J4MES OX4D

7 discs for the physical edition Quality screenshots

I've just played about an hour of Siege and it's seems pretty decent although there is a real clash of concept. It comes across as a hardcore tactical shooter but there are inclusions that leave me baffled and make the game seemingly dumbed-down to appeal to everyone. There is no mini-map which is great but then they shoot themselves in the foot by highlighting your team mates with a ghostly glow at all times and there is no friendly fire either. By being able to see your team mates through walls and even on the other side of the map; you can see exactly where they are, where they get shot, how they die and where the enemy is placed. It's such a glaring design issue that renders communication redundant in some instances as you can see everything unfolding with visual aids including likely enemy placement. You also have the ability to reload at any given time and retain all your unused ammo which mimics that of an arcade shooter like COD. You don't need to worry about conserving your ammo or when to reload. The worst addition by far is the ability to revive your team mates. It only takes a few seconds to get them back on their feet and reminds me of the painful old COD days with Final Stand and Second Chance. This is sheer stupidity from Ubisoft on a ludicrous level and I cannot understand why they think this idea would be welcome or why they've even considered it putting it in the game. The fact a fellow SWAT team member who's a sharpshooter can suddenly perform miracle surgery in a live situation in 3 seconds just beggars belief. I played on two maps; one was a house and the other way an airplane. Both look like they will be good fun but I am fearful that there isn't much variety in this game. The defenders can barricade windows, doorways and other entrances and the attack team can blow up certain areas to breach but the options after just a few games and the tactical variations just become limited. It's like playing Search and Destroy on Nuketown - there is only so much stuff you can do before you repeat the move over and over. Both teams at the start have a 'prepare' phase which is also limited - the attack team has RC Cars to scope out the premises and 99% of the time; it's exactly the same setup from the defence as the last round and the defenders can do their barricade prep which involves just covering up the same doors and entrances over and over. Just seems so limited. The alpha is somewhat lacking in visual and animation textures which is expected but it certainly will appear polished on release I'm sure. Characters and weapons can show through walls, doors and equipment and some of the character movements are cringeworthy. The menu interfaces and in-game HUD are also very ugly. The bullet detection is a bit iffy also. I think this game could be decent but it needs a lot of work and desperately needs a hardcore type mode because what is on offer so far is just so basic and user-friendly; it kind of destroys the game type it's trying to be. If they don't have a dramatic rethink on certain aspects; it could get very boring, very quickly. I'm not really surprised this game has such significant design flaws as Ubisoft are notorious for hideous gameplay execution on many titles but I'm almost mortified at some of the features this game has. There is certainly potential here but the developers need to make sweeping changes/additions before the beta.

I've got access to the closed alpha today and am currently downloading... Will have a look after my dinner. If there's one sight of a radio tower, I'm fucking uninstalling. Anyone else been granted access to the alpha today on PC?

I'm same as Phil; finished HR on the 360 and bought the DC version on Steam. It is pretty bad Joe - the game seems to be running on a very old and ropey engine and the combat is less than user-friendly. Best thing to do is spend the Praxis Points on augmentations that stabilize your aim and the recoil in weapons. Even then it's not perfect but it does make a difference.

Hell yeah About bloody time too! More on the way next week..

There was a few rumours from a fairly reliable source suggesting that it's a futuristic title with even wall running - fuck that! I'm sick of futuristic titles now and I just wish we could go back to the more traditional CODs.

They are quality! So simple but wonderfully effective. I can't stand most TV adverts these days but those are a couple of gems. My favourite one this year is the Mars 'Winning' one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIQ_pJzU-rI All time classic

A great early breakdown of the alpha

Mark of the Ninja £2.74 on the daily deal which is a must buy!

TLOU is an incredible game. Just an amazing experience throughout. One of the best games I've played in the last 15 years.

Started well. Finished the half well. In between was the usual mediocre England!

Good man

2K must be paying IGN a mint to endlessly promote that POS! You need to sacrifice two pints for Alien Isolation - £7.99 is a steal!

IGN award a good score to a non-Halo game = shocker! Seems a very good game. PC Gamer gave it 92% also. Very complex and takes a while to get into but it's slowly growing into a very deep and interesting game. Sadly Steam doesn't show that I have played it or even own the bloody thing but you'll have to trust me on this

My Russian is a bit rusty but here's my thoughts so far:- ''Столпы вечности действительно хорош''

Available on PC.....only in Russia!? What the fuck! China gets COD Online, Russia gets Halo Online and we get lumbered with Advanced Flawfare and The Master Glitch Collection. Not fair

Glad you're enjoying Joe! I couldn't believe it was 75% off today and I felt kinda bad that you only got 66% off from GMG Even a bargain at full price it's that good! The season pass has 5 packs but I traded the game in before any was released so I'm pretty unfamiliar with the content. Seems like there is other material which is separate from that too. God I hate DLC these days - too complex! If you're reading Phil; you need to get this right now - it only costs 2 pints of Stella

Unfortunately for you Phil; my review is likely to be in Russian this time around too

Sega Sale on at the minute including Alien Isolation for just £7.99

Pretty disturbing development today regarding the tragic crash in the French Alps a few days ago http://news.sky.com/story/1453092/alps-co-pilot-crashed-deliberately-prosecutor

10/10 from IGN........Russia http://ru.ign.com/pillars-of-eternity/74516/review/retsenziia-na-pillars-of-eternity?p=2

I was initially interested in this game after the developers success with Left 4 Dead. Unfortunately it seems the game has turned in 2015's Titanfall which is just-deserts for publishers 2K who preceded to attempt what I would describe is being the biggest cash-grab of any game I have ever witnessed. This game was released in February and after just 28 days, the game lost 80% of its player base on PC and according to sources; the game is collapsing daily as the player counts dwindle into four-figures on all systems combined. The game is pretty shit in its own right and deeply starved of content but for £50; I just find the price arrogant on another level. 2K's ignorance towards the community and cockiness in their laughable DLC structure has seen them pay the ultimate price in sheer embarrassment. For £50, you get fuck all. Considering this game has been in development for 40-odd months; it's shamefully and deliberately starved of material . The day one DLC totals around £70 on top of the £50 full price and although it's mostly non-essential cosmetic material; it should have been included in the main game without fail. Who the fuck would pay £3.99 to turn their gun blue? 2K also said that no material was withheld but suddenly just 6 weeks after release; 3 more monsters have miraculously appeared as DLC totaling a whopping £6.49 each and another one for £13.49 - so in 40 months; Turtle Rock could only produce 1 monster but in just 40 days they could make 3!? Do 2K really think we're that stupid? 2K's response to people who don't wish to pay £25 for the additional monsters:- ''buy the season pass for £20 instead''. It's almost laughable beyond delusional; their game is falling apart by the hour and yet they still think their business structure with this game is acceptable. I think everything about this game opitimises everything wrong with the AAA industry today and this is a prime example of a product that is borderline despicable. I'm kinda glad to see this game drifting into stale mediocrity and I feel sorry for people who wasted their money on this pitiful excuse of a game. The developers have produced a dismal title by their standards but the publishers should shoulder all responsibility for their sheer arrogant and insulting execution of the pricing and business as a whole. I just hope this failure doesn't rub off on the brands that are powerful and established - the AAA market is already bad enough as it is but you can see companies going down this route with their strong IP's and having the consumer by the balls extorting money for measly content. Evolve is a F2P title with a full price tag that can cost up to £140 to 'finish'. Disgraceful.