TGO Daily | October 7, 2021 | Metroid & Far Cry Reviews
đ° In The News
1. Metroid Dread review roundup
Nearly two decades after the last original 2D Metroid game, Metroid Dread releases soon and reviews are available. The title is developed by MercurySteam, who previously worked on Metroid: Samus Returns (remake of Metroid II).
Sitting in the 97th percentile on OpenCritic, reviewers have been very positive about the game. They all agree that it is a return to form for Metroid, which has to live up to the challenge of so many other Metroidvanias now existing and succeeding (like Ori and Hollow Knight).
The Washington Post comments on its story:
âWhile many believed âDreadâ would be a true sequel to the excellent, horror-tinged âMetroid Fusion,â itâs more accurate to say that itâs a continuation of that story, as well as the ones found from âSuper Metroidâ and even the original Game Boy release, âMetroid 2: Return of Samus." I wonât risk ruining any surprises, but itâs safe to say that âDreadâ will force longtime players to look at the older games in a new context.â
(Read that review for someone who liked the game but felt it was hamstrung by its world design).
For an in-depth explanations of the new additions and mechanics, read NintendoLife.
For a great all-around review, read Eurogamer, who provide our overall summary:
âThis is a modern Metroid, a 2D adventure delivered with triple-A panache, yet one that retains the grace and poise that's always marked the highlights of this series, and marked it out from its many imitators. How blessed we are to have Samus properly back, and what a marvel it is to be reminded how special Metroid can be. The wait, I'm delighted to say, was somehow worth it.â
Metroid Dread is available for purchase on the Nintendo Switch on October 8th.
2. Far Cry 6 review roundup
The sixth mainline entry (and 15th overall) Far Cry game releases today, and reviews are now available. The title is developed by Ubisoft Toronto, who also did Watch Dogs: Legion and co-developed Far Cry 5.
Sitting in the 76th percentile on OpenCritic, reviews are all across the board on this one. I think it would be fair to say that Far Cry 6 isnât a surprising game â itâs a big-budget open world game with a simple story and over-the-top gameplay. For a lot of people, thatâs enough to make for an entertaining game. For others, the formula is growing tired.
Particular praise was given to Giancarlo Espositoâs performance as the main antagonist, as well as the voice actors for the protagonist (both male and female). The chaotic sandbox that the series is known for continues to impress.
Regarding gameplay, a repeated criticism was that you see most of what the game has to offer within a few hours. Like many open world games, itâs difficult for developers to bring a lot of variety when there is so much space to fill.
More importantly, another common criticism was that the game often falls into tropes and stereotypes of Latin America. Polygonâs Argentinean-born reviewer explains:
âUnfortunately, Far Cry 6 continues the seriesâ tiring tradition of presenting itself as political, on the surface, while fumbling any attempts at meaningful critique. Like Far Cry 5, which postured itself as an exploration of white supremacy in the U.S. but fell flat in execution, Far Cry 6 is a game in which you rescue refugees by using a weapon that plays âMacarenaâ while youâre aiming down its sights.â
âItâs been said a number of times, but when Spanish-speaking people are talking in English, weâre not constantly cambiando a Español mid-sentence. Far Cry 6 is obsessed with this fallacy. It comes across as parody at best, and utterly disrespectful at worst.â
Far Cry 6 releases today on PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X, Amazon Luna, and Google Stadia.
3. Massive Twitch leak
Streaming website Twitch.tv has been hacked by an anonymous source, with an extreme amount of data being shared via 4Chan. The leak included the siteâs source code and financial details of creator payouts (it showed how much money Twitch paid to top streamers between August 2019 to September 2021, with the highest earner CriticalRole making more than $9 million in that time).
Other Twitch-related info was shared, including an unreleased Steam competitor from Amazon called project Vapor.
A BBC cyber reporter called it the biggest leak he had ever seen â âan entire companyâs most valuable data cleaned out in one fell swoop.â Folders of data called âcore config packages,â âdevtools,â and âinformation securityâ were among the 125GB torrent posted online.
It doesnât appear as though personal information has been specifically targeted, but the hack is so far-reaching that you should definitely change your password and enable two-factor authentication!
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