Gaming articles
š» Avowed has me conflicted. The main story sounds like a chore and I prefer immersive sim RPGs to its more static world, but I really enjoyed this weekās episode of The Besties, which covered some of the more innovative features Obsidian has brought to the table. These include speech checks more involved than āis X greater than Yā, and graceful, immersive dialogue when the player stumbles upon quest locations earlier than planned.
Sega and Sports Interactive were right to cancel Football Manager 25
If you read this blog regularly, youāll likely agree that the games industry in 2025 is a Wild West of anti-consumer practices. Developers and publishers seem set on milking as much money from customers as possible, regardless of the damage done to beloved series or the reputations of the companies...
The government won't protect your access to live service games
An attempt to protect gamers against publishersā abrupt shuttering - or āsunsettingā - of live service games failed this week, after the government stated that there are āno plans to amend UK consumer law on disabling video gamesā. A petition that had passed the 10,000-signature threshold for parliamentary discussion was...
āļø Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 looks fantastic. Having watched some of the gameplay circulating online, it strikes me as what I thought a Bethesda RPG might look like by 2025 back when I was playing Oblivion. I donāt know when Iāll next have the time to put aside for such a sprawling adventure, but itās certainly earned a place on my backlog for when I do.
š Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PlayStation 5 this spring. Another Xbox crown jewel landing on Sonyās console raises some interesting questions about the future of the games industry. If all the studios Microsoft bought are too costly to run on Xbox sales alone and their games must be released more widely, what reason will be left to buy an Xbox to begin with?
GTA VI might get away with a $100 price tag, but your game can't
After a decade-long wait and with development costs reportedly stretching into the billions, it has long been rumoured that Rockstar might try to crank up the price of Grand Theft Auto VI when it launches. The standard price for games has already increased from Ā£50 to Ā£60 in recent years,...
šÆ Assassinās Creed Shadows has been delayed again. The release date for Ubisoftās controversial title has dropped to 20th March to allow extra time for polish. To appease fans, the developer released a video showing off the gameās parkour. However, the environments steal the show for me. I have little confidence in its story or gameplay, but I might well be tempted to explore the world once Shadows is fully patched and heavily discounted.
The Long Drive: A surreal road trip that's too weird to put down
Itās 2am, and Iām driving down an empty road in the middle of the desert. The pitch black night stretches out to the horizon, my carās headlights and the stars providing the only illumination over the barren landscape. Suddenly, my engine dies and the lights cut out, plunging the scene...
The Precinct: 80s police simulation with a retrowave kick
The Precinct threatens to scratch an itch I didnāt realise I had. Playing Falling Tree Gamesā upcoming title, I realised Iād always thought that the action-packed parts of Grand Theft Auto roleplay copsā jobs looked quite fun, but that the amount of grinding and bureaucracy to navigate to get there...
ā¢ļø Can you believe that Half-Life 2 is 20 years old already? Rather than cobbling together a typical anniversary edition to rake in the cash, Valve made an updated version of the game free on Steam to mark the occasion. They also released a two-hour YouTube documentary documenting its development, which is fascinating and nostalgic in equal measure.
