Whether you’re starting to spend more time indoors due to the cold or Omicron variant, it’s a great time to get stuck into some video games. Here’s what we’ve been playing this week.
Tom – Lead Writer
Death’s Door
- Playing on PS5
I’ve had my beady eye on Death’s Door since its release on Xbox this summer, and have been waiting patiently for it to come to PlayStation since then. Now that it’s here, I’m pleased to say that I’m enjoying it very much. You play as a little crow working for the bureaucratic Reaping Commission Headquarters; armed with a sword and a bow, you go out into the world to forcefully persuade monsters to pass on to the afterlife.
Death’s Door plays a lot like a classic top-down Zelda game, but the aesthetic it’s wrapped in is quite unique. Haunting environments and cute, toylike characters combine with a mournful score to evoke a palpably melancholic atmosphere. The combat is challenging but never punishing; a bit of patience and careful timing go a long way. I love what I’ve seen so far from Death’s Door, and I look forward to exploring the game more.
Joe – Editor & Lead Writer
Chorus
- Playing on PS5
This week, I’ve been kicking asteroids from the comfort of my sentient spaceship thanks to Chorus, a new single-player space combat game from developer Fishlabs. I’ll be posting a full review of the game next week, but for now, here are a couple of thoughts based on what I’ve played so far.
First off, movement is a dream. Not least because you feel the full force of your engine purr through the DualSense when shifting into light speed. But also, for a game set in space, it’s pretty easy to control. I reviewed Jett: The Far Shore earlier in the year; it had some great ideas but was let down by terrible controls. It was nice, then, to pick up a game where flying feels intuitive.
I’m around half-way through the main story so there’s still time for my thoughts to percolate, but for now, I’m looking forward to some more pew-pew in outer-space.
Ollie – Social Media Manager
Fortnite Chapter 3: Season 1
- Playing on PS4
For many, there’s something deeply troubling about a man in his 30s playing a game like Fortnite, and a bit of me agrees with that. But an awful lot of me doesn’t really give a shit. I love it. And that’s okay. This week I’ve obviously been playing the brand new season, the first in a new chapter of Fortnite. Chapter 3: Season 1 sees some welcome changes the now-familiar island: in fact, the island has flipped over in the sea to reveal a completely new map, new wacky locations, and even more incongruously zany characters.
You can now slide, which is fun; you can drive a wee quad bike, which is fun; you get to wear a crown if you win, which is, as you might have guessed, fun. For many Fortnite will just be a factory for dumb dance moves and a money pit for parents whose kids have access to their credit cards. For me it’s brilliant fun, and so far this chapter is no different.
Oh and The Rock is in it now.
Fortnite is free to play on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Android, PC and Mac (albeit an old version due to the bitter legal dispute).