Stuffing Around

It's been a long journey folks, but here we are: the final episode. 

In this week's episode Nick and Max discuss some more Blizzard news (oh boy), as well as the new Elden Ring gameplay demo, which looks phenomenal. Nick's also been a little busy, looking at the new Call Of Duty title and tooling around in Forza Horizon 5. Max has been playing something with a little more legacy wear-and-tear: Morrowind. And he's loving it. 

And that's all she wrote, folks. Thanks for joining us for the past few months. It's been real.

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We've got a couple of trailers to discuss this episode. First up, Tom Holland is looking promising in the new Uncharted trailer, though Nick doesn't entirely see he appeal of prequels. Then, Halo Infinite's new trailer shows off some awesome open-world gameplay, a few new mechanics, and a full-blown grappling hook.

Nick's also been playing a lot of Back 4 Blood of late, and thinks it might just have the stamina to be the Left 4 Dead successor it wants to be.

Max has been playing an interesting little battle royale title, called Hunt: Showdown, where your biggest threat isn't guns. It's monsters.

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EA Sports's football juggernaut FIFA may not be called FIFA for very much longer depending on how negotiations between the gaming giant and world soccer's governing body go in the near future. On top of that, Rockstar is releasing Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition soon, which comprises GTA III, GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas, three of the best open-world games ever made - there, we said it.  

Nick has also been playing Far Cry 6 recently and while he's of the opinion that it's an impeccably well-made game and fans of this series shouldn't hesitate to pick up a copy, he's also convinced that it doesn't have much to entice players who grew tired of the FC gaming loops some time ago. He and Max deep dive into the reasons why this is. 

On top of that, Max has been playing the original Devil May Cry, which even though it shows its age somewhat, still holds up very well. There are few games that can hold a candle to this one, in which kicking ass and looking cool have always been the orders of the day. 

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In a week where the news has been rather thin, Max picks up some news sure to delight Kingdom Hearts fans (we know nothing about this franchise) and Nick would like to hold a moment of silence for Agent; Rockstar's secret agent adventure, announced all the way back in 2007 (Max was six-years-old at the time) is officially no longer a going concern. 

Nick has also been playing a couple of detective games. LA Noire was released all the way back on the Xbox 360 and PS3 and while it has a couple of peccadilloes it holds up pretty well. Players take on the role of an LAPD cop working his way around the seedy underbelly of 1940s Los Angeles and while some of its aspects feel dated, the story and characters make it a game worth playing today. 

Released more recently, Lost Judgement has several issues and they extend beyond some of its hokey mechanics. The story of this Yakuza-series spin-off sequel centers on school bullying and, while some aspects are compelling, there is a lot here that may raise hackles. Have a listen and see if you agree. 

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Nintendo held a DIrect reveal and Max is over the moon that new Monster Hunter Rise content is arriving, Bayonetta 3 has been announced and there's a post-apocalyptic Kirby game on the cards. Duncan is decidedly cool on the whole affair, but the idea of a Chocobo kart racer from Square Enix is in the offing raised his quizzical eyebrow. 

There's a new Super Mario movie in the pipeline and, well, after the last one that dropped, one could be forgiven for recoiling in horror. This one seems to be animated and boasts a rather strong cast, so who knows, maybe it'll be (gulp) good. 

FIFA 22 is out and is currently being kicked up and down the street over - wait for it - FUT. This is rather curious since FUT has been baked into FIFA for years and it's kind of interesting that critics have chosen this moment to criticise EA Sports's football franchise for charging players more real-world money for a mode in a game sold at full price, since, hey, that's what's always happened with FUT. 

Away from the news, Max has been battling with Halo 2. It's been causing him an awful lot of grief, but he did choose to play it on Heroic difficulty, so maybe he was asking for it. 

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Happy public holiday! We're sorry that we couldn't bring you better news but the Activision/Blizzard debacle keeps on trucking. This week, the head of legal buggered off, the company's CEO was subpoenaed and Overwatch 2 lost a rather crucial team player. 

Away from all this horridness, Nick was lucky enough to chat to the folks developing Far Cry 6, and wouldn't you know it, they're deviating somewhat from the usual Ubisoft line that games made by the company aren't political. Nick also deep dives into the world the game inhabits and how it stacks up against its real-world inspiration. 

Max, for his part, has been playing Ori & The Blind Forest, and while he's been enjoying it immensely, it did make him storm to his room and slam the door at one stage... just like Nick's 11-year-old stepdaughter did. 

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Nick is back and he and Max pick through the bones of the recent PlayStation Showcase. There were some quite drool-worthy titles on display including the new God Of War, Spiderman 2, Gran Turismo 7, an Alan Wake remaster and Deathloop - which is currently out and reviewing through the roof. Expect a review on the site soon. Also expect Nick to complain that he can't play it on an Xbox just yet. 

He has, however, been playing Aliens: Fireteam Elite and while it may be exactly what some players want - a game in which you can blast through hordes of Xenomorphs with a pulse rife - Nick is a little disappointed. Have a listen and see if you agree - or disagree. 

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Max is joined by Stuff's newest recruit, Duncan and while the news isn't exactly thick on the ground, there is an Alan Wake Remaster in the pipeline courtesy of Epic Games and the Nintendo Online Service is adding a couple of games from way back when. 

In other news, Sega has declared 2021 to be the year of Sonic The Hedgehog, who incidentally is 30 years old this year. To celebrate their spiky mascot's birth year, the publisher is bringing out several ports of his earlier adventures. 

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There's quite a bit of news to get through including a new No More Heroes from Suda 51 and the fourth Skate entry landing on PC amongst other things 

There are no new games to review this week so Max and Nick have been hammering away at their back catalogues. Max is diving into the first three Halo games - the Master Chief trilogy as it were - and Nick's been scrubbing the landscapes of Medieval England and Ireland in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. At some point the conversation veers into narcotics in video games - yes, this was a weird one. 

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The Activision Blizzard debacle won't go away, but luckily QuakeCon has been and gone with some rather decent news and GamesCom is in full swing so Max and Nick have something to talk about that won't make listeners queasy. 

On top of that, Nick has been playing Twelve Minutes a very intriguing point-and-click thriller set in a never-ending time loop. Boasting a star-studded cast, lovely presentation and a mind-bending story that manages to stick the landing, Twelve Minutes is a tight puzzle box that should appeal to players looking for respite from the usual Triple A fare. Seriously, check it out - if you're on Game Pass you don't even need to buy it. 

For more in gaming news, check Stuff » South Africa's Tech News Hub

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