A lot of the games we see tend to follow set formulas, depending on its genre. Not that this is a bad thing, it’s what sells and what works. Every now and then though, we do get a game that’s a little bit… different.

Don’t Open the Doors is one of those games. Even from a glance you can see that it sets out to be different. A claymation indie game, you play as a ‘human’ in a colourful strange world that was forever changed when the ‘doors’ appeared and forced people to retreat from the city. You have been tasked with delivering the Megabomb to blow up the main door and save everyone… only you seem to be stuck in a world filled with people and other beings who only seem to want to backchat you and hinder you at every step. There are exceptions of course, but it’s notable how many things in this world are just plain rude to you.

Notice I said ‘things’ – a LOT of things in this game talk to you. Humans, pumpkins, bugs, cooking pots… you name it, there’s probably something of that type that will talk to you at some point in the game. Being sassed by insects is not what I expected from this game. However, it’s all made better by the fact that as soon as you get your first weapon (a hammer) you can take your revenge on some of what’s talking to you. In fact, with your hammer there’s an awful lot of things you can smash – try it on anything and everything and you might be surprised what explodes into a goo (clay?) puddle with a hit or two.

You do of course have a main quest, and its to do with this Megabomb you’re meant to deliver. Only you might need to learn how to make it again… so fetch quests are a thing in this game. However, you will also run into other beings who have small side quests for you and will give you things for completion so it’s best to wander around to find all you can. There’s a few hidden secrets that aren’t immediately obvious thanks to the game’s isometric viewpoint. Roam around, complete all you can, and talk to everyone – even those who don’t want to talk to you. You’ll find all kinds of useful items just by talking to and helping people or pumpkins.

I’d recommend this game if you want to play something different yet still very good. A lot of effort went into the claymation for the game and it shows. Moving in an isometric game is always one of the tripping points, but as long as you can get your head around it you should be alright. You aim and fire your weapon with the mouse anyway, so that’s one less thing to get confused with.

8/10

This weekend sees a publisher sale on Steam for Ubisoft’s many titles. Included are a number of the most recent titles as well as old favourites and popular past releases. The offers will only last for this weekend though, so you’ll need to be quick to grab anything.

The percentages off vary obviously, but included are Watch Dogs 2, Steep and For Honor (so if you’d been holding off until they were on sale, now’s the time); as well as titles such as South Park: The Stick of Truth, Rocksmith, Might and Magic Heroes VII and Child of Light. The Far Cry bundle is also on offer, along with a number of Assassin’s Creed games.

Some of the largest discounts are on Rainbow Six Siege (50% off), The Division (50% again), South Park: The Stick of Truth (a massive 75%) and the previously mentioned Far Cry bundle at 60% discount.

If you’re interested in any of these games, check out Ubisoft catalogue for the full game list and all the discounts available.

So, a leak of a bit of artwork for the next Call of Duty game has led to speculation that the next game will be returning to World War II as its setting.

The leak contains a few images, some being the game’s poster and others potential steelbook designs, all of which hint that Sledgehammer Games are returning the franchise to its roots for 2017’s Call of Duty installment. The images show a group of Allied soldiers storming the beach on D-Day.

Originally sent to a Youtuber who plays Call of Duty (TheFamilyVideoGamers), the screenshots where then compiled by other fans and posted to a subreddit called r/WWII. According to a mod of the subreddit the leaks seemed plausible with “the user [having] leaked plenty in the past,” noting that they also leaked Infinite Warfare before that was released. Others threw doubts onto the legitimacy, saying that the images had been taken from Saving Private Ryan, although since the post was made other sources with insider knowledge have come forward to gaming presses with the same game title as was in the poster – so it’s looking like this is the real deal.

Call of Duty games that went into the future have underperformed recently, so it’s no big surprise if they are taking it back to the game’s origin, especially as a recent financial report stated that Call of Duty would be taken “back to its roots” with the latest installment with “traditional combat taking center stage”.

Shown off originally as part of their Twitch Commerce announcement, the new Twitch Crates that will be coming as part of Twitch’s general store update. Given out as a bonus when you buy a game or item worth more than $4.99, these are little digital loot boxes that can contain all sorts of goodies for livestream viewers.

Twitch Crates will appear in your inventory and you can choose whether or not you want to open them immediately or stash them away for a big future opening stream or something, if that’s something you like to do. Crates can contain channel badges, emotes or even a store of bits for spending on other things.

These goodies will vary in rarity too of course, with common to very rare. Also, if a game has for example a special emote associated with it then you would get that as a part of your Twitch Crate if you bought the game through Twitch. It could also potentially give access to emotes that could otherwise have only been gained through a subscription to a channel; whether or not you get dupes and how you can deal with them is yet to be seen although you won’t be able to trade them with other users. At least not while the system’s being trialed. There are also plans to bring things like game discounts, community-made items and more to Crates as they develop so look out for those later.

Right now you can only get one crate per purchase, and no options for selling the crates by themselves has yet been announced – but it’s likely to come as people get gripped with the desire to collect them all.

What do you think of Twitch Crates? Will you be buying them if they do go up for sale? Let us know below!