By Lewis Empson The humble controller is arguably the most important component of the gaming experience. It is our main point of interface with the virtual world (if youÔÇÖre a console gamer, that is) and therefore its important for a controller to tick all the boxes to be favoured by gamers. There are a few controllers that spring to mind that blend comfort and features … Continue reading The Best and Worst of Gaming Controllers
By Lewis Empson ItÔÇÖs hard to believe that the gaming scene was onced ruled by the handheld console. However, in a world of conveniently portable smartphones and tablets, mega powerful home consoles and PCs, and a global pandemic thatÔÇÖs got us all stuck at home; it feels like the handheldÔÇÖs once pivotal position has been lost amongst the more powerful gaming options. This appears to … Continue reading Handhelds: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To
When asked to think of a ÔÇÿconsoleÔÇÖ, most of us have two easy answers – Xbox and PlayStation. Throw Nintendo into the mix and you have the three biggest consoles on the market, sitting alongside PC as the core platforms for gaming. There is, however, a bit of a market for niche, third party consoles that have been attempted by different parties. HereÔÇÖs just a … Continue reading The KFConsole and Other Weird Console Ventures
By Gregor McNeill Out of all the great developers on the production line that pumps out video games to play on our platforms of choice, I daresay that Bioware has provided me personally with the greatest amount of entertainment. For a lot of people, Skyrim has always been the genre defining, flagship that introduced them to ÔÇÿfantasyÔÇÖ games. And on the other side of the coin, any mention of ÔÇÿsci-fiÔÇÖ is probably most associated Halo, or more recently … Continue reading Dungeons, Dragons, Space and Starships: A Look At BioWare’s Past, Present and Future
By Lewis Empson and Marcus Yeatman-Crouch ItÔÇÖs a big year for gaming. After 2020 saw a massive amount of delays to highly anticipated titles, many of them shifted their release date to 2021. A loss in the short term, but now weÔÇÖve got a whole host of huge games to look forward to this year! WeÔÇÖve picked the ones weÔÇÖre most excited to get to … Continue reading Download’s Most Anticipated Games of 2021
By Lewis Empson IÔÇÖve taken a look at the PS5 and now it’s time to consider its ÔÇ£competitionÔÇØ for this generation, the Xbox Series X. Microsoft have learned from their early Xbox One mistakes and have subverted my expectations as someone who wasnÔÇÖt enamoured upon first sight of the Series X, to produce a powerful, fast, yet slightly bland attempt at the next generation. HereÔÇÖs … Continue reading Thoughts On: The Xbox Series X – Should You Get One?
Spider-Man Miles Morales reviewed by Lewis Empson | ÔÿàÔÿàÔÿàÔÿàÔÿå Consider Spider-Man Miles Morales as a Spider-Man 1.5, it’s not quite a sequel but instead a smaller scale title to tide fans over until the inevitable sequel to MarvelÔÇÖs Spider-Man on PS4. Although it may be small, it is still incredibly mighty as it features the trademark great-feeling web swinging found in its predecessor, a refined … Continue reading Spider-Man Miles Morales | Review: Gorgeous Graphics and Innovative Inclusivity
By Lewis Empson and Marcus Yeatman-Crouch In this seemingly endless year there’s been a massive amount of games released, including triple A blockbusters, sleeper hits and derailed hype train disasters. If you read last week’s article, you already saw our thoughts on the official Game Awards winners of this year, but we decided to do our own spin on the awards, with some different winners … Continue reading Download’s Game Awards
By Lewis Empson Geoff Keighly graced our screens and warmed our hearts once again this year with a celebration of this year of gaming alongside a plethora of A-list guest stars and some exciting new announcements; hereÔÇÖs what I thought of The Game Awards 2020. The Awards Competition was fierce this year with Sony duking itself out between The Last Of Us Part II with … Continue reading Thoughts On: The Game Awards 2020
By Lewis Empson and Marcus Yeatman-Crouch Tech and gaming gifts aren’t always the easiest to buy; different platforms, compatibility and specs can cause confusion and result in a more messy than merry christmas. So here at Download weÔÇÖve hand picked some of our favourite suggestions to make the already stressful task of Christmas shopping a little easier by highlighting some good picks for the gamers … Continue reading Download’s Holiday Gift Guide
By Lewis Empson By somehow defying all odds we have gotten our hands on the PlayStation 5 which has so far proven the saving grace of the hellhole we all affectionately refer to as 2020. Its fast, fun and f***ing huge and IÔÇÖve compiled what we think about the PS5 now weÔÇÖve had a chance to use it and if it’s worth picking one up … Continue reading Thoughts On: The PS5 – Should You Get One?
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Review by Marcus Yeatman-Crouch | ÔÿàÔÿàÔÿàÔÿàÔÿà A massive thanks to Ubisoft UK for the review key and images. All opinions expressed in this article are my own. The AssassinÔÇÖs Creed franchise has made a bold foray into the RPG genre in recent years, starting with Egyptian-themed Origins, improving on the format with the Ancient Greek Odyssey, and now going further than ever … Continue reading Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | Review
Words by Lewis Empson and Alex Daud Briggs In 2019 Microsoft gave us our first look into the future of mainstream gaming with the All-Digital edition of the Xbox One S; a cheaper variant of the already mega popular Xbox One S without the Blu-Ray disk drive. This came at the cost of not being able to play any games you owned on disk and … Continue reading Physical vs Digital: The Great Gaming Debate For The Next-Gen
Watch Dogs Legion Review by Lewis Empson | ÔÿàÔÿàÔÿàÔÿàÔÿå *Review copy and images of Watch Dogs Legion provided by Ubisoft – thoughts and opinions are my own* Watch Dogs Legion is the most ambitious game I have played in yearsÔǪ maybe the most ambitious game I have played ever. As a series, Watch Dogs is a strange one as after a frankly ÔÇ£mehÔÇØ first entry … Continue reading Watch Dogs Legion | Review
By Lewis Empson and Marcus Yeatman-Crouch The generation of the PS4 and Xbox One has yielded some great horror games that use the groundbreaking technology to enhance the graphics, atmospheres, and scares that players experience. There have been new IPs, continuations to beloved franchises, and blockbuster movie tie-ins that have ensured this generation will live long in the memory of horror gaming fans. WeÔÇÖve selected … Continue reading Download’s Most Haunted
By Marcus Yeatman-Crouch WeÔÇÖre in the middle of spooky season now, and it seems only right that the newest title grabbing the gaming communityÔÇÖs attention is a positive ÔÇÿMost HauntedÔÇÖ simulator. ThatÔÇÖs right: Phasmophobia is the spine-chilling and somehow simultaneously hilarious co-op ghostbusting game perfect for the build up to Halloween. Phasmophobia is a multiplayer, psychological horror developed by one (yes, one!) man, but you … Continue reading Phasmophobia – Spooky Season’s New Hit?
By Lewis Empson For returning and new students, this year has presented a new challenge that has resulted in us having to adapt to a very different university lifestyle. Whether it’s learning online or living in the confinement of student accommodation or housing; its fundamentally changed the uni experience, and as much as its not ideal, we thankfully we have some tips, tech, apps and … Continue reading Making The Most of Online Uni Life
By Marcus Yeatman-Crouch ThereÔÇÖs no game that quite sums up how weÔÇÖre all feeling at this point in the year than Among Us. Despite being out for 2 years already, itÔÇÖs sprung onto the scene as an accessible, addictive party game that can be enjoyed alone or with a bunch of friends. But why is it that it has so suddenly shot to fame? What … Continue reading Among Us: All Your Friends are Sus
By Lewis Empson News that rocked the gaming scene last week was the announcement of MicrosoftÔÇÖs acquisition of ZeniMax Media, parent company to beloved games studio, Bethesda. This sent out a shockwave of speculation surrounding exclusive Xbox titles, impacts to already announced titles and what we could expect from future Bethesda games. WeÔÇÖve rounded up some speculation plus our own thoughts as to the future … Continue reading Thoughts On: The Xbox/Bethesda Deal
By now, most of us have heard the news. Adobe is bidding farewell to its legendary Flash platform this December, signalling the end times for many a beloved game. Flash provided us with thousands of free games online, across a host of websites. Now, we face the prospect of losing these important games and the sites that host them forever, as the internet modernises and discards the outdated Flash player in favour of total HTML5 conversion. Continue reading Is This the Death of Flash Gaming?
