16BitHero

The games industry has been pivoting in the same direction as the film industry for several years now (less and less new ideas/creativity, more and more sequels, remakes etc) - whatever makes money, we've only got customer trends to blame. I still have no idea how gamers feel any sort of allegiance to these corporations. It must be a young person thing before you realize capitalism doesn't actually care what you think.

I jumped on an Epic Games store sale before Christmas, AW2 for $35. I would have paid full whack but hey, times are tight. I wouldn't be surprised if many people are waiting for further sales and discounts. It's a brilliant game, especially if you like the joint universe of Wake and Control. I hope they at least break even as there aren't many studios that tell stories quite like Remedy.

I played through both games on PC in college. A similar budget to Alan Wake 2 has me excited for these remakes. Remedy games aren't for everyone but if you click with their style and storytelling then there have been few developers as prolific and consistent. The shared worlds between games is a welcome bonus.

I've messaged a few developers upon completing their games (when did we start using the word 'beating' like it's an accomplishment in anything other than Souls games?!). They're always appreciative and if a gamer has the spare disposable income to tip a smaller dev then I see nothing wrong with that. (I personally detest what tipping culture has become - certainly tied to a lack of wages rising with inflation/cheap capitalist employers). The developers I've messaged were for Alien Isolation, LOU2, Deliver Us The Moon, Terminator Resistance and Aliens Dark Descent.

This is the trade off this console generation. This game has always been about pushing fidelity so I'm not surprised and I'm sure it'll be a dazzling experience. Indiana Jones on the other hand ought to have a 60 fps option. The type of game should be considered.

Legions of younger gamers coming of age dramatically affects this ranking. They're playing what their peers are playing and as soon as you're old enough for GTA V, well VI isn't here yet so... I think older generations are playing a much wider variety of games and when you're as old as me, mostly solitary single player games (with the odd Helldivers 2 dance here and there).

@Darude84 The atmosphere, music and then the Spiders Thread mode after the campaign were all really excellent in my opinion. And just for your username, here is my favourite imgur of all time:
https://imgur.com/hcl3btj

I was pleasantly surprised by Ghostwire Tokyo in addition to a few of the aforementioned titles above.

I finally started Alan Wake 2 - love the shared universe with Control! Also running through The Talos Principle 2 and Let's Cook Together with my wife. Helldivers 2 late night carnage too I'm sure.

What is Microsoft going to do next and what will become of the Xbox brand? This is now the story of this generation and with speculation rife, my latest complete guess/hope is that they maybe continue their current two console offering but with updated specs AND the Steam ecosystem in addition to Gamepass etc?! (This could really eat into Gamepass though as Steam is the best value storefront in gaming). I think Valve are in Washington State too and they're surely all buddies outside the office. It's that or publisher only in my admittedly clueless opinion! Sony making the only premium spec home console will be terrible for consumers.

It's painfully obvious that Xbox and Microsoft Game Studios will be a publisher/development umbrella only in the near future. The signs have been there for years but they can't admit it in the middle of a console cycle. The only hardware I can see Microsoft producing with regard to gaming is a compact PC of sorts but that's hardly worth it with the potential competition out there. It's not great for competition but this is the reality of the industry at the moment.

I thoroughly enjoyed Deliver Us The Moon, so much so that I emailed the developer. I bought Deliver Us Mars to keep supporting them and enjoy their Sci Fi narrative adventures. They are however relatively niche games still and I think they'd do well to focus on 1-3 of those games while financial backing isn't certain. I haven't been sorry to see some devs fold - lots of live service or just copy and paste versions of existing IPs. If you aren't doing something relatively original then you've got to absolutely nail every aspect - like Helldivers 2.

@Neither_scene I've had a similar experience. I got the Series X for Flight Simulator (which is astonishingly well optimized and still the only true current gen game imo). I finally saved enough to get a gaming PC for the first time in 15 years and geewhiz was it worth it. Gamepass for PC is great value, Steam games are often cheaper than Xbox or PS5 and are frequently on sale AND you don't pay to play online with friends etc - I finally let my PS plus sub lapse. I think the main thing, possibly the only thing holding back current gen consoles is that they are frequently hooked up to 4K TVs therefore that is the expectation hence 30fps or fidelity trade offs. PC games running with high to ultra specs on a 1440p monitor look just incredible though and you get 60 fps minimum depending on those aforementioned settings and your rig specs. It's hard to go back but I do get used to 30fps quickly if that's the only option I have.

@Trmn8r Recent polls point to most Democrats wanting a change in leadership and believing Biden to be too old at best, and failing politically at worst (border/Israel etc). Anyway, I regret commenting on a political story on a gaming site, let's all move on eh?

Some folks are seemingly surprised or annoyed by the title of this article. I've been visiting this site and Push Square for a while now and they're a good bet for the latest Xbox and PS5 news. They don't have the budget of a major media company however so you're going to get a lot of click bait articles and almost every title will include 'Xbox' or 'PS5' for algorithm purposes. PC Gamer is no different nowadays. But hey, beggars can't be choosers. If you don't waste time on X then these sites are decent for breaking news and actually have a good community of regular folks in the comments section (among a few toxic cretins).

They made a game for teenagers only (dialogue and humour is cringe worthy) in an increasingly competitive and crowded industry. No surprises here. I'm glad I stopped at the free beta. Hopefully there is more Batman to come from Rocksteady with no WB meddling or, something completely original.

Another day, more pathetic cretins.

@NoLifeDGenerate I think we'll start to see companies listening to gamers feedback a lot more during the development process as with Baldurs Gate 3. Not necessarily with an early access model but maybe simple polls to find out what is popular among fans of a franchise. There is simply too much competition nowadays for them to ignore us.

@Spider-Kev T2 the Arcade Game with the Sega Menacer was fantastic as was Robocop vs Terminator. Good times.

I came to Terminator Resistance late, only completed it along with it's DLC in the past month BUT it's an essential experience for any fans of that universe. The story, art style, sound effects and original music integration are just what I was hoping for in a Terminator game. I can look past the middling gunplay and stealth. I sincerely hope the next title is this good but with better overall mechanics and current gen graphics.

Helldivers 2, it's got to be the best co op shooter of the last ten years if not longer. Playing on PC with a Series X controller - I sincerely hope it comes to Xbox as no one should miss out on this much fun. Time will tell if they can keep it fresh but at the moment the Starship Troopers and Terminator influences only heighten it's appeal for me. Then to calm down, maybe a bit of Flight Simulator on Series X where it's better optimized than I'm able to do with a 3070 GPU somehow.

@pip_muzz Maybe Contraband although it's been very quiet on that front.

I still have the 360 hooked up because Kinect Sports plays and looks better than similar titles on Wii, Switch and even Quest 3. I have sports titles on all three but keep coming back to Kinect sports 1 and 2. I'm sure the 360 will die eventually!

Microsoft have been heading in Sega's direction for years now, the fact the Series consoles are lagging behind even the Xbox One relative to the same sales period and slowing still is a fairly ominous sign. They will remain a monster in the publishing sector but the only console I can see in their future if any would be something akin to the Series S - priced like the Switch 2 but more powerful albeit less powerful than Sony's offering. Just my uninformed opinion but the writing really looks like it's all over the wall at this point?

@matmom42 No way! I've only played through it once at it's original 30fps and still loved it. If it wasn't for an insane backlog I'd start it over. I keep it installed to appreciate the wasteland now and again!

@Isca I came here to say the same thing, any fans of Mad Max and the Arkham games especially will find lots to love and it runs at 60fps with fps boost! Still one of the best open world action games and even though it's got a bit of the Far Cry formula, it doesn't overstay it's welcome.

Indy could be my dream game (as an eighties kid). Machine Games know how to do first person - and Nazis. The blend of perspectives sounds like a cracking idea to make the whole game feel very much like an interactive film.

I've got faith in Machine Games, excellent developer. I feel fortunate lately to finally see some of my favourite films see excellent game adaptation's or spin offs - Aliens Dark Descent was my favourite game last year (and 2023 was stacked!), Robocop Rogue City is fantastic and I finally got to Terminator Resistance which is better than any film since the second in my opinion.

Having played the test version a few weeks ago, I was left underwhelmed but not surprised. Batman is for all ages and that series was one excellent game after another. The humour and overall feel of another bloated multi character IP (just like Marvel films) feels squarely aimed at younger generations. That's ok but I'll have to wait for Rocksteady's next game.

Streets of Rage 4 was an instant classic in my opinion. I'm not sure how that series or Golden Axe will translate to 3D but I'm hopeful Sega will surprise us!

@Vipor007 The classic light gun games could easily transfer to VR.

Deleting campaign and multiplayer components apparently had little effect on storage size. I only have COD installed for the new Warzone map - 136GB total on SSD but 109GB apparently when I look at 'managing game content'. I know we don't like getting on developers backs but what is the point of the new COD menu system if you can barely shrink the file size. I had Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer AND Warzone downloaded before this update and they only took up 76GB.

I'm not sure if it was underrated or if it's just a niche game (probably the latter) but Aliens Dark Decent is my personal game of the year in what is one of the best gaming years on record surely. (I can't wait to see what this developer does next). I have a ridiculous backlog and am therefore hoping 2024 is very quiet!

Show me Indiana Jones already. Please.

If and when Microsoft becomes a publisher only re gaming, I wonder if they'll simply revert back to Microsoft Game Studios and lose the Xbox moniker altogether. I'm a little disheartened with Xbox's struggle this generation much like the last one as the hardware is clearly fantastic value - running Microsoft Flight Simulator on a relatively high end PC then on Xbox Series X proves it's a beast from a technical perspective. I've certainly got my money's worth with Gamepass over the years and sincerely hope small screen devices/game streaming aren't the only future options.

Despite Gamepass' consistent value, C would be fair as first party continues to disappoint compared to the competition. I bumped it to a B however from a purely business perspective with the acquisition of Activision. Microsoft continues it's march to being a publishing behemoth. I'm still on the fence as to whether they will exit the console space as Sega did.

This would usually be a day one purchase but the last two years in gaming have been so ridiculous. My backlog includes GOW Ragnarok, Jedi Survivor, Resident Evil 4, Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros Wonder, Half Life Alyx and many more. Currently playing through Baldurs Gate 3. No point paying full price when you won't get to it for many months.

I've really tired of the Far Cry formula as of 6. Played all to completion until then but 6 was just so huge and there were many better games to play when it came out. For some reason I'm curious about Avatar, especially if it's a more focused experience with a strong narrative.

Definitely picking this up, loved the first one and it's fun to play through with a partner helping you figure things out.

An amazing year for gaming and my backlog still contains many of the top games released thus far. My personal game of the year is Aliens Dark Descent, ticked all the boxes for this Alien Saga fan.

I love my Series X but it doesn't have a big time console seller in terms of exclusives and that shows in it's market shares around the world. I still think Microsoft will go the way of Sega - and an immense publisher they will be. It sucks for gamers though as it means less competition in the console space. Maybe Apple will step in eventually?!

This continues to be the most astonishing 'game' of this generation. It was my sole reason for buying a Series X and now I have a VR capable gaming PC, I really can't wait to try it on that platform too. Looking forward to seeing where it goes in the next decade or two.

Excellent year. Excellent backlog.

@Cherip-the-Ripper It's a US list.

I've enjoyed the Series X (and PS5) generation thus far but Xbox is clearly getting trounced by the PS5 once again due to better marketing, superior exclusives and more of them. If gamers are not to end up with a choice between Sony, Nintendo and PC gaming with Microsoft going the way of Sega albeit a third party behemoth then I hope this new leadership structure picks up the slack quickly.

@mac_da_man Just started a second playthrough with the new updates in anticipation of the newly arrived dlc. A good game is now a great game.

@Lup Mad Max was so underrated. Loved it. https://youtu.be/HsQn4q6QhdM?si=CLUveXUSfbOawHdf

@fabisputza007 I also played through Wolf Among Us with my wife who doesn't consider herself a gamer (despite 700 hours with Animal Crossing). She immediately started looking up the Fables comic series. We're looking forward to the sequel.

@pip_muzz @pip_muzz I confess to enjoying linear games with highly focused and sometimes simpler narratives but I also loved Witcher 3, Zelda and various other RPGs. Starfield is my first Bethesda RPG. I might come back to it now my expectations are clear.