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Tom Orry, Editor – Football Manager 2016, PC
I f***ed it. The Premier League was in sight, perhaps still on the horizon, but definitely in sight. I had finished the season in 5th place, qualifying for the Play Offs. Playing Norwich I took a 2-1 lead in the first leg before conceding a goal in the 90th minute to go into the second leg at 2-2. That late goal proved to be the least of my problems, with my team conceding three goals in 30 minutes in the second match, ending my promotion dream in a few sad moments.
So, that was that. Another season in the Championship awaits, but I’m already trying to get in some hot prospects (thankfully I’ve been given £5 million to spend, which is tons compared to the measly amounts in previous seasons) in an attempt to not only improve in the immediate outlook but look ahead to the future. I’ve promised the board I’ll get automatic promotion, so fingers crossed I deliver the goods.
Steve Burns, Idiot/Deputy Editor – Hitman, PS4
Well, I’m back. After spending nine days in America – where I nearly killed someone, and was nearly killed myself – I’ve returned full of cheer and jetlag. No matter: I can now talk about Hitman, which is as great as I hoped it would be. Put it this way: I killed a man by drowning him in his own sick (in the game, not in America, not that I can legally admit to), and that’s just in the prologue missions.
Speaking of which, those prologue missions are now available to play this weekend via the Hitman beta, if you’ve pre-ordered the game on PS4. So if you’ve got any desire to check out the game, you can. Right now! Amazing. And if you like that, just wait until you get the first episode which is ten times larger and probably 30% more evil. Lovely.
Oh, and I also wrote about the weirdest Hitman forum thread of all time. Obviously.
Simon Miller, Head Of Video Production – Homefront: The Revolution Multiplayer, Xbox One
I didn’t think the original Homefront was as bad as some people made out. It certainly didn’t live up to the hype it had created for itself, but it held its own as another FPS coming down the pipe. And the multiplayer was decent. This is where I thought The Revolution would shine. After the beta, I’m no longer that sure.
While it’s only fair to repeat that constantly – this is a beta, this is a beta, this is a beta – it didn’t feel particularly like a game that’s going to convince me to give up my Call Of Duty time. The reason is twofold.
Firstly, this is nothing like Activision’s big hitter. Much more slow-paced and methodical, it doesn’t seem to be aimed at the run-and-gun generation. Instead you use your brain before advancing, and attacking any situation with too much gusto will see you on the receiving end of an ass-whooping.
There’s nothing wrong with such an approach but it also ties into reason number two: Everything feels janky and like you’re moving through sludge. It’s not particularly fun to shoot your gun either, a must for any game that relies so heavily on flinging bullets into skulls.
As it’s not the finished product we’ll give it a pass for now. But it’s a cautious pass. A Caupass. I don’t know…
Dave Scammell, News Editor – Firewatch, PS4
Well then, what a disappointing end to an otherwise incredible game. I’m not usually one to let poor endings tarnish my opinion of the rest of the game (see: Mass Effect 3), but Firewatch is different, and it’s impossible to explain why without spoiling it for others. I’m honestly surprised that so few reviewers took umbrage with it, and so thoroughly unsurprised to see the majority of NeoGAF’s spoiler thread (caution: there are spoilers, obviously) discussing the exact same issues that I had with it.
If you’ve finished it, send me a DM to let me know what you think of the ending. Was it good enough for you, or did it sour everything that led up to it? I may not be able to reply to every message, but I’d still like to know which side of the fence you sit.
Alice Bell, Junior Staff Writer – Firewatch, PC
I liked Firewatch, potentially for the same reasons Dave didn’t like Firewatch (i.e. he thought the ending was a bit rubbish). I thought the ending, whilst it was unsatisfying, fits well with the game. You think it’s a story about one thing and then actually it turned out to be about something else. Sort of. It’s hard to talk about it without spoiling the entire plot.
Anyway, it’s good. You should play it. It’s only about five hours long, depending on how much exploring of the forest you do. It’s actually easy to get lost in it, not in the sense that you don’t know where you are, but in the sense that it’s a lovely scenic forest to meander about in. Some people have had screenshots of the game printed out and sent to them. I haven’t done that though. That’s a bit much.
I’m still playing Bloodborne, and have seen a significant improvement now that I’ve switched to using the threaded cane instead of the saw: I like being able to hit fast and run away. The successes are still outnumbered by the YOU DIED screens, though, obviously.
