23 August 2024

Hello! Welcome back to our regular post where we write a little about some of the games we’ve been playing over the last few days. This week we’re excited about the big comeback of Delta Force, we’re trying out the new character editor for the lovely Sims-like Inzoi, and we’re wincing a little at Skyrim showing its age.

What did you play?

Read previous editions of this column in our What We Played archive.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, PS5

It’s strange to return to Skyrim, because it’s one of those obelisk-like games that sticks in my mind – and many others’. It’s a big gun, and I remember being very impressed by it at the time – impressed by how it looked, how it played, how it everything. But it’s old now, and I was never more aware of that than over the weekend when I replayed it on PlayStation 5. I wanted to introduce it properly to my partner. Skyrim is a name she’s heard time and time again and muttered like it was a legend – could reality really live up to that legend?

It was not a good beginning. I have always loved that beginning – I think I have all of Bethesda’s openings – but for someone who didn’t see it back then, and whose biggest modern RPG experience was The Witcher 3 and then Baldur’s Gate 3, it looks dated. It’s not just the technology, it’s the acting and the whole package. I was quick to make excuses for that.

And yet.

And yet it doesn’t take long for Skyrim to recapture some of its old magic and get under your skin. It’s that ambience, that rural calm. Even though it’s set in the frozen north of Tamriel, the world still has the hum of a summer afternoon when you emerge from that cave. Pickable flowers are in full bloom, bees buzz about. You can feel the lazy warmth warming the rocks and the air. And soft music massages you in the background. I’d forgotten how relaxing Skyrim can be just pottering around. That’s its heart, I think, as a game and as an experience. For all the epicness it tries to conjure, it’s the simple moments in Skyrim that appeal to me.

Damn, I can’t wait for The Elder Scrolls 6.

Delta Force, PC

I have a pretty strict rule for myself that I broke this week: don’t play a game before release if you’re already sure it’s going to be good. My reasoning is this: if you know you’re getting a game, it’s better to spend your time playing it in its best state, maybe after a few post-release patches or as a heavily discounted complete edition. But definitely after the game is officially released. That said, I spent a good 15 hours this week playing Delta Force: Hawk Ops, a game that’s still in alpha, because I just can’t stop – even if every weapon I buy, every mission I complete, and every character I unlock is taken away once the game is released.

We’ve already covered the basic premise and true merits of Delta Force: it’s a Call of Duty-style military shooter with an Escape from Tarkov-style extraction mode and Battlefield-style rush and conquest modes. A single-player campaign is promised at launch, set amid the events of Black Hawk Down. For a game in alpha, it seems surprisingly polished. It has a sensible UI, good gunplay and interesting maps, and there’s already a surprising amount of hashtag content to explore away from the game of shooting people in the back. There’s base building, missions, an auction house, crafting, cosmetics, multiple digital currencies and, er, a global chat full of racists that could really use moderation.

There’s a lot of variety within the game too. Like Battlefield, there are four archetypal classes, each with different gear, and like Battlefield 2042, there are named characters within those classes that have special abilities. I took on “Hackclaw,” a recon character with silent footsteps, throwing knives, drones, and a scanner, which makes for a nice, sneaky playstyle, in stark contrast to the mobile “D Wolf,” who races around on a motorized exoskeleton, firing grenades and sliding around like a Call of Duty character. It feels like there’s scope to pick something that suits your preferences, rather than simply picking the strongest character, which is nice.

I’m not surprised that the extraction technique is well implemented – development team Jade worked on Call of Duty: Mobile, another surprisingly good game, and there’s a lot to learn from COD’s DMZ. But the Battlefield-style mode already feels much better than it did when BF2042 was released. The various map levels are more focused and interesting, vehicles are rare and don’t feel too overpowered, and squad play is the vehicle to success it should be. A short time to kill means it’s possible to defeat a numerically superior force, and there’s even a scoreboard to see how you’re doing – which was famously omitted from version 1.0 of BF2042. There’s certainly room for improvement – not all classes have anti-tank capabilities, there are far too many weapon attachments, and the IFF system can sometimes fail to properly represent your allies – but for an alpha, this is impressive stuff.

If you want to try it out, I have some codes for you in the comments, courtesy of the developers.

-Will

-Bertie

Inzoi: Character Studio Demo, PC

After a long-overdue driver update on my part, I was actually able to play the Inzoi character editor demo without it becoming a stuttering mess. But a note to any Sims fans with aging hardware: you may need an upgrade if you want to try it out, or if you plan on buying Inzoi when it comes out. If it struggled on my mediocre gaming laptop, I don’t think Inzoi will run well on Sims-friendly potato setups when it comes out.

Enough about the tech. Is the character editor any good? Visually, it’s stunning – it’s a bit unbelievable how good it actually looks, even on lower graphics settings. The customization options are extensive too. It’s got all the usual bells and whistles and even a few chimes, as we’re treated to whole categories for things like fake nails. Fake nails! The personality customization isn’t as extensive as I can tell from the demo, but it’s nice that there are already inclusive gender and sexuality options.

But what I like best about character creators is never my creations, but those of the communities. Inzoi’s creative community uses a website called Canvas to upload their work, and I’ve found some really great creations there. From a shockingly accurate Billie Eilish to gruesome depictions of Shrek and Wallace from Wallace & Gromit. Of course, I downloaded Shrek and had him do some nice poses in photo mode.

I’m a little worried that Inzoi will melt my laptop if I play the entire game, but how can I resist when Shrek shenanigans await me?

-Jessica