thecou..toolkit

While the Nintendo Switch has become a welcome home for all manner of ports, comprehensive remasters have been in short supply. The most we’ve seen is subtle visual enhancements and a few extra bits of content. That is, until now – with Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition setting a new benchmark for remasters on the console, while also cementing itself as one of its finest RPGs yet. 

Initially released for the Nintendo Wii back in 2010, Monolith Soft’s sprawling adventure has been on a strange journey ever since. It was ported to the New Nintendo 3DS with enhanced visuals and a few new additions before arriving on the Wii U’s virtual console. Following this, a stunning set of sequels came in the form of Xenoblade Chronicles X and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. After an excellent expansion for the latter, things went silent. 

We’re back in the swing of things now, with a gorgeous remaster of the cult classic which introduces a tonne of new content and welcome quality-of-life changes. This is now the best way to experience Xenoblade Chronicles, and will hopefully introduce an underappreciated gem to a much wider audience. Just be ready to stomach disgustingly British dialogue throughout the colossal campaign. 

Related: Best Switch Games

Xenoblade Chronicles has an extraordinary setting. The world you explore is situated across two monolithic titans known as Bionis and Mechonis. Once caught in an epic battle, the giants dealt the killing blow at precisely the same time, leaving one another in permanent stasis as life slowly began to form on their flourishing surfaces. Bionis houses organic life, while Mechonis is home to hostile machine lifeforms.

The races that live amongst these two titans soon come into conflict, partaking in wars that persist for decades on end. You’ll explore the contextual importance of these battles and the political relevance behind them throughout the campaign, delving into Xenoblade Chronicles’ universe in some fascinating ways. Monolith Soft has done a wonderful job making its world feel alive, largely because it’s so uncompromising in its size and leaves it all for the player to uncover. 

You play as Shulk, who at first glance, is your typical JRPG protagonist. He’s got no parents, a mysterious past and suffers a personal loss in the opening hours that result in him embarking on an epic adventure. From here, you’ll meet an increasingly compelling range of characters each with their own quirks and motivations. It’s hard to describe exactly how huge the world of Xenoblade Chronicles is. Some areas take several minutes to navigate, leading me to wish desperately for some form of sprint button or mount. 

Tedious traversal aside, exploring the various biomes of these titans is a joy. You’ll stumble clumsily through their innards before emerging onto sprawling fields awash with natural life and ancient secrets to uncover. There’s a tremendous amount of locations across the massive campaign, which will take most players upwards of 80 hours to complete. Veterans might have an easier time seeing things through to access new content, but I’d recommend taking your sweet time with this one. 

Related: Metroid Prime 4

Xenoblade Chronicles features a real-time battle system where you control a single character issuing commands and manoeuvring around enemies taking clever advantage of their emerging vulnerabilities. The majority of foes pose a decent challenge, even the smallest of monsters capable of wiping your party if you’re careless. You’ll need to stagger certain monsters or break down their shields to deal damage; a mechanic which plays an integral part in most major boss battles. 

You can switch characters from the main menu at any point if you’re after a change of pace, opting for healers or tanks instead of Shulk – who is a relative all-rounder when it comes to abilities that damage, heal and support your allies. However, if you want to take on a healing role and don’t have a solid understanding of the battle’s rhythmic habits, you’ll be dead in seconds. I opted with Shulk for most of the game since the AI was more than capable of keeping me alive. 

Link Attacks is where party dynamics come home to roost. Much like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, time pauses as the entire party executes attacks which can combine together to deal obscene amounts of damage. If done correctly, you can both stagger an enemy and kill them in one fell swoop. Executing these commands flawlessly is so satisfying, and provides major conflicts with a dynamic dramatism perfectly befitting of the anime melodrama that precedes them.  

Related: Nintendo Switch 2

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition tells a fantastic story, which is surprisingly well-paced given its obscene length. Significant moments are scattered through the campaign with enough twists and turns that I remained fully invested. Shulk is a compelling lead surrounded by an equally impressive range of supporting characters. It’s impressive how much diversity is squeezed into the game’s cast, which ranges from childhood friends to mourning refugees and half-human half-alien princesses.

While many find it charming, the overly British voice acting will be jarring to some. It’s not delivered particularly well but is served with enough campy conviction that its narrative touchstones land. Those who prefer the original options can switch to Japanese dialogue whenever they like, and I swapped between them a handful of times throughout my playthrough to see how certain moments landed in different tongues. They’re both excellent, even if the hit-and-miss nature of the English dub leaves something to be desired. 

The epic main narrative isn’t the only event of significance throughout Xenoblade Chronicles. You can also delve into the backstories and elements of other characters by participating in “heart-to-heart” conversations. These are situated throughout the game’s world, and can only be activated after reaching a certain level of relationship with each character. You accomplish these by participating in battles or completing quests, establishing a chemistry which benefits you both in and outside of combat. 

Side activities like this are scattered throughout Xenoblade Chronicles in the form of optional dialogue and all manner of side quests. Sadly, these are mostly the form of busywork that many neighbouring adventures in the genre have outgrown. You’ll be tasked with collecting objects or killing a certain number of enemies to earn random items and experience. It’s a means of levelling up your party and little more, which is a shame since everything else in this world feels so alive and full of flavour. 

Related: PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition includes a new epilogue known as Future Connected. Taking place a year after the original game’s events, it assumes you are completely familiar with its story and characters. Shulk and Melia find themselves crash landing on a new landmass and are tasked with repairing their ship and investigating the strange circumstances behind their situation. It’s an engaging and lengthy new chapter into the world of Xenoblade, and one which I hope is built upon further in the future. 

Future Connected is more than just a by-the-numbers continuation, and Monolith Soft has made an effort to differentiate its core mechanics from the base game. Shulk can no longer conjure visions; pictures of the future which provide you with a warning of deadly incoming strikes. Link Attacks have also been changed up, forcing you to re-evaluate habits you’ve spent dozens of hours learning. It’s refreshing, especially for those who jump into this epilogue seconds after clearing the main campaign.

Coming in at roughly 10-12 hours, Future Connected is robust enough that returning players won’t feel cheated by what Definitive Edition has to offer. Updated character designs, a vast new region to uncover and plentiful new story beats help it stand proudly alongside its larger sibling, even if the experience itself is somewhat fleeting. Xenoblade Chronicles doesn’t revel in the same level of anime excess as its successor, striking a strong balance between traditional archetypes and an aesthetic it establishes as its own.

Verdict

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is a triumphant return for a JRPG classic. It doesn’t change enough to attract previous doubters, yet enhances the foundations in a number of tremendous ways. It’s never looked, sounded or played as good before, meaning it’s the perfect time for eager newcomers and familiar adventurers to jump in.

The post Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Ever since Microsoft purchased Minecraft for an absurdly high asking price, we’ve been waiting to see how the franchise would burst outside of its traditional mould of building and exploration. The billion-dollar idea is still growing and expanding in some fascinating ways, but the franchise has so much untapped potential outside this template. Now, after years of waiting, Mojang has finally unleashed Minecraft Dungeons. 

The game is essentially a more approachable version of Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo with a Minecraft twist, throwing you and a group of three friends into a mixture of randomly generated monster-filled dungeons, loot and other alluring secrets to uncover. While it presents a bunch of fascinating twists on the genre, Minecraft Dungeons is far too short and lightweight to have genuine lasting appeal. 

Related: Best Xbox One Games 

Minecraft Dungeons begins by lightly establishing its narrative. A young villager stumbles into some ancient ruins and discovers a powerful artefact. Upon touching it, he gains magical powers and inevitably transforms into an evil tyrant intent on enslaving the populace. As a brave adventurer, you aren’t having any of this nonsense and promptly volunteer to stop him. 

Beyond a few playful pieces of introductory narration before and after each mission, the story takes a backseat, merely acting as a contextual dressing for your adventure more than anything else. Minecraft has never been about its story; it expects players to craft their own journeys instead of depending on an expanding library of lore. Dungeons is very much the same, even if it does succeed in adding a bit of extra flavour to things. 

The simplicity of Minecraft Dungeons is apparent from the opening mission. Played from a third-person perspective, you will explore a series of randomly generated dungeons seeking to earn loot and complete a selection of different objectives. You have a single dedicated attack button, used to slash away foes by the hundreds as they rush towards you. 

Obviously, this isn’t your only means of offence, with each adventurer outfitted with a ranged weapon and a trio of artefacts. The latter is essentially your special abilities, normally consisting of temporary buffs or explosive magic that can damage multiple adversaries at once. All of these combine to give combat a rhythmic flow, with encounters forcing you to make frequent use of each element to avoid certain death. 

Related: Halo Infinite

Even with all of these components, without some additional refinement, they would feel tremendously light. Dungeons remedies this with the addition of enchantments. With the exception of artefacts, every piece of equipment in Minecraft has myriad secondary abilities you can earn by investing enchantment points, which themselves are earned by levelling up. 

It’s a neat progression system and only grows more sophisticated as you tackle harder difficulties after the first three to four hours of playthrough. Here you’ll also receive rarer loot and enchanted enemies not found on the default setting. It’s a shame you don’t unlock these additional modes until after finishing the first one, so those immediately after a more challenging experience might be underwhelmed at first. 

Between levels, you’ll return to a hub world where a couple of merchants allow you to exchange emeralds for random loot drops. Unfortunately, these are mostly useless and of a common rarity, which I rarely found myself using since they’re either not much fun to use or lacking in the attributes required to tackle tougher levels. 

Beyond a house filled with bland memorabilia, the hub world feels like a glorified menu screen, and aside from partying up with friends before each stage, it really doesn’t serve much of a purpose. With content updates planned for after release, I hope this grows into something more worthwhile, since the potential is completely wasted. Minecraft Dungeons is awash with personality elsewhere, but almost none of it surfaces here. 

Related: Everything we know about Xbox Series X

Levels range from enchanted forests, boggy swamps and ancient temples – all of which are constructed with pieces and accessories you’d find in Minecraft. Like Dreams or LittleBigPlanet, it feels like talented creators outside of Mojang could build these arenas themselves with enough time and talent. Given that many stages are randomly generated, this is a commendable feat.

Replaying levels is enjoyable, but doesn’t offer quite enough variety to match the likes of Diablo and other juggernauts in the genre. Swapping out equipment on a regular basis and applying enchantments is a satisfying affair, and is evidently gears towards younger players with how trivial it is to understand and take advantage of its mechanics. This is no bad thing – and I’m excited to see if this invites a whole new audience of players to an underappreciated genre. 

Verdict

Minecraft Dungeons is a solid dungeon crawler that will work wonders with younger audiences taking their first step into the genre, although will leave experienced players wanting something more significant. A brief campaign and underdeveloped hub world prevent it from achieving greatness, yet I can’t help but be impressed by the foundation Mojang Studios has built here.

The post Minecraft Dungeons Review appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Saints Row The Third has always been considered Volition Studio’s magnum opus. It struck a perfect balance between self-indulgent excess and brave new ideas, forming to create a compelling parody of the open-world genre. What started as a playful riff on some of gaming’s biggest franchises morphed into something equally ambitious and something that stands the test of time after all the years. 

Well – most of it has. Saints Row The Third Remastered is a faithful revival of the 2011 original, translating the city of Steelport and all its jankiness over to new platforms with a shiny new coat of paint. It’s a wacky adventure worth revisiting, even if its juvenile sense of humour and somewhat archaic combat hinder what could’ve been a truly stunning remaster. 

Related: Upcoming Xbox One Games

While its predecessors were largely straight-laced escapades into a fictional city’s criminal underworld, Saints Row The Third abandons any pretence of seriousness in favour of a world and characters that constantly poke fun at themselves. The small-time gangsters are now global celebrities starring in Japanese commercials and flogging merchandise through tacky storefronts spread across their city. They aim to make money and look good doing it. 

As “The Boss” you will lead the Third Street Saints to their greatest success yet, taking over the city of Steelport and fighting anyone foolish enough to stop you. This ranges from paramilitary companies to actual zombie outbreaks, with your crew dealing with each increasingly absurd development like another day at the office. Such a tone helps the majority of dialogue feel hilarious, with most lines hitting even if some ageing references fall by the wayside. 

What helps Saints Row The Third Remastered shine is its fantastic cast of increasingly bizarre characters. There’s a professional wrestler turned hostile gang leader or a pimp that speaks entirely in autotune, cruising around his neighbourhood taking out haters with some dulcet tones. Many of these characters have their own distinct missions where you’ll tag along with them while progressing through the main campaign, which itself constantly surprises with how genuinely bizarre it becomes towards the final act. 

Related: PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X 

While its personality and characters have aged quite wonderfully, the moment-to-moment gameplay of this remaster is firmly stuck in the past. No major improvements have been made and some additional visual blemishes surfaced during my playthrough on Xbox One X. Parts of the sky would flicker at random, while driving at high speed towards certain obstacles would cause my vehicle to get stuck in the terrain before exploding into a ball of flames.

These glitches aren’t breaking the game and even had me giggling, but their presence is strange given Saints Row The Third is pushing a decade old. Similar critiques can be thrown towards movement and gunplay, both of which feel thoroughly cemented in the last generation. Gunplay lacks impact, while movement oftentimes feels stilted and unresponsive. Constantly running out of stamina and having your sprint slow to crawl just feels frustrating, failing to deliver the power fantasy being at the top of a criminal organisation should express. 

Once you’ve obtained a few upgrades many of these issues address themselves, but it results in a few strange difficulty spikes bubbling to the surface, exacerbated further by some downright dated mission design. If you don’t follow the objective parameters set out by the game exactly, you’ll have to start from the most recent checkpoint. Niggles aside, each mission still presents an enjoyable romp of gorgeous explosions and foul one-liners which match the atmosphere perfectly. 

Related: Ghosts of Tsushima

Some of my personal mission highlights involve parachuting onto a penthouse roof to the rhythms of Kanye West’s Power, gunning down a rival gang as The Third Saints make their first major splash on the city of Steelport. It exudes a sense of epic grandeur that’s genuinely unmatched in the genre, largely because Volition knows exactly which bangers to blast in the moment to get you hyped.

The campaign is filled with excellent moments like this, which arguably make up for the archaic nature of its gameplay mechanics. While this remaster isn’t the cream of the crop, it’s definitely a contender. You’ve also got a long list of side activities to partake in such as Mayhem, Insurance Fraud and Professor Genki’s Reality Climax. The latter is a Japanese gameshow where you fight your way through a colourful warehouse filled with unusual traps, hostile mascots and other unwieldy threats for cash prizes. It’s even accompanied by an over-the-top commentary for those precious Takeshi’s Castle vibes.

Verdict

Saints Row The Third Remastered is a decent upgrade of an open-world classic, although doesn’t soften all of its rough edges to properly take advantage of modern platforms. Visual and mechanical blemishes remain, and these aren’t helped by combat and exploration, which are also feeling their age in 2020.

All my complaints aside, I still had a lot of fun roaming the streets of Steelport punching pedestrians in the jewels (yes, there’s a dedicated button for that) and embarking on The Third’s delightfully wacky range of missions and activities, all of which reward you with new weapons and vehicles to wreak havoc with. If you’re a fan of the series or simply after a charming open-world experience, you can do much worse than this.

The post Saints Row The Third Remastered Review appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Remnant: From the Ashes was a sleeper hit when it launched a year ago and for a good reason. It was the first game to successfully deliver a Souls-like, big boss battling experience with gun – rather than melee-focused – combat. One year on from its initial release, Remnant: From the Ashes – Swamps of Corsus is here to keep existing fans entertained while also hoping to entice new players.

While it’s not the huge update fans have been hoping for, it remains a substantial addition and perfect excuse for new players to jump into things. The DLC doesn’t add a new chapter to the story. Instead, it unlocks a new area full of fresh gear to loot, monsters to slay and places to explore in Remnant’s adventure mode.

The fact it doesn’t feature a whole new world is a little disappointing, but this is somewhat forgivable if you’re a newbie who plans to pick it up with the base game as Remnant’s core mechanics remain as fun as ever, and the new rogue-like survival mode is brilliant.

For those that missed it the first time around, Remnant: From the Ashes is a third-person shooter with RPG elements that drops your custom character into a bleak dystopian world where humanity is on the brink of extinction due to the arrival of a monster race known as The Root.

Related: Best PC Games

It tasks you to venture out into the world and find the source of The Root by exploring a series of different locales, each of which is filled with dungeons to traverse, loot to gather and big bosses to battle.

What makes it great is that each stage is procedurally generated, so the world changes each time you play. This means each playthrough will tweak the level design and change which dungeons and bosses you fight. This, in turn, means loot you collect and enemies you face will be different each time, ensuring that things stay fresh.

Renmant: From the Ashes has exceptional replay value as a result. Largely because the loot system is excellent – within hours you’ll become obsessed with collecting every single bit of armour and weaponry you can get your mitts on, eager to enhance your character and show off to your friends.

This is mostly down to how unique each item and weapon is. Going into combat, you’re allowed to carry two firearms and a melee weapon. Guns are your main damage dealers, while melee weapons act as a last resort once surrounded.

Related: Best PlayStation 5 Games 

Early weapons include SMGs, assault rifles and shotguns, which are fun enough – and there’s nothing more satisfying than watching parts of your foe fly off after you’ve blasted them with a shotgun at short range.

But later on, things become far more interesting. Best some of the harder encounters and you’ll be rewarded with everything from beam rifles to crossbows and bombastic acid launchers – there’s even a weapon that blasts loads of hornets at enemies.

This makes the majority of firefights feel wonderfully varied and provides you with a serious incentive to replay areas in a bid to find and collect gear you couldn’t the first time around. Given the randomised nature of each mission, things growing stale is more difficult than you’d expect.

Swamps of Corsus is a worthy addition for new players considering it only adds £3 to the upfront cost when bundled. The only downside is that there’s not quite enough of it for returning players to justify its standalone asking price. While the increased difficulty it adds is welcome, there’s no getting around the fact experienced players will feel shortchanged.

This is because the entire new area resides in a world veterans will recognise, and all the new monsters are tweaks on familiar foes you faced in the main campaign. As a result, the entire area feels like a teaser that will leave fans wanting more. Here’s hoping Gunfire Games are working on something more substantial for the next expansion.

Related: Best RPGs

This is a massive shame as, despite being out for some time, Remnant still has a healthy pool of active players. Jumping into matchmaking, I’ve never struggled to find allies to play with, and the community is still as supportive and open as ever, which is a rarity in today’s ultra-competitive world of gaming. There are enough people still interested in a completely new challenge to justify a more significant update.

Thankfully the new survival mode offers a bit more longevity. This is an entirely new mode that’s specifically designed for hardcore Remnant veterans looking for a new challenge. It drops your character into a new hub with just their underwear, a pistol and 1000 scraps – the game’s currency. In the hub, you can buy basic armour and weapons or a dragon heart – the game’s healing item.

From there you’re plunged into an arena and tasked to fight off waves of enemies that power up the longer you last. As an added twist the enemies also sporadically drop tombs of knowledge, which grant your character’s new skills or upgrade ones they already have, giving you an incentive to play much more aggressively than you usually would.

Related: Upcoming PS4 Games 

The mode is brutally difficult and will on occasion even throw bosses at you, making it the closest thing to the “ultimate challenge” Remnant players have been asking for since the game first came out.

Verdict

If you’re a Dark Souls fan yet to experience the majestic joy of Remnant: From the Ashes then you should definitely consider picking it up with the Swamps of Corsus expansion. Though the DLC doesn’t add much to the main campaign, it brings yet more variety to the game’s already brilliant library of monsters and loot.

Veterans will be disappointed, however. Though the survival mode is fun, there isn’t enough new content in the main game to keep existing players entertained for more than a few hours, which makes it hard to justify paying extra for it.

The post Remnant: From the Ashes – Swamps of Corsus Review appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Fortnite has grown into more than just a game. It’s become a metaverse, a digital space where players can come together to play, create and witness virtual events that continue to push forward what is possible in an online space. 

Thanks to the battle royale shooter’s immense popularity, Epic Games has been able to push things further than anyone ever could, and it really shows. While it isn’t the genre’s strongest in terms of mechanical satisfaction, it makes up for that with sheer ambition. 

It’s arguably been overshadowed by a divisive public reputation, but Fortnite remains one of the finest battle royale experiences on the market, and judging by its current trajectory, is poised to be so much more than that in the years to come. 

Related: Everything we know about Xbox Series S

Fortnite began as a multiplayer shooter focused on narrative-driven modes where you and some friends fought against hordes of quirky enemies. It had a distinctive personality but failed to attract a wider audience. This all changed with the arrival of PUBG and the wider adoption of battle royale. 

Epic Games saw an opportunity to twist their underwhelming shooter into a battle royale clone and grasped it, and it hasn’t looked back since. The first few months were very simplistic, the signs of a thrown together product rather obvious before millions of players began arriving, keen to master this addictive new formula. 

It didn’t take long for Fortnite’s popularity to explode, with Epic Games introducing regular seasons and battle passes each with their own bespoke aesthetic, themes and approach to in-game storytelling. At the time, it was hugely innovative, pioneering ideas that are now adopted by some of gaming’s biggest names. 

Its influence can be felt everywhere in 2020, which is a testament to how Epic Games has shaped and grown this curious experiment into something seeming unstoppable. Beyond all its seasonal updates and curious crossovers, battle royale still sits at the centre of Fortnite. After all these years, does the mixture of fast-paced gunplay and erratic building still hold up? 

Related: Cyberpunk 2077 preview

The current iteration of Fortnite is known as “Chapter 2.” Last year, the original map was sucked into a black hole alongside all its inhabitants, rendering the game unplayable for a number of hours. It was an unparalleled instance as millions watched and waited to see what happened to their favourite game. 

What awaited was a new island, new mechanics and overhauled progression system which simply made the whole affair far more engaging. Before this, I hadn’t really given Fortnite a chance, opting instead to watch from afar as it grew into a cultural behemoth that became impossible to ignore. So I dived in, using the recent Travis Scott concert event as an excuse to see what I’d been missing. 

To my own amazement, I was immediately smitten by the selection of modes on offer in the world of Fortnite. Battle Royale is the main draw – split into Solos, Duos and Squads. You drop onto an island and compete to survive against 99 other players. Your objective is simple, it’s the manner in which you achieve it, which really brings Fortnite to life. 

You can act as a lone wolf, walking cautiously around the map collecting resources and avoiding any physical contact. This way, your only confrontation will be your last but could be the skirmish that earns a sneaky win. Alternatively, you can be a predator, aggressively gunning down everything in sight. 

Related: PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X 

Such an approach is risky but wonderfully rewarding. I managed to kill 12 players in a single match before earning a victory royale and felt unstoppable. Squads and Duos are an easier bet for newer players since you’ll often be accompanied by veterans who are well versed in the island layout and building mechanics. In the final throes of battle, building becomes essential. If you can’t conjure up a structure within seconds, you’ll likely lose. 

Building is the one major obstacle in the way of Fortnite newcomers. The hope of winning is diminished once you come across a player and/or squad with an ample supply of materials and architectural expertise. Practice makes perfect in situations like this, and you’d be better off honing your skills in non-violent training playlists before diving into battle royale hoping for a win. Such a skill divide is unavoidable but might be off-putting for new players. 

Skill barriers aside, the moment-to-moment gameplay of Fortnite is frequently engaging. Previously quiet stretches between firefights are now brought to life by the extensive progression system. Nearly every action, whether you’re opening a chest or surviving to the next circle, is rewarded with experience. Given it’s free-to-play nature, it’s not a huge amount, but keeps the endorphins rolling to ensure you never feel unrewarded. 

You’re always completing challenges, reaching new milestones and earning battle pass rewards, although the free variant is fairly sparse compared to the rewards associated with dropping V-Bucks on the paid pass. It’s more than worth the investment, and if you’re a regular player, you’ll likely reach the higher levels without even realising. 

Related: The Last of Us 2

Fortnite Season 2: Chapter 2 has a secret agent theme, asking players to choose between two unique factions: Ghost and Shadow. This will determine the design of certain unlockable items alongside your respective team in a selection of modes. It’s a compelling twist on the seasonal format, fundamentally changing the nature of matches and how you interact with certain environments. 

The Agency can be found in the map’s centre, filled with AI-controlled enemies who can be downed and used to unlock supply cases filled with rare loot. It’s a worthwhile excursion, but there’s always a chance you’ll encounter other players hoping to earn an easy loadout. Dynamic encounters that result from this are genuinely thrilling, and having to contend with real and virtual opponents adds an extra element of surprise. 

I imagine things will change with the arrival of Season 3, but I hope Epic Games keeps strongholds filled with optional foes scattered through the map, offering objectives to complete that make each game far more than a battle for survival. It’s a nuanced pursuit of fun challenges, with victory royales being an added bonus if you find yourself fighting through to the end. 

Related: Xbox Series X

Other modes in Fortnite change regularly with new seasons and updates, offering limited opportunities to hone your skills at completing new objectives detached from the core experience. Much of the time these lack the depth of battle royale but are fun distractions despite this. They also steal liberally from other shooters, with Overwatch’s ‘Payload’ being pilfered shamelessly in a recent limited-time mode. 

Its occasional moments of creative bankruptcy aside, Fortnite pushes the boat out enough to truly stand on its own. Virtual events such as the Travis Scott and Marshmello concerts have brought millions of players together to watch epic performances in the realm of Fortnite, all tuning in at once for a single moment of extravagant artistry. 

Epic Games will undoubtedly lean into this aspect of Fortnite further in the years to come with Marvel, Star Wars and DC being just a few of the licenses wanting a slice of the battle royale pie. I just hope they don’t forget about the game at the centre, without which none of this would be possible. 

Verdict

Fortnite is a battle royale phenomenon no matter how far you slice it, evolving from an underwhelming third-person shooter into one of the biggest and most recognisable brands on the planet. Epic Games has achieved something truly special here, and I’m eager to watch its growth go even further. 

Compared to the likes of Apex Legends and PUBG, it’s certainly lacking in mechanical complexity and satisfying combat, but the ambition that lies within its sprawling metaverse help it stand proudly alongside the genre’s big boys. 

The post Fortnite Review appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Illfonic’s Predator: Hunting Grounds is a game that creates some fantastically tense moments and offers an enjoyable tribute to the Predator franchise – but is held back by some grating technical deficiencies.

The only game-mode pits four players in the role of the ‘fireteam’ against a selection of AI enemies defending key mission objectives and – more threateningly – one player in the role of the Predator. The format is a great take on the newly fashionable, asymmetrical multiplayer trend – it both suits the Predator source material and works well as a game in its own right.

First things first, fans of the Predator films will absolutely love this game. There are plenty of call-backs to the films, including the overuse of the phrase ‘get to the choppa!’, the option to ‘mud up’ to evade the Predator’s heat vision and even a cutscene, activated when the fireteam wins in a certain way, mimicking the famous “Dillon!” handshake-interaction between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers.

Related: Best PS4 Games 2020 – 13 titles you definitely need in your collection

Gunplay is fairly satisfying, though not comparable with other FPS competitors. That said, the things that are enjoyable about the game’s fun, responsive weapons, are thoroughly undermined by the mediocre AI, which often blunders blindly into your path, or barely notices there’s a gunfight going on at all.

In terms of classes and customisation, there is more on offer for the soldiers of the fireteam than there is for the Predator, but both have a decent amount of cosmetic and weaponry options on offer for those who love their progression.

It’s worth noting that you don’t have to be a die-hard fan of the films to enjoy Predator: Hunting Grounds. Despite being rough around the edges, it offers a formula that’s unique enough to entertain a complete series newcomer, at least for a while.

Picture this: your four-strong team is approaching a small enemy base, stealthily, through thick jungle. You reach the outer fence without alerting the guards, before diving through and engaging enemies on two sides. Then, as you dutifully destroy the base’s computer servers, you hear the distinctive roar of the Predator in the distance. They’re close, and ready to kill.

Related: Best PC Games 2020 – All the titles you need to play on your gaming rig

Moving outside, you’re forced to defend the base from another onslaught of henchmen, all the while conscious of the sound of movement above you in the trees. As you kill the last attacking soldier and make your way back into the undergrowth, the distinctive clicking-gargling sound of the Predator returns. You scan the canopy above but see nothing.

You might not see the Predator until you’re several objectives through and entirely concentrated on clearing out another outpost, or if you’re stupid enough to get separated from your teammates in the open, it will probably seize the opportunity and appear.

Certainly, in my short time playing Predator: Hunting Grounds, it seemed that the most successful Predators were the players who were willing to bide their time and make full use of the environment. The maps have lots of elevated areas that are accessible to the Predator, (using its tree climbing and leaping abilities,) and not the fireteam, encouraging the hunter to stalk its human prey and pounce when the time is right.

Successfully stalking, hunting and dispatching a fireteam as the Predator is compelling. Use the Predator’s cloaking ability to watch on from the trees as the fireteam sneak into a base or find them in the jungle using your heat-sensing Predator vision, and you’ll feel one step ahead.

Related: Best Xbox One Games 2020: Our top must-play titles for Microsoft’s console

Ideally, you’ll want to swoop down from the trees when one member of the fireteam gets separated, picking them off one by one. The Predator is tough, but still vulnerable when faced with an onslaught of fire from three or four automatic weapons.

It’s equally satisfying to get the job done as the fireteam, whether you kill the Predator, or just evade it and complete your various objectives, it does feel like you’ve beaten the odds. However, the estimated waiting time to play as the Predator two days after the release was four minutes, where the estimated waiting time to play as a fireteam member was 30 seconds – so basically, everyone wants to be the Predator.

At launch, those waiting times are seriously holding the game back. The following message appeared to players for long periods of the game’s opening few days: “Players are reporting long queue times. We are investigating the issue. Thank you for your patience.”

On day three, a new patch arrived, Version 1.05, but it did little to resolve any of the game’s issues. At one point, I selected fireteam, was told there was an estimated 30 second wait time and ended up waiting ten minutes without even getting into a game lobby.

Related: Sakura Wars Review

These frustrations aren’t new ones either, when players tried the game out on its free trial weekend, the same issues with AI and long waiting times were reported across the board. It seems little was done to address them between trial and full launch and, as a result, this game feels like it needs a couple of large patches.

You’ll need a passable set of teammates to get the best out of Predator: Hunting Grounds. My first couple of playthroughs saw allies run off in different directions and, inevitably, get shredded by the Predator pretty quickly. Not too much later, with a more cooperative team, we battled to my first win. The Predator bided its time, attacking when we were partway through securing the second set of objectives, but the team stuck close and managed to down the Predator.

You’ll learn all this on the job too, as the game’s tutorial is pretty sketchy and only covers the Predator role. With the Predator downed, the beast can initiate a self-destruct sequence. Players have to shoot its mask and then defuse the self-destruct charge, (another thing which needs a tutorial – I managed but through sheer dumb-luck and button bashing).

Related: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

At this point a message comes over your radio, informing you that HQ want to extract the Predator’s body for investigation and you have to defend it from another onslaught of AI enemies until said extraction helicopter turns up.

While the final assault was a little underwhelming, getting through all this – and especially killing the Predator – made for a really satisfying win. The game packs great moments like this, as well as the tense ones that see you try and evade the Predator in large maps, but is severely held back by derisory AI and a few other rough edges.

Predator: Hunting Grounds – Verdict

At it’s best, Predator: Hunting Grounds is a tense thrill-ride that forces you to pay attention to every sound in a dense, jungle environment. At it’s worst, it’s a mess of waiting, loading and gunning down shoddy AI-villains across forgettable missions.

The post Predator: Hunting Grounds appeared first on Trusted Reviews.