Similar to so many other kids of my generation, I grew up watching The Magic School Bus. I’m not quite sure why, but one episode in particular has managed to worm its way into my memory, Inside Ralphie. When the titular character falls ill, the team shrinks the eponymous vehicle down in size, embarking on a journey through the various organs of his body. The same basic premise can be seen at work in Grounded . The player character is about equal in size to a small beetle, something which allows for a dramatically different perspective on the world. You quite literally see things from a new angle. I haven’t really gotten into the survival mechanics quite yet, but these vibes from The Magic School Bus have already won me over, at least for this week
The changing locale in Eichenwalde makes every match exciting, starting in the cramped outskirts and moving into the more open inner city. It reaches its apex as the attackers move into the crumbling fortress, ending off in the grand throne room. Thematically and graphically, Eichenwalde stands t
Whether Overwatch needed a sequel is a question that we will consider for the rest of time, but there’s no denying that Overwatch 2 gives you a lot to dig your teeth into. New characters, new maps, new modes, it’s all here, waiting for you to roll up your sleeves and get gamin’. The transition to a free-to-play model has made it easier to jump into the behemoth multiplayer shooter, and thankfully, it hasn’t lost its ch
Taking place in New York, midtown is filled to the brim with taxi cabs, fire trucks, and police cars that make it feel almost entirely abandoned. This makes it a perfect playground for Overwatch 2 News, though, as you get to fight it out in a wide-open
This weekend is all about No Man’s Sky for me. The new Waypoint update has revamped a lot of how we play the game, from expanding inventory (and therefore having to get to grips with new upgrade layouts) to a raft of amazing accessibility options that let us tailor gameplay to our own needs. Having the option to remove purchase and building costs in my existing save on the fly, and without having to farm tons of materials first, is truly life-altering, and I’m now inclined to go all-in on base design as a result. Maybe even one day Sean Murray himself will share one of my designs on Twitter, and then I can retire gracefully having truly made it. Oh, I picked NMS up on Switch too — a surprisingly fantastic port that runs really well, even on Switch Lite — so that’s three separate consoles I need to work
Whether old or new, Eichenwalde is still among the best of the best of what Overwatch can offer. The map takes place in an abandoned town in Germany, overgrown with nature. There’s a certain somberness to it as you fight through the city with the payl
Another new Push map, Colosseo takes you to the famous Colosseum to duke it out in Rome, Italy. The map starts around the exterior of the Colosseum, where you’ll be fighting over the robot while the distant sounds of gladiatorial combat encourage you on. Just don’t ask how the giant robot fits
Everyone has that one game they must keep at arm’s length, lest its wiles tempt them back into another multi-hour, multi-day, multi-week session. For me, that’s Klei Entertainment’s Oxygen Not Included. I love how it combines a creative sci-fi direction with real-world physics and thermodynamics. It perfectly nails the right balance of mechanics and flavor to keep me sucked in forever. And with a new update having been released, I have an excuse to go back once again. Oxygen Not Included is my digital lotus fruit. But I am not Odysseus. I lack the willpower to resist. So once again, I return, a lack of oxygen forming the bars of a prison built for me. And what a joyous prison it
One of the great things about doing this column is that everyone at TheGamer has different tastes. James is usually powering through a Yakuza game. I’m always playing 50 different things, and promising to get back to some long RPG I started months ago. Jade is usually reviewing a JRPG or three. But not this week. This week, it’s all about Sco
Furthermore, your wall can also counter certain ultimate abilities as the one Soldier: 76 has . Whenever you hear the sound cue of him using the ultimate, you can wall your team off to waste his abili
The most important thing to note is that your wall will also block your teammates . While this is obvious, it can sometimes be instinctive to wall the place an enemy is coming from. If the enemy was alone, you shouldn’t wall that place, so your team can pick them o
Some heroes of Overwatch got an overhaul regarding their abilities. Orisa, for example, can no longer create shields, and her ultimate has gone from team-oriented to another devastating attack. These changes, for the most part, were made to make the game more aggressive, forcing you to place offensively rather than defensiv