The Tuesday letters page worries that nobody ever buys video games that aren’t sequels, as one reader suggests Gears Of War should be rebooted.
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Europe’s favourite
Interesting to see that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the best-selling new game of the year in Europe. Although it is a shame we only get this kind of information so randomly, whenever a company happens to let slip but never any kind of monthly chart or anything.
Anyway, I avoided the game after what seemed to be a lot of negativity, and I’m curious to hear from anyone that’s played it as to whether they’d recommend it. It wasn’t just the controversy that put me off but the fact that the series has seemed so aimless for a long time now. Valhalla was so drawn out and Vikings aren’t exactly an original idea.
I feel like the series has lost a lot of what used to make it special, in terms of unusual historical settings you don’t usually get in games. Seems like Mafia: The Old Country did that better than Shadows. The whole parkour thing, that was the whole point of the gameplay in the originals also seems to have pretty much disappeared, which seems a shame to me.
Rampage
The needle returns
Looking at the list of the best-selling games in 2025 is like a bad case of déjà vu. I can’t remember a time when the top five didn’t have FIFA, Call Of Duty, GTA, and Assassin’s Creed in it. Call Of Duty has been dominant for around 20 years now, FIFA and GTA for even longer. When is the general public going to care about playing something different?
Unfortunately, we see that the answer to that is probably never. Especially as the bigger issue is that they’re playing these kinds of traditional game less now, in favour of Minecraft, Fortnite and the rest. All of which have also been around forever.
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The question in gaming is not when will get new games or original ideas, but when will people buy them? Not this apparently, and who would be willing to bet anything changes next year?
Johno
The young upstart
It would be so funny If GTA 6 underperformed because people were still play GTA 5. I’m sure it’ll break all the record when it comes out but a couple of months after… like you said, there’s not going to nearly as much content as in GTA Online, so people are going to migrate back to the original. We’ve seen this with many online games over the years.
Rockstar are clever people though, so I’m sure they’ve thought of this. My guess is that’s why there’ll never be a GTA Online, they’ll just double the size of the map and pretend it’s the same thing, while slowly adding more GTA 6 style content and sidelining the old stuff.
I imagine that’ll probably work, but people are going to have to realise that there’s more than a decade worth of content in GTA Online and Rockstar are not going to be able to match that with a sequel anytime soon.
Rosco
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So, I’ve had the displeasure of watching War Of The Worlds with Ice Cube. I literally have no words. This film is dreadfully awful on every scale. Product placement, Ice Cube having the power to hack anything at all, machine enemies with zero motive, and just terrible acting. Funny to see this film on Prime, when Amazon is the product being placed. Ironic to a tee.
So a terrible film aside, Gamescom actually seems interesting this year. In comparison to essentially each year. It seems as if our favourite resident spokesman Geoff, has awoken to deliver us the goods, this year. Usually he overhypes and underdelivers. I’m stoked for Resident Evil Requiem, more so than any other title. So that’s on my watch list.
I’m hoping that the evening, at the very least, lives up to expectations and let’s look at it this way, it can’t be more of an abysmal horror than watching Ice Cube act in War Of The Worlds. If you haven’t watched it yet GC, save yourself the time and the effort. That’s one Amazon delivery, no one should be signing for.
Shahzaib Sadiq
Unwanted cure
Certainly did not have a Shenmue 3 re-release on my Gamescom bingo sheet but despite having paid into the original Kickstarter I can’t get excited about it. The truth is that not only did Shenmue 3 not please fans but I think it cured us of our love for the series, or at least the desire to see it continue. That’s my view anyway, and I know I’ve spoken to a number of people that feel similarly.
Shenmue 3 transcends the concept of being a wasted opportunity to the point where it feels like some kind of prank, except it’s not, it’s just… I don’t know what Yu Suzuki was thinking. If a fourth game came out I would probably play it, if it wasn’t too expensive, but there’s no way I’d pay to crowd fund it.
Wilkins
Cutting costs
As someone who is also in the process of upgrading my PC to Windows 11, I can throw my 2 cents of insight here.
Having looked at the build you provided, the first thing you should do is downgrade the SSD to a gen 4 device. (Samsung 990 Evo Plus is what I went for). The new gen 5 looks impressive with the faster speed, but unless you work as a videographer, who regularly deals with long form video content like weddings or funerals, you will not witness the benefits from a gen 5 SSD. You are spending an extra £100 to shave off at best, a whole second from your game’s loading times.
You could also save a lot more money switching the GPU from Nvidia to AMD’s 9070 range, especially if 1080p/1440p gaming is what you are looking at.
You can then spend some of those saving into getting better RAM. A 2×16 GB kit at 6000MHz CL 30 is the sweet spot for AM5 systems.
Just be aware that if you stay with a 750 watt PSU, you will be extremely limited with future GPU upgrades (a 5080 has a 850 PSU recommendation, for example).
Change those three things and it will be below your £2,000 budget.
Mr Kiwi
CRT or bust
RE: Andrew J. What monitor are you going to use? I didn’t see one on the list. If you aren’t buying a 4K monitor then you don’t need a 5090; I see they offer a 9070XT also. This is supposed to be equivalent to a 5070 and will take the cost below £2,000. Check YouTube for card comparisons.
Also, I’d split the HDD from 1 to 2. One small one for Windows and a 1 or 2TB for games and everything else.
I’m still using a 3070 and it runs most things at 1440p with not many issues, even Crysis.
Bobwallett
Bought and paid for
Thank you everyone’s help in the Inbox and Underbox with buying a gaming PC. I have bought the PC now, I decided to upgrade to the platinum warranty (£136) for peace of mind and also I won’t have to spend out for fixing the computer in the first three years of itss life. I am looking forward to playing games on it.
One of the games I want to play on it is American Arcadia, which is a bit like The Truman Show but instead of you playing Truman you play Natascha McElhone trying to help Truman escape.
Andrew J.
Stuck in Gear
I see the launch of Gears Of War: Reloaded is getting close. I loved that game back in the day and will probably play the remaster. But are we ever going to Gears 6? It’s pretty obvious that Gears 5 didn’t do what Microsoft wanted to in terms of reviews or sales but it kind of ended on a cliffhanger, so are we ever going to see what happens to Kait and Marcus?
The new main game is a prequel but has Microsoft got the guts to do a reboot and just admit that the newer games didn’t work out, and it’s probably best to start again. Tomb Raider has done that a couple of times, but I can’t think of any other big series that just wiped the slate clean and started again. Even though some, like Assassin’s Creed, would probably be better off that way.
I have no problem with reboots and soft reboots because they usually work. It’s a moment to take a look at a series and see what’s working and what’s gone wrong. In a way Gears 5 was that, but all they decided was… it should be more like God Of War.
The grandaddy of third person shooters shouldn’t be struggling like this, but it’s a long time since Gears Of War has been a big name. I’m not sure how much the remaster is going to change that but hopefully E-Day will.
Whistler
PS: Come to that, where is the new Tomb Raider? It’s been forever!
Inbox also-rans
Hey GC so what about this Time Crisis gun system then, hey guys? You can count me in! I can’t wait for the autumn 2025 release…
Anon
All I can say is that as a parent I would never let my kids anywhere near Roblox. Unfortunately, it’s a free and very efficient babysitter and that’s why I think it doesn’t get more backlash.
Wotan
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