Gaming

Lifestyle photo for Fitbit Inspire 2.
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Fitbit: Inspire 2 – Review

Guy 2494 Views ,  , 

The Fitbit Inspire 2 sits in the mid-level device slot of the 2020 Summer range, but it is by no means limited in features.

Back in May, I reviewed the Fitbit Charge 4 and found it a great tool to help in my training. Over the following months I have come to really rely on it for exercise goal setting and feedback.

The new range of Fitbits are dropping for summer,  so it seemed fitting for me to take some of the new devices for a test run…(yep, I meant that pun)

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Star Wars Squadrons
GamingGame ReviewsPS4PSVRXbox One

Star Wars: Squadrons (Playstation 4 + PSVR)

Guy 1870 Views ,  ,  , 

Star Wars Squadrons, you say?

The close of 2020 is fast approaching, not to mention the end of the current generation of consoles. I for one did not expect this late in the piece to be blindsided by a wee budget priced title made by EA!? of all publishers, to come out of nowhere and insert itself squarely in my 2020 game of the year considerations.

Finally someone at EA has seen fit to make a game worthy of the juggernaut IP that is Star Wars. And to boot, they have drawn heavily from one of the all-time great video games of the past Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Back in 1998 it was THE flight/space combat game to play. It has baffled many a gamer pundit why it has been over 20 years since we could strap on an X-Wing at shoot stuff.

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Mafia Definitive Edition
GamingGame ReviewsPC / MacPS4Xbox One

Mafia Definitive Edition, PC Review

Richard Armitt 2098 Views ,  , 

With the release of Mafia Definitive Edition last month, 2K’s Mafia trilogy is now complete. 

When I reviewed Mafia 2 in August this year, I ended my review (based on the lacklustre Mafia 2 remaster) by saying: “I can’t recommend this package right now, especially given it’s incomplete until Mafia is released in August.”

Well, now that I have finished Mafia Definitive Edition, my verdict is easy: It’s definitely worth your time. Especially with the love that has been lavished in updating the original Mafia for today’s modern gamer.

A game that tells the rise [then fall] of Lost Heaven (New York) taxi driver Tommy Angelo through the ranks of a feared crime family during the 1930s.

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Pick Up Quick!
GamingFeature ArticlePS4PSNetwork

Pick Up Quick! Developer interview: Be an eco warrior on your PS4

Gerard Campbell 1363 Views ,  ,  , 

Originally Posted on www.gamejunkie.co.nz by Gerard

Those of you that have combed through the vast amount of user-generated content in PlayStation’s Dreams may have come across Pick Up Quick!, a game launched by Sustainable Coastlines and designed to tackle the problem of litter on New Zealand beaches and encourage players to combat the issue in real life.

Us New Zealanders love our beaches but we’re a bit disconnected in some ways from the fact that we are polluting them. The aim here is to inform young players around what the issues are on our beaches. Despite our “clean and green” image, we’ve got a lot of work to do.

Pick Up Quick! is available through Dreams on the PlayStation 4.

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GamingByte Size ReviewPC / Mac

Partisans 1941, Byte Size Review (PC)

Barrie Clarke 2004 Views , 

It definitely isn’t all quiet on the Eastern Front in Partisans 1941, as the Germans push forward in an attempt to occupy the Soviet Union in the name of the Fuhrer.

As a proud child of the Motherland it is your duty to gather fellow Partisans and protect your homeland from the invaders.

So gather up your warmest coat, some vodka, and a trusty weapon and lets kick those nasty Germans back to Berlin.

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Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning
GamingByte Size ReviewPC / MacPS3PS4Xbox Onexbox360

Kingdoms of Amalur, Re-Reckoning, Re-view

Richard Armitt 1470 Views , 

Kingdoms of Amalur on the xbox360 was a cult hit before it stopped being mainstream. Action RPG fans loved it and even with rough edges, it had popular appeal. There weren’t many gamers of that age that didn’t glass over and have nice things to say about it.

There’s always a game you regret selling or trading, for me this was it.

When I heard that KoA: Reckoning was getting the HD treatment, I was over the moon. One of those games that guided us out of the last generation with fond memories. I thought I knew it fairly well, but the first couple of hours were not lodged in my memory.

I selected my character, for some reason a shapely dark elf (again) and set off.

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Ride 4
GamingGame ReviewsPS4PS5Xbox OneXbox Series X

Ride 4 Review (Xbox One X)

Barrie Clarke 1712 Views ,  ,  ,  , 

Here in New Zealand Spring is in full swing and the weather is warming up. Cue all the fair weather motorcycle riders dusting off their leathers. I prefer to take to two wheels in a safer manner, from the comfort of the couch. And the Ride Series has been cruising along since 2015 for just that purpose.

And here in 2020 is Ride 4.

So the time is here to dress in tight leather and stick some high powered machinery between my legs. Lets ride!

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Serious Sam 4
GamingGame ReviewsPC / MacPS4Xbox One

Serious Sam 4 (PC review)

Gerard Campbell 1288 Views ,  ,  ,  , 

The Serious Sam games have always been about staying on the move, especially when the going gets tough and the odds are stacked against you – and in Serious Sam  games the odds are always stacked against you.

The first Serious Same game graced PCs way back in 2001, and in the intervening years there have been a few games bearing the Serious Same moniker.

The series’ core gameplay has always remained the same: throwing countless numbers of enemies against the player, forcing them to keep moving. Circle strafing and running backwards so as to avoid the enemy onslaught and their attacks.

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Crysis: 2011
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Crysis: Remastered, PS4 Byte Size Review

Guy 1701 Views ,  ,  ,  , 

Crysis (Remastered) is one of those touchstone titles that most gamers have heard about, being released on PC back in 2007 to rave reviews. It was the “Ultimate Test” of a PCs graphical prowess.

Later in 2011 Crysis landed on Console, which is where I experienced it on the Xbox 360. Even in the paired down console version, I loved it, its was beautiful, unique and I even got 1000/1000 achievement points!

13 years have passed since its initial release. Which is a long time in game design terms. Unfortunately, even though Crysis has had the “Remaster treatment” to make it all pretty, the titles old bones are showing their age.

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Street Power Football
Byte Size ReviewGamingPS4Switch ConsoleVideo ContentXbox One

Street Power Football, PS4 Byte Size Review

Richard Armitt 1635 Views ,  ,  ,  , 

Street Power Football is a mixed bag of soccer stuff. Delivering six distinctly different game modes to  a pumping beat, while they are somewhat linked it feels at times like an identity crisis.

It’s soccer Jim, but not as we know it.

That’s the crux of it, the core of the game is about 3 vs 3 Street Soccer, end to end short and snappy games. Most often decided by who made the fewer mistakes, like NBA Street the game is quick, chock full of power-ups and “character”.

I love a good soccer game, having spent my formative years in the U.K. it goes without saying. While I can appreciate the niche for flashy moves, lycra and the odd Panna. I find the game lacks subtlety and doesn’t hit my sweet spot, which is obviously  touch slower.

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Control: AWE DLC
Byte Size ReviewGamingPC / MacPS4Xbox One

Control: AWE DLC (PS4)

Guy 1711 Views ,  ,  , 

I am a big fan of Control. I said pretty nice things a year ago in my review, such as…”It was mind-bendingly magical”. It was even my Game of the Year for 2019!

So, any offer to dive back into Controls twisted world is met with giddy laughs of excitement and much wringing of hands.

The second and final (AWE) DLC for Control has just arrived. Remedy have fully bridged the world of Alan Wake and Control in this 3-4hr DLC pack. I won’t spoil any story from here on in, but suffice is to say. Mr Wake’s typewriter is hard at work leading Jesse into darkness, hunting an escaped Bright Falls monster who is loose in the Strange House.

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