The Monday Inbox is still having trouble with free repairs for the Nintendo Switch, as a reader talks up Gran Turismo 7’s ray-tracing.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
Zero excuse
Seems like The Last of Us Part 2 is the latest in a long line of titles that have attracted review bombing on aggregated score sites, and I doubt anyone is surprised.
I can’t comment on the quality of the game, or the story, as I haven’t played it, but admit I’m slightly put off by reports that the game mechanics haven’t progressed and that it’s materially longer than the original, as I thought that was just the right length for a single-player story lead action game. But I’ll probably pick it up as I enjoyed the first one.
But I digress. It’s my view (and I must emphasise this is only a view) that anyone that scores a game 0/10 when that same title has garnered mostly favourable reviews elsewhere, most certainly hasn’t played said game.
Therefore the only conclusion I can draw is that they’ve given the game an artificially low score for other reasons.
Reminds me of the time when an MP (I’m going from memory here so stand to be corrected) went on a news programme to complain about the content of an episode of Brass Eye, only to later admit under light questioning that they’d never watched that episode.
Or more pertinently, the guest on Fox who compared Mass Effect with pornography to whip up a reaction, again later admitting they’d never played the game or even knew much about it.
Won’t someone think of the children?
TheTruthSoul (PSN ID)
GC: Not that there isn’t some narrative flabbiness but there is a legitimate story reason for why it’s twice the length of the original, which can’t be explained without spoilers. It’s also physically impossible for anyone to have played the whole game when the review bombing started on Friday, as they simply wouldn’t have had time.
Hairy moments
If you asked me what my number one fear was, like most people I would say death. Number two would be death by werewolves. It’s not just the massive fangs, razor sharp claws, and the thought of being torn to shreds. No, the worst part is they could be anyone. Your teacher, your friend, your wife, that weird looking hairy man you see about town. Anyone!
The thought of innocently chatting to someone under a beautiful full moon then watching them go through this horrific metamorphosis before your eyes has sent a chill down my spine since childhood. Imagine my trepidation on watching the new trailer for Resident Evil 8. VR! You know where you can stick your VR Capcom! I’m not sure I’ve ever been truly petrified before by a Resident Evil game or indeed any horror game but I think this might be the one. Suffice to say I’m excited!
Ignoring the terror of the hairy beasts, the most interesting aspect of the reveal is the open environment of the titular village. In my mind the concept must be to take the starting village from Resident Evil 4 and make an entire game out of it. What was so striking about Resident Evil 4’s village was the fact that you were never safe. You ran into a house thinking the door would save you but then the villagers would burst through it or crawl through the windows. Scaling this up for an entire game with the seamless open environment provided by an SSD’s zero load times is a very enticing prospect indeed.
Ryan O’D
Reflections all the way down
Jeez, I’d love it if for once you had someone capable of actually explaining how revolutionary the PlayStation 5 reveal event was.
All of your articles keep mocking Ratchet & Clank, which is admittedly not a massive name in gaming. However, it was probably the single most impressive demo shown. The jumps between worlds are simply not possible on the PS4 Pro or Xbox equivalent. Truly revolutionary in gaming.
The Gran Turismo 7 demo showed just how powerful the PlayStation 5 is and how great ray-tracing is. You could clearly see not only reflections on the cars body, but then reflections of these reflections on the rest of the scene, plus reflections of the reflections of the reflections shining on the cars body.
So far (although that may change at any time) Microsoft has completely failed to show anything even 70% as good as every one of the games Sony has shown. And in many cases not even as good as current PlayStation 4 games.
Anon
GC: Microsoft hasn’t shown anything yet; everything so far for the Xbox Series X has been third party games. Except for the brief Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 teaser, which looked very good indeed.
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
In favour
I’m definitely up for a PlayStation 5. I liked the design, even if it was a little tall. I loved the colours they have chosen for it, the controller is going to be epic I think. I liked Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Spider-Man: Mile Morales. It might be a bit dodgy, but I like it.
I just hope they have learned from their mistakes of PlayStation 4 and added at least another HDMI port to it. I’m willing to pay £450-£600 for the disc version, it will be awesome if it has a full back catalogue like some people are predicting.
James Fisher
Secondary objective
All this talk about who won this generation or that seems irrelevant. I think the question should be – did they make a profit? Sony and Microsoft clearly have even on generations they lost, otherwise they wouldn’t carry on.
I’ll be getting both systems at some point, probably Xbox Series X first as I missed the mid-generation upgrade and there’s plenty on Game Pass that will look spanky on my new projector. I’ll wait for a killer app or a few exclusives for the PlayStation 5.
Anon
GC: Microsoft lost money on the original Xbox and they spent over a billion on the Red Ring of Death for Xbox 360. There is absolutely nothing clear about how much money they have made from Xbox. Especially as they refuse to report sales figures for the Xbox One and their primary reason for being in the games industry is not profit but to prevent a competitor gaining market dominance.
The Force is real
Finally! What appears to be a proper new Star Wars space combat simulator! I had to rub my eyes a few times when seeing the reveal. Surely it’s too good to be true, I thought?! But after seeing the gameplay trailer it really does look like the X-wing game we’ve been waiting for; great graphics, VR support, story campaign…
I try not to be negative, but I have to admit I was (and still am a little) sceptical, especially as Criterion aren’t involved and the suspiciously low price point. Fortunately, it doesn’t look overly simplified, but I guess there will have to be a few concessions due to gamepads having far fewer inputs that a PC keyboard and flight stick.
Hopefully, it’s a commercial and critical success, and it’ll get a steady flow of updates. Maybe we’ll get some even bigger budget Star Wars space combat simulators in the future.
Make it so!
TrevorMcFurr (gamertag/PSN ID)
Finally up-to-date
I totally plan to pick up the PlayStation 5 and probably day one too! I was sold on more Spider-Man, ‘cause I absolutely adored the first and because I have the day one PlayStation 4. It would be nice to replay The Last Of Us Part 2 on the top settings (game’s fantastic, by the way).
Not only that, but my two favourite game series – LittleBigPlanet and Ratchet & Clank – are getting new games! Overall, the new console looks like it’s gonna be much more comparable to PC, compared to the mobile phone specs of the old gen, even for the time. Not just that, but the potential of a PlayStation VR 2 means I’m very excited for what this new, finally up-to-date generation will give us!
Anon
Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here
Lost monsters
Oh Nintendo, you brilliant bunch of monsters. My Switch developed the ‘flashing green light of poorly manufactured electronics’ (it stopped charging or connecting to its dock) so I sent it, the dock and the charger to Nintendo to repair. I also sent them my old left Joy-Con which had developed the dreaded drift mentioned by Omen66.
I backed up all my saves to the cloud first but found I couldn’t back up either Pokémon, Let’s Go or Shield – the option is simply disabled. The machine was away for about five weeks (which felt like 6.1 years due to lockdown) and returned this week. It cost me £96 to have the dock and Switch fixed but they did the Joy-Con for free. Or did they? You see, they emailed me to say they would fix it but as soon as I used it, I found it was still drifting.
Now, normally I’d think ‘no cost, no harm’ but there has been harm from this experience – my children have completely lost their Pokémon saves. That is a lot of effort gone – they had completed both of the games and I had transferred them lots of shiny Pokémon from Pokémon Go. Fortunately, things have moved on for Nintendo from when they used to lock digital purchases to specific hardware. I can now sign into my account on this effectively new Switch and redownload all my purchases but why is losing saves for anything even a thing? I understand they don’t like save backups on Pokémon games due to exploits and hacking but, come on it’s 2020.
RedRobN
GC: Did you mention the Pokémon save before you sent the console? We believe there is a way to retrieve it, but is has to be done at Nintendo’s end.
I just wanted to reply to Omen66 about his Joy-Con drift problem. I had the same issue with my blue Joy-Con. I contacted Nintendo, they sent me out a box to return it, they fixed it free of charge and returned it – all within two weeks. Free postage too.
Anon
Inbox also-rans
I had been a PlayStation 4 only user up until last Xmas, when I got given an Xbox One S by my lovely lady. Now The Last Of Us Part 2 has just turned up and I am not allowed to open it until Sunday! I will be switching back to Sony at Xmas, Demon’s Souls… ‘nuff said.
zombiekicker
So now the dust has settled it seems almost all the rumours about Sony’s reveal turned out to be true. Horizon Zero Dawn 2, Resident Evil 8, GTA 5, Housemarque… I’m struggling to think of anything major that wasn’t at least hinted at beforehand. Sackboy was about the biggest I think.
Gantz
This week’s Hot Topic
The question for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Cranston, who asks what’s the hardest game you’ve ever beaten?
What game are you most proud of beating and is it one that’s generally regarded as difficult or just your own personal nemesis? What made the game so difficult for you and how did you overcome it? Did you look for help online and how much time did it take before you beat it?
Are there any games you’ve given up on because they’re too hard and how do you generally feel about difficulty and the level of challenge you’re comfortable with in a game?
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.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.
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: Weekend Hot Topic, part 1: Are you buying a PS5 console?
MORE: Weekend Hot Topic, part 2: Are you buying a PS5 console?
MORE: Games Inbox: PS5 launch line-up a disappointment, Xbox Series X killer app, and Cyberpunk 2077 delay
Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
0 Commentaires