The Thursday letters page doesn’t think Fortnite is the future of gaming at all, as one reader tries to understand Suicide Squad’s DLC plans.
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Scary birthday
Apologies in advance to who this makes feel old, but Alien Isolation is going to be 10 years old on Monday. I know it’s not a universally loved game, and it definitely does have flaws, but I think it’s an amazing horror game and probably the best adaption of a movie, at least in terms of look and feel, there’s ever been.
I don’t think there’s much realistic chance of a sequel and while I had hoped the upcoming VR game would be a spiritual sequel it seems a bit too action-based for that.
I think that’s why it’s such a great game though, because it is filled with lots of quiet moment and there’s a building up to the scares, not just dumb jump scares.
For me it is the scariest video game ever, in that I have been genuinely frightened to play it or that the alien will get me. And I’m a fairly burly man that knows it’s just a video game. But that’s the magic, the atmosphere is so thick it draws you in and all the problems, like the bad story, don’t change the fact that playing it is the most thrilling thing ever.
Xor
Personal vision
I am not very impressed by the Fortnite boss’ view of the ‘future of gaming.’ All he seems to be saying is that Fortnite is the future, but… Fortnite is seven years old, there’s nothing new about it all. And he says other publishers should make live service games like it, but that’s what they have been doing! And it’s mostly been a disaster.
I always get the feeling that most publishers have little idea why their games are popular. This guy didn’t make Fortnite, he’s just in charge of the company that paid for it. He’s saying his game is the future because that’s true for him, but he doesn’t seem to have any insight on gaming as a whole or helpful advice for others.
Would he even want to give it? Perhaps he wants them all to keep making live service games, because he knows they always fail and so can never rival Fortnite.
Austin
Simple answers
I have to feel that if Microsoft don’t know why developers aren’t supporting Xbox, then they’re already too far gone. What do they expect the answer to be? That devs don’t like Phil Spencer’s taste in T-shirts? They’re not supporting it because Xbox console sales are becoming irrelevant and apparently their developer support is bad, judging by that one company that didn’t get an answer for months.
I don’t understand what the technical reasons are why Capcom’s older games don’t work but the fact that it’s taking so long to fix them up suggests that Microsoft doesn’t have very good software tools either. And if I know this much, shouldn’t they know infinitely more? Seems like desperation to me.
Quisling
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Gone but not forgotten
I like to say I’m a huge LittleBigPlanet fan. I’m autistic and the game helps me a lot, since I joined the LittleBigPlanet fanbase in 2011. I was upset, still am, that servers are shut down for every game.
I bought the PS Vita version but by the time I knew the servers shut down I couldn’t transfer my items from 1 and 2. They were my favourite and I wish they kept them up or remastered them. I still have Sackboy love in my heart, always will.
Anon
GC: There is a smidgeon of hope, in that Sackboy is in both Astro Bot and Lego Horizon Adventures – so Sony hasn’t forgotten about him. Developer Media Molecule is also rumoured to be working on a new game. It’s unlikely to be a new LittleBigPlanet, but it may be something relatively similar.
Last mag standing
It’s sad to see another magazine going but I suppose it’s inevitable for them all in the long run (I hope I’m wrong, as I’m subscribed to Retro Gamer and love it). I have fond memories of the Official PlayStation Magazine, with the fantastic demo discs. Some of them I played to death, as I’m sure may others have.
I subscribed to that magazine for years, having a subscription every birthday and using the demo discs to decide what game to choose next, not wanting to pick the wrong game for me, as realistically you’d only buy a few a year.
The negativity in gaming these days is a bit ridiculous. I honestly don’t think we’ve ever had it better in terms of choice and cost. Some of the compulsory online stuff annoys me be but other than that I’m still loving gaming at 41. There’s been good positive features on GC lately, so I’m glad there are still some us that are happy!
Keep it up guys.
Wayne
Season speedrun
I know you shouldn’t kick someone when they’re down but I’m just fascinated by what a flop Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has been. Less than 300 players for the latest big content drop? That is just tragic. And yet I cannot even begin to imagine what they were expecting.
As if the main game wasn’t bad enough who were all these extra characters supposed to appeal to? Deadshot’s daughter? Really? You look at all the different villains that have been part of the Suicide Squad over the years and they seem to be purposefully ignoring all the interesting ones. Peacemaker? Killer Croc? Killer Frost? Black Manta? Bronze Tiger? Heck, I’d take Clock King at this point.
I don’t even understand why they’re still releasing new characters anyway, since they know it’s been a massive flop. Is there a reason to explain it that I’m missing?
It made me think of that point about Blizzard’s Titan game being cancelled, where they didn’t just waste money but they wasted time: years where they could’ve been making something good that actually got released. It’s nearly 10 years since Arkham Knight and I fear for the future of Rocksteady.
Costa
GC: It’s almost certainly so they don’t have to refund the season pass buyers, including those who bought the deluxe editions. Most of the post-launch content was probably already finished, or mostly finished, so they’re just releasing it all as quickly as possible, to get it over with.
Enjoyable stress
I’ve just finished Aliens: Dark Descent and my goodness, what a video game. Easily the best game I’ve played this year and the most fun I have had with a game for ages. I say fun, that is caveated by saying the gameplay is hugely stress-inducing, heart-pounding, and bum-clenching, but that is rather the point. It captures the panic I feel watching the films perfectly.
The permadeath of marines, the campaign clock, the lack of saves, the maze-like levels, it’s all working to keep you uncomfortable and on the edge of your seat. The way the gameplay weaves its own narrative, with me saving dying marines as sentry guns pick off a horde, or my squad dragging an unconscious marine so we can evacuate, is video games at their best; gameplay good enough that you tell your own tale.
Add in a story far better than it needed to be, and it’s easily my favourite game of the year. Play it if you haven’t!
Henshin Agogo
I feel nothing
I’ve just finished Star Wars Outlaws and I’m finding it very difficult to come to a decision about it. I played t for over 40 hours, so I must’ve liked it to some degree, but at the end I just feel nothing. I don’t love it, I didn’t hate it, I wasn’t disappointed and I wasn’t impressed. I think it is so perfectly middle of the road it’s impossible to have any strong opinion about it at all.
You might say that’s not uncommon for Ubisoft games, but this was so completely unremarkable in everyway it’s almost impressive. I guess it is impressive because that’s what they were aiming for, to get as many people playing it as possible, but how is anyone going to get enthusiastic for something like that?
The biggest fault I would say though is that it could’ve risen about it all if it had better characters. Kay is just too boring and ‘nice’ to be in anyway comparable to Han Solo. The villain is boring and I didn’t particularly like any of the side characters. They were just as purposefully inoffensive as the rest of the game, but they were the one part of it that needed some personality.
I don’t even think it was the actress’ fault, she seemed okay, but all the dialogue was really basic and uninteresting, and none of it was funny. Just a missed opportunity all round really. The shell of a good game is there but it’s all icing and no cake.
Heathcliffe
Inbox also-rans
I feel you’ve been asked this before but will there be any forewarning for the reveal of the Switch 2? Will they say they’ll be an announcement tomorrow, or something like that?
Cranston
GC: They didn’t for the Switch, but it’s Nintendo so who knows.
Why would there be an Unreal Engine 6 when I’ve hardly seen anyone use Unreal Engine 5 so far? This constant rush to introduce new technology but there never seems to be any rush to actually use it.
Focus
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The small print
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