J4MES OX4D

This guy did well. Very well.

After Moyes, Van Gaal and Boreinho; it is definitely nice to see them playing attractive football for the first time since Fergie. It's also nice to see teams like Chelsea crumbling whilst playing painfully shite football.

Pretty much. The smoothness is a bit of a deception and netcode quality is kind of masked among things like the armor and general pace of the combat. Until you dissect the technical data; we don't get a clear picture of how it truly runs. It's also fairly noticeable on PC because there is no aim assist as a further handicap so accuracy is essential.

Pretty surprising considering how smooth the game feels. The combat does feel a bit off at times but I originally put that down to the pace, opponents armour and my bad aim but it's nice to see the game thoroughly tested and the netcode issues laid out. Unlike Blackout, I don't think we've been deliberately shafted with cheap low quality servers but Apex does need a lot of improvements especially when there already so many other factors at play that affect combat.

It's a disappointing sadly - basically a linear experience with a generic character (nicely rendered arse though) where you try and survive walking through a map to the end. If you die, it's game over. It's great that it's free but honestly, it's fairly low quality that if I paid, I'd be very disappointed. It is a tough experience though and there's things to unlock but in the ten minutes it takes, it's pretty bland.

3 lane maps are great but I'd also want a variety of maps like we had in BO, MW2, MW3, COD4, WAW etc. Favela had multiple routes, elevation and excellent long sightlines. Sub base had the same plus a lot of outer action and Afghan offered multiple ways to play and significant flanking opportunities. Now days it's start the match and go either left, right or center and maybe chuck a nade or get ready to fire straight ahead. The MW2 maps weren't forced 3 lane maps; they were just well-designed and varied. Even SnD has become a bit of a redundant mode in recent COD's because the maps just don't offer versatility. Traditional sniping has also been thrown out of the window and replaced entirely by quickscoping. I can't remember the last time we actually had a COD game with an iconic map. Nowadays they seem to be very symmetrical, either small or small-to-medium or just long and narrow. A lot of these modern COD maps are built with eSports in mind where the action is pushed into 3 lanes which diminishes different gameplay styles and brings aggressive sweaty gunplay to the fore.

Finally unlocked Mirage for 12,000 tokens at level 23. Haven't had a chance to play as much as the first week but this one has been tougher because people are learning the game more, becoming more sweaty and some god awful Fornite players have entered the game and they are fucking useless and I have been lumbered with them.

800 staff laid off in total. That is a lot.

I don't think they'll ever be able to produce such an iconic game like the old MW ones again. Too much has changed in gaming from shitty business practices to how people want sweaty competitive g-fueled gameplay fought on 3 lane maps in eSport fashion despite the brand being 99% casual. I often revisit the old COD's and they just ooze so much enjoyment and varied gameplay and none of the ones from this generation can get close to. Using real weapons in real life locations with credible characters cannot be beaten. The good news is that a few key staff from Respawn have gone back to IW to specifically work on this game and hopefully they can try and capture the brilliance of past titles but the way Activision and the the way gaming has changed; I don't know if they'll ever be able match what they did a decade ago. I am dying for a proper military shooter again like a modern COD or Battlefield - hard to believe towards the end of last gen these games were saturated but I'm sick of all this futuristic fantasy bullshit now.

I haven't found a gun I truly like but I tend to always avoid the burst ones. Here's a good video of most things on offer

I don't think he will because Respawn seem to do their own thing and EA takes a back seat but I can see the latter sticking their noses in somewhere along the lines especially if it continues to thrive. Vince doesn't seem up the publishers arses either so it shouldn't turn into a game for shareholders first rather than gamers themselves. So far everything is spot-on - no P2W or horrible aesthetic cosmetics plus everything can be earned in-game. If EA continue on the sidelines and accepts the business model as is, it will continue to succeed on all fronts. Once the season starts in March, we may get a better idea of how this will play out long-term.

Exactly. I don't think The Division 2 looks a bad game at all but it just doesn't make the strides I would be expecting especially from Ubisoft who have proven in recent years how ambitious and strong their technology is. To see a game play itself so safe using the old formula is a little disappointing. I can tell a lot about games from just watching videos - I've probably watched over 25 hours of gameplay and information videos in recent months and a lot of people who have had unrestricted access across multiple branches have raised similar concerns that leave me on the fence. I'm looking forward to giving the open beta a go nevertheless but something that irks me in gaming is wasted opportunities and games that should be better than what they offer.

This is another excellent video on the current situation