Fiendish-Beaver

I have Silent Hill F pre-ordered, but am curious about Baby Steps too, so will be keeping an eye on how that game is received...

I have the Collector's Edition of the game, but no sign of it having been dispatched as of yet, though I guess it is still a little early as of now. I don't think they have taken my payment yet either. I always get a little jittery until they take my money, in case there is an issue with the purchase. So come on Sony, hurry up and take my money and settle my nerves... 😂

I shall be playing Cronos: The New Dawn and a spot of Horde in Gears 5 this weekend, although my games of Horde have not been going particularly well thus far...

Pragmata is the game I am most looking forward to from that list. It looks like a day one purchase for me...

I'll just be happy to have more God of War games. A new setting will just be the icing on the cake. I'm not sure that 2D is for me, so I'm hoping for another game in the vein of the last two. It will be interesting to see Kratos exploring Egypt though, so hopefully the rumours are true...

I wonder whether this will be announced at next weeks Xbox Showcase? Along with another expansion, perhaps...? 🤔

I shall be pre-ordering this game next week, though when I get to play it, I'm not too certain. I've just finished Hell Is Us, which was superb, probably my favourite game of the year. I'm currently playing Cronos: The New Dawn, and the next game I intend to play is Deadzone Rogue. I have also bought Borderlands 4, though I will await all the DLC before playing that.

So when I buy Silent Hill F, I will have bought 5 games this month, and I have the Ghost of Yotei Collectors Edition pre-ordered too, and I want to jump into the game as soon as it arrives next month, so I'm not entirely certain that I will have time to finish Silent Hill before Ghost of Yotei is released, so it may have to wait until I've finished that game first.

September has been an awesome month for me in terms of gaming, and whilst the whether here in the UK has been awful, I've been sat indoors happily gaming. So many great games. Expensive, but great...!

My bad, @ear_wig. I didn't clock that you were talking about the physical edition. Having played the game, I will say you are in for a treat when you receive your copy...

I don't think I will end up playing Silksong, but I have already completed Hell Is Us and I think it just about edges out Expedition 33 as my favourite game of the year. I really hope that the release of Silksong does not impact Rogue Factor too much, and that the studio instead goes from strength to strength as I am excited to see what they do next (which will hopefully be a sequel to Hell Is Us)...

End of the month, @ear_wig? I've already completed Hell Is Us. Or did I misunderstand your comment..? 🤔

I loved Expedition 33, the only other game that I have played this year that might just top it is Hell Is Us, which I have just finished and loved every moment of. Really looking forward to seeing what both Sandfall Interactive and Rouge Factor do next, as these developers have both made a wonderful game this year. I am also excited to see more of the worlds both developers have created...

I have played both Expedition 33 and Hell Is Us, @Steeleye50, and agree, they are both excellent. I think, for me, Hell Is Us just edges it as the better game, but there is not a lot in it. I think where Hell Is Us excels is in the exploration, and as that is something that I really enjoy in a game, that is probably why I just about prefer it, but there really is not a lot in it.

What I will say though, is that I hope we get a sequel to both games, and for me, they will both be games I shall pre-order...

On the hardest difficulty, it really is pretty hard, @skud. However, you can swap difficulty at any time, and on the easiest difficulty it is very straightforward. The middle difficulty (Balanced) is what it says on the tin; not easy, but not too hard either.

I started out on the hardest difficulty, but after 30 hours or so, as the enemies became more difficult, I knocked it down to Balanced, and the game became even more enjoyable.

There are a couple of items you can equip that will give you health when you hit an enemy, and also when you kill one. It makes life much easier. I'm not saying you won't still die, but you won't be constantly dying...

I shall be soon finishing my playthrough of Hell Is Us, which I have enjoyed immensely. I've not finished the game yet, so obviously do not know how it ends, but from what the 70 or so hours I have played so far, I really hope we see another game set in this universe because the developers have done a superb job with the game.

No hand-holding, no map, no tracking what you are supposed to do next, you just have to find your own way around. I have made copious notes as I have gone around, which has helped me a great deal. Some of the puzzles are very difficult to solve, and I will not lie, I have had to seek help online for a couple because I just could not make sense of them. I don't consider myself to be incredibly intelligent, but I still look at some of the solutions and I still find myself baffled as to how you are supposed to arrive at the solution. That said, when you do solve a real head-scratcher all by yourself, there is a real sense of accomplishment.

As for the combat, it really is pretty challenging on the hardest difficulty, and after about 30 or 40 hours I turned it down one difficulty, and am enjoying the game even more now that I am able to undertake most battles without too much trouble. I do still die every now and again, but I never feel frustrated with the game.

Whatever the developers, Rogue Factor, do next, I really look forward to it as Hell is Us is very, very good indeed...

Personally, I'm really looking forward to this game because Sci-Fi has been my favourite genre ever since I was child watching the likes of Blake's 7, Doctor Who and Star Trek. I was born in 1963, long before television on demand, or more than a couple of television channels, or the internet, and so used to avidly read as a child and into my adulthood. Sci-Fi was always my go to book. So Intergalactic is precisely the type of game that I want to play.

That said, I really want another Last of Us game before I am too old to play it. I'll be 62 in a couple of months, and with development times these days, I could easily be 70 before we see another instalment. Damn getting older is not all its cracked up to be...

Yes, @Nightcrawler71. I got my code immediately...

I actually bought my game just now based on the above reviews. I bought the Super Deluxe version, which on both the PS5 and on the Xbox Store is £120. I took a look on CDKeys and there is no PlayStation code available on there (as is always the case, thanks Sony!), but the Xbox code, for precisely the same game, was just £87. A saving of £33. Man we get so ripped off on our native console stores. The PC code for Steam is even cheaper at £83...

I understand what you are saying, @OldGamer999, but truth be told is you are only going to play games that score 9s and 10s, and have a Metacritc rating of over 90, then you are going to be playing good games, but few of them. I think 8, or 80+ is an easily acceptable standard.

I bought Cronos: The New Dawn and Hell Is Us.

I've only played Hell is Us so far, and it is not an easy game with no quest markers or a map, and the puzzles are real head scratchers, but the world and mystery is superb...

Personally, I have Game Pass Ultimate and I do not have the PlayStation alternative. That said, I buy nearly all my games, and the only game that I have played on the Game Pass this year was Expedition 33 because I have bought all the other games this year. I do buy a lot of games, this is a complete list of all the games I have bought this year:

Days Gone: Remastered
Death Stranding 2 - Collector's Edition
Ghost of Yote - Collector's Editioni

This is a list of the games that I have bought this year for my Xbox. That's bought, not played on Game Pass. Actually purchased:

Aternum: New World
Euro Fishing: Ultimate Edition
Assassin's Creed: Mirage
Warhammer: Age of Sigmar
Doom: The Dark Ages - Collector's Edition
Split Fiction
Cluedo
The Thaumaturge
The Talos Principle: Reawakened
63 Days
Hero Defence
Star Trek Prodigy
Hot Wheels Unleashed
Cronos: The New Dawn
Terminator Resistance
Deadzone Rogue
Hell is Us
Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel

I will pre-order these three games for my Xbox over the next few days once they are closer to release:

Silent Hill F
Dying Light: The beast
Borderlands 4

The reason I have Game Pass Ultimate is because I also own a gaming PC, although I don't enjoy gaming on a PC so I do not actually play games on it, however, every weekend I play 3 50 wave Hordes in Gears 5 with my mate, and my son, and I simply would rather have Ultimate, than Core.

I do think Game Pass and it's PlayStation equivalent offer excellent value to us as consumers, with Game Pass offering the best subscription service. However, I do not think that Game Pass will ultimately prove to be sustainable.

The one thing I would say though is that those that are developing games for Game Pass are much less likely to lose their jobs than a developer that releases a game that fails. Game Pass in particular, with its day one releases, offers an element of job security because the service always needs new games, thus even if they release a subpar game, they are still likely to keep their jobs so that they can move on to the next game in development, so I don't think it is quite a clear cut as Pete Hines is saying because surely it is better to be under pressure and in employment, than it is to be unemployed...?

That's cool, @awp69. Thank you...

ideal, thank you, @LiamCroft... 👍

Ideal, thank you, @LiamCroft, but there is nothing actually changed or added to the base game? I'm just curious as to whether if you have played the base game it has changed the experience in any way, meaning it is worth replaying the base game. Think Phantom Liberty and they way it changed Cyberpunk 2077, if you will...

Does the DLC add anything to, or change the base game in anyway, @LiamCroft, or is the DLC entirely contained / separate from the main game? Thanks...

I refunded my copy. Looking at the Metacritic score (37), I'm glad that I did...

I pre-ordered both Cronos: The New Dawn and Hell Is Us, and have already started Hell Is Us because it offered early access to the game. Out of the two I was most excited for Cronos, so I really cannot wait to get round to playing it...

If you then have to buy increased storage because you find 825g insufficient, @narubal, then maybe a direct increase in price would be preferable. It would not surprise me if that is the idea that Sony have, sell a console with reduced storage, and then sell the increased storage too as an upgrade. It's a little underhanded, if you ask me...

Well this is a annoying, I literally finished the game two days ago...

I agree, @Titntin. You have to wonder whether Sony have acquired some kind of exclusivity deal too, meaning it won't simultaneously release on the Xbox...

Fantastic review, @AaronBayne. I was probably going to buy the game anyway, but after fully reading your review, I pre-ordered the game, and I cannot wait to play it. It sounds so good...

Cronos: The New Dawn and Hell is Us are pre-orders for me, and I may get Metal Eden too. I will also be getting Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel as it looks very good, but I may get it later on as those 3 games alone will considerably eat into my time...

The enemies are referred to as grubs, @Elfuggingjefe...

I understand your point in thinking that more would have played it on the Xbox due to Game Pass, @Rich33, however, many on the Xbox are not impressed by what is basically a performance boost over the Ultimate Edition that released in 2015, and has been on the Game Pass ever since. Reloaded is just a shinier version of the game, and really offers little incentive to be replayed now. Reloaded only exists because it was being ported to the PlayStation. So in view of that, I guess a million players is a milestone of sorts...

Having already finished my solo Hardcore campaign run of Gears of War: Reloaded, I have now begun my solo Insane run. Honestly, I don't think it looks that much different to the Ultimate Edition, but Microsoft have managed to completely break the friendly AI in the game, with this new edition, with Dom having a tea break for much of the time leaving me to do all the work on my lonesome.

In between Reloaded, I will also do a few Inconceivable trio Horde runs in Gears 5, which looks and plays much better...

I agree that RE7 was the creepiest of the lot, @Nepp67. Personally I didn't enjoy the game that much as it wasn't the style of game I wanted, but I can image some found it pretty unsettling. I do remember playing one of the Silent Hill games during the PS360 era and found that to be scary, so I'm not immune to being scared...

It is cringe inducing when you see people overreacting, @UltimateOtaku91. I know they want to make people want to watch them, but they lack credibility when they jump at the slightest thing...

I think they can be pretty intense, @PuppetMaster, mostly because you are generally really close up to the enemies and pressed for space to move. It's not like a shooter where you can shoot from distance to kill most of the enemies, and rarely need to get in the face of what you are fighting. That can make it really tense...

I get a lot of motion sickness, @Damage99, which is why I have never tried VR, but I have to say your comment has made me want to try the game, as I think in VR Resident Evil could actually be pretty intimidating...

Does anyone seriously consider any of the games to be scary? Maybe there are a couple of cheap jump scares with enemies jumping through windows, or whatever, but I don't recall ever being scared.

It is possible to feel a level of threat when surrounded, or under a lot of pressure, but I don't think any of the games have ever actually been scary...

Thank you, @TrollOfWar. It sounds like a game I might have to buy on a cheap sale. I think it might be on Game Pass too, so that will probably be the best place for me to try it before I go on to buy it. I did enjoy one back in the PS360 days. I think it may have been NG3, although I don't remember it that well, other than it having lots of pretty long QTEs (which I hope they do away with as they were pretty annoying!)...

Sounds really interesting, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Bioshock is one of my all time favourite games, so I am really looking forward to Judas...

I can live with that. Thank you, @TrollOfWar. However when you have to move this thumb stick, press that button, pull that trigger, and then a bunch of other buttons I just cannot do it. It's why I cannot play fighting games. I simply cannot remember combos. Heavy and light attacks are fine, and doable for me....

Do you need to learn combos to play this game, or is it press one button for a light attack, and another for a heavy attack...?

I understand the bit about making it worthless for the masses, and the thought did occur to me when I wrote my original comment, @RoomWithaMoose, and because I don't play the games, it didn't occur to me that it was in first person. However, I would imagine that not everyone would turn the setting on, meaning that if you didn't you would still see the wacky costumes, and still be seen. I don't think everyone would use the setting, so having a skin would still have some value.

What I would say though, is whilst I understand your point, if you want that sense of realism in your game, then having Beavis and Butthead running around would soon break that immersion, and I guess you have to cater to their views too...

I don't know why they cannot just have a setting that would hide other players skins, but still show yours (to you). That way people can look as silly as they want to themselves, but not break the immersion of other players...

There is no doubt in my mind that £40 is a lot for the game, @4fold, though I think £10 is also too low. At the absolute outside, I'd say £30, but £20-£25 would probably be the right asking price.

The original rumours were that this game was going to be part of a remastered trilogy called the Marcus Fenix Collection, but I imagine that Microsoft saw an opportunity to sell the games individually at a higher price, because a complete collection would probably only have been sold for around £60-£70.

I think we will see GoW2 in about 6 months time, with 3 following 6 months after that, just in time for the release of -Day, day one here on the PlayStation...

I am interested in this game, but I really wish that Coffee Stain Studios would make another Sanctum game, and bring all of them over to consoles too...

Dark Ages is undoubtedly better than Eternal, in which I did not enjoy all the dashing about. The shield make for a great weapon. Dark Ages shines on the harder difficulties...

Well, if that's true, then if I do play the campaign, I won't be playing the last mission...

The game looks interesting to me, but having never heard of it before, and after seeing what happened with Mindseye (though this game does look better), I will most certainly wait before committing myself to buying it...