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World War Z Review – Xbox One X

World War Z, the game is based on the 2013 movie which is based on the 2006 book by Max Brooks. But I’ll add a word to that last sentence, LOOSELY, as the movie is loosely based on the book, the game is loosely based on both source materials, very loosely based.

What makes World War Z stand out in the crowded herd of zombie books, movies, and games is pretty obvious for anyone who has seen the movie is the speed and swarm-like behaviour of the zombies. Whether it is stacking up against barriers to use combined weight to bring it down or making a massive pile of zombies to scale over walls, the World War Z zeds are fast, big in numbers, and have an incredibly dangerous herd mentality. For me it is the one thing that saves the game from disappearing into the pile of slain zombie games.

But with its cheaper price point and swarming zombies World War Z is a blast, so check out World War Z or be left 4 dead…

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Falcon Age, PSVR Review

Since launch PSVR has been a platform full of experiences and a lot of them either off the wall or surprisingly original. Falcon Age probably sits in those two camps with a 20/80 split.

A brave new single player experience from Outerloop Games, a Seattle based Indie company with a pretty tight team roster. It shows in the way the game has been crafted, it is deep without being complex and does exactly what it needs to. Built from the ground up as a VR title the game is a sci-fi adventure in the shoes of Ara, a young girl imprisoned by some temperamental robots on a barren planet.

Pretty straightforward then, the first few game days get you into the control scheme nicely by running some prison day-to-day routines and forcing you to converse with one of your captors. Some of the humour, writing and art style here start to feel like a nod toward Portal and that’s okay.

It’s a setting that serves the purpose of the story, but feels light on structure, which isn’t that big a deal when you remember this is a game, in VR where you can fist-bump your Falcon before sending it off to rip up a rabbit.

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Byte Size – Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, PS4

Borderlands, a franchise and a genre flag bearer.

Now we get to go back to where it all began – with all DLC and shiny new graphics along with a few tweaks here and there.

As a warm up to Borderlands 3 this is the perfect introduction for players that weren’t around ten years ago. Fire up the Hype Train there’s a new ‘Old Loot Shooter’ in town.

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LucidSound LS41 7.1 Headphones, Video Review

LucidSound is a relatively new kid on the block in the world of headsets, but they have put their flag in the sand and launched with a specific focus on gamers.

LucidSound shipped their first headset in March 2016, but they have some history in the gaming audio space, as the founder Chris Von Huben, was the founder of the very successful Triton gaming accessories company, which he sold to MadCatz in 2014ish, he then went on to start LucidSound.

Von Huben indicated he wanted to bring the aesthetic of Beats by Dre but build in the natural core control schemes gamers need.

The LS41 is the 2019 flagship 7.1 wireless model for LucidSound and it certainly holds true to the idea of being the ‘Beats’ headphones for gamers. Well made with excellent features and are now my go-to PS4 headset, hands-down. I love them.

Check out the full Video Review below and remember to Click, Like and Share.

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The Division 2 – PS4 Review

I’m taking my time with The Division 2, partly because of commitments, but mostly because I am enjoying it so much.

Back in the late seventies I grew up on a diet of movies and books, the ones that stuck were the post apocalyptic adventures. There was something about being stranded in an empty world, picking over the ruins left by society that appealed to me deep down, I mean really deep down.

Here we are three years later in 2019, the world we live in is bit more crazy, while the world of The Division has moved on about seven months, which is allegedly enough time for you to have cleaned up New York. Once you get the introduction out of the way and open up your path to the White House the game kicks in proper and boy, it really delivers straight up.

The Division 2 is a rare beast, its a game that arrived fully finished, fully tested and fully delivers on its promises. Me, I’ll still be filling my kleptomaniac pockets as I trawl my way through the incredibly detailed vision of Washington.

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Byte Size – Dead Or Alive 6 Review (Xbox One X)

The latest in the titillating fighting franchise is here and packs everything you would expect into a nicely rounded package.  Team Ninja have continued with the plethora of scantily clad girls who can kick butt. And thanks to the latest generation of gaming equipment you get to witness all the bouncing and jiggling that goes with the high intensity combat. And just for full disclosure, I am terrible at fighting games and resort to full on button mashing 99% of the time.

The Good – Underneath all the eye candy is a solid and smooth fighting game. There are tons of moves and combos to learn for those who are inclined to do so, but for mashers like me there is still plenty of fun to be had.

The Bad – This is easy, unfortunately. Well for Xbox anyway. The online side of things is almost completely devoid of players. And considering the type of competitive game we have here this is a real problem.

The Unlocks! – So at release there are 27 fighters each with different costumes, hair styles, glasses, and god knows what else to unlock. Now for me this is a nightmare. I like to have everything in a game, call me a completionist if you will. But the time needed to unlock everything here would be huge.

Anyway, if you want a fighting game DOA6 is still one of the breast, umm, best.

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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, PS4 Video Review

Over the last 10 years From Software games Demon Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodborne have  become the measure for what is ‘hard’ when talking about modern video game difficulty. Their latest offering, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, once again puts controllers all round the world at grave risk, as frustrated gamers seek some catharsis by hurling them across the room or plain old snapping them in half.

Souls and Bloodborne fans will likely love this game, certainly once they have adapted to the much faster movement. But if you bounced off previous From Software titles due to the level of controller snapping difficulty….then Sekiro: Shadows Die twice is not here to change your mind.

2 for the price of 1! Words and Moving Pictures from Browncoat – be sure to click the video thingy!

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Byte Size – The Wizards Enhanced Edition, PSVR Review

Harry Potter is a shit Wizard, make no mistake.

In my youth, when books were still a big thing I had firm favourites in the Wizarding space, these guys were qualified as Wizards because they actually did proper magic and I loved it, and I wanted to do it too.

The Good – Casting spells! With your hands!

The Bad – Old School level design and AI.

The Ugly – 2006 called, they want their textures back!

Overall it is a fun game, while being a throwback to the nineties in look and level feel it offers plenty of suspended disbelief as you creep around looking for the next encounter and spend a few minutes fervently creating and using spells.

It is a game I will go back to and certainly puts the power in your hands.

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Anthem – Post release considerations, PS4

Anthem, you will have heard of it no doubt. Anybody with the slightest toe dipped in to Gaming, Social Media or having seen the odd Bus drive past will be familiar. Being the latest title from Bioware the stakes were high and it has to be said, Bioware fans can be a fervent pack when they are poked with a stick. Let’s be straight up from the front.

The company has delivered a game that does not stick to their modus operandi, fair enough, but the fans didn’t know and they’re upset.

The company has tried to deliver a game du jour, moderately massively persistently online, bullet sponge enemies and heaps of customisation.

The company has actually delivered a flawed, but fun game that can be enjoyed on different levels if you forgive a few structural issues.

This is probably a good time to say, this isn’t a review in the traditional sense, there are various reasons for that, but the key ones will be the method of Anthem’s launch and popularisation, alongside the pack mentality and vocal rejection of the game by anybody with a phone and some data for Twitter.

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Byte Size – Guns ‘n’ Stories: Bulletproof, PSVR Review

Waveshooters have unfortunately been the staple diet of the Playstation VR for over 2 years, Guns’n’Stories: Bulletproof is no different.

The Good – The variety of weapons and the changing game-world was entertaining, as it kept me on my toes over the roughly 90min romp.

The Bad – It’s a wave shooter that does little to revolutionise the genre and frankly there are better titles on PSVR that should be played first.

The Ugly – The missions are just too long and overstay their welcome.

This is far from a ‘must buy’, but it actually looks quiet good and is mechanically sound to play. Simply put, it was a fun way for me and the kids to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. It has to be given credit for doing what it says on the box and doing it well. There are GUNS, and they are fun. There are STORIES, and they are (at times) quite funny.

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Byte Size – Far Cry New Dawn Review (Xbox One X)

Returning to Hope County 17 years and a nuclear war after the events of Far Cry 5 finds the county some what brighter than one would expect.

The Good – It is the Far Cry 5 we all know and love, but with and excellent splash of colour and some RPG-lite elements thrown in.

The Bad – Like Far Cry 5 you can have an ally along side to help out. Just don’t rely on them to get the job done.

The New – Since the map is effectively the same as Far Cry 5 the addition of Expeditions has been made to create a bit of variety. The Expedition maps themselves are a good mix and some pretty cool locations too.

Overall I found Far Cry New Dawn more engaging that Far Cry 5, considering this is just a re-skin, and what some would argue should have been just a DLC, it shows it has something special.

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