DisturbedSwan

Developer: Codemasters Publisher: Codemasters Platform: PC (Consoles TBA) Release Date: Out Now PC, XB1 & PS4 April 5th, 2016. So, a sudden announcement yesterday from Codemasters, where they announced the latest addition to their popular DiRT franchise, DiRT Rally. DiRT Rally brings the series back to its routes, focusing purely on Rallying and Rallying alone, there's no Ken Block or Gymkhana type stuff in there now and neither is the zaney colour scheme or music, think back to the original Colin McRae Rally and it's a bit like that, this may be Codemasters' first ever SIM racer, everything is incredibly in-depth in DiRT Rally and they've done away with the popular Rewind feature. At the moment it's out for Steam Early Access, and will continue to be worked on in the months to come, with Codies gathering feedback from the Steam Community as to what they like, don't like etc. all future DLC/Features/Expansions etc. are free. Here's the new features they are adding to the game in the months ahead: April - Early Access begins May - Pikes Peak Pack June - Tarmac Terrors & Classic Icons July - Rallycross Pack August - PVP Pack & Rallycross Expansion September - Flying Finland October - Modern Masters November - Winter Wonderland This announcement really caught me by surprise, I guessed Codies were working on something all this time, but I really didn't expect this, the announcement totally came out of left field and the game was released the same day! Crazy, anyway, I love the series, I love everything about DiRT, Codies and the work they do in racing/rallying games over there and very pleased the series has gone back to its routes, was going to wait until the Steam Summer Sale to pick this up, but felt like I needed to have it to try it out with my new Wheel when it comes sometime this week. Anyone else excited by this? 1 hour Dev walkthrough: Played an hour of this tonight, haven't got my wheel yet so just played it with my XB1 pad, I'm incredibly impressed. As others have said in the community, it definitely doesn't feel like an Early Access game, everything feels extremely polished from the menus to when you're in game, the graphics surprised me quite a lot, I don't know if it's just my PC or what, but it looked pretty damn nice, not TO1886 nice, but didn't think it looked bad at all. You start off by setting up your profile on there (Name, Nationality and all that jazz), then you select the number of assists you want (to be honest I was surprised they even had any assists on there) the less you have on, the more of a Credit reward you get etc. They also start you off with 50,000Cr to buy a car. It's all pretty basic at the moment, but they've got Online stuff (Daily Event, Weekly Event and Monthly Event) thought the Daily Event was as good a place as any to start off, so gave it a go, it is definitely as difficult and people are saying, although perhaps a tad easier than I expected or maybe it was just me getting used to it a bit by the end of my 1 hour play session I don't know. Most difficult thing I still need to suss out is hairpins, I end up slowing down far too much and can't decide whether to use the Handbrake or the brakes, so end up using a combination of both and slowing down to a snails pace, want to get a drift round to hairpin going but haven't sussed it yet. Did the Daily (posted an atrocious time of 11 minutes-odd ), you can't restart either you can just 'retire' if you fu*k up as it's a Daily Event and you only get one shot, then I tried a Championship (Single-player offline) event, bought my first car (Mini Cooper) and eventually came 5th after doing a 4-stage 'Event' which then led on to the next one, did a couple on this then moved on to try the Monthly Event, a lot of races in this (24) so only did 3 tonight and then saved and quit. But, yeah, I'm impressed by it, it definitely felt so similar to the Colin McRae Rally PlayStation games of yesteryear. Also, this video is incredible:

When I was exploring down there, I fell down some pit and came up against some massive Dragon, was ridiculously underpowered and got wiped out in a matter of seconds don't think I'll bother going down there until I'm MUCH more powerful later on in the game, my party is still only Level 6 at the moment.

Another quick update. 19 hours in now, Level 6, finally got a full party of 6 now as well. Got to the first city in the game a while ago and spent 6 hours just pottering about there, doing side-quests and exploring every nook and cranny the city has to offer for the last couple of days. Just such a great game to spend time in, there's so much to do there as well, ridiculous amount of districts, tons of loot, lots of stories to be told and tons of side-quests to be done, the main quest-line brought me to this city, but I haven't bothered doing anything for it since I've been here, going to leave that part of the game until I've done all the side-quests and explored as much as I can of the city itself. The tombstones are a really cool idea as well, they aren't just located in the city, I've found quite a few in all sorts of places including my stronghold and some of the crypts/dungeons I've found in various places, really cool and gives you a great connection to the outside world, I know some would consider these messages to be 4th wall breaking, but for some reason for me they just enhance my love for the game and the world Obsidian have created, even found the ex-Bioware founder, Dr. Ray Muzyka's, message in the game, pretty damn cool indeed. Was getting a bit fed up after getting my arse-handed to me in a fight in the city so decided to try to find another couple of party members as I figured I should be at the full-party size by now surely, sure enough I looked up a character guide on Steam and found I'd missed a couple. Made my way to their respective areas and I've now got a full party which should see me in good stead for my adventures ahead, the combat is very good, I don't know how, but it manages to keep you engaged throughout, you're always thinking, always strategising and always planning ahead, constantly pausing and plotting your next move, it's almost the polar opposite of a game like Dragon Age 3 where the combat was the part of the game that put me off the most (as well as the excessive AC-level item collecting), but it just grips you in this, far more than I thought it would and far more than a 3D 'next-gen' RPG in Dragon Age 3 ever could. Haven't even discovered 2 parts of the city, so going to do lots more pottering about, lots more side-quests tomorrow and eventually move forward with the main quest-line in the city after that, excited to play more, its definitely got its hooks into me now.

Boom...

I'd say GoW4 is almost 100% going to be at E3, can't get too excited for it though, I absolutely detested GoW3, it bored me to tears, never played Judgement. Hoping GoW4 is a return to form.

Just finished Daredevil, can't recommend it enough. It's just a bloody brilliant series, got almost everything you'd expect from a big-budget Marvel film, but spread out over 13 episodes so they can elaborate and tell more of an in-depth story, it wasn't perfect by all means, episodes 7-10 felt a bit like they weren't really going anywhere, still good though, but it definitely got its act together after that and the last few episodes are nothing less than spectacular. It's dark, it's gritty, the subject matter is pretty deep at times and the violence does go near the 18-certificate level at some points, everything I wanted from the series, really couldn't ask for more. If you're into the Marvel films, comics, even if you just appreciate good TV drama series, you NEED to see this TV show, honestly can't recommend it enough.

The Witcher 3 Digitally Unlocks at These Times Worldwide: http://www.twinfinite.net/2015/04/20/the-witcher-3-unlocks-times-worldwide/ Players in the majority of Europe will find that their game unlocks at 1am on the 19th, with players in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland being able to play the game at the stroke of midnight. Also, it's available to pre-load now from the XBOne marketplace for anyone who pre-purchased it.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Craymen. I'm 10 hours in now, still feels like I'm barely out of the Prologue really Upto 4 party members now, all Level 4, you seem to Level up very slowly in this compared to other RPGs....maybe that's just me though. Got my Stronghold as well and upgraded that a bit to enable me to move on with the main quest-line and new locales, adventured down in the Stronghold dungeons also to see if there was any side-quests or things I could do, but only managed to get to the 2nd floor I think. I'm still enjoying it a lot, the story has intruiged me quite a bit and I've loved a lot of the side-quests I've done thus far, a lot of them have morally grey decisions to be made, and I love that kind of stuff in an RPG, it has definitely sucked me in and I want to see it through to its conclusion now, just hope I manage to get it finished before Project Cars and Witcher 3 next month.

May Splatoon with Squid amiibo Bundle (Wii U) - £38.65 The Witcher: Enhanced Edition (PC) - £1.04 Dead Island Collection (PC) - £4.99 Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PC) - £7.99 Bayonetta 2 (WiiU) - £19 Cities: Skylines - Deluxe Edition (PC) - £11.99 Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - Episode 1 (PC) - £2.49 Wasteland 2 (PC) - £13.99 June Yoshi's Woolly World with Woolly Green Yoshi amiibo Bundle (Wii U) - £43.51

This is £27.99 to pre-order on CDKeys already for anyone interested, I took the plunge, this is an absolute must-buy for me so I might as well.

I liked Human Revolution but never finished it for some reason, this is definitely on my radar now.

Ridiculously hyped for this, you're able to pilot X-Wings, Y-Wings, TIE Fighters, AT-ATs, AT-STs, absolutely fucking amazing, an absolute wet dream for a massive Star Wars fan such as myself. Read that you can play co-op, TPS or FPS as well just like Battlefront's of old, and you get free TFA DLC! Pre-ordering this for PC as soon as humanly possible, 120fps 2K resolution

Played another 2 hours today, spent the entirety of my time trying to do one side-quest in Guilded Vale, made pretty good progress, defeated quite a few enemies and found a pretty decent amount of loot. Managed to solve a puzzle to make my way down to the basement floor, but after a while down there the enemies started to kick my arse repeatedly, so I had to pull out of there and get on with a main-story quest, finished that and found another party member. This game sucks you into the world so nicely though, those two hours today I didn't even realise had gone by, definitely the sign of a great RPG in my opinion, still early days though, all 3 of my characters are just Level 3 and 5 hours 30 minutes played in total, this is going to be one ridiculously big game I just know it.

Started playing this a couple of days ago, I'm about 3 hours, 30 minutes in. Think the only thing I've ever played similar to this is Diablo 3, but obviously that's quite a bit different with all the multiplayer stuff, emphasis on looting etc. I enjoyed what I played of that but (got to Act 3 I think, never finished it) haven't really played anything like it since. I used to watch people playing games like Balder's Gate, Planescape Torment and the like on the old GameNetwork Channel on Sky back in the Nineties (god that makes me feel old) and remember thinking to myself how cool it would be if I had a PC that could play them, but never owned a proper gaming PC until 2004 and I don't think they were ever released for consoles so this is probably only my second foray (if you include Diablo 3 into the equation) into a classic CRPG like this, I've bought Divinity as well in the Steam Winter Sale last year, but Pillars is the first of the bunch I've been compelled to play thanks to the great feedback and reviews. Really impressed by it I have to say, I had my reservations about whether I'd like it or not, but my fears appear to have been unfounded thus far, I really enjoyed the opening, the events afterwards it's a great first 1 hour 30 minutes and sets up the game SO nicely. I just felt the world sucking me in, which is what a good RPG should do, everything's so mysterious at the moment, I want to learn all about the lore of the world, there's so much mystery and intrigue so many individual stories to be told it's just a fantastic world to exist in so far, I love the dialogue options, the book illustration-style interactive cutscenes and the decision/reputation system not being Black or White but grey, I like that a lot, it makes it feel more like a real world and my character and her effect on that world more real. The exploration is amazing as well, as expected really, there seems to be plenty of loot available to plunder and you seemingly have an endless loot-chest to dump it all in, so happy days, found quite a few quests and picked up my first party member today, can't wait to play some more tomorrow.

Impressions: Developer Interview:

Just PM'ed it to you Blakey. Enjoy! Cheers!

I'll have it, please, Cyberpunk if that's ok?

Got my pre-order in at ShopTo with Wooly Yoshi

Finished this today. Impressive little game, almost feels like a game you might play at a museum in a lot of ways, featuring the vignettes throughout which give you a bit of backstory to what you're playing through and the Inupiaq people themselves, what they're all about, what their day to day life consists of, how they've survived all these years, the different mythical bits and pieces they believe in etc. very interesting and they break up the gameplay nicely. The game part itself reminds me a lot of Limbo, a 2D puzzle-platformer, not as many puzzles as Limbo though, but it has a similar kind of vibe, similar bleak quality to the look, sound design, art style and game play, it even feels pretty similar to play, the graphics are a bit different though, reflecting the Arctic lifestyle of the Inupiaq people. Its a pretty impressive game, and one that's easy to like, never too difficult and can be finished in 2-4 hours (depending on how many of the vignettes you decide to watch), only downsides are that it has a few very minor bugs in places, the AI is sometimes lacking and the controls aren't as precise as I would've liked, small complaints though ultimately. It's free on PS+ this month so I recommend everyone gives it a go, definitely worth playing.

Pre-ordered my first couple of amiibo's yesterday, the Inking Squid packaged in with Splatoon and the Wool Yoshi packaged in with Yoshi's Wooly World.

Well I guess my expectations were different going in, the only exposure to DareDevil I've ever had is the Ben Affleck film of 10 or so years back, didn't know anything of his back story, comics etc. before I saw that film back then, don't think I'd even heard of the character before that...didn't really follow the development of this TV series either cause I wanted to go in fresh so didn't watch any teasers or anything, just knew Netflix were developing it, so knew it would probably be in good hands. Just assumed they were aiming for a PG-13 kind of experience, I've never seen Banshee but I certainly wasn't expecting The Raid levels of violence and fighting in this so, for me, it has been pretty dark and gritty, far darker and grittier than I expected anyway. Watched another 2 Episodes yesterday and the violence hasn't been far off The Raid levels in parts either, I'm incredibly impressed by it anyway, it keeps getting better and better as it goes along.

Not jazzed on having to buy a new Guitar controller, but that trailer did get me pretty hyped I must say, probably more interested in RB4 (especially if you can use your old instruments) but this looks pretty cool to me.

Finished off Fortitude, started off slow, got a bit boring in the middle but the last 3 episodes were rather exciting and brought the series to a nice end, its earned a Series 2 watch for me for sure. Watched the first Two Episodes of Daredevil on Netflix, really, really impressed with it, the first Episode was Dark, gritty, everything I wanted/expected, the second Episode was even better. Watched the first Episode of Bloodline on Netflix, wasn't a fan, but may get round to watching a couple more Episodes at some point to see how it goes in the future. And, lastly, watched the first Episode of Game of Thrones season 5, pretty good episode and sets the scene for the series to come.

Finished this yesterday. A massive disappointment, takes almost everything I loved about the first game and manages to distort the experience into a frustrating, archaic, annoying mess of a game. The first 2 hours are an extremely difficult introduction to the game, with the developers having you switch characters multiple times and having to get to grips with the sequels new focus on guns and levels that are far too large than they need to be, I wanted to give up at this point but kept on slogging through it, it felt like such a chore. The middle-half introduces a few more new mechanics and characters, the level designs stay at their extra-large sizing and the frustration levels rise, the last two acts are surprisingly good and go back to the small, tight levels made for arcade-mayhem but its too late at this point to save the game. The level design is the main source of frustration in the game, the levels just do not need to be this big, some of them are ridiculously large and the new focus on guns does not suit the game at all, who the fuck wants to snipe in a Hotline Miami game?! I really don't have a clue what the devs were thinking, the level design is complete garbage in comparison to the original HM. In addition What I loved so much about the original game was that you could get yourself in this zone, listening to the pulsating soundtrack, the hypnotic mix of the ultra-violence and the addicting levels of gameplay and plough on through, you had the freedom to adapt your game slightly with the masks which gave a sense of freedom to the proceedings and enable you to play the game at the same pace and style that you want, in HM2 the masks actually restrict what you do, taking away that freedom and instead locking you into a certain play style in order to finish a level. The only thing it gets right is the soundtrack which is just as good, if not better, than the original game, but everything else the Devs just get so so so so wrong its unreal. Really can't recommend this unless it goes sub-£3 on Steam at some point, avoid. 5/10