Pushing Buttons: The perfect game for the end of days
What a treat it is to be back in the company of gruff-yet-tender Kratos and his increasingly wayward boy in God of War Ragnarok, a sequel to the beautiful 2018 reboot
Autumn is upon us. Where I live, the leaves are falling in droves and the Glasgow rain is turning them into slippery mulch that makes every trip to the shops an obstacle course. But one hallmark of autumn is missing: a promising run of new video games to cosy up with as the nights lengthen. Usually this is when the end-of-year rush starts, but not in 2022. It's as if the video games industry is giving us a little extra time to watch the absolute circus that UK politics has become in recent months.
The actual reasons for this relative drought are manifold, boiling down to the delayed effects of Covid-era development and, well, money. But there's one game that could save these dreary few months, one that I've been looking forward to for years: God of War Ragnarok. I've been playing it to review and, for once, the developer is allowing me to write about a game ahead of its release.
Some developments in the story from last week's newsletter: Bayonetta's voice actor Hellena Taylor has clarified the fee she was offered to reprise her role in Bayonetta 3, after sources at Platinum Games went to VGC and Bloomberg to challenge her account of events. The highest she was offered was $15,000 - significantly more than the $4,000 that she was later offered, to voice some cameo lines, and more consistent with fees other video game voice actors have reported is typical (and is in-line with SAG/AFTRA union rules in the US). It is a shame that Taylor's lack of clarity about her fee has muddied the waters, because video game actors are underpaid, especially because they do not earn royalty income like TV and film actors do. I spoke to several actors about their pay and conditions for this report. The new voice of Bayonetta, Jennifer Hale, released a statement reiterating her support of fair pay for game actors.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is inviting opinions from the public about Microsoft's proposed acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard. I'm sure that will end well.
Konami has exhumed its ancient horror series Silent Hill. Glasgow developer No Code, which made Stories Untold, mentioned above, and another very interesting horror game called Observation (a favourite of mine), is making a new Silent Hill game called Townfall. Bloober Team, meanwhile, is remaking Silent Hill 2, the ancient horror series' best-known and most disturbing entry. Pyramid Head has haunted dreams for decades; now he can terrify a new generation.
Our new column High Scores has interviews with the people behind the best and most memorable video game soundtracks. Dom Peppiatt kicks off the series by talking to the composers of Deathloop's fastidiously cool sounds, which were inspired by Swedish jazz and the rock band Yes.
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