Skip to main content

Weekend Playlist: what are you playing?

Brenna Hillier avatar
News by Brenna Hillier Contributor
Published on

Is it XCOM 2? It is, isn't it. Yes, we thought it might be.

xcom_2

Video games! We play them, you play them, sometimes we all sit around and talk about them. That's what this is, and now's your chance.

What captured your interest this week? Did you pick up anything in the Steam sale? Have you played anything totally rubbish recently? What mobile game do you play in the loo? These are things we must know. We have our reasons. Let's get the ball rolling.

  • XCOM 2

    Both Sherif and I are playing XCOM 2. It's terrific, isn't it? It's clearly not for everyone though. I'm playing on Rookie difficulty and save scumming like a baby, and I think I might just make it through the campaign - maybe. Even with the many upgrades and huge squad playing on easy allows, battles are getting tough; eight turns to hit the objectives, constant reinforcements, regular angry screams and restarts. Sherif is playing on normal difficulty and feels like a new enemy type turns up every battle. Good times! We'll have some tips this week. (Not by me, obviously.)

  • Diablo 3

    Pat is, of course, playing Diablo 3. "Taking Miriam to level 70, which is slightly higher than heaven," he said. The other morning he wandered in bleary-eyed and useless after staying up till the wee hours with it, and couldn't stop banging on about it. "Have the morning off. Go get it out of your system. You're useless like this," I advised him. Instead of firing me for insubordination, he went. (Matt then tried to fire me for giving Pat the morning off.)

  • Neko Atsume

    The world's most accurate cat ownership sim (completely fails to reward attention, constantly evades your attempts to get photos of it) has captured Steph. It's the sort of mobile game that suits our frantically busy news editor, because it's designed for quick check-ins rather than constant monitoring. Also, it's significantly cheaper than Steph's meat space habit of adopting every animal she encounters. "Crazy Cat Lady in real-life, Crazy Cat Lady in virtual-life," she said.

  • Nuclear Throne

    A twin stick shooter rogue-like, Nuclear Throne is tough as heck. Not many players make it to the actual throne, and Sherif is no exception - although he's been about two-thirds of the way, apparently. Rogue-like hybrid blends are really taking off recently, and it's a trend we can definitely get behind. Remember: losing is fun. Nuclear Throne comes to us from Luftrausers, Ridiculous Fishing and Super Crate Box developer Vlambeer, which - I remind you yet again - made the best game ever.

  • The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

    Steph saw a picture of Todd Howard last week and it triggered her Stockholm Syndrome. Bethesda games have eaten up enormous swathes of her life (I know nothing about that *loosens tie nervously*) to the point that she has to foreswear them for sanity breaks. This last time out from Skyrim was hard, but necessary. "By the Nine - or Eight if you're Imperial scum - I really needed it," she said.

Now you. Share your recommendations, warn your pals away from stinkers, mourn the loss of your latest relationship to another 40 hour Fallout 4 run, boast about your PvP conquests. The doctor is in.

Read this next