We’ve come to apretty pass
$7.5BN DEAL MEANS YOU’LL NEED A SUBSCRIPTION TO ENJOY FUTURE BETHESDA SOFTWORKS RELEASES
MICROSOFT’S acquisition of ZeniMax Media – owners of Bethesda Softworks – has gone through, for an eye watering $7.5billion.
“So what?” you might wonder, “business deals happen all the time.” But this one has big implications if you’re a PlayStation fan, as it’s been implied the majority of Bethesda games going forward will be exclusive to Xbox.
Speaking last week, Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, said one motivation behind this deal was “delivering great exclusive games that ship on platforms where Game Pass exists”.
He also said the gaming giant would see through previous ‘contractual obligations’ and continue to support ‘games on other platforms’.
So while it appears pre-existing deals, such as PlayStation-timed exclusivity for Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, will be honoured, and ‘games as a service’ titles like The Elder Scrolls Online will remain multiformat, if you want to play any future big Bethesda releases – such as upcoming titles like Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield – you’re going to have to invest in Game Pass.
And as an added motivator, 20 Bethesda titles have been added to Microsoft’s subscription service.
Here are five of the best.
THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM (PEGI 18)
It’s no exaggeration to say Skyrim is one of the most popular roleplaying games (RPG) of all time. Released 10 years ago, its beautifully realised and diverse open-world set a new benchmark that has influenced and shaped countless RPGs since.
The main story revolves around the Dragonborn and their quest to defeat Alduin the World-Eater, a dragon who is prophesied to destroy the world. Packed with quests and events, players can ignore it all and just explore the breathtaking environments.
Its popularity is such that it’s been ported to every modern console – even spawning a tongue-in-cheek Amazon Alexa version in 2017.
Skyrim will be one of five titles on
Game Pass getting a FPS boost, meaning their frame rates could jump up to nearly 60 FPS.
DOOM ETERNAL (PEGI 18)
The ailing first-person shooter series was reborn in 2016 in a hail of gore and blood splatter.
And riding on that success, Doom Eternal was spewed forth last year – throwing you head-first into a maze of corridors filled with shuffling demons – and handing you a chainsaw to despatch them back to hell.
Frenetic and visceral combat is an assault on the senses as much as the hellish demons, with the explosion of bullets, roar of the monsters and sound of tearing flesh accompanied by a thunderous heavy metal score.
Some of the set pieces are glorious. The scorched, red wastelands of Earth interspersed with cavernous cathedrals, plant-entwined ruins and snow kissed clifftops.
The solo campaign is so meaty you may need a breather before venturing into multiplayer territory.
FALLOUT 4 (PEGI 18)
Starting where other titles in the series haven’t, Fallout 4 shows you a time before the bombs dropped and the world became a wasteland.
Waking up as the ‘sole survivor’ of Vault III, every second is a fight to stay alive. Sitting alongside the main story is a wealth of side quests to help build your character’s skills – and you’ll need them, as there are some scary and powerful creatures waiting in the wasteland.
The level of detail makes rummaging and searching for prenuclear artefacts so much fun.
WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER (PEGI 18)
Much like the ground-breaking
Doom franchise, the Wolfenstein series had been struggling to remain relevant in modern gaming.
The New Order, released in 2014, blew away the cobwebs and gave it new life.
Bursting with visceral, gory action, it walks a perfect tightrope between genuine drama and dark, inappropriate humour.
In this alternative history, the Nazis won the war and now rule the globe with an iron fist.
Playing as the resistance leader B.J. Blazkowicz, you’ll encounter some truly horrifying baddies, be embroiled in blazing fire fights, and get swept along in what is one of the most compellingly preposterous storylines you’ll ever encounter.
DISHONORED 2 (PEGI 18)
Dishonored introduced a twist to the gaming world – the chaos system – which tracks your conduct, taking note of the levels of violence, friendly fire and deaths you cause as you move through the game.
These levels change the gaming environment around the player, altering how other characters interact with you and dictating how quickly you go through resources.
The setting is beautiful. Moving beyond the streets of plagueridden Dunwall to the coastal city of Karnaca, the attention to details is stunning.
There is a phenomenal amount of interaction in this game too. Most of the tasks play out like mini-puzzles, with your mind left racing over whether you made the right decision and just what the consequences of your action/ inaction might be.
SOME terrific work behind the scenes sees the Lancashire and Cheshire AFL, the biggest Saturday amateur football league in the region geared up for an exciting and busy end to the season decimated by Covid 19.
The difficulty of arranging fixtures to complete the league programme saw it null and voided and a cup competition brought in to replace this.
This was a great pity as it had been one of the most exciting and competitive of seasons throughout the eight divisions until the lockdown brought about the closure.
The league’s management committee, with good support from the clubs, have drawn up their road map to complete the season
It will begin on Saturday April 10 with four cups being played for beginning with 16 divisions in action with the teams aiming to make quarter-finals before semi-finals and finals on neutral grounds.
Having confirmed the plans for a streamlined cup competition programme that will run in the absence of the possibility to complete a full league programme, the L & C also announced warm-up fixtures plan in preparation for the competitive fixtures..
L and C fixture secretary Malc Kershaw (Pictured) has done a tremendous amount of work to see League fixtures for every team on the
April 3 being released with referees secretary Stephen Howard looking to have every game covered by officials.
They are league games to be used as a warm up so teams don’t go into the cups on April 10 without having played and it saves everyone in clubs the job arranging friendlies.
Referees will be appointed as normal by the referee’s secretary. All normal procedures such as confirmation, referee payment by BACs, completion of result texts, match sheets, team stats and refs marks are to be followed.
This has seen virtually a full take-up of fixtures and clubs then await the cup draws, coming out this week, with eager anticipation.
In the premier division friendlies there are some exciting fixtures led by Salford Vics v Irlam Tigers and AFC Oldham v Dom Doyle.
Division one was a very competitive division with several teams looking to make the top two slots including leaders Moston Brook who host Trafford United and De La Salle Reds v North Walkden.
The period before the latest lockdown saw the clubs well prepared for the Covid restrictions which will apply and all in the league are looking for a good spell of weather as they resume action.