MaccaMUFC

Forget about Half Life 3 it’s just never happening, we’d of heard about it being in development years ago. It’s been that long it probably wouldn’t live up to the hype. It’s had its moment in the late 90’s and early 00’s and most likely wouldn’t even cut it in today’s gaming world, games have moved on and evolved post-half life.

I think the graphics look great but it can be off putting when textures can look flat and bland and it can look fuzzy/blurry, even with the motion blur turned off but it could just be an artistic choice the devs went with or a focus/distance thing. The water effects are terrible though, I’d of expected realistic water effects like we see in Sea of Thieves. Overall though it does look great, especially the character models and landscapes, I’m currently at the start of chapter 2, that sunset on the horizon illuminating the surrounding landscape... 😮‍💨

This is the future people and it’s happening whether we like it or not.

Personally I think it’s quite cool and I can see it being more beneficial for most than not. Once AI is advanced enough people who are lonely for whatever reason, for example a senior with no family/friends, it could make them no longer feel lonely if the AI can hold a proper conversation like a real person and it’s voice sounding very human. I can see it also helping people with mental health.

I get why people would be concerned about AI but don’t be all gloom and doom thinking AI will one day turn into Skynet 😂 If done right it could end up being another amazing creation by humankind. Or our downfall if there was ever a Judgement Day lol

@nomither6 I doubt the majority will care whether or not the story mode will be as good as IV or V. They will care more about the actual open world with what they can see and do.

Once the online mode has been updated after awhile with many more things to do and buy you can bet that Rockstar will be focusing on that until GTA VII in the next 10+ years. It will be interesting to see where they set that in, surely they won’t be going back to Liberty City? I’d rather they just remastered GTA IV, which is my favourite GTA for story mode. Plus the Euphoria physics engine was revolutionary at the time, it’s even better and more realistic than GTA V’s imo.

I’ll believe it’ll release in Fall 2025 when it releases in Fall 2025. I’m expecting it to be delayed to 2026.

@nomither6 What do you mean ‘it won’t top GTA V’? Everybody can safety bet on their lives that GTA VI will outsell GTA V and bring in more players once the online mode is fully up and running. I don’t think there has ever been a GTA release that didn’t outsell the previous release (not counting the GTA Stories, I’m on about the main games GTA 3, Vice City, SA, IV and V).

@rustyduck Obviously I’d of preferred it came straight to Game Pass, it really does seem suited for it but I’m fine paying for it as it’s reasonably priced and it’s the only game I’m looking to buy this year so far, everything else I’m interested in is coming to GP day one.

@Rmg0731 You can’t expect certain games to release on Game Pass day one, even if it does only release on one console. Trail Out is one example of being an Xbox console exclusive and that wasn’t released on GP.

Apparently the Hypercharge devs wanted to bring the game to GP but MS/Xbox didn’t take them up on it, so really you can’t blame them for not releasing the game on GP.

What about people who don’t care for CoD? This isn’t fair on them having to be forced to pay more for Game Pass if it does indeed get a price hike. I’ll be downloading it myself to jump into a match now and again but I don’t think one franchise justifies increasing the price of a subscription service.

Oh look! Yet another “dynamic” background that isn’t actually, erm, dynamic.

I was going to buy System Shock but now I’m not sure if I should just wait until it’s in a sale. I’m going to have Hellblade II to play and I’m buying Hypercharge: Unboxed on 31st.

@Bobobiwan I agree, MS/Xbox just never bother marketing their games/consoles. It’ll be interesting to see if CoD will be advertised like PlayStation did when they had the marketing rights. With the money MS has they can definitely afford to put aside millions for the marketing department and start advertising their games and hardware on TV, bus stops, billboards etc but we know they won’t.

I think if CoD was bundled with Series X/S it would help shift many consoles despite being on Game Pass.

The devs know what they are doing with that trailer, showing both Tyson and Usyk knocking each other down, getting the boxing fans hyped up and hoping they pre-order. The timing is just very convenient 😂

It does look great and I will buy it at some point but I very rarely buy games day one at full price (System Shock will be an exception, where the hell is the option to pre-order on the Xbox Store anyway? It releases on Tuesday. Also GTA VI could be £100 and I’d still buy that day one) I think I’ll be waiting for a sale for this one when it goes down to £30 or something.

I still doubt that this will release next year, I can see it being delayed to 2026. If it does release in Fall 2025, I would be very surprised.

This does make business sense given the article from yesterday about PS5 outsold Series X/S almost 5:1

@Savage_Joe I’d still invest in a new Xbox console because I’ve built up my library of games since the 360, I must have about 800+ games. My worry though is that less people will be online on games that don’t have cross-platform and that developers deciding not to bother making an Xbox version due to poor sales because of a small player base, thus lower/poor sales to not making it worth it for them.

It’s such a shame the devs are having to face these entitled muppets who expect the games they are interested in to be included in Game Pass day one. I always sub to GPU every month but I do not expect every game to be included into the service. Are these same trolls going to message Nightdive Studios complaining that System Shock is not being added to Game Pass day one? I think not.

I’ll be buying this day one and will happily pay to support these devs as the game looks phenomenal considering the budget they had and the fact there’s only six of them! It’s great that they are creating the game for both solo and online players, not just one or the other and that progression will carry over regardless of whether you’re online or not. I really hope the game turns out to be a massive success for them.

Also I think some of the commenters on here are getting too hung up on the word ‘try’. He mentioned it once and you’ve just latched onto it. At its current price, the look of the game, the features it has, etc I think £24.99 is a very fair price. There’s a lot of games out there at a similar price or even more expensive that don’t justify their prices, Trail Out being one example which I’ve received a refund for yesterday, I’d pay £10 for it but imo it’s not worth £24.99.

I’m curious about those commenting saying they are not going to renew their GP subscription, what do you do then when you want to play online? That’s one of the main reasons I’ve been subscribing to GPU every month for years, obviously also for the games that get added, I only pay £9 a month from CDkeys. I couldn’t imagine not having it.

@MrMagic It’s still free if I’m already paying for the service anyway for the perks and to access online features. When for example HellBlade 2 is added to the service day one, I’ll download and play that for free because I’m not spending a penny towards it since I’m always going to keep subscribing to GPU regardless, I’m not paying for GPU to play HellBlade 2 it’s just a bonus that it’s being added day one to a service I’m always going to be subscribed to, capiche?

@Weapon_Wheel Although not connected with other Remedy games, don’t forget Lords & Ladies and Dick Justice tv shows! I used to literally stand in front of the tvs in-game and watch each episode as I progressed through the games.

I can’t wait for this and a definite day one purchase but I’m not expecting it to release until 2026 or late 2025 if we’re lucky.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Games on Game Pass are free to me seeing as I subscribe mainly just to play certain games online. It just makes sense to me to get Ultimate for the perks and games. Btw I only pay £9 a month for GPU from CDkeys that’s under £110 a year, I couldn’t even get two £70 games at that price.

I’ve played Max Payne on PC upon its release and the same with Max Payne 2 but on OG Xbox. I now own both OG Xbox versions via BC but I’m still going to get this day one. I can’t really get excited for it as I doubt that it will even release next year, I can see this releasing in 2026.

How come there is no mention of the Atlas Air in the article? I’m still happy with my Xbox wireless headset but if they ever pack in anytime soon I’d look at this 3rd gen Stealth 600.

I bought the original Royal Edition the other day and for what you get it is a steal for just £3.49. The graphics look impressive despite being a 6+ year old Xbox One game, although it is quite janky. The sequel looks a big improvement and I’ll likely get it once it’s very cheap in a sale.

@Kloppo I don’t believe you can play the original in 3rd person but there’s probably a mod on PC to do so if you play it on there.

@Nightcrawler71 Well you start in the game on a suburban street before the bombs drop but after that you play as your character in the bunker. Still it probably is a good idea to get that introduction out the way and sort the character creation and stats out then start a proper play through beyond the vault door when the next-gen update arrives.

The base building isn’t an essential part of the game, you can carry on playing the game without it but I definitely had fun building my base and making it an impregnable fortress. I’d definitely pick the GOTY up for under a tenna, an absolute bargain at that price.

@Tasuki Normally I would agree but after watching just a couple of episodes of Fallout, I think if the same people were involved they would do a very good job of making an Elder Scrolls series. With Fallout they’ve kept it very faithful to the games and despite only being two episodes in, I think its a fantastic series so far.

I do understand that if there ever was an Elder Scrolls series it would be a massive undertaking and a hell of a lot more ambitious with it needing a lot of CGI scenes, many different characters of different races, different locations with forests, snowy mountains etc and the unique architectures. Basically another Game of Thrones with a similar budget.

Surprised Back 4 Blood Ultimate Edition hasn’t made the list with its huge discount from £100 to £10. I’ve just bought it since it’s leaving Game Pass on Monday and I’ve not played any of the DLCs so it was a no brainer getting it for £10.

@Kloppo It’s no more pathetic than BG3’s 10% off deal.

I’m just going to get Dying Light 2: Reloaded Edition, it’s not been under £29.99 in the countless times it’s been on sale so may as well get it at that price.

I cannot wait for these two legendary games. I have both of the OG Xbox versions but I’m still getting these day one. Hoping they get released end of this year or at least beginning of next.

It depends on what specs the PS5 Pro has over the Series X and how long it will be between the release of the next new Xbox console. Not going to lie, if PS5 Pro specs are massively different to Series X and there is significant changes in GTA VI then I’d be complementing buying a PS5 Pro for it.

There should really be a spoiler warning in this article, I’m only on episode two and just read about Vannak 😑

I enjoyed the first episode of this second season and heard it’s only gets better. I’m thinking of doing another playthrough of MCC now I’ve got renewed interest in the Halo universe.

So this doesn’t support any other iPhone other than 15? If so it’s no good for me. I’ve been seeing this other controller that’s like this called Backbone but don’t think it has Hall effects stick though.

I’m glad it’s being well received so far but like others I’m also waiting for the Series X patch before I play these games for the very first time. I hope the patch doesn’t come close to Stalker 2 release as it’ll most likely be jarring going from that to these.

I usually turn the music off in these type of games to get better immersion but it seems the music plays a big part in building up tension so I may leave them on when I get round to playing them.

@homme_parametre Shadow of Chornobyl is already optimised for Series X/S, it’s the other two that will be patched later in the year. Unless all three games will be patched as proper Series X/S versions and not running as backward compatible?

Anybody buying the games individually may want to do so now because it seems there is a price glitch, they are currently £9.99 but are supposed to be £15.99. PlayStation players have got an even better opportunity, the whole bundle is currently £15.99 as opposed to Xbox’s £33.50.

All the people commenting saying it’s not on GP. It’s only £10 for each game and you can’t really expect every new release to be on the service day one.

I’m going to buy Shadow of Chornobyl and see what that’s like, if I like it and complete it then I’ll buy the others.

@Shushibda There isn’t one because you’ll just get questioned by people like me asking why bother take the time to vote on games you have no interest in.

It’s only Indivisible that I’m interested in and Maneater for my son.

@theduckofdeath @InterceptorAlpha I personally find 60fps to be smooth enough. Choosing 120fps at usually a lower resolution like 1080p as well as having less fidelity like less foliage, blurry textures, worse viewing distance etc just isn’t worth it imo. It’s only useful in games like CoD.

I bought this last Monday and been playing it each day since, it’s a great game from a small low budget studio. I’m even going to get the Normandy dlc as I’ve always loved playing the D-Day landings from other WW2 games. It’s even better that we get to play from the German perspective and I love using the MG42 in any game that has it.

As if Obsidian hasn’t angered certain Xbox fans as it is with the recent physical copy advertisement fiasco 😂

Seriously though the difference between 60fps vs 120fps is negligible, I have a tv that can do 144Hz but I’ll always choose 60fps rather than sacrifice graphics/resolution.

@rustyduck Like BowsersBuddy said you’ll have to be tactical in this game and just think of it as an EA Sports game which are all sims. At least you’re not short on options for button mashers like Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat etc.

Probably the most dynamic background yet but I doubt I’ll ever change from the Dead Space Planet background. I’m a sucker for anything space themed.

I’ve just pre-ordered this to take advantage of the 10% discount, looking forward to playing it on Wednesday night. Haven’t played these since the PS1 days.

I’ve just re-installed this to try out its 120fps mode now I’ve finally got my new tv. This is welcome news, I’ll try the new mods out tomorrow.

@Kaloudz They really need to add sword combat and the ability to swim underwater searching for loot in ship wrecks. How/why they decided to omit those in a pirate game is beyond me.

Sea of Thieves is definitely the better game imo, at least that has all the things you’d expect in a pirate game. Black Flag is supposedly getting a remake, I’d certainly be up for buying that.

@Kaloudz Really? I’ve been playing the open beta since this morning and I’m not impressed with it at all. No combat when outside the boat aside from firing cannons while on land? No swimming at all? They call this a pirate game? Several Assassin’s Creed games like Odyssey, Black Flag and Valhalla did it better. I wouldn’t dream of paying £30 for this let alone £70.

@Sakai Thanks for mentioning that Gamesir G7 controller, all I’ve ever wanted was a controller with an anti-stick drift feature and the £49.99 is a decent price. I’m getting myself one as my Turtle Beach Stealth Recon controller now has stick drift. I like how the Gamesir G7 keeps the simple look without all the gimmicky features like EQ modes.

I already own a digital copy so I’m glad this news didn’t catch me off guard, it’s such a good game. Was there no warning at all that the game was going to be delisted? Also whatever the licensing issue was, couldn’t the game of just been patched? Same goes for other games that have music licenses that have expired or certain car manufacturers, just patch them out of the game instead of delisting it completely.

I’ve went ahead and bought Hogwarts Legacy, used my £30 worth of reward points so really only paid £9 of my own money. I’m not starting a proper play through until after I’ve bought my new tv next week, want to take advantage of VRR.

Aw c’mon Hogwarts Legacy (XSX) was 50% off the last time it was on sale. £32.49 certainly makes it look more of a decent price than £38.99

I’ll definitely buy this someday but I’d just be happy with a controller that doesn’t suffer from stick drift after about 4 months. Wasn’t there talk of an anti-stick drift controller or was this it? I’m sure I read about it at the same time when this and a potential new console was leaked.

Quite a few great games coming out this year but it pales in comparison to last year’s releases. It was always going to be tough to top last year’s and I don’t see us getting an amazing year for gaming like 2023 in terms of quantity and quality. 2025 will be all about GTA VI.

Edit: Since the list has recently been updated, the only game I’m interested in buying is Hypercharge Unboxed. Any others that get added to Game Pass I will give them a try. I like the look of Undisputed but not paying £50 so I’ll wait until it’s in a sale for about £25.

I hope both Hogwarts Legacy and Hitman World of Assassination will be in the sale at similar prices as last Christmas. I held off thinking I’d put the money towards something for this year but there’s nothing I’d want, all the games I’m interested in are coming to Game Pass.