What is the role of a publisher? I have been thinking about this question a lot this week. While developers often appear to have a human side, publishers usually project a far more 'this is a business' image. Hey, I get it, publishers are not here to be my friend, to get me a good deal or give me a cuddle when I'm having a shit day: publishers are there to make money. So it can often seem like the decisions they make are not in gamers interests when really it's just about keeping the lights on.
However, while all this is true, the recent move by Bethesda to end the practice of review copies going to independent review sites is a huge step over the line as far as I'm concerned. So after a year when gamers have already been misled so many times, I question how Bethesda can justify this move and still claim to care about the media or fans. I think this is an important issue and so I wrote an article on it: you can check it out here.
This last few months have been a shooting gallery of multiplayer FPS games and now with Call of Duty Infinite Warfare just landing, the deluge has reached its apex. I have reviewed all these games apart from COD as the game has no interest for me but also the coffers are empty after such a busy month. If you would like to read my opinions for Overwatch, Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 you can find them in the reviews section. I love all three of these games and despite being roughly in the same genre each one offers very different gameplay experiences. Battlefield 1 does feel like the biggest of all these titles with a good collection of single player stories as well as stunning battlefields to rage war across. However this week Titanfall 2 has been keeping me up until the wee hours with its fast paced and addictive combat. Matches are over in minutes but there are so many exhilarating moments within these bouts you often feel breathless.
While I don't usually pay much attention to the COD series but something did catch my eye this year and it may just secure Activision a place next to Bethesda in the dumb publisher awards. For some reason, Activision thought it would be an awesome idea to make the players with a Steam version of COD: Infinite Warfare unable to play against those who bought the game on the Windows store. I would love to know whose gem of an idea this was and what bizarre thought process ended up with this in the go box. As it stands early predictions show that COD isn't doing all that great in sales and I'm sorry to say the writing is on the wall: it may be time to innovate instead of releasing the same game year in year out.
Tonight at midnight I will finally get my hands on Dishonored 2 and given my love for the original I cannot wait. As I have already covered, Bethesda has now implemented their ridiculous review policy and so at least my review will have a little more relevance this week. I am aiming to keep the quality of my review high but at the same time let you know as soon as I do how the game is looking. If you want early impressions keep tabs on my Twitter feed @riggedforepic
So with the world waking up to the news that Donald Trump is the 45th president of the USA I am feeling a little bewildered this morning. Assuming Trump can do all the (good) things he's claimed: he's still a racist, bigot and bully who thinks he can use his position to sexually assault woman. Good job America, let us just hope Fallout 5 doesn't come sooner than we would like
