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Another snow runner like game. Personally I’m quite interested in this as I loved mud runner and snow runner.

Anyone got any good retro recommendations they are currently playing, looking to play or have played recently? Anything that is easily accessible i.e available on PC or on the current consoles, would be ideal. I've recently finished Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars for the first time since the late 90's and also the Smoking Mirror sequel which I never got around to playing back in the day. Two excellent games and they've recently released a remaster of sorts called Broken Sword Reforged which preserves the original game but upscales everything. It's £24.99 but as I had the original in my Steam library, I opted to just play that. I have also just started the OG Resident Evil trilogy from GOG and playing the second one first as it's practically 25 years since I last played it way back on the PS1 and it's my personal favourite of those games. Actually played the original, RE2, RE3 and Code Veronica all in 1999 and the difference from the 1996 original to CV on the Dreamcast at the time was absolutely insane! After those, I am tempted to finally get around to playing the Tomb Raider Remastered titles as they are incredibly faithful versions and currently 50% off on Steam. Had the original on PC around 1997 time and picked up Tomb Raider II for the PS1. They seem to be really solid ports so I'll have to definitely check them out. After all them, I will likely be gagging for an FPS title so instead of wasting £70 on Black Ops 6, I need to complete the Half Life trilogy by finishing Opposing Force for the first time in 25 years. I did Blue Shift last year but didn't have a chance to to this one.

So just a thread really about a few of the controllers I have and to provide some general conversation around the various PS5 accessories, do you have any and do they get frequent use? So I have had a couple of different PS5 controllers now, a second hand Dualsense Edge controller and yesterday an impulse purchase of the Nacon Revolution Pro 5 which has prompted this post. The Edge is a definite improvement over the original controller, it feel's nicer to hold, the rubber grip and just feels better made, a more premium feel if you like. I don't however use the back buttons much really but it is just a nicer controller to use. However we popped into game yesterday and picked up 2 items from their clearance area, the first being a christmas present from the wife that she has now put away (another thread to come) and the Nacon Revolution pro 5. I have been after a new controller as the rubber grip is coming away from the controller which is irritating me and I don't know why but stuff like that grinds my gears unnecassarily (so tips to repair it would be appreciated!) I saw this controller and it was half price so £100 as opposed to £200 and I thought it was worth a shot at that price. Turns out this controller is brilliant! I opened the box and the first, strange thing to happen was upon opening it, there have obviously been lengths taken to make the box opening a little different. It was perfumed in some way and opening it, it actually smelt nice which was a bit odd. The controller itself is great, it feels really great in the hands and there are a number of weights that you can swap in if you want a heavier or lighter feel to the default. The controller comes in a pretty strong case with a USB-C cable, USB dongle, several weights, 2 additional thumbsticks (one higher and one a different style), and an alternative D pad button. The controller itself has quite a number of back buttons (more so than the edge), it has the xbox layout with the thumbsticks which I have always found a little more comfortable and the default thumb sticks are reminiscent of the PS2 controllers which is quite nice. Oh and it also has what is known as hall effect thumbsticks which are meant to somewhat eliminate stick drift which is common today with modern controllers. The other thing is how responsive this is, it really feels instant when gaming, like moreso than the 1st party controllers which is strange. It may just be in my head but it really does feel more responsive. So yeah if you are looking for a new controller and can afford it I would recommend this one from my limited experience so far 🙂

Felt perplexed a minute ago. Saw someone interview Kane about whether 2026 will be his last tournament. Rightly, he said he doesn't believe it will be. Now I get it in one sense, as we all think when you get over 30 its time for some youth to come onboard and take the helm....but to just put into persoective, he has been the first English player to the Gerd Muller trophy and the European Golden Boot trophy. We are always quick to say we need a change when we don't get what we want - however Kane is on 69 goals for England and we'd be stupid not to back him to reach 80 and beyond in future competitive games.

I forgot this existed

So, I have spent some time with this game now. I am definately on the side of it being a half decent game. I am not going into the is it or is it not a failure conversation again, just givnig you guys a brief run through of my thoughts - Visually it is quite a stunning game in places, I have put some early in game screenshots into the screenshots thread. The art style of the characters isn't quite my cup of tea and the Qunari characters you meet are a bit odd. There are also some on the other 'team' that look more how you would expect them to if you are a fan of the series. - The story & writing, it starts off medicore however the past couple of hours I have been playing and where I hit what I imagine is the halfway point it is getting much better. The characters are really quite good and engaging and I really like most of the companions. - Combat is not what I have enjoyed with past Dragon age games however it is quite fun and engaging. Quite fast paced but some of the bosses can be quite the challenge compared to the normal mobs. Creatures that were considered tough in previous games are somewhat weak here but that is because the big bads are at a level above. It is a combat system very much geared towards a wider audience. - The world building is quite good and there are moments where characters speak lines and such reminscent of old school dragon age. And some of the places you visit are brilliant, I think Treviso is fantastic running through the rooftops. General thought, the start of the game is not the strongest, it improves as it goes on but that is never a good thing with any game as it can often result in you losing players before the game really gets going. Only one decision so far seem's to have impacted things, generally your conversation decisions don't make much difference other than altering the opions your companions have of you, it is reminisicent of the Mass Effect games so I wonder if their opinion of you dictates if they live or die at the end of the game or something. Last night I was actually nodding off on the sofa as I was knackered yesterday but putting on the game and furthering the story at this one point I am at suddenly woke me right up. I won't go too much into it in case anyone here does play it but there is a section of the story where you are involved in a siege of a castle (won't say which side you are on) but it genuinely felt like one. It reminded me a bit of when I first player the lord of the rings two towers was it where you are fighting on top of the castle walls. It was brilliant and then fighting your way through to the boss of this area was great, with everything going on at the same time it led to a feeling of urgency, to get to where you are going before the place was overwhelmed (I am not sure that's even programmed into it but it felt like it). For me it's probably a 7.5 / 10, so not a bad game but not quite reaching the heights I had hoped it would but that's more because of what I have historically enjoyed from the series and really the series is moving away from that in the same way Final Fantasy has done from it's origins in recent years.

Just going to come in quietly, leave this here and slip away again 😎

I see the notoriously racist Maccabi ultras got a taste of their own medicine last night. I don't think I have a violin small enough 😢🤣

I met Dane after the West Brom game and he seems a top bloke. Scored a crucial last minute equaliser! He's had a few loans here and there and really struggled to get going, but with us I think he'll really kick on and his goals against Derby and Swansea were also good finishes. He did well against Tuesday against Hull and started over Mark Harris once again but we have about 5 key midfielders out injured right now including Brannagan, Matty Phillips, Placheta, Dembele and Edwards so service is more limited than we hoped but he's really getting stuck in and making things happen. Hopefully he wont get recalled and will get to finish the season here.

I'm kind of inclined to follow non Spurs teams if one our youth players is getting a run out. I see Dane Scarlett is finally getting a run out at Oxford Utd so I'll be hoping he helps them hang on in the Championship. We have a few others in other teams but I've been watching Dane a while now and he needs to step up. Couple of recent goals should help...

Great Halloween week in Tarkov which has just ended. Totally addicted to this game since summer finished.

I tend to take internet opinions with a pinch of salt. So much online now is just clickbait for views and clout. And nothing feeds the algorithm more than fear or anger. But yes, I'd say if they dropped the name Dragon Age and made it clear it was being pitched at a teen audience there probably wouldn't have been so much drama around it. Just call it Veilguard, that's a decent name for a game all by itself.

Not mega old, 2007 I think? GTA 4. I've been playing it on the SteamDeck. Forgot what a good little game it is. Some of the dialogue between Niko and Roman is hilarious and it's much more brutal than I remember. Poor Vlad 🤣

Currently revisiting Return to Castle Wolfenstein

I usually like to try and stay positive … but this seems like a really bad month.

ten Hag can be held responsible for the terrible signings during his time at the club, it’s obvious that they were his players that he wanted to bring in. He was backed by the club and they haven’t worked out. I don’t disagree however about the deep routed issues at the club. That’s the excuse all of the other managers and pundits have used.

Yep, it's been a culmination of the board signing inappropriate players, wasting big money and not giving managers a chance. It all started with Moyes and over a decade later and it's the same old story. Some of these managers probably haven't even heard of half the signings made by the club and I think it was Ole that had to play players even if he didn't want them in his starting line-up. Jose once even had to ask a player what his name was at the training ground or something ridiculous.

So I had not picked this up as intended originally and have now finally bought it with it coming out on consoles. It isn't cheap mind but I have a bit of a void at the moment in that a lot of games aren't quite capturing my attention and I am waiting for a couple to be released. So picking this up and so far it's every part the MMO however it's quite pretty, the story seem's decent so far and I am quite enjoying it, you can see where it take's it's inspiration from mind. As I put a few more hours in I will provide a more detailed write up but just thought I would open up the conversation and see if anyone else has played this at all?

So now I have spent some time with this over the weekend I have some thoughts, mostly good 🙂 As far as an MMO goes it seem's fairly simple and streamlined which is great especially as I am playing it on a console however it does have the options as far as the number of dungeons and raids etc to make it a little more challenging. The game looks great though it does have the typical issue with loads of things jamming up the screen when you take on more quests, I have now worked out how to unpin them so I can make it look visually better. Combat is quite quick and feel's a little more involved due to the more action based combat, the little video snippet below gives you an idea of the pace. There is all the usual resource gathering and creating stuff, you select a class at the start of the game but your class is dictated by your weapon choice. So I selected a class at the start and that provided me a sword and shield so I can play a sort of tanking class however with a press of the button you can quickly switch to your second weapon whcih I have set up as the life staff (healer). You can also respec quite easily if you wanted to try something completely different. There are 3 factions to join and then companies which are essentially guilds, the factions form the end game PVP stuff in that you war over different areas, forts etc. I have not gotten too involved in that yet but there seemed a lot going on in the faction chat yesterday. As far as an MMO goes, it seem's a little simpler than WOW which is not necassarily a bad thing, it is easier to get into and enjoy straight away and it does have potential for staying power. I think as with every MMO though it does depend on how many people stick with it, currently the EU server that I am in is pretty busy and yesterday I did have to join a queue to get into the server (albeit, it was only a few minutes). So yeah, I am enjoying it and will definately get to and enjoy some of the end game stuff, could be good fun if we could get some of FG on it but I appreciate MMO's aren't usually the sort of game this place plays. That aside it's an MMO but much more action oriented so I think a few of you here could get some enjoyment out of this. I have put a few photos below, these vary from cutscenes, to arty images (these typically come up when to in game screenshots (you will see those as you will spot the UI).

Not me - I’ve never been interested in MMOs, and now more than ever I don’t have the time that is required to invest into them! I’d say I probably get on average about 10 hours a week of gaming on my home console (I can play a lot of Marvel snap on my phone). If I got really into an MMO, I’d never be able to play any other games! Interested in your thoughts on this one though, being another attempt my Amazon to get into the video games space. Do you think it has staying power? Or one that will be forgotten in a year or two?

Ooooo my sort of post James 😄 My suggestions and I am making these based on the sorts of games I have seen you talk about on here - - Max Payne (Fairly sure this is on steam) - Deus Ex - The longest Journey (Think Broken Sword esque) - This is because it is one of my favourite ever games and I think everyone should play it - Dragon Age Origins - Medal of honour Allied assault (On GOG store)