What are you playing this weekend?
It's the weekend. You know what to do.
The weekend is here, and as usual, we plan to play some games in between doing other things.
While there are loads of things to do for the new few days, like enjoy a vacation, have a nice anniversary dinner, head to the shops, and do the usual weekend house cleaning, we plan on doing something other than what is expected of us. And this means games, games, and more games.
This weekend, we will be running errands for hobbits and doing a bit of fishing, shoot it out with others online, and relive a bit of nostalgia with some older releases.
Here's what we plan on getting into over the next couple of days.
Dorrani Williams, Video Producer - Valorant
I'm not sure what I'll be playing this weekend, it'll be a mix of different games for sure because I'm testing out a new 1440p 240hz monitor so I want to see what all the games look like at the higher resolution.
First impressions are that even though the monitor cost an arm and a leg, it was worth every penny because holy s**t games are looking sharp AF.
But with that being said, of course I'll be playing Valorant like I always do.
James Billcliffe, Guides Editor - Fallout: New Vegas
It’s finally happened. I’ve become one of those sad old people that sits around playing retro games rather than the backlog of awesome new things they’ve paid good money for.
If you don’t think Xbox 360-era games are retro, consider that the console came out in 2005. That’s as big a time gap from now as there was between the original 360 and Sega Genesis’ US release in 1989.
I picked up a month of Game Pass for Hades (which I spoke about last week), but all I’ve downloaded is Oblivion (where’s our anniversary edition of the best elder scrolls game, huh, Bethesda?), Mass Effect 2, and Fallout: New Vegas, which surprisingly, holds up fantastically well because it always looked awful to begin with.
Safe old friends, keep me warm in these troubling times. And please fetch my bag of Werther's Original from the porch if you’re walking past.
Stephany Nunneley, News Editor - Lord of the Rings Online, Stardew Valley
Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of my life playing Lord of the Rings Online. I know I sound like a boring sort, considering it always seems as though I am playing it, but I promise I play other things besides a life-sucking MMO.
Thing is, the Farmers Fair festival is going on right now in the game, and it's my favorite one of the year. It's been live for a week, and I have yet to jump in on it, so I better before the devs pull it from the game. I want that new horse and the deer pets, after all.
I haven't played it in a few weeks either, because I spent every night from May through mid-July playing it and other games with my pals, and the man of the house was starting to feel lonely. I guess he needs a bit of my time too. Bless him anyhow, the big baby.
When the news that Stardew Valley would be arriving on Xbox Game Pass this fall broke, it reminded me that I haven't played it in ages, and that Sebastian and my dog are probably missing me. I have yet to propose to the fella, as I am a couple of hearts away, but I plan on asking - eventually. Hell, I'm scared to get married in real life enough as it stands now, so why would I in a game?
My decisions in games sometimes mirror those I make in reality. Like, in BioShock I always save the little girls. Only an evil bastard wouldn't do it. Well, that's unless I am playing D&D, because then, I can be rather evil - if I'm not playing my Druid, who is chaotic good. There's never a grey area with my characters, which makes me rather predictable and thus pretty boring.
Tom Orry, Editor-in-Chief - Quake
I remember buying the boxed version of Quake back as a 13-year-old, not really sure if the game would even run on my PC. So to see a new version shadow drop during QuakeCon was really great.
These days of course there's no real concern over whether or not the game will run, but there are some neat new graphical touches to give the 25-year-old game a slightly modern feel.
I blasted through about 20 minutes of the campaign and had a great time, and thanks to Game Pass, members can download it for PC and Xbox at no extra cost - it's also on PS4, PS5, and Switch if you play on one of those platforms.
Despite its dated look, Quake is still a joy to play and anyone who missed it or simply wasn't gaming back in 96 should give it a whirl if only to get a taste of what FPS gaming was like back then.