The Last Of Us multiplayer might be out this year, maybe (pic: Sony)

The Thursday letters page wishes there was some solid news about Bioshock 4, as one reader talks up Marvel’s Midnight Suns.

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Big news
So we’ve got a State of Play tonight and yet we’ve been told to not expect much, if anything, about first party games. So I ask the obvious question: what is going to be Sony’s next big game? The only ones we know about at the moment are Spider-Man 2, Wolverine, and The Last Of Us multiplayer game, but only one of those has a (vague) date and one doesn’t even have a name yet.

Since Wolverine definitely isn’t due this year and Spider-Man 2 is known to be the autumn is there going to be anything before that? I wouldn’t have thought The Last Of Us, given how little we know about it right now, but it seems unlikely it’d be any other big game. Sony might not like talking about its games much now but it does usually announce them fairly far in advance… and then say nothing more.

I’d imagine there’s probably a couple of smaller titles due, perhaps this Twisted Metal reboot that’s been rumoured, but I think Spider-Man 2 and The Last Of Us might be it for this year. Which would actually explain Sony’s silence: why tell everyone you’ve got nothing coming out when you can still let them think there’s more to come.
Patric

UK’s richest man writes…
This whole Microsoft business is really getting unpleasant now. Microsoft’s tactics seem super transparent to any gamer listening in but I think most of these regulators are just going to take it at face value. That whole pie chart thing with Sony and Microsoft was just ridiculous. I mean, by that logic I’m the richest man in the country, as long as you don’t count anyone with more money than me.

I don’t even care about Call Of Duty, I just don’t like to see a mega corp like this throwing their money around and pulling wool over the eyes of people that are supposed to be experts. I’m pretty sure we’ve had plenty of science fiction films warning us of the dangers of companies that are too big to say no to but, like most things lately, it all seems to be coming true anyway.
Caliban

Please disagree
Interesting to see GameCentral’s review of the Kirby Wii remaster, giving a 5/10, and Nintendo Life’s review giving a 9/10.

I thought the text of both reviews gave good reasoning for the score and I am very much in the GameCentral camp on this one, as I personally find Kirby games boring but it’s quite nice to see differing opinions on a game.
John Atkinson

GC: We agree. The idea that there is a correct opinion, that some reviews fail to reach, is a very harmful concept on several levels.

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First person Evil
Super pumped for Resident Evil 4 remake and very glad to hear that a VR mode is also in the works. Very curious to hear about Resident Evil Village working in VR too, as I haven’t seen anything hand-on about that yet, which is a bit disappointing.

I’m especially interested to know whether the VR mode for 4 will us third person or a new first person view. From my experience third person games actually work better in VR, or at least have less bugs and glitches, but obviously you lose some immersion and that’s especially important for video games.

I have a PlayStation VR but I haven’t pulled the trigger on the new one yet, in part because of the lack of games but also the fact that I’m not yet convinced that it, or any new headset, is enough of an advancement. You joked in your review that maybe you should wait for the VR3 in seven years time, but I do wonder if that’s not the best idea really.
Lionel Pump

GC: We should have something later today, but it’ll only be a first impressions as Capcom had no way of sending the update early and so we’ve only just started.

Silly names
After the reviews I hadn’t planned to play Atomic Heart even though it’s on Game Pass, but as my PlayStation VR2 hasn’t been dispatched yet I have a few days to try it. I also do love a good, I’m going to say it, immersive sim. Out of curiosity what would you describe those games as?

Anyway, as it’s a hefty 70 gig download I decided to put the Xbox Series X into the more power hungry sleep mode, where it continues downloads when off, only to discover it’ been set to that all along. I think I remember Xbox being urged by some non-profit groups to have the console’s much lower power usage energy mode the default option, which they said they will do in an update but maybe that hasn’t rolled out yet. My own fault for not checking earlier.
Simundo

GC: We don’t think they’re distinct enough from normal action adventures to need a name. But it’s more the nonsensical nature of the one they’ve been given that annoys us. Not only are they not simulators but what’s a non-immersive sim, that these games need that qualification?

Bioshock beyond infinity
I’d never heard of Atomic Heart until this week but the more I do learn the weirder it gets. Using their website to gather info by the Russian government? Sometimes I think I can no longer be surprised by the news and yet always I’m proven wrong. It seems obvious to me that there is something fishy going on because all it would have needed is for them to move the release date by the tiniest amount and suddenly there’s no controversy. The fact that they didn’t says it all.

I also read that in Russia the game is actively being promoted as being made by Russians, so if that’s true there doesn’t seem to be any doubt that this is meant as some kind of weird propaganda tool.

It’s a shame because I really liked the first Bioshock and would be up for a new game, official or not. I think the rumour was of Bioshock 4 being set in Antarctic with an above ground and below ground city that was riffing on The Time Machine? Sounds like a good idea to me but it’d be nice if they just got on and announced the game. I know they said one was in the works but I’m not sure I believe them until I see some evidence.
Chocky

Working alternative
For the gamer waiting for GTA Trilogy to be playable I’ve just started playing Sleeping Dogs on Xbox One.

It’s totally a clone of GTA but with better driving and fighting mechanics. It’s set in Hong Kong, with the added bonus they all drive on the left.
Johnny Alpha SD
Currently playing: Sleeping Dogs and Portal 2

There are dozens of us!
Although it feels like I might be the only person in the world playing it, I’ve just finished Marvel’s Midnight Suns and wanted to briefly sing its praises to my fellow readers.

Being a fan of XCOM I had always had my eye on it, but although it superficially looks like XCOM I found the game actually has more in common with chess… well Wizard’s Chess perhaps. If that doesn’t sound very exciting that’s perhaps part of the game’s apparent failure to sell, so like an old Labour government I will sex up the description by saying each turn is like its own mini-puzzle, where the solution is maximising the damage output of each move, and attempt to remove or incapacitate enemies before they have their turn. Along with the ability to select a vast array of different heroes, with different abilities, it leads to a pretty deep strategy game which, 50 hours later, is still fresh and I am sad to be done with it.

The most surprising aspect of the game though, is the relationships. After reading GC’s review I thought that sounded pretty lame, but it’s cleverly implemented in that each interaction is around 15-20 seconds, and the brevity is a key part of keeping it fun. Choosing the right option in conversation with each hero comes with its own little pat on the back if you select the best option to increase the friendship, and on top of that increasing the levels gives you tangible combat benefits. Soon my goal in-between missions was to make Wolverine and Spider-Man bestest friends.

I know the card and deck building aspect might put a few off but this is almost semantics, really, in that each card is just as easily described as an ability, and you get three abilities per turn. if that’s what’s putting anyone off, I’d really recommend giving it a go. Certainly I’ve never considered myself a fan of deck builders, but I enjoyed this one far more than others I’ve tried (because as I say I think it’s almost inconsequential that they are cards).

Next on the agenda for me is Hogwarts Legacy, a game which, before it had ever been announced I had declared to friends as my most-wanted dream game, so to say I am excited to play another form of Wizard’s Chess is an understatement. But my time with the Midnight Suns will live long in my memory.
Henshin Agogo

Inbox also-rans
So many theories floating around at the moment, about the Switch 2, Sony’s plans, Microsoft buying Activision… but I still haven’t heard a single sensible answer for why they don’t announce the Elden Ring DLC. Even if it’s not out for years at least confirm it exists!
Dumpty

Am I the only one that has never heard of GeForce Now until today? Way to go on the marketing for that one!
Stupot

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was inspired by reader Crombie, who asks whether you’re spending less on video games now than before and during the pandemic?

There’s been a lot of discussion recently about value for money but have your spending habits changed since the end of the pandemic and the start of the current economic crisis? Are you spending less on games overall and has that lead to you playing them less – or has that not changed?

Do you currently have a set budget for what to spend on games and how does that account for new hardware purchases and things like microtransactions?

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The small print
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You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE : Games Inbox: February State of Play predictions, open world Super Mario, and The Last Of Us 3

MORE : Games Inbox: GTA Trilogy still broken, Tales Of Symphonia Remastered, and Metroid Prime dissension

MORE : Games Inbox: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom length worries, Xbox always-one, and XCOM 3 uncertainty

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The Thursday letters page wishes there was some solid news about Bioshock 4, as one reader talks up Marvel’s Midnight Suns.