It’s that time of the month again! July genuinely felt like it was going to go on forever. Not only did I turn 28, England reached the semi- final of the World Cup, which took up a lot of my time at the start of the month. With the month feeling so long, I actually managed to knock out some games this time, and there actually was quite a bunch, I’m proud of how this one turned out! I’m going to jump straight in, as we’ve got a LOT to get through.
Right at the start of this month, I decided to tackle one of the shorter games left on my list, and popped Call of Duty: Vanguard into my Xbox Series X. I then took it back out again when I realised the PC version was on Xbox Game Pass, and so I played it there. Vanguard is a decent enough time. I do think it is probably the worst of all the World War II Call of Duty games, but it is hard to mess up the setting. It also felt incredibly short, which helped out in my case because I needed something to get the ball rolling on my completion list again. To be brutally honest, there isn’t a whole lot to say about Vanguard, other than it’s definitely a Call of Duty game. If you like Call of Duty, you’ll probably find something to like in Vanguard, but don’t go in expecting a cinematic masterpiece or a rich emotional story, as it just isn’t this type of game. I went for a 7.2/10 in Vanguard’s case, most Call of Duty games tend to fall in around this rating for me, and Vanguard is no exception.
Tip of the Spear huh? That was always one of my more favourite Halo: Reach missions. Oh wait, wrong franchise!
A complete change of pace with this one, but I finally got through Xenoblade Chronicles! It may have taken around 3 months, but I can cross off two games off the list this month! I actually enjoyed Xenoblade more than I thought I would, I initially placed it on the list to push me out of my comfort zone, but I had a lot of fun. The combat system took some getting used to for me, but once it clicked, I got better and better. I even found a team I really vibed well with, and used them all the way to the end of the game. I took a long time to beat it, for my standards. I had around 35 hours by the end, and anyone who knows me knows that I usually can’t stomach a long game, but there was something about this one that really captivated me. I do have the other two games on the Switch, and they are getting Switch 2 upgrades. I settled on an 8.6 for Xenoblade Chronicles. I thought the game was a lot more fun than I expected, and whilst I understand it did take a long time for me to get there, I’m glad I did. That means July has knocked TWO games off the list.
That New Game Plus and the screenshot of the entire party sitting there is a very nice touch.
Next, I saw that Doom: The Dark Ages finally had its Revelations DLC drop, and at first, I wasn’t overly impressed by the price, but then I realised I was looking at the Premium Edition Upgrade and not the actual pack on its own. I ended up picking it up for around £17.99, as I noticed the DLC added achievements, and that meant my 100% was gone. I decided to sink my teeth into it as soon as I saw this! Revelations was genuinely a fun time, and being a bit of a retro games’ nerd, the classic levels were a lovely touch! There was also quite a bit of content to this DLC, it took me about 10 hours to wrap up completely. The big addition of Revelations was the Chain Spear, allowing the Doom Slayer to grapple around, stab demons, parry shots and ground pound his way around four new levels. For the full 100%, you have to play through these twice, the first time is what is known as “Main Path”, and once you’ve completed all of these once, you unlock the Master Key and this allows you to complete the “End Game” tasks. You need to complete all of these for the 100%, which I found out the hard way. What I will say is that if you do like Doom: The Dark Ages, you’ll love this. I went with an 8.5/10 rating on this one, as it was very fairly priced, and was a good time. Ran like butter on my PC also, as all id Software games tend to!
Finally. It’s back. Try and take my 100% again, I dare you.
I mentioned this at the end of the last blog post, but I wanted to return to one of my old-time favourites, The Getaway on PS2. As a dedicated achievement hunter of all persuasions, I of course have a RetroAchievements account, and The Getaway has a list on there. When I first played it on there, it only did it in casual, so I thought it was time to complete the game on Hardcore mode and get the Mastery. I’ve played the game hundreds of times, so it wasn’t too bad to do, but I haven’t ever spoken about it on this blog before. I’m going to keep my thoughts brief as I plan on doing a full deep dive on the game at some point, but it’s one of my comfort games, and looks fantastic upscaled on PCSX2 at 4K. I do plan on getting the Mastery for the sequel, The Getaway: Black Monday, but that is less of a priority. When I’ve rated The Getaway before, I’ve rated at a 9.3/10, and it’s one I stand by wholeheartedly. The game isn’t for everyone, but it’s fantastic.
I really hate the fact it’s using the American boxart as the achievement icon. The UK boxart was more iconic. Fight me.
Just after completing The Getaway, I realised I had another PS2 game on my RetroAchievements profile that I had started, but hadn’t yet finished. Another game from my childhood, Burnout 3: Takedown was next on the list. I love this game; it might be the best arcade racer that I’ve ever played. There is something SO satisfying about cutting off a rival racer, and then just smashing right into their side and taking them out of the race all together, all whilst the Crash Cam captures every single loose spark in slow motion. Featuring locales such as the USA, Europe and the Far East, there’s over 100 events to speed through and earn the gold medal on each. Burnout 3 also feels like a time capsule of the mid-2000s, with the giant advertisements showing Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 and Need for Speed Underground 2, whilst My Chemical Romance is blasting on the EA Trax that were included on the game. After playing through Burnout 3, it has made me sad that Burnout appears to be no more, as it definitely fills a niche that games such as Forza and Gran Turismo just don’t. With Criterion Games becoming a focal part of Battlefield Studios recently, it does seem unlikely that EA will ever tap back into Burnout, but it doesn’t stop that gap being there. I debated for a long time on the rating for Burnout 3, and I ended up going for a 9.3/10. The only downside I could find was that the game’s difficulty did spike towards the end, but other than that, if you like racing games, try this. You won’t regret it.
I still have a lot to do in Burnout 3, and I fully plan on getting that 100% one day. But for now, the Beaten status will have to do.
There’s one more game for me to briefly touch on before I wrap up, which means it’s time for everyone’s favourite section, the physical pick-up section! I did actually pick up some physical titles this month, and they are as follows:
- Silent Hill f (PlayStation 5)
- Star Fox (Nintendo Switch 2)
- UEFA Challenge (PlayStation 2)
- Euro 2000 (PlayStation)
- ISS Pro Evolution 2 (PlayStation)
- FIFA 98: Road to the World Cup (PlayStation)
- Code Vein II (PlayStation 5)
- Rhythm Paradise Groove (Nintendo Switch)
- Halo: Campaign Evolved Collector’s Edition (PlayStation 5)
And as for the update on the games that I promised to beat in 2026, I’m so pleased to finally be able to cross a couple off! Xenoblade Chronicles and Call of Duty: Vanguard are off the list, which just leaves the following:
- Silent Hill Downpour
- Yakuza 6: Song of Life
- Hollow Knight Silksong
- Sly Raccoon
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Jak and Daxter
I think the next one I plan on tackling is Shadow of the Tomb Raider!
Now, if you know anything about me, you’ll know there was a huge release this month, and there has been some clues throughout this post. Yes, Halo: Campaign Evolved launched this month. Launching on 23rd July for early access (even if I was playing before this date), it was finally time to set foot on Installation 04 again, and stop the Covenant, again. I’m not going to go fully into detail here, as I plan on making a full post about this game, but I will say, I have completed it a few times, and got all the achievements. There are some things I love about the game, some things I hate, and some things I do not care about whatsoever. I have a lot to say as you can probably tell, but I’m going to keep it brief and just confirm my final rating. 8.3/10 for me. If you want to know why, stick around, as I will be doing a full breakdown! Oh, and the collector’s edition is dope.
40 hours later, the 100% was in my grasp. It’s Halo CE, who’s surprised about this?
And that brings us to the end of a rather packed July! I said I was going to try and get some games completed in July, and I think I’ve delivered big time! August is a big one for me, I think I will be looking at Star Fox and Shadow of the Tomb Raider next month, if Minecraft and League of Legends Classic don’t take my life away first.
Until next month.
Love, Squashy x