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

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

Got my new OLED TV. Absolutely stunning picture. Big improvement with popping HDR and colours, and deep blacks. Been playing a few games and I’m noticing striking differences. My previous TV was a Samsung QLED and it’s a great TV but OLED just pops much more. Very happy. Exactly what I was hoping for. A bit of an indulgence purchase but I’ve been wanting it for some time and caved after 18 months of refusing myself due to my previous TV not being that old. Honestly you can’t beat OLED. Completely happy now - well on my gaming TV. And 65 inch ;-).

Where’s Deckard these days? Normally he’s the most active of all of us, of the 3 or 4 of us still here. Has he finally escaped?

Yea my PS sub drops to essential later this month. And like you not played much of what’s on Extra. In fact essential monthly games seem to be better for me.

I’m subbed up on Game Pass Ultimate until April 2028 - cost me £0. I still think it’s good value at the new price as the day one releases are usually pretty good and frequent but at the same time the new price (to me) goes over the point where I’d pay for it from month to month and I’ll more likely dip in and out once my sub runs out. And no doubt it’ll be even more expensive by then.

In other news I’ve scratched an itch I’ve had for quite some time. I’ve bought an OLED TV for my gaming setup. It arrives tomorrow. Very excited. Broke the bank but I want one :-).

World at War on 360 is hacked to death last time I played it. Battlefield 6 this weekend for me and for the weeks and months to come.

It’s not free. Once you get the digital trophy you have to pay for the physical item. A bit like unlocking the right to shop. And it’s standard prices.

https://blog.playstation.com/2025/09/...

Think I’m in the sheet parallel universe again. Microsoft have increased games pass ultimate subscription by 50% - £23 now! And Sony have replaced their rewards program with something where you must earn the trophies first before you unlock the reward you have to pay for - like a T-shirt or decorative pin - like they’re doing us a favour. Taking the pee is what I call it - both of them.

I’ve completed HZD remastered. Very enjoyable and perhaps appreciated it more the second time around. Well worth the cost to upgrade to the remastered version.

Nothing to play now so think I’ll take a break too until BF6 release. I might play a bit of multiplayer while I wait.

Yea I watched the State of Play. Only things for me were the BF6 campaign looks to have potential and Wolverine is defo on my radar now - much more impressive than I was expecting. The gore looks great. I was worried it would be a tame Spider-Man clone with lots of jumping around a city rather than swinging and a few bits of red for blood. Other than that nothing else caught my attention including Soros which isn’t my kinda game really.

I’ve also been upgrading my gaming set-up. I’ve wall mounted my TV which has vastly improved the look and feel. It’s so clean looking now with the TV flush to the wall and no wires visible. And I’ve binned off the soundbar and replaced it with powered separated speakers which now give proper stereo separation. And they’re powerful, loud (100W per channel) and lots of bass. They’ve made a massive difference to the immersion. And I can hear where directionally the enemy are coming from now - just like you get with headphones but rocking the room instead. Should have done it earlier.

And there was me thinking I was the last one standing.

I was struggling to find a game to play so I reluctantly thought I’d give HZD remaster a go fully expecting to get bored and bin it off after 30 minutes (having played it before back in the day). And before I know it I’m hooked and loving it. I’m near the end of the campaign and I’ve probably enjoyed it a lot more this time around. Not going for trophies but just a main line campaign play through. Looks gorgeous too graphically on the Pro.

I guess everyone is too busy dying on Borderlands 4.

I’m struggling to motivate myself to replay HZD or TLOU2 again. I found HZD a real chore in the latter half of the game and TLOU2 I really loved but it’s a really long game - took me about 30 hours to complete it. I suppose I could play either/both to the point I’ve had enough as I finished them both before so no biggy if I don’t complete them a second time.

I’ve finally completed Gears of War Reloaded. Still a great game, visual upgrades look great and holds up well by today’s standards bar the cut-scenes which are clearly unchanged from the Ultimate edition. 9/10 on the r-score-o-meter. I’ve binned off the multiplayer as the skill level is far too high for me even though I’m pretty good at FPS multiplayer shooters. I have no other currently released games lined up to play so I’ll have to do some searching. My back log consists of Callisto Protocol, or a replay of Blops 6 campaign but on PS5, or replays of Horizon Zero Dawn or TLOU2 (but the PS5 remasters).

I’ve not been gaming much recently. On Act 4 of Gears of War Reloaded. Taking it exceptionally slowly only because my gaming mojo has gone a little. I’m not that excited for Ghost of Yotei (probably get it when cheaper) so not much on the Horizon for me except for Battlefield 6, Outer Worlds 2 and Keeper (which looks amazing). All out in October.

I’ve played a couple of hours of Gears. Enjoying the campaign again but the multiplayer is far above my ability level and I’ve already had enough. I don’t understand how people can zoom around the map so quickly. I got some kills but rather than getting better it just got worse and worse. Just the campaign for me.

Got to wait until 4pm. I was all ready to go. I’ll play the MP but it will be very sweaty.

Yea the DIgital Foundry review of MGS Delta performance and resolution wise is not glowing. In performance mode it gets no where near 60Hz and its base resolution is sub 1080p. And same old crap PSSR upscaling on Pro. A case again where the Pro version is actually worse than the standard version - crazy. Otherwise ignoring all that it’s basically a good remake completely overhauled and modernised so I think it’ll still look vastly improved and still a great game. For me it’s one to get in a sale. The day one patch may well fix a few of its issues but remains to be seen.

I’m looking forward to Gears too. Played it on 360 and the Ultimate edition. I’m even looking forward to the multiplayer even though it can be a high bar to being competitive.

Anyone tempted by Indika?

Gears of War Reloaded is out Tuesday so that’s my next game. Harold Halibut won’t get a look in now. I’ll play Gears on Series X but I’d love to play it instead on PS5 Pro but I’m not paying for it when I already have it for free.

I’ve completed Sword of the Sea. Excellent game with lots of great platforming, exploration, light puzzles, collectibles, superb artwork and great atmosphere. Nothing like Journey whatsoever in terms of gameplay. It’s a proper game and the tricks are only really for the trick areas which are optional. 9/10 on the r-score-o-meter. If it wasn’t for completing the game in under two hours trophy I’d go for the platinum as I’d be more than happy to play it again. I have started a new game plus.

It’s a platforming game so not sure where the - lots of travelling and not a lot else - comes from. If it’s the trailer then it’s not the case at all.

I might give Harold Halibut a go next.

There’s a lot more game play in this one.

Took a chance on Sword of the Sea on PS Plus extra. About 2 hours in and it’s superb. Highly recommended. Light puzzle platformer with board tricks but you can pretty much ignore the tricks side at least so far. Made by the same people that made Journey and it has all of the excellent artwork, environments and atmosphere. Platforming is good too.

Completed Mafia The Old Country. The second half of the game was much more fun than the first half bar the horrible knife fights and an insta-death sneaky boss fight. The story, characters and cut-scenes were very good. Standard Mafia story but very well done. Combat is fun. Racing a chore. Stealth seen and done it all before but it’s straightforward even with the insta-death. The open world looks nice but it’s purely a backdrop. The graphics were a little soft in performance mode but little different to games such as Alan Wake 2 for comparison. The money seems pretty pointless. Yea you can buy new clothing, cars and colours but the opportunity to buy them is very infrequent. The one thing that frustrated me is that it doesn’t tell which guns you are picking up and the opportunity to choose your load-out is very very infrequent - bit of a pain for going for the related weapon trophies. For all the gripes I did enjoy it, especially the story, characters and combat. It would be easy to be critical but for the amount I enjoyed it I’ll give it a 7/10 on the r-score-o-meter. Defo worth a sale purchase.

Yea I’m not a big fan either. It’s fine if when it goes wrong the game reverts to a fight but insta-death is not what I enjoy. Saying that the stealth in the game is fine - seen it all before - and is pretty straightforward. Just had another race and it was like controlling a car on ice.