up with all kinds of other freakish enemy types. The standard shambling brain-munchers have clearly had a lot of work put into them, and the level of detail on display is incredible, both before and after you start blasting chunks out of their bodies or completely dismembering them.

They’re tenacious, too even when missing limbs, they’re relentless in their assault, diving in for lunging bites while armless or dragging themselves towards you when they can no longer walk (a point-blank shotgun to the legs will do that). Better yet, you have to handle them with the typically limited ammo supplies as found in most survival horror games, and while being stalked by the terrifying Mr. X as he roams the halls of the Raccoon City police station and beyond. Capcom’s Resident Evil 2 remake does the PS1 classic proud, and it stands as one of the finest implementations of ‘traditional’ zombies in modern gaming.

Sawyer was full of praise for Capcom’s latest remake in his Resident Evil 4 review, calling it a “fantastic remake that revives and, to a degree, reinvents a classic for a new generation.” While it’s undoubtedly awesome, Resident Evil 4’s enemies aren’t quite zombies, so Resident Evil 2 remains the conquering Resident Evil hero for this list.

State of Decay 2

State of Decay 2 is a zombie apocalypse simulator more than it is an open world to mess about in. To survive this title, you need to carefully learn how to micromanage your community of survivors, build and maintain your base, scavenge for supplies, and fight off hordes of undead. The game adds pressure to your exploits by limiting your inventory space, ensuring weapon degradation is a very real thing, and ammo is scarcely available. It’s a great way to learn about yourself, and your friends if you decide to play cooperatively, because brash

decisions can and will get you killed before you even know what happened. As a first-party title, this is another zombie-infested Game Pass title, and one with 2,400G up for grabs at the time of writing, although unlocking all of that will take a good deal of time and effort...

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

While everything else on this list sees you battling it out with the undead, Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse sees you experience life as a walking corpse. Okay, maybe Stubbs isn’t a terrifying beast like his relatives, but he’s a zombie nonetheless and enjoys brains as a delicacy, so it counts! It’s a remake of the OG Xbox game of the same name and sees you step into the shoes of Eddie Stubbs, who comes back from the dead to cause havoc in his son’s city of Punchbowl. It’s a colourful and light hearted action game that tasks you with murdering humans and eating their brains as you shamble your way through the city. On top of that, it’s just plain fun, with entertaining achievements to boot, with a list that includes completing dance battles, petting sheep, stunning enemies with flatulence, and soiling the water supply “with your finely aged urine,” to name but a few.

The Walking Dead

You know what? Maybe all these scary zombies are just too grim to look at time after time, day after day. Maybe you just want them to be a backdrop to the events of a very human drama… one that may or may not have reduced many a grown man to tears. The Walking Dead was the first Telltale game to really nail the episodic format, introducing us to Lee and Clem along the way. You watch as they become surrogate father and daughter thanks to your involvement over the course of six well-paced episodes. The dialogue, from memory, is really well-written and it is clear that the team had the luxury of time while making this one — something that became clearly lacking in later Telltale projects.

The structure allows for a road trip of events and places, small but impactful moments that blossom into a greater thematic whole, but it works perfectly by keeping that central focus on the two core characters. The drama surrounding the pair often reflects upon what makes Lee and Clem tick, forcing the player to examine their own closely held relationships and make them consider how much they pay attention to the

needs of those they love. The choices you make are pretty shallow by today’s standards — a lot of smoke and mirrors — but if you haven’t played a Telltale game before, it can be frightening to see “Clementine will remember that” pop up on your screen. A solid story with the contextualising zombie outbreak gives The Walking Dead a worthy place on this list, plus it’s a dead easy completion, so give it a go if you haven’t already.

World War Z

Based on Max Brooks’ book, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, World War Z is a thirdperson co-op shooter game that tasks four players with battling their way through various locations

around the world. The game features some of the most impressive zombie hordes we’ve seen to date, filling your screen with hundreds of ravenous creatures. The gunplay in World War Z is fantastic, and there is something extremely satisfying about unloading an assault rifle’s magazine into a tower of the undead. World War Z’s missions are varied enough that they don’t feel too repetitive, either, giving the game a lot of replay ability, mostly due to mission objectives changing slightly each time you play.

It’s on Xbox Game Pass, too, so if you’ve got a subscription to the service, you can play it right now.

dragon ball z: budokai tenkaichi 4 announced after 16 year wait

Bandai Namco has confirmed that a new Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi game is in the works - the first entry in the series in sixteen years. Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 released for PS2 and Nintendo Wii in 2007, and that was the last we saw of the series.

Not that Dragon Ball hasn’t been well-served with games, mind you, with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot launching in January 2020, and the superb Dragon Ball FighterZ releasing in 2018. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 released in 2016, too, and has been well supported with DLC characters ever since - to date, the game has also sold over nine million copies.

A teaser for Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi was posted to Twitter, and features footage from the previous games - presumably, a full, official announcement, for what we imagine will be called Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 4, will be forthcoming, with confirmed platforms and a release window.

Open World Lord Of The Rings MMO Announced

Amazon Games and Embracer Group have announced an agreement to develop and publish a new AAA open world MMO set within The Lord of the Rings universe. It’s coming to unspecified consoles and PC. Currently in the “early stages of production”, The Lord of the Rings MMO will take place in a persistent version of Middle-earth, with Amazon Games Orange County - the studio behind MMO title ‘New World’leading development.

“Bringing players a fresh take on The Lord of the Rings has long been an aspiration for our team, and we’re honoured and grateful that Middle-earth Enterprises is entrusting us with this iconic world” said Amazon Games VP Christoph Hartmann. “We’re also pleased to be expanding our relationship with Embracer Group following our Tomb Raider deal last year, as they’ve proven to be excellent collaborators.”

Amazon Games’ The Lord of the Rings project has yet to be given an official title or a release window, but it will be coming to consoles and PC. Let’s hope that one of those consoles in an Xbox.

Multiversus Open Beta to go Offline with Full Game coming 2024

Warner Bros. Games has announced that the MultiVersus Open Beta will be closing down in June, having launched last July, roping in more than 20 million players as of August.

“Throughout our Open Beta, we’ve been working hard to build the best gameplay experience, and we appreciate all of the inspiration you’ve given us,” said Tony Huynh, Game Director at developer Player First Games. “Our Open Beta has been an important learning opportunity for us and a stepping stone to the next phase of MultiVersus.”

Huynh adds that “there’s still a lot of work to do” in the run up to releasing the full version of MultiVersus, with a focus on “content cadence” for new characters, maps, and mode. Updated net code and matchmaking improvements are also in the pipeline, as is a rework of the game’s progression system.

“To do this the right way, we will be closing the MultiVersus Open Beta on June 25, 2023,” Huynh confirmed in a statement. “As part of this process, we’ll be pausing updates and taking the game offline as we prepare for the launch of MultiVersus, which we are targeting for early 2024.”

With the MultiVersus Open Beta going offline in June, all online modes and features will be unavailable, but there will be “limited” offline access to The Lab (the game’s training area) and local matches, as well as access to characters and cosmetic items. Huynh also states that the team is working to ensure that all progress and content carries into the full version of MultiVersus. The MultiVersus Open Beta is due to go offline from 25th June, with the full game scheduled for release in early 2024.

fortnite ranked play out now

Epic has announced Fortnite Battle Royale and Zero Build Ranked mode is out now, as part of the v24.40 update. To get started, you’ll be able to activate Ranked, and then start earning Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum status, and beyond.

Diamond, Elite, Champion, and Unreal status will be reserved for the best of the best in Fortnite Battle Royale, with Bronze to Diamond level having three ranks apiece, whole Elite, Champion, and Unreal have a single tier. Ranked play rolled out with v24.40, marking Ranked Season Zero, which will last until the end of Fortnite’s Chapter 4 Season 3.

Starting ranks will be determined by past performances in Fortnite Battle Royale and Zero Build, with only one played match required to reveal your initial rank. And once you’ve attained Unreal rank, you’ll remain there for the remainder of the Ranked Season, securing your place as one of the best Fortnite players for that season. Alternatively, you can opt out of your rank being displayed on the leaderboard via the Gameplay Privacy settings. Teams are treated as a single unit, ranks for Battle Royale and Zero Build will be separate, and ranks will be determined by the following:

• Your match placement

• How many eliminations you or your team got in the match

• Eliminations later in the match will count more than eliminations earlier in the match.

• The ranks of the players you or your team eliminated will be considered.

Ranked play will be coming soon to Fortnite Battle Royale and Zero Build with update v24.40, which is out now. The patch will also include the following changes and fixes.

More Coming in v24.40: Balance Changes

• As mentioned above, we’ll be making the following balance changes in v24.40:

• Material caps will be decreased from 999 to 500.

• Harvesting rates will be slightly increased.

• Players will drop 50 of each material when they are eliminated.

Major Bug Fixes Coming in v24.40

• Continuing to make improvements regarding some large rocks on the Battle Royale Island not providing as many materials as intended.

• Fixing an issue preventing players from being healed with Slurp Juice after being DBNO.

• Back Bling’s equipped with the Clone Trooper Outfit will no longer appear detached.

• The Clone Trooper Outfit’s head movement will no longer be static.

• Fixing an issue causing some Outfits to appear glossy.

NVIDIA Announces all new RTX 4060 Range

The Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti is now available for $399, with a $299 RTX 4060 following in July. And yes, there really is going to be a 16GB RTX 4060 Ti at $499, too.

You already know most of this, to be fair, but it’s all official now: the RTX 4060 Ti is going to be on shelf on May 24 with a retail price of $399. Yes, it’s taken five iterations of the new Ada architecture to finally get down to a new GPU priced at the same level as the graphics card it’s replacing.

And then the sixth tier card, the RTX 4060(opens in new tab), is going to be on sale for less than the RTX 3060 launched at. Ah, graphics cards in 2023. They’re a treasure, aren’t they?

The RTX 3060 Ti launched at the same $399 sticker price back in 2020, and next week will see the launch of the RTX 4060 Ti with roughly 17% higher gaming performance. That’s the straight raster performance boost the Ada architecture is delivering in this new generation of mid-range GPU, though there is the extra speed bump you get from the Ada-only magic of Frame Generation.

In games that support it you’re then looking at a 70% performance boost and that’s a lot more tantalising an upgrade than it might otherwise look. Though it’s worth stating that, while more and more games are getting Frame Generation added to them, it’s still not implemented in a particularly broad swathe of PC games.

But, as well as being faster, the AD106 GPU is bringing TSMC’s 4nm efficiency into a more affordable design. At 160W the RTX 4060 Ti has a lower TGP than either the RTX 3060 Ti or the RTX 2060 Super that preceded it. And that’s the same whether we’re talking about the standard 8GB or the 16GB version. Ah yes, the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB card is real, is coming soon, and is more expensive. Nvidia has confirmed that it’s going to launch the 16GB card in July for $499, basically for all those people whining about the fact the RTX 4060 Ti is only launching with 8GB of GDDR6.

And no, the 16GB card doesn’t have any tangible performance benefits over the 8GB version. At least not according to Nvidia’s own performance benchmarks, where it was at pains to point out to me that even in a game that’s been recently highlighted as proof that 8GB isn’t going to be enough for 1080p gaming going forward, it makes no difference.

In Nvidia’s testing of The Last of Us, with its latest PC patch, the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB performs at exactly the same level as the card with 16GB. It must be said, however, that all of Nvidia’s benchmarks are at 1080p, so there could be some performance difference at the higher 1440p resolution where you’d expect the RTX 4060 Ti to still be pretty capable.

Still, why should you pay another $100 for the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB? That, right now, I can’t tell you. The extra $100 is, apparently, about the extra cost of the PCB, and if you’re the sort who really cares about the 8GB vs. 16GB 1080p debate then maybe you’re the sort who will pay more.

Ah, I don’t know really. Suffice to say that if Nvidia had priced the 16GB card any lower—say at $449—then no-one would buy the earlier 8GB version and would just wait for the 16GB to arrive. To me, it smacks of a cynical reaction to the online vitriol over what is seen as a miserly amount of VRAM on a $400 GPU, especially in the face of a slew of terrible PC ports with a voracious appetite for video memory.

July will see the release of another new Ada graphics card, and a new GPU, too. The AD107 GPU will make its desktop debut in the RTX 4060 for $299. It’s a significantly lower spec GPU, likely with fewer CUDA cores than its predecessor if its matching the mobile RTX 4060 as expected. I guess the good news is that this is going to be the first Ada graphics card to launch for below the price of the GPU it’s replacing.

Nvidia’s own numbers place it at 20% faster than the RTX 3060 of the Ampere generation in standard rasterised gaming, with the same 70% uplift as the Ti card when you factor in the games with Frame Generation support.

Sit and think for a moment. How many zombies do you think you’ve brutalised in video games over the years? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? Surely not billions? That’s far too many. Regardless, you’d have thought that by now we’d all be sick of mutilating the undead, but Dead Island 2 somehow manages to make the process of cleaving and bludgeoning rotting hordes as thrilling as the time you slaughtered your very first zombie in cold blood. The secret sauce is in what developer Dambuster Studios calls its ‘FLESH’ system – an acronym that stands for Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids – enabling you to carve into zombies and witness the damage in real-time. It’s gleefully savage and sickeningly satisfying.

As one of six infection-immune Zombie Slayers, each with their own unique abilities and attributes, you’ll start Dead Island 2 by venturing into the salubrious region of BelAir, before the narrative takes you to locations such as Venice Beach, Beverly Hills, and other sun-soaked districts across La La Land. From the streets to the beaches, hotels, boutique stores, and restaurants of LA, you’ll witness the extent of the destruction the outbreak has wrought, scavenging for resources and whatever weapons you can get your hands on. Like the first game (and Riptide, I guess), Dead Island 2 keeps things grounded, veering away from Dying Light’s verticality – you won’t find much in the way of parkour acrobatics here. Not that you really need parkour beyond agile flying kicks or dropkicks, which send the undead reeling in spectacular fashion.

Dead Island 2’s first-person combat is cracking stuff, whether you’re busting zombie skulls with a sledgehammer or slicing and dicing with a katana – limbs fly, skin tears, jawbones flap away, jets of arterial red spurt in all directions,

offal spills in abundance, bones splinter. It’s safe to say that the extreme graphic violence on display in DI2 isn’t for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. There’s depth, too, beyond the mountains of viscera, with Skill Cards to collect and equip, for unique character builds. Skill Cards grant special abilities and attributes, whether it’s a ground pound, acidic expectoration, or a debilitating scream that stuns undead in their tracks. It’s a neat system, which encourages much mixing and matching of different cards to settle upon a loadout that works best for you.

Skill Cards enable you to have Medi kits that cause a small explosion to push enemies back when used, augment your kicking attacks with fire damage, restore small amounts of health when maiming zombies, make enemies explode, or slip out of the grasp of undead automatically when grabbed. Autophage cards bring an additional wrinkle to Skill Cards, as they imbue your Slayer with an advantage, albeit at a health-draining cost or an impact to your raging Fury ability, which is unlocked at a pivotal point in the narrative. Fury, in case you’re wondering, allows you to enter a temporary state in which you claw at enemies with your bare hands, tearing them limb from limb in a crazed, red-hued feral haze.

It’s the Skill Deck that lends Dead Island 2 its ‘X’ factor, allowing you to experiment with playstyles and character configurations, regardless of which Slayer you choose to play as, be it Amy, Bruno, Carla, Dani, Jacob, or Ryan. Its quarantined open-world sliver of Los Angeles is nicely proportioned, too, just big enough to seem expansive without becoming a chore to traverse, especially now that vehicles have been eschewed altogether, forcing you to run everywhere. Fast travel is limited, only

available through maps in safe zones. It would have been nice to be able to fast travel at any time, but hey ho.

As for DI2’s weapons, these by and large take a swerve away from the outlandish, although with mods and upgrades applied at a workbench, you can transform an otherwise pedestrian sword, hammer, polearm, axe, dagger, or firearm into an acid-spewing, electroshocking, flaming, or razor-edged weapon of mass zombie mangling. Blocks and counters add a little finesse to the wanton slaughter, as a well-timed guard can temporarily stun a zombie, leaving them primed for an up-close bludgeoning and a wince-inducing finisher, like putting your fist right through a rotting brainpan, taking a head clean off, or smashing a putrid skull to pieces.

On top of all that, environmental hazards prove to be a constant concern, with red barrels of flammable oil, drums of caustic green goop, and water-filled blue vessels to contend with. Water washes away acid and extinguishes flames, as well as conducting electricity, creating deadly puddles crackling with blue sparks. Supplementing all of that are throwable ‘Curveballs’, like electrified shuriken’s, putrescent meat bait, or good old-

fashioned pipe bombs and Molotov’s, available on a cooldown timer when you need a little extra ‘something’ to fend off the slavering hordes.

Outside of the story, multi-phase Lost & Found scavenger hunts and an array of Side Quests offer extra longevity, as do various Challenges and the pursuit of Legendary weapons among the piles of loot. But it’s the quality of the combat and the spectacle of the unadulterated gore that pulls you through Dead Island 2, as well as the sheer variety of undead queueing up to be horribly flayed and butchered. Observe as the flesh melts off the bones of a zombie afflicted with caustic damage, or as your sword swipes across its stomach, spilling guts on the floor – it never gets old.

A game like Dead Island 2 could have proved rather repetitive, but Dambuster has gone to great lengths to ensure that the nuts and bolts of its game are nice and tight, well-honed, and endlessly gratifying. It might not do much that is particularly new or ground-breaking, but in providing sheer, unbridled fun, it certainly succeeds. A smattering of minor bugs – like a bit of dodgy lip syncing - fail to spoil the party, and, as such, Dead Island 2 emerges as a deliciously disgusting, rollicking good time.

Overall TGG Rating

Dead Island 2 finally crosses the finish line after nine years as an accomplished and deliriously fun first-person zombie mash ‘em up. The stomach-churning gore might not be for everyone, but fans of body horror and viscera will be well-served here.

8/10

Audio

8/10

A nice ominous soundtrack and some smartly deployed licensed tunes inject a sense of fun to the horror, but there’s perhaps a little too much chatter from your character. That said, the game’s voice performances are good.

Visuals

9/10

The zombie maiming system provides a grisly spectacle, while the exotic open world of LA is filled with detailed interiors and exterior vistas. From the mansions and swimming pools of Bel-Air to the filth-encrusted sewers and fancy hotels, Dead Island 2 looks great.

Playability

8/10

As far as games in which you batter zombies are concerned, Dead Island 2 is up there with the best, offering slick and immediate ultra-violence. The whole experience is as tight as a drum, too, with polished gameplay mechanics. Excellent stuff.

Delivery 8/10

A story that runs to just about the right length, an open world divided into self-contained chunks that doesn’t feel empty, and a raft of side quests make for a decent package. We’d have relished a New Game+ option, but that’s sorely missing, unfortunately.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Set within the eponymous city, whose population has been quite literally spirited away by an encroaching fog, Ghostwire: Tokyo is an unusual, rather unique prospect. Developed by The Evil Within creator Tango Gameworks (which counted Resident Evil alum Shinji Mikami among its ranks before his departure in February), the game is ostensibly horror fare, but it soon becomes clear that it’s far less concerned with scares and more interested in engendering a creeping sense of unease. You play as Akito Izuki, a young fella whose limp body has been possessed by a former ghost hunter, known simply as ‘KK’. Brought back to life, Akito must form a fragile alliance with KK, the pair relying on one another to achieve their aims. Doing so is remarkably enjoyable, perhaps more so than you might expect.

Ghostwire: Tokyo is a strange sort of hybrid – first and foremost, it’s essentially a sort of supernatural first-person shooter, KK’s powers enabling Akito to hurl elemental projectiles from his fingers with a Doctor Strange-esque flourish. It’s also an open world bristling with paranormal phenomena. Flicks of Akito’s digits send neon green gusts of wind, spectral blue flashes of water, or white hot balls of flame searing across the screen. Known as ‘Ethereal Weaving’, there’s something hugely gratifying about conjuring magical energy from your fingertips, chipping away at the shells of malevolent foes, referred to as ‘Visitors’, to expose their glowing crystalline spirit cores. Akito is then able to project a bright orange thread to forcibly pull the core from its gaping hole, causing enemies to burst in an eddy of sparkling dust, which gently disperses into the ether.

The head-on approach isn’t always advisable, of course, and, to that end, Akito and KK have

stealth options at their disposal. Entirely optional and very seldom thrust upon you, stealth is often the most viable approach to thin out enemy ranks, and, like fighting faceto-face, it is enormously satisfying, as you tiptoe towards an unaware Visitor and execute a ‘Quick Purge’, violently yanking the core from their chest, blank face contorted into an anguished rictus of panic as you do so. Your options expand as Akito accumulates Spirit Skill Points, drawn from untethered spirits floating all over the city, waiting to be rescued and absorbed by your Katashiro paper doll. It’s then a case of dispensing said spirits at the nearest phone booth, where a secret number input opens a touchpad for transmitting spirits to the netherworld. It’s all incredibly bizarre, but it works brilliantly.

And as you increase Akito’s ‘Synergy Level’ with KK, you can acquire new skills and upgrades to existing abilities, while praying to Jizo Statues peppered across the expansive map increases the number of projectiles you can cast - in simple terms, it extends your ammo count. There’s a lot of fighting to be done in Ghostwire: Tokyo, as Akito strives to save his sister, Mari, and KK looks to reunite with his estranged family. The game’s slice of Tokyo is a generously proportioned open world, teeming with collectibles and Side Missions, so you can easily while away hours searching for mischievous tanuki disguised as seemingly innocuous everyday objects, chasing benign yokai demons for Magatama to unlock skill tree pathways, or helping put spirits with unresolved issues to rest. Cleansing corrupted torii gates, meanwhile, removes the surrounding fog, so you have even more of the city to explore.

One minute, you’ll be sealing away a spectre whose hoarding habits have alienated his

neighbours and isolated him, the next you might be tracking the source of corruption that’s caused a little girl’s piano playing to become eerily discordant or helping someone escape a scissor-wielding Visitor in a hospital. None of the game’s Side Missions feel at all surpluses to requirements, either; some help to flesh out the overall story, revealing more about peripheral characters like KK’s former ghost hunting partner Rinko, or the tragic stories of people whose time was cut short. With mysterious masked antagonist Hannya hellbent on imprisoning souls as part of a plan to merge the material world with the underworld, alongside other masked minions and an army of Visitors, it turns out you’ll need all of the help you can get, too, making additional activities wholly worthwhile.

Gathering the game’s currency of ‘Meika’, for instance, enables you to not only purchase useful consumable items from nekomatafloating two-tailed, kimono-clad cat merchants (brilliant, I know) - but also to acquire additional skill points by purchasing missing KK files, or to grab an extra Magatama or two. Collectibles can also be exchanged at certain vendors for an injection of bonus Meika, while feeding stray dogs will see them dig up cash for you as thanks. Eventually, you’ll be able to summon a tengu as a deployable grappling point to zip to, enabling you to traverse Tokyo’s rooftops, before gracefully leaping and gliding through the air, looking for anything tucked away across

the city skyline. It’s a joy.

Unusual it might look, but Ghostwire’s various ideas and Japanese folklore-inspired weirdness coalesce to make something utterly unique. After 35 hours spent completing every single Side Mission (a few more of which have been added via the new Spider’s Thread update), polishing off the story, and maxing out Akito and KK’s Synergy Level, it speaks volumes that I’m still compelled to return to Ghostwire: Tokyo to mop up the last few collectibles, and bag those final few spirits still lurking down alleyways and on rooftops. I’m a restless spirit with unresolved issues it seems, and I won’t be laid to rest until every single thing in the game has been done and dusted.

As Tango Gameworks’ first game not to be called ‘The Evil Within’, Ghostwire: Tokyo is something rather special. A remarkably interesting beast that defies conventional descriptors, it’s crucially an experience that’s never not fun. Spider’s Thread mode adds a separate roguelike mode to delve into, too, meaning there’s always something to do. Towards the end of Ghostwire: Tokyo, KK remarks that he and Akito just have to “play their game” if they want to defeat Hannya and his minions together, to which Akito replies, “not for too long I hope”. At that point I was sad the narrative was drawing to a close - I’d have been more than happy to “play their game” for far longer.

Overall TGG Rating

Wonderfully, uniquely esoteric, Ghostwire: Tokyo is like little else. A cracking first-person paranormal yarn ripe with fresh ideas, oddly endearing characters, and an immersive world to explore, this is Tango Gameworks’ most assured and accomplished game to date. Get wired in..

8/10

Audio

8/10

A sparingly deployed soundtrack, which gives the atmospheric effects room to unsettle. The interplay between Akito and KK, as the voice in his head, is consistently superb, too.

Visuals

8/10

Whichever of the multiple graphical modes you plump for, Ghostwire: Tokyo looks fantastic. The city really feels alive on Xbox Series X|S, and the game’s supernatural denizens are suitably spooky.

Playability

8/10

Stalking Tokyo’s streets is constantly immersive, but it’s the innate joy of wearing down foes with Akito’s Ethereal Weaving, then tugging the core from their chest that makes Ghostwire such unbridled fun.

Delivery

6/10

An expansive and detailed open world to traverse, with all manner of secrets and Side Missions to tackle. It’s all very polished and well-presented, too, although, if we’re nit-picking, we’d say the action can get a tad repetitive at times. The Spider’s Thread update adds even more value.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Arkane Austin is one of the pedigree developers in video games. The catalogue of outstanding games it’s worked on is up there with the best of the best. Whether it’s extending existing IPs into new ground with the likes of Dishonored 2, rebooting a much-loved IP and smashing it with Prey, or creating a thought-provoking new experience like Deathloop; Arkane has certainly made a name for itself. That’s why it baffles me to my core that the studio’s latest title, Redfall, is just very… ordinary. It has none of the trademark ingenuity that you’d expect from the same studio that brought you Dishonored 2’s Clockwork Mansion. By comparison, Redfall feels incredibly derivative.

Redfall sees you jump into the shoes of one of four unlikely adventurers, trapped in the vampire infested town of the game’s title. Your job is to put an end to the madness and free the people from the vampire occupation. Sounds great, right? Sounds like something that’s right up Arkane Austin’s avenue? It sure does! But the story is perhaps one of the more tepid parts of Redfall. The truth is, it never really takes off.

You’ll venture from neighbourhood to neighbourhood dealing with vampires and zealots in a pretty archaic and uninspired fashion in Arkane Austin’s latest outing. And while taking down vampires and thrusting a stake through their heart is invigorating for the first few hours, it gets increasingly repetitive after you’ve taken down your hundredth bloodsucker. That’s the thing with Redfall, though, there’s nothing inherently wrong with it - it just fails to capture your imagination. It fails to inspire across the board.

Mechanically, quite how Arkane Austin went

from Dishonored 2, Prey, and Deathloop, to this, boggles the mind. Redfall is a pretty generic first-person shooter. And let’s not beat around the bush here, that’s exactly what it is. This isn’t a first-person action-adventure title like Prey or Dishonored - this is a straight up shooter, with a couple of special abilities that recharge on a cooldown, as well as some light looter-shooter and RPG mechanics mixed in for good measure.

Even though the shooting is tight and enjoyable in Redfall, it doesn’t really excel when put alongside other examples of the genre. After you’ve unlocked your third and final ability, the game pretty much stays the same until the end credits, albeit changing ever so slightly when it introduces a few new vampire types at various junctions along the way.

Redfall even has issues mechanically. They range from how long it takes to heal yourself - the game isn’t as fast-paced as it makes out - to other instances of comically bad game design, like enemies pinning you against scenery with no real means of defence. God forbid you have to deal with melee-only vampires with no dodge or block abilities, against enemies who swarm you and pin you against whatever you’re standing against. It’s an incredibly frustrating experience, at times. At Redfall’s core is a shooter-looter mechanic, akin to that of Destiny. In a nutshell, the more formidable the vampire you kill, the better the loot. Which would be great if it was balanced that way. But when an ordinary level 20 gun can outperform a level 18 legendary (AKA an “unrivalled” weapon) in terms of damage, you start to wonder what’s the point in having tiered weapons at all.

Usually with generic, mechanically operated games, you’d expect a game to excel in its set-pieces. Redfall does not. In fact, thinking back, I’d be hard pushed to tell you of more than one set-piece that I actually remembered fondly. Most of them are, basically, shoot everything that spawns, and then move on. As actual shooters go, Redfall is sound. You can’t knock it. But the best shooters, or even firstperson adventure games, pride themselves on providing rip-roaring set-pieces. Aside from a fairly engaging mission that sees you gather three dolls to enter a psychic dollhouse, nothing comes remotely close - and that mission isn’t particularly iconic - it’s just better than the rest. The truth is, that Redfall is thoroughly lacking in its set-pieces, and that’s perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Arkane Austin’s newest IP.

Technically, Redfall is a bit of a mess, too. Granted, we know there’s a 60fps mode coming post-launch, but even now it can’t retain the standard 30fps when things get a bit hectic. And that’s even before we talk about the game visually. Despite being new-gen only, Redfall somehow looks worse than a lot of last-gen games. That’s in part down to the awful texture pop-in, where it can take around 10-20 seconds for most textures to load in, which is criminal for a first-party title that’s been designed to sel consoles on the strength of its performance l

and graphical fidelity. When the fog descends upon Redfall, you may as well pack your bags and accept your inevitable death, too, as you’re unlikely to see death come for you. Just another of Redfall’s graphical disasters.

The game is full of bizarre design choices, too. Things like the lack of compass markers for enemies, godawful AI, formulaic and uninspired boss fights, not being able to return to the first map once you’ve left, and the only punishment for death being the loss of 10% of your earnings. The only thing on the horizon in Redfall is frustration and bewilderment. And heaven forbid the game crashes when you’ve worked your way through an area, because when you load back in, you’re returned to the last safehouse/fast travel point, and you need to kill everyone you literally just killed all over again. It’s not like that’s the only issue we had either; we had numerous bugs and crashes in our 25-ish hours with the game.

Redfall, then, is the perfect Game Pass game. A game not good enough to spend money on, but one that is a perfectly okay romp for 2030 hours. Sure, you’ll have fun, and enjoy the shooting mechanics, but it’s entirely forgettable. It is the quintessential 6/10 game, in that it will occupy your time, keep you entertained, but as soon as you’ve put down the controller, you’ll instantly forget about it.

Overall TGG Rating

Redfall is perhaps one of Bethesda and Arkane Austin’s most ordinary titles. A perfectly competent first-person shooter that does little to raise itself above the competition. The perfect Game Pass game that’s not worth the money, but is worth a casual weekend of play..

6/10

Audio

6/10

While the voice acting isn’t actually that bad, the musical score is a lot like the game itself, forgettable.

Visuals

5/10

This is the worst looking new-gen-only game I’ve played. That’s probably mostly down to the worst texture pop-in that I’ve ever seen. 10-15 seconds to spawn a texture is ludicrous. It’s just a really badly optimised game.

Playability

7/10

Redfall is a perfectly enjoyable and incredibly tight first-person shooter. You’ll never once curse the controls - except when you get pinned by a gaggle of vampires - and you’ll have fun slaying vampires and the like.

Delivery

5/10

For a game with solid shooter mechanics, perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Redfall is its delivery. There aren’t many set-pieces to write home about, and the open-world is formulaic. You’ve played Redfall a hundred times before, which isn’t usually the case with an Arkane Austin title.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Capcom is fast becoming a master of the remake. And while you might question the need for a remake of Resident Evil 4 - which still holds up rather well, eighteen years on – playing this new version of what is widely considered to be one of the series’ finest outings, puts to bed any nagging doubts that a remake might have proven to be a superfluous exercise. To veteran players, Resident Evil 4 may seem immediately familiar, but from the outset, it’s clear that this is a stellar remake in the same vein as 2019’s Resident Evil 2 redo – a remix of the key events and set pieces that retains the spirit and feel of the original.

Having survived one ordeal, in Resident Evil 2, Leon S. Kennedy returns for another in RE4, sent on an assignment to rescue Ashley Graham, the daughter of the US President. His mission takes him to a mysterious village, where things inevitably go from bad to worse, and soon Leon finds himself embroiled in a whole lot of mess surrounding an infection known as ‘las plagas’; a brain-mangling parasite that transforms its hosts into mindless drones called Ganado (quite literally human ‘cattle’). The deeper you venture down into Resident Evil 4’s rabbit hole, the weirder and more intense it gets –this is a game that’s been rearranged to be as relentlessly unnerving as possible, keeping you permanently on edge throughout.

Some parts of the game have been fleshed out and expanded, while a few judicious cuts have been made to sequences that some might consider memorable. But when all is said and done, the edits that Capcom has made are entirely warranted – Resident Evil 4 is all the leaner and more efficient for it, and, ultimately, these feel like carefully considered trims to certain fatty bits of the old game. You probably won’t miss the absence of certain scenes,

and the wealth of new content on offer more than makes up for the chunks that have been nixed. To go into specifics would be veering dangerously close to spoiler territory, but most of the changes work in the game’s favour.

Elements from newer Resident Evil games and remakes have also been implemented for RE4, so you can craft ammunition and grenades using tins of gunpowder and bags of resources found scattered hither and thither. Managing Leon’s attaché case is also far simpler, as you can send weapons to storage to free up space or click in the left thumb stick to automatically sort the items in your inventory. While we’ll miss whiling away time spinning a first aid spray and box of handgun bullets into the perfect position, it’s nice to play a Resident Evil in which fussing with your inventory isn’t a persistent concern. Again, it’s an effort to pare back anything unnecessary or surplus to requirements.

Once again, Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine works wonders, too, staining every inch of Resident Evil 4’s oppressive environments with disgusting grime and vile decrepitude. Gunplay is wonderfully crunchy, every bullet that thumps into flesh imbued with real impact, as enemies react realistically, or as realistically as a creature with eyeballs and tentacles all over its body possibly can. RE4’s infected also attack in greater numbers, making the ability to parry using Leon’s combat knife a real boon during some of the game’s more fraught encounters. And there are plenty of those. Thankfully, Ashley is far less of a liability, and can be instructed to give you space when things get heated or come in tighter when you need her to follow closely.

Some sequences can prove somewhat

overwhelming, even at the game’s ‘Standard’ difficulty, which is recommended for newer players. Hardcore mode, meanwhile, is supposedly for anyone who played the original eighteen years ago – I’ve played RE4 through on multiple occasions and managed to scrape through the remake in just under twenty hours, frequently scrabbling for ammunition and health items. Hardcore is perhaps a little beyond me.

Saving up pesetas to spend at the Merchant (yes, he’s back, and he’s issued a few optional requests for you to complete) certainly helps to ease the burden, as he furnishes you with new and better weapons at a steady cadence throughout the game. Treasures, some outfitted with gemstones, can be sold for extra cash, and being able to repair your combat knife’s durability and upgrade your weapons via the tune up option at the Merchant, keeps you striving to hoard currency in order to enhance Leon’s survivability and weapon efficacy.

Managing to make it through a particularly challenging section unscathed feels like a real

achievement – Resident Evil 4’s challenging difficulty, and the regularity with which it punishes you, ensures the experience still thrums with the pulse of old-school survival horror, despite its action trappings. Even having an abundance of ammo at your disposal fails to ever engender a sense of comfort. It can all quite easily be rinsed during your next encounter, leaving you vulnerable. You’re often on the back foot.

By the time you’ve reached the end of Resident Evil 4, in all probability you’ll feel utterly exhausted. But you’ll be exhausted while wearing a big smile on your face, more than prepared to embark upon a New Game+ run, possibly at a higher difficulty, shooting for a better rank and completion time. RE4 can be stressful, uncompromisingly intense, occasionally a tad egregious (Salazar being able to gobble up Leon in one fell swoop being one such example), but it’s never anything less than an unbridled pleasure. This is further evidence that Capcom is the master of the remake, and Resident Evil 4 exemplifies how they should be done.

Overall TGG Rating

A remake full of changes and adjustments that stays true to the spirit of the original, Resident Evil 4 can’t be seen as anything but a complete success. Some may malign what’s missing, but the areas that have been added or expanded more than make up for what’s been taken out. This is brilliant stuff. 9/10

Audio 9/10

An atmospheric score by Kota Suzuki and superb sound design by Hiroshi Tamura ensure that the RE4 remake sounds suitably eerie. Voice acting is great, too, Leon’s English language voice actor, Nick Apostolides, delivering one-liners with glee.

Visuals 9/10

The RE Engine delivers once again, with rich, detailed imagery and gorgeous lighting. Some mild texture pop-in notwithstanding, Resident Evil 4 looks stunning, whether it’s the gloopy look of las plagas mutants, the various shadowy interiors, or mist-shrouded vistas.

Playability

8/10

Capcom has done another bang-up job here. This is the familiar RE4 experience you know and love, but with tight gunplay, new stealth mechanics and knife-based parrying that feel like a natural fit, and just the right amount of survival horror challenge.

Delivery 9/10

The changes here are, by and large, for the better, although the absence of Ada’s Separate Ways mission hints at possible DLC. Mercenaries is set to be added post-launch, too, but there’s masses of replay value and loads of new content in the base game.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Last time we saw Cal Kestis, in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, he was starting to become quite the formidable wielder of the Force and lightsaber master. In Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, we initially find Cal in shackles, set to be brought before an Imperial Senator. Evidently, a lot has happened to the burgeoning Jedi in the five years since the events of the first game, and developer Respawn Entertainment has been on its own journey, broadening the scope of Cal’s journey for an ambitious, sprawling sequel.

Within the first few hours, it’s abundantly clear that this is a Jedi quest on a far grander scale than Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Survivor offers fewer planets to explore, but it’s handful of locations are much larger, more diverse, more layered, and far more detailed. With Kestis still on the run, his old pal Greez’s Pyloon Saloon on Koboh feels like a real safe haven, with its welcoming bar, massive aquarium, and rooftop garden. Koboh itself is a large and varied place to poke around in, too, with chocobo-esque Nekkos to ride, and myriad other methods of traversal at your disposal.

Despite being a far heftier game than its predecessor, Survivor remains every bit as focused, with an engaging storyline nestled amid an array of ‘Rumours’ (side quests, essentially) to pursue, Bounties to track down, and items to dig up for exchange at various vendors. Building upon Fallen Order’s Metroidvania structure, Survivor expands greatly upon what the previous game started,

giving Cal even more acrobatic skills to reach new areas, providing an enjoyable platforming challenge (with a smattering of environmental puzzles) between bouts of tight and immediate Jedi combat. You can wall run, you can double jump, you can grapple to designated points, and, later on, you can athletically dash through the air. It’s great.

One of the best things about Fallen Order was its combat (a perfect parry remains a singular joy), and Survivor adds a number of new abilities and stances to Cal’s repertoire, enabling you to mix things up as often as you like. You’re only able to equip two stances at any one time, so you can combine the purity of a single lightsaber with a Kylo Ren-style Crossguard lightsaber, granting the speed and agility of one, and the raw, defence-breaking power of the other. Dual wielded lightsabers and the Darth Maul-style double-ended saber are back, too, but it’s the Blaster stance that’s the biggest addition, giving you an uncivilised shooter to complement your more graceful, balletic lightsaber swishes. Think Like A Dragon Ishin!’s Wild Dancer gun and katana fighting style, and you’re most of the way there.

It’s blindingly obvious that Survivor is a major evolution over Fallen Order, then, building upon practically every facet of what that game did so well in meaningful ways. The lightsaber mechanics are sharper, the Force powers have more impact, and, in general, there’s a

greater degree of versatility to both traversal and combat. And while the central narrative is absorbing, the range of side content, distractions, and other activities succeed in immersing you in Survivor’s little corner of the Star Wars universe. Customising Cal with all manner of hairstyles, facial hair combos, jackets, shirts, and trousers is fun, too, thanks to some proper Star Wars-style duds that look like they’ve been lifted right out of any number of characters’ galactic wardrobes.

It’s something of a shame, then, that the game is hampered by a few bothersome bugs and performance issues. Texture pop-in, crashes, and a sludgy frame rate - even when playing in the frame rate-favouring Performance Mode - all conspire to scuff what is an otherwise brilliant experience – especially galling as this is a new-gen-only release. If you’re lucky, you’ll only experience one or two glitches here and there, but some players have found themselves falling afoul of progress-blocking or even game-breaking bugs. Fortunately, we managed to finish Jedi: Survivor without too much heartache. And we can forgive the fact that more than a handful of its environments are broken up by Cal shimmying through a narrow gap, presumably to disguise loading times.

No doubt, given time, Respawn will soon patch up Survivor - in much the same way it fixed Fallen Order’s range of technical shortcomings - and all of the game’s problems will fade into irrelevance. What really stands out is the studio’s deep understanding of what it is that’s so special about Star Wars, from the battered starships where every scratch on the hull has a story to tell, to the lived-in cantinas and shacks,

abandoned Jedi Temples, and deep caverns harbouring lost secrets. Maybe you’ll find an ancient Jedi Scroll, or perhaps you’ll open a hidden crate with a soul patch inside it. Who knows how long that soul patch has been in there, just waiting to be discovered. There’s joy to be had in unearthing the lore and stories nestled away in Jedi: Survivor’s expansive world. Or in finding some new hair, a new beard, or cool jacket in a box.

Again, like Fallen Order, the Souls like mechanics work for Jedi: Survivor, with Meditation Points providing a bonfire-style respite and the chance to replenish your health and stims, albeit respawning enemies in the process. You can also change up stances, spend Skill Points on health and Force upgrades, new moves, and more, or Fast Travel to other Meditation Points. One or two fairly nasty difficulty spikes (one late-game boss battle drove me to despair) aside, the level of challenge is also nicely balanced, ensuring you feel increasingly empowered as Kestis’s Jedi prowess develops through upgrades and newly acquired abilities.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is, at its heart, everything a sequel should be, expanding upon practically every element that was executed so well in Fallen Order, while introducing an extensive selection of new stuff, and moving Cal’s saga forward with its fair share of revelatory plot developments. Should the game have been delayed once more for some extra polish? Definitely. Is Star Wars Jedi: Survivor still a sensational experience and a fantastic story set within a galaxy far, far away, in spite of its issues? Undoubtedly. As such, this is essential, especially for any Star Wars fan.

Overall TGG Rating

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was great, and, happily, Jedi: Survivor is even better. In its current prepatched state, its performance is a bit of a let-down, but look beyond the irritating bugs, and you’ll find what might just be one of the finest Star Wars games of all time.

8/10

Audio 8/10

Composers Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab channel the spirit of John Williams to great effect, while Ben Burtt’s iconic Star Wars sounds immerse you within the iconic sci-fi universe. Sublime stuff.

Visuals

8/10

A sensational-looking game hampered by a frame rate that chugs ever so slightly, though never enough to spoil the experience. Some texture pop-in and other occasional bugs can be quite annoying.

Playability

8/10

Fallen Order’s lightsaber combat undergoes a meaningful evolution, while traversal and platforming is immensely enjoyable. Were it not for the technical issues, this would be nigh-on perfect.

Delivery 8/10

Survivor is a much bigger game and has New Game+, but its execution falls ever so slightly short. It’s nothing that can’t be fixed with patches, of course, yet in its ‘out-of-the-box’ day one state, the bugs are a mite vexing.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

With WWE 2K22 setting 2K’s beleaguered wrestling franchise back onto the rails last year, WWE 2K23 is an opportunity for developer Visual Concepts to refine and build upon what’s come before, and that’s precisely what the studio has done. This year’s entry is another strong showing, shoring up and tightening up the gameplay, while expanding the range of available features, modes, and match types – the result is a game that’s quite possibly even better and more comprehensive than its forebear. No mean feat.

Greeted by UpUpDownDown’s Austin Creed (better known as WWE Superstar, Xavier Woods) delivering an energetic optional tutorial to get you better acquainted with the fundamentals, WWE 2K23 then drops you into a clean and well-presented main menu, where you’ll find all of the basic quick play matches, card-based MyFaction mode, the deeply involving MyGM mode, the MyUniverse sandbox, and the storydriven MyRise mode. That’s before you even get to the creation suite and the wealth of online options.

The headline here is cover star John Cena’s 2K Showcase, amusingly titled ‘You Can’t Beat Me!’, in which your sole task is to work through all of the times that the WWE icon lost in the ring during his otherwise victory-studded career. Your job is to uphold those defeats, which means playing as a range of grappling Legends, from Rob Van Dam to The Rock, Kurt Angle, Edge, Batista, and Undertaker, facing Cena during key moments of his WWE tenure. It’s all remarkably well presented, with liveaction archive footage once again blending seamlessly with gameplay, framing each objective-driven bout, as Cena offers rare, personal insight between each match.

MyGM has also been expanded, with more brands to choose from, including staple WWE shows like RAW and SmackDown, as well as WCW, NXT, and NXT 2.0. The number of playable managers has increased, too, with Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, and Eric Bischoff joining the fold. That said, the concept remains much the same, as you draft your own stable of Superstars to compete with your rivals, book matches and promos in a bid to chase the highest ratings possible and manage both your budget and the needs of your talent. It’s involving and engaging stuff, but perhaps not quite as immediately gratifying as MyRise or MyFaction.

As ever, MyRise is a good place to start, as you guide a custom superstar from their debut, this time as a burgeoning prospect known as ‘The Lock’ (something that The Rock humorously takes issue with during a social media exchange with your character). From a series of grudge matches with Sami Zayn, you’ll soon join forces with certain factions, making choices at pivotal moments that determine the path your WWE career will take. You can even choose to behave disrespectfully towards other Superstars, although don’t expect that your character will be particularly well liked if you do.

Either way, you’ll earn attribute points to improve your custom Superstar, until you embark upon ‘The Legacy’ portion of the MyRise story to cement your status as a WWE Legend. This is a full-fledged career mode, then, although it’s much like last year’s MyRise, and it’s also hamstrung by some pretty appalling loading times, even on new-gen hardware. But then, WWE 2K23’s load times are fairly shoddy

across the board – perhaps that’s something for Visual Concepts to look at addressing in WWE 2K24.

Of course, all of these deep and compelling modes count for nothing if the gameplay doesn’t have it where it counts, and happily, WWE 2K23 is an even smoother, more intuitive experience than its predecessor. Those allimportant counter windows feel even slicker, the fluidity of the action is right on the money, and the ability to block and dodge adds an extra facet to proceedings. Combos are also easier to string together, and it’s clear that an onus has been placed squarely on delivering crisp, unfussy, and accessible fun. WWE 2K23 is far and away the most immediate and enjoyable wrestling game I’ve played since the old days of WWF No Mercy or the series’ heyday under former WWE developer Yuke’s.

With MyFaction adding longevity through daily challenges, Proving Grounds and Weekly Towers, as well as ongoing Faction Wars and online showdowns, no stone has been left unturned here. On top of all that, there’s community-created content to consider, and a wealth of multiplayer modes, which conspire to make WWE 2K23 every bit the full-fat wrestling game. Nothing is missing. Factor in a generous roster of 200-odd Superstars and Legends that covers a huge chunk of both the WWE’s modern day and its past glories, in a game that’s impeccably presented and put together, and you have the makings of something truly excellent, even if it’s somewhat iterative rather than revolutionary.

But then, WWE 2K23 didn’t need to bring about sweeping changes. Instead, it manages to improve upon WWE 2K22 in a meaningful way, and that’s more than enough.

Overall TGG Rating

An improvement over WWE 2K22, which was itself a superb wrestling game, WWE 2K23 has one of the best 2K Showcases to date, and fluid gameplay that’s easy to pick up and play, but tricky to master. The champ is here.

8/10

Audio

8/10

A decent enough soundtrack, but it seems like the same three tracks play on a loop. Superstars who lend their voices do a fine job, too.

Visuals

8/10

WWE 2K23 is a fantastic-looking game, boasting all of the pomp, pyrotechnics, and bombast of reallife WWE. Only a handful of minor physics schisms pop up now and then.

Playability

8/10

Where the previous game brought with it a complete revamp, WWE 2K23 refines and polishes, making for the most accessible and immediately enjoyable entry yet.

Delivery

8/10

Overflowing with modes, options, features, and a massive roster of Superstars, there’s not much, if anything, missing from WWE 2K23. The downside? Some crap loading times. That’s about it.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

What is the true meaning of strength? Is it how hard you can hit, or is it something less tangible, something that comes from deep within? Or perhaps it’s how far you can chuck a fireball? You can ponder what the true meaning of strength is while playing Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mode, a semi-open-world, storydriven affair, in which your custom avatar embarks upon a quest to – you guessed it –discover the true meaning of strength. And who’d have thought that in order to achieve this epiphany, you’d need to go around picking fights with all and sundry? Next time you’re out on the town and see thugs getting into a ruck, remember, they’re just seeking the true meaning of strength. It just happens to be after fourteen beers.

World Tour is a good place to begin your Street Fighter 6 journey, although purists will no doubt make a beeline for the Battle Hub or Fighting Ground for straight up, unadulterated 1v1 brawling. In World Tour, you’ll find yourself initially learning how to fight under the tutelage of new guy Luke (following his debut as the final DLC fighter for SFV), hitting the streets alongside brash student Bosch. Before long, you’ll be rubbing shoulders, trading blows, and learning new moves with several other ‘masters’, like Chun-Li, Ryu, Ken, Blanka, Juri, Dee Jay, E. Honda, and muscular newcomer Marisa, who has her red tresses styled into the shape of a gladiator’s helmet. As you do.

While there are a fair few fetch quests and countless brawls to partake in during World Tour, Capcom is to be applauded for taking a stab at implementing a proper, full-blooded story mode in Street Fighter 6 - replete with

light RPG elements like XP, skill trees and the like - where a conventional Arcade mode would have sufficed. For its duration, World Tour is enjoyable, even when you’re battering random Mad Gear thugs with cardboard boxes on their heads for the umpteenth time. Set primarily in Final Fight’s once crime-ridden Metro City (which has been mostly cleaned up by former Mayor Mike Haggar), you have free rein to run around fighting with anyone who crosses your path, while exploring alleyways and overpasses, or shopping for new duds.

Surprisingly deep, World Tour turns out to be the most elaborate tutorial ever, as each master gives you new moves and the story drip-feeds new mechanics to learn. You can ape any master’s style, and then cherry-pick moves, making your avatar fighter unique, which is a nice touch. Regardless, your avatar will always look grotesque, no matter how hard you try. Anyway, by the time you’re working towards qualifying for Haggar’s fighting tournament in the arena that bears his name, you’ll be well versed in much of what SF6 has to offer. And if that all sounds like a lot, then there’s always the traditional tutorial and practice mode to be found in the Fighting Ground portion of the game. This is where you’ll find the core Street Fighter experience – key modes like Arcade, Versus, and the frenetic Extreme Battle (bouts in which random modifiers keep things interesting).

Battle Hub is SF6’s online arena, where the lobby is no longer a simple menu, but a threedimensional place in which you can control your avatar, running around and interacting with other players, before sitting down at one

of the arcade cabinets to spectate or take part in a fight. It’s here that you’ll discover how vital Street Fighter 6’s new ‘Drive System’ is – mastering it essentially means life or death when playing online, given that you can use a Drive Parry manoeuvre to deflect attacks (for as long as your Drive Gauge will allow, before you’re placed in a ‘Burnout’ state). Drive Impacts and Drive Reversals can turn the tide during a showdown, too, so getting to grips with the system’s nuances will naturally give you an edge. The Drive System is SF6’s new secret sauce, adding a wonderful tactical layer to Capcom’s long-running series.

Using the default four-button Modern control system, it’s far easier to juggle special moves and Drive skills, while the Dynamic control setting enables button mashers to get something out of the game. If you’re an old hand at Street Fighter (like myself), you’ll naturally opt for the Classic control system, with good old quarter-rolls of the d-pad required to unleash special moves (really, if you’re not throwing Hadoukens like this, then what are you doing?). Don’t expect to jump online with the Modern control system and expect an easy ride, though – you’ll still get hammered if you don’t have a handle on the fundamentals. But make no mistake, this is by far the most welcoming and accessible Street Fighter game to date. Come one, come all. It’s great.

SF6’s also brings a fair few newcomers to its roster, placating the old guard with all eight Street Fighter II ‘World Warriors’ (Ryu, Ken, Blanka, Chun-Li, Dhalsim, E. Honda, Guile, Zangief), two Super Street Fighter II characters (Cammy and Dee Jay), while Super SF IV’s Juri, Luke from SFV return, alongside Kimberly, Jamie, Manon, Marisa, Lily, and new psychopowered villain JP, who are entirely new to the series. Eighteen characters might seem a mite paltry, compared to other recent fighting games with their bulging rosters in the dozens (and the absence of classic boss characters like M. Bison, Sagat, Vega, and Balrog is a blow), SF6’s small, more curated roster hints at Capcom’s focus in ensuring each one has its place – quality over quantity, as it were.

As for Street Fighter 6’s chunky art style, it’s

difficult not to go back and forth on whether it’s visually appealing or not. In World Tour, many of the NPCs (clearly generated using the game’s intricate character customisation tools) look ugly, while the masters you encounter look good in cutscenes, but look bizarre ingame. You need only gaze at Ken’s unusually squashed head (or, indeed, your own custommade abomination) to wonder what’s going on. Given that Capcom has built this using the usually stellar RE Engine, it’s baffling that SF6 lacks a certain visual ‘wow’ factor, and a chugging frame rate during fights in World Tour only compounds things. That said, outside of World Tour, Street Fighter 6 looks fantastic, running and playing like a dream, whether you’re playing online or sat on a sofa playing with friends.

Crucially, Street Fighter’s universal appeal remains intact in Street Fighter 6. The game has changed and added enough new stuff without compromising what makes the series unique. In World Tour, the visual presentation can be a little rough around the edges, but the depth, detail, and bonus unlockables on offer more than make up for it. Nonetheless, as a package, taken with Fighting Ground and Battle Hub, Street Fighter 6 is terrific – few fighting games cram in this much content, and fewer still manage to imbue it all with such effortless verve. Make no mistake, this is Capcom firing on all cylinders, abundantly aware of the true meaning of strength.

Overall TGG Rating

As Street Fighter approaches its 36th year, Capcom proves that it still has what it takes to make a cracking fighting game. Street Fighter 6 not only feels fresh and vital thanks to its excellent World Tour mode and online Battle Hub, but it cements the series’ credentials as one of the best around.

8/10

Audio 7/10

None of the music is quite as ear wormy as the seminal tunes from Street Fighter II, but then, what is? Voice work is decent, and if you enjoy hip hop, you’ll dig the soundtrack.

Visuals

7/10

In Fighting Ground and Battle Hub, there’s no faulting Street Fighter 6’s RE Engine graphical fidelity and performance. In World Tour, things are more inconsistent, unfortunately.

Playability

8/10

Unmistakable, beautifully familiar, still brilliant, Street Fighter 6 is sensational stuff. Modern and Dynamic controller options, meanwhile, welcome in newbie players.

Delivery

8/10

World Tour offers a nice slab of story, while Fighting Ground has all of the usual modes you’d expect. Battle Hub is the place to do all of your online scrapping.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

Diablo, as a franchise, is up there with the best of the best when it comes to action roleplaying games (ARPGs). The king of the genre. A lot of that heritage, however, comes from the earlier iterations in the franchise - games like Diablo and Diablo II that were considered to be some of the greatest games ever made. In recent years though, Diablo has found itself in a bit of a quandary, as the ARPG field has gotten more and more competitive. Games like Path of Exile and, to a lesser extent, Torchlight, have surged to the top of the tree, while Diablo seemed to be stuck in the past a touch. Diablo IV appears to be Blizzard’s answer to some of those questions raised.

Diablo IV sees you jump into the shoes of an unwitting wanderer, trekking across the world Sanctuary as the battle between its two creators hots up, thanks to the return of Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto. You’ll battle across five regions, made up of a wide variety of biomes, as you attempt to put an end to Lilith and her uprising. Perhaps one of the best things about Diablo across its entire existence has been its lore and story, and Diablo IV continues that tradition in fine fashion. The world is just a joy to get lost in. In fact, thanks to some truly iconic dungeons, in terms of aesthetics and allnew in-game cutscenes, Diablo IV is Blizzard at the top of its game. Better than any of its competitors, and the best in the series. While incredibly lengthy, Diablo IV’s story does more than enough to see you from beginning to end, intrigued to see which way the tale weaves.

Unlike previous entries though, Diablo IV is an open-world game, clearly taking inspiration from POE, but don’t let that fool you - the storyrelated dungeons are still as iconic and as

self-contained as they’ve ever been. Beyond that, with hundreds of side quests and optional dungeons too, you’ll never be short of things to do. And that’s before we talk about the postgame content, open-world recurring events, and world bosses you can take down. In fact, the post-game content, that ranges from Whisper and Helltide events, to Capstone and Nightmare dungeons, offers more than enough reason to keep building out your character past the level 50 soft-cap (levels 50 to 100 in Diablo IV lean into the game’s Paragon boards, which can truly make your character infinitely more powerful). From a delivery perspective, it’s hard to really fault the content Blizzard throws your way, offering both quantity and variety.

One of Diablo IV’s biggest hang-ups is that it takes a while to get going, but when it does, it really falls into a rhythm. That said, after a certain point, when you’ve unlocked all the abilities that you’re happy with, the game can begin to feel a little static and one-note. The truth is, however, that when you’re fully kitted out with how you want your build to shape up, some of the other RPG mechanics truly come into play and elevate the game to a new level. Being able to destroy legendaries and retain their legendary abilities (known as ‘Aspects’), which you can then slot into other bits of gear, mean that you can tailor your character even further - and these aren’t just some generic stat boosts either, these aspects grant new passive abilities and skills. Diablo IV boasts some impressive depth if you really get into the nuts and bolts of the RPG mechanics, something that is necessary if you want to tackle the game solo on World Tier 2 (Veteran).

Diablo IV isn’t without its issues though.

While some of the bosses are interesting and challenging, Blizzard’s solution to more than a few of Diablo IV’s boss fights is to spam you with homing projectile attacks or overwhelming you with a never-ending supply of mobs as part of the boss fight itself, or, more often than not, both at the same time. If anything, it just feels like an artificial way to make a boss fight more difficult, rather than more interesting. Frequently, I spent most of those boss fights running in circles around the arena waiting for my abilities to cool down. It felt more like a Benny Hill sketch as opposed to an epic dungeon-crawler boss fight. In the early game, the boss fights can feel a little unbalanced too, whether they’re main quest bosses or optional dungeon bosses, until you’ve unlocked multiple abilities, weapons that regen health, more potion capacity, equipment gifting more dodges, and lean into the aforementioned Aspects and Codexes of Power.

On top of all of that, there’s some frankly bizarre design choices, like the game’s stun mechanic, which can instantly kill you if you’re in the middle of a mob, and proves immensely frustrating. Add into that enemies that jump from off-screen, and some foes with bubble shields that nuke any kind of range build you’ve made, and sometimes you’re left scratching your head how these made it into the final product. Luckily, the game does make it very accessible to respec your character - say from a rogue archer to a rogue dual-wielder - but that can get very expensive quickly. I’m still not 100% sold on having one dodge ability every five seconds either, as it makes the game feel archaic in some respects - although you can get gear that gives you more, which I recommend keeping hold of.

Fortunately, from a technical perspective, we

really only encountered one bug, a bug that deprived us of the ability to attack, with only a full reboot fixing it. Other than that and a few connection issues, the game actually runs pretty great, with no frame-rate issues anywhere to be seen, something that can usually hamper ARPGs, especially when the screen is chock full of enemies.

Other than that, a lot of what makes Diablo IV a smooth experience are the quality of life additions that many will take for granted. Small things like the sort function not only sorting our inventory by type, but by strength as well, are incredibly appreciated and cut down on that classic ARPG faff. Blizzard have also put a great deal of care and attention into players that want to try a new character too with persistent unlocks (like healing potion capacity upgrades and once you’ve unlocked the mount, it stays unlocked for all character), storage and gold that works across all your characters, and there’s even the ability to skip the campaign entirely if you’ve already completed it once. It’s certainly an area that Blizzard have doubled down on, and it makes Diablo IV all the better for it.

While Diablo IV might not set any new standards in the genre, it’s a thoroughly well-crafted ARPG, with plenty of depth, a pretty phenomenal game world, and some addictive gameplay. With an absolute ton of content, Diablo IV is a game you could get lost in for months, and thanks to the game’s new online persistent open-world, there’s always something to sink your teeth into. Sure, it may feel a little archaic and repetitive at times, and some of the boss fights are exercises in overwhelming the player more than anything else, but Diablo IV is a fun ride, with some incredible depth in its RPG mechanics.

Overall TGG Rating

Diablo IV boasts a new look, with its new open-world and online format, but at its heart, it’s very much a classic Diablo experience. A little old-school still, sure, but the core combat is still as fun and addictive as ever, and there’s RPG mechanics for days to sink your teeth into.

9/10

Audio

9/10

The Diablo IV original score is absolutely sublime. It’s one of those iconic compositions that even if you hadn’t played Diablo IV, you’d recognise it in an instant. On top of that, the voice acting is sublime, especially Ralph Ineson as Lorath, and what we can only assume is Corinne Kempa, as Neyrelle.

Visuals

9/10

Visually, Diablo IV is great, but it’s the vision, creativity and world building that truly delights the senses.

Playability

8/10

Diablo IV plays pretty damn great, but it does feel a little more archaic than other ARPGs out there.

Delivery

9/10

I was a little sceptical about the new open-world format, but it truly works. With hundreds of side quests and optional dungeons, a lengthy story, and plenty of post-game and open-world content, it could take you months to see everything that Diablo IV has to offer.

Version tested: Xbox Series X

Reviewed by: Brandon Sawyer

tigressx

TigressX is a UK content creator whose main platform is TikTok amassin almost one million followers where she produces wonderful VR content, not only that she also has over 80k followers on Twitch and is a seasoned veteran at Beat Saber.

Hey TigressX, First of all, we would like to thank you for chatting with us today. How have you been?

Thank you for having me! Life has been super busy in the last few months but in the best kind of way, lots of exciting things are happening.

It is very great to hear you have been busy and a bunch of exciting things have been happening. So let’s start from the beginning, tell us a little bit about your streaming & Content Creation life, how long have you been streaming/making content and what made you want to start?

Technically I’ve been streaming for around 15 years but online content was so different back then, it was barely even a thing. It’s strange to think back to a time when YouTube or twitch were just barely beginning and there were no tools to make money there yet. I just wanted to play games and share some silly gaming videos online, the thought never even crossed my mind that this could one day be an actual job.

15 Years wow that’s some veteran status right there! One of the hardest things is choosing the name which suits you best and having a unique name like yours, please tell us where the name TigressX came from. Is there a background story?

It’s actually kind of cringey. Me and my best friend would bring games into College on a USB and we ran little gaming tournaments and would always set our names to something

super similar each match and they would often be animal related. Once we had the names TigerX and TigressX and it just sort of stuck for me.

Bit of a background story, nice! Some serious nostalgia rocking a USB with games on that’s for sure. We see your main focus is VR games, how come you chose this specific type of gaming?

I’ve been a big gaming nerd my whole life and as soon as I tried VR gaming a few years ago I was just obsessed. I wanted to experiment with what I could create with it and that’s when I started my mixed reality content. I set up a mixed reality studio in my house and learnt everything I needed to make it look like I’m actually inside the game world in my videos. The way I see it, VR is only going to get bigger and bigger so I think it’s a great niche to make content with.

Such a great passion for VR we love to see it, you are right with VR over the years it will only progress further and further. On the subject of VR, what would be your all-time favourite VR Game?

I guess I’d have to say Beat Saber because it’s the game that I have spent the most time creating content with. It has so many mods that you can basically play any song that you want. There’s even a mod called Feet Saber which I play a lot and it basically makes the game like a VR version of Dance Dance Revolution, you play the game with your feet, it’s hilarious. I’m just a huge fan of rhythm games in general

Damn, what I’d do to play some DDR right about now, we do however love playing beat saber so we can see the love for such a great game. What would be your top 3 VR games?

I’m going to go with Beat Saber, Synth Riders and VRChat.

Very solid choice there, for me I love the zombie slaying stuff so TWD: Saints & Sinners would have to take place too. On the subject of Beat Saber, what was your hardest song and why?

I honestly wouldn’t know. I can play the very difficult expert++ maps no problem but it’s not often that I do, it’s been a long time since I’ve played a map that I found difficult. My content revolves more around what new music is popular and what music is more fun and dancey to play and those maps aren’t usually difficult ones.

My Beat Saber livestreams usually last for 4 hours so I have to be careful not to go TOO crazy because it gets very hot in my room when I’m running so much equipment and lighting for that long

Expert++ no problem wow that’s some serious talent I’ll stick to easy ha. Now let’s hear a little more about you and your journey, So at what point did you think “Damn, I could really make a career out of gaming and creating content”?

I’ve gone back and forth on this one so many times. Making content can be so inconsistent when it comes to money. One month I’ll do pretty well and think, wow, maybe I could really do this for a living. Then the next month can be the complete opposite and I’ll make barely anything from the content.

It depends on so many things, what games are released, what sponsorships you get that month. So I’m still undecided on that, I hope that one day my whole job can be content creation.

Yeah we totally understand that the way gaming is, up and downs on content is the norm, but we do also hope that one day you can go full time. When was the point in your career where you thought “I’ve made it”?

Maybe I’m being too humble on this one, but I don’t think I’ve made it just yet. Things are looking promising, don’t get me wrong, I’ve had so many exciting opportunities recently but I feel like I have so much further to go. I still have a “normal” full-time day job and I create content in the evenings/weekends, so I’m a very busy girl at the moment haha

Very Humble and we are all for it, we will be cheering you on along the way and can’t wait to see the day. Do you have any key advice that you would personally give to any smaller streamers/creators about making their stream better and growing their channel and or content?

I would definitely say for growing, to get on TikTok if you aren’t already, it’s far too useful of a platform to have alongside your streams to not use. For making your stream better it really varies for every stream, I think the most important thing is just to be yourself, I know everyone says this but it really does seem to be true, my streams are complicated so it always ends up in a mess of technical difficulties but it doesn’t seem to matter, we usually just laugh it off and have fun with it anyways.

Some really great advice, we know our readers will take this on and use this information very well thank you. On the subject of streaming, we see your main focus is TikTok, what for you was the deciding factor to pick TikTok as your main platform?

I stuck to twitch for so long and didn’t even consider TikTok. Now I regret not jumping on TikTok sooner. When TikTok was newer, it was just all lip-syncing and dancing and I immediately decided that it wasn’t the platform for me, I think at the time I was still doing shooter game content so I just didn’t think it would work. Then I kept hearing over and over how good TikTok was so I decided to just

give it a try and upload the content that I was already making anyway and very quickly I saw that my viewer numbers were much higher on TikTok than any other platform I was using, I had never seen numbers anywhere near this in all my years of trying. Then of course that became my main focus, as soon as I got access to livestream from TikTok, I started multistreaming there and it worked out really well for me and now I’m super close to 1 mil followers.

Oh the early days of TikTok where something so different wasn’t it, We can’t wait to see you hit that million milestone it’ll be soon we just know it! On the TikTok subject as we know the platform itself can be quite tough, could you give our readers some insight on how in theory they may crack the TikTok algorithm to grow their platforms?

I know so much about this platform that I don’t even know what to focus on first. TikTok is very up and down. You will have times when your videos are doing really well and times when you can get barely any views at all, it’s annoying but it’s just the way it is. Just stay consistent with it regardless, I’m talking maybe 1 video a day until you get a video that does well, as soon as that happens, make the most of it and start posting more around that time. That 1 video that’s doing well can help boost your other videos, you can even repost videos that didn’t do well before, they genuinely can do well the second time around. Live Streaming also boosts your videos, I always save my best videos to post just before I go live and it always really helps both the livestream numbers and the video numbers.

Some great advice for those TikTok users out there I’m sure our readers will once again take this great advice. We notice your videos seem to use a green screen and are really captured well, could you please tell us what effort you have to make to set all this up?

My house is pretty small so my setup is nowhere near as good as I would like it to be but I have made what I have work pretty well. I don’t have the space to paint a whole room green and have a proper VR studio, that is one of my biggest goals. Instead I set up a big curtain pole going

across one side of my room and attached essentially a big chroma green curtain to it so I can just pull it out when I want to record and pull it back away once I’m done. The green screen isn’t perfect so I have A LOT of lights in my room, it’s blinding when I’m recording. Then I have my 4k camera on a tripod pointed at the green screen. Nobody is allowed to go near this camera because even if it gets moved a millimetre, it screws up the calibration of my mixed reality world and because my room is so small it can be hard to recalibrate it back to the way it was so if anyone touches my camera they are in bad books haha

Note to everyone stay well away from the camera ha, be painful if a small earthquake happened right? I used to use a similar technique with a curtain if it works right? We saw you on stage at i70 which was great to see, so on the subject of i70 tell us what is the importance as a creator to attend such an event like Insomnia The Gaming Festival?

This was only my second time attending IGFest as a creator, the first time I was super shy and didn’t really get involved with much creator stuff, but this time I tried to push myself out of my comfort zone a little so that’s how I ended up on stage. It’s just amazing for networking with other creators and even meeting fans, I haven’t ever set up a meet and greet there but it may be something that I will do in future. I got a lot more attention this time around as I worked with TikTok to advertise the event and my videos were featured on screens around the event so there was quite a few people who recognised me from seeing me on the screens who came to talk to me which was really nice because I’m terrible at going up to people at events and starting a conversation.

Only your second? Wow we thought you were a veteran, either way it was great to see you and on stage too, you are 100% right on the networking insomnia is one of the best to do so. Do you go to similar events like i70 to network with creators, meet your community or a mixture of the two?

I’m definitely planning to go to more and more events, IGFest is definitely my favourite at the

moment because me and my friends get the Bring Your Own Computer tickets and Camping tickets so are basically at the event for the entire weekend playing games, when the expo closes at 6pm, we just go and play games for the rest of the evening. I also recently went to EGX which was fun but it’s a bit further away for me as I’m based near Manchester.

The BYOC at insomnia is great isn’t it, we are not surprised you all do that it must be really fun, I feel you with being from Leeds there’s never an event nearby! Away from your content creation life what do you do in your spare time?

Work hahahaha. I don’t really have spare time at the moment, I get up and drive an hour to work every weekday. If I’m on the early shift I get home at 7pm, if I’m on the late shift I get home at 10pm. I use what time in the evening I have to squeeze some content in, then I do my livestreams and more content at the weekend. Whenever I work hard it seems to pay off in the long run, so I’m just continuing on the grind.

Well they do say the grind doesn’t stop, we love how you can produce great content and still work long hours very well done. Let’s talk about your setup. What are the topmost essential things that you can’t create content without?

I would say good lighting is one of the highest on my list, bad lighting drives me crazy, when in doubt, I add more lights haha. Audio can be a tough one when it comes to VR because you are far away from your PC, and you’re often moving around a lot so it can sound weird, a lot of VR headsets have absolutely terrible mics built into them.

I use the Valve index which is a bit of a more expensive VR headset but the mic is great, you can barely even hear my breathing when I’m running around like a maniac in VR.

Great suggestion on the Mic and you never can have enough lights! As a gamer what would be your top 3 games of all time?

This question is really difficult for me because I just love so many games. I have really good memories from the old Call Of Duty Modern

Warfare games, I played those an unhealthy amount. SMITE was my favourite game for a long time, I played it for 8 years and even lived in the US for 2 years to coach for some esports teams. For the last one I’d have to say something super nostalgic like Crash Bandicoot.

Wow esports coaching and the US that sounds crazy, some solid choices in games though! If you could only play one game for the rest of your life, what game would that be and why?

If it was for the rest of my life it would have to be something multiplayer with a hell of a lot of things to do, so it would have to be VRChat, there’s loads of different games in there so it’s kind of cheating

VRChat does have a great variety so I’m not surprised you choice that game. So let’s talk about your highlight reel! What are the top moments in your career so far that you would want in a montage?

Being invited to an event by Samsung where I was featured on the biggest billboard in London for sure, that was crazy. Representing TikTok at the Women In Games awards, that was an honour. I received my first YouTube Play button recently which I now show off to everyone who comes to my house.

A YouTube play button now I too would show that off, on a billboard in London now that’s a huge accomplishment too! It’s always great to be invited to events and that you got to represent TikTok too is so good, keep it up, we love to see it. So we’ve mentioned montages with your top highlights and with 2023 almost half way through what are your goals for the end of the year?

Definitely to hit 1 mil TikTok followers, I’ve been pretty close for a while now. I would really like to do more tutorials regarding VR and my setup, those types of videos require a lot more time, so I don’t get the chance to do it often but that is the goal.

Just to have more time for content in general is the goal, I’d love to see what I can do if I could put all of my time into it.

Goodluck on the 1 million we hope there is cake! And we would love to see those VR setups/ tutorials, we hope to see them some day. What is something that no one who watches your channel/content knows about you?

This is a really hard one because I tell my viewers pretty much everything interesting that happens in my life. I don’t think many people know that in my YouTube early days I used to make music videos of me playing guitar and singing but they were super embarrassing so most of those videos are private now

Please bring those embarrassing videos back! Your community would love to see it I’m sure of it. Finally, what are you currently working on that you’d like our readers to know about/ check out?

Definitely my YouTube content. I’ve started working on a series of tutorial style videos showing my setup and teaching how to record the way I do with mixed reality because I get a lot of questions about it so I hope it will be helpful.

We can’t wait to see the upcoming videos and tutorials we know they will be a great hit. Well TigressX there we have it, it’s been an absolute pleasure to be interviewing you today, we wish you all the best in the future. On that note if you would like to check out TigressX and all of their socials you can do so below, for now that’s me Sawyer signing off, peace.

Don’t forget to check out Tigress X on TikTok and her other social pages!

TikTok: @tigressx

Twitch: @tigressx

YouTube: @tigressx

Instagram: @tigressx

Twitter: @tigress_x

theephenomenal1

Theephenomenal1 also known as Rhys is a Dyslexia content creator who mostly streams on Twitch but also produces great content on TikTok, Instagram & Youtube, Rhys is a variety creator who does have a huge love for FPS, he is an advocate in the industry who openly talks about mental health and the support given, Rhys is a great laugh and a wonderful upcoming streamer with around 4,000 Twitch followers and rising, make sure to show him some love and get those numbers growing.

Hey Theephenomenal1, First of all, we would like to thank you for chatting with us today. How have you been?

Hey, I would like to say thank you for having me be a part of the Ones To Watch! I’m doing pretty well thank you for asking!

That’s great, it is great to have you chatting with us. So let’s start from the beginning, tell us a little bit about your streaming & Content Creation life, how long have you been streaming/making content and what made you want to start?

I’ve been streaming for 4 years now. The reason I started to stream was due to a close friend of mine called Ozzy Kent who was streaming over on Mixer (Rip). He said I would be good at doing it as I was a very good call of duty player and that I should give it a shot. I was on the platform for only two months and then decided to move over to Twitch as I wanted to stream League of legends.

4 years wow some experience there then, RIP mixer for sure! great to see you move over though. We see your main streaming focus is being a FPS streamer, how come you chose this specific type of streaming?

I’ve always had a love for FPS games so I knew it would be something I could easily talk about with my community whilst I streamed whether it be from Warzone talking about builds, Rainbow six just messing around or csgo where I’m

somewhat good at it. I’ve always dabbled in variety too where I will play horror games on stream too as my community love to see me get scared easily currently doing a let’s play of Resident evil 4 remaster.

3 great massive FPS games in the industry right there! It’s great to see the jump between the 3 shows great passion for the genre. On the subject of FPS games, what would be your alltime favourite FPS Game?

This is a very hard question for me to answer for sure. If we are talking about Multiplayer FPS games I would have to go with the good old classic Call of Duty MW2 (2009) as I would play it with a very close group of friends & I would be known as the guy who got nukes with that group but if we are talking about a single player game it would have to be Bioshock Infinite, By far one of the most gripping games I’ve ever played and play it loads of times.

We hear about mw2 all the time, this is clearly a fan favourite but bioshock infinite now that’s a first! What would be your all time top 3 games?

My top 3 games would have to be Metal Gear Solid 1 I loved this game as a child & invested so much time playing though it over and over again even tho I always knew the outcome, 2nd would be bioshock infinite again same kind of reason as MGS but it’s a classic none the less & my 3rd would have to be Fallout 3 a brilliant game and the first time you got to set off the nuke in Megaton was crazy!

We are always learning, so tech issues are fine! but how amazing that must have felt in the Razer store, we are so happy for you. We see you are a member of The Nerd Council. Can you give some insight to who they are, what they do and how can people join them?

Sure thing The Nerd Council is a podcast and platform dedicated to building and bringing in the nerd community together. We cover all kinds of nerdy content, gaming, comics, anime, TV film, both online and offline and have been going strong for more than six years with a strong community of people. When it comes to joining The Nerd Council, it’s as easy and as simple as just reaching out to the team via the website, email or direct message on social media. We’re always on the lookout for people to join the team and add more value to The Nerd Council, especially those who belong to minority groups. I’m a part of the streaming team so myself, RBKeys, ShogunAsh & TNC themselves all stream on the channel once a week bringing something new each time whether it be from fighting games to pokemon!

That sounds great, we hope some of our readers reach out to find out more! Now let’s hear a little more about you and your journey, So at what point did you think “Damn, I could really make a career out of gaming and creating content”?

I would say during lockdown 2020 when I could invest more time into streaming and making content was the first real time it hit me that it could be possible. I mainly streamed CoD during this time which really helped bring me in an audience. I also did a thing with my partner called Horror Sundays where we would find a horror that we would try to complete within one sitting if we couldn’t we would carry it over to the next week.

Oh lockdown times everyone was really grinding out streaming and gaming during those times it was a shame to see so many give up after when people went back to work so we are very glad you kept up with it. When was the point in your career where you thought “I’ve made it’’? or what will make you feel like this has happened?

I’ve had so many amazing moments to list a few off the top of my head it would be attending events as a content creator such as EGX & Insomnia, I’ve hosted warzone events with my community in the past, worked with some very big brands such as Ubisoft, Warner Bros & 2k, Being able to host giveaways for loads of different brands & companies which I love as I always wanted to give back to my community. All of these things make me feel so proud of where I have come from to where I am now as it’s been a long & continuing journey.

That’s amazing, some really good accomplishments within the creator scene and it was great to see you at Insomnia streaming with XL & Sony. Do you have any key advice that you would personally give to any smaller streamers about making their stream better and growing their channel and or content?

Honestly the best advice I would give is always to network with people, Be yourself & make sure you’re playing something you enjoy and not something that has a lot of viewers as it would be obvious, don’t go into streaming thinking about making money either it took me a very long time to make any on the platform & the thing that I would suggest to everyone turn your viewer count off whilst you stream and talk like you’ve got 100’s of people watching you. I would also suggest making a linktree with all your socials & contact info so people will know where & how to find you.

Networking is massive, the biggest thing going right now is to get to an event and chat to someone it really makes a huge difference and yes a linktree or a beacons page is great advice! plus the viewer count stuff and money great advice our readers will take this on thankyou. On the subject of streaming, we see your main focus is Twitch, what for you was the deciding factor to pick Twitch as your main platform?

As I mentioned earlier on, I started on Mixer but I could never really find my footing there trying to make friendships never really went all that well for me, so I thought well it’s not working so let’s give twitch a try and I’ve never looked back.

That’s great, shame what happened to mixer but glad you found your home on twitch. On the subject of Twitch as we know the platform itself can be quite tough, could you give our readers some insight on how in theory they may be able to better their Twitch account to grow their platforms?

The key thing is to network, network and network. I’ve made some amazing friends though streaming that I’m very blessed to have around & another thing I would suggest that I didn’t do soon enough make short form content for TikTok, YouTube & Instagram these are all amazing ways to help you get exposure into the net and if people like what they see they will most likely swing on into your stream when you go live. I would also make sure your stream itself looks good e.g. overlays, emotes, alerts, sound and video quality are all up to scratch you don’t have to spend big bucks but making it presentable matters a lot.

Networking and short form great advice! and making stuff look good is always appealing to viewers for sure. We saw you at i70 and managed to have a great chat, so on the subject of i70 tell us what is the importance as a creator it is to attend such an event like Insomnia The Gaming Festival?

I would say it’s really important to do this not only i70 but other gaming events too. It’s a great way to network with other creators that you may know via watching their content or even via twitter which happened with me a few times, not only this but it’s a great way to meet people from your community too which is always lovely. Also at these kinds of events there are so many brands that attend too so you can always take your shot at speaking with a rep and possibly getting to work with them in the future.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take right? insomnia is easily up there with the best in our opinion to get out there UK anyways E3 & Gamescom was always my favourite. Do you go to similar events like i70 to network with creators, meet your community or a mixture of the two?

Yeah I’ve been to WASD & EGX as a creator luckily, and I do the mixture for sure as its always great meeting with people as I live in the midlands it does make it hard to get to hang out with creators who live down south & it’s always a pleasure to get to meet people from the community to hang with too like at i70 myself, my partner and my son all went out for a meal with people in my community and it was a great evening.

Awh family time and creator time we love that, we were too at EGX it wasn’t as big but they are trying to make it huge soon so we shall see what this year has in store. Being a dyslexic content creator, what issues does this bring to making content and streaming?

Reading people’s names is a big one for me, I struggle a lot with trying to sound names out but luckily, I use Text of speech for alerts so the bot will say the name out loud for me and then I can go from there. I also have my bot say in my chat that I am a dyslexic creator so if I misread or say their names wrong they will know why.

Great information there text to speech was invented for this kind of stuff and alerting people of the problem you face is great so they realise when they arrive in chat. Do you have any advice for dyslexic creators on how they might be able to cope a little better while struggling with dyslexia and creating content?

Don’t be shy of your disability when I first started if someone would follow I would just say thanks for the follow and not try to say their name but even if you get it wrong you can always explain that you’re dyslexic & 99% of the time people will totally understand & luckily there is a lot of bots that will help read usernames and also comments in your chat too now which is handy.

As someone who also suffers with a hidden disability I can totally get behind this majority of people are so understanding. Away from your content creation life what do you do in your spare time?

I became a father about 8 months ago so I spend a lot of time with my son & my partner. I also really enjoy going to gigs, mainly rock

music, most recently saw The Ghost Inside and my next gig is Ice Nine Kills & watching anime too, currently finishing up demon slayer & then moving onto hunter x hunter.

A fellow DAD! That’s great, I do too love a good gig every now and then, they help balance the normality right? I love anime too so I can see the love right there that’s great to hear. Let’s talk about your setup. What are the topmost essential things that you can’t create content without?

This is a tricky question for me as there are so many great things I use but I would have to go with my Elgato stream deck, it helps me with swapping scenes and I can do some really cool things like zoom into my face during parts of the stream.

Shoutout to Elgato those little steam decks work wonders! If you could only play one game for the rest of your life, what game would that be and why?

This is a very tricky question for me, I’m not going to lie but if I had to choose one it would most likely be CSGO, I love the competitive side to the game which is always great and I like messing around with my mates in death matches too.

Great choice! I used to love the modded maps on CS back in the day! So let’s talk about your highlight reel! What are the top moments in your career so far that you would want in a montage?

I have a few great moments, One would be when I played poppy playtime I’m terrible with horror games as I get jumpscared very easily and during one of the parts fight or flight kicked in and flight took over I busted into song & started to sing blink 182 - I miss you to which my community loved a lot & another one would have to be telling my community I was becoming a dad which happened feb last year, many people knew I have always wanted to be a dad so breaking the news to everyone was a great moment for sure.

The wholesome dad moment I bet that was

so heartfelt and I bet your community was so happy for you! So we’ve mentioned montages with your top highlights and with 2023 almost half way through what are your goals for the end of the year?

For me it’s just keep doing what I’m doing, I love streaming and meeting new people for sure, I also want to hopefully work with some more brands eyes at you Logitech and elgato.

Logitech & Elgato the giant of the industry hey even we would love those to be featured one day hey or if you get there first hook us up! What is something that no one who watches your channel/content knows about you?

I’m very much an open book with my community spill all about my mental health, my addiction to collecting Funko’s & Pokemon cards, my love of food but I would say the one thing people may not know about me is that I have a love for cooking food & making my own recipes such as a Mexican Lasagna, if you wanna find out how its made swing by my stream.

Nice so at i71 are you gonna cook for the team? It’s great to have a little passion on the side and it is also good to be open with your community. Finally, what are you currently working on that you’d like our readers to know about/check out?

Well currently myself & a few friends have our own little youtube channel going on which is called ‘The Space Puppets’ which is loads of different forms of content & possibly starting up our own podcast at some point this year & much more which I’m loving a lot. I’m looking at doing a charity stream later on in the year for mental health too.

That sounds great! get us on for a feature for the podcast we would be honoured! We look forward to the charity stream too! Well Rhys there we have it, it’s been an absolute pleasure to be interviewing you today, we wish you all the best in the future.

On that note if you would like to check out Theephenomenal1 and all of their socials you can do so below, for now that’s me Sawyer signing off, peace.

Be sure to check out Theephenomenal1’s Twitch channel and other social media platforms!

Twitch: @theephenomenal1

Other Twitch: @TheNerdCouncil

Instagram: @theephenomenal1

Twitter: @TheePhenomenal1

TikTok: @Theephenomenal1

YouTube: @TheSpacePuppets

Bekzxx

Bekzxx is a UK content creator, model and cosplayer, she is a variety streamer where she mainly streams over on Twitch but also produces great TikTok content with over 35k followers, Bekzxx is a great creator who is well liked within the community, she is currently pushing 2,000 twitch followers so head on over and show her some love.

Hey Bekzxx, First of all, we would like to thank you for chatting with us today. How have you been?

I have been great, thanks for asking! Very glad that the sun is making an appearance once again in the UK!

It’s great to hear you are doing well and we are loving this sunshine too! So let’s start from the beginning, tell us a little bit about your streaming & Content Creation life, how long have you been streaming/making content and what made you want to start?

I guess my journey all started in 2009 with cosplay, creating costumes and wanting to become a character, which then slowly bled into creating TikTok videos in 2018 and then finally starting my streaming career in Feb 2019 which I was very lucky to be given my first sponsored stream with Koei Tecmo showing off Dead or Alive 6. My reason for starting content creation has and always will be to put smiles on faces but I will say another reason is to make sure no one ever feels like they’re alone. Covid hit a lot of people, me being one of those but to be able to create an entertaining and comforting space was important to me.

Wow a lot of time within the industry and that’s great you managed to pull off a great first stream showcase such a great game. We see your main streaming focus is being a variety streamer, how come you chose this specific type of streaming?

I love too many genres, too many games! but it gives me the ability to share those games I

love with my community and get them involved. It also opens up to try something new, even if it is a scary game ( which I don’t handle well at all!)

We feel you on that, there’s just too many great games out there. On the subject of variety games, what would be your all-time favourite Game?

Wow, that’s a tough one! I would have to say Gears of War. I am definitely not a fan of horror or gore but Gears’ storyline and graphics drew me in. It was also one of my first online multiplayer games where I owned a shotgun!

A fellow Gears of war fan! how i used to love gears so much, easily my favourite too! What would be your top 3 games?

Overwatch, Fortnite and Dead or Alive

Great trio of games! We notice you play a lot of overwatch, Please tell us what you think about the game and what is your go to player?

Overwatch is one of those team games that can be so rewarding but also frustrating as hell! I like that everyone has to work together to achieve the same goal otherwise it just doesn’t work, as you can tell I mainly squad up in overwatch rather than play it solo! The designs and abilities of the characters always pull me in too, which doesn’t help my wallet now a battle pass has been added to the game! My go to is very obvious but I relate so much to D.Va, she’s the first character I got advised to play when starting out and I have stuck by playing her since, plus pink aesthetic, gamer girl and a bunny lover!

You are not wrong with Overwatch you really can’t go solo on that one and that’s such a great main to have! We have recently seen that you co-streamed with one of your friends, please tell us what goes into co-streaming, would you recommend it and if our readers should maybe attempt this also?

A lot of planning! but thankfully twitch has made it so easy recently with their Guest Star feature, but usually it involves us tallying up our schedules to make sure we are both free, have a specific overlay to show both of us on screen, make sure titles are set correctly to direct to each other’s stream and more importantly we make sure we are both in the right mindset before pressing the go live button. I would definitely recommend costreaming because the amount of chaos and fun is doubled but a good thing to remember is if it doesn’t go right the first time not to give up, as there are many things we are still learning to this day.

Thank you for this great advice on Co Streaming, I’m sure it will help a couple of our readers who are interested, it’s great that twitch has a feature to make it easier too! Now let’s hear a little more about you and your journey, So at what point did you think “Damn, I could really make a career out of gaming and creating content”?

I used to play fighting games professionally and to have all the support from my previous community plus new, it just all clicked into place after that moment and now many doors are beginning to open and I am so excited!

Really a pro at fighting games that’s awesome, I used to compete with Gears of war but fighting games I suck at! When was the point in your career where you thought “I’ve made it’’? or what will make you feel like this has happened?

Last year, I got invited to attend Gamescom as a Professional cosplayer to help promote Kwalee’s Die by the Blade game. It was a surreal experience because I have been to hundreds of conventions but never been invited by a company!

An invite to Gamescom now that is something special I bet you was over the moon when that came in we wish we could have been there to see it. Do you have any key advice that you would personally give to any smaller streamers about making their stream better and growing their channel and or content?

I will always advise two things, have fun and market yourself. People come by streams for those two factors, they want to see you enjoying what you are streaming, whether that be a game you’re really good at (or not), to just chatting random nonsense for hours, you need to be engaging in your audience.

The marketing side, don’t limit yourself to one platform, try new ways to get others to see you!

That’s some really great advice, we hope our readers take note of this and take it on board with their content goals. On the subject of streaming, we see your main focus is Twitch, what for you was the deciding factor to pick Twitch as your main platform?

Community, hands down. The ability to play games with others, meet new people via chatting and sharing a common interest is so much easier on twitch. Twitch offers a lot more tools for a streamer in terms of safety and rewards for viewers too.

That’s a great way to put it with Twitch not many people respond to this question like that so we love to hear those additional safety measures twitch does take. On the subject of Twitch as we know the platform itself can be quite tough, could you give our readers some insight on how in theory they may be able to better their twitch account to grow their platforms?

Going back to a previous question branching out to different platforms to bring people in, for example twitter is an amazing site to use to advise when you are going live to get people in and make sure you utilize the tools twitch has to offer, tagging where appropriate and using features such as guest star.

Twitter is a great space to network so we appreciate mentioning that one as it does help you grow and also as you mentioned other platforms with continents can boost your streams massively. We saw you at i70 displaying some great cosplay, so on the subject of i70 tell us what is the importance as a creator it is to attend such an event like Insomnia The Gaming Festival?

With being able to attend and meet likeminded creators, making bonds of a common interest in an environment that is fun and exciting which is so important for growth in the content creation space.

Also the ability to talk to brands that you love in a non-business environment is refreshing.

So damn refreshing! We feel like this kind of community, the relaxed environments and settings really are where the chats and the agreements happen where you can really network. Do you go to similar events like i70 to network with creators, meet your community or a mixture of the two?

Definitely a mixture of both, I try to attend as many UK events as possible as I love meeting the community and getting to make connections with creators I admire.

That’s great to hear Insomnia was the first one we managed to see you at but as we too attend loads all over we will keep an eye out for you for sure! Time for some Cosplay talk, So we notice you are a great cosplayer, what made you get into cosplay?

Thank you so much! I originally got into cosplay as a way to escape from everyday life and getting to become that character gave me a confidence boost that I never used to have. I also appreciate good character design/ art and having the ability to make that real excites me.

Later down the line though I have met and made so many friendships through cosplay that if I was to start the journey again, would now be my main reason for getting into it.

The cosplay community is truly amazing so we can see the love and passion for it. Do you enjoy creating your cosplay outfits?

Oh 100%, I love taking apart a character design and working out how to translate it to fabrics or armour! However I curse everything when adding in a zipper or buttons!! Though my favourite part of creating and specially in armour, is painting, nothing better than adding a splash of colour to an armour project!

That’s great to hear that you love putting the time into it, I did cosplay once and I didn’t realize how hard it was, so well done to all your hard work and dedication to it. How do you feel about the cosplay communities and that it is rapidly increasing in size each and every year?

Cosplay has adapted a lot since covid, there is definitely an increase in the community which is fantastic to see as I don’t feel cosplay got enough love and appreciation pre covid.

I will say that the best thing about the cosplay community that I have found is everyone is super helpful when it comes to advise on crafting or buying a cosplay, so you will never be stuck on a project.

You are very right cosplay didn’t get the love it deserves ,so seeing it now and what it will become it really does deserve. Away from your content creation life what do you do in your spare time?

Day to day, I am a second line IT support engineer and UK Ops/ Events manager for Glytch energy, so if I am not fixing PC’s or planning events, I am getting those dubs on Fortnite.

We for sure need some of that Glytch energy soon! Let’s talk about your setup. What are the topmost essential things that you can’t create content without?

Well without my charming and witty self of course, next would be My PC or Phone, oh and a controller because I have the world’s smallest hands and can’t use MNK

Charms and Whit’s triumphs always! If you could only play one game for the rest of your life, what game would that be and why?

Fortnite! because theres nothing better than owning with your besties and getting back to back dubs.

You can say that again! So let’s talk about your highlight reel! What are the top moments in your career so far that you would want in a montage?

Being elected as an ambassador for a charity very very close to my heart. My community and I have raised over £6K for Pancreatic Cancer UK and that would hand down by at the very top.

Also as previously mentioned, being invited as a professional cosplayer to Gamescom but also as a creator to many other events such as Insomnia, MCM and EGX. Finally being able to collab and meet so many wonderful and likeminded creators through this journey.

Some very great moments right there and a big congrats to you for raising so much for such a wonderful charity that’s amazing! So we’ve mentioned montages with your top highlights and with 2023 almost half way through what are your goals for the end of the year?

I don’t have any set goals in mind but just to

hope I continue in making people smile with the content I produce.

Making people smile will always be the main priority gotcha! What is something that no one who watches your channel/content knows about you?

I have an unhealthy hello kitty obsession! I horde anything Hello kitty

Hey each to their own right ha, we will make sure to send the hello kitty cosplayers your way! Finally, what are you currently working on that you’d like our readers to know about/ check out?

I am currently working on a Dva’s overwatch 2 outfit (as well as so many other cosplays) but it will be armour based and the idea is to have her all light up! In terms of the streaming world, I am looking to do more creator collabs on either Fortnite/Overwatch and even just dance!

Oooohhh we love the idea of that we cant wait to see it! And creator collabs that would be great! Well Bekzxx there we have it, it’s been an absolute pleasure to be interviewing you today, we wish you all the best in the future.

On that note if you would like to check out Bekzxx and all of their socials you can do so below, for now that’s me Sawyer signing off, peace.

Be sure to check out Bekzxx’s Twitch channel and other social media platforms!

Twitch: @Bekzxx

Instagram: @Bekz.xx

Twitter: @Bekz_xx

TikTok: @bekz.xx