Mario Kart 8 - Wave 4

10/03/2023

So here’s everything you need to know about the new DLC. The new tracks are:

Fruit Cup:

• Tour Amsterdam Drift
  
• GBA Riverside park
• Wii DK Summit
• Yoshi’s Island (this is the one that I’m personally most looking forward to!)

Boomerang Cup:

• Tour Bangkok Rush
  
• DS Mario Circuit
• GCN Waluigi Stadium
• Tour Singapore Speedway

The courses will come through in six waves (the first launched yesterday) and at the end of this there will be a total of 48 new tracks! This means doubling the current course number!

Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 - Everything We Know:

03/03/2023

So when will the current season end? According to Fortnite, the season will end on March 8th. As we know from the past, this means that the last day to play the season will actually be March 9th, given that there are events scheduled. As usual, if there’s no live event scheduled for the 9th March, you can expect that servers will go down from the early morning. So when will the new chapter start? If Epic follow their previous schedule, Chapter 4 Season 2 will be available to players from the morning of teh 10th of March.

What about the map changes? Epic is likely to introduce some major map changes. FireMonkey have announced at least six of these. The code names we have been given so far are: Loot Island, Zen Garden, Dojo, Hot Springs, Neon City, Cyber Dragon. The only location we have so far been given information about is Loot Island. FireMonkey stated that this will be an ‘island floating in the sky that may be accessible via the Rift Gate at the Citadel’.

24/02/23

Warner Bros announces Mortal Kombat 12

The announcement came on Thursday 23rd February at the WB earnings call. One of the company’s executives said “there’s lots more to come, including the highly anticipated Mortal Kombat 12 and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.” He then announces that both games are “set to release this year, with ambitious launch projections.”

As always, Warner Bros were vague in their announcement and we are yet to see any trailer, visuals or sneak peak of either game. We expect the next thing they drop to be featured on their socials so make sure to follow their instagram accounts and ours (@jzgamesblog) for the latest update.

Saudi Arabia increases it’s investment in Nintendo:

17/02/23

Saudi Arabia first started it’s investment in Nintendo in May 2022, when it bought 5.01% of the company. In January, it increased that investment to 6.07% and last week it has gone up to 7.08%. They’ve not stopped there as today they increased it by another 1.18%, bringing their total share to 8.26%, meaning they are Nintendos biggest outside investor.It’s no new thing to have investment into such a big company but what’s raising questions is Saudi Arabia’s reputation when it comes to human rights, or more specifically a lack of them.

What’s also interesting about this, is that Nintendo stated back in 2022 that they weren’t aware of the investment and they only found out about it via news reports. Technically, as they were only buying stocks Nintendo weren’t to be informed but in the case of such a large amount it would be expected that both parties would have been in communication in regards to this.

Could Sony have acquired another Studio?:

10/02/23

Rumour has it, Sony have aqquired UK based developer Ballistic Moon, a team that many suspect are working on an unreal engine 5-powered AAA narrative-based single player adventure for PS5. You may be wondering what started these rumours? It started with a job advertisement from Play Station looking for a ‘Senior Dialouge Designer’. The advertisement then went on to describe the role as ”working on major AAA projects alongside our partners at studios such as Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Stdios, Guerilla Games, Firesprite, Ballistic Moon, London Studios (etc…)”

Since the release of this job, the description has now been changed and the reference to UK developer removed. Either way it’s clear Sony have something exciting coming up. To hear the latest update on this, make sure to become a member of the JZ community and subscribe to our newsletter!

03/02/23

Warner Bros Announce Success of Hogwarts Legacy:

Despite major controversy over the game, due to it’s connection with Harry Potter creator J.K.Rowling who has been openly transphobic, Hogwarts Legacy has been majorily successful. Many don’t like J.K.Rowling,and for good reason, she even went as far as to write a 3600 word essay on her views of gender identity. However, it appears Warner Bros would like to make it clear that the game is not linked to J.K.Rowling, posting an FAQ stating that the game “is not a new story from J.K.Rowling“ and that she is “not directly involved in the creation of the game”.

Clearly , their attempts to separate themselves from the author paid off. Hogwarts Legacy sold 12 million copies within it’s first two weeks of release, translasting to $850 million in sales as well as accumulating over 280 million hours played. Edit: As of the 4th March, Hogwarts Legacy has taken the number one spot for best selling games on PlayStation for the fourth week in a row.

LATEST

GAME REVIEWS:

Return to Monkey Island:

Return to Monkey Island starts off in the past (this game is set before the games we already know). A much younger version of Guybrush and his friend Chuckie are exploring a theme park. The game itself is very interactive, allowing users to wonder around the map themselves. There is also many interactive options such as pulling down on hooks, searching bags, climbing up rocks etc. Now i won’t give to much away but the boys start to discuss Guybrush’s father. Guybrush Threepwood is known infamously by all to be the man who fought against ghost pirate Le Chuck numerous times. He had been searching for the mysterious secret to the Monkey Island his entire life. Not too long later, they come across Guybrush on a park bench where he proceeds to tell his son the story of how he returned to Monkey Island in order to find the secret once and for all so that could finally know peace. And no other than Dominic Armate is once again back into the character of Guybrush and hearing his voice is enough to immediately fill fans with nostalgia.

Guybrush sets off to Melee Island with the plan of talking the Pirate Lords into funding his journey, but he finds that things have changed since he left. In terms of those at the top, there are three new Pirate Lords led by Madison, and they aren’t at all amazed with Guybrush’s accomplishments nor his plan. Returning to the game once again is the one and only Le Chuck. He has also decided that it is time the secret of Monkey Island should be revealed. The battle for the secret is now on.

The star cat of Stray is a nameless orange wanderer (lets call him Bobby). The opening scene to The game features Bobby lying down amongst some other stray cats in torrential rain conditions, leaving viewers feeling sympathetic for the animals. As the rain begins to stop the group goes out to into the world, which we then discover is human-less. It appears to have survived some form of disaster or diseases, what had actually happened is not revealed within the game. During their venture, a pipe breaks under Bobby’ paws, sending him plummeting down into the darkness. Whith the audience on the edge of their seats it is then revealed that he has landed in an underground city. It was designed so that humanity could survive whatever had happened that made the outside unliveable. However, the place is only inhabited by robots who act in a suspiciously human manner but seem to have no knowledge of what happened to the “soft ones” that came before. They live in houses , wear clothes and continues with theirlives, believing they are completely trapped within the walls of his city and that‘s all there ever will be. Little do they know about Bobby and where he came from…

Obviously, Bobby can’t exactly speak to the robots he sees on his journey back to his family, but he quickly makes acquaintance with a companion by the name of B-12 who has lost his memory. Like Bobby, B-12 wants to see the surface, and he will provide useful on their journey as he can communicate with the other robots they come across. B-12 puts on a cute little vest made for Bobby, who falls over when he puts his on, and the duo head out on their adventure, which will take about 4-6 hours with some not to difficult puzzle solving.

My favourite part of the game? There’s a dedicated button made just for meowing. Technically, the buttons there to lure Zurks (but come on who wouldn’t spam the meow button?) Clearly it wasn’t just me who thought of this because there’s even an achievement for meowing a lot. They’ve also added in the option of finding hidden spots to curl up and fall asleep in. Better yet, there’s my favourite option which is to jump into everything and cause absolute chaos. To be honest, I don’t think it will take a lot of persuading to get any cat lover to get this game.

DEATH LOOP

The wait is over and Deathloop has finally arrived on Xbox

Ok seriously Arkane, what is this? I mean it’s no doubt that it’s not one of their most complex or detailed games. So you’d think the simplicity of it would make it great right? Nope. Don’t get me wrong, the games not that bad, in fact it’s got some pretty fun levels and the ability to chose your own ending. But considering the game was made by Arkane, with the budget they had - I couldn’t help but be underwhelmed. To get a full understanding of the game without having to play it, check out our gameplay and walkthrough on our YouTube channel @jzgaming

How does Deathloop start? Well, you awake back on the beach of a mysterious island. You’re stuck in an endless loop and at the end of every day you have the goal of finding a way to kill the Visionaries who created this land. As you’ll learn within the game you’ll need to gather all of your victims in one place so that they can be eliminated before the 24 hours are up. Although they won’t all conviniently be located by a volcano, you’ll find that each character has their own unique personality traits that can be used agaisint them.

From this, develops an interactive game in which you slowly become familiar with the locations and build up an armoury of weapons. For each target you kill, you get to take their power (a familiar concept for fans of Netflix’s Fate: Winx Saga) and the strength of this can be heightened by killing the same character multiple times. One thing I’ve learnt from this game is that the more you play it, the easier it becomes. Although on the first day you may feel overwhelmed and confused, by the 50th you’ll be bored wondering if there’s anything new to come into the game. Having only four locations sounds like an issue right? Not for Arkane. In a weird way, it reminds me of HItman 3. This is because of the little things that you learn and master throughout the game.

Although Deathloop is no match to the flair of Dishonored 2 ,there’s still so much to do. From discovering hidden portals to unloading your guns and….getting shot in the head by a sniper!? You heard that right. Probably the best feature of Deathloop is that other players can join your game as Juliana. Although this feature is a great way to spice up your game, it is optional and you can turn it off at any point in settings in which an AI will do it. Personally, I think it’s a great twist to the game and to find out a real player has joined your game after playing on your own the whole time is a real shock and brings much more excitement and tension into the game- not knowing where they are or when they’re going to attack? You also have the option to play as Juliana and sneak up on other players. Once again, Arkane continues to prove themselves masters of their craft when it comes to things like this.

THE HITMAN TRIOLOGY

There’s no doubt that game pass is incredible value for money , which is the reason people continue to debate whether it actually earns Microsoft any profit or not? Whether it does or not, it’s an unbelievable deal and one that comes with crazy value. Even if you play around once or twice in a level of Hitman you could easily get distracted and spend hours submerging yourself into the world of Hitman.

Each level has a sense of predictability about them. Meaning, you can use skills learnt from previous levels to sus out the situation and do the best move confidently, even having never reached that even before. However, there’s still a bunch of unpredictable moments within the game. Such as picking up an object just for it to reveal the hidden trap the owner had left in which you need to escape from before anybody finds you. From unlocking new weapons later on in the game to learning of secret pathways you missed, no matter how far you get in the game, there will always be a reason to go back and play previous level.

Other than not having to pay any extra for the game, why should download the Hitman games? Well, they’re some of the best games in made in the past ten years. Need proof? Check out my Youtube plays @JZGaming. But if you’ve not got time for that, let me sum it up. You may think that the game is just about a hitman assassinating his targets. In reality, the games can be compared to challenging puzzles and escape rooms. Your character of Agent 47, is able to stalk your enemies, gather weapons and plan deaths. It feels like there is an endless amount of ways to kill your enemies within the game, a new way to be found each time you play.

Despite the dark themes of the game, there’s still an element of comedy within it. Knock someone out with a brick of cocaine? Feed someone to a hippo? Shoot an old lady so that she lands in a grave? Dress up as a mascot and strangle someone? Belive it or not, these are all real options within the game. In-game, Agent 47 takes it all very seriously, and so does the story. But on the outside we, the players, know it’s all kind of stupid, like how Agent 47 is completely obvious in any disguise. It’s the kind of macabre humour I adore.

The Hitman Trilogy is perfect if you love deadpan humour, exploring a game to the fullest and planning elaborate assassinations. It’s a wonderful package boasting some of the best level designs in the business.

Time to talk gameplay: The Avengers game offers a mix of action-packed fighting, exploration, quests and puzzle solving which keeps the game fresh and exciting. The player options each have their own skills, meaning, you can chose one whose unique to your style (or your favourite from the movies :))The game offers both the option of singular and multiplayer components, perfect for those that wanted to try out the game with their friends. There is the option to turn you and your friends into avengers yourselves to save the world. Although this multiplayer component is enjoyable, it still lacks the depth of the single player modes.

Developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix, the Avengers game offers a thrilling superhero adventure that will undoubtedly delight Marvel fans. After the catastrophic events of A-day, theAvengers are left disbanded and the world in peril. It’s now up to you, through this single player story, to save everything. The game's graphics and visuals are fantastic, with stunning attention to detail in character design and animation. Each Avenger’s character looks and feels unique, and the environments are incredibly detailed, creating an immersive gaming experience.

One of the game's most significant drawbacks is the lack of content beyond the single-player campaign. Once the campaign is complete, there is a limited number of missions to keep players engaged, and the end-game content lacks the depth and longevity expected in modern games.

Overall, the Avengers game is an enjoyable experience, particularly for Marvel fans who are looking for a story-driven superhero adventure. The game's graphics, combat, and story are impressive, but the lack of content beyond the single-player campaign may not offer the longevity some players crave.

JURASSIc WORLD -

EVOLUTION

Jurassic World Evolution is a simulation game. Published by Frontier Development, the game is based on the popular Jurassic Park franchise. Within the game, players are tasked with managing a dinsaour theme park , while also ensuring the safety of visitors as well as the creatures themselves. Overall, Jurassic World Evolution is an engaging and fun game. The high detailed graphics do a great job in immersing players within the game. The attention to detail in the creation of the dinosaur’s themselves is truly remarkable. Every creature is unique to their own, with their own skills and needs.

The gameplay itself is fairly straightforward, but there are enough challenges and obstacles to keep things interesting. Players must balance the needs of the dinosaurs with the desires of the park visitors, while also dealing with unexpected events like natural disasters and escaped dinosaurs. The game also offers a variety of research and development options, allowing players to customize and improve their park as they progress.

However, the game still has some drawbacks. , especially when it comes to moving the camera around the park. Additionally, some players may find that the gameplay can become repetitive after a while, as there are only so many ways to manage a theme park. Overall, I would highly recommend Jurassic World Evolution to fans of the Jurassic Park franchise and to anyone who enjoys simulation games. It offers a unique and immersive experience that is sure to keep players entertained for hours on end.

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