The Codec Call

Codec Momentum - December 2018

Well here it is, the end of 2018 and the end of another year of Codec Momentum.  Over the last 12 months we’ve had submissions, completions, finishers and failures… and also the largest amount of games cleared from backlogs yet.  It’s been a great year!  Now it’s time to run down the final leaderboard positions, shout out a few accolades for those that have surprised during the last quarter, and draw the December prize winner.

Listen to Matt, Andy and Ali on the podcast to find out the following:

• Who’s at the top of the leaderboard… well, there’s no surprise there, it’s @Kishnabe
• Where did everyone else end up?
• Who rolled in at the last minute and knocked Andy down a place
• The new rules for 2019
• How to join in

Picks of 2018 – Red Dead Redemption 2

So another year draws to a close and the team reflected on the gaming highlights of the last 12 months.  Which titles stood out?  How much time did they spend with certain games?  What turned out to be the most compelling?  How often did they think about breaking their Year of Shame promise because the hype was getting to them?  There were lots of games that landed in 2018 that gave us joy and pain, but there’s not enough recording time available to talk about all of them, so we’ve stripped it back to 3 that, for one reason or another, standout from the rest.  Here’s number 3… Red Dead Redemption 2.

In this, the last of three special end of year episodes, Matt, Ali and Andy are joined by special guests Cev and Stu to talk all about Red Dead Redemption 2, with some major spoilers present… you have been warned.

• What’s it all about
• The insane levels of detail
• Not explanation on what’s happened with Ali’s audio
• Red Dead Addendum with Matt and Cev
• Is it boring, or is it compelling?

and much, much more in this extra long episode.

Picks of 2018 – God of War

So another year draws to a close and the team reflected on the gaming highlights of the last 12 months.  Which titles stood out?  How much time did they spend with certain games?  What turned out to be the most compelling?  How often did they think about breaking their Year of Shame promise because the hype was getting to them?  There were lots of games that landed in 2018 that gave us joy and pain, but there’s not enough recording time available to talk about all of them, so we’ve stripped it back to 3 that, for one reason or another, standout from the rest.  Here’s the second… God of War.

In this, the second of three special end of year episodes, Matt and Ali talk all about God of War, with some minor spoilers if you’re sensitive to those things:

• What’s changed in the 2018 reboot
• How grown up it’s become, yet managing to remain a God of War title
• What impresses them the most
• That axe…
• The world design and game structure
• How the setting is familiar because of Marvel movies
• The superbly crafted story
• BOY!

Picks of 2018 – Hitman 2

So another year draws to a close and the team reflected on the gaming highlights of the last 12 months.  Which titles stood out?  How much time did they spend with certain games?  What turned out to be the most compelling?  How often did they think about breaking their Year of Shame promise because the hype was getting to them?  There were lots of games that landed in 2018 that gave us joy and pain, but there’s not enough recording time available to talk about all of them, so we’ve stripped it back to 3 that, for one reason or another, standout from the rest.  Here’s the first… Hitman 2.

In this, the first of three special end of year episodes, Matt, Ali and Andy talk all about Hitman 2, with some very minor spoilers:

• What’s changed since the 2016 reboot
• Did they expect to see another game after IOI were dropped from Square Enix
• What impresses them the most about the sequel
• Andy’s tips on menu design
• Cutscene controversy

and more.

Codec Momentum - November 2018

Here we go, the penultimate update of 2018 and things are hotting up on the leaderboard so it’s time to run through the full listing.  Join Matt, Andy and Ali as they look at how everyone who’s entered this year is doing and where the fights for position are.  It doesn’t stop there either… Just like Formula 1, we can’t go a year without making some tweaks, so rule changes are coming to balance a few of the #CodecMomentum elements and now’s your chance to let us know what you think of our proposals.  We also want to hear if you’ve any suggestions on what you’d like to see when we roll into the 2019 competition.

You’ll hear in this podcast:

• Who’s in last place
• Exactly how many entries @SaintlyStuart managed in November (and if he’s still married)
• What changes to Codec Momentum we want to make
• If there have been any changes in the top 3
• The incentives we offer Andy to get him to continue playing Alien Isolation

EGX 2018 – Strange Brigade Interview

Even though the game had been out a few weeks and we’d reviewed at launch, we still had a blast playing Strange Brigade at EGX 2018, even if we did get completely outshone by one of the devs playing on our team.  At least we got the chance to speak to Josh afterwards about how the game is doing, some of the community feedback, and what Rebellion were planning next.

EGX 2018 – Beacon Interview

Another interview from EGX 2018 and in this one we talked to the team behind upcoming roguelite isometric shooter Beacon from Monothetic, and being published by Utomik.  With the distinctive aesthetic and interesting sci-fi cloning premise catching our eye, we got the chance to talk to Arran Seaton (audio designer and co-founder) and Tay Dunnvatanachit (creative lead) about their inspirations and the feedback they’d been getting at the show.

EGX 2018 – Arca’s Path Interview

During EGX 2018 Matt and Andy got the chance to play the first couple of levels of Arca’s Path, a new VR title developed by Dream Reality Interactive and published by Rebellion.  It’s about finding the right routes and establishing control in strange futuristic world, and the only way to interact with the environment is by looking and moving your head.  It’s an interesting concept and fortunately we got the chance to speak in more detail to designer Albert Bentall about the game.

Codec Momentum - October 2018

Another 31 days have passed and the competition in the Codec Momentum leaderboard is getting intense as we get to the end of 2018.  With several battles breaking out across the field it’s hard to know who’s going to take which position when we hit 31st December… well, except for first place, it feels like that title’s been wrapped up already this year.  Listen to this month’s update to find out what’s changed since last time.

Spend time digesting what’s being said in this episode of the Codec Moments Podcast:

• A rundown of the movers and shakers for October
• Where are the tightest battles in the grid
• How the Last Save Loaded boys are getting on
• Why the team spend more time talking about unreleased games… well, one very special one
• What the initial thoughts on Red Dead Redemption 2 are

Looking to the Horizon

A rather big racing game was released at the beginning of October that’s a continuation of the vision Playground Games have been developing for several years.  Forza Horizon 4 brings the racing excellence from the previous instalments to the UK, and there was no way we were going to be able to keep Ali and Stuart quiet on it.  With no way to fend of the enthusiasm we gave up the racing line and have let them have their say in this podcast.

In this episode of the Codec Moments Podcast you can hear:

• What Forza Horizon 4 is and why Ali compares it to an extra marital affair
• How destructible dry stone walls are
• Stuart’s theory on what the map will ultimately be used for
• Tuning and livery creators
• Why Matt doesn’t have an Xbox One
• What the best entry in the whole Horizon series is