From the early 2000’s Josua Benavidez has been working behind the scenes on many Triple A games.

Now being the Design Director at Insomniac Games for the PlayStation 5 exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and thanks to PlayStation HQ, STG was able to have a one on one with Josua about his work in the game and what PlayStation players can expect from Insomniac Games’ latest webbed hero’s adventure, before the game’s release.

Shane: Hey Josua, thanks for chatting to us here at STG. Great to meet you. So the map of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a reimagined New York. Can you tell us about the favourite parts of this now expanded city?

Josua: Yeah, so I really wanted to see a lot of details added in to the game, The likes of, you know, Amy’s House, Peter’s Aunt, May’s houses, and so you get to see part of his neighbourhood where he went to school. You’ll actually get to visit Peter’s High School. And then for Brooklyn and  it was great to be able to add because Brooklyn has so much iconic landmarks to it. And so we added lots of really interesting areas, including  Coney Island and Brooklyn also ties into Miles (Miles Morales). That’s actually where Miles is going to school. And so that’s part of our game. It was like Miles and his journey as he’s finishing up high school.

Shane: Now there’s always complications when you build a game. Was it hard coming in to this second game when expectations were already set high?

Josua: Well, one of the things we wanted to do is to make sure that there is something new for players to explore and you know, we wanted to give them an experience that’s  new and exciting. One of the ways that we went about delivering on that was adding new traversal measures, new traversal moves. We added the web wings, which is great because it’s a new traversal feature that allows you to glide around. It works really well with swinging, but also allows you to explore and kind of see the city in a new way.

You can swing, but also you can kind of glide over the tops and with that it also allowed us to add more traversal features to the world. So we’ve got wind tunnels and we’ve got updrafts, these allow you to play with the city in a way that you didn’t have before. And then also we’ve got the two heroes.

And so we did have the Miles Morales game, but this is the first time we actually have two full Spider-Man heroes at the same time, right. And so being able to switch between them was another thing that we thought would really help add to creating a new experience. You get to see two different spider arcs, Hero arcs, right? Cause we’ve got Miles who has his own arc and his own story and journey that he goes through. And so does Peter, right. And Peter’s is very heavily tied to the symbio. And so you’ve got both of them kind of going on their own journeys and so that allows players to experience things from two different sides, but then also of course, you know, they converge together.

Shane: Without giving any spoilers, what is your favourite part of the game?

Josua: I don’t have a favourite part. I love, you know so much in the game.

There’s so many great moments. I love the story, I think it’s amazing. It’s great. It’s just such a great story for telling, you know, the journey that Peter Peter goes through. I love a lot of the new things that we’ve done with the open world and spider bots. I guess that’s kind of a little bit of a spoiler, but like, you know, spider bots were really fun thing that we got to add to the game.

Shane: What what I found when I was playing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is that I would deviate a lot from the main story because the city was so dynamic and there is so much going on.

Josua: There’s a lot of little twists and then we have lots of great missions that have a creative take on the experience. And so we thought about the missions and what players would expect from a big Marvel blockbuster game experience, right? But then we also have missions that are more playing to kind of the characters of the city and are a little bit more character driven. And so I love that we have that balance right that we’ve got all these different scales that people can engage within.

Shane: So you’re the Design Director for Spider-Man 2, but you have also worked on other top shelf games.

Josua: Yeah, I mean this is the third Spider-Man game that I’ve worked on and been on since the beginning.
It’s been a really fun experience working on Spider-Man from the beginning and being able to take on different challenges from the first Spider-Man game. This time I focused more on the initial layout of the City of Manhattan and figuring out where our landmarks were going to be and what our scales and metrics we’re going to be and how we would actually kind of build the world and the city itself. I’ve been Directing on missions, different side contents and the expanding the city. So it’s been a really fun experience just getting to do lots of different things and being part of creating these games.

Shane: What’s next for you and the team at Insomniac Games?

Josua: Right now we’re just waiting for the launch, right? That’s just like I’m playing the game everyday. Still just looking for things and watching what people are posting and reading comments. You know what people are saying about it and we’re still basically focused on getting this game out here and waiting for everyone to get playing it.

Shane: What would you say to future players of Spider-Man 2?

Josua: We’ve got an amazing story and amazing main campaign to play through that I think does a great job of telling the different arcs of our heroes and our different characters. It’s actually not a game just about the spider heroes. There’s other characters. We have lots of other characters that you can experience, but also, like, take the time to explore the city and play through some of our other content which kind of goes into again a little more character focus or just offers a different experience.

And there’s so much that the game has to offer. I’m really excited and hopeful that people try out that try out everything. I know it’s exciting and sometimes just want to get to the end of the story, but also take the time to explore the other parts of the game and see all the different things that we have to offer.

Shane: Thanks Josua for chatting to us at STG. Really appreciate it and I know many PlayStation gamers are looking forward to the release of Spider-Man 2.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is now out on PlayStation 5.

The post Interview w. Josua Benavidez, Design Director – Spider-Man 2 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Mascot platformers were once the biggest properties in console gaming.

Anyone and everyone took their shot at creating memorable, usually fluffy avatars that were meant to become synonymous with the platform they appeared on. Ratchet and Clank is only of the few series, however, (especially outside Nintendo) to survive through to the 9th generation of consoles however.

A critically-acclaimed launch title for the PlayStation 5, Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart was a showcase for the power of the new PlayStation hardware, in particular the extremely fast SSD and associated decompression blocks. Using this hardware, the game featured incredibly impressive portals that moved you between entire worlds at the whim of the player, something entirely impossible on the slow mechanical hard drives of the PlayStation 4, not to mention its underpowered CPU cluster.

Now in-house porting studio Nixxes continues their overall excellent work in making PlayStation a powerhouse on PC too.

But Sony has had a bit of a mixed record with PC releases lately, with The Last of Us Part 1 coming in at a particularly shocking state at launch (though much improved now). Luckily, Nixxes has done a generally excellent job with this port, and some bugs aside it is a solid, scalable PC port that nearly every PC gamer will find works with their rig, to some degree or another.

But to discuss porting strategy for a second, PlayStation continue their bizarre habits of not starting off the PC audience with the beginning of the franchise. It is strange to see A Rift Apart release ahead of the 2016 PlayStation 4 game. This was an issue with the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection too (imagine diving into Uncharted 4 without any background on Nathan Drake or Chloe Fraser) and it continues for another flagship PlayStation franchise here. It seems that PlayStation is only interested in porting PlayStation 5 titles at this point – and any preceding games that help introduce and make sense of the world aren’t getting their turn on PC. I would strongly encourage PlayStation to revisit this approach, as PC gamers deserve to have the full picture of a franchise. For Ratchet and Clank especially.

Given the 2016 PlayStation 4 game was a soft reboot in line with the movie’s release, this would have been a perfect opportunity to start with that game before building up to A Rift Apart. For players new to the franchise diving straight into this game does assume quite a bit of familiarity with the characters and their backstories.

One of the key selling features for the original release was the innovative use of the PlayStation 5’s SSD drive, a massive upgrade over the slow laptop hard drives as found in last gen consoles. The game is uniquely coded around this capability, and unfortunately this does have slight implications for the PC release. Even with a very high end CPU and 7,000MB/s PCI 4.0 NVMe drive combination, loading still won’t be quite as fluid as on the PlayStation 5. It results in some small stutters and differences that you’ll probably only notice if you’ve played the game before on console.

The port is otherwise very competent, with, since it uses the same engine, the same basic setup as the two PlayStation 5 Spiderman titles on PC. There’s a wide range of graphics and display options, and of course all the original release’s content is present and accounted for.

You have a choice of 3 different temporal upscaling options (DLSS, FSR2 and XeSS), all of which present passable images, and it was great to see two new additions to the game’s ray tracing arsenal, even if current hardware’s performance can’t quite keep up with their demands.

At the other end of the scale, A Rift Apart scales down excellently to lower-end hardware, and playing through such a full-featured title on the Steam Deck was an excellent experience. I could manage a solid 30FPS using FSR2 or XeSS temporal upscaling which still produced a pleasing image, in stills and in motion. This is fantastic to see, as some newer titles – especially those that are current-gen only on console – haven’t quite been able to work properly on Valve’s handheld device.

So is Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart worth a replay if you already tried it on PlayStation 5?

Well, if you have a very high end PC rig then you’ll get higher resolutions, higher frame rates and ray-traced shadows and ambient occlusion that the PlayStation 5 is not able to produce. But the PlayStation 5 version remains an excellent version, particularly in its 40FPS mode on compatible 120Hz 4K TVs like my LG C2. There aren’t any new exclusive game modes or content to speak of so those looking for a dramatically different experience on PC won’t find it here.

To be clear, this is because the PlayStation 5 version is excellent, not due to any fault in the release on either platform. Nevertheless, the PC release will be the definitive edition going forward, especially as hardware matures to match the ambition of its included feature set.

It has been a pleasure to see Sony and PlayStation embrace the PC as a new platform for expanded reach of their most precious franchises. This latest entry is an excellent addition, which while not transformative to the core experience, will stand the test of time as the new definitive edition. More importantly, it has launched in a state far better than some other recent PC releases.

And while I did experience some bugs and oddities, porting house Nixxes has demonstrated they have the capabilities and commitment to address these. Onto the next PC port – The Last of Us Part 2, please!

The post Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

During a panel held at San Diego Comic-Con in the historic Hall H, Insomniac Games revealed an array of exciting new information for their upcoming PlayStation 5 game, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

The panel kicked off with the debut of a brand-new trailer, which sets up the story in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. When Kraven’s hunters arrive in the city, it sets off a mystery of why they are there and who, and what, they are hunting. But as the Spider-Men and MJ dig deeper into Kraven’s motivations, the symbiote begins to threaten Marvel’s New York and everyone and everything they hold dear.

As many may have noticed in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Gameplay Trailer from the PlayStation Showcase in May, Peter’s new Black Suit affected his personality and gives him new, powerful symbiote abilities. Bits of that are shown in this trailer as well, and Peter’s symbiote powers tax his relationships with Miles, MJ and Harry.

There are new looks at the expanded Marvel’s New York and players will now be able to swing across the East River and explore Brooklyn and Queens. The iconic Coney Island also makes its debut in the new trailer.

Additionally, a full look at the monstrous Venom is revealed in the new trailer.

The panel concluded with the first look at the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition bundle, which features stunning designs that capture the look and feel of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The threat of Venom and the symbiote will be one of the most formidable challenges that the two Spider-Men will face. The designs aim to reflect the intensity of the symbiote and its capacity for transformation and power with a takeover design for the PS5 console and DualSense wireless controller.

The limited edition design will be available in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition – PS5 Console Bundle, as well as PS5 Console Covers – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition, PS5 Digital Edition Console Covers – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition, and DualSense Wireless Controller – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition, with pre-orders starting 28th July 2023, available in limited quantities at select retailers.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 releases on the 20th October, 2023.

The post Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 @ SDCC23 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Insomniac Games is thrilled to announce that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

After the amazing fan reception for Marvel’s Spider-Man in 2018 and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales in 2020, the team has worked tirelessly over the past few years to make this third installment in the franchise the sequel you have been waiting for.

Built from the ground up for PlayStation 5 console, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will unlock the power of the console with better visuals, faster web swinging (and web wings!), 3D Audio, and near-instant character switching. On behalf of the teams at Insomniac, PlayStation, and Marvel Games, we cannot wait for you to get your hands on this incredible single-player open-world experience.

In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, players will get to experience Marvel’s New York as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales.

As you saw in the PlayStation Showcase last month – the main storyline of the game will have you take control of both Spider-Men at different points of the campaign. In the open world, you will be able to switch nearly instantly between them as you explore Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.

Both Spider-Men have stories and missions in the world exclusive to each of them.

As you can see from our box art, Peter and Miles are both key protagonists in our story.

The iconic red background returns, but darkness surrounds as fan-favorite villains like Venom, Lizard, and Kraven threaten them and Marvel’s New York. You will also notice that each character’s arm represents their new abilities: Peter with the symbiote, Miles with his evolved bioelectric Venom powers.

In addition to the launch date, we have announced several editions for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Pre-orders will open on June 16th, 2023 at all participating retailers, and PlayStation Store. Pre-Orders will go live at 10:00 AM local time on June 16, 2023.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will launch on Friday, October 20, 2023, exclusively on PlayStation 5.

The post PS5 Exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 This October appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

One of the biggest Spider-Man games to date released exclusively to the PlayStation 4 back in 2018.

Now PC gamers can get a taste of the Spidey action from Insomniac Games that PS gamers have had for the past four years.

Remastered with all the action, web slinging and an astoundingly detailed and vast NYC map Marvel’s Spider-Man is a near endless game with so much to do and so much area to web-sling in.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is not a film to game adaption or a rehash of the Spider-Man origin, it is an original story which sees you play as a well experienced Peter Parker as Spider-Man.

Peter is an intern lab assistant when he isn’t taking down baddies. He’s been Spider-Man for a few years now and juggles his dramatic private life with being a superhero. But as a new threat is unleashed upon NYC Peter is in for one adventure of his life.

There has been some creative license added in to the Spider-Man lore, but too much as to make it far from the mythos.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered has alot of missions and a fair amount of side quests to get on with.

Combine this with an RPG element where you will upgrade and acquire new Spidey abilities.

Enemy A.I. is top shelf and in some scenarios you can find yourself totally swamped or near obliterated by fierce foe fire power.

Playing this on PC will require you to have a rather grunty laptop or RIG. It’s recommended to have at least an Intel Core i7-12700K or AMD Ryzen 9 5900X or higher CPU. Ideally you should have 32GB of RAM (but I played fine with 16GB RAM) and use an SSD. Graphics will require a minimum Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 or an AMD equivalent.

While graphics can be toned down if needed, I played and reviewed this on a ASUS ROG X13 (with Mobile XG Graphic Extender) and it was flawless with nothing toned down.

If you have the above required specs you’re in for a visual feast and is best played on a 4K or higher screen.

I’d recommend you check your specs and also have enough installation space, as the game is a whopping 75GB.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is the Spider-Man game that fans of the character had been wanting. Insomniac couldn’t have done better here. It’s a marvel (yes, pun intended).

If you’re a PC gamer and seen your mates playing this on their PS4 and PS5s now is your turn to fully immerse yourself in to a game bigger than the city it plays out in.

Just like some other PlayStation exclusives such as God of War Sony have done an excellent job at porting this over as the complete Marvel’s Spider-Man experience.

The post Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Our heroes are celebrated with an extravagant over the top parade for their achievement of peace and the defeat of Dr. Nefarious.

But you can’t keep a good villain down.

As a surprise for Ratchet, Clank has built a Dimensionator, a gadget that opens up rifts between dimensions for faster interstellar travel and beyond.

The idea is to gift it to Ratchet at the parade so he can find his family. Clank’s surprise gift to his lifelong buddy Ratchet is thwarted by Nefarious and his goons as the fumbling self absorbed baddie learns of the Dimensionator’s existence and wants it for himself.

But Nefarious is never that good to sweep in and accomplish a goal and through what is both the intro section and the heroic celebrations the Dimensionator is destroyed taking the Universes with it.

Opening up rifts all over the Galaxy.

Welcome to Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

If you’re familiar with the Ratchet and Clank series then you’re in for more of what you remember within a beautifully rendered, glorious 4K romp not just around planets but alternate dimensions.

For those new to the series, game play is adventure, action, puzzle play and RPG wrapped up in an on going narrative that’s addictive.

In one of these alternate dimensions, ‘another’ Nefarious reigns supreme, aka the Emperor.

Within this new world (for us) a lone female Lombax called Rivet enacts a solo campaign against Nefarious’ oppressive rule.

As you’d expect it’s not long before Rivet, Ratchet and Clank get intertwined between the two dimensions, each entering the others worlds in order to gain parts to rebuild the Dimensionator to restore the Universes as they were, as well as bring down both Nefarious for good. Hopefully.

Rifts open up everywhere, some of which you’ll use to traverse from one area of an environment to another. This action enables you to access otherwise inaccessible areas – but is generally game specific.

A few new robots come along for the wild ride that is Rift Apart and via mini puzzle games you’ll play as these to forge your way through the game.

Side quests, hidden goodies and more await you – Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is a game both worth and advisable for exploration. A map with key points, your objective and items of interest is accessible via the touch pad on your PS5 controlpad.

A familiar cast of characters such as Rusty Pete, Skidd McMarx and more reprise their roles, but with a difference given their inter-dimensional counterparts.

Zany and over the top weapons have been a main stay of Ratchet and Clank games and Rift Apart has a butt load of them.

Ricochet, Topiary Sprinkler, Mr. Fungi, Negation Collider and more with a few familiar ones. Weapons can be mapped to a button on your PS5 controller and selectable on the fly. New gadgets too which you’ll need to successfully play through the game.

Each weapon can be upgraded using Raretanium that you have found throughout the planets and dimensions and new arsenal can be purchased via Ms. Zirkon, an armory vendor who appears in almost every dimension or planet.

Armour can also be gained, usually through completing side-quests given out by NPCs. Also upgradeable by way of completing mini-dimensional pockets

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is not an open world title, they never have been, but given the scope of the differing planets, environments and that they change when a dimensional crystal is hit its as large as any open world game.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart sure makes use of the PS5s capabilities.

Not just from a visual point but also audio. From a soundtrack put together by the legendary Mark Mothersbaugh (from 80s band DEVO) through to 3D Audio enabled. If possible I recommend playing with the PS5 Pulse 3D headphones.

The PS5’s haptic feedback controlpad is also an integral part of play.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart has it all. Favorites from prior games, an interweaving story full of twists and surprises, new characters (including Rivet who is one badass Lombax) and diversified play.

Rift Apart is the Ratchet and Clank you imagined, you hoped for but then much more, exceeding expectations.

The post Ratchet Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

New weapons, new characters and a new adventure. Our beloved Lombax, Ratchet comes out of retirement and brings his trusted cynical sidekick Clank along for a full on visual and gameplay fest.

Insomniac Games who have been at the helm of the Ratchet & Clank franchise since the first title released in 2002 exclusive to the PlayStation 2.

Having remained consistent throughout the years both is story and gameplay elements our hero’s arch nemesis Dr. Nefarious has always tried to wreak havoc, take over the Universe and basically been super annoying to Ratchet’s hope for a peaceful existence.

Coming real soon exclusively to PlayStation 5 is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart where an alternate Universe exists that runs parallel to the one that Ratchet and Clank exist in.

In this alternate world there is only one hero – Rivet. A strong, brave and no mucking about female Lombax goes solo fighting against Nefarious who in this reality has actually taken over the Galaxy.

Rivet, although a little socially awkwardly shy and used to needing to be self-reliant and resourceful, she has a good heart as she is fierce in battle.

As rifts begin to appear between the two realities you as both Ratchet and Rivet at game specific intervals will conquer Nefarious and his legion of baddies in a story full of humour that we have come to love from prior games.

With the new specs available for the PlayStation 5 (PS5) Insomniac have not held back, maximizing the visuals on screen with some very real-world like effects such as ray-tracing and depth of field.

I was honoured to have been apart of an exclusive show and tell Insomniac breakout session where creators, animators, story-tellers, developers and even the legendary Mark Mothersbaugh (from 80s band DEVO) speaking and sampling portions of the game and it’s soundtrack.

Those that have played any Ratchet & Clank game in the past will be familiar with the very original and unique weapons on offer. I don’t want to give any spoilers in this preview, so all I can say is expect a more and even more zany yet amusingly deadly arsenal.

While the breakout sessions touched upon only some of the game that we will be able to play – it was apparent that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is going to be a massively larger than life expansive game.

Mark Mothersbaugh who has done soundtracks for films and TV series was bought in to create the 3D audio pop synth music that you’re likely to find your foot tapping away too while you play.

Each and every Ratchet & Clank game has tested the power of the PlayStation console (including portables) that it has released on, Rift Apart is absolutely no different in that respect.

In a few weeks expect another Galactic adventure saving not one but two Universes in the ultimate Ratchet & Clank title yet, Rift Apart.

The post Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Preview appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Insomniac Games have been working hard to ensure that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, is a showpiece game and exclusive for your PlayStation 5 console.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a brand-new full-length adventure.

When the evil Dr. Nefarious uses a device that can access alternate dimensions to find a galaxy where he always wins, Ratchet and Clank are separated. As they try to re-unite, they will meet a new Lombax resistance fighter, explore new and familiar locales (but with new dimensional twists!), and wield a whole new arsenal of out of this world weapons.

If you’ve never played a Ratchet & Clank game before, this is an excellent one to start with as the adventure is a stand-alone storyline, but long-time fans of the series will find deeper layers of connection to previous games.

The new artwork for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was revealed as well.

This beautiful new piece speaks to the game’s theme of duality. Ratchet and Clank are the personification of opposites forming a more powerful whole and this theme is expanded even more through alternate-dimension counterparts of characters and worlds.

Pre-orders start today. Two fan-favourites will make their way into Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart that players who pre-order will be able to unlock early. The Carbonox armor from Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (2003) is now updated with high-definition materials, lighting responses, and ray-traced reflections.

Players who pre-order will also receive an early-unlock of the Pixelizer weapon, the retro-blaster from Ratchet & Clank (2016), also updated visually for the PS5 console.

And yes, we know you are asking for the new Lombax’s name. Hang in there, you’ll be feeling rosy soon and will  see you in the omniverse on June 11th 2021.

Everyone that works on STG is a volunteer. If you like the site and its contents please think about donating. Even a small amount helps keep the servers running.

The post Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart release Date Announced appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

NOW CLOSED – If PriceSpy’s latest data insights are anything to go by, Kiwi gamers appear to be steering more towards driving games, with CTR Crash Team Racing – Nitro Fueled Edition (PS4) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) proving to be amongst the most popular games for the month of July, 2019.

Accelerating to poll-position for a second month running is CTR Crash Team Racing – Nitro Fueled Edition (PS4), followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4), which despite receiving an overall price increase of $17 since last month, the game has consistently been well-placed since first launching in September last year.  Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch), Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) and Days Gone (PS4) placed as third, fourth and fifth most popular games.

Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett, New Zealand country manager for PriceSpy, says: “The most popular games for July certainly appear to be driven by the release of two racing games, CTR Crash Team Racing – Nitro Fueled Edition (PS4) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch).

“Interestingly, all five of the most popular games were also priced under the $100 mark, which goes to show just how important price is to consumers in driving overall interest in a game.”

Liisa continues: “Downloading and using our handy PriceSpy app will help ensure gamers always consistently one step ahead of retailers, so that can shop around and make sure they aren’t paying over the odds for the latest must-have games.”

Spiderman – PlayStation 4

PriceSpy has teamed up with STG to give away the top two most searched for games for the month of July, CTR Crash Team Racing – Nitro Fueled – Nitro Fueled Edition (PS4) and Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4).

To Enter our PriceSpy Games of the Month Giveaway you will need to correctly answer what year did the first Crash Team Racing (PS One) release?

A: 2001

B: 1996

C: 1999

You can give us your Answer by placing a Comment below, hitting us up on Facebook, Tweet to us, or Email Us.

Download the PriceSpy app here.

www.pricespy.co.nz

* Winner(s) will be randomly selected from those that Comment below / Facebook Comment / Email in accordance to the above Question.Winner(s) will receive a new retail boxed copy of Crash Team Racing – Nitro Kart on PlayStation 4 and Spider-Man on PlayStation 4. Crash Team Racing – Nitro Kart is rated G and Spider-Man PS4  is rated M15+. You MUST be over the age of 15 years in order to Enter this competition (STG may request for Age Verification). Competition ends on the  8th of September 2019.

The post Enter to Win Most Popular Games for July w. PriceSpy! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

You may have enjoyed some of the best games that the last twelve months had to offer, but it’s worth being mindful that many of those games have even more post-launch content to enjoy.

Downloadable content, or DLC, has come a long way since Bethesda’s DLC horse armour mis-adventure with Oblivion. For some, DLC is content that developers should have included in the purchased game, and for short titles, that may, indeed, be the case. For three of the very best titles from last year, games that already featured hours and hours of adventure, the additional DLC is well worth the price of admission.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is my 2018 game of the year. Not content with giving players 100 hours-plus of fun roaming Ancient Greece, Ubisoft scheduled a whole season of additional adventures and challenges for your hero to experience.

Players can already enjoy free regular updates, like epic ships and contracts, but the meatiest of this free content is entitled the Lost Tales of Greece. These episodic questlines offer standalone stories with new characters. Even if you’ve not picked up the season pass, players that have already finished the game, by completing all the existing missions (and fair play to you), still have plenty to look forward to. Most of the thet seven free monthly expansions can already be found in the game, with the rest continuing to be released for the next few months.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Season pass owners are really being looked after. The pass includes a copy of Assassin’s Creed 3 Remastered which has just launched. For Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, right now, the first of two additional story arcs are available in the game.

Legacy of the First Blade introduces our hero to Darius, the assassin who allegedly killed the Persian king, Xerxes. All of the three episodes are currently available to play. These introduce some of the elements, that will be familiar to fans of the series (and not just the hidden blade).

The second arc, The Fate of Atlantis (a title that LucasArts fans may be familiar with), shares some more secrets from the famous sunken city. We’ll know more once the story starts sometime in the next month or so.

The Assassin’s Creed Odyssey DLC, both free and as part of the season pass has added some superb new content to the game. Future DLC should keep this already amazing game fresh and exciting for months to come.

Whilst I found Lara Croft’s latest adventure, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, to be a bit lacking in the story department, the game looks great, especially on PC. The game also features some of the best puzzles since the 2013 reboot. This time the tombs are more like the insidious locations of the original games.

The season pass entitles purchasers to download seven DLC expansions, three of which are out right now. Each of the expansions include a new tomb, a new costume, a new ability and a new weapon. Each tomb can be played as a challenge tomb accesses from the main menu of from within the game after players have reached a certain point in the story.

Playing from within the main story, each new tomb includes a new quest line and story element. These paths include extra gameplay and puzzles that lead players to the new tomb.

The first expansion, The Forge adds a new quest-giver in Kuwaq Yaku. The old lady has a map that sends Lara on a new side-quest called Echoes of the Past. Lara must first translate the map with the help of the map’s creator, Diego, then it’s off searching for the tomb entrance.

The fiery tomb itself features lots of explosive gases that Lara must manipulate to swing over red-hot lava pits. The centrepiece is a massive rotating structure that’s an engineering marvel in itself. As with other tombs in the game, successful completion imbues Lara with additional skills for use in the game.

The second DLC, The Pillar, adds a new challenge Tomb to the main menu and a new in-game side-quest called The Age Makers. This new quest is available in Paititi. The Pillar adds a huge chunk of new story and gameplay before Lara even gets to the new tomb area.

The tomb, itself, has Lara battling against the elements in a huge storm throwing rain high winds and lightning bolts her way.

The third DLC, The Nightmare takes Lara back home, to Croft Manor and has her battling supernatural enemies. The fourth instalment, The Price of Survival, pits Lara against elite Trinity soldiers as she makes her way through a tomb packed with deadly traps. The Serpent’s Heart pits Lara against the evil Kukulkan cultists as she seeks to save the lives of the rebels.

The recently released DLC, The Grand Cayman gives us another challenge tomb and a new mission to save the people of San Juan, as Lara does battle against a group of mercenaries and solves the puzzles of a new volcanic tomb.

These DLC packs each offer, at the very least, a solid hour’s worth of tomb raiding and extra questing. If you try each again as challenge tombs you can easily add on another half-hour per episode. You are likely going to get a good ten hours of extra game time from the full seven DLC packs.

Square Enix have really pulled out all the stops with the Shadow of the Tomb Raider post-launch content. The season pass affords players hours of new gameplay, repayable challenges, costumes and abilities.

For our third game that keeps on giving, we need look no further than the adventures of the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, exclusive to PlayStation 4.

Whilst Spider-Man is a huge game straight out of the box, packed with Marvel Easter Eggs, Season Pass owners get even more web-swinging action. The Spider-Man DLC The City That Never Sleeps is split into three self-contained episodes. As well as new story, you also get new suits and side activities to play through.

The first episode “The Heist” introduces Felicia Hardy AKA The Black Cat, who was mentioned, but never seen in the main Spider-Man campaign. The story plays on the unlikely former relationship between Spider-Man and the cat burglar. Black Cat is after some of Hammerheads hard drives and enlists Spider-Man’s help. We also get to play as Mary-Jane in another of her stealth missions. The episode games players some down-time in which to locate some of paintings hidden my Felicia’s father, the first Black Cat. Finishing The Heist unlocks the Spider-UK suit.

The City That Never Sleeps continues with “Turf War”. For this second DLC it’s all-out gang war in the Big Apple. Hammerhead is trying to take down the Maggia dons and Spider-Man is in the middle. Add some seasoned gangsters and a sprinkling of Sable tech and you’ve a recipe for disaster. This DLC whilst fun, is a bit weaker than its predecessor. The Spider-Man DLC concludes with “Silver Lining”. This finale features the return of Silver Sable, who is not happy that Hammerhead hands his hands on her technology.

As well as additional storylines The City that Never Sleeps provides players with new collectables and side missions, as well as additional spider-suits and abilities. There’s even a few more frames for your photo-mode shots. This is on top of some special suits that the developers, Insomniac, have added to the game, fee to all.

These three huge and very different games from the three very different publishers of Ubisoft, Square Enix and Sony Computer Entertainment, offer players some of the best gaming experiences you could want. DLC content, whilst not denying it would have been nice for it to have been in the base games, can hardly be seen as a cash grab. Rather it extends the gaming experience for players that want to extend their time immersed in these incredible game worlds. If only more publishers’ DLC provided such value for money.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is available now on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is available across PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well. Spider-Man, however, is only available on PlayStation 4. All three games are some of my favourite titles from 2018 and come highly recommended.

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