Archive for December 2021

Thursday, 30 December 2021

Sunday, 26 December 2021

Friday, 24 December 2021

Thursday, 23 December 2021

Wednesday, 22 December 2021

Friday, 17 December 2021

Thursday, 16 December 2021

Wednesday, 15 December 2021

Tuesday, 14 December 2021

Monday, 13 December 2021

Sunday, 12 December 2021

Friday, 10 December 2021

First Suicide Squad gameplay trailer was not really worth the wait

December 10, 2021 Leave a Reply

Batman: Arkham Asylum developer Rocksteady has finally shown off gameplay footage for their Suicide Squad game and it looks… okay?

It’s been six years since the release of Batman: Arkham Knight and developer Rocksteady, once one of the most promising up-and-coming developers in the industry, have barely said a word in public since then, only recently revealing they’re working on a multiplayer Suicide Squad game.

It doesn’t have anything to do with either of the movies though and a pre-rendered announcement trailer last year revealed that it is a four-player co-op game featuring just four characters: Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark.

The gameplay footage doesn’t really reveal much in the way of new information, with all four characters using guns, even though only Deadshot usually does in the comics, as well as their own signature weapons and/or moves.

Deadshot has a jetpack and King Shark acts like the Hulk but more bitey but really, they could be just about any character and it wouldn’t make much difference.

The fact that you’re fighting the Justice League (the game is subtitled Kill The Justice League) is the only thing that really ties it to the comics, with this new trailer focusing on the Flash.

All the heroes (or at least Flash, Superman, and Batman so far) seem to have been brainwashed by supervillain Brainiac but, as with the first Suicide Squad film, how Harley Quinn with a baseball bat is supposed to take down Superman is a mystery.

You can never go wrong with a good co-op shooter, but it does seem a bit of a waste of Rocksteady’s talents, unless there are more gameplay and story elements than this trailer suggests.

The game is next gen only and so will be released on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC sometime next year.

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MORE : Gotham Knights studio also working on Superman game claims source

MORE : New Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad trailers confirm 2022 release dates

MORE : Rocksteady Suicide Squad game drops first trailer – is next gen-only and out 2022

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It Takes Two wins Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021

December 10, 2021 Leave a Reply
It Takes Two key art
It Takes Two – game of the year (pic: EA)

The Game Awards 2021 has had a surprise winner in its Game of the Year category, as Forza Horizon 5 goes home with three separate awards.

Despite what the name implies, the game awards are not the main appeal of The Game Awards. The number one reason everyone watches them is for the new game announcements and trailers that take place in between the award announcements, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still a big deal.

The Game Awards are still the closest thing video games have to the Oscars and that means the Game of the Year award is especially coveted.

Last year it went to The Last Of Us Part 2 but this year the winner is the considerably lower profile It Takes Two, from EA and celebrated nutcase Josef Fares – the man behind Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons and A Way Out.

Although It Takes Two also picked up awards for Best Family Game and Best Multiplayer Game it didn’t sweep the boards and in fact Forza Horizon 5 also won three awards.

Controversially though Forza Horizon 5 wasn’t nominated for Game Of The Year, despite a generally more enthusiastic critical response than many of the games that were nominated, such as Resident Evil Village.

Returnal also failed to become a nominee, which we were especially upset about, but it did pick up an award for Best Action Game.

You can see a full list of all nominations here but there weren’t any other major controversies amongst the winners, although it was nice to see Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy win for Best Narrative.

Whether or not it was the absolute best of the year is open to debate but it’s good to see the game being recognised for its quality, despite being seemingly ignored by consumers.

The Game Awards 2000 list of winners

Game of the Year
It Takes Two

Best Game Direction
Deathloop

Best Narrative
Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy

Best Art Direction
Deathloop

Best Score/Music
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139

Best Audio Design
Forza Horizon 5

Best Performance
Maggie Robertson as Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil Village)

Games for Impact
Life Is Strange: True Colors

Best Ongoing Game
Final Fantasy 14 Online

Best Indie Game
Kena: Bridge Of Spirits

Best Debut Indie Game
Kena: Bridge Of Spirits

Best Mobile Game
Genshin Impact

Best Community Support
Final Fantasy 14 Online

Best VR/AR Game
Resident Evil 4

Innovation in Accessibility
Forza Horizon 5

Best Action Game
Returnal

Best Action/Adventure Game
Metroid Dread

Best RPG
Tales Of Arise

Best Fighting Game
Guilty Gear -Strive-

Best Family Game
It Takes Two

Best Sports/Racing Game
Forza Horizon 5

Best Sim/Strategy Game
Age of Empires 4

Best Multiplayer Game
It Takes Two

Content Creator of the Year
Dream

Best Esports Athlete
Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev

Best Esports Coach
Kim ‘kkOma’ Jeong-gyun

Best Esports Event
2021 League Of Legends World Championship

Best Esports Game
League Of Legends

Best Esports Team
Natus Vincere, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Most Anticipated Game
Elden Ring

Player’s Voice Award
Halo Infinite

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MORE : It Takes Two lost its trademark thanks to Take-Two

MORE : It Takes Two review – two-player only

MORE : GTA 3 and Vice City reverse engineering project shut down by Take-Two

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Thursday, 9 December 2021

New Splinter Cell will have open world ‘similar to Halo Infinite’ claims rumour

December 09, 2021 Leave a Reply
New Splinter Cell will have open world ‘similar to Halo Infinite’ claims rumour
Splinter Cell: Blacklist (360) – sneaking is always more fun with friends
Is open world a good fit for Splinter Cell? (pic: Ubisoft)

Ubisoft’s new Splinter Cell game has been described as ‘a more stealthy version of Assassin’s Creed’ in the latest set of rumours.

There have been rumours and hints of a new Splinter Cell for so long now that suggesting a new one is in development doesn’t require any insider knowledge, since the real question is whether it will ever actually make it to release.

Supposedly, a prototype that plays similarly to Hitman was being tested ahead of this year’s E3 but a new rumour names too other games that it’s taking influence from.

Serial leaker Tom Henderson, who’s proven very accurate about Battlefield in the past, claims that a new game is in ‘early development’ and is ‘open world of sorts’.

Ubisoft turning one of their older franchises into an open world game is not exactly a shocker, with Henderson claiming (or perhaps quoting one of his sources, it’s not clear) that it’s like ‘a more stealthy version of Assassin’s Creed’.

The more unexpected comparison though is with Halo Infinite, although it’s not clear in exactly what way the two games are similar.

The most obvious assumption is that the game is split between missions that happen in a linear environment and those in the open world.

In Halo Infinite this split occurs around the halfway mark in the story, with no going back to the open world until after you’ve beaten the game, but it’s probably unlikely any other title would copy that structure.

It’s now eight years since the last new Splinter Cell was released and while tonight’s The Game Awards event would be the ideal venue to announce a new game nothing so far has suggested it’ll be revealed this year.

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MORE : Splinter Cell prototype was tested ahead of E3 2021 – played like Hitman

MORE : New Splinter Cell in production claims rumour – is not a mobile game, spin-off or VR title

MORE : Tom Clancy’s XDefiant crossover features Splinter Cell, The Division, and Ghost Recon

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Dragon Buster

December 09, 2021 Leave a Reply
Dragon Buster
Dragon Buster is a dungeon-crawling, arcade platformer with RPG elements, released by Namco in 1985. It was later ported to various home systems. It featured several firsts in gaming history: the double-jump, the life meter, and the hub world map. It was also one of the first action games with RPG elements.

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Dragon Buster

December 09, 2021 Leave a Reply
Dragon Buster
Dragon Buster is a dungeon-crawling, arcade platformer with RPG elements, released by Namco in 1985. It was later ported to various home systems. It featured several firsts in gaming history: the double-jump, the life meter, and the hub world map. It was also one of the first action games with RPG elements.

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Halo Infinite wins The Game Awards 2021 public vote before it’s even out

December 09, 2021 Leave a Reply
Halo Infinite screenshot
Halo Infinite – already an award winner (pic: Microsoft)

The Game Awards 2021 has its first winner, with the Players’ Voice category going to Halo Infinite – even though it only came out yesterday.

It’s The Game Awards tonight, the video game industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, which is primarily voted on by members of the press, including us. However, there is also a public vote for the ‘Players’ Voice’ award and it’s been won by Halo Infinite.

There were three rounds of voting, with the final five contenders being Forza Horizon 5, Resident Evil Village, It Takes Two, Metroid Dread, and Halo Infinite.

You can see the results below but Halo Infinite easily won, despite the fact that nobody voting will have had time to complete the story campaign.

Thanks to the weird way that Microsoft released the game the story campaign wasn’t available to download until 6pm on Wednesday, so Halo Infinite won the popular vote purely based on the multiplayer.

Halo Infinite is not eligible for any of the main awards because it was released after the cut-off date for nominations, and at the time they were organised the free multiplayer download had not been announced.

Game Awards Players' Voice votes
Halo Infinite won pretty easily (pic: Twitter)

Including Halo Infinite in the Players’ Voice category is a controversial choice but the public vote does right a perceived wrong in that Forza Horizon 5 was included in the short list of best titles.

Many had complained that it and Returnal were not nominated in the Game Of The Year category, which instead consists of Deathloop, It Takes Two, Metroid Dread, Psychonauts 2, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Resident Evil Village.

You can still have an influence on the winner though as you can vote on your favourite via The Game Awards website and social media, where 10% of the total vote is determined by public voting.

Thanks to the time difference The Game Awards does not start until 1am in the morning tonight, when you’ll get not only the winners in each category but also a slew of new game and trailer reveals – although the only confirmed one so far is Sonic Frontiers.

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MORE : Sonic Frontiers reveal teased for The Game Awards 2021 on Friday

MORE : Activision barred from Game Awards 2021 but not nominations

MORE : The Game Awards 2021 nominees – Deathloop and Ratchet & Clank lead nominations

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Wednesday, 8 December 2021

GTA Online gets new story DLC with Franklin and Dr Dre

December 08, 2021 Leave a Reply
GTA Online The Contract screenshot
GTA Online: The Contract Franklin and pals are back (pic: Rockstar Games)

Franklin and Chop the Dog are set to star in a new story mission for GTA Online, featuring new music and a personal appearance from Dr Dre.

Rockstar has announced a new story mission for GTA Online, that’s set several years after the end of GTA 5 and involves trying to help Dr Dre find his lost phone.

That’s the somewhat unglamorous first job for Franklin’s new ‘celebrity solutions agency’, which he’s set up with Lamar, hacker Imani, and Chop the Dog.

No doubt hijinks will ensue but whatever happens you’ll be able to take in a new radio station and exclusive new tracks from Dr Dre (which are stored on the phone – so that’s why he’s so keen to get it back).

The update, called The Contract, will debut on Wednesday, December 15 and like all such DLC for GTA Online will be free as long as you already own the game.

Also included amongst the new content will be new weapons, new vehicles, and ‘additional opportunities for agency work’ – whatever that may mean.

Although new story-based content for GTA is always a good thing this news is a disappointment on one level, as it’s presumably what Snoop Dogg was talking about when he recently said Dr Dre was working on new music for ‘the GTA game that’s coming out’.

Despite the long history of celebrities and voiceover artists getting these sorts of details wrong the natural assumption was that he was talking about GTA 6, but that no longer seems to be the case – unless Dr Dre happens to be working on that in addition to the DLC.

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MORE : GTA: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition physical copies delayed until week before Christmas

MORE : Rockstar ‘sincerely apologise’ for GTA: The Trilogy – not offering refunds

MORE : GTA: The Trilogy fans aren’t happy at bugs, missing cheats, and new art style

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Sonic 2 movie poster has Tails, the Egg Mobile, a Buzz Bomber, and more

December 08, 2021 Leave a Reply
Sonic 2 movie poster has Tails, the Egg Mobile, a Buzz Bomber, and more
Sonic 2 movie poster
A mega sequel? (pic: Twitter)

The trailer for the Sonic 2 movie is going to be at The Game Awards tomorrow and the voice of Tails is the same actor as in the games.

Just as was rumoured, the first trailer for the Sonic 2 movie will be at The Game Awards on Thursday night, but the initial poster already has plenty for fans to get excited about.

The most obvious thing is that Miles ‘Tails’ Prower is in it, flying the Tornado-1 biplane, just as he did in the original Mega Drive Sonic 2 game.

The surprising thing is that the voice of Tails is Colleen O’Shaughnessey from the games and not the sort of out-of-place celebrity you would’ve expected to be placed in the role.

Speaking of Jim Carrey, you can see him in full Dr Robotnik get-up and riding in the iconic Egg Mobile, which suggests the sequel is going to be a lot closer to the games than the original.

As if that wasn’t enough, that appears to be a Buzz Bomber in the background, which suggests there’ll probably be other enemies taken directly from the games too.

There don’t seem to be any other Easter eggs in the poster, although it’s hard to tell whether the landscape they’re flying over is the real-world or planet Mobius. It looks more like Earth, but the ending of the last film certainly implies that won’t be the only setting.

The new movie is due to be released in cinemas on April 8 which, tragically, is not a Tuesday. So we don’t get to have another Sonic 2sday marketing blitz.

The original film was not only not-terrible but one of the most successful video game movies of all time, even if that’s not saying much in either case.

If the second movie is also a hit that’s likely to have a major knock-on effect for both Sega and video game adaptations in general.

The tweet implies the trailer will debut at what is 1am GMT on Friday morning. That’s just the start time of The Game Awards though and it’s more likely the trailer will be a bit later – although either way it’ll be there for you to watch when you wake up on Friday.

What isn’t known, is whether the Sonic Frontiers game will also be at the show, although there’s a certain amount of circumstantial evidence to suggest it will be.

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MORE : Sonic Frontiers reveal teased for The Game Awards 2021 on Friday

MORE : Sonic the Hedgehog fans angry over DJ Steve Aoki concert without any Sonic music

MORE : Sonic Frontiers open world game is similar to Zelda: Breath Of The Wild claims insider

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Amouranth is now an official Playboy model as she buys herself $1m birthday gift

December 08, 2021 Leave a Reply
Amouranth is now an official Playboy model as she buys herself $1m birthday gift
Amouranth in bunny ears
Amouranth is now a Playboy model (pic: Twitter)

Not only is Twitch star Amouranth about to become a Playboy model but she’s made another massive investment for her retirement.

Controversial Twitch streamer Amouranth has been talking a lot about retirement plans lately but while she may be thinking of giving up streaming she doesn’t seem to be planning any retreat from the public eye.

She already has a presence on OnlyFans but now she’s announced that she’s officially become a Playboy model, although she hasn’t said anything more than that so far, so it’s not entirely clear what that’s going to entail.

The (probably NSFW) photo she posted on Twitter to confirm the announcement is actually an old one, that just happens to have her wearing a pair of bunny ears, so whether this is going to be a one-off or involve videos as well as photos is unknown.

Playboy itself hasn’t made any kind of announcement but fans have noticed that Playboy’s director of marketing is followed by Amouranth and she follows her.

Presumably this will result in at least a cover shoot but there’s no clue so far as to whether that’s something that will happen soon or just sometime next year.

Amouranth, real name Kaitlyn Siragusa, has constantly pushed the boundaries of what’s permissible on Twitch and has been banned numerous times, although never for very long.

While hinting at her retirement, Amouranth revealed she had spent £7.5 million buying a stake in a 7-Eleven but she’s also recently treated herself to a $1 million birthday gift.

Rather than jewellery or a new car though, she acquired 5,400 shares in Visa stock – giving herself 44.1 million in buying power.

That’s not something you really show off on Instagram, but it should result in a hefty profit when she decides to cash in her investment.

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MORE : Amouranth planning retirement from Twitch as she buys a 7-Eleven for £7.5 million

MORE : Ludwig ditches Twitch for YouTube Gaming: ‘I’ve never felt loved by Twitch’

MORE : xQcOW is highest individual earner on Twitch with £6+ million a year

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Tuesday, 7 December 2021

Sonic Frontiers reveal teased for The Game Awards 2021 on Friday

December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
Sonic Rangers trailer
Sonic Frontiers – looks like we’ll be seeing more this Friday (pic: Sega)

It looks like the new 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game will be getting its debut at The Game Awards, and maybe the movie sequel trailer too.

In theory, it should be impossible to get excited about a new 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game, given how badly almost every previous one has turned out, but it’s hard not to hold out a sliver of hope for Sonic Frontiers.

Although rumoured to be an open world game, almost nothing is known about it officially (including its name), but what’s encouraging is that Sega has repeatedly delayed it, missing both Sonic’s 30th anniversary and any kind of tie-in with last year’s movie.

That’s made fans optimistic that they’re not releasing this one until it’s actually good, while some Twitter banter between the official Sonic Twitter account and The Game Awards presenter and organiser Geoff Keighley strongly implies a reveal is coming this Friday.

Keighley often teases reveals like this in a similar manner, and with the official Sonic Twitter account involved it seems pretty clear cut that something is going on.

However, one fan has noticed that the trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer has recently been given an official US rating, so what’s being revealed could just be that.

Except… even more eagle-eyed fans have noticed that the URL frontiers.sonicthehedgehog.com has suddenly been activated. It still doesn’t show anything but up until the last few days it didn’t throw up the ‘Access Denied’ message it now displays.

That suggests that something is afoot and that a reveal at The Game Awards on Friday is actually very likely.

The Game Awards are regularly used as the venue to reveal new games, or the first footage of already announced ones, and according to Keighley there are ‘four or five’ debuts planned this year, that are of a similar scale to the gameplay debut of Elden Ring during this summer’s E3 adjacent show.

The Elden Ring reveal was one of Keighley’s biggest coups of recent years and while it’s unclear whether Sonic Frontiers counts as one of the five it’s certainly going to be interesting to see what it looks like in action.

Technically The Game Awards is on Thursday, December 9 but factor in the time difference and it actually doesn’t start till Friday morning at 1am in the UK. But don’t worry, as we’ll have all the news announcements rounded up by the time you wake up.

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MORE : Sonic the Hedgehog fans angry over DJ Steve Aoki concert without any Sonic music

MORE : Sonic Frontiers open world game is similar to Zelda: Breath Of The Wild claims insider

MORE : Sonic The Hedgehog Green Hill Zone soundtrack finally gets its own lyrics and music video

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Monday, 6 December 2021

Games Inbox: PlayStation Game Pass vs. Xbox, Halo Infinite review reaction, and BioShock 4 anticipation

December 06, 2021 Leave a Reply
Games Inbox: PlayStation Game Pass vs. Xbox, Halo Infinite review reaction, and BioShock 4 anticipation
PlayStation logo
How is a PlayStation Game Pass going to work? (pic: Sony)

The Tuesday Inbox suggests an Activision Blizzard name change, as one reader finally manages to beat Demon’s Souls on PS5.

PLEASE NOTE: As we get our own Christmas and New Year content ready for the end of the year, please consider sending in your own festive Reader’s Feature to run over the Christmas break. It can be on any subject but if there’s something you’ve been meaning to write in about, but never got around to, now would be a good time for it.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk


Why not now?
I can imagine why they wouldn’t want to, but if the PlayStation Game Pass doesn’t feature first party games on day one, or at least within a short, standard period of time like a month, then I don’t see it being anything other than an opportunity for Microsoft to show how they do things better than Sony.

I’d say this was such an obvious pitfall that there’s no way Sony can’t have already thought about it but given how many time games companies seem completely oblivious to the blindingly obvious I’m not sure. Even if Sony are generally one of the more sensible ones.

That Jim Ryan interview was always a bit of a giveaway, that they had something up their sleeve, but what I don’t understand is why it wasn’t released this year. It doesn’t require any development so why let Microsoft have this Christmas on a plate? The PlayStation 5 might be outselling Xbox but Microsoft has clearly made a lot of improvements in terms of public perception in the last couple of months, while Sony has basically been MIA.

Maybe they have something big planned for The Game Awards but if not, I can’t remember the last time we had a major announcement out of them.
Holtz


Half a world
You’re right GC, that was not how I assumed Halo Infinite’s open world worked. In fact, I’m kind of shocked how it is. So it’s only the first half of the game and then you don’t see it again till the end? Isn’t that kind of an admission that it’s not all the great? And if it’s not why could they have split things up a bit more evenly (or less evenly I suppose I mean).

Like another reader said, I wasn’t really sure what to expect of the campaign but while I’m glad it’s not bad I think I’ll wait till the co-op is working till I sit through it. Especially as I didn’t play Halo 5 or Halo Wars 2 and I have no intention of doing so just to understand what is going on.

Some very odd choices in this game and it seems like while the multiplayer team got everything right (I’m going to blame the bean counters for the progression system) the others were letting the side down. Still, at least the multiplayer’s a hit.
Spencer

GC: You see the open world in cut scenes after the halfway point, but you don’t get to free roam in it again until after you’ve beaten the story.


Hex-based gaming
I know you said it wasn’t bad but I’m kind of disappointed by Halo Infinite after seeing the reviews. I was really hoping it would be a full revival for the series, with great single-player and multiplayer, but the campaign just seems kind of waste. I couldn’t care less about what happens after Halo 5 and just assuming you know what happens and who everyone is seems like a really dumb idea.

I can just imagine how all the ‘sci-fi corridors’ look too, even though I notice that’s something they’ve barely shown in the trailers at all, which is all just the open world.

Can I ask, GC, does the open world vary in design much? Everything I’ve seen has just been that dusty brown and green look like the original game, but it doesn’t seem to vary much. What are those strange hexagonal towers about?
Toady

GC: The open world all looks basically the same, yes, with the same colour palette and designs. We don’t think it’s ever explicitly said but the hexagonal foundations are implied to be where the Halo is broken and trying to repair itself.


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Sold out
PlayStation fans may remember the Platinum range that was available on the PlayStation 1 console. I am wondering if this could be brought back for the PlayStation 5 so that PlayStation 4 titles and even, in the far future, PlayStation 5 titles could also be included. On the PlayStation 1, when Sony reduced the price by 50%, for many of their top games which had been out for years, it allowed more people with limited budgets to be able to buy the console and the games.

If this was brought back for the PlayStation 5 in the future, especially during the pandemic, this would ensure a lot more people would buy a PlayStation 5 and more games would be sold, allowing better sales figures and growing the fanbase for both the PlayStation brand and games made by developers. It would also give the competition a run for its money.
gaz be rotten (gamertag)


Internal review
I wonder if Microsoft is happy with the Halo Infinite reviews? They’re good but not great, which seems a bit of anti-climax after nearly four years of waiting and probably much longer in development. I think I read that publishers get people to write their own reviews before a game goes out, to get an idea of what to expect. Although given what big budget games are like I can’t imagine any of them are too scathing.

I certainly was hoping for a better response for Halo Infinite but on the other hand I could imagine a much worse one. I think we’re going to find that Microsoft’s best developers are the ones they’ve recently bought, not the ones they’ve had for years making Halo and God Of War. Except Playground Games and Forza, they seem pretty good.
Baker


Name change
Are Activision trying to break some sort of record for the greatest number of sleazy stories in one year? After this latest one about dunking on the QA people I don’t think I’d play another of their games again if they paid me.

A part of me does feel sorry for the developers involved that haven’t done anything wrong but all of this coinciding with the least interesting Call Of Duty in years is some awkward timing, to say the least. I really wonder if Activision are going to go under after this.

I mean, they’re not short of money or anything but their name is dirt now and nobody wants to work for them/everyone’s leaving in droves. I predict they’ll break up Activision and Blizzard and change one or both of their names. That’s got to be the minimum I think, there’s no way they’re just going to keep a low profile (they basically only make one game) and come back next autumn with a new Call Of Duty and pretend nothing happened.
Winston


Perfect timing
Getting quite excited about the idea of a new BioShock. I know it’s divisive but I enjoyed BioShock Infinite and I’m looking forward to a game that’s sensible enough not to set itself in Rapture again.

I don’t know how much it was intended, but the idea of waiting this long for a sequel is perfect. Long enough for people to miss the games but not so long that you forget what they were. I hope to see an announcement maybe this month or next.
Brosman


Soulful ending
Finally finished Demon’s Souls after just under 63 hours of play time and I had such a great time with FromSoftware’s groundbreaking action role-playing game.

The game is such a hauntingly beautiful and atmospheric, meticulous, adventurous, visceral game with some of the most memorable level and enemy/boss designs I’ve ever had the privilege of experiencing in a video game.

It’s so easy to see why many fans still proclaim Demon’s Souls represents the pinnacle of the Souls games, but boy does the omission of an equivalent to the bonfires and Estus flask in Dark Souls render the proceedings brutal!

I was really impressed with how many of the bosses confounded my expectations too. From the blind fury of the Old Hero, to the self-duplicating shenanigans of the Fool’s Idol. You could add the painfully contrived, but visually spectacular, Dragon God to that list of leftfield battles.

Playing the game in performance mode had also amplified my appreciation of the precision and fluidity of the combat in a Souls game. Everything just feels so much smoother and responsive; the feedback of nailing the timing of a roll dodge or parry has never felt more satisfying.

Demon’s Souls certainly features some of my favourite environments in a Souls such as Upper Latria, with its ominous thunder-rumbling dark clouds, treacherous gargoyle infested narrow pathways, and that grotesque pulsating organ at the centre of the vicinity. The classic grimdark imagery of the opening Boletaria Fortress level with its imposing battle-worn architecture and terrorising dragons will stay with me for a very long time.

The final boss fight with (false) King Allant was highly enjoyable and challenging. The animations of his dash and jump attacks reminded me of Devil May Cry for some reason, he was quite the kinetic beast. That ending was quite surprising and poignant too…

That World Tendency concept is a bit confusing and unnecessary though, eh?
Galvanized Gamer

GC: Yeah, we don’t think anyone would’ve complained if Bluepoint had left World Tendency on the PlayStation 3.


Inbox also-rans
Never mind being barred, I’m shocked that Activision were up for any Game Awards in the first place. Warzone really isn’t that great.
Jonesey

I wonder when we’ll hear what Luigi’s Mansion 3 developer Next Level Games is working on now? It seems ages since Nintendo bought them. Much as I love Luigi I hope it’s a new IP.
Benson


This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Korbie, who asks what game have you thought about the most while not actually playing it?

While stuck at work or school it’s common to daydream about what you’ll play when you get home, but what game has filled your thoughts the most and why? Were you planning out new strategies and tactics or just imagining what it’d be like to get further?

Have you ever literally dreamt about a game and how did that go? Did the dream place you in the game world or was it something related to the reality of playing it?

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk


The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE : Games Inbox: GameCube on Nintendo Switch, Halo Infinite multiplayer love, and Chorus name

MORE : Weekend Hot Topic: Best acting in a video game

MORE : Games Inbox: The Game Awards 2021 predictions, Bloodborne 2 hopes, and Morrowind remaster

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Best new mobile games on iOS and Android – December 2021 round-up

December 06, 2021 Leave a Reply
Moncage screenshot
Moncage – one of the best mobile games of the year (pic: Optillusion Games)

The final batch of mobile reviews for 2021 includes the excellent Moncage, a new Galaga title, and a genuinely good Apple Watch game.

With 2021 finally in its death throes and Christmas just round the corner, it’s time to take stock of this month’s touchscreen extravaganzas, which range from the Apple Watch-based lock breaking antics of Un:safe to the beauty and weirdness of Moncage, and the inventiveness of melancholy silhouetted platformer In My Shadow.

Moncage

iOS & Android, £3.49 (X.D. Network)

The whole of Moncage takes place across the five visible faces of a cube, that you rotate to peer into perfectly rendered 3D dioramas visible through each of its planes. Tap to zoom in or out, your goal being to find elements of different faces that line up, in the style of 2017’s classic, Gorogoa.

Moncage glories in playing with scale, perspective, and interactions between background and foreground objects, the cube’s precise angle letting you align apparently disparate props from different sides. It’s a slow, meticulous, and enormously satisfying process.

It can also sometimes be a little too obscure for its own good, a feature mitigated by a series of increasingly directional hints, culminating in a short video that just tells you what to do. It’s a useful way of circumventing frustration and ensuring as many players as possible can progress through its mellow, mysterious puzzles and reach its emotionally poignant conclusion.

Score: 9/10

The Ramp

iOS & Android, Free (Crescent Moon Games)

Accurately billed as a minimalist skateboarding game, The Ramp has you tapping and releasing the screen as your skater passes through different sections of a halfpipe. When they take to the air you swipe to perform tricks or hit the grind button.

It plays like a rhythm action game and while tricky at first, once you get the hang of its timing pulling off sequences of tricks as you pop out of each side of the ramp is rewarding in itself.

Its problem is that without any goals or score it swiftly starts to feel formless. £2.49 to add three fresh maps to its single free one is a reasonable deal, but it suffers from an absence of meta game and a sense of progression.

Score: 6/10

Company Of Heroes: Tales Of Valor

iOS & Android, £3.49 (Feral Interactive)

Originally released in 2009, the Tales Of Valor DLC adds nine missions and a clutch of new vehicles to Company Of Heroes’ distinctive brand of Second World War real-time strategy.

Like the main game and Opposing Fronts, its first downloadable add-on, this has you capturing strategic buildings and resources to guide your tiny troopers and their mechanised support to victory.

While just as well produced and featuring the same cinematic storytelling, this provides a relatively modest sliver of extra content.

Score: 7/10

Galaga Wars

iOS, Apple Arcade (Namco Bandai)

Not a straight sequel, more an ‘inspired by’, Galaga Wars uses familiar-looking constellations of Galaxians and the same one finger steering and firing mechanic as the Sky Force series.

While nicely challenging, this is another Apple Arcade game that has more than a whiff of free-to-play about it, including timed loot crates, multiple currencies, short-lived power-ups, and paid continues.

The issue is that you either start every round at level one or use incredibly hard earned and rare resources to skip to later levels. Without the ability to pay for those, progress is frustratingly slow, leaving you to grind the same levels ad nauseam.

Score: 5/10

Coffee Inc 2

iOS, £1.79 (Side Labs)

In this caffeinated tycoon game, you attempt to build a mighty coffee empire from scratch. Starting by renting premises, hiring a manager and staff, and sourcing and pricing your hot and cold beverages you need to grow your enterprise while putting competitors out of business.

With no sound effects, and music that only runs on certain screens of its interface, it certainly feels pared back. Its isometric cities might look cute, but this is all about managing the numbers.

If you revel in balance sheets and the subtle interplay of primarily numerical factors in pursuit of victory, this will let you nerd out to your heart’s content. For more action-hungry players this may feel a little too much like real work.

Score: 7/10

Infinite Shooting

iOS & Android, Free (NFLY Studio)

Vertically scrolling shooters may largely have disappeared from consoles, PCs, and arcades but it’s a thriving genre on mobile, with the majority of its biggest releases arriving free to download.

In line with expectation, Infinite Shooting is free-to-play, and has you dragging a finger around the screen to evade the incoming bullet hell, while tapping with a second finger to trigger your slowly recharging special weapon.

You’re forced to watch an ad after levels, and can optionally watch a second one to multiply your meagre earnings, but the action is too weak to justify much time investment, especially when the likes of Phoenix 2 and Sky Force: Reloaded are also available free.

Score: 3/10

In My Shadow

iOS, £4.49 (Alcon Interactive)

Telling the story of a woman wistfully recalling her childhood dog, In My Shadow’s action is of the platform hopping variety, the twist being that it all takes place in silhouette.

In each of its levels you need to collect page-like memories while making your way across deadly spikes to see your hound. Getting there involves taking a step back into a 3D view to move foreground objects so that their shadows come together to let you jump your way across.

Spinning blades, moving spikes, shadows you can only jump on once, and a litany of other mechanics soon complicate your journey in this clever, pleasantly taxing, and shamelessly heartstring-tugging adventure.

Score: 8/10

Un:safe – Crack the Safe

Apple Watch, £1.79 (Emin Grbo)

Un:safe uses Apple Watch’s haptic feedback to turn you into a safe cracker. Slowly twist the digital crown until you feel a change in its haptic click, then gingerly tap the unlock button. If you’re right, you unlock one ring of the lock. If not, you lose one of three lives.

Once all three have gone it’s back to level one to try again. There are 50 increasingly precarious safes to complete, but on the evidence of our runs you’ll be highly unlikely to see many of those unless you have somewhere extremely quiet to practise.

With a simple interface and no scoring mechanic other than the number of safes you can open in a session, it’s a neat way to waste five minutes in a queue and an excellent use of Apple Watch.

Score: 7/10


By Nick Gillett


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