MOOD SWINGS - The Finals gets ready to shake things up, Helldivers 2 community misses the point, and Deviation Games shouldn’t have been binned off
Sanity check.
By Jonathan Garrett
11/03/24
MOOD SWINGS? Besides being the obvious side effect to a hormonal outburst, ‘Mood Swings’ is an editorial that’s like a series of extended tweets, ranting or raving about something terrible / great that has happened in the world of gaming. It’s a collection of random musings designed to provide a snapshot of what we’re doing, things you should be excited for, and stuff to avoid as you navigate the choppy waters of this wonderfully unpredictable hobby. Anything, from reactions to a new game announcement, surprising breaking news, to “our cat just nibbled our thumb sticks”, can be found here. We try to be as honest as possible, sharing our gut reactions to stuff going on in the industry.
THE FINALS GETS READY TO SHAKE THINGS UP
One of the best surprises of this gen has been The Finals, a destruction heavy and technically impressive shooter that is imminently expecting a second season. New maps, modes, and gadgets are on the cards, but it’s the boldness of some of these new additions that really caught our attention. The new Data Reshaper will let you transform enemy turrets, mines, and other equipment into random objects, which should be a nice counter to those specific strategies. It’s a feature rich update that is well timed to be a shot in the arm for an already successful title.
HELLDIVERS 2 COMMUNITY MISSES THE POINT
Arrowhead’s fantastic Helldivers 2 has gained quite the following since launch, and rightly so. It’s a tightly focused game that understands exactly what it’s trying to be. However, there remains a vocal minority within that community who continue to bemoan the lack of huge updates despite the game only being out for a few weeks. It’s a classic case of Twitter trolls clearly missing the point, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the kind of game they’re making. Passion is healthy, but obsession can rapidly become the other thing. The devs are human!
DEVIATION GAMES SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN BINNED OFF
Another week goes by, and more layoffs hit the industry. This one is particularly egregious, especially as Sony invested in Deviation Games early doors before they had ever published a game. Three years later and that’s it. PlayStation shut them down. No announcement. Not even a meaningful tease beyond Geoff Keighley sharing the stage with the team to say they exist. It’s another short sighted and callous business decision that is seeing shareholder margins take precedence over keeping talented developers employed.
Such a waste.