wildcat_kickz

People want this game to fail way too much. I think ARC Raiders proves that there is an untapped demand for well-made, accessible extraction shooters. Bungie may have really fumbled the ball with Destiny, but if they know one thing, it's how to make really fun gameplay moments. I say we give them a chance to prove they've still got it. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. But we don't know yet.

@Northern_munkey I see where you're coming from and I think the game modes for BF6 are probably better than CoD, but I vastly prefer the way shooting feels in CoD, especially in Infinity Ward games. They've got the special sauce.

Really loving the addition of "Your Local Time" to the deets in this article. Much appreciated!

@Enuo Nailed it.

I really hope that Activision/Microsoft take the right lessons away from this whole debacle.

It's not the futuristic setting. It's not removing cartoon skins. It's not social media dogpiling.

It is the lazy, half-assed campaign. It is the back-to-back BO releases. It is using GAI images when it would be oh so easy to pay a graphic designer to make those. It is annualized releases and not allowing your devs to make something truly special.

Activision has the best FPS developers in the industry at their fingertips. It really shouldn't be such a lift to make a game that people get excited for.

@StitchJones F.I.S.T. was a Metroidvania. Zoopunk looks to be doing something different.

If they had any intention of fixing the Pro version, I might be inclined to play it again, but alas, it doesn't seem like there's any plan for that.

@JustMyOpinion I don't take any of this personally at all. Ideally, I think we're all here to add our two cents and talk it out respectfully.

I will completely admit that I'm being a bit reductive regarding the private/public distinction. It's always more complicated than it appears. I'll also freely admit that there is a double standard, but it isn't that surprising. You almost always view your own country or culture as having the moral high ground. I'm definitely guilty of that. Unconscious biases are real. It doesn't necessarily mean that having those biases make you a bad person, but it is something to try to keep in mind, so I think you're right to call it out.

I don't go as far as you regarding the atrocities in the Middle East. For example, I think "genocide" has a very specific definition which hasn't been met, but that doesn't mean what's happened there isn't awful and disproportional. That's a bit of an aside, though.

To me (and I'm willing to wager, to others), the selectivity of the outrage and the instinct to call it out comes from how a government or those in power treat their own populations. The US and other Western countries are far from perfect, but in a broad sense afford their populations with much more personal freedoms than other countries. The fact that we're free to openly criticize these governments in a public forum like this one is a testament to those liberties. I'm not saying this to be a "ra ra 'Murica" type guy, but just trying to explain where I'm coming from.

I'm willing to bet we're in agreement on most of this - it's just a matter of degree. There's a risk of waving away crimes that are committed, but on the other hand, there's a risk of getting lost in the sauce, where everything is a crime that must be called out and lambasted. Somewhere in the middle is where we ought to be.

@twitchtvpat @JustMyOpinion I find myself in an interesting position where I'm defending myself from both flanks, but what is life without nuance!

I think any government's misdeeds can and should be called out, but not necessarily on a gaming website. Here, it only makes sense to call attention to it when relevant. In this case, it's relevant because the head of a country's government (the crown prince), who has personally seen to or directed human rights violations, has gotten himself involved in game development funding. This funding arm, the PIF/Savvy Games, is now directly funding games, like AC Mirage. It's not really relevant to call out the US's involvement in the Middle East because the US government is not funding video games. If the US Army started developing games again, then I think it might be appropriate to bring politics into an article talking about it and if someone didn't want to buy that game on principle, I think they'd have a lot of ground to stand on.

Now, as I said in my first comment, I am going to try this DLC. It's free, so I don't feel I'm directly and consciously funding things I don't find savory. This is different than, for example, my taxes contributing to foreign conflicts because I don't have agency in that, at least outside of voting.

That said, I don't really believe in boycotting private industry because of government action. That leans very close to collective punishment, which I am very much against. But the PIF is not, by definition, private industry, so I don't begrudge anyone from not partaking in PIF funded projects out of principle.

@JustMyOpinion I don't think most people here would boycott a Saudi game just because its Saudi. It really does have to do with the PIF and the crown prince. For me, I very much want experiences from as many places as I can get. I want those perspectives. I want those stories.

@twitchtvpat I actually do think that the PIF solicited Ubisoft to make this expansion, so it gets a little murky, but I really think each person should make a moral decision on their own. I don't think it's my place to judge either way.

@JustMyOpinion American/UK developed games aren't literally funded by the governments that perpetrate the human rights violations. That's the important distinction. The PIF is the Saudi government.

I'm actually looking forward to trying this out. While the PIF directly funding this is troubling, I don't think the argument of sportswashing really holds up in the strictest sense. Sportswashing is trying to paint modern Saudi Arabia in a positive light by generating tourism and using the "bread and circus" model to distract from modern injustices, but this expansion can be interpreted as more of a celebration of Saudi history.

Saudi Arabia can simultaneously have a rich, beautiful history to pull from and be a repressive monarchy in the modern era. Both can be true.

@Oram77 @Th3solution @Americansamurai1 @SeaDaVie I think American companies, if not Western companies in general, are also embracing AI in a big way. They are just doing so more covertly, since there seems to be a bigger cultural "stink" on the term.

There's also the problem that because investors want to here the term "AI" as much as they can, many businesses have renamed previous technologies under the AI banner to appease them. So, when you hear companies talk about AI, there's a chance they're not even talking about LLMs or GAI, but rather procedural generation tech or other tech that we've had for a while and didn't have a problem with.

I'm so on board for this game. Witcher 3 remains my favorite game of all time, so I was already really anticipating this game, but each time Dawnwalker gets shown off, it looks better and better. At this point, I think I'm actually good on seeing the game. As long as it isn't a technical mess on release, it will be a very easy purchase.

@Rich33 I think a lot of AAA games really struggle, since their scopes tend to be much larger. Fortnite is the obvious example of a game running incredibly well, but I recognize that doesn't say much, since they have UE5 engine developers at their fingertips. From what I've played, ARC Raiders has performed very well. Lords of the Fallen is in a great place now (though launched rough). And Eriksholm I found to be pretty flawless on a technical level. There are plenty of examples of things going wrong, no doubt, but figured I'd shout out a few that did things right.

The thing I'm most surprised about for this game is the fact that Ubisoft has several proprietary engines to choose from (Snowdrop, Anvil, Dunia, etc.) and they still opted for UE. My guess is this is for ease of onboarding new developers, so they don't need to learn a completely new software when they get hired, but that's pure speculation.

@Rich33 I don't know if blaming UE5 for every technical woe a game faces is fair. From what I've read and heard, you can very reliably make a stable game, but because it's such a powerful tool, developers get ahead of their skis and don't properly set expectations of what they want to accomplish earlier in development, making optimizing the game much harder at the end.

@Toot1st True, but prox chat really helps - you can make your case to other people and I've found most are really friendly and understanding in the game.

@UltimateOtaku91 The larger robots really need multiple people to take down. I've taken a leaper on my own, but it completely drained my ammo and health/shield consumables. Definitely recommend tackling those with multiple players/teams.

I'm totally addicted to this game. I've dabbled in extraction shooters before (Hunt and a little DMZ), but this is the first one that's really clicked for me. The 70s vibes are on point and the shooting and movement are also top notch. I see myself playing this one for some time to come.

I'd take any of the top 4 options.

@AaronBayne You're just looking for any excuse to show off your Anniversary Portal, aren't you? 😂

I love Fallout 4. I've put well over 400 hours into it over the years. Some of the systems were dated, even back in 2015, but wandering the Commonwealth is just top notch. "Roleplaying" aside, the gameplay is the best the series has ever seen.

The Boston accents are atrocious though... 😂

Already have all DLC and an appreciable amount of the Creation Club content already. Hard pass from me.

@StitchJones I took a look around and couldn't find any way to disable. Sorry dude. I empathize - I have an OLED as well.

@nessisonett I get the sense that she's pretty hard to work with, but I don't know if laying Forspoken at her feet is super fair. From what I remember, that script got workshopped to death. Even Gary Whitta (SW Rogue 1) has writing credits on it. Though Hardline is definitely the redheaded stepchild of the Battlefield series, the campaign was actually quite good and I think folks who played it usually agree (with obvious exceptions).

@Boxmonkey @StitchJones I get what you guys are saying. For me, I think I'd feel a little more invested in the lore if there was a real sense of place for Speranza, but it's all a matter of taste. There's no wrong answer, just preference.

@Northern_munkey I totally get the other side of the argument, too - it saves a lot of time not having to navigate a physical space, especially if that space is confusing as hell (cough cough Destiny 2 cough). I guess the thing I'm missing is having a hub where you can interact with other players without the urgency of an active raid.

As you say, a game that allows for both options would be really great.

Solid 8 with a potential to be better as time goes on. I think the Speranza hub is a pretty big let down, since it's just a menu, but this game will hopefully have legs and an opportunity to grow in the future.

@Oram77 @StitchJones Some people just don't understand that the smaller remaster/remake projects help fund the bigger, newer games. The rank-and-file devs need something to do when new games are in preproduction!

I have one, but I barely use it. I hate that it relies so heavily on good wifi reception. My bedroom seems to have poor wifi, so the place I'd be most likely to use it, I can't.

When it works, it's fantastic, but I've just been disappointed in my own use case.

@AverageGamer Yuck. Cheaters really do ruin everything.

@Oram77 From what I understand, this is because the Series X uses "off-the-shelf" internal hardware, whereas PS5 has custom internal hardware that utilizes tech/power more efficiently. Take what I'm saying with a grain of salt, though. I'm not a techie and am basically regurgitating what I've heard elsewhere.

My question is: why can't they filter matches based on input peripheral? Have crossplay, but add a setting to only match with controllers or only match with M&K, etc.

These guys fumbled the ball so badly that there is absolutely no way I'll ever pay money to play it. If it's ever offered as a PS+ game (first off, weak month), I might try it out of morbid curiosity, but that's all they'll get from me.

@Northern_munkey I adored Alpha Protocol in college. His goofy crouch walking animations are seared into my brain. 😂

@captainsandman Was going to say something similar. Besides, the Ghibli adaptation I really want is a Princess Mononoke game. Someone, make it happen, please!!

Sony refunding customers after taking Concord offline had more to do with writing the entire budget of the game down as a loss for tax rebates. Appeasing customers was just an upshot of that.

That said, if they hadn't refunded customers, purchasers would have thrown a fit, and justly so.

I'm surprised anyone would want to work with Microsoft as a contracted studio at this point. Seems like too much risk.

Got this over the weekend and have been having a blast! Can't wait to get home from work to boot it up again.

@Czar_Khastik As someone who has played none of these games, I feel well equipped to say that they all suck, you're all wrong, and I am indisputably correct.

Historically, I haven't, but I've been getting more into horror games recently and played through RE2 and 3 remake earlier this month. Loved them both!

I'm definitely going to try and make an effort in the future to play at least one spooky game each October.

I can actually see this going in Tencent's favor, but even if it does, I don't see why Sony can't just bar the game from being sold on their platform.

Maybe this is an easier case in China or Japan, but in the US, it's super hard to fight against this. Unless Tencent actually stole assets from Sony, I don't know if Sony can rely on the "it makes us look bad" argument.

Y'all are effin funny. The biggest "threat" to PlayStation is real life? Are you serious?

I'm a huge gamer. I play everyday. But if you think that going on a hike instead of gaming is anything but a positive in your life, you need to reevaluate.

I'd like to play at some point, but I never finished the first game and definitely want to do that before jumping into 2.

Seems like a nice month for me. I don't typically buy racers, so whenever they're offered, it's a nice way to dip my toe into that ecosystem. I really liked Dirt 5, so I hope this feels familiar to that.

I never beat Stray, so that will also be a nice addition to my library. Can't go wrong with adorable cats.

Don't know anything about TABS, but I guess I'll find out soon enough.

@REALAIS Fair enough, but since I don't buy those cosmetic packs, it's just free support for me.

@Jacko11 I got the Pulse Elite a while back and had to return it. I found it incredibly uncomfortable and hurt after not too long wearing it.

Instead, I got the Inzone H5 and have enjoyed them so far, though the material started to peel on the headband. I had to put a cushion wrap around it, but the added cushioning is actually nice.

I really appreciate Ubisoft's willingness to support these single-player games after release. I've had a hard time binging Shadows, but I enjoy chipping away at a slow pace. I'm well over 100 hours in and probably have completed only half the story.

My purchase will depend on the asking price. If this is $40 or less, I'll definitely pick it up, but if they charge $50-$70 for what will be a largely familiar experience, it will be a "wait for a sale" kinda game.

I see where Schofield is coming from, though I will say that as it stands right now, MW3 2023 is probably my second favorite CoD, behind MW 2019, at least in terms of it's multiplayer suite. The campaign was trash though.

I feel like Sledgehammer is a great and underutilized dev. WW2 was a great campaign and had solid MP. Didn't play much of the MP for AW, but thought the campaign was great. Vanguard had a fun campaign, but lacking MP.

If Activision gave that dev time to cook, unlike the rushed MW3 dev cycle, I think they could really do something special.

Raw gameplay has never been a strength of this studio, so this is 100% a wait-and-see situation. If they can marry their narrative strengths with compelling gameplay, it could be pretty cool, but narrative multiplayer games typically have an uphill battle.

I look forward to the gameplay reveal in 2031.