Games Inbox: Lara Croft vs. Nathan Drake, Justice League game, and Wild ARMs HD

I was just thinking some more about the showdown between Uncharted 4 and Rise Of The Tomb Raider that we’re not really going to get any more, as well as watching the E3 demo of Uncahrted for the umpteenth time. The graphics and everything are great but it’s really the banter and jokes between Nate and Sully that really seals the deal.

There was a better of a worry that Uncharted 4 was going to go all grim and gritty but the demo seemed to show it wasn’t, and was all the better for it. But then you look at the new Tomb Raider, and it looks fine, but basically Lara has no personality and I have to agree that Jonah is just awful.

I think this is a much bigger problem than Crystal Dynamics seem to realise, especially as everyone said that one of the big problems with the first game is that the story pettered out to nothing after the first couple of hours and Lara was a bit of a blank slate. As far as I’m concerned 90 per cent of all video game characters are, so it’s not that big a deal on its own, but it does go to show that it can be the difference between a good game and a great one – especially if there’s something else similar around.
Dugham

I don’t know if that Superman screenshot is real or not (why is it using the Star Trek font?) but a Justice League game has got to be coming up pretty soon. There are so many mentions of even quite obscure DC characters in Arkham Knight that they’re obviously trying to build up to something. It’s not just little details on the posters either, I’ve heard bad guys talking about everyone from Black Canary to Superman and The Flash.

I think the obvious guess though would be that WB Montreal are working on the Suicide Squad game (which was also rumoured in Batman: Blackgate) and that Rocksteady are doing Justice League. That would match up with when the films are out and would ensure the best developer is doing the biggest game.

No idea how they’re going to make the whole thing work but if it’s a hit then maybe it will finally wake Marvel up to the potential of video games, because at the moment DC has got a huge lead.
Prince P

I am one of the many reported Xboxers who made the transition to PlayStation after Microsoft’s poor showing at E3 2013. I love it and besides the thumbstick rubber having perished on both controllers I haven’t looked back since. As I missed out on owning a PlayStation 3 at its height I welcome a number of the remasters being released, most notably The Last of Us Remastered, which I adore, I am looking forward to the Uncharted collection, having only played a couple of segments on my mother’s PlayStation 3 over the years.

I can however, not look passed the fact that the imminent God Of War III remake is only one game, how can this be seen as value over the Uncharted collection. Or indeed the recent Saints Row collection, that at least had the DLC included? I’d feel the same as an Xbox One owner looking at the Gears Of War remaster next to Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

On another note, I had the missus fully on board for getting an Xbox One in addition to the PlayStation 4, as we have enjoyed the Halo series playing couch co-op. But with this removed from Halo 5 it’s not got that killer app for us, what was the reasoning behind this, we can’t be the only two disappointed.
Ranny 2011 (PSN ID)

GC: You’re certainly not. The reasoning was that they want the game to run at 60 frames per second all the time. Even though many 60 frames per second games drop to 30 for split screen multiplayer, so we’re not sure why they couldn’t just do that.

Would or could Nintendo be third party developers? I think the sales of their games would increase three-fold and be much more profitable than releasing mobile games.

The only reason I’m not buying Nintendo games is because I don’t want to spend £200+ on a console to play a few games, I’m sure that applies to a lot of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners. What do you think GC?
Daniel Perrott

GC: We think it’s probably the oldest discussion point in gaming and there’s not much we can really add. Clearly Nintendo can do whatever they like, but most of their best games are based around the unique use of their own hardware – while most of their profit comes from their controlling both sides of the equation. The biggest mobile games are at least as profitable as any console title though, so we’re not sure what you’re getting at there.

I recently recall reading a reader’s letter praising Batman: Arkham Knight despite only being around 15% complete, I recall GC saying to see how they felt much later in the game; well over the past weekend I’ve played the game to 95% completion (I’ve only got two bombs left to disarm and then it’s all Riddler trophies, etc. to get to 100%).

Never did I once stop loving the game, admittedly and as I have said before the tank battles can get a little monotonous but if you mix it up with the side quests properly then it really isn’t an issue! Over the weekend I even played through the Red Hood and Harley Quinn story packs which I have to say I was a little disappointed with, but only because of how short they both are (I’d have loved more time playing as either character).

To summarise I think that Arkham Knight is a great game, maybe it’s not to everyone’s taste because of the Batmobile which is divisive, but my personal opinion is that it is one of my favourite games of the PlayStation 4/Xbone generation, if anything I’m a little sad that I have finished the game and that the Arkham series has ended!

On that note I think I recall a few months ago there being talk of the original two Arkham games being remastered for the current gen – am I just being hopeful or is this happening?
Rickandrolla (PSN ID)

GC: There were rumours, but no convincing evidence. It sounded like a logical thing to do, but you would’ve expected them to come out before Arkham Knight instead of after. But you never know.

Just read your review on Planetside 2 and wondered if you would do one for World Of Tanks on Xbox One when it comes out.

Also, in case anyone is interested you can download it from 10 July and play it for the weekend 10-11 in an open beta to test cross-play, ready for the official launch on 28 July. Also, if you have played on Xbox 360 it will port your profile over and you can still play on both, as they will sync via the cloud.
Ilovmyselfalot (gamertag)

GC: Perhaps, but we haven’t been great fans of the game in the past.

I was so stunned about the new Final Fantasy VII remake announcement a month ago and I was so excited I’d had butterflies in my stomach.

There are so many great PlayStation games I’ve played and some I didn’t get a slight chance at redemption. I would love to see a remake of Legend Of Dragoon, Fighting Force, Grand Theft Autos 1 and 2, Sam & Max, and a game that I sorely missed so much, Wild ARMs.
kadeemg61

GC: The best we can suggest is that there have been several Wild ARMs sequels on PlayStation 2, and one on PSP.

I have a few questions regarding the Reader’s Feature. I’m currently writing an article to submit, and was wondering if your editor or whomever would make the title, or if it would be of my own choosing.

Also, what other information would you want along with the article, and is 500 words a soft limit, or can it be above 500?
Sean M

GC: It’s very much a soft limit. As long as it’s good you can make it as long as you like, within reason. We suggest a 500 word limit to help first-timers focus their efforts and to ensure that if there is a problem with the feature not too much time has been wasted on a longer article. You can suggest your own title but sometimes we make up our own, to ensure it’s descriptive of the content and reasonably snappy. We’d also very much like to thank everyone who wrote in with features last week, we hope to use them all over the coming weeks.

I was wondering today, do the publisher’s see any money from pre-owned games or does it go straight to the retailer?
Joe Apps @ Dimp Digital

GC: No, publishers don’t see a penny of it. Which is why they do everything they can to discourage second-hand sales and to make money from things that can’t be traded in, such as DLC.

Do Bethesda have the rights to the Terminator franchise? I’d love to see a modern open world Terminator game. Can we have some Inbox magic?
John

GC: As far as we can tell nobody has the rights. And after the poor opening of the new film we doubt anyone is in a rush to acquire them.

I’ve figured out what the NX will be. I bet the main launch title is a Dixon Hill sim.
FoximusPrime81 (gamertag/NN ID/Twitter)

Was wandering around a sculpture park at the weekend and saw this….
Simon

Since the year is now half over, the subject for this weekend’s Inbox is what has been your favourite game of the year so far?

Only games that were actually released new in the UK this year count, so it’s not just whatever else you happen to have been playing. How do you think this year’s crop stacks up to previous years and what have been the major successes and failures?

What do you think of the year so far in gaming, in terms of trends, news stories, and newly announced titles? Do you think 2015 has the potential to be a classic year, and what will need to happen for it to deserve that description?