Dave Moran, Author at THUMBSTiX https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/author/davemoran/ Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch & PC news and Reviews Wed, 07 Jun 2023 19:16:45 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cropped-twitter-32x32.png Dave Moran, Author at THUMBSTiX https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/author/davemoran/ 32 32 Super Mega Baseball 4 review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/super-mega-baseball-4-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/super-mega-baseball-4-review/#respond Wed, 07 Jun 2023 19:16:45 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52275 Super Mega Baseball 4 is packed with great gameplay, impressive visuals, and a host of new features, it hits a home run when it comes to providing hours of entertainment on the virtual diamond. This is the first time the game has been published by EA and you can tell straight away thanks to the visuals. It’s the best looking Super Mega Baseball yet, with excellent stadium crowds, characters, the stadiums themselves, and visual effects. There are six brand-new stadiums. Game cameras and cutscene animations have also been overhauled for the first time since the original Super Mega Baseball, with […]

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Super Mega Baseball 4 is packed with great gameplay, impressive visuals, and a host of new features, it hits a home run when it comes to providing hours of entertainment on the virtual diamond.

This is the first time the game has been published by EA and you can tell straight away thanks to the visuals. It’s the best looking Super Mega Baseball yet, with excellent stadium crowds, characters, the stadiums themselves, and visual effects. There are six brand-new stadiums. Game cameras and cutscene animations have also been overhauled for the first time since the original Super Mega Baseball, with new variations and perspectives. It’s crisp and technically impressive without losing the cartoon charm the series is known for. The superb caricature characters come in every shape and size. Superbly placed sound effects and commentary play on the humour and enhance the immersion, as well as tremendously lively animations bringing a smile to your face.

Super Mega Baseball 4 is highly accessible. Batting and fielding have retained their arcade style meaning anyone can pick up and play through a regular exhibition match in no time at all. However if you really want to dig deeper into some of the more complicated play styles there are whole host of controls to remember to make the game more of a simulation. Difficulty can be tweaked to any level with the ego scale the small increments mean you can find the perfect level depending on your experience.

There are a huge amount of game modes to take part in. From standard exhibitions to pennant races, seasons, shuffle drafts and elimination.

In Pennant Race players choose a team to compete and face a series of randomized online opponents to compete for the top of the rankings. Players can choose to play cross-platform or same-platform, but they are then placed into a Division of up to 15 players based on their general skill level. It’s a great way to play random opponents.

Franchise mode adds a new player loyalty system which give you interesting decision to make to keep players happy, build their loyalty and keep them on your team, but it’s not the most satisfying mechanic: you always leave someone on your team upset and this black and white decision making reveals its limitations quickly.

The player development opportunities provide interesting decisions that can grant improvements or reduce a player’s skills. The risk verse reward aspect of this keeps you on your toes, and there’s an impressive number of different opportunities that crop up.

My favourite mode so far is Shuffle Draft, where you get repopulate the entire league. You have a choice of starting a Franchise, Season, Elimination or Online League season with your draft. You’ll start with a bank team and go through 22 rounds of each team picking a player. You’ll be given a choice of 8 players each round and its up to you to ensure you get the right balance of finding strong players and optimising your teams chemistry. It’s great fun a and keeps the game fresh.

Another huge area of fun comes from the awesome customisation menu. SMB4 has multiple options for both character and team customisation. In terms of players, you name it, you can customise it. All of the characters physical features can be changed as well as their stances and skills. Teams can have all sorts of visual and audio features changed, including the sounds that are made when they hit a home as well the logos.

The online experience is excellent too, especially now that game supports cross-play between all the major platforms. Sending invites is simple and you are in a game before you know it.

Super Mega Baseball 4 is the best in the series, with so many teams and legends to play as you will always find something different to play with someone different. Its the most accessible version I’ve played and the fantastic presentation is a real highlight.

 

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Hogwarts Legacy review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/hogwarts-legacy-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/hogwarts-legacy-review/#respond Wed, 22 Feb 2023 12:20:58 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52255 Hogwarts Legacy opens up the world of Harry Potter to let us muggles become Witches or Wizards, but is it any good? The Harry Potter world has been a big part of our lives, from excitedly buying the latest books, seeing the films on opening night to seeing my young son’s face light up as he opened the door to the Great Hall at Harry Potter world. For years, fans of the series have been crying out for a game that let live out their own Hogwarts Adventures and finally they can in Hogwarts Legacy. You play as a student […]

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Hogwarts Legacy opens up the world of Harry Potter to let us muggles become Witches or Wizards, but is it any good? The Harry Potter world has been a big part of our lives, from excitedly buying the latest books, seeing the films on opening night to seeing my young son’s face light up as he opened the door to the Great Hall at Harry Potter world.

For years, fans of the series have been crying out for a game that let live out their own Hogwarts Adventures and finally they can in Hogwarts Legacy. You play as a student drafted into Hogwarts in the fifth year, a rare occurrence. You have spent the summer being mentored by Professor Fig to prepare you for life as a witch or wizard. After creating your character you begin to travel to Hogwarts. What should be a simple journey isn’t a you discover some interesting secrets that forms the story.

When you do finally arrive at Hogwarts you take part in the sorting ceremony, you’ll answer a few questions and the hat will decide which house you’ll be part of, however if you don’t like the choice you can change this straight away. You’ll need to make one full playthrough as one house and three partial playthroughs as the others if you want to pick up all of the achievements.

Because you have joined Hogwarts so late you’ll have a lot of catching up to do in order to pass your O.W.L.S, so your teachers will give you extra curricular tasks to help with your learning. On completion of these tasks you’ll be taught various spells to use throughout the game.

The array of spells you learn will give you a huge arsenal of power that will give you the ability to navigate the world, all the classic spells are available. You have a basic cast that will deal damage and then you can use a combination of attack spells to cause more chaos. Depending on the path you take you will eventually learn cursed spells which ultimately teaches you Avada Kedavra which is a one hit kill. There are a whole host of other spells that will help you in other aspects of your adventure, from capturing and looking after your beasts to conjuring new equipment for your Room of Requirement.

Combat is Hogwarts Legacy is excellent, using your different spell types to make some awesome combos, as your combos increase in size you’ll collect shards that allow you to unleash Ancient Magic finishers which do huge amounts of damage. There are all sorts of enemies ranging from Dark Wizards to huge beasts and you’ll need to be aware of how to defeat them, all spell types are colour coded so you’ll know which spells to use against them. The combat system is well managed, the spell types are all managed via the d-pad via four different pages of slots, these can be edited on the fly which is great depending on the type of quests you are involved in. Eventually talent points become available to you which can be used to enhance certain attributes such as spells casting out over a wider area or being able to run while invisible. 

Of course Hogwarts Legacy is not just casting spells to defeat enemies, the huge open world is full of surprises from treasure caves to trials created by Merlin himself, there are broom time trials, games to play and stars to discover. Then there is just the ability to explore and discover Hogwarts as a working school. There are more things to discover than I could possibly write here but my favourite so far are two coats of arms getting increasingly more agitated at each other each time you pass them until you see one smash the other to bits in a fit of rage. There is an incredible attention to detail that hardcore fans will totally enjoy, combine the exploration with the story and side quests and you’ll easily see a playthrough of 70+ hours appear.

You’ll notice that I haven’t really discussed the main story line, that’s mostly because it feels like the least important part of this game for me, it’s a well written and fun to play campaign but I just got more from doing everything else. The first time you flew a broom was sensational, which was topped by flying a Hippogriff alongside the Hogwarts Express, the wonderful score that played genuinely gave me shivers and I wish I could play those sections again and again. Although some of the quotes feel a bit obvious at times I never felt bored by them and was happy to discover new things to do during my exploration.

As I mentioned, there is a huge amount of detail in the world and he game does look great, some of the characters look a little dead behind the eyes and there doesn’t feel like there is much animation in any of their faces, especially when the voice acting is so vibrant, they just don’t tend to match their characters.

I’ve honestly had an absolute blast playing this game and sharing experiences with my family who were huge fans of Harry Potter. If you have loved the world created then you will have a great time with this game.

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LEGO Bricktales review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/lego-bricktales-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/lego-bricktales-review/#respond Thu, 03 Nov 2022 10:09:38 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52222 LEGO Bricktales isn’t like most of the LEGO games you’ll play, with this title you’ll need to get your thinking cap on. You play as an unarmed character that can be customised as you unlock new parts and their inventor grandpa who embark on adventure to search for inspiration to help reinvigorate his rundown amusement park with your little robot buddy in tow.  You’ll visit the deepest jungle, sun-drenched deserts, a bustling city corner, a towering medieval castle, and tropical Caribbean islands as you progress through the game. Each world will require you to explore and solve various building puzzles […]

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LEGO Bricktales isn’t like most of the LEGO games you’ll play, with this title you’ll need to get your thinking cap on.

You play as an unarmed character that can be customised as you unlock new parts and their inventor grandpa who embark on adventure to search for inspiration to help reinvigorate his rundown amusement park with your little robot buddy in tow. 

You’ll visit the deepest jungle, sun-drenched deserts, a bustling city corner, a towering medieval castle, and tropical Caribbean islands as you progress through the game. Each world will require you to explore and solve various building puzzles to unlock new areas as you move around. You ‘ll meet and help the minifigures of these worlds by solving puzzles and unlock new skills throughout the story to further explore these worlds and uncover the many secrets and mysteries they contain.

Unlike the licensed TT games LEGO titles where all you have to to do is hold down a button to build a structure, in Bricktales you need to have a proper think about how you are going to build each structure.

One of the first things you’ll need to build is a bridge, which is hardly surprising since it’s made by the same team responsible for the entertaining Bridge Constructor series. You are given various bits of LEGO and an area to build it in, you are then left to your own devices to complete the task. Before you can move on you’ll need to prove your structure is solid but testing it with little robots.

As you progress through the game the builds become more complex with more bits of LEGO to use. It’s pretty unforgiving, there are no hints or tips to help you, you are purely relying on trial and error each time you build which at times can become a little frustrating. The only guidance you have shows bricks in red if they can’t be placed or are out of the build area. Hardcore LEGO builders will welcome the challenge while younger players will find the this game pretty difficult.

One challenge for all players however is the camera. Bricks can be rotated and moved up and down through the levels and placed wherever you think is best, but the camera makes it really difficult to see where you are placing bricks, especially when you are trying to be precise with your build. I often found myself placing breaks wildly out of place too often which became really frustrating. Once you had completed a difficult build however it was very satisfying. 

When you have completed a build you are able to go back in and add extra flourishes with new colours and bricks, apart from a purely cosmetic need there was little reason for me to do this though. 

I love the fact LEGO Bricklates goes back to basics with non licensed LEGO worlds to explore with a cute story about family. Each of the worlds are fascinating to explore and they all look great, it’s just a shame the puzzles are let down by such awkward camera movements.

 

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Gotham Knights review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/gotham-knights-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/gotham-knights-review/#respond Thu, 20 Oct 2022 12:28:00 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52209 Gotham Knights is a brand-new open world, third-person action RPG featuring the Batman Family as players step into the roles of Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin, a new guard of trained DC Super Heroes who must rise up as the protectors of Gotham City in the wake of Batman’s death. An expansive, criminal underworld has swept through the streets of Gotham, and it is now up to these new heroes to protect the city, bring hope to its citizens, discipline to its cops and fear to its criminals. Players must save Gotham from descent into chaos and reinvent themselves […]

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Gotham Knights is a brand-new open world, third-person action RPG featuring the Batman Family as players step into the roles of Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin, a new guard of trained DC Super Heroes who must rise up as the protectors of Gotham City in the wake of Batman’s death. An expansive, criminal underworld has swept through the streets of Gotham, and it is now up to these new heroes to protect the city, bring hope to its citizens, discipline to its cops and fear to its criminals. Players must save Gotham from descent into chaos and reinvent themselves into their own version of the Dark Knight.

Central to the game is the Knights Headquarters, the Belfry. This central hub allows you to choose and customise your character, talk with the other nights and assess your evidence board. Evidence is collected through nightly patrols where you all scan for crimes and stop them from happening.

The majority of Gotham is available immediately so you can explore and discover crimes all over the city. They’ll range from simple muggings to fully blown gang operations. Certain enemies you defeat will give you intelligence about premeditated crimes that will take place on future nights. While some enemies will automatically give you intel, others will need to be interrogated.

You have complete freedom to spend as long as you want in the city, however when you decide to return to Belfry any crimes you haven’t stopped will be gone forever. It’s the same result if you are killed during a fight. When you return your evidence board will be populated with future quests.

Completing patrols also rewards you with XP, allowing you to mould your favourite character into the kind of fighter you want to play as. Levelling up grants you skill points that can be spent in the skills trees for each character, dictating what they excel at. If you want to play heavy-handed you can concentrate on combat skills and gadgets, turning you into either a tank or DPS character that can soak-up or deal heavy damage respectively.

Meanwhile, focus on stealth instead and you can become a master of opportunity takedowns, making yourself practical undetectable to enemies and even security cameras to allow you to prowl around unmolested. You could even focus on critical hits and dodging, making you a slippery, hard-hitting combatant. There’s a great variety of skills that help make the experience fit your preferred playstyle.

Each of the four knights have the own individual style, Batgirl is highly trained in a variety of fighting styles, such as kickboxing, capoeira, and jiu-jitsu. Her signature weapon is the tonfa. She is also great at hacking or coding in computers and technological systems to dig for information.

Robin is an expert fighter armed with his collapsible quarterstaff and skilled in the art of stealth. Nightwing boasts mastery in acrobatics and is an expert at taking down enemies with his signature dual escrima sticks, while Red Hood is proficient in multiple combat techniques with all manner of weapons—both traditional and high-tech.

Gotham Knights lacks the fluidity of the Arkham games, both in traversal and combat. Moving around the space feels clunky and unresponsive. Character movement has momentum and acceleration, making movement look realistic but feels delayed, this is especially noticeable when making turns in vents or moving from a stationary position.

Each character has a grapplehook to aid in their traversal of the environment but there’s a surprisingly limited amount of verticality in some areas, or even points that look like they should support your grapplehook but don’t offer you that option. Meanwhile, running and jumping doesn’t feel accurate, making it all too easy to fall off points of elevation or fail to escape an area quickly because you can’t vault or climb something without bashing a button repeatedly.

Meanwhile, combat feels decent but ultimately an imitation of the Arkham system, it’s mechanically the same, incorporating light, heavy, ranged and grab attacks to manage your foes and exploit their weaknesses, with the now ubiquitous dodge rounding out the experience, however, while the combat looks fancy enough, and certainly gets the job done, there’s a lack of feedback in terms of sound effects and even in controller rumble.

There’s no denying the satisfaction it brings as you pound enemies into the ground, or into nearby obstacles, but it’s not as impactful and smooth as seen in the Arkham games and Lord of the Ring Shadow titles. It’s pleasingly cinematic though. The acrobatics are nicely animated and there’s a variety of slow-motion takedowns to enjoy, with some neat looking attacks when you cooperate with nearby teammates. Meanwhile, the particle effects from things like Molotov cocktails looks terrific, and the visual cues for dodging and avoiding bullets or thrown objects is pleasantly obvious.

Gotham Knights nails the Batman atmosphere and aesthetic. The city of Gotham is wonderfully dense, gothic and noir in style, and each of the characters looks and sounds perfect. Strong voice acting and a script that feels true to each character helps immerse you. Furthermore, a rich selection of suits for each character lets you enjoy your crime fighting in style – once you unlock them. Even the way villains are portrayed and how their related missions play out feels appropriate to the source material. An early Harley Quinn mission ends up with a huge prison brawl to a punk rock version of Ricky Martin’s Livin’ la vida loca playing in the background, feeling absolutely perfect for that character’s special brand of insanity.

Where Gotham Knights excels is its handling of the co-op. While your partner is in your world they are free to do whatever they please aside from main and side missions that need to be completed together. If you decide to fight a crime together you can or you can divide and conquer if you prefer. What I liked most was that if you weren’t hosting and completed a mission further on that you had got to in your save when you reach that point in your save the game will recognise you have completed it already but will give you the option to replay it. Enemies are scaled called based on your skill level so it’s a fair fight for whoever plays. The biggest shame is that it isn’t 4 player co-op.

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Train Sim World 3 review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/train-sim-world-3-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/train-sim-world-3-review/#respond Wed, 05 Oct 2022 09:24:26 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52197 I’ve been playing train simulators for 10 years! What started as a mild interest into the inner workings of driving on the railways in the UK and abroad became thousands of hours driving various different trains on a huge number of routes. The release of Train Sim World 3 hasn’t helped reduce the amount of hours. Driving trains isn’t easy. Each locomotive has different controls and takes time to learn but thankfully there is a training centre giving you the opportunity to complete various tutorials before heading off to the official routes. The tutorials will teach all the controls you […]

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I’ve been playing train simulators for 10 years! What started as a mild interest into the inner workings of driving on the railways in the UK and abroad became thousands of hours driving various different trains on a huge number of routes. The release of Train Sim World 3 hasn’t helped reduce the amount of hours.

Driving trains isn’t easy. Each locomotive has different controls and takes time to learn but thankfully there is a training centre giving you the opportunity to complete various tutorials before heading off to the official routes. The tutorials will teach all the controls you need and how to manage each train. You’ll be able explore the incredible detail of each train in preparation for driving in real world situations. 

When you are ready to drive properly you’ll have three (or four if you have the deluxe version) to choose from. Choose between hauling hundreds of containers through Cajon Pass with the ES44C4 experiencing the thrill of 280 km/h in the ICE 1 between Kassel and Wurzburg or drive Britain’s fastest train, the Class 395, between London, Ashford and Faversham. Deluxe owners can step back in time and take control of the famous LMS Jubilee Class. Carry passengers on a journey of a lifetime along the West Coast Main Line, over the Runcorn Bridge and right into the heart of Merseyside. Additionally, be in charge the hard-working LMS Stanier 8F Class on heavy freight trains. It’s worth noting that any content from Train Sim World 2 is compatible with this game which is great.

You have the option to play through a whole timetable throughout the day. You could be setting up and running the first train of the day or handling a busy rush hour service.

There are also plenty of scenarios to play through which will test your skills. The different challenges range in difficulty from running a normal service to a storm affected route that will test your signal knowledge.

How your train drives depending on the weather conditions, anyone who has travelled in Britain will know just what its like when we get to autumn/winter. If its not leaves on the line affecting track adhesion it’s frozen tracks and snow. It’s no different in TSW3 and its done to great affect. Leaving a station with two much power results in wheels slipping and sparks flying from the tracks, braking times are also affected so be sure not to miss the platform!

Visually this is the best looking train sim I’ve played, this year its all about the details, better lighting and reflections through out the environment and the little details like the sparks from the pantographs above the train all make the world feel more alive. Passengers are still a bit of a let down as the walk around like zombies and ruin the realism. For example, setting up the first train of day in a depot to find people already sat in carriages is a bit odd.

The train models are hugely impressive, with huge amounts of details going to into each one. It’s a bit weird seeing such clean SouthEastern Class 465’s look so clean as we all know that in real life they are disgusting old trains that full of all sorts of filth! Stations have all been faithfully recreated and also look great.

A new feature this year is the the livery creator, its like Forza for trains and there are some incredible fan efforts already. There are plenty of official looking train companies and there is the train that looks like a massive Pikachu – Creating your own liveries is as simple or difficult as you want it to be, using layers to create your own work of art before sharing it with the world. You can also create your own scenarios which lets you plan your own routes which leads to endless opportunities to drive.

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Madden 23 review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/madden-23-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/madden-23-review/#respond Tue, 30 Aug 2022 13:29:12 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52177 The Madden train is back in town which a whole host of improvements and lots of excellent tributes to the big man himself. This year Madden 23 focuses on making the game as accessible to people as possible, they’ve introduced some new mechanics but do lots to make sure you play in the style which you prefer. You’ll begin the game by playing through the Madden Legacy Game: In celebration of the NFL legend, you can play through a unique experience featuring coach John Madden himself – from different eras – with teams composed of some of the players Coach […]

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The Madden train is back in town which a whole host of improvements and lots of excellent tributes to the big man himself.

This year Madden 23 focuses on making the game as accessible to people as possible, they’ve introduced some new mechanics but do lots to make sure you play in the style which you prefer.

You’ll begin the game by playing through the Madden Legacy Game: In celebration of the NFL legend, you can play through a unique experience featuring coach John Madden himself – from different eras – with teams composed of some of the players Coach loved the most. 

You are encouraged to let the whole match play out and not skip scenes as there are lots of interesting facts about Madden, his career and life. It’s really well put together and it’s a great tribute.

Once you are past setting everything up you have a huge amount of game modes to play through. Franchise mode has had the biggest amount of improvements, notably NFL Free Agency. With all new screens, additional evaluation periods, player motivations and added salary cap functions there is a whole new dynamic to engage with when trying to put together the ideal roster. Players’ emotions and motivations come into play much more.

They will weigh offers taking into account things like their desire to play for a winning organization, joining a team close to making a Super Bowl run, or with a franchise QB; playing in a big market; making sure they sign with a team close to home; and more. It adds an interesting new dynamic to the mode, trying to sign the best players and then trying to meet their expectations. It’s a deeply rich mode and a lot of fun.

Face of the Franchise has had a much needed narrative change, you start as a journeyman player who happens to be a free agent who get their chance to prove their worth with a one year contract. The improved player lock gameplay makes it much easier to focus on your position during matches. The new side activities are a welcome addition too.

Ultimate team returns with lots of improvements to the gameplay, setting clear paths for you to build the best team possible with all of your favourite players. A brand new field pass gives you lots of rewards during your time in the mode. Complete objectives for specific rewards within the new Field Pass system. You will find 3 different Field Passes at launch: Season, Competitive, and Program. The Season Pass lasts for two months and has some special rewards tied to it. The first reward you earn is Coach Madden himself so you can have him coaching on the sidelines. At Level 50, you’ll see an All- Madden version of former Raider and Coach Madden favorite, Dave Casper. There will be an initial set of objectives that earn you XP and more will continue to be released as the Season progresses

With the new modes out the way you are probably wondering how the gameplay is this year. PS5 and Xbox Series X users will be able to make use of FieldSENSE. Passing has been improved thanks to more refined passing options, giving you more control and accuracy over where the ball will fall. It takes some getting used to but it’s worth trying out to see if it improves your game, if you prefer a more classic style however you can just swap back to that. New animations during plays see players performing mid-air knockouts and standing tackles to force turnovers. There is a noticeable difference to Wide Receivers vs Defensive Backs too, its nice to see some focus on other areas of the field.

As you would expect from any EA sports game. The presentation is fantastic. The detail that goes into every stadium is enough to distract you from the actual matches themselves, coaches and teammates get animated according to on field action while teams in the field look better than ever. It’s not always perfect, players body part contort in odd ways and collisions cause odd reactions. They do nail the big hits though and they are satisfying as ever. Commentary is still brilliant although at times they talk over the referee which makes it difficult to understand what decision has been made. 

There are lots of improvements to Madden 23 this year that make it a worthwhile purchase for hardcore and casual players, the tributes to John Madden are excellent and the game looks amazing, there s something for everyone in this game.

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F1 2022 review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/f1-2022-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/f1-2022-review/#respond Fri, 15 Jul 2022 15:09:34 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52133 A new F1 season means the arrival of F1 2022, but is there enough of change to bring fans over from F1 2021, lets find out. The first thing you’ll notice apart from Fernando Alonso looking like he is surrounded by drivers half his age is the introduction of F1 Life, a rather odd hub where you can decorate a social hub to your tastes all while showing off a supercar collection worthy of a F1 driver. All of these items can be bought in the games store using, supercars can be unlocked using tokens earn from completing challenges such […]

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A new F1 season means the arrival of F1 2022, but is there enough of change to bring fans over from F1 2021, lets find out.

The first thing you’ll notice apart from Fernando Alonso looking like he is surrounded by drivers half his age is the introduction of F1 Life, a rather odd hub where you can decorate a social hub to your tastes all while showing off a supercar collection worthy of a F1 driver. All of these items can be bought in the games store using, supercars can be unlocked using tokens earn from completing challenges such as driving a certain amount of miles. Your hub can also be used as a multiplayer lobby so you can show off your hard work to your mates. To be honest it all feels it a bit lifeless and a bit of grab to get you spending for cosmetics that aren’t needed, you’ll love my lampshades and I won’t be paying any extra!

The supercars can actually be driven on track to compete in challenges ranging from time trials, drifting competitions and Pirelli Hot Lap challenges, it’s cool being able to jump in the safety car to experience a different view. It takes a bit of getting used to because of the huge difference in the way the F1 cars handle themselves on the circuits, however its a welcome distraction from the rest of the game.

In terms of circuits, the Miami International Autodome has been added and its a great drive, not only do you get to race around the Hard Rock stadium complex, but with 3 DRS zones its designed for some really exciting racing.

Existing circuits have also had some changes made to them, with lots of changes to turns and camber, as well as improved graphics. Which all adds to the authenticity of the game.

Audio has also been improved, first of all, no more Jeff! I sort of miss him but I’m sure we’ll grow tired of his replacement soon enough. The commentary has had a big improvement with brand new commentary recorded with teams across multiple regions as well as dynamic music on-track which you can pick up while racing.

Moving to the on track experience, there are a host of improvements that create a greater experience for drivers no matter what you ability is. A new adaptive AI reacts to your speed and lap times by increasing or decreasing the difficulty of your opponents, it works really well and gives you a real sense of being competitive.

This year also see the introduction of simulation formation laps, giving you the chance to get warmed up before attempting to park as accurately as possible. As you approach the line a coloured indicator changes colour, the better you line up, the better your start is when the lights go out. Pit stops have also had a slight change, with a timer prompting you when to dive into your garage. The outcome is more noticeable here with an impact on the overall pit time based on how good your timing is. Both take a little bit of getting used to but are worth having enabled.

All of these options can be turned on and off in the excellent settings menu that really allows you to customising your racing experience to the finest detail, this continue to be one of the games biggest strengths as it completely determines your experience.

The cars look brilliant with their new front and back wings, as well as the huge new tyres and all of the cars new handling has been reflected into the game, the cars feel heavier and take just that little bit longer to brake, so even veterans of the game will take a little time to adjust to the cars. There are lots of new cut scenes which all add to the broadcast experience which as you would expect from an EA sports title.

Unfortunately the FIA still seem to be in a bit of disarray with some of their judgements in game defying logic. I’ve been wiped out (and wiped opponents out) by AI without consequences, yet have been given the dreaded 5 sec penalty for minor infractions. It’s all stuff that can be patched up no doubt.

My Team has had a good new feature added with the ability to specify what sort of backing your team has from the owners, teams pushing Red Bull and Ferrari will get given more cash and R&D changes already implemented giving you that extra edge. While lower team will start with less cash and resources. Once you are in and playing however the mode doesn’t feel significantly different.

All the regular games modes are still present and for those of you who are extra brave the Multiplayer and eSports modes are there so you can take on the world via leagues and competitions. There is also the Podium Pass which unlock all sorts of cosmetics for you driver, cars and items that can be used in F1 Life. The pass come with challenges that include targets such as setting a certain lap time in Time Trial, achieving a one-two finish in My Team or completing three online races without incident. If F1 2022 is your main game then having the Podium Pass is definitely worth it.

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LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/lego-star-wars-the-skywalker-saga-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/lego-star-wars-the-skywalker-saga-review/#respond Fri, 15 Apr 2022 21:07:23 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52105 Lego Star Wars has been a prominent part of lego games since the first game released in 2005. The Skywalker Saga is no exception. Wacky humour, exciting gameplay and cutscenes alike have captured the nostalgic feeling of playing the original games brilliantly. Whether you are fighting Darth Vader on Bespin or speeding through the inside of a Lucrehulk battleship as Anakin, the combat feels fresh and interesting every time. There are many new features in this new game, some of which have never been seen in LEGO games before First, the open world format has been used, meaning that players […]

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Lego Star Wars has been a prominent part of lego games since the first game released in 2005.

The Skywalker Saga is no exception. Wacky humour, exciting gameplay and cutscenes alike have captured the nostalgic feeling of playing the original games brilliantly. Whether you are fighting Darth Vader on Bespin or speeding through the inside of a Lucrehulk battleship as Anakin, the combat feels fresh and interesting every time.

There are many new features in this new game, some of which have never been seen in LEGO games before First, the open world format has been used, meaning that players can travel around the galaxy freely and choose whether they want to follow the story or travel around to different planets. Then, when you arrive on a planet, you aren’t limited to one area. Each planethas different parts, so you can choose whether to explore the Jedi temple on Coruscant or the financial district. This adds a lot more exploring to do on each planet.

Also, there is now an upgrade system, which allows you to spend a mix of studs and kyber bricks (which can be found around the map or unlocked after completing a level in the story) on upgrades to your character, such as getting a stud magnet or extra damage. There are general upgrades, but also upgrades to specific character classes. For example, there is the Jedi class, for characters like Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker, bounty hunter class for Boba and Jango, along with many others. These features keep the game fresh and replayable for a long time. The game also has 2 new episodes that haven’t been playable in Lego before. Now you can play through the 8th and 9th episodes, completing the sequel trilogy and the Skywalker saga.

Going back to the combat mechanics, the game has multiple attacks that can be used to break blocks by the enemy soldiers. Rather than just spamming one button over and over to kill someone, the enemy will now block your attacks if you use the same one too much. To break the block, you must use a different attack, such as an air launch or a heavy attack, along with other combos. In aerial combat, the fighting isn’t too difficult, and lets you use laser blasts and sometimes proton torpedoes to annihilate the enemy defence.


Graphically, the game looks amazing. There are details around every corner and no matter where in the galaxy you are, the lighting and colours cause a unique feel to every planet. The game manages to capture detail and all the while keeps a steady frame rate throughout the levels. This, and the game still manages to capture the nostalgic look of its predecessors. All the way through the game there are small bits of wacky humour that would make any star wars fan laugh, referencing parts of the movies and the memes that came with them.

Overall, Lego Star Wars the Skywalker Saga is a brilliant and exciting mix of the Lego Star Wars games that came before it, but better than ever before. With tons of brand-new game changing features, this game is fun for hours, and replayable over and over. It has many hours of gameplay for all types of players, whether you like to mess around blowing stuff up or collecting every last thing the game has to offer.

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Who pressed mute on Uncle Marcus review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/who-pressed-mute-on-uncle-marcus-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/who-pressed-mute-on-uncle-marcus-review/#respond Sun, 20 Mar 2022 15:24:11 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52089 No doubt over the past two years some of us will have had to ensure a Zoom based quiz with family members but I bet you haven’t had to solve a murder at the same time. Welcome to Who Pressed mute on Uncle Marcus. You play as Abby, who discovers that after a family meeting she misses her Uncle Marcus (played by Jurassic World’s Andy Buckley) is poisoned in an attempted murder, and he is relying on her to find out who did it. While taking part in the quiz, Abby needs to subtly interrogate the various family members and […]

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No doubt over the past two years some of us will have had to ensure a Zoom based quiz with family members but I bet you haven’t had to solve a murder at the same time. Welcome to Who Pressed mute on Uncle Marcus.

You play as Abby, who discovers that after a family meeting she misses her Uncle Marcus (played by Jurassic World’s Andy Buckley) is poisoned in an attempted murder, and he is relying on her to find out who did it.

While taking part in the quiz, Abby needs to subtly interrogate the various family members and work out who pressed mute on Uncle Marcus. The weird thing about the investigation is that Uncle Marcus isn’t dead yet and so you’ll interact with him throughout the playthrough.

The excellent cast does a great job of being a typical family. There are lots of passive (and not so passive) aggressive put-downs and insults between older members of the family with disgust and disinterest from the younger siblings. There are lots of cringeworthy moments that did make me laugh and at times it was easy to see representations of my own family at times!

As you take part in the quiz you’ll be prompted to make choices, this could something as simple as answering the actual quiz question or probing a family member about their opinions of Marcus, key moments are saved in an evidence menu for you, these can be kept for subsequent playthroughs or if you want to up the challenge you can start afresh each game. As you reach the end of each quiz you’ll be prompted to accuse someone of poisoning Marcus, but you can only accuse the people you have evidence against, so there will be multiple playthroughs of the game required.

This is where the frustration kicks in for me. There are certain parts of the game where you can skip sections you have already seen, but not all of them which means having to rewatch big chunks of the game over and over again. If you make a wrong choice you’ll find yourself having to quickly quit the game and restart a section. After each round a helpful screen appears telling you how much you have managed to find out from each member of the family so you can plan your responses to squeeze out the extra info you need.

Ironically, when you do discover the guilty party it’s a bit of a let down. In fact some of the non-guilty members produced more shocking endings to the game. My playthorugh ended up with me knowing who did it but I struggled to get the evidence I needed!

There are some excellent customisation options in the settings to make the game accessible for everybody and I was glad to see a streamer mode that pauses the game at each choice, it’s a good idea to turn that on during subsequent playthroughs of the game so that you don’t accidentally make the wrong choices.

If you are a fan of the FMV’s Wales Interactive release you’ll probably enjoy this too, it certainly wasn’t my favourite but the completionist in me must have done because I did everything possible to find the killer!

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ROCCAT Syn Pro Air Review https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/roccat-syn-pro-air-review/ https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/roccat-syn-pro-air-review/#respond Thu, 17 Mar 2022 15:29:49 +0000 https://www.thumbstix.co.uk/?p=52151 After spending time with previous ROCCAT headsets I was looking forward to seeing what they would do to improve on the steady work they have done so far, first came the earbuds and now there is the The Syn Pro Air. The PC and PS5 compatible headset is an excellent addition to the ROCCAT lineup. The headset boasts 3D audio, 50mm Nanoclear drivers and superhuman hearing that are used in Turtle Beach headsets and for you RGB fans there is AIMO-compatible16.8 million color lighting on each ear cup. The Syn Pro Air also has memory foam ear cups, Detachable flip-to-mute […]

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After spending time with previous ROCCAT headsets I was looking forward to seeing what they would do to improve on the steady work they have done so far, first came the earbuds and now there is the The Syn Pro Air.

The PC and PS5 compatible headset is an excellent addition to the ROCCAT lineup. The headset boasts 3D audio, 50mm Nanoclear drivers and superhuman hearing that are used in Turtle Beach headsets and for you RGB fans there is AIMO-compatible16.8 million color lighting on each ear cup. The Syn Pro Air also has memory foam ear cups, Detachable flip-to-mute TruSpeak mic and promises a 24 hour battery life on a single charge with rapid charging from a USB-C cable.

Setup is simple, if you are lucky enough to have both a PC and PS5 you are better off starting on the PC so that any firmware that needs updating can be done first. Once you are happy you can just put the dongle into a USB port on a PS5 and you’ll be quickly up and running.

When I say up and running I mean you’ll be able to use the headset to game and chat with friends, however if you want to delve into Neon, the software that supports the Pro Air you will feel a similar frustration with Swarm, the app that supports the original ROCCAT products. 

The software isn’t very intuitive and often loses connection with the headset despite the PC managing to keep a connection. No doubt it’s an easy issue to fix but it’s always frustrating when things don’t work the first time around. It’s in this app you can customise all of the headsets features to suit your gaming needs.

Despite ROCCAT boasting a 24-hour battery life I never managed to reach that during the time I used it, instead I was getting 16-17 hours per charge which is still pretty good.

I tested the Syn Pro Air mostly on a PlayStation 5, but I did spend some time playing PC games too. Using the dongle, the headset seems to take around 30 seconds to connect to either device, which isn’t a problem but I’d expect it to be quicker.

Once connected however you’ll get a strong signal and great sound quality. I played Horizon Forbidden West and Fortnite on the PlayStation 5 – The beautiful score from Forbidden West sounded great as did the weapons clashing with the endless amount of machines trying to take me down. I took full advantage of the Superhuman Hearing feature in Fortnite to earn some battle pass levels and even the odd win. On PC I played some Command and Conquer and Apex Legends, taking advantage of the 3D audio to help me pick out my opponents.

The Microphone is pretty good, audio is clear and offers enough bass to make you sound natural, it will do a great job for work video calls as well as gaming but I wouldn’t use it for streaming or making videos.

Retailing at around £120 (Although it can be found for as little as £90) this is an excellent wireless headset that manages to sound good and have a pretty decent microphone.

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