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Tom Orry, Editor – Football Manager 2016, PC
Being the Derby manager is about as exciting as you probably imagine it is. The current season is all rather “meh”, with the team unable to find any consistent form. This means I’m constantly breaking into the top 6, only to slip down to mid-table again. If I’m honest, I think promotion is a few seasons away yet.
To make things a bit more interesting I’m in prolonged negotiation over a child prodigy, the kind of player that could change an average side into a good one. I say negotiation; it’s more me bidding in increasing amounts as they say “no” over and over. I’m now up to a complicated multi-year performance related deal that could reach about £25 million. It’s never going to happen, but it’s a bit of fun.
Steve Burns, Deputy Editor – Hitman. Then…More Hitman. Possibly forever, PS4
Ah, Hitman. What a cracker. As you know by now, the first episode delivers on its promise of getting back to more traditional play: there’s none of this finishing levels by opening doors nonsense here. Some will moan that it is too short, which seems ridiculous: yes, there’s only one map, but that map is gigantic and stuffed with things to do, challenges to complete. And it only costs 12 quid. 12 QUID. My word. Some of you probably spent that watching, I don’t know, RIPD? Yeah you did.
Anyway: buy Hitman: it’s very good. And once you’ve bought and played it to death, then read these words about the second and third episodes, which are also shaping up to be quite bloody good. Go on, treat yourself.
Dave Scammell, News Editor – Hitman, PS4
Is it truly episodic, or is it just early access? IO obviously wants you to believe one thing, but within minutes of playing I’d already glitched outside the map and, quite literally, taken a peep behind the curtains of the ICA training grounds. Later I found menu text displaying code strings, the post-level stats awarding me the wrong accolades and images failing to load in the Challenges screen. And those loading times. Oh, those loading times…
Still, no game is ever perfect, and despite the odd minor issue Hitman’s first episode is an otherwise polished, thoroughly enjoyable experience that seems up there with the very best the series has to offer. I lost hours exploring the grounds of the Sanguine Fashion Show earlier this week and have every intention of spending many more with it over the weekend. The Paris map is so dense with opportunities to carry out the hit that it’s impossible to see everything it has to offer in a single playthrough. It oozes style. It feels like the Hitman game we’ve been waiting years for. It is terrific. But – and this is the biggie – I’m still not sold on the model.
Maybe the next couple of episodes will sway me into thinking it was a good idea. Or maybe they won’t. But right now, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played so much that I just can’t wait for more. I’m eagerly champing at the bit to explore 47’s next location and discover new ways to kill. I’ll be there for Episode Two on day one. And that, perhaps, is exactly what IO hoped to achieve all along.
Alice Bell, Junior Staff Writer – Tom Clancy’s The Division, PS4
The multiplayer in The Division is, not to put too fine a point on it, the f***ing nuts. It’s the most I’ve enjoyed multiplayer for years, especially if you get a good team to hop into (although admittedly you sometimes end up with a bunch of gurning idiots who clearly don’t understand the basics of healing squadmates or flanking enemies, for f***’s sake).
The Dark Zone is even better. The first time I was wondering about in there I teamed up with a couple of other players against some rogue agents, and as one of them walked past me I said ‘Helloooo’ to him but really to myself, as you do. It was literally a transcendental moment for me when I received a ‘HELLO!’ back in a thick Eastern European accent, because I didn’t know it had proximity chat and now it was like all the tentative alliances were somehow real life ones. After we said hello we went and killed loads of NPCs for loot, but sadly the most exciting thing we found were some contaminated chinos which we extracted, forthwith, so my mate Sean could wear them in the main game.
This was also extremely amusing to me. “Agent Lau, we need these items decontaminated for use in the field immediately, it’s an emergency!” “Agent, these are just some terrible smart casual trousers, f*** right off.”
