Weekend Whammy: Whatcha Playing?

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The weekend has once again arrived like an apple being hurled at a doctor to make them away, and that means it’s time for GAMES! and movies.

So, lately, I’ve been hammering some hours into Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the final game in the trilogy that I’ve thus far really loved. It’s going to be a tricky one to review, but in essence, I think it’s a good game, but it’s also somewhat unexciting in the sense that very little has changed since Rise of the Tomb Raider. I wish the series could have gone out with more of a bang rather than a whimper.

But hey, Shadow of the Tomb Raider does have one awesome moment where Lara rises out of the water with a massive fire raging behind her. It’s so badass that even the Terminator would respect it.

Dead by Daylight has sucked me back into its unique brand of asymmetrical horror, a game where a single person plays the killer while everyone else must escape. It’s still a technical mess and has a bunch of stupid design decisions that instead of rectifying the developers just ignore and layer on more perks designed to combat said problems. Yet somehow it continues to keep me playing, often dragging me back in even after months of not touching it. It might have problems but it’s different from everything else, and despite sinking a lot of time into it I still get lots of tense excitement from playing it. There’s something so great about hiding from a killer or managing to outwit them during a chase.

Anyway, I’m considering doing a write-up on the game since Halloween is coming up.

In fact, speaking of horror I just picked up Until Dawn, the PS4 exclusive horror game from a few years back that got massive acclaim. I’m really, really looking forward to getting into this one because I’m a huge horror fan, especially goofy slashers or anything where a bunch of teens go to a cabin in the woods, so Until Dawn ticks a lot of boxes and could make for a fun Halloween review.

Halloween is also a brilliant excuse for me to just watch a bunch of horror movies. Obviously, John Carpenter’s Halloween is an absolute must-see, and its just gotten a 4K release which I’m considering picking up. But my favourite Halloween movie is Trick ‘r Treat, a fantastic film that weaves together a bunch of stories, each one mostly separate but still linked in some way. It oozes the Halloween atmosphere and has a playful feel that I just love. It also boasts an awesome character by the name of Sam, and a superb werewolf transformation.

I’ll talk about some of the other horror films I’ll be watching or have watched over the coming weekends. Hell, maybe I could even rank my favourite horror movies for Halloween if people are interested.

Well, that’s if any of us have the time to do anything other than play games. I mean, have you looked at the release schedule for the coming month? Forza Horizon 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and more. It’s stacked. At the moment I’m most excited about Forza Horizon 4, which releases just one day after my birthday, and Red Dead Redemption 2. But I am curious to see whether RDR2 or CoD is going to sell more copies in the opening month.

Finally, as a 26-year old I have no problem admitting that I’ve been reading a bunch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfiction. My god, there’s a lot of really bad stories out there, and loads that are basically just porn, but dig around and you can find some talented writers who continue the legacy of a TV show I freaking adore.

So, what have you guys been playing? Or watching?

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