R(ob)’s Comments (group member since Jun 21, 2021)

R(ob)’s comments from the The Video Game Forum group.

Hopefully £60 isn't something she'll see as extravagant. Plus you could sell the game on ebay. Ah - although it could be a PS Store code for Ragnorok which is probably still ok to sell on ebay.

I thought you had clearance?

Yea no idea what the wait time is at the moment. If you're in no rush maybe worth giving it a week or two if you prefer the standalone console purchase although you may run the risk of Sony running out of stock.

Amazon do the console by invitation. £480 for disc version. I remember when I signed up to the Amazon invitiation I received it after a week or so - but by that point had bought my PS5 from currys. The curry's bundles are in stock but very expensive right now as they have several items bundled in.

Morning all. Finished the MW2 campaign. For me it didn't really float my boat on the whole. It lacked something and it tried to shoe horn in every possibly game play mechanic in different missions (more so than usual) that really meant it lost a lot of focus at times. And the final mission was going great, really enjoying it - good FPS action - and then the final part of the last mission isn't FPS action but the boring shite I hate (without going into spoilers). Not bad but defo not up there in the best COD campaigns for me - 7/10 on the r-score-o-meter. Had some really good moments though just not enough.

And then I started A Plague Tale Requiem. Completed three missions. Wow. Some of the environments on Series X look amazing and sooo atmospheric and detailed. The game play is more of the same with a few mechanic additions but even after three missions I experienced some tricky moments - one being completely out of resources having to pass two guards, each surrounded by rats, in quick succession - with no resources ! Basically had to stun them both, timed in turn as they both weren't visible at the same time, to freeze their torches in place and run for it. Must have taken me 10 attempts. Still, so far I'm loving it. And my new TV has faux 60 fps mode for 30 fps games - which helps a lot.

Have god of war ragnorok arriving this week, which I'll put away until after I complete A Plague Tale, but I watched ACG's review of it last night and it's a 35-40 hour campaign. That's a massive increase on the last game which for me was about the perfect length (think it was 15-20 hours). And even ACG said Ragnorok drags in the middle.

Ron wrote: "Finding PT Requiem a bit of a chore. Seems to be a lot more sections where you are thrown into very difficult situations and die many times before figuring it out. I don't remember the first game b..."

Only the final boss fight of the first game was a chore for me. And then one fight mid game where enemy come at you from all angles in a circular room with many doors. That's how remember it :-). I'm playing Requiem next after completing MW2 campaign this weekend but now I'm thinking I could be throwing my controller at the TV playing it. Thing is hopefully any really frustrating bits I'll cheat by watching the solution on youtube.

Morning all. Played a fair bit of MW2 multiplayer over the weekend. First night I was doing really well getting loads of really good K/Ds. And then Saturday and Sunday I've been getting completely destroyed. I do wonder if the skill based matchmaking has but me with a bunch of sweats now due to playing so well on the first night. Or if because I don't play it non-stop that people are becoming more familiar with the maps/weapons than me and the initial 'everybody is learning the new maps and weapons' and that it's a more level playing field in the first few hours/first day. Anyway. I like it, more of the same, but not sure any of the maps feel that special. Also played another couple of campaign missions - only a couple to go. Definitely no where near one of the best COD campaigns but looking like a reasonable enough 7/10.

Also got my new gaming TV. I wanted one with much higher peak brightness for better HDR and with a 120Hz mode that is actually 4k (not 1080p like my previous TV where Sony lied about its ability). Anyway, thankfully the new TV has much better HDR near blinding me for bright highlights and 120Hz is now sharper. Happier now.

So on a seperate topic I've ordered a new TV. I want one that has a proper HDMI 2.1 implementation not this half-arsed version that Sony implemented on my current TV. Lesson here is never buy a TV on a promised future firmware update for HDMI 2.1. Anyway it arrives on Saturday so pretty excited for a new gaming TV albeit I've wasted a small fortune on the TV it replaces (which is now going in the bedroom but complete and utter overkill for a bedroom TV). I'd only get 1/3rd of the original price I paid for it so I'd rather keep it than recoup not very much.

Can you not talk to your boss (or his boss if he's out sick) about it Glass? Seems pretty unfair to me. I recently spoke to my boss about an aspect of my job I don't enjoy doing so he basically said that's OK don't do it and someone else that enjoys doing it can pick up. I did threaten to leave so that might have swayed him ;-). Not that I recommend you do this.

Morning all. Gamed a fair bit over the weekend. Started the MW2 campaign and now I'm around 2/3rds of the way through. Not much to say really except it's a typical COD campaign. Some missions are fun, some a bit mediocre, but on the whole enjoyable. It's defo trying to recapture COD of the past with a reasonably good AC-130 mission and a sniper mission which isn't too bad but not as good as the one back in the day on MW1 (2007). The graphics are decent on PS5 and the Amsterdam mission looks pretty amazing. It also has some difficulty spikes even on normal difficulty. 7/10 so far. It kinda lacks the shoe-horned in blockbuster COD mission (at least so far) but good gun play and some great locations (the oil rig). Also played an hour of Hot Wheels Unleashed. Yea a good fun arcadey racer with good graphics. I even won my first and only multiplayer match. I will definitely revisit to play the campaign at some point.

Glad you're enjoying GK Decky.

No problem. TVs are a bit of minefield. I bought my new for next gen TV in 2020 and feel disappointed and it got generally good reviews. I’m thinking of replacing it already and it cost me £1300. The more you can spend the better but there does come a point where you can spend too much for hair splitting improvements. And you definitely need to do your research. I’m sure the TV you linked would be fine for console only if you don’t care too much about having the best HDR and 120hz and deep blacks.

VRR - variable refresh rate. Stops screen tearing and overcomes the stuttering of games which have choppy frame rate.
ALLM - auto low latency. It automatically puts your console in game mode but when you come to watch video on PS5 it will enable the TV’s picture processing automatically for best picture quality.
eARC - is for higher bandwidth audio used by the latest surround sound Dolby mostly.

Your best place for researching TVs is rtings.com. Type in the model number and it will tell you all you need.

It looks pretty good for the price but definitely don’t expect it to compare to a TV that’s hundreds of pounds more. I had a quick Google and it has quite a low peak brightness of 250 nits so don’t expect spectacular HDR (and I wouldn’t use it in a bright room) and an underpowered user interface which can make it slow and clunky. So if you’re buying it for streaming perhaps not the best choice. It has VRR though and ALLM for gaming and a low input lag of 20ms. Of course no 120hz at this price as the screen is 60hz. It does have eARC if you have a surround sound system but only one hdmi 2.1 port so eARC or VRR/ALLM on a ps5 would be a choice of one or the other. Looks fine for the price but don’t expect to be wowed. One ps5 owner on the Amazon seemed to give a good balanced review:

“This TV has been a great companion for my PS5. The HDR looks surprisingly great and it was easy to calibrate. Colours are on par with Samsung Qled, contrast maybe not so but still good, you have to LOOK for the lack of black to notice it. I did notice slight flickering on some fine details which can prove to be distracting, but it's not often enough to kill the TV for me.
If you're buying this for the smart stuff, I would maybe look elsewhere. Netflix and Disney worked well enough, but YouTube kept freezing up requiring a complete quit. Plex works about as well as it does on a console which is nice. There's also a lot of missing services, where is Nowtv? The UI is just generally slow and unresponsive too, make sure you have a 4k console or a stick or you may be out of luck for some services.
Overall this TV is good for the price, you don't need to spend big bucks to get a nice TV.”

Well I've signed up for PS+ essential. Going to be playing MW2 on my PS5. And I bought a cheap 2nd hand copy of Battlefield 2042. I have noticed games on PS5 seem more colourful in HDR than on my series X which is starting to sway me across a little. I might also buy Mafia 1 Definitive Edition on my PS5 as that's on sale for £12.49. And I've just added several games to my backlog after subbing to PS+: The Last Guardian, Resident Evil 7, Superhot, Hot Wheels Unleashed. And I have MW2, GoW Ragnorok and TLOU 1 remake all to come. And Plague Tale Requiem to play. My back log has definitely shot up.

GoW was a 9/10 for me ;-). I’ve got Ragnorok, and the TLOU 1 Remake, on my Christmas and birthday present list.

Gotham Knights is picking up some pretty bad reviews. Most seem around 4-6/10.

Error. I gave it a go. It is fun - although I've only played 45 mins. I nearly gave up in the tutorial as some of the weapon moves I couldn't seem to master but once in a match it was fun albeit I was swinging my axe without much skill. I will give it a bit more time.

Also started A Plague Tale Requiem. More of the same from the first game so far - I've only completed the first chapter. Graphically really nice and really highly polished for a AA game. Really frustating it's only 30fps 1440p on next gen - it does kinda take the shine off it a little. More the 30fps. Once you get used to most games being 60fps going back to 30fps is very jarring.

Ron wrote: "I didn't find Deathloop that bad. If you go into the missions tab you can highlight an objective and it guides you pretty well.

Having said that I have 92% of achievements and am going for 100%. G..."

I found on the whole it does guide you pretty well but then there were times (too often not to be one-offs) where I thought have I completed the objective and then rather than the exit being waymarked there will be no waymarker at all - and then leave the mission and fail something. Or in other cases you'll think you've completed the objective but the waymarker stays on the objective. You'll look at the mission tab and the objective will still be in the menu but in the game there is nothing to do (basically means I messed up choosing the wrong option but can no longer change it, except repeat another loop). And then there were other times I completed all of the objectives in the mission tab but no waymarkers at all (not even to the exit) giving me this unsure feeling have I really done everything I need to do. It was a bit flaky sometimes on waymarkers and being clear. Then that mission where if you spotted at the party it was an insta-fail. I really hate insta-fail missions :-).

Perhaps my difficulties with Deathloop might be down a little to me as well, I'm not the most patient of people :-).

Morning all. Finally finished Deathloop. A bit of a relief really lol. It was good but also annoying and frustrating at the same time. Even on the final loop I messed-up (selected the wrong option on the first visionary kill mission in the final loop) and it basically meant I had to repeat the entire loop again from the next day (although the game doesn't tell you this so you could waste hours if you weren't aware). So in the end an amazing world, asthetic, atmosphere, gameplay, maps but probably one of the most confusing games I've ever played, somewhat difficult (but can be reduced in the menus though) and definitely frustrating at times. 8/10 but if they'd somehow made it less confusing/annoying/frustrating it had the potential to be 10/10 for sure.

Next I was going to play Scorn but after reading reviews I think I may leave that for a drought - supposed to have very sparse checkpoints and you can lose a good hour of gameplay if you die and apparently the combat is truly awful (albeit there isn't much of it). So I think MW2 campaign next (can play it later this week, a week before the MP is playable if you pre-order digitally) and then A Plague Tale Requiem.

Error wrote: "Thanks for the breakdown. I do a lot of stuff on the rewards app (console stuff), which honestly doesn't seem worth it. I didn't know about the separate Bing app and Micro reward website. I'll look..."

I think I probably get a good 3000-4000 points through the console reward app a month. There is one reward a month that is 2000 points alone. And the weekly reward on the console app has streaks so you may only earn 100 points a week but the streaks build up over time to be 1000 to 2000 to 2500 every few weeks that’s if you keep the streak up. The most difficult thing is earning three achievements a week for the weekly task 😀. And then check in the reward app for game purchases with points rewards. They’re usually new release games.