11th September
Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little about the games we’ve been playing. This week, Kelsey takes solace in assassination; Connor revisits a foundational Korean MMO; Chris has some more thoughts about Marvel’s Wolverine; Bertie tries to get to the end of Big Walk and then realises he doesn’t want to get to the end of Big Walk at all; and Marie plays Spyro again, because why not?
What have you been playing this week?
Here’s another question: do you remember what you were playing last week? You don’t have to! The What We’ve Been Playing archive has you covered.
Hitman World of Assassination, Switch 2
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks so I’ve decided to sit down with a comfort game of mine: Hitman World of Assassination. Don’t ask me why I find stepping into the shoes of Agent 47 comforting, because I don’t really know. I guess there’s something about exploring the likes of Berlin, Dartmoor, and Hokkaido and looking for new assassination opportunities – like killing off corporate baddies with an explosive rubber duck and pretending you had nothing to do with it – that I find incredibly satisfying. I mean, that’s no doubt what IOI was going for.
-Kelsey
Maplestory, PC
Watch on YouTube
In preparation for the release of MapleStory Classic World – a revival of the original MapleStory from back in my childhood – I downloaded and booted up the modern iteration of the 2D Korean MMO.
I was totally lost. That game has truly evolved over the past decade or so, unsurprisingly. It was a strange feeling, like returning to your home town and realising that it’s true, the world really does continue to change even when you’re not there to see it happen.
I know it’s most of what I write in these – I do promise I play more than just MMOs – but I admit it, I love the social aspect of these games, walking into a town and seeing people socialise, standing around in their shiny gear or with an especially big sword. Even a cursory adventure into Maplestory had me eager to play the Classic release this October. Thankfully there doesn’t appear to be much else coming out that month, right?
-Connor
Marvel’s Wolverine, PS5
Watch on YouTube
This one’s consumed my week, and so a few more quick thoughts on it beyond our review. One in particular is on the hand-holding, which has come up in other reviews and generally around the place since the embargo lifted. It is bad, no doubt about it. And generally speaking this stuff is rubbish and infantilising and a scourge on us all, etc, etc. There are times with Wolverine in particular where the amount of excessive signposting borders on parody. But to be contrarian (who, me?!) for a second: I don’t think this is this game’s biggest problem.
There is, I hate to admit, a place for this stuff sometimes. Wolverine is a brain-off linear game – a rollercoaster, as Scorsese once put it so perfectly when referring to the Marvel films. This is a Marvel movie in video game form if there ever was one. I don’t think those movies are good, and I don’t think Marvel’s Wolverine is particularly good (Wolverine himself aside, who remains adorable). But there are far more egregious issues with it than letting me smash and slash my way through its Potemkin towns without also having to go through the great anguish of actually using my brain as well.
-Chris
Big Walk, PC
Back to it! The Eurogamer reader’s game continues. Frankly I’m surprised we’ve managed to maintain interest for this long, with a week off while I reviewed Dawnwalker, and with some rehearsal clashes. A few originals couldn’t make it but most were there, and a newcomer, which was nice. So, back in Bertie Land to see if we could get to the Big Walk endgame, which we couldn’t, not quite – I blame the Asda delivery interruption. But I’m reminded now, while writing this, what a silly thing pushing for achievement is in a game like this.
That’s not what this game is about. Big Walk is about creating space and time for other people, and experiencing things with them. That’s right: it’s a secret hippy retreat. And I’m reminded of this whenever something suboptimal happens, which is to say something that doesn’t achieve a desired gaming end. It’s getting lost together, it’s writing silly slogans on signs for no apparent reason and then not being able to get through a doorway because you’ve got a noticeboard on your back. It’s falling off the train and then trying to catch people as they jump back on, and failing, time and time again.
But there is pleasure in achieving – of course there is. Overcoming a tricky audio, gesture-related puzzle after what must have been 30 minutes of careful preparation was an incredible feeling – well done Dave! As was – and I loved this – discovering the most unexpected room deep underground in a tunnel system. Pushing for the finish line is contradictory to what this experience is. Indeed, I don’t really want it to end.
If you fancy joining us, by the way, pop into the Eurogamer Discord and say so.
-Bertie
Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, PS5
It was Spyro’s birthday a few days ago – what better excuse to replay a game I’ve played numerous times before? And as much of a fan as I am of almost everything Spyro, I have an admission: I have never ever been able to master the flying levels, no matter how many attempts I make. Either in the original or as part of the Reignited Trilogy, I cannot get the timing right to pass the levels. They are the only thing standing in my way when it comes to 100 percent completing this game. Will I get there this time? That entirely depends on how patient I feel, and how many times I can bare to watch him crash into the water below after I misjudge the angle for flying through a time-boosting archway.
-Marie
