Gaming 2023

[scotta]

I've played quite a bit of GTA online this year, not sure how, easy to just pick up and play I suppose, new expansion was a bit dull mind.

Forza Motorsport is a disappointment, I've tried to get into it but it's just not got enough going on, handling model feels better than GT7 through a wheel, but the actual game is a bit meh.

Looking forward to the new Assetto Corsa coming out next year, we've probably played BeamNG more than Forza this year tbh.

Might buy a PS5 for Astro Bot if there's any deals in the Jan sales as it looks quite fun.

Will echo the thoughts on Forza. Its basically a rehash of 7 with a load of content removed. Wheel feel and feedback are terrible and everything just understeers. If you spend hours and hours tuning each car then its better. As a result you cant just pickup and play then expect to be competitive. Even with a setup that works i still hate the feel that you get from the whell. Ive been through loads of setup videos on changing the advanced wheel setups. Ive made it less bad at best. The game was essentially a beta version on launch. constant crashes and kicking you out of lobbies. The penalty system is a joke. Someone piles into you. You lose time and still get a penalty. Same with track limits. Run wide and loose time - double whammy as you then get a stupid penalty.

[Mito Man]

I gave up with Forza on a wheel, it's better on a controller but still found it so dull I cancelled gamepass. Still prefer GT7 for a quick blast, also on a controller.
Haven't got the PC with the wheel out in a while, probably won't until the new Assetto Corsa comes out.

Bought GTA Trilogy for the Switch, for travelling.

STALKER games look good, interested in playing those. SpiderMan 2 as well but it's one of those button mashing games which gets a bit tiresome.

Haven't done much gaming this year. Replayed Cyberpunk with the DLC. Probably one of my favourite games of all time and I'm so happy there will be a sequel. I finished Starfield at the beginning of this year. Enjoyed that too bar the never ending loading screens, hoping they sort their shit out and actually make some decent DLC so it's worth going over again.

[IanF]

Starfield (not sure if that was this year or last) - completed it, got too powerful and the replaying was monotonous 2/5

Diablo 4 - really enjoyed that and playing through as a different character really made a difference to the campaign 4/5

Stalker 2 - enjoying it so far, a real time stealer: challenging enemies (human - 1 headshot kill; chimera over 100 headshots (trapped it in doorway) before the fecker died!; bloodsuckers - better now as they were 4+ magazines before and now only 2/3), no fast travel though (except rare guides), equipment maintenance uses up most of your credits and numerous different calibre weapons and munitions make it difficult to locate what you need.. all adds to the tension 4/5

COD 6 - campaign good, zombies is a blast, rest too quick twitchy 3/5

Indiana Jones - in DL queue

Overcooked 2 - great 2 player game that I play with my daughter 3/5 (loses one point for her being better than me! )

[Zonda_]

I gave up with Forza on a wheel, it's better on a controller but still found it so dull I cancelled gamepass. Still prefer GT7 for a quick blast, also on a controller.
Haven't got the PC with the wheel out in a while, probably won't until the new Assetto Corsa comes out.

Bought GTA Trilogy for the Switch, for travelling.

STALKER games look good, interested in playing those. SpiderMan 2 as well but it's one of those button mashing games which gets a bit tiresome.

Haven't done much gaming this year. Replayed Cyberpunk with the DLC. Probably one of my favourite games of all time and I'm so happy there will be a sequel. I finished Starfield at the beginning of this year. Enjoyed that too bar the never ending loading screens, hoping they sort their shit out and actually make some decent DLC so it's worth going over again.

I've never touched Forza since I found Project Car2 and Assetto Corsa. Currently still playing Corsa but find the difference between it and PC2 quite tricky. I thought I was doing we on PC2 but now I seem crap on Corsa!

[Matty]

Balatro man, it’s consumed my year.

Had a pretty good time catchingup with FF7 Remake until I didn’t.

Balatro is absolutely on my list. It's only £6 on Cdkeys as well, although I do feel like the mobile version would be a better bet.

[Rich B]

We’ve basically lost interest in CoD after the latest updates. we play warzone, usually resurgence and the difficulty level is now insane. Everyone seems to have ranked/bought crazy guns which kill stupidly quick and you just don’t get a look in. it’s marginally better in quads compared to duos, but it’s just not fun any more as you spend more time loading games than playing them.

[ZedLeg]

Balatro man, it’s consumed my year.

Had a pretty good time catchingup with FF7 Remake until I didn’t.

Balatro is absolutely on my list. It's only £6 on Cdkeys as well, although I do feel like the mobile version would be a better bet.

I’ve got it on Switch and played it on PS4 and handheld is better.

I’ve got the app for my phone but the touch controls aren’t as nice as using a controller.

[Matty]

If you've any love or spent your youth watching Indiana Jones movies (the proper ones) then you absolutely should play "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" (PC/XBox, PS5 soon)

It's a proper interactive movie, they've nailed the humour and feel of classic Indy, plus Troy Baker does a very, very close match of Ford's voice. Not an overly long game, but never outstays its welcome. Just buy a month of Game Pass, you'll easily get it done with time to spare to try other games out.

[Mito Man]

Assetto Corsa Evo currently £18 on CDKeys. Just bought it and it's now downloading on Steam.

[Simon]

Assetto Corsa Evo currently £18 on CDKeys. Just bought it and it's now downloading on Steam.

Is that bad for your steam account though? What if CDKeys is dodgy?

[16vCento]

CD Keys is fine, never had any issues with them.

Assetto Corsa Evo is shite though, but it is early access, but proper buggy and crashes loads, and the graphics aren't great, and the handling is off.

Be better eventually though.

[Mito Man]

Yes I’ve used CDKeys for many years, never had a problem.

As for ACE the reviews so far aren’t great, but it’s early access still which is also why it’s currently cheap. The worst bit is it’s online only so there won’t be much longevity and the DLC will be £££

[Mito Man]

Can’t believe it took me until October 20th to fire up the PS5 for the first time this year! Saw High on Life on sale so purchased it. Must say it’s brilliantly silly, good humoured and has many random references. You’ll like it if you enjoy Rick and Morty.

[Brannen]

I've barely played my Xbox this year either. Fired it up to play the new Battlefield game for the past week or so. Been enjoying that.

Also, Xbox are increasing their Ultimate pass from £14.99 to £22.99 which a bit of a kick in the teeth. They've been increasing the price here and there, which has kind of lead me to forgot what I was paying. But this increase when barely playing it feels way too steep. So I need to downgrade that before the next payment.

[Matty]

Just buy the time from Cdkeys (now called Loaded, like the lads mag of old). Works out to £10 a month from them.

[Rich B]

We’re still playing CoD Warzone. We try something different every now and then, but always end up back on CoD. Despite the dumb special characters and obvious cheating - it’s still the most fun user interface and game play. i like the way the games build up ridiculous tension when you get to the last few teams and getting victories definitely feels earned.

[Matty]

You should try Helldivers 2, Rich - it's PvE, not PvP, but honestly one of the most enjoyable shooters we've played. Ridiculously over the top, death is part of the fun as well, and there's no 'meta' to it.

I find it's great for busy adults, as there's no grind, games last 20 mins so you can drop in/out whenever and don't have to worry about keeping up with nerdy mates who have more time.

[IanF]

Battlefield 6 has already taken up more time than I want to admit, plus have Harry Potter downloaded from Gamepass that I’ve not played yet that’s meant to be a real time grabber.. I don’t realise Gamepass was increasing it prices so much, will look at alternative options now. @Matty with the Loaded option - ca you buy an annual pass or do you have to remember to purchase monthly?

[Rich B]

Yeah, one on my “squad” has played it, i’m not that keen on PvE in general - i prefer the challenge of real players.

The ideal was Warzone DMZ in its Covid heyday - everyone had challenges to complete along with real players trying to kill you.

or

MW2 15 years ago - slamming through domination/TDM games with 20+ kills (and about 20+ deaths too!)

[Brannen]

Good shout, will take a look at buying codes. I do wonder if they'll end up increasing in price as well (might be ok for the time being). I don't really make the most of the "perks" of Ultimate, so I was pretty set on just going down to the lowest version which lets me just play online still.