With Alone in the Dark returning with a remake of its 1992 original, we’ve been getting all nostalgic this week about other franchises which have somehow avoided the re-heating treatment so far. There have been numerous success stories in the past, including the iconic Resident Evil remake (the first one, that is), as well as the fact that industry icons Sonic and Mario still live on today. What's your top pick for a franchise that doesn't deserve to be lost to time? Let us know in the Discord. Star Wars Rogue Squadron | Liam Andrews This week’s topic gave me an excuse to call for the return of Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, which is something I’ll always be happy to do given the chance. The original game in the trilogy might have been released late in the decade (1999) on the N64, but it just about makes the cut. Although I’m quite happy to play older titles in their original form - I recently finished Brother’s in Arms: Hell's Highway and am currently working my way through Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter – I would love to see Rogue Squadron given the remake treatment (though I’d be happy with a straight port on modern consoles as well). There is a PC version of the game currently available on Steam, but it would be amazing to see the game properly reimagined on today’s hardware, with a super smooth framerate and highly detailed environments and vehicles. It’d also be great to experience the fantastic campaign missions without the vision obscuring fog. I understand the fog was probably only included due to technical limitations, but it was more intimidating than anything the Imperials could throw at me, as I’d often dread getting lost in some of the more complicated map layouts. Syphon Filter | Chris Brand 1999's Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is the game I'd most like to see make a comeback, but if anyone ever forgets about this absolute gem, it's only for the brief moments between someone mentioning it. Syphon Filter might be remembered equally as fondly, just maybe not quite as often.
Though it spawned many sequels, the few that I've played lacked the magic of the original. At least, I think. It could be that time has merged them all together, as my memory of the series is little more than a montage of our "hero" setting people on fire through continuous application of the taser. I remember heroically setting fire to someone on a rooftop. I heroically set fire to a guy in a train station. I believe I also set fire to someone in a snowfield, something only a true hero would do. To clarify, this is totally unnecessary, as enemies are incapacitated (thus, the threat is removed) a good few seconds before the burning starts. The story almost completely passed me by, presumably because my young mind didn't require a motive for setting people on fire, merely the opportunity. I would have likely skipped every cutscene and bit of dialogue instantly, to get back to the action. As such, the overall narrative would still feel new and fresh if I was to revisit Syphon Filter, although I'd prefer a remake rather than a continuation of the series. I could find out who I'm fighting against, what their goals are and why it's acceptable for me to use a "non-lethal" weapon in such a way. It's aged about as well as GoldenEye and would need rebuilding from the ground up to really do it justice, but I can't think of a better choice to fill the Sam Fisher-shaped hole in our lives. What are you excited for from the Nintendo Partner Direct and Elden Ring DLC trailer? | Team Talk24/2/2024 Wednesday saw the biggest contrast in gaming announcements this year so far with the Nintendo Partner Direct and the release of the hotly anticipated Elden Ring DLC – Shadow of the Erdtree. The Partners Nintendo brought to its show included SEGA, EA and Disney, as well as a slew of smaller-scale projects, while there’s nothing small scale about what Bandai Namco and FromSoftware had to share with us in the first expansion to Elden Ring. What are you looking forward to amongst these announcements? Let us know in our Discord.
Chris Brand As someone without any experience of the base game, the Elden Ring DLC just makes the prospect of picking it up even more daunting. The big, scary, world has been made bigger and scarier and it's still bereft of shotguns. Though I've heard it's more accessible than the typical FromSoftware titles, I'm aware that I have too little patience to spend the time required to reach an appropriate skill level. What surprised me most from Nintendo Direct was the inclusion of Xbox first-party titles, Grounded and Pentiment (both games, along with two more, are releasing on PlayStation, too). With cross-platform play assumed to be a given in multiplayer games nowadays, console exclusives just mean a smaller player-base, so it makes sense for Microsoft to get their games into the hands of as many folks as possible. Pentiment, however, is single player, and the cynic in me suspects that this is Microsoft's way of showing various governmental agencies that they have no intention of creating a gaming monopoly by acquiring every third-party developer they can get their hands on. As they appear to be doing. It feels wrong that my personal highlight from Nintendo's stream was the least Nintendo part, but this could be a turning point for gaming. I'm sure we all have a lot of questions already. Which other Xbox exclusives will be ported to rival systems? Will Nintendo and Sony follow suit? When can I play Mario Kart and God of War? It's probably wise to assume that some exclusives will stay that way. I don't expect to ever see Joel from The Last of Us squaring up against Gears of War's Marcus Fenix in Super Smash Bros. but I do expect, nay demand, to play Mario Kart on my Xbox now, if not sooner. Liam Andrews I’ll be honest, I was not aware of any impending DLC reveal for Elden Ring until this week’s topic was announced, although having since watched the trailer I can say that it does look very impressive, if a little gloomy.
I’m not into souls type games but I know Elden Ring is supposed to be a great game in its own right. Perhaps I’ll pick it up one day, although like Chris I find the idea of jumping into an even bigger game a little intimidating. The Xbox game reveals in the Nintendo partner showcase didn’t come as a surprise, however, as most people had guessed two of the games making the jump would be Grounded and Pentiment. I’ve yet to play the latter but thought Grounded was excellent. I’m not sure how good it will look on Switch, but it’s still cool to see it arriving on other platforms and giving other players a chance to experience it. Away from the Xbox ports, the biggest reveal from the showcase was the original Battlefront games being rereleased on consoles with full online multiplayer support. While I thoroughly enjoyed the modern Battlefront iterations, I know the original titles are held in high regard so I’m looking forward to trying them out for the first time. After Xbox fired the starting gun for the year at their Dev_Direct, now it's PlayStation’s turn to blow us away with the fun and games they have in store this year. They may have saved the creamy filling for next week for some, as they invited SquareEnix to show off Final Fantasy VII Rebirth at an exclusive event tomorrow. In the meantime there was a mixed bag of titles to get salivating about. What tickled your fancy? Let us know over on our Discord. Legendary Tales & Metro Awakening | Liam Andrews Even though I don’t own a VR headset yet, the VR games were my highlight. I really liked the look of Legendary Tales, especially the combat, which looked like loads of fun. Being able to grab weapons out of the air or use broken off bits of an enemy to block or do damage on the fly is a very cool idea. I enjoy playing Baldur’s Gate 3 in multiplayer, so I’m not put off by the idea of this being an RPG to be experienced with others, however I doubt I’ll be able to convince a few of the regular adventurers I accompany to invest in a headset purely for this game, even though it looks like it would be a lot of fun with friends. Still, I would happily dive into the game solo, if only just to try what looks like a very engaging combat system (it doesn’t get more interactive than throwing a skeleton through a table, then picking it up and giving it a good pummelling!). Metro Awakening VR also looked interesting. I liked Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light, and this looks like it’ll be just as atmospheric as those titles, more so in VR. I am a coward when it comes to horror, however, so I’m not sure how well I would handle the jump scares or gloomy locations, they were sometimes scary enough on a regular TV screen. Legendary Tales | Chris Brand This was a meatier outing than Xbox's, rather light, presentation a couple of weeks prior. There were a few titles on show which would have piqued my interest on any other day, Judas is looking like it could really be something special and the Silent Hill series is still as spooky as ever. I could have been writing about a handful of titles, if not for one which stood out far above the others.
At first, I assumed Legendary Tales would be nothing more than filler, to pad out the smaller selection of VR titles, but it turned out to be one of the greatest trailers I've ever seen. When games brag about destructible objects the results are usually disappointing, like Battlefield's structures which topple in the exact same way each time, or whatever the hell we got in Crackdown 3's bare-bones multiplayer mode. Legendary Tales not only lives up to its promise, it goes a step further by giving us the thing we all wanted without even realising (the aforementioned skeleton pummelling). The name suggests there's a robust narrative to be experienced and after doing some cursory research I discovered there's quite a lot more on offer than powerbombing skeletons, with skill trees, crafting, legendary items and a quest-driven story, playable solo or with friends. That being said, it all comes back to the combat. I can think of few things more satisfying than defeating a horde of enemies with whatever debris is lying around from the last battle. It's a certain kind of freedom that is missing from most games and something I've been discouraged from doing in real life. As I don't own any VR-capable devices, I've now got to convince one of my friends to take the plunge, which should be an easy task once I show them a video of someone punching a skeleton until it's dead (deader?). The first big reveals of the year are on us with Xbox’s Developer Direct 2024. Microsoft’s approach to the format puts the devs themselves centre-stage, and can bring some nice, presumably unscripted, moments of humanity, such as this year when Marc Meyer at Oxide games was interrupted by someone walking across the background trying to get a drink. This time we heard from Xbox studios Obsidian Entertainment, Ninja Theory, Oxide Games and Machine Games –, and there was even a surprise guest spot for Square Enix. So, here are our highlights from the show. What was yours? Let us know in our Discord.
Chris Brand I think someone should mention Visions of Mana and Ara: History Untold. With that out of the way, the Xbox Developer Direct was bookended by Avowed, which manages to look better and better with each new reveal, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which seems very different to the games it inspired, namely Tomb Raider and Uncharted. But it was Senua's Saga: Hellblade II that really caught my attention. Ninja Theory created a truly unique experience that could be genuinely unnerving and I almost feel guilty for not seeing the original through to the end. I loved the storytelling, the visuals, the pacing, the top-class audio design and the world itself. Despite pushing through as far as I could, there were too many monsters and not enough shotguns for me to go all the way. Even now I'm unsure of how events played out, as I've convinced myself I'm going to finish it. One day. The combat is said to be very different in the sequel, though we didn't get to see any, outside of a brief cutscene. I'm not interested in a Dark Souls level of difficulty, but something a little more complex and engaging would certainly be welcome. I've purposely avoided many story details and the developers appear to be following suit, instead talking mainly about the production of Hellblade II and how they are committed to providing an in-depth representation of Senua's psychosis. They did a pretty good job the first time around, I couldn't ever be sure if all of the sights and sounds were "real" or not. Or which voices, if any, I should be listening to. It's a relief that the voices in my own head all sound like me and can be safely ignored. James Parry Given that I only just talked about how much I’m looking forward to Avowed, you’d think I’d be the perfect audience for the first segment of Xbox’s presentation, going behind the scenes at Obsidian to see how the game is shaping up. From the limited amount of actual gameplay we saw, it’s definitely ticking the right boxes, but, more importantly, the passion and excitement the devs talk about the game is what really gets me curious about exploring this world. While acknowledging this is yet another game I will play and never finish. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, may avoid that fate however, given it is reportedly only about 8 hours long and is a very focused, linear narrative. The cerebral aspect, which delves into the psychological trauma of the character from the first game, also adds a surprising amount of depth to the character, even as someone who hasn’t jumped into the series before. While the Civilisation series has been a mainstay of my gaming past, I can’t say there’s too much new or innovative going on in Ara: History Untold for me, but perhaps I am judging a book too much by its cover. Or perhaps, given its historical focus, that should be judging a…manuscript by its cover? Finally, there’s no surprise that a licence as well-known as Indiana Jones would get another gaming outing at some point, and if any team can make the whip-cracking adventurer work in first person, it’s Machine Games. In the end, a strong showing for Xbox, indicating a handful of good-looking titles coming to Game Pass this year, but are any of them real blockbuster smashes which expect to bring in new players by the thousand? For those of us already subscribed, I suppose it doesn’t matter. More good games out in the world can’t be a bad thing, right? Another year is here and it’s welcomed by one of our January traditions – discussing the most anticipated games of 2024. While it seems obvious now, we had no idea 2023 was going to be so jam-packed with great releases. Fortunately, the big hits we chose – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – all proved to live up to the hype, but will we be as lucky this year? Let us know your pick in the comments, or talk about all the possibilities in our Discord. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 | Liam Andrews Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and its objective-based gameplay looks set to fix one of the biggest issues I had with Flight Simulator 2020 by giving it some structure. I was initially fine flying about in FS 2020, but once I’d visited my home and several favourite holiday destinations and tried most of the planes on offer, I found myself getting a bit bored. A clear achievable goal to work towards is, for me, exactly what’s missing in the current game (I’m not one for completing multiple hour flights just for the sake of it, but I can appreciate why it would be fun for some people). I also really like the look of the missions on offer, as there is a decent amount of variety, from mountain rescue to stunt flying. I used to enjoy playing Search & Rescue on PC in the 90s, so I’m especially looking forward to trying out the helicopter-based missions, which, to me, look like a super HD version of that game. I am also quite looking forward to trying my hand at aerial crop dusting. I recently tried (and enjoyed) my first Farming Simulator, and this looks like the crossover I never knew I needed, but definitely want to try. Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn | Chris Brand If there's one thing I love more than a meaty single-player RPG, it's a meaty single-player RPG with an unnecessarily long title. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II? I'll take it. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire – Ultimate Edition? Sure, I won't ever tire of that little bit of finger gymnastics. By contrast, the manual dexterity required to type Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is entry level stuff really but the game itself has caught my attention.
It's not often that I get drawn in by a Souls-like, as I lack the skills to be gud and the time to git to that level, but Flintlock promises a more accessible take on the genre, wrapped up package that doesn't look too dissimilar to the more recent God of War titles. It's a far cry from the grim world of Dark Souls. The combat seems weighty, with careful and deliberate strikes being rewarded over relentless button-mashing, and some magical abilities to further enhance your kit. Many of those abilities come courtesy of your adorable fox-like companion, Enki, and I've already fallen in love with him. If the story calls for me to sacrifice him to save humanity, then I will let the world burn and never play another souls-like again. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown could have easily been my pick but we all know what to expect from the series by now, whereas Flintlock offers something I've not properly experienced before. 2023 gave us a few surprises and I'm hoping for more this year, otherwise my gaming calendar peaks far earlier than I'd like it to. Game of the Year 2023 | Team Talk4/12/2023 That’s it! Another year gone, and boy what a year it’s been for gaming. On the one hand we’ve had some incredible games released, while on the other, some of the highest redundancies we’ve ever seen across the industry, plus we saw the biggest acquisition of all time go through as Microsoft finally paid up for Activision Blizzard. Never mind all of that though, Game of the Year is all about celebrating the incredible gaming times we had this year, as we ask our team to try their hardest to pick just one title that stands above the rest for them. What’s your personal Game of the Year? It might not be mentioned here, it might not be in any of the “official” nomination lists, it might not even have been released this year. Let us know in our Discord. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Spider-Man 2 | James Parry Friends, I have failed. When trying to choose the gaming experience I’ve loved the most this year, it’s a total dead heat between Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man 2, and I’m not even mad about it. Both games are follow-ups to adventures I really enjoyed, both bring plenty of new fun to the table and both build on the magic of the first instalment. For Survivor, the galaxy opens up to a wider variety of worlds and level styles, introducing different saber stances and lots and lots of new environmental puzzles to challenge you. The combat and core gameplay are solid, and the story carries you through the entire game, engaging and emotive from start to finish. And, most importantly, BD-1 is still a dude. While it’s still New York you’re swinging (or gliding) around as both Spideys in Spider-Man 2, the map has been expanded to include more of Queens, Harlem and Brooklyn as well as Manhattan, and there’s plenty of new side activities to try out here as well. The story also takes centre stage throughout, and, like Survivor, it’s the characters and how much you care about them which really draws you into the world and begs you to explore and have a great time with them. Traversing the city remains a grin-inducing activity, as you dash from one spontaneous side mission to the next, begging for the experience not to end. Combat builds on the foundations of the previous game here as well, giving you some fun new abilities to master, and some hard-as-nails baddies to bash up. When both of these AAA experiences have been made with so much care and thought, and especially when they are tied to franchises I’m already invested in, how could I ever choose between them? (Oh, and stay tuned for a full review of Spider-Man 2 soon, hopefully before the end of the year.) Roboquest | Chris Brand It was a tough decision this year and one I didn't make until the very last minute. Starfield was in my top spot for the longest time but numerous bugs, and other annoyances, slowly turned me away. Though it still has a place in my heart, and I'll likely revisit it in the future, I've got to go with RyseUp Studios' first-person shooter/roguelite hybrid, Roboquest.
It's been in preview for a while but the full release dropped last month with a ton of new content, bringing the total number of playable classes to six and adding more weapons, items, levels, bosses and probably more that I've missed. What started as a fun little distraction which I discovered through Game Pass, turned into one of the better shooters I've played, and not just this year. The developers under-promised and over-delivered, meaning my realistic expectations were surpassed. The overall aesthetic is reminiscent of Borderlands, but the two play very differently. Roboquest is fast-paced and frantic and thrusts you forward with a punchy soundtrack and a timer indicating just how close you are to losing that precious S rank. It can seem rather unforgiving at first but progression feels steady and natural, as you acquire permanent upgrades, uncover different routes, and find hidden secrets. However, it's made more accessible by a difficulty setting which goes from the, almost too easy, Discovery, to the punishingly hard Guardian IV. Gameplay itself is incredibly smooth. It quickly becomes second nature to slide and jump everywhere, with unlockable gadgets adding new layers to the movement and emphasizing the verticality of the levels. The random selection of weapons, items and perks available in each attempt keeps things fresh, as no two runs will be exactly the same. If you're getting burnt out on huge, complex, single-player sagas, Roboquest is the perfect palate cleanser to finish the year off. As we approach the end of the year, it’s time to start taking stock of what has been a phenomenal year for gaming. While our own picks for Game of the Year will come next month, the Golden Joystick Awards have returned to dish out all sorts of accolades to the hardworking souls who bring these experiences to life for us. What stuck out in the award winners list for you? Did it make you think about playing something you wouldn’t have considered otherwise? Let us know in our Discord.
Chris Brand Out of all of this year's winners and nominees, I've only played a small handful. As such, I wasn't too invested in many of the categories but it was good to see a large variety of games on show, even if a lot of them were Baldur's Gate 3. There was some strong competition for the Still Playing Award with No Man's Sky coming out on top. It's had a lot of content pumped into it since its initial release and still stands out as being fairly unique. Of course, there are other games that revolve around space exploration but few that offer the same sense of discovery in such a huge universe. One of those exceptions is Starfield, winner of the Xbox Game of the Year award. Despite the numerous bugs I encountered during my (considerable) play time, it quickly became one of my favourite games. Each playthrough lead to new findings and a greater appreciation for the world. Though I think Craig Sechler should have been in with a shout for Best Supporting Performer for his work as the Adoring Fan. Most Wanted Game teased some of the titles we can look forward to in the future, like Fable and some non-Fable games which aren't Fable. The last proper Fable released all the way back in 2010 and after 12 years of not-so-patiently waiting, it feels closer than it ever has. By the time it sees the light of day, the hype which I'm trying to create will have likely faded away and I can stop banging on about it. James Parry I’ve already mentioned my keenness to play Baldur’s Gate 3, and the record-breaking seven wins is a fairly clear sign it’s more than just hype and I should definitely get in it before the end of the year.
The benefit of awards like this is that it can bring games to your attention that you’d dismissed because they had an odd name, didn’t look like your cup of tea, or maybe you just hadn’t heard about them at all. This year the names that stick out are both Sea of Stars and Alan Wake II. Both games have been receiving praise all over my feeds for weeks and, interestingly, both couldn’t be more tonally contrasting to each other. Elsewhere the fact that the PlayStation Game of the Year went to Resident Evil 4 is a surprise, given that it’s a remake and we had some very strong contenders in the category, including Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. With so many releases, it’s hard to justify revisiting ongoing titles, though, like Liam, I’m tempted to give Cyperpunk 2077 another chance after being distracted and not diving into its world first time around. Elsewhere in the very long Most Wanted category, the title that stood out for me is Star Wars: Outlaws, even though we don’t know too much about what it’s all about just yet. Every gamer has a list of games they've been meaning to get to, and what better time than the spookiest time of year (and we're not talking about tax time) – Halloween. This is your call to stop putting it off and dive into something new, whether you have time to or not. Imagine if that game you've been making excuses about suddenly disappeared tomorrow…like a ghost? We've got a few suggestions, but there are no doubt countless more – 2023 has been very generous, as high a toll as it's taken on the developers, in some cases. Why not share your pick on our Discord? Starlink: Battle for Atlas | Liam Andrews My backlog comfortably extends into the previous generations of consoles (at least on Xbox and PS), but of all the titles I've been meaning to make time for it's Starlink on Switch. My Switch backlog isn't actually too bad. I've recently polished off Metroid Prime Remastered, finished Skyward Sword and Pokémon Legends Arceus, and I'm making good progress on Super Mario Wonder. Bought on a whim when the starter set was going for cheap (I think it cost me £11) back in 2019, the reason it's been neglected for so long is that I forget I own it. Because of the starter kit's size, there's no space for it with my other stack of Switch games, so I had to stick it up high on top of a bookshelf where I occasionally spot Fox McCloud's Arwing model peering out at me through the plastic packaging. Perhaps now I've put it in writing I'll finally remember to give the game a go sometime. DOOM Eternal | Chris Brand Though it may not be a traditional horror game, DOOM Eternal still pushes my tolerance for anything vaguely scary to its limit. Something I often indulge in around this time of year.
During combat, I feel like an unstoppable killing machine, ripping and tearing through hordes of demons without flinching. The unwavering enemies and intense soundtrack work in tandem to assault multiple senses, instilling a need to keep moving, always moving, away from whatever the hell that big ugly thing is and towards the small area which appears to have the lowest concentration of passing bullets. No time to think and barely a moment to react, just keep moving and keep shooting, until everything has stopped. Breathe. It's in those quiet pauses between that the fear creeps in. Surrounded by unknown horrors, alone, low on shotgun shells and trapped in a nightmarish alien world, I suddenly feel very stoppable. Vulnerable, even. Every sound causes me to jump. I find myself walking slowly, as if my footsteps could alert something that was somehow unstirred by the cacophony of screams and gunfire that seems to follow me around. The brief respite somehow amplifies the tension and, eventually, the fear wins. I'd say I got roughly half way through on my first attempt, which is a testament to just how much fun DOOM Eternal is, other horror titles tend to scare me away long before I can make any real progress. It's that time again. Just like with the PS3 before it, PlayStation has decided the PS5 could stand to lose a bit of weight (and some height) in preparation for the festive season. The new models hit a similar price point and come up 30% smaller than their parents, with the digital edition even having the option for a module upgrade to make it…no so digital. Are you tempted to pick up the new model? Which are you pondering? Let us know on our Discord. Chris Brand It was safe to assume that we'd have a slightly smaller, and slightly better, console before the inevitable mid-gen enhancements, but this seems solely intended for new customers, with very little reason for current owners to upgrade. Having more storage space is always welcome (or it would be, if external hard drives didn't provide more for less) though, in my opinion, this is cancelled out by having more real-estate to dust in the living room. Smaller isn't always better. I do like the choice of going all-digital and buying a disc drive later down the line and I'm expecting other companies (both of them) to start promoting a similar option. As so many are hesitant to make the transition to digital, and with valid reasons, this could become the default. Having fully, and surprisingly, embraced digital gaming, I rarely lament the lack of a disc drive. However, collectors of fancy special editions could be saved from buyer's remorse. For anyone who was just about to pull the trigger, it may be good timing, there's just not enough to entice me and I suspect many PS5 players may wait for the Pro version rather than forking out for a PlayStation 5.1. The cynic in me believes that Sony has found a legitimate way of avoiding the Christmas price cut everyone was expecting. For the cost of the digital edition, I could get almost 4,000 "Finest Quality" meatballs (I'm pretty sure that's the brand name because it's certainly not a description). If I'm paying 4,000 meatballs for a PS5, I want as much of it as possible. I'll think about buying 30% less of your console when you knock 1,200 meatballs off my bill. Liam Andrews As much as I enjoy the convenience of a digital library, I would still opt for the PS5 bundle that includes the disc drive as it is cheaper than upgrading the all-digital console at a later date, which just seems unnecessarily unfair towards those who do initially go drive-less.
While I recognise that the console is 30% smaller and modular, I still don’t think it’s the best redesign. Some of the previous PlayStation slim models were sleek looking pieces of tech (especially the PS2 and PS3 models) and it was a bit disappointing to see the overall PS5 design hasn’t changed that much, and the ungainly driver bulge is still very much present. I can appreciate that what a console looks like isn’t that important given its job is to sit under your TV and play games and play them well (and the PS5 does do that) but the whole thing seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. For example, I have no need for a Series S considering I already own the more powerful Series X, but I still really want one because of its sleek and compact form factor and pure novelty value. The same can’t be said for the PS5 slim. While playing the new Forza Motorsport, I found myself pondering what the game says about the series, and gaming in general. So this isn’t quite a review of Forza Motorsport, but hear me out. You may already know the eighth game in the original Forza series takes things back-to-basics, rebooting the game for a new generation. In short, it’s an excellent racing experience filled with the best simulated vehicles and tracks you can find in the genre today, and yet something feels a little…off. The question is why.
Changing gearRacing games as a genre haven’t always had to try so hard. Back in the day, we were happy with a sprite and the odd pixelated tree on the side of the track, now the push for photorealistic visuals, arguably achieved by Forza Motorsport 4 back in 2011, has led to players’ expectations soaring higher and higher. Like games as an industry, we keep wanting, nay demanding, more. Forza Motorsport 7, released back in 2017, hit a staggering 830 cars – once all the DLC was said and done – with 200 track configurations in 32 locations, so it’s no surprise it’s taken a while for developers Turn 10 to feel like they had something new to bring to the table. But where do you go? More fidelity? More tracks? More cars? The driving and handling experience itself was long-perfected by the time the Xbox One’s entry in the series, Forza Motorsport 5, rolled up in 2013, and you can only tie-in with so many TV shows and films before even that variety wears thin. You could argue that motorsport itself hasn’t changed in decades, giving the team an uphill climb from the starting line, but enthusiasm for the sport has never been higher. Slightly different, sure, but Formula 1, for example, passed an average of million viewers per race last year. Drift into a powerslideThere seems to be only one obvious solution – double down. The tuning and car customisation options in the latest game are incredible, and it would be ridiculous to expect even more in that department, but perhaps make more of a game of it? Not everyone has a detail-orientated approach to games, and introducing minigames which play on some of the extremes of what tuning is capable of, a cleverly disguised opportunity to educate, could bring the experience to life in a new way, and allow the player to bring the knowledge back into the main game’s driving journey. Next, leave the drivers out of it entirely. While it might seem like a bit of fun to watch them frantically change gear through the rear windscreen as you tear around the track, more than a cursory glance confirms that even in this latest instalment the animations are rigid and one-note. Far from adding to immersion it actually creates a distraction for those used to an exterior view of the car in their driving games. Finally, a more clear line between the serious, buttoned-up sim experience and the more relaxed, even arcade-y side of the genre would avoid players who aren’t quite as into the realism angle have more fun with the game.
Introduce more extreme damage options as additional challenges, daring you to make it down the track with only a single hit or jolt between your car and a written-off mess. The tracks could stand to have a little more flexibility and customisation too, letting you customise environmental effects and add hazards to remix existing tracks in fun new ways. Or even leverage Xbox’s vast back catalogue of franchises to have you explore exciting, even out-of-this-world locations. There’s nothing wrong with Forza Motorsport, and the team at Turn 10 no doubt will have a lot of fun additions and improvements still to come after release, but if they want to really bring in new fans to this series, something has to change. Forza Motorsport (2023) is available now on Xbox Game Pass. Code provided by Microsoft. |
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