What You've Been Playing This Week

[Cepp]

Few hours into Darkstar One which is a serviceable late 2000s Space "sim" in the vein of Freelancer. I'm pretty much playing a mercenary happy to look the other way so long as the pay's good.

There's some questionable CG and voice acting but the main game is fun. I'm playing it on Steam but I believe it actually got a 360 port that runs at 1080p. Space game's aren't the most demanding obviously but I always found that cool.

[randombs]

Decided to give ReCore a try.

It’s fun so far(and 60fps!), and the music is surprisingly good.

[samanosuke]

I admire you only having those games to play from. You must have impressive self-control.

Well I do also still have Mario Allstars 3D and ESP RaDe sealed and waiting to be be played, but I didn’t want to add them as well as it would make my task of getting on top of things even more daunting.

I’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on Super Robot Wars T, the new Densha de Go, and Persona 5 Strikers, and now SMT 3: Nocturne is getting a re-release too. I cannot - will not - order a single one until at least a couple of games on my current to-do list have been chalked off!

What an infinite rabbit hole gaming can be...

[QualityChimp]

I'm enjoying the Miitopia scenes, [MENTION=39]importaku[/MENTION]. My son got that and Zelda: Link's Awakening for his birthday and seems to be enjoying both.

Tried some more 4-player Battlefield V and the menus are so clunky it's making us want to throw in the towel.
The missions themselves are pretty good, but they all follow the same structure of go here > shoot these guys > go here > shoot these guys > defend until rescue.
I think there are only 8 co-op missions, so limited interest for us. It's only a small part of the game, really, but the only thing that interests us. Not keen on getting obliterated by randoms who play it all day.

Then onto some more GTA Online racing. We've turned customs on this week, so it's been interesting to see how a fully beefed-up car will handle in a race.
Super: We've found the Vagner, Kreiger and Emerus to be great.
Sports: Grotti Itali GTO is the way forward.
Off-Road: My Coil Brawler has been good, but don't think anyone else has a modified car. So is the the car or the driver who excels?

I think I'm resigned to filling a garage with all the movie cars, but that's going to cost a lot of money!

[QualityChimp]

Sorry everyone, more GTA Online racing!

There are a bunch of new stunt tracks, so we're working our way through them and also some of the best fan-made tracks, some of which are brilliantly inventive.

Trying to save up for the Scramjet (Speed Racer Mach 1 clone) and possibly a harrier, but there are only so many times you can rob El Rubio until it becomes a chore!

[Neon Ignition]

Really don't know. Other than Mario Galaxy at work on Switch I'm not really focused on anything, the PC-WiiU-PS5-Xbox-Quest 2 are all there with a staggering backlog but I'm waiting for something to snag my attention. I'm most likely to return to the XBLA Goldeneye and boot up Star Citizen for the first time in 5 years

[Golgo]

Started Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Astral Chain.

[Atticus]

Nier Replicant - Never played the original but I loved Automata. Only spent a short time with this one but its ticking some boxes straight away: in that it's a special-feeling game world that I can't describe why but it just is, like Automata was ... and the soundtrack is beautiful. It also compounds a storybook feeling in its transitions between the 3D game world and the 2D room interiors. Really nice touch.

I gave up on Mass Effect. Just wasn't digging it so I cashed out.

[importaku]

Finished up the remainder of subnautica below zero, absolutely loved it from start to finish and surprisingly bug free no glitching into scenery or broken story objectives it's very well polished compared to the bugs in the previous game. Some of the biomes were ass clenchingly tense, the one with a certain leviathan at the deepest depths especially the first time i found it i was like NOPE and did a u turn. The story was great too, i was hoping i got to see the architects planet but you only get a glimpse before the credits roll i want to know what happens next but i'm hoping there's at least one more game so we can find out if the architects survived or the kharra got them all before the cure was found.

[Atticus]

Bit of HotD4. Still a great blast.

[Golgo]

Control on PS4. Quite like the story, it's really stylish, but the performance jank I've read so much about is there alright. Textures for environmental storytelling (e.g. paintings and captions and noticeboards) and actually crucial things (e.g. direction signs) will often not load in at all, so the environment is a blurry mess. Going into and out of menus brings the action to a stuttering halt for a few seconds. Sometimes the map doesn't draw in either, which - combined with the fact it's a 2D map of a 3D space without the option to switch levels, plus its refusal to add locations of locked doors when it is basically a Metroidvania - is a bit of a problem. Combat is quite fun but in the 3rd person action stakes its no Vanquish or Binary Domain, that's for sure. Another one to be added to the abandoned pile, methinks. God, I'm getting impatient in my dotage!

[Cassius_Smoke]

[MENTION=3687]Golgo[/MENTION]

On PS5 at 60fps it's great, BUT at 30fps with all the bells and whistles it's a dogs dinner, and that's on a next gen machine. I can't begin to imagine what it'd be like on a PS4. Shame, because it's a fantastic game with great lore.

[QualityChimp]

Did a quick heist to be able to afford KITT in GTA Online, then perused the current sale.

Along with getting Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Unleashed Online Reprobates Wildlands, ready for co-op night, I also picked up CarX Drift Racing Online for about a fiver and spent ages redoing my lap until I got bronze, then silver.



I was bemoaning that GTA doesn't reward drifting, but this game gives you points for drifting or sliding the back of the car close to the barriers. Every time you do a successful move, your combo meter fills up, up to X5, thus boosting your score.
Well, this was ridiculously addictive and you pay to unlock loads of tracks, upgrades and new cars that are almost like the real thing.

[fishbowlhead]

Outer Wilds. Lovely setting and very intriguing so far, however it runs like an absolute dog, even on SeriesX/PS5.

Don’t think I’ll continue unless it gets a 60fps update.

[Neon Ignition]

This weekend it's very likely to be all about Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

If I go on anything else it's most likely to be R-Type Final 2 or Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond though I'm getting into the last stages of Super Mario Galaxy also.