Richard Armitt, Author at koru-cottage.com

September 1, 2022September 1, 2022 Richard Armitt 845 Views Naughty Dog, Playstation, The Last of Us, TLOU

The Last of Us, Remake PS5

The Last of Us is unmistakable, a game that delivered a swansong for the PS3 in 2013 and got the re-up treatment for the PS4 in the years that followed.

Here we are now, nine years later and revisiting the beginning of the story, again. That’s not a bad thing either, basically Guy said it in a nutshell “my personal top game of the PS3 and PS4 generation is getting a facelift for the PS5”.

So in lieu of being able to record ourselves rambling about the game all night, we thought we’d share a condensed version of our thoughts here.

Gaming Game Reviews PC / Mac PS5 Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

August 27, 2022August 28, 2022 Richard Armitt 652 Views Crass, Destruction, Gangster, Open World, Saints Row, Third Person

Saints Row, Review

Saints Row, a franchise that has been around the block a few times. Originally landing as a semi-serious alternative to GTA, but with its tongue firmly planted in a cheek. Nature of cheek to be confirmed.

Over the years the games have transitioned into bawdy locker room joke fest with some absolutely ridiculous scenarios. Arguably for the fanbase, the more ridiculous they get the better.

You can’t mistake a Saint’s game. Over the top weapons, puerile humour and hi-octane, yet forgiving action. This iteration does bear those marks, but…

Gaming Byte Size Review PS4 PS5 Switch Console

August 9, 2022August 9, 2022 Richard Armitt 1209 Views Amiga, GENESIS, Platformer, Retro, Run and Gun, SNES, Turrican

Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 & 2, Switch Review

What’s better than yearning after some retro Turrican goodness? Playing all the Turrican versions on Switch of course!

Turrican holds strong ground in my Amiga memories, I know I played a couple of them right through. Although I cant remember exactly which episodes they were.

That said the gameplay was always strong, wide open levels, secrets, enemies and upgrades. There was a forgiving respawn system and enemies stayed dead, which was nice.

Gaming Hardware Hardware Reviews PC / Mac PS5 Xbox Series X

June 21, 2022June 21, 2022 Richard Armitt 1739 Views 3d Sound, JBL, Quantum 610, Quantum Gaming Headsets, Wireless

JBL Quantum 610 Wireless, review

I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last few weeks playing with the JBL Quantum 610 Wireless headset. As laid out in my review of the 600’s the brand is solid, so here we are with an upgrade.

I think it’s only fair to get this out of the way. This is a seriously good headset.

Gaming Hardware Hardware Reviews PC / Mac

May 17, 2022May 17, 2022 Richard Armitt 1112 Views LED, Lightweight, Mouse, Steelseries

Aerox 9 Wireless Mouse

A long time ago a mouse for me was a wired device with a dust gathering ball at its heart.

The Aerox 9 proves we are a long way past the days of white spirit soaked cotton-buds. Before getting the chance to review a ‘real’ gaming mouse, I wouldn’t walk past the budget mice.

I mean, they all point and click, right?

I’m never too proud to say I was wrong.

Gaming Hardware Hardware Reviews

May 5, 2022May 5, 2022 Richard Armitt 1599 Views Amiga, Commodore64, KochMediaANZ, Mini, Retro, Retrobiz

A500 Mini, review

If the Commodore64 signified my formative years in gaming, then the Amiga 500 dragged me through my angsty teens.

The leap from 8-bit to 16-bit was enormous, the leap in quality and engagement groundbreaking.

Not forgetting the transition from twiddling Azimuth Heads on a tape drive to the joy of slotting in a floppy disc or six.

Hardware Gaming Hardware Reviews PC / Mac

May 1, 2022May 1, 2022 Richard Armitt 1332 Views Bluetooth, EPOS, H3PRO, H6PRO, Headset, Wireless

H3PRO Hybrid, review

Back in November last year I reviewed the EPOS H6PRO, now its fancier relative the H3PRO Hybrid steps up.

Where the previous set was a wired option that did exactly what it said on the tin. The H3PRO Hybrid offers up a fistful of possibilities, even down to mixing mobile calls with gaming audio.

The H3PRO Hybrid is a headset for today’s world and will suit multi-platform gamers that also need to hit Microsoft Teams during the day.

Gaming Dualsense Game Reviews Playstation PS5

April 7, 2022April 10, 2022 Richard Armitt 935 Views Dual, FPS, Ghostwire, Horror, Magic, Open World, Yokai

Ghostwire: Tokyo, review

A short while ago I was privy to a Ghostwire: Tokyo preview. I came away from that session quite excited for the game, a new I.P. with some exciting mechanics, it looked like a shot in the arm for FPS open world genre games.

In reality, having had the chance to spend some time with the game, the new I.P. feeling still stands, but beneath the surface there are doubts.

Gaming Game Reviews Playstation PS5 Sony

March 2, 2022March 2, 2022 Richard Armitt 1989 Views Driving Sim, Dualsense, Gran Turismo, PS5, Racing, Sony

Gran Turismo 7, review

Playstation owners now get treated to another top tier exclusive, Gran Turismo 7 (GT7).

Polyphony Digital has kept in step with it’s other first party stablemates, by making sure GT7 boasts all the quality and polish we all now expect from Playstation Studios exclusives.

Gran Turismo was the racing-sim gold standard for years, it’s been almost a decade since a numbered release in the series.

I’m pleased to say, GT7 is here to confirm there is no doubt who takes pole position in the driving sim standings.

Feature Article Gaming PS5

February 5, 2022January 29, 2022 Richard Armitt 1487 Views Bethesda, FPS, supernatural, Tokyo

Ghostwire Tokyo, preview

Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to watch an invite only Ghostwire Protocol preview, hosted by Bethesda Europe’s Kye Sutton.

Apart from the odd teaser Ghostwire Protocol was pretty much an unknown to me. I went in both cold and ready to be sold. What I came away with was a warm feeling of excitement and a new IP to look forward to.

Gaming Dualsense Game Reviews Playstation PS5 Sony

January 31, 2022January 31, 2022 Richard Armitt 1190 Views 4K HDR, Chloe Frazer, Dualsense, Nathan Drake, Naughty Dog, Uncharted

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection

For more than a decade we’ve been friends of Nathan Drake here at the Cottage.

We’ve re-trod old ground with the previous Drake Collection, been wowed by Uncharted 4 and Guy thoroughly enjoyed Lost Legacy.

It’s been a journey, fraught with miraculous leaps, ferocious beasts, all manner of mercenaries and often faultless Naughty Dog narrative.

Now in Legacy of Thieves we get to re-play the two most recent games, Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy in glorious PS5 vision.