pip_muzz

Have to say, I've played a game online pretty much every day since the update launched. Not done that since the multiplayer itself launched over a year ago. For those like myself who felt the game became very stale through a lack of content and hated the progression system, it's pretty much all fixed and ok now.

Obvious choice but Halo 3 is the best for me. Epic conclusion to the original trilogy, some of the best levels the games have seen, amazing all round.
Definitely a tough call for 2nd between ODST and Halo 1 for me though

Playing some Wo Long and absolutely loving it. Absolutely every bit as good as the Nioh games and feels like one in all but name.

So far so good. The proof of whether the game finally has legs will be in around 3 months when season 4 is due to roll around. The new maps are fun for sure.

@GeeEssEff that's not exactly fair 🤣😂 very few games in the last decade are as good as Nioh 2 😅😂🤣

Superb game. So far so good, feels a lot like Nioh 1. Difficult opening but then it clicks quickly and everything afterwards is amazing.
It's just nice to have a game "click" so early these days, far too many games only get good well beyond the halfway point after the handholding has stopped.

I agree here too. I have loved every FH so far. 5 really perfected upon 4, which was more of a departure compared to 3 which perfected upon 2.
It's definitely time for a bit of a mix up. Nothing outlandish, but a further refinement from 5 to 6 is unnecessary in my view.

As much as I'm an Xbox fan I still wonder if it's worth all this effort. Would have been much funnier to just have paid for COD exclusivity outright and watch the fanboys implode.
COD on Game Pass day 1 isn't a big deal for me. IF, and that's a big IF, they resurrect Tony Hawk's, then we're talking!

@themightyant but the game doesn't really contain any QTE's! Play Shenmue 1+2 (The greatest games of all time I might add!). They contain QTE's.
Hi Fi Rush contains rhythm sequences like Space Channel 5, Guitar Hero and other great games before it.

Edit: My original comment was way too aggressive and ******* from my end. My bad

I've played it and it's one of the best games I've played in the last decade.
Sony may have the polished story games, Nintendo the gameplay first and foremost masters, but Hi Fi Rush hit such a great nostalgic, hack n slash, fun (who cares about being serious) point that it rates as one of my top 5 games of the decade!

That final patch note 🤣😅
"Tracks 3 and 4: Zanzo’s programmers’ salary adjusted for inflation"
That has to be an inside joke from Tango Gameworks surely.

But, but, but it's Microsoft who are being exclusive with everything Bethesda! They took Starfield away from playstation! They lied to the regulators! 🤣🤣😅😅

Back to reality, had MS not bought Bethesda, Xbox would have been looking at another 12month wait for Starfield. I'm glad the silly timed exclusive stuff is coming to an end here.

Definitely around a 7 for me. Combat is interesting, level design is solid (not so keen on the open world parts), plays differently to a lot of other FPS' but a few too many flaws to be something great. Well worth a play however.

Playing some Atomic Heart which is definitely better than I thought it'd be. Not amazing, but very solid.
Also finishing up some side quests and completion points in Yakuza Kiwami.

I'm very happy. I didn't want another "silly" expansion. I enjoyed the Hot Wheels DLC but was hoping the 2nd expansion would be more grounded, like every 1st DLC for Forza Horizon was before this one.
More races than ever in a FH DLC and another large new location. Sounds about perfect!

Congratulations on this site for not using a childish photo or commenting on the above news in a "fanboyism" manner. You're the best of the bunch when it comes to Push Square, Nintendo Life and genuinely objective news. It has an Xbox slant naturally, but isn't forever about console wars and fanboys. Cheers.

Conveniently announced ahead of the regulatory hearings coming soon... 😅
That said, it's going to be pretty hard for Sony's lawyers to argue the deal is "bad for gamers" when MS have now committed to putting COD into the hands of 100+ million new gamers.

My excitement for this game drops with every passing day.

@UltimateOtaku91 touché 😅

@UltimateOtaku91 "only one big third party game at day1"!!!
Since Outriders launch the AAA games to come to Game Pass include Flight Simulator, Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite, Plague Tale Requiem, Hi-Fi Rush etc...
Sounds like it's not Game Pass that's the problem here....

Mick Gordon is fantastic. His two Doom soundtracks are probably the best soundtracks in gaming. Even if the game itself isn't up to expectations, his music will make it worth playing (probably 😅)

@StylesT it's the same problem for any multiplayer game that sees it's popularity dip. The remaining players get so good at the game that any attempt to "reignite" the game just ends up frustrating returning players and alienating new ones.

It's certainly very fun. The trouble with Halo is that the games are now filled with people who have been playing non-stop since launch. I've played a few games this weekend, but nothing is as demotivating as being destroyed repeatedly. Compared to a year ago when I thought I was pretty decent at the game.

This looks absolutely ace! I loved the Amnesia Fortnight videos. Seeing how open Double Fine are with their work is always great to see.

When you take into account the Xbox Tax on review sites Hi-Fi rush is the GOTY contender by a country mile.

Depends what those "performance reviews" actually entail. If someone's performance review has a clause/bonus about keeping games off Xbox & Game Pass then it's entirely relevant to the case and no reason it shouldn't be heard before a court.
It's hard to say what's relevant and irrelevant without actually hearing the information first. One would imagine MS wouldn't pointlessly harass Sony as it would portray them in a bad light in front of the regulators, thereby harming their own case.
It stands to reason MS has a struck a nerve of Sony's here and Sony is doubling down on the harassment claims because they have things that they don't want to come out publicly.

I actually think the deal closing out in MS' favour isn't a bad thing.
That said, Kotick is a cockroach and not someone I'd want on my team.

@Neverwild the developer of THPS 1+2 remasters "Vicarious Visions" (which released in 2020 btw not last year) has been officially folded into the Call of Duty machine.
Whilst there have been a couple of remasters and a new Crash, the restructuring of Activision over the last couple of years mean that any new games we get that are "non COD" were already in the pipeline before the reorganisation. For proof of the damage Activision do to creativity, just look to Raven Software who haven't made a new game in over a decade.

Genuinely ridiculously difficult to choose. I'm not even interested in half the games and the other half are corkers. Hi Fi Rush, GoldenEye, age of Empires. All class

The controls really are fantastic. I was debating using a keyboard/mouse set-up but the way it suits a controller if you're playing on console, there really is no need for anything but a controller.

So great to play this on my Xbox. Every couple of years I'd boot up my N64 to blast through the campaign in a couple of hours. The music, the feel of the levels... It just works.
It still feels a bit dreamlike that this is still a thing on Xbox. Seeing the GoldenEye Logo in "My Games" doesn't yet seem real

Thoroughly enjoyed it. They were upfront with what to expect, delivered on the expectations and threw in a quality surprise as well. Definitely the way for MS to deliver more of these moving forwards.

Very impressive communication from MS today. Hope they can keep this momentum up all year long. 2022 was a write off, 2023 can't afford to be as well. So far so good!

When even something like simply recycling or saving energy is seen as a "political act" you know these people are utterly deluded. Madness.

It's a sad state of affairs in gaming that when a game no longer receives updates it's deemed worthy of being "delisted"!

Lots of companies letting people go at the moment. Hope everyone affected by this lands on their feet ok 👍

@Kaloudz I still highly recommend switching the audio to Japanese in the settings. The English Dub just isn't as good and really contrasts with the games setting along with everything else.

But yes, good the games give an option at least.

Tie between Forza and Redfall. I'm more excited about the new Forza but it's not as much as an unknown quantity like Redfall.
No interest with Minecraft Legends really since we're getting Age of Empires 2 in a couple of weeks and Age of Empires 4 later this year too.

@Titntin I'm playing Yakuza Kiwami. Similar..ish 👍

@LtSarge it's really not a good TV show. Master Chief as a character is wrong, the romance is shoehorned in and it doesn't feel anything remotely like Halo apart from the odd sound effect or Easter Egg.
It's a sub-par Sci-Fi show with the Halo name slapped on for marketing purposes.
I hope it's something newcomers avoid and instead gravitate to the games.
(Oh and I loved Mass Effect 3, yes the ending was disappointing pre-patch but it's still a 9-10/10 game. But nice of you to be so incorrect in your presumptions)

Definitely one of my most anticipated games of the year. Nioh 1+2 were absolutely superb, reasons to own a PS4 in my view alone.
So if this is as good as those (and less like Strangers of Paradise) it could be an astonishingly good game!

@LtSarge I presume you've never played much Halo then? Characters like Quan which have whole episodes to themselves couldn't be further from anything in one of the games.
A TV series made by people who have never played the games.

I wonder if the original release dates for Starfield, Forza, Redfall etc... Meant they thought they'd have more games in these months than they currently do. The delays not just delaying the games themselves but the quality of Game Pass as well if MS don't have any back-up plans to fill in the gaps.

Either that or Sony is now paying to keep every game in existence off of Game Pass 😂🤣

Two Point Campus - Absolutely superb game and probably the best Management game in a generation.

As Dusk Falls - Story based game with genuinely meaningful choices that affect the story. If you're going to have a cinematic game, make more like this where I, the player, aren't just a viewer on-rails.

Weird West - Intricate, Clever, Funny and above all fun action RPG. My 2nd playthrough is already planned for 2023.

Making the most of Cloud Gaming at my family's away from my console and finishing off the Skywalker Saga.

So true.
Forgot about Weird West as well, how time flies. Some of the most fun I've had in ages!

Outer wilds has been in and out of game pass a few times.

Lego Star Wars: Skywalker Saga, a 2nd playthrough of Psychonauts 2 and the usual mix of Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite.

@awp69 AI: Somnium Files Nirvana initiative wasn't on game pass. Only the 1st one is.
But your point stands. Some absolutely superb releases into game pass this year

@Chaudy @Cyberpsycho couldn't disagree more.
Pentiment was a 2022 gaming highlight for me. Very intelligently made, a story based game where your choices "actually" matter, lovingly designed art style... I think it deserves every 9&10 it got.
To each their own.