Recently Codemasters have released the first gameplay video for F1 2016, the official videogame of the 2016 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, showcasing Daniel Ricciardo and Jolyon Palmer taking on the thrilling Baku street circuit which will host the 2016 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE. Codemasters has also announced that F1 2016 will release onto PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC (Digital) on the 19th of August 2016 across Australia & New Zealand.

The new video (above) features Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and Jolyon Palmer from Renault Sport Formula One Team as they enjoy their first virtual laps of the Baku City Circuit and give their impressions on the challenging street circuit. The circuit itself is said to thrive on Baku’s very attractive urban atmosphere and its great combination of history and 21st Century style. The historic city centre, the beautiful seaside promenade and the impressive architecture all combine to provide the perfect backdrop for the spectacular new track. 

Speaking about his experience, Daniel commented: “I can’t think of anything like Baku… For the corners it looks like you want to have maximum downforce but I don’t think you can afford to run it because of the long straight. I think we will have to sacrifice some grip in the corners to keep up on the straight.”

Talking about Baku’s soon to be famous Turn 5, Jolyon Palmer, said: “There’s some crazy corners and maybe the craziest there is in FORMULA ONE with the up the hill left and then straight into a blind right hander… It’s going to be easy to hit a wall. It’s very high speed. The challenge is huge!” Jolyon also said that practising on the new circuit in the new F1 2016 videogame before the race itself meant that he now knows “…probably more than most others, maybe everyone in the field so, it’s going to give me a little advantage.”

Codemasters also announced that there will be a Limited Edition of the game to pre-order which includes the F1 2016 ‘CAREER BOOSTER’ DLC PACK, which will give players a head start in their F1 career. It gives the user a ‘Research and Development boost’ that applies a percentage increase to all research and development credits earned by the player in each session in the new career mode. Exclusive Career Helmet and Laptop designs are also included. Once the player has selected their choice for their career helmet, this design is then applied to the laptop located within the Career hub.

F1 2016 features the most in-depth career mode ever seen in the series, allowing players to create their own legend over the course of ten seasons dealing with life and drama both on and off the track. The recreation of the sport will be enhanced by the addition of the sport’s iconic Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car and also includes the new American Haas F1 Team. A number of yet to be announced features are also due to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

The post EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF THE BAKU STREET CIRCUIT IN F1 2016 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Rocket League is the most entertaining game I’ve played in years. In combining two otherwise tame elements, football and cars, Rocket League has managed to create an utterly chaotic and addicting experience.

The gameplay puts me in the mind of Twisted Metal, if Twisted Metal was based around playing football rather than blowing things up. Suitably Sweet Tooth, the most iconic Twisted Metal character, is an unlockable car in the PS4 game.

Each match takes place in a cage with a giant football. As you may have guessed, each team must try and hit the ball into the opponents net. Teams consist of anywhere between one and four players depending on the type of match you choose.

Playing a game of football with a car is more difficult than you may expect. With the direction you are able to move being severely restricted, doing a basic task such as hitting the ball is a lot harder. This made the game so much more unpredictable and comical.

Adding an extra layer of control and hilarity to the game is the jump button. This theoretically allows you to have more control of where you hit the ball as well as allowing you to try and pull of cool moves like heading the ball and bicycle kicks. Quite often though it just led to situations where cars go up to head the ball but miss. Seeing 3 or 4 players all go up yet all miss was a lot more entertaining than it probably should be.

The game also features a boost system to allow you to get a bit of extra speed. Boost can be refilled by running over numerous locations on the field. It can also be used to ram other cars to potentially blow them up resulting in them being respawned.

The game features a very well executed and detailed customisation system. This ranges from choosing the type of car to choosing decorative antennas. New vehicles and items are unlocked after each match. The sheer number of different pieces ensured that no two players looked alike.

The most fun component of the game is the online.

Playing with other people, even strangers, just generally makes the game more enjoyable. My biggest worry with this, along with any other online games, is the longevity of the online community. Even within the first week, I encountered a couple of lengthy matchmaking times.

The offline portion of the game manages to stand up on its own. You have two options at your disposal, play random matches or play a season. Even though the season mode was very simplistic, I actually enjoyed it.

Another neat feature of the game is split-screen, which you can play on all the modes, both online and offline. I was initially skeptical about how a restricted field of view would go on an already difficult game however I soon became adjusted to it and it turned out to be a while lot of fun.

While it would have been nice to have more game modes to choose from, the quality and volume of content already on offer is already more than generous for the low price point.

Rocket League has managed to master the lost art of making games fun. Despite being simplistic, every part of the game feels complete and every feature well implemented.

The post Rocket League Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.