Pentiment is the strangest, most intelligent curveball of a game in 2022.

Who knew that a game that would delight church historian nerds would be Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian’s latest release, hot off the back of the 1.0 release of insect-sized survival sim Grounded.

This welcome strangeness of the game is immediate as the story sets itself up. You play as Andreas Maler, an artist working in a combined abbey-convent’s scriptorium, copying down text and illustrating books, set in early 16th century bavaria, during the dying days of hand-copied books, the rise of the printing press and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Pentiment’s visual style is a perfect match for this setting, with a 2D adventure-style presentation that looks like a mediaeval tapestry. It is all stunningly rendered, with extremely high quality art. I loved the superlative details such as the way each character’s text is drawn in speech bubbles with different fonts for each person’s class – worker, clergy, noble etc.

But what of the game itself?

Pentimenti is, at heart, a detective narrative adventure which asks you to slowly uncover the truth of a murder and what lies behind it over 25 years. While it is fairly linear, there are a wide range of dialogue choices that it presents to form alliances, make enemies and engage with other characters. I, for example, chose my Andreas as someone who had spent time in Florence, was taught law and who was a logician.

This, much like Fallout to be honest, gave me some unique dialogue choices. That said, you may not want to use those choices. Taking clear inspiration from seminal masterpiece Disco Elysium, sometimes the best choice is not to say anything, or to say something opposite of what your chosen background may give you cause to say. You will have to use emotional intelligence and wits to keep people onside. Characters have their own complex views and motivations, and deftly navigating these over the course of each day is key to getting close to your ultimate goal.

Behind all of this is a world that is richly detailed, not only in it’s visual presentation, but in the depth of the individual character’s writing and the description of the upheaval they are living through. The game’s writers have truly set a game in a specific time period, where people think and speak as they would have. The writing demonstrates how surface-level many video game, book and screen characters are written and directed, with little actual connection to the setting or time they are supposedly living in.

In Pentiment, each character’s struggles, conflicts and attitudes are grounded in the early 1500s, with its class divides, religious convictions and struggles, and upcoming economic and information revolutions.

Characters will use phrases of the day and expect you to look up what it means (achieved through hyperlinks that take you to an artful glossary) rather than leaving these phrases out for readability. It’s the type of game that can only be developed with either being an indie with nothing to lose, or being backed by one of the world’s richest companies, the latter clearly being the case here for Microsoft-owned Obsidian.

Honestly, it is a wonder that Pentiment ever got made. It is so much a labour of passion, an expression of a clear, defined interest that is refreshing in the times of the huge, sprawling AAA open world release. A game carefully honed to make money it is not.

I love that Microsoft has given Obsidian the scope to work on this project, and if this is a harbinger of how their latest round of studio acquisitions will work out, then it is a very encouraging sign of a maturity in the relationship between developer and corporate owner. Here’s to many more Pentiment-sized titles from all of the Microsoft Game Studios family.

A final shout out to the audio design too, which is excellent. There are few “tracks”, but the foley work is incredibly rich and detailed. The world of the 16th Century Holy Roman Empire too, is unique in video games, and shows that even in a game set in Europe, there is a huge scope to explore complex settings that have not yet been featured previously – A Plague Tale: Requiem being another recent standout late mediaeval title.

Some might say that Pentiment is niche, but I think that is doing a disservice to it. Sure, it won’t be for everyone – a visual novel style detective adventure game will never be – but the strength of the characters, writing and presentation make this game worth a look in for a wider audience than you might expect. And hey, you might even learn a thing or too.

Pentiment is available now on Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles, and PC on Xbox Game Pass or on Steam.

The post Pentiment (Xbox & PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will be aware that the Halo Infinite multiplayer mode is now available for all Xbox owners, free to play.

The Halo Infinite campaign hits later this week. We’ve had early access to the full campaign game, catching up with Master Chief’s latest exploits.

If the truth be known, I wasn’t overly enamoured by the last couple of Halo games.

They were good, but they lacked the mystery of the earlier games (or the uniqueness of Reach and ODST). For me, Halo is about the exploration of ancient installations across vast landscapes around a gigantic Halo suspended in space.

Throughout five main games and numerous spin-offs, as well as novels, comic books, and videos, Halo is a deep and storied mixed-media franchise. The premise involves a human conflict with an alien collective known as The Covenant, an ancient civilisation known as the Forerunners, and the mysterious structures that they left behind, most notably the titular Halo ring-worlds.

For the most part, the Halo games focus on Master Chief, John 117, a cybernetically enhanced human. Picked as children they were bred to be warriors and encased in an exoskeleton suit, the Spartan Mjolnir armour. The Spartans fought alongside UNSC Marines against The Covenant at the start of the war, with John 117 being the last surviving Spartan by the time of the first Halo game.

Subsequently, more new Spartans have joined Master Chief’s ranks as the game series has progressed.   

Halo Infinite starts with a defeated Master Chief being jettisoned into space. Sometime later the pilot of a pelican comes across the Chief’s lifeless body drifting in space close to a damaged Halo. The pelican is captured and drawn into the Banished warship, Gbrakkon. Halo Infinite bought back those original memories of Master Chief fighting his way through a starship before stepping foot on a familiar, but alien, world.

The Banished, a rogue offshoot of the original game’s enemies, The Covenant, have destroyed Earth’s UNSC Infinity super-carrier. They now want to activate the Zeta Halo which will cause cataclysmic destruction.

Aided by the pilot and an AI avatar known only as Weapon, Master Chief must shut down the Banished’s plans on the surface of Zeta Halo. The Halo Infinite campaign story is an epic bit of science-fiction that continues to develop and build upon the very detailed lore of the series.

What must be the biggest departure for the game for its predecessors is the open world. Whilst Halo games have traditionally given players a wide space to play in, the game has players following a linear route. This time players give to explore the surface of the Halo at their leisure. The game world is a damaged part of the Halo ring.

There are gulfs of space between the different areas craftily controlling players’ access.

There are main missions that advance the story and open up the world. There are also sides mission, such as helping UNSC squads under attack. Dotted across the landscape are some UNSC forward operating bases that have been captured by the Banished. Liberating these unlocks further side missions in the area and provides fast-travel locations as well as equipment and vehicle provisioning. There are collectibles to find as well. Some upgrade Master Chief’s abilities and armour. Some provide items that can also be used in multiplayer mode.

The visuals are rather breathtaking.

The huge vistas look stunning throughout the Zeta Halo’s day/night cycle. Looking up and seeing the ring disappearing into the haze, as well as barely being able to make out the Banished cruisers anchored near the Halo is amazing.

Of course, all this is helped by crisp 4K visuals running at 60fps in quality mode on Xbox Series X. Performance mode will apparently reach 120fps with some reduction in resolution.

On Xbox Series X the game ran smoothly offering some very polished gunfights.

The visual clarity was such that I could easily snipe across long distances without having to zoom in. Similarly, that pin-prick of an enemy on the other side of the gorge will be trying to do the same thing to me.

Enemy encounters are enjoyable and never a chore.

The open-world gameplay on the surface of the Halo creates extra strategic opportunities that would be missing were it a more linear affair. The tools at Master Chief’s disposal, for me the grapple in particular, which allows for some fast vertical combat, again adds more variety to the combat. In the past, I’ve found the Halo games to be a bit of a duck shoot.

The game is fast and loose with the weapons available, some familiar and some new. There are plenty of ammo replenishers allowing players to keep hold of their favourites, but part of the fun is trying something new. There’s nothing better than defeating a powerful enemy and finishing off their comrades with their own over-powered weapons.

The huge areas invite players to take full advantage of the various vehicles available.

Getting an iconic Warthog dropped off at a liberated FOB will find a detachment of UNSC marines only too willing to accompany you to assist in taking out the enemy on the way to your destination. Warthog jeeps, Mongoose ATVs as well as enemy Banshee aircraft and Ghost attack vehicles, among others can be found in the environments or, in the case of enemy vehicles, jacked from their occupants as well.

A lot of the game has players infiltrating the ancient sub-structure of the Halo ring. As gorgeous as the surface of the halo is, the forerunner installations do look all very similar.

They always have, being of the same forerunner architecture, but compared to the beautiful exterior visuals their cookie-cutter design style does look a little uninspired.

These interior sections of the game require a different strategy, in often close quarters combat where enemies will flank and outnumber Master Chief. Here abilities like dodge and the portable shield come in handy.

The game features a host of familiar enemies from the skittish Grunts to the formidable Hunters. To be honest, the enemy AI is still not spectacular, many seem to use the same movement algorithms as the original game (and as seen in Bungie’s Destiny games, as well). Enemies rely on their number, being bullet sponges and wielding powerful weapons over actually behaving intelligently.

But this has been the same with every Halo game and to change it would radically alter the gameplay dynamic. The enemies are still dangerous, especially if you crank the difficulty up. The bosses, as well, can present quite the challenge, although boss battles on the surface at least allow a bit of breathing room.

Playing the game on a time-limited pre-release Xbox review build meant that I was unable to see how the game performs on PC. I hope to test this post-launch as well as performance on an OG Xbox One.

Being a pre-release review built, there were some minor issues that I noted.  On occasion, during in-engine cut-scenes the console seemed to struggle a bit, there was also some issue with lip-syncing. Whilst the overall experience I had is likely to be on par with that of the retail release, I’d expect these non-gameplay-related issues to be patched sometime in the future.

It is a shame though, for what is otherwise a very polished game.

The year’s delay has born fruit for 343 Industries. Holding off Halo Infinite from being an Xbox Series X|S launch title must have been a tough call. It is a shame that we are still going to have to wait a few months for the campaign co-op, but nothing detracts from this being a spectacular achievement considering the very trying time that we are currently living in.

Halo Infinite is a return to form, as it were, as let’s be honest none of the games have been bad.

This entry recaptures some of the magic and intrigue that seems to have been missing over the last few games. It’s taken 343 Industries a few goes, but they’ve finally cracked the formula that Bungie used to make the original game so appealing.

The graphics are breathtaking, and I can’t wait to see what it looks like running on PC. The lack of co-op in the campaign for launch is a shame, but not a deal-breaker.

If anything, it’s something to look forward to when it releases sometime next year.

As a first-person shooter, Halo Infinite takes the crown from any of the wannabes released this year.

The fact that this game is available on day one as part of the Xbox Game Pass really knocks the Xbox subscription service out of the park as the best deal for console players.

The post Halo Infinite Campaign (Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

If there was a game made for Halloween (well… any season actually) it’s Pumpkin Jack from HeadUp.

The Devil is bored. He wants to create anarchy and evil chaos for the human race, so it is up to you, as Pumpkin Jack to stop a Wizard that’s a thorn in the Devil’s side.

You, Pumpkin Jack are a bad guy resurrected and on a mission for the Devil.

But it’s not going to be a casual stroll through the hay fields.

Gameplay is reminiscent of old skool free roam platformers. From high platforms through to Pumpkin head only segments not forgetting railcar riding and horseback as you are guided by a wise… cracking Owl.

Many a monster or enemy is around every corner and an uneasy alliance with a Crow sees you able to trek through the mostly open environments smashing crates to keep your health in check, finding drinking fountains for a full top up and save point and collecting rare Crow skulls to cash in later on in game bonuses to the likes of new skins for Jack.

Although Pumpkin Jack is not a traditional RPG you do have an Inventory for swapping out melee weapons. For the most part better weapons are gained from defeated bosses.

While the genre of the game could be seen as dated (it did remind me of 3D platformers of the late 90s and early 00s) I believe that it is intentional, a nod to those great games of yore.

Super tricky in parts and an objective to try to not die (good luck with that) Pumpkin Jack is modern take of retro-esque adventure plays.

Previously released on Nintendo Switch last year (2020) Pumpkin Jack is now on the more serious 4K home consoles and is a perfect title to ramp up your Halloween.

The post Pumpkin Jack (Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Get your plane tickets ready as Playground Games invites players to another Horizon Festival with Forza Horizon 5. ¡Viva México!

From the moment the game loads my heart was in my mouth, with me controlling exotic cars that had, just moments before, been launched from the back of a cargo plane (in flight). Forza Horizon 5 puts its cards on the table straight for the start.

Everything about the game is designed to be over-the-top.

The introductory race alone, though the Mexican landscape, racing against two motorcycles, a plane, and a guy in a wingsuit was exhilarating and had me smiling ear-to-ear.

The Forza Horizon games have always felt like the antithesis of the dry, overly-serious (but still excellent), Forza Motorsport games. The games’ missing campaign, as it were, and Forza Horizon 5 is no exception.

Back in 2013, Playground Games took Turn 10 Studio’s incredible Forza Motorsports game engine, with its sublime car physics, and loosened a few nuts to create, in the original Forza Horizon, an arcade racing game like no other.

An open-world extravaganza of cars, set against the fictional Horizon Festival. Part burning man, part Cannonball Run, the Horizon Festival is the perfect setting to showcase a crazy racing competition on-road and off.

The first Horizon Festival took us to the US state of Colorado introducing us to a vast open-world ready to explore and race across.

For the next festival, we were off to the French and Italian Riviera, where the world opened up even more with fences now smashable for some true “off-roading”. Australia was up next before 2018’s Forza Horizon 4 took us to the United Kingdom.

Forza Horizon 5 takes us to Mexico, giving us a huge map to race across. As before, it’s a microcosm of the diverse country’s biomes. From desert to rainforest, and even an active volcano, The game certainly delivers an exciting and new environment.

If you’ve played any of the other Forza Horizon games, you know exactly what to expect. Playground Games have found the perfect formula for their games and don’t seem keen to change it. And I don’t blame them.

As with the previous games, players are participants in a massive festival of racing. From old classics to high-tech modern racing cars, there are over 500 vehicles in the game at launch. These can be won or purchased at the Horizon Festival hub.

Unlike many similar extreme sports games, Forza Horizon 5 never feels the need to force the “awesome” to be down with the kids. The game design and presentation are exciting and immersive without the need to be “zany”. Some of the radio presenters can be a bit grating, but that’s also true in real life, though.

The cars handle perfectly, but probably not accurately.

The Horizon Festival gives you, its star driver, a free pass when it comes to the laws of physics and the limits of vehicular structural endurance. This is as much down to the realistic physics simulation of Forza developer, Turn 10’s game engine as it is Playground’s arcade tweaks. It doesn’t take much to get to grips with the cars as you drift around turns seemingly with ease.

Whilst Forza Horizon 5 is based on a serious vehicle simulation, the emphasis is on fun and exciting racing across a vast open world. As with all the Forza Horizon games since the second one, you can drive anywhere, smashing through fences stone walls, bushes, and general detritus.

The game world is breathtakingly realised and open from the start to explore. The reproduction of Mexico’s landscape looks amazing. The combination of dusty roads and jungle makes it look very similar to Forza Horizon 3’s Australia. The difference, though is that this map seems a lot bigger and a lot higher.

I took a car for a run, aiming it at some mountains in the distance (the type that is usually just a backdrop to the actual environment), straight-lining it through fields and fences.

I reached the mountains, crossed over the top mountains, and found a gorge and more rolling hills on the other side. Not only is it a huge game world, but it also doesn’t hide the fact from the players, giving them beautiful vistas that go for miles.

But the cars are the stars. Expertly modelled from their real-life counterparts, the game allows players to get up close and personal, checking them out in the Forzavista virtual showroom. Ever wanted to see what it looks like climbing into an Aston Martin DB5?

Well, you can do just that.

Each car feels different to drive. Car performance can be improved and customised by installing new parts. Increasing horsepower, braking, and handling, as well as gearing and weight reductions, can give you the edge over other cars.

New cars can be unlocked or purchased in-game. Players of other Forza games will be awarded free cars for their loyalty. I got six cars for playing the previous Forza Horizon games as well as Forza Motorsport 6 and 7.

The game is based around a series of racing events and championships that become available as players progress. The events around the main stage hub are expanded by opening new venues throughout Mexico.

Each of these venues has a specialisation that adds road racing, dirt racing, PR stunts, street racing, and my personal favourite, cross-country events, to the map. To unlock these hubs, you need accolade points earned from winning races.

The races are fast and (for want of a better phrase) furious. Cars jostle for their positions with little regard for each other. Personally, I don’t think that there’s any other game that offers the same motor-racing thrill. The game can be played via a third-person chase-cam, interior camera (with or without steering wheel), bonnet cam, or clean bumper view (my personal preference).

Forza Horizon 5 is free-flowing with activities and rewards. Your car collection increases quickly as the game progresses, similarly, the never-ending flow of cash allows the purchase of upgrades and outfits for your in-game avatar.

In a very short while I found myself absolutely spoilt for choice as to which event to partake in and races opened up, dotted about the entire map. As well as races there are barn finds to locate, bonus signs to smash, speed traps, and other activities littering the landscape.

The game is set up with arcade settings by default.

But these can be adjusted for an additional challenge. The racing line can be switched off, or set to indicate braking only.

Vehicle damage, which is cosmetic only by default can be adjusted to affect performance. The steering can be switched to simulation, more in line with that of the Forza Motorsport game. The game also caters for manual gearing, with or without a clutch. Most people will play the game using a controller, but on PC it also supports the popular racing wheel setups.

This versatility, something that I’ve overlooked in the past, almost turns the game from an arcade racer into a racing simulator.

Whilst reviewing the game on PC via Steam I had issues connecting to the online element of the game.

Even on Steam, it seems that you need to log into a Microsoft / Xbox account to play the game.

It was this that seemed to be causing problems, requiring me to type my password every time the game started. Fortunately, I was able to get hold of an Xbox/Windows Store version of the game, which worked with no problems- hence the delay on this review.

Just like its predecessors Forza Horizon 5 integrates the online component virtually seamlessly into the experience. Xbox friends have “Drivatars” generated for them.

These are AI models of their driving style and populate the game world. You may find yourself racing against some familiar drivers even in single-player. If you want to go head-to-head with real people, online races can be accessed at the click of a button.

As introduced in Forza Horizons 4’s UK, seasons also feature in the game, though I doubt these will be as dramatic as snowy winters in the Scottish Highlands.

Early in the game, I did have to race through an impressive dust storm. There were also some earth tremors whilst driving up the volcano. So, I imagine drivers will have to face some environmental effects during the game. It would seem from the menu that summer is the wet season and spring is the hot season, beyond that we’ll just have to wait and see.

Each season lasts a week in real-time comes with seasonal challenges and events.

The game’s visuals have been upgraded from its predecessors, looking even better for this outing. This is not something to be taken lightly, considering just how incredible the previous games look. Even now the first Forza Horizon from 2012 still looks pretty amazing.

Forza Horizon 5 pulls out all the stops to deliver next-gen visuals that are designed for Xbox Series X. I reviewed the game on a PC powered by an Intel i9 10900K with an Nvidia RTX 3090 GPU. This enabled me to crank the visuals up to Extreme and run the game in 4K with HDR, getting a framerate of around 75 frames per second (this is at the native resolution with no downscaling tricks). This is a drop compared to that of For a Horizon 4, where I was getting 115 FPS. This drop in performance is likely due to the game’s impressive draw distance and general graphical makeover.

I did notice the framerate take a small dive a few times in the jungle areas, still way above 60 FPS, though. Testing the game with variable resolution resolved this, but personally, the drop in visual quality wasn’t worth the performance gains.

Disappointingly, ray-tracing on PC and Xbox Series X is not utilised in the actual game, just the Forzavista showroom. But, the game engine does such a good job of faking ray-tracing, that you’d never know it didn’t utilise it.

The reflections on the cars’ bodywork are amazing, as are the reflections in puddles.

Naturally, the game runs really well on the Xbox Series X.

The game visuals can be set for quality or performance.

I also got to test the game on an Xbox One X, running at 1080p. Even on the lower spec machine, the game runs faultlessly, still looking amazing. Running the game on an OG Xbox One presented a noticeable drop in resolution, but it still looked great and ran smoothly.

The Windows Store version of the game grants access to both the Xbox and PC version of the game, allowing progress to be shared between the two platforms. Whilst I’m no fan of the Windows Store, this alone makes it probably the best way to buy the game for PC users, just in case they ever need to play on an Xbox.

With the standard version of the game being free for Game Pass subscribers on release, Forza Horizon 5 is yet another reason to join Microsoft’s game subscription service.

The game is available in a few tiers.

The Forza Horizon 5 Standard Edition is exactly that, with just the game. The Deluxe Edition includes the Forza Horizon 5 Car Pass as well as the game, giving access to additional car packs as they become available. The Premium Edition is as the Deluxe Edition but with the two upcoming expansions, the Forza Horizon 5 Welcome Pack and VIP membership, which grants extra bonuses, emotes, and a free player house.

Forza Horizon 5 is more of the same, which is fine.

The presentation is slightly more refined, but still has same the superb gameplay that sets the series above its peers.

The new location is a perfect choice and the festival setting is both uplifting and a bit crazy. The game has a wonderful collection of cars that it freely gifts to players. Not only is the breakneck driving absolutely breathtaking, but so are the visuals.

One of the best games of the year, without a doubt.

The post Forza Horizon 5 (PC / Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Star-Lord (Peter Quill), Groot, Drax, Gamora and Rocket just can’t keep themselves out of trouble as the unlikely group aim to be THE Guardians of the Galaxy.

In this new Marvel licensed title, Square Enix and developers Eidos-Monreal have gone back to the roots of Guardians of the Galaxy (GOTG) with the comic book take instead of being a sidekick to the films.

The story starts out with a 13 year old Peter at home with his mum. His Dad left to fight in a war.

There’s a lot of 80’s nostalgia and easter eggs not only throughout this entire game, but right at the start as you play as young Peter in his room, rocking out to the glam metal band Star-Lord.

If you’re familiar with the GOTG story ten you’ll know the rest. If you’ve never schooled yourself up on how Peter reinvents himself as the Galactic hero Star-Lord, then I’m not going to ruin it for you, as the game will tell the backstory via flashbacks.

Your adventure in deep space begins, on the hunt for a monster which is going to net you a large bounty.

In tradition of the goings-on for the group it doesn’t all go to plan. Infact they only have a vague description of what this monster even looks like… okay, not even really a description.

Located in the remains of a giant scrapyard held together by interstellar goop Peter accidentally releases another creature, one that none of the team recognise as it begins to devour and destroy everything around it.

But things get worse.

They’re busted and arrested by Nova Corp. The police of the Galaxy.

Peter manages to negotiate their freedom with Nova Corps leader (and ex) by way of accepting a large fine with a small payment window that they can’t afford.

So if you don’t have the funds, why not, ah, liberate it from someone that does… like Lady Hellbender.

Guardians of the Galaxy, the game, is played out in third person. At most times you will have the rest of the crew around you, and you will make use of their skills via a in-game and in-play character select.

You wont play as them, but can command Rocket, Groot, Drax and Gamora to perform certain skills. For the most part, you wont be able to move forward unless you do.

Combat moments (and there’s a lot of those) are graded on how well you did and thus you’re rewarded, eventually, with Ability Points.

You’ll need these to upgrade not only your skills as Peter, but you can also upgrade the other members of the team too.

There’s also dialogue specific intervals where you’ll need to make a choice on what to say. What you select as your response will affect the outcome of what happens next and your path through the story. Much like those pick a path books from the 1980’s.

Then there’s some really tricky QTE moments.

While GOTG game is not open world, it is expansive. Explore and you’ll find snippets of stories related to the environment you’re currently in, or bits of the main narrative.

There’s also a lot of scrap to be discovered, pocketed and hidden away within levels. Find a work bench and get Rocket to upgrade your gear. Peter’s visor and jet boots will become a necessary tool soon in to play.

Backed with a killer 80’s music playlist gameplay varies from action to flight shooter simulation and even in-level mini-games.

You’ll play through in single player and commanding the rest of the GOTG team and work through the mega-story at your own pace.

But the game itself requires you to be online at all times. This is GOTG’s achilles heel on Xbox.

With the current and known Wifi dropping bug in Xbox Series X|S every one to two hours in to gameplay you’ll get kicked out of the game. Then you’ll need to restart the console and pick up from where you left off.

A patch for the game would be ideal to play the single player offline, as this title is so immersive and so good that you’ll really want to keep playing through, ideally uninterrupted.

The humour, the music, the references and innuendo’s, even a Rick-Roll, GOTG is one  heel of an excellent game.

The post Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Turtle Rock Studios return to the genre that made their name with Back 4 Blood, the spiritual successor to their 2008 hit zombie first-person shooter, Left 4 Dead.

For over a decade there’s been a massive gap where Left 4 Dead and Valve’s sequel Left 4 Dead 2 should be.

The simplicity of these cinematic zombie shooters served as the inspiration for the countless zombie action games that came afterward. We’ve been treated to some incredible zombie games since, like Dying Light, Dead Rising, and Days Gone, even Call of Duty got in on the action with their take on zombie Nazis.

None of these games had the simplicity of the ground-breaking drop-in-drop-out multiplayer gameplay of the Left 4 Dead games. The only game to come close in recent years is World War Z, especially the recent Aftermath reboot with its third-person mode.

The premise of Back 4 Blood is simple.

Players take on the role of one of the four characters in a team of survivors fighting their way through areas infested with zombies. The campaign is split into four acts each act having several parts. The parts are strung together as runs which can be used as starting points once unlocked on the first playthrough.

The campaign is meant to be played online with others but can also be played solo. Initially, that’s exactly what I did to experience the game myself. With subsequent online playthroughs via the quickplay option.

Quickplay gets you straight into any available online runs. This can spoil the campaign if you just jump in at a random point that you’ve not yet unlocked. However, the levels are designed in a manner that allows them to be played in any order.

There’s also a horde mode that confronts players with wave after wave of ridden (zombie).

The level design is pretty linear, the runs branching off from the hub area in a different direction. The game is about fighting zombies, though, not exploring an open world. I got disorientated a few times, but by and large, the areas are easy to navigate.

Some areas have triggers to unleash a sizable horde of zombies but having just come from World War Z: Aftermath, rather manageable. The environments are varied taking the player through familiar tropes of rail yards, misty swamps, and sewers, travelling from one safe house to the next.

The game has quite the arsenal, each character having their favourite loadout which can be swapped out. Each safehouse has a shop in which equipment can be purchased using coins collected in the levels.

The game’s zombies, the ridden (which seem to have worms infecting them) are of the running variety rather than George A. Romero’s shambling undead. There are a few special variants and bosses, the huge ogres, the club-handed tall boys, the gross explosive reekers to name a few. There’s enough variety to keep things interesting.

Back 4 Blood takes the gameplay of Left 4 Dead and up the ante with the addition of booster cards. Players can create decks of cards that include boosts and challenges for better rewards, for instance, more ammo or a speed run.

Each level adds a few cards to the deck with corruption cards, like birds that if disturbed call the horde, added to the challenge. During the recent beta, I wasn’t sure about this. I wanted the simplistic feel of Left 4 Dead. Playing the full release, I can see how this addition increases the replay value of the game, especially on the higher difficulties.

Additional cards as well as equipment and character customisation can be obtained via the base hub area. There’s also a range for practicing some zombie killing.

The PC version does not currently run in fullscreen, rather borderless fullscreen (i.e. a window that fills the screen). This caused issues with my G-Sync monitor as I don’t tend to have it set for windowed views. I’d say that the lack of fullscreen also has a performance hit. I hope that they sort this out soon.

The visuals are superb and aside from the above, the game has a very polished presentation. The story takes a backseat to the gunplay which is fine. The game runs at a swift pace on Xbox Series X and high-end gaming rigs which is also exactly what you need from a shooter like this.

I found Back 4 Blood to be very much the spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead, to the point of it being nostalgic. The cards add something new, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the genre has moved on from this sort of zombie corridor shooter.

Whereas I enjoyed playing it, I’m not sure if the game has the legs to compete with the Call of Duty games and other more involved multiplayer shooters available now that weren’t about back in 2008.

If shooting zombies is your bag, you’ve come to the right place with Back 4 Blood. If you like shooting zombies with friends, even better.

Raw, no-nonsense zombie shooting match with an interesting card mechanic and unlimited replayability make Back 4 Blooda great solo/multiplayer zombie shooter.

The post Back 4 Blood (Xbox Series X / PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Far Cry 6 allows players to join the revolution and takedown Gus Fring from Breaking bad.

In tapping actor Giancarlo Esposito to play Yara’s “El Presidente”, Anton Castillo, Ubisoft may have given its Far Cry series the scariest villain yet.

And that’s no mean feat considering Castillo is up against the psycho Vaas (played by another Breaking Bad alumni, Michael Mando), fellow dictator/king Pagan Min and cult leader Joseph Seed. Esposito’s turn as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, as well as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, makes him a great choice for the brutal leader of the thinly-veiled analogy for Cuba, the island nation of Yara.

As with the previous games, Far Cry 6 is all about exploring, and engaging the enemy either head-on for some first-person shooter mayhem or picking them off stealthily. Most of the time, despite best intentions, the missions end up with the hail of bullets, fire, and explosions.

Far Cry 6 seems a bit of a muddle compared to Far Cry 5. I’m wondering if they are following the inverse of Star Trek movies in that the odd-numbered instalments are the better ones.

Having played through very similar plots in four Just Cause games, I’m not sure that a Latin American setting for a Far Cry game was the right choice, to be honest. Ubisoft, itself, has already included a similar setting in Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

Already embattled with controversy, Ubisoft was likely looking for the least controversial setting for the game. Who cares about killing the soldiers of a merciless dictator?

Perhaps most of the Hanoi Jane entertainment media if they’d twigged that the game was about democracy-loving freedom fighters versus an evil communist dictator.

But here we are, treading the familiar waters of a repressed Latino society ruled by an evil leader exploiting his subjects. Thankfully, the rebels have one man (or woman) army Dani Rojas on their side to cause havoc wherever there’s a military presence on the island.

Or not.

Just like staying put and enjoying the crab rangoon in Far Cry 4, and refusing to handcuff Joseph Seed in Far Cry 5 whisks players away to an early roll of the credits, Far Cry 6 has a similar quick ending. About two hours into the game Dani is invited to join the rebellion.

There’s also a boat which, if you get in and head off in the general direction of Miami, you get treated to a relaxing ending on the beach listen to how the Yarran military managed to quell the rebellion. Loading up the save allowsplayers to continue by the boat and make the right choice this time.

Far Cry 6 has players travelling across the massive island nation of Yara in a bid to unite the various rebel factions against Anton Castillo’s dictatorship. The game is packed with vehicles including hovercraft, planes, helicopters, and a few exotic surprises.

As with previous Far Cry games, the game is mission-based, offering players a selection of mission threads. As is the Ubisoft way, Far Cry 6 throws the gameplay book at players with an almost overwhelming number of things to do. Away from missions, there are installations and checkpoints to liberate.

The game features a cross-play system, via Ubisoft Connect, that allows progress to be saved in the cloud and resumed across platforms. It doesn’t work quite as easily as it does with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (whereby you booted up the game and your save was there for you be it PC or Xbox).

Far Cry 6 requires players to manually upload their save at the end of every session if they want to continue elsewhere and manually download it on the other platform. A bit clumsy, but better than nothing. It was this feature that enabled me to test the game across several different devices.

My review was intended to be on Xbox Series X, but AMD ANZ sent over a PC code as well to test on their Radeon RX 6900 XT GPU. I also had an AMD-powered ASUS laptop, the RTX 3090-equipped review rig, my trusty Xbox One X, and my semi-retired OG Xbox One to try the game on.

I started with the Xbox One. Interestingly, the Xbox version hadsome different DLC included which meant every time switched platforms I needed to change equipment and amigo. A little odd. The game was very playable with no problems. I’d say that the game is running at about 30 frames-per-second at 1080p on the OG XB1.

I was pleasantly surprised with the high quality of the game on the Xbox One X in 1080p. I found Assassin’s Creed Valhalla virtually unplayable on the XB1X (I didn’t even both try it on the OG XB1)compared to the Xbox Series X and PC versions. The Xbox One X gameplay is faultlessly smooth. Yara’s lush vegetation looked inviting and the sunsets beautiful. Players opting to play on the Xbox Series X are getting the full Far Cry 6 experience.

Moving on to the Xbox Series X in 4K HDR. Ubisoft’s decision to leave out ray-tracing on the top-end consoles is a bit of a disappointment as this is one of their big selling points. Still, the Xbox Series X maintains a decent framerate running at 4K. There’s an optional HD texture pack that can be downloaded to crispen the visuals.

The PC version has all the knobs and whistles if you have a powerful enough rig. That means high-endPC owners will get to play the game with ray-traced shadows and reflections. For some added bling, there’s also an optional HD texture pack, but this requires a GPU with an eye-watering 11GB of RAM.

The game looks good, with some beautiful environmental effects. Behind this next-gen veneer is a graphics engine in need of an upgrade. The character models are good, but we should be moving towards more realistic-looking people rather than the still very good but not quite there character models we have been enjoying up until now.

Whilst many outlets choose to get all excited about Ubisoft’s HR management, they overlooked a very real reason to get all triggered and upset. The game features cockfighting. The usually unassuming and apologetic Ubisoft seems to have taken a leaf out of Rockstar’s “couldn’t give a sh*t” book.

Players can partake in Tekken-style poultry combat the likes of which will chill any card-carrying PETA member to the bone. However, for a game that lets you shoot dogs in the face, the cockfighting is pretty tame and tongue-in-cheek. But if you are one to get easily offended, I wouldn’t let that stop you.

I’m all for games being packed with things to do. I know there are lots of reviewers that moan about Ubisoft games being “too long”, something that I completely disagree with. But Far Cry 6 does seem to be a bit disjointed. Whilst Far Cry 5 kept me engaged, Far Cry 6 seems to lack narrative discipline. It feels a bit disjointed like Far Cry 4 and Far Cry New Dawn.

The game has an extensive weapons modding mechanic via workbenches found in HQs. The only thing is once I’d got a decent silenced rifle and sidearm, I was pretty much sorted. Same with the special backpack weapons. The first one I got, that allowed me to fire rockets, was the only one I needed. I felt I should be swapping them out, but didn’t see the point.

Far Cry 6 does offer players the same over-the-top gameplay that has been a hallmark of the series since Far Cry 3, at least. The huge sandbox environment encroaches players to find their own story carve their own path in amongst the set missions and activities.

Players that prefer a more structured gameplay experience may find Far Cry 6’s undisciplined experience. Indeed, it’s a game that I found played better in short bursts, similar to Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed games.

The game scales and runs well across all of the Xbox consoles from the OG Xbox One to the Xbox Series X. High-spec PC owners get the cream with the definitive version of the game.

The game does offer great value for money, an intriguing if throwaway plot, and all the tools to cause as much mayhem across the nation of Yara as you want. It’s awell-presented, polished presentation set in a beautiful setting with engaging, if unfocused, gameplay.

The post Far Cry 6 (PC / Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The original Psychonauts, released in 2005 was a mind-bendy trip of an adventure game, now the long overdue sequel has been released – Psychonauts 2.

The second chapter in this twisted mind exploring and unique game continues the story of Rasputin, called Raz, as he finally gets to be a part of the Psychonauts.

An eclectic band of do-gooders infiltrating the psychosis, subconscious and imagination of those who have nefarious intentions.

Fresh from the defeat and capture of Dr. Loboto Raz enrols in a summer camp to gain accreditation and hone his psychic abilities.

But it’s not easy, as the other kids there don’t always take too kindly towards him and is all what it actually appears to be at the school?

Although Dr. Loboto has been captured was he actually the enemy, or was he being psychically and emotionally controlled?

You will play as Raz in a third person open environment adventure where your skills of levitation, telekineses, pyrokinesis and more are utilised to get you through the game and the game’s story.

Your abilities can be fine tuned and enhanced by way of collecting up cards secretly hidden around the world of Psychonauts.

Exploring the minds of NPC’s usually results in weird and surreal Levels that almost seem to be adaptive as you play through.

A lot of goodies to be collected, tons of secrets to be found – Psychonauts 2 retains and enhances the very unique visuals and puts us in the mentally tangled narrative where nothing is straightforward.

If you haven’t played any of the Psychonauts games before, I’d recommend picking up the first one to start out with.

While Psychonauts 2 does give some of the backstory for newcomers, there’s alot of references throughout this second chapter to the first game. In order for those to fit within the current gameplay of Psychonauts 2, you’d needed to have experienced the first game.

An excellently unique and long overdue edition to the Psychonauts franchise written from the imagination of Tim Schafer.

Psychonauts 2, lucidly trippy.

The post Psychonauts 2 (Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

A quarter of a decade ago a PC game like nothing else ever before released that set the foundation for SciFi first person shooters.

That game was Quake.

Where have all those years gone?!

I remember playing the original during computer class at school (instead of doing lessons of course). So if you’re like me and smashed the stuffing out of the original, you’ll be pleased to know it’s back, enhanced for 4K but retaining a smoothed pixel-fest gory… er glory. Well, both.

Built from the foundations of DOOM and originally published id Software and published by GT Interactive in 1996, id Software (now owned by Bethesda) are back at the helm of this new re-work to celebrate the 25 years milestone.

A SciFi blood fest, in Quake you are Ranger. A lone gunman sent into a portal to kill off the enemy only known as ‘Quake’.

Maze like environments with puzzle elements you would clear areas, finding pick ups and extra, more beefy weapons along the way.

Ultimately the goal for most was simply to survive each Level.

The original Quake was single player (no Broadband or Fibre back in those old timey days), but not so with the Enhanced version.

Now you can gun and run and clear Levels in up to 4 player online or split screen co-op.

Expansions to gameplay have also been added.

The two originals, ‘The Scourge of Armagon’ and ‘Dissolution of Eternity’, but the goods dont’t stop there.

Two new ones as well; ‘Dimension of the Past’ and ‘Dimension of the Machine’, making this version of Quake not only a rework that stays as true to the original as possible but also the ultimate Quake game.

For original players of Quake, this is a remaster you shouldn’t pass up. It’s not one of those ‘remasters’ where it’s had such a overhaul that it no longer reflects the original title. It’s still in its original 1996 format.

And if you’ve never played Quake, now’s a good time to start… and die, alot.

The post Quake Enhanced Edition (Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

3D Clouds and Team 17 invite players to hit the high seas with the pirate ship combat / trading game King of Seas.

There’s something about unloading your cannons into the hull of an enemy ship.

Sid Meier’s Pirates! introduced me to ship-to-ship combat, a mechanic refined in the Assassin’s Creed games and defined by Rare’s Sea of Thieves. King of Seas takes a more retro top-down approach, but it is charming, nevertheless.

Players take on the role of Luky or Marylou, a freshly minted pirate who is also the rightful heir to the throne. Taken in by the pirates, players’ chosen character is taught the tricks of the trade and sent out to make their fortune, all the while trying to find out who was responsible for their father’s death.

The story progresses via conversations between your character and the denizens of the Kingdom of Seas. I did find a lot of these interactions, beyond the useful tutorial missions, to be rather superfluous and skippable.

King of Seas has a nice look that does seem to be a bit borrowed from Sea of Thieves. The cartoonish look does suit the story, though. Whilst you can zoom right in on the action, I found myself seldom doing so. Most of the time, you’ll want to be zoomed out to see what’s going on.

The game is mission-based, with the story progression via the main questline. These start as a series of tutorials before allowing players a free run of the game world. Some of the main missions can be a challenge and may require players to take on a few side quests to level up and gain the weaponry and armour required to progress.

The missions range from supplying a character at a certain port with a specific quantity of a cargo type or escorting other ships to destroying another vessel.

Players start with a basic sloop, a reasonable crew, and basic armaments. The ship and crew can be upgraded to increase its effectiveness.

New ships can be purchased that are more powerful and can carry more cargo.

The ship’s controls are very simple; unfurling the sails allows for half and speed, which is also affected by wind direction. Turn arcs depend on the ship’s speed, very important in combat when you want to line up your cannons for a broadside hit.

The combat is where King of Seas shines.

Ships have a number of port and starboard cannons, depending on ship type. These can fire cannonballs, to take out the hull, or shot, to take out the sails.

Some crew members have special abilities and you can also mount optional weaponry, i.e. a front-facing flame thrower.

The upgrade path and menus are a bit cumbersome. I found that the radial dial that you use to select item types to be very sensitive. It’s probably OK on PC with a mouse, but a nuisance with a controller. Progression is very slow, as fun as it is.

I felt that the game been artificially drawn out a bit.

The game gives players a huge procedurally generated map to play on. There’s a full day/night cycle and weather effects.

The map is dotted with islands and ports.

Other ships are sailing around ferrying cargo and treasure, ripe for plundering. There are also Royal Navy ships and pirate hunters itching for a fight. It’s a very dynamic world and it’s not unusual to come across two AI ships engaged in battle.

As well as enemy ships, hostile fortifications and sea creatures are also a threat.

At the start of the game, the map only shows the King’s Fortress and the pirate port of Eagle’s Den.

Weather stations dotted around the map have cartographers that, for a fee, will add local islands and ports to the map.

When docked at a port, players can visit several vendors and services. This is where players can purchase ship upgrades, do some trading and take on side quests. Docking at a port also saves the game.

The carpenter can repair your ship and supply upgraded parts and crew. Ship items surplus to requirements can also be sold.

Banks can be used to store items and cargo. Items deposited at one bank can be recovered at banks in other ports. The market allows players to buy and sell cargo. Ports will specialise in some items but require others. Buying low and selling high is a good way to make gold as you traverse the map.

The market also sells repair kits for fixing damage to the ship whilst at sea.

Taverns are where replacement crew members can be hired (assumedly to replace those killed during skirmishes) and side quests obtained. Players can take on up to ten side quests.

Apart from quests, the best way to gain experience and money is, of course, by being a pirate.

There’s a lot of fun to be had by exploring and carrying out acts of piracy on unsuspecting ships laden with goodies. Loot can also be found floating on the ocean as well as in treasure hoards on the various islands.

King of Seas is a fun distraction that overs a surprising amount of gameplay for what are very simple game mechanics. The menus and upgrades are a bit of a mess and the story is for the most part superfluous.

But it is still a good game, especially if you like pirate games!

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