The Loadout

Jul 2, 2024 | theloadout.com | Aaron Down

I awoke to a rather pleasant surprise this morning – a notification from HoYoverse letting me know that the Zenless Zone Zero pre-download had finally arrived for the free-to-play game. Like a kid on Christmas (but far less spritely), I leaped from my bed to my PS5 to set the new ARPG to install. But as I loaded up the PS Store I was greeted with a less pleasant reminder that the ZZZ PS5 pre-load is paywalled behind a $9.99 bundle. Here we go again.

Jun 28, 2024 | theloadout.com | Aaron Down

After a long and exhaustive year-long search, Xbox has finally remembered where it put speedrunning FPS Neon White. While Angel Matrix’s breakcore-backed banger was inducted into Xbox Game Pass last June, it must’ve accidentally slipped down the back of Phil Spencer’s sofa shortly after. Now, an Achievement list for the game has materialized, indicating that sufficient rummaging has taken place to pluck the heavenly shooter out from the (presumably) leathery crevasse it’s been stuck in.

Jun 27, 2024 | theloadout.com | Aaron Down

PlayStation has announced its PS Plus July line-up, and while it’s pretty meh for the most part, hockey fans will at least be able to make a steal with NHL 24 joining the service across all three tiers. From July 2, Oilers fans will be able to rewrite history without having to spend a penny extra on PS4 and PS5. If you liked NHL 23, then this year’s sports game is very much more of the same. As with most annual releases, you’re only getting iterative improvements.

Jun 26, 2024 | theloadout.com | Aaron Down

It’s been an exciting year so far for Shift Up. Not only has its maiden voyage into the triple-A space, Stellar Blade, struck a major chord with PS5 players everywhere, but the studio has already promised to expand on Eve’s adventure going forward. Now, the studio has begun concreting its plans for the games leading up to the end of the year. Having already launched Stellar Blade’s boss rush mode last month, Shift Up has already crossed off one of my biggest wishlist items for the hit RPG game.

Jun 26, 2024 | theloadout.com | Aaron Down

The First Descendant finally arrives on Tuesday, July 2 on PlayStation and Xbox, and I’m already worried about Nexon’s live-service looter shooter. Having spent the past few days getting hands-on with the game for our The First Descendant preview, I can feel the influences of genre mates Destiny 2, Warframe, and the ill-fated Anthem coursing through it. However, the developer is going to have to work to convince players to stick around considering how devoid of content and polish it currently is.