Gaming News
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Horizon Forbidden West is PlayStation exclusive action game with role-playing elements and the sequel to the popular 2017 title Horizon Zero Dawn a game that quickly became the poster child for all things PlayStation.
Set 6 months after the first game in a post-apocalyptic version of the western United States. You play as ALOY who sets out to find a cure for a blight that is spreading like cancer and killing plant and animal life.
There’s no doubt about it that the bright and vibrant colours of the game lure you in and the environments are just stunning, from the valleys to the deserts, snowy mountains and beautiful beaches.
Even right down to the flow in the crystal clear water, it's a real testament to how far graphics have come in the last few years and makes this a great game to show off the hardware capabilities of your PS5 if you are lucky enough to be playing on the next generation of consoles.
The game mostly plays like the first one and does enough tutorial at the beginning plus a stack of recap that new players will be able to jump straight in and be caught up on everything you need to know.
The introduction of a grappling hook device was met with mixed reviews. At the end of the day, it’s not too dissimilar to similar devices in games like Zelda Breath of the Wild and enhances the game significantly as you find new ways to work through some puzzling areas.
One of the stand out achievements in the title isn’t what you see so much as what you hear. The audio environments are rich and if you close your eyes for a second you can get lost in the detail. The voice acting in the game is superb at bringing the characters to life.
There are small tweaks to the combat to make it more exciting and you can see real growth from the developers who obviously learnt a lot from the first game and went into this taking on fan feedback to improve it overall.
Improving on a game that scored so highly must have been an epic task but one they have achieved in spades.
Having said that I’m sure the leaps forward would have been hindered by the fact that the game needed to be available on both PlayStation 4 as well as PlayStation 5 so it will be interesting to see what the team do when they are unbound from the shackles of a previous generation machine and let loose to develop exclusively for the new hardware when an inevitable Horizon 3 is released.
Horizon Forbidden West is a strong console exclusive for Sony’s PlayStation and one that would be hard to look over especially if you want to see what your PS5 is capable of. It’s probably one of the last great games you’ll get on your PS4 as well.
The story is solid and builds on the lore of the series with some twists and turns you'll find engaging.
The gameplay is improved on the first with new and excitingly larger enemies to defeat along the way. It’s available now and well worth your hard-earned dollars.
Horizon Forbidden West scores a 9/10
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PlayStation has revealed the stunning new design of the next generation VR headset, PlayStation VR2, together with an updated and final design image of the PlayStation VR2 Sense controller.
The PS VR2 headset has a similar shape to the PS VR2 Sense controller, taking on a matching “Orb” look. The team have said that the circular orb shape is representative of the 360-degree view that players feel when they enter the virtual reality world. First impressions are that it’s contoured like a designer sports car giving it that true futuristic feel, think the sleek robot designs from the movie “I, Robot”.
PlayStation VR2’s headset was also inspired by the look of the PlayStation 5 family of products. The goal was to create a headset that will not only become an attractive part of players’ living room decor but will also keep players immersed in the game world.
Plus it’s just nice to have all your gaming stuff be “matchy-matchy”.
For the PS VR2 headset, comfort was a key consideration, by adding new features such as a lens adjustment dial, so users have an additional option to match the lens distance between their eyes to optimise their view. In addition, the design is slimmer with a weight reduction, taking onboard players’ feedback.
Yujin Morisawa, Senior Art Director at Sony Interactive Entertainment took to the Official PlayStation Blog to explain why the new vent design is his absolute favourite part of the design:
“When I started to work on the design for the PlayStation VR2 headset, one of the areas I wanted to focus on first was the idea of creating a vent in the headset to let air out, similar to the vents on the PS5 console that allows airflow.
Our engineers came up with this idea as a good way to allow ventilation and avoid having the lens fog up while players are immersed in their VR games. I worked on many design concepts to achieve this, and in the final design, you can see there is a little space in between the top and front surface of the scope that contains the integrated ventilation.
I am really proud of how this turned out and the positive feedback I have gotten so far. I hope our PlayStation fans will also agree, and I can’t wait for them to try it out.”
Finally, another treat, similar to the thousands of tiny PlayStation symbols added to the design of the PlayStation 5 console and DualSense controller, players will find tiny PlayStation symbols on the front and back bands of the PS VR 2 headset to add a comfortable feel for players to enjoy. It’s a cute little easter egg that also has a purpose.
There are plenty of exciting new features to look forward to in the PS VR2 system when it launches, including stunning visual fidelity in 4K HDR and state-of-art graphical rendering, enhanced tracking, new PlayStation VR2 Sense Technology features, and the new intuitive, PS VR2 Sense controller that creates an incredibly deep feeling of immersion.
Players who have been gushing over the release of Horizon: Forbidden West in the last week will no doubt be excited for the VR experience called “Horizon VR: Call of the Mountain” that will likely be a launch title for the PlayStation VR2
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Sony Interactive Entertainment Australia has announced that ahead of this weekend’s huge fight, UFC 271 is currently available to pre-order on PlayStation 4.
Fans can get ready now by logging on to PlayStation Store to prepare for the event when it kicks off this Sunday, 13 February at 2:00PM AEDT.
10% discount applies to pre-orders with PlayStation Plus.
This Sunday’s epic match will see a clash between Nigerian-born New Zealander, Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya and New Zealand-born Australian, Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker.
Two years ago, Adesanya stopped Robert Whittaker in his tracks in front of a record crowd in Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.
Will this weekend’s match see Whittaker avenge that defeat? It’s truly a must-see event.
To see more on this epic battle go to the official UFC site.
How to Preorder the Pay-Per-View on your PlayStation Console
Getting ready for UFC 271 is simple and the perfect way to watch it is through PS4 Live Events.
Head to PlayStation Store now from your PS4 console and search for "UFC 271". PS4 owners can pre-order the pay-per-view event today. And that’s it: you're all set!
Purchased content will appear in ‘My Videos’ App on the PS4 dashboard and a handy timer countdown will keep you informed as to when the event starts. You’ll be able to watch the live stream as soon as the event starts.
PlayStation Live Events are a great way to watch your favourite events on your PS4 console, live or on-demand, with no subscription and no commitments.
PS5 Users will need to access via an ESPN+ Subscription.
The event kicks off this Sunday, 13 February at 2:00 PM AEDT
Free Game
If that isn't enough UFC for you then remember this month's free game via PlayStation Plus is the awesome UFC 4. So go and download that to play before and after the live event.
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Sony’s “State of Play” presentation dropped today and showed us a really in-depth look at the upcoming PlayStation exclusive Gran Turismo 7.
The episode featured 30 minutes of never before seen gameplay footage of Gran Turismo 7’s different modes and features captured on their flagship console the PS5.
The game will be available on both the PS4 and PS5 and we are still interested to see what all the differences will be between the consoles which are miles apart in what they are capable of.
The PS5 version of the game will see photo-realistic graphics using ray-tracing and you would expect that version to be far superior especially with the larger preorder price tag of $98 on the PS5 via Amazon compared to only $78 on the PS4 via the same site.
Watch the video now to see the amazing graphics we’ll be able to expect when the game releases on March 4th 2022.
There are over 400 cars to choose from in-game with the game taking place in 34 locations and 97 layouts. We’ll see the return of some classic tracks from previous games and the team have also announced that more tracks and cars will be added at future dates so we expect to see some in-game purchases or perhaps “season passes” to gain extra content.
FEATURES
The game has lots of great features as you would expect. Starting at the “world map” where it has a very “social media” feel with a map that changes the time of day and makes the location feel alive.
Music Rally
Hop into a Porsche Carrera Speedster ‘56 and race through the Music Rally. On the surface, it’s an arcade-style race where players will enjoy some motivating, up-tempo tunes while trying to reach checkpoints before time runs out.
Purchasing a car
I could have sworn we were looking at an actual website like “Car Buy” or something. The detail here is in the lack of detail, making it look extremely realistic. The first task to complete is using some provided in-game credits to purchase a used car. I’ve got my eye on that Super Bee’70, but I’ve got a feeling the Fit Hybrid ’14 will be in my price range.
It looks like those prices will vary from day to day as the game looks to values in the real-life car markets.
Cafe
This comfy locale offers players “Menu Books” of activities to complete for new cars and other game-progression goodies. So not a real cafe. Be a great idea though, do a deal with Uber Eats or Menu Log to deliver a Coffee and snack when you order it in-game, that’s the kind of innovation we need.
This is a great way to do tasks to win new cars though and that’s what it’s all about.
License Center
It’s been so long since we’ve had a Gran Turismo game I’d completely forgotten that you need to get a licence in the game. I seem to remember it taking me a few attempts in the first game back in the day, so it was technically replicating my real-life experience as well.
Tuning
(all images thanks to Sony Computer Entertainment and Playstation Blog)
With a handful of cars now in players’ garage and new skills at their command, a Cafe menu will direct players to the newly opened Tuning Shop. This place is loaded with parts of all shapes and sizes, with even more to be unlocked.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, as players progress through the game they will open many more features to explore. The GT games are all about putting hours of gameplay in to really complete that need in your brain to “collect them all”. As well as being one of the worlds greatest driving sims it’s basically the car-heads version of Pokemon in that regard.
Gran Turismo 7 launches on March 4th for PS4 and PS5 consoles.
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