What You've Been Playing This Week

[QualityChimp]

Been playing a lot of GTA Online with my mates and it's great.
There are about 6 different heists you can do and it's like Ocean's 11 but with incompetent oafs.

I'm planning a casino heist.
I've bought an arcade, which is supposed to be a front for my heist planning, but I actually want to have a decent arcade too!
Behind the fortune teller machine is a secret bunker where we're planning the mission.
We've been scoping out the casino for camera and entrances and then the missions got tougher, stealing the car "Ellie" and breaking into a prison.

Last night we were supposed to steal a prison bus, but I tried to do things different and stole a military "Chinook" and literally picked up the bus. Sadly they shot me down, pinning the chopper on the bus which was on it's side. I then got another chopper and flew it over the prison by mistake (they've added snow and fog for Christmas, which reduces visibility) and we went straight to 4 stars and died a lot.

We need to be a lot more cautious, rather than going in all guns blazing.

My friend is organising the Doomsday heist.
He's bought a bloody bunker, which is accessed via a giant elevator.
One mission saw us tracking a plane as it took off, but thankfully we'd already stolen some "DeLoreans" which allowed us to fly.

Honestly, it's all very James Bond and we're having a right laugh together.

They're WFH or finished for Christmas, so they've put a lot more hours in than me, though.

[Cepp]

Playing Streets of Rage 4 via Game Pass now DS4Windows supports PS5 controllers. Graphics and animation are nice and the music is baller. Reached Stage 12 quite comfortably but had my arse handed to me by the final boss.

[Finsbury Girl]

Taking a break from Hollow Knight and have resumed Judgement. Having a blast. I haven't even come close to finishing but I really hope for a sequel, Tak and Kaito are an awesome team. I'd love to play as Kaito!

[gunrock]

Played some Untitled Goose Game, quite enjoyed it. Played Triforce Heroes with my twins, pretty good once they learned that it's co-op and going off gung-ho harms the health of the party.
The Outer Worlds has been keeping me up until 2am, which is unusual for me. Just love the ultra-capitalist negativity and emptiness of it's heart. The bit about people renting their graves and co-workers having to pay for the death of their colleagues, etc. kind of made me think about a Dom Cummings Tory-party future and it rang true enough to ruin the mood a bit, but great game overall.

[Cepp]

SnowRunner has that zen-like vibe where you just lose yourself exploring the Alaskan wilderness in your truck finding objectives and moving cargo while listening to music.

[Neon Ignition]

Currently:

-The Walking Dead: Season 04
-Star Wars: Squadrons
-Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

[speedlolita]

Pushing on with Final Fantasy XIII - just finished chapter 9. Didn't finish this back in the day and have wanted to since. Hope I get it done this time! Got the following two games ready to go too, all on PS3. Actually holds up quite well considering how old the game and hardware is at this point.

[QualityChimp]

Been playing a load of GTA Online with my mates.
There's loads to do and my mates have older kids so got to play more than me in the daytime over Christmas so have loads more cash.
However, we did the Diamond Casino Heist together and it was bloody brilliant.
We did all the prep missions like stealing getaway cars and drills and it really built up excitement for the final vault raid.
Sadly, we couldn't get past the guards without triggering them and had a night of frustration.

Watched some videos and did it first time the next night, which is a shame as it could've been perfect, but it was still an absolute thrill to do and we all loved it.

Currently prepping our 2nd go at it (all guns blazin') and also the Doomsday Heist, which is totally tickling my Bond love with us having just stolen some Stromberg cars. Stromberg is the baddie in The Spy Who Loved me and the cars turn into submarines...

I've managed to squeeze in a little daytime gaming too over Christmas.
Played a bit of the Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch, which is tougher than I thought!

Dipped into One Finger Death Punch 2 as it's great for dipping into when you can't commit to anything.

Wanted something I could play with the kids around and started Portal 2 again, but my son has loved watching me play it, which has been a real treat for me. He's helped work out some of the puzzles so he's not completely passive.
What a fantastic game, though.

[Dogg Thang]

I got the Evercade a few weeks ago for my birthday and then bought what I wanted on it - the Oliver Twins collection. I adore the Dizzy games and this collection has five of them on it. I'm sad that it doesn't have all of them and doesn't even have the best versions of them (they're all NES versions) but that seems to be a running theme with the Evercade. Nevertheless I have played through four of them over the last few days and enjoyed every minute of them. I absolutely love those games.

[hudson]

Thimbleweed Park (Xbox Series S) - yes putting that next gen console right through its paces with this absolutely beautiful point and click adventure. If you are a Monkey Island/Ron Gilbert fan. You need to play this.

Densha De GO!! (PS4) - this is the ultimate edition of the series. Finally, the game is more fleshed out and more obvious than it's ever been (Final was good too) with its tasks. The Yamanote Line etc have never looked so good. Addictive. Don't be fooled by it being a game for trainspotters. This is an arcade game.

Street Fighter V CE (PS4) - recently got back into playing this. Loving it again. I unlocked all the characters with the upgrade kit. Even though I just play as Birdie :P

Demon's Souls (PS5) - Still loving this. Taking my time with it. I have a pretty mighty character build. Makes a big 'donk' noise when he thwaks stuff

Ring Fit Adventure (NSW) - Nintendo doing their magic again with this RPG come fitness game. Really enjoying it. I got a 20 minute sesh with it now actually...

[Golgo]

Wanted something I could play with the kids around and started Portal 2 again, but my son has loved watching me play it, which has been a real treat for me. He's helped work out some of the puzzles so he's not completely passive.
What a fantastic game, though.

The 2 player co-op campaign is glorious, especially if tackled with a buddy online and mute/with emote comms only. One of my most memorable gaming experiences. You need to try it!

[randombs]

Halo 5 (XBO)

Buttery smooth, really quick, and SWEET CHRISTMAS, I’M LUKE CAGE.

Ultimate Chicken Horse (NSW)

Wifey and I have been playing this over the past few evenings.

You've not much choice but to cooperate during the first few rounds, placing platforms/etc so that someone can reach the goal. All that camaraderie goes right out the window, giving way to carnage as you add spikes, ice and honey to those very same platforms.

Olive branches turn to poison ivy and it's glorious

[Neon Ignition]

Going into the weekend:

Nintendo Switch
I'm now into Episode 2 on The Walking Dead: Season 04. Seems on course to finish strong and confirm it's vast superiority to the show

PC
I'm nearing Chapter 3 in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Simpler game than I remember but still fun to play

PlayStation 5
I have three missions left to do on Star Wars: Squadron

[JazzFunk]

Been playing the Xbox One reboot of THIEF, and am thoroughly enjoying it.

It's always like £2.20 or so in the sales (been this way for two years at least, it seems like this game has no value at all in the eyes of the publishers!) so I finally caved a few nights back with a spare bit of Xbox credit I had left over.

For the £2.19 I paid??? What a barg, deffo worth the wong, it's pretty deece is this, it's none too shabby!!!

[JazzFunk]

Hear the OGXB version of DEADLY SHADOWS is BC, I have the physical of that, I'm gonna use this as the primer for a (purportedly) better game.