The evening Inbox recommends getting the Amnesia Collection free from Humble Bundle, as one reader has a tip on cheap amiibo at Argos.
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One game
I’m finding all this talk about what BioWare is up to at the moment quite depressing, as it only seems to make it clearly that Mass Effect is not coming back any time soon. I though that when Casey Hudson came back to BioWare that was a good indication that he was going to revamp the series and make good on Andromeda. But if Anthem is the focus, Dragon Age is after that, and if there’s another secret game it’s probably Knights Of The Old Republic then where does that put Mass Effect? Not at the front of the queue, that’s clear.
I guess there is a good argument to be made that the franchise needs a rest now, so people forget Andromeda. But it wasn’t that bad. Just call the next game Mass Effect 4 and tie it in closer to the originals and I’m pretty sure most people will forget Andromeda very quickly.
The problem is the ending of Mass Effect 3 wrote them into a corner and I’m not really sure where they go from there, except that I don’t want it to be a boring prequel. My hope now is that Casey Hudson will lead an attempt to combine all the best bits from the four games (Andromeda had very good combat and driving, if nothing else) and start a new trilogy with a clear goal and no interference from EA.
Problem is I’ve no idea how likely that is. As I understand it always sold less than Dragon Age anyway, so maybe they’ll just dump it. Scary to think how much damage just one bad game can make.
Dalteno
Regional differences
As your review mentioned, the big switch for the Monster Hunter series is the shift in focus from local multiplayer to fully embracing online play. If this truly is to (finally) make the game a massive hit in the West, I wondered how the Japanese public (and media) have responded to the loss of local portable play?
ttfp saylow (gamertag)
Now playing: Gears Of War 4
GC: We wondered that too, but didn’t want to waste a question on it with the director. It’s why some are still suspicious that there might be a Monster Hunter 5 on Switch.
A friend you haven’t met
Great review of Monster Hunter World.
I have a quick question: as a gamer who doesn’t have many gaming friends, and certainly none who partake in multiplayer games, my question is whether I should get Monster Hunter: World considering I would be playing on my own.
John
GC: We wouldn’t play it exclusively on your own, no. But the matchmaking with strangers means you don’t have to just play with friends.
Multiplayer mojo
I’ve read about PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds with interest. I don’t tend to play multiplayer games that much anymore, with a preference towards single-player, but must admit I’m keen to give it a try and can see me getting a copy in the near future.
I used to play online all the time on various Call Of Duty games, plus others, but this died off gradually when I moved to Xbox One, mainly due to regular team-mates just not playing anymore (the double jumping annoyed me as well). So I lost interest. I did pick up Call Of Duty: WWII and think it’s very good, although I think my multiplayer mojo will never be what it was.
I used to sign online and go straight to join people online but now, for example, with Horizon Zero Dawn: Frozen Wilds and Assassin’s Creed Origins waiting to be played I’d just fire up one of those instead
With all the noise around PUBG surely it must be good; millions can’t be wrong, can they?
R1CH5TER
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Interactive entertainment
Regarding Amy Hennig’s comments that more people are watching others play single-player games than actually buying them, while I enjoy watching movies and TV series I don’t think I’d get the same pleasure out of just watching others play a game.
What makes games so special to me is that you aren’t a spectator, you’re a participant. I know lots of people enjoy it, but I think I would feel like I was missing out on the magical experience games offer.
LastYearsModel09 (PSN ID)
Everything but games
What terrific news, you can now play Split/Second: Velocity via backwards compatibility on Xbox One. I’m certainly looking forward to playing through Black Rock’s excellent and overlooked racer again.
I don’t suppose they need the money, but I think it’s a shame Disney stopped making games. They obviously had an eye for quality if they published Split/Second.
Since Disney own Marvel and Star Wars you’d think they’d release a few licensed titles. Or don’t film licences sell any more? Games directly based on films seemed prevalent a while back, hardly any come out nowadays do they?
msv858 (Twitter)
GC: Hardly any, no. Most licensed games are restricted to mobiles. Although Square Enix has an Avengers game to unveil at some point this year, and obviously EA has the Star Wars licence.
Lusty monitor
RE: Bobwallet and new Monitor. For £150 you will only get a good branded standard 27-inch 1080p monitor. Going up to 2K/4K and getting additional features like FreeSync, HDR, or 144Hz you’re looking at £350 minimum, but would have to pay significantly more to have a monitor with all those features equipped.
To be honest though your GTX1060 graphics card is barely a 1440p card, but is a fantastic 1080p card. By that I mean you could probably take advantage of a 1080p 144Hz monitor and output at framerates of 120 and 144 fps. The GTX1060 won’t do this for all games, and you might have to turn down graphical quality, but the smoothness you get is worth more than a slight bump in resolution to 1440p.
I’ve been lusting after a big, 4K, HDR TV to showcase my PS4 Pro and I7 7700K GTX 1070 PC for a while, but decided it’ll be a few years until I can afford it and opted to buy a 24-inch 1080p (24-inch offers good pixel density for 1080p), HDR, FreeSync, 144Hz monitor the other day.
So even if I can’t have large scale 4K and HDR I can enjoy games played at 144 fps from my PC whilst also benefiting from the HDR with slower games like Horizon Zero Dawn on the PS4 Pro. Having the HDR right up will impact your response time, so for now it looks like one or the other or some tinkering to reach a happy medium for your needs.
This monitor suits my needs as I play mostly fast-paced games sat close to the screen, where a 144Hz gaming monitor with its ultra-low input lag is a real plus. It’s a VA panel, which is great for picture quality but normally poor for fast-paced gaming due to its response time. But Samsung say they’ve overcome that issue with some in-house tinkering, claiming a TN panel response time of 1ms with no ghosting or trailing of fast-moving objects. But I guess I’ll see for myself when it turns up Saturday.
I’m not sure what your needs are but given your graphics card I think there’s monitors out there that will provide more game changing features than just a slight resolution bump for a price near-ish to your budget. Saying that the monitor I bought was still £270.
Simundo Jones
First timer
I am not a Forza Motorsport 7 player, so here is a code for a Halo-themed driving suit for you to dish out in the usual fashion if anyone wants it.
On a side note, I will hopefully I will have a Reader’s Feature based on my time with Monster Hunter: World in the not too distant future. I’m approaching the game as a completely new player with no idea outside of the one hour I spent on the beta. The only experience I have had of a similar game was Toukiden on the PS Vita. That again is of course if you want my thoughts on it!
Anyway, Keep up the good work!
WAYNEOS
GC: We’d definitely encourage a feature like that, good luck with the game.
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Negative waves
RE: Predicting failure. Now this is purely my opinion, based on my gut feeling and general observations, but surely it is this kind of negative talking that is directly influencing the emergence of the dreaded loot boxes?
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for realistic expectations, but surely if we do not show some much-needed love to so called ‘niche’ projects then we will just be left with an industry controlled by accountants and auditors.
As gamers, we have to understand that we are directly responsible for shaping the industry we love. You only have to look at the film industry to get a peek into how things will unravel. 2017 was the most successful year at the cinema box office on record. This was no coincidence. After years of ever decreasing sales the film industry tapped into its most lucrative vain… the superhero franchise. What you are now left with is multiplexes where it becomes ever more difficult to search out that quirky Danish comedy you have been reading about. The game industry is not different.
Also, on a more personal human level, let’s not forget that people work at these companies and failure to sell often results in job losses. I acknowledge that sometimes this can create new creative teams that bring us some classic indie gems, but more often than now they are swallowed up by corporate giants to create the next big hit.
So why don’t we open our minds a little in 2018 and show some love for those companies daring to be different?
James
GC: We think you’re taking that letter about predicting flops a little too seriously.
Inbox also-rans
Just a head’s up to say that you can get Amnesia Collection free on Humble Bundle for the next 48 hours at the time of writing (Thursday evening). Here’s the link.
Andrew J.
Just completed: Super Mario Odyssey
Another Humble freebie just popped up, The Amnesia Collection containing The Dark Descent and A Machine For Pigs is currently free on PC until 6pm Saturday.
Ty Snowdon
Argos are selling amiibo from as little as £4.99. Not sure how long this sale is on for. Just bought R.O.B. and Duck Hunt for less than a tenner.
SteJFin (PSN ID/NN ID)
With regards to Keeganator Prime’s letter, I have an original Xbox Crystal sat under my bed collecting dust if he’d be happy to pay postage? I would highly recommend the tunes stored therein, if I do say so myself.
The_Deleted
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Cranston, who asks what is your favourite ever sequel?
It can be any game for any format, but we want to know why you like it so much and what it did right to improve on its predecessor. Was the sequel very different from the original or was it just a minor improvement on an already great game? Did it fix problems in the previous games, or add much wanted new features?
How does your favourite sequel compare to other entries in the same series and do you expect it will ever be bettered?
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
The small print
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