R(ob)’s Comments (group member since Jun 21, 2021)

R(ob)’s comments from the The Video Game Forum group.

I guess everyone is too busy dying on Borderlands 4.

I’m struggling to motivate myself to replay HZD or TLOU2 again. I found HZD a real chore in the latter half of the game and TLOU2 I really loved but it’s a really long game - took me about 30 hours to complete it. I suppose I could play either/both to the point I’ve had enough as I finished them both before so no biggy if I don’t complete them a second time.

I’ve finally completed Gears of War Reloaded. Still a great game, visual upgrades look great and holds up well by today’s standards bar the cut-scenes which are clearly unchanged from the Ultimate edition. 9/10 on the r-score-o-meter. I’ve binned off the multiplayer as the skill level is far too high for me even though I’m pretty good at FPS multiplayer shooters. I have no other currently released games lined up to play so I’ll have to do some searching. My back log consists of Callisto Protocol, or a replay of Blops 6 campaign but on PS5, or replays of Horizon Zero Dawn or TLOU2 (but the PS5 remasters).

I’ve not been gaming much recently. On Act 4 of Gears of War Reloaded. Taking it exceptionally slowly only because my gaming mojo has gone a little. I’m not that excited for Ghost of Yotei (probably get it when cheaper) so not much on the Horizon for me except for Battlefield 6, Outer Worlds 2 and Keeper (which looks amazing). All out in October.

I’ve played a couple of hours of Gears. Enjoying the campaign again but the multiplayer is far above my ability level and I’ve already had enough. I don’t understand how people can zoom around the map so quickly. I got some kills but rather than getting better it just got worse and worse. Just the campaign for me.

Got to wait until 4pm. I was all ready to go. I’ll play the MP but it will be very sweaty.

Yea the DIgital Foundry review of MGS Delta performance and resolution wise is not glowing. In performance mode it gets no where near 60Hz and its base resolution is sub 1080p. And same old crap PSSR upscaling on Pro. A case again where the Pro version is actually worse than the standard version - crazy. Otherwise ignoring all that it’s basically a good remake completely overhauled and modernised so I think it’ll still look vastly improved and still a great game. For me it’s one to get in a sale. The day one patch may well fix a few of its issues but remains to be seen.

I’m looking forward to Gears too. Played it on 360 and the Ultimate edition. I’m even looking forward to the multiplayer even though it can be a high bar to being competitive.

Anyone tempted by Indika?

Gears of War Reloaded is out Tuesday so that’s my next game. Harold Halibut won’t get a look in now. I’ll play Gears on Series X but I’d love to play it instead on PS5 Pro but I’m not paying for it when I already have it for free.

I’ve completed Sword of the Sea. Excellent game with lots of great platforming, exploration, light puzzles, collectibles, superb artwork and great atmosphere. Nothing like Journey whatsoever in terms of gameplay. It’s a proper game and the tricks are only really for the trick areas which are optional. 9/10 on the r-score-o-meter. If it wasn’t for completing the game in under two hours trophy I’d go for the platinum as I’d be more than happy to play it again. I have started a new game plus.

It’s a platforming game so not sure where the - lots of travelling and not a lot else - comes from. If it’s the trailer then it’s not the case at all.

I might give Harold Halibut a go next.

There’s a lot more game play in this one.

Took a chance on Sword of the Sea on PS Plus extra. About 2 hours in and it’s superb. Highly recommended. Light puzzle platformer with board tricks but you can pretty much ignore the tricks side at least so far. Made by the same people that made Journey and it has all of the excellent artwork, environments and atmosphere. Platforming is good too.

Completed Mafia The Old Country. The second half of the game was much more fun than the first half bar the horrible knife fights and an insta-death sneaky boss fight. The story, characters and cut-scenes were very good. Standard Mafia story but very well done. Combat is fun. Racing a chore. Stealth seen and done it all before but it’s straightforward even with the insta-death. The open world looks nice but it’s purely a backdrop. The graphics were a little soft in performance mode but little different to games such as Alan Wake 2 for comparison. The money seems pretty pointless. Yea you can buy new clothing, cars and colours but the opportunity to buy them is very infrequent. The one thing that frustrated me is that it doesn’t tell which guns you are picking up and the opportunity to choose your load-out is very very infrequent - bit of a pain for going for the related weapon trophies. For all the gripes I did enjoy it, especially the story, characters and combat. It would be easy to be critical but for the amount I enjoyed it I’ll give it a 7/10 on the r-score-o-meter. Defo worth a sale purchase.

Yea I’m not a big fan either. It’s fine if when it goes wrong the game reverts to a fight but insta-death is not what I enjoy. Saying that the stealth in the game is fine - seen it all before - and is pretty straightforward. Just had another race and it was like controlling a car on ice.

I’ve been playing Mafia The Old Country. It’s pretty good so far but at the same time I can see why it’s not full price. Shines in the characters, story telling and cutscenes - albeit the character models are not the best I’ve seen - but it takes a good 2-3 hours to really get going. In the first 3 hours I probably had two gunfights and two races. I can’t stand the knife boss fights - basic, not the greatest mechanics and really don’t add anything. The open world is not really open as at least so far as it’s constantly asking me to follow people. However I’ve just got my own place so hopefully I can just spend a bit of time driving around exploring taking in the map. Definitely feels more AA than AAA - somewhere in the middle. Also the insta-death stealth - hate it.

And of course I’ve been playing the Battlefield 6 beta. It’s absolutely incredible. So excited now for October. Looks amazing on PS5 Pro and 120Hz - only console that does it for BF6.

I like what I’ve seen of Mafia but yea I’m taking a risk before reviews are out. I need a new game. At least it’s got a 60fps mode, although I think they might have called it unlocked framerate mode to set expectations. I’m sure it’ll have difficulty modes so hopefully not too frustrating.

Have you played Hellblade 1? Honestly terrible games. Look gorgeous graphically but if you don’t like Plague Tale I can’t see you liking Hellblade - it has even less game play and what is there is awful.

No gaming for me except a bit of multiplayer. I have thrown some money at some games. I’ve pre-ordered Mafia which is my next game. And I’m so excited for Battlefield 6 - I always play Battlefield games to death - that I’ve pre-ordered the premium edition. And with some left over PS Store credit - like £8 - I bought the pre-order bonuses for Delta Force which I’ll no doubt play for a few weeks. And the Gears of War current generation remaster is out later this month too. So that’s me sorted for a fair few weeks.

When I played Prey I loved it to begin with but the difficulty and then the awful way point system which was frustrating to navigate (at times) spoiled it a bit for me. I finished it but in the end glad it was over.

I’ve not found anything I really want to play at the moment so I’ve decided to take a short break from gaming until Mafia release- assuming it’s 60fps which is not confirmed. I’ll probably play some multiplayer but no campaigns.

Yea my wishlist for the year is pretty long. I plan to get all of those except Borderlands and Hellblade 2. Hellblade 1 and 2 are absolutely awful though. Gave up on both of them. Graphics over game play substance.