This heat has been unbearable, hasn’t it? Most of the country feels like it has migrated into the armpit of a giant, feeling damp and warm and close and muggy and all of those words we use to describe what it feels like to try to breathe in through a warm, wet towel.
We need the dark and cool escape of indoors, maybe with a fan running, maybe with a nice cold drink, maybe with the console on… to console us. See? Two meanings. Wordplay.
Anyways, on with the games stuff...
GAME OF THE WEEK
UFC 4 (PS4, Xbox One)
In much the same way we’d recommend FIFA to anyone who enjoys football, the real make-or-break question you need to ask yourself before you’d buy UFC 4 is whether or not you enjoy the real-life Ultimate Fighting Championship?
In terms of additions to the series, you’ve got new venues, new fighters, new “Blitz Battles” (that keep changing the rulesets for each fight, keeping things fresh and exciting), and upgrades to the clinch controls, the takedowns, and the “ground and pound” strategies.
You can dip in for a quick one-off fight, or you can progress in the career mode with a brand new fighter of your own design, right down to your haircut and tattoo placements. But again, this is all secondary to whether or not you actually enjoy UFC. I wouldn’t recommend FIFA to someone who doesn’t like football, no matter how great the FIFA game might be, and the same rules apply here. But if you’re very much into UFC, then you’ll likely be very much into this game. Still not sure? Check out the trailer below...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5epQZVC6F3Y
BIG NEWS OF THE WEEK
Xbox Series X definitely coming in November (but Halo Infinite pushed back to 2021)
While we’ve known for a while that both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X were due to arrive in time for Christmas, Microsoft have at least confirmed that players can expect to get their hands on their shiny new console in November. The exact release date has not been confirmed, but rumours have it that it could well be in the first week of that month. So better start saving! The price and when people can start pre-ordering is still unknown, but with apparently 50 new games launching this year for the system, as well as 40 optimised versions of existing games, not to mention the backwards compatibility for all previous Xbox systems, gamers should be getting very excited for this.
However, one of the launch games won’t be the new Halo, which we showed you eight minutes of gameplay footage from quite recently - link here. The developers behind Halo Infinite had hoped that the game would be available for the launch of the new Xbox, but this week made the announcement that the game would need to be pushed back to early 2021 instead, citing Covid-related issues causing delays on releasing the best version of the game they could possibly make.
In the meantime, take a look back at the latest look at the Series X console, and what to expect from it tech-wise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tUqIHwHDEc
DEAL OF THE WEEK
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (PS4)
The trilogy-closer for the recent gritty reboot of Lara Croft and her love for raiding tombs certainly upped the ante in terms of scale, with Lara accidentally setting off an end-of-days apocalyptic event when she… well… raids the wrong tomb.
For the Definitive Edition, you’ll get the base game, all seven of the DLC challenge tombs, as well as all downloadable weapons, outfits, and skills, but really this is a steal just for the base game by itself.
The platforming/shooting/stealthing/puzzle-solving is at its best here, as Lara chases after an evil corporation from unleashing the full power of a Mayan curse, and you’ll have to use the natural surroundings of the Central American islands to your advantage in order to take them all out and save the day.
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is available on the PS Store right now, marked down from €59.99 to €19.79. The trailer for the game can be viewed below...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_WbvIDAcA4
All prices, release dates and platforms are correct at date of publication.
