Posts By Mat Growcott

There’s been a lot of talk lately about Overwatch 2, and the value that it actually brings to the franchise. When you’ve been waiting years for a sequel, finding out it isn’t adding that much content is a little disappointing. There have also been questions about its new structure. Can 5v5 work as well as 6v6? Does losing a tank make that big a difference? It has been a mixed response. It’s a few months until release though, and ...

Partly because of leakers, partly because of Covid – the Summer game events over the past few weeks have proven that the era of megaton gaming news is basically gone. That might sound extreme, but it’s true. Outside of billion-dollar acquisitions, when was the last time we were truly surprised by something? And acquisitions aren’t something we want often enough to make up for the quiet. Everybody wants to announce their new game like ...

Final Fantasy VII Remake came to Steam last night. It’s been on PC via the Epic Game Store for six months, and was on PlayStation platforms for 18 months before that. It’s time, Square Enix – bring it to Xbox. I’m the biggest fan of these games. We shelled out on the special edition of the Remake, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. I loved the DLC too. With its availability slowly expanding, it doesn’t seem like ...

Want to feel nostalgic for the good old days? Be a PlayStation Plus subscriber in Europe and suddenly it’ll feel like the year 2000 all over again. Message boards are full of excited people analysing the minute details of Sony’s new subscription service. Japanese and American fans are comparing lists, celebrating engorged backlogs, and wondering what fantastic PS1 and PS2 games will be coming next. And us here in Europe are watching from afar, like ...

Rose-tinted glasses have hurt the discourse around The Last of Us: Part I, the pretentiously named remake of the original PlayStation classic. I enjoyed it too back in 2013. I enjoyed it less this decade. In the last ten years, games have changed enormously. Naughty Dog games have changed enormously. The Last of Us feels old. Even putting the remaster in 4k can’t change the cobwebs in the level design. I’m taking the comments about The Last of Us ...

Today we’re putting aside the irreverent gaming commentary to bring you the most important fact from yesterday’s Xbox conference. Despite the apparent surprise from huge swathes of the gaming community, Starfield is indeed a Bethesda game. I can sympathize. Really I can. You follow a game for years and years, straight from its announcement at the Bethesda conference. You expect a brand new Bethesda RPG in space. Then the day comes: gameplay for the ...

It’s been some 15 years since I first started covering E3 and it’s been almost like a religious holiday to me ever since. It’s Christmas without the drunken uncle and his racist rants. It was pretty obvious that it was on its last legs these past few years. What can the organisers possibly offer today that publishers can’t just do themselves online? “Come be part of our big named event – bring money”. As a business, it ...

Dead teenagers, a talking teddy bear, endless mysteries – it’s no wonder Danganronpa became a massive thing when it was first released ten years ago. Now the Trigger Happy Havoc anniversary edition brings that classic visual novel to a new audience. And it remains just as fun. You wake up in an abandoned school with a group of strangers. The only way to escape is to not only kill someone, but to get away with it. The group promises not…

The first look at Sonic Frontiers has proven to be quietly popular with fans – it is a Sonic game after all. Panic comes later. The disappointment traditionally comes with every subsequent trailer. And then even with release. It is a Sonic tradition. Personally, I hope this one bucks the trend, but we’ll have to wait and see. I feel slightly more expert than most on this topic. Long-time readers (Hi Mom) will know my wife and I are in…

Rumours are that new higher-tier consoles will be released next year. The PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X-2 will offer up a higher graphical fidelity and no doubt other bells and whistles too. But what’s the point where there aren’t any games? Neither console has got to the point where it deserves an upgrade. It’s as simple as that. The PS Pro and One X were desperately needed. 4K televisions had become more popular. Graphics had increased, but ...