Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, developer Naughty Dog has now announced that The Last of Us: Part II will be delayed indefinitely, with no new release date set. Originally, the anticipated sequel was scheduled to release at the end of May, but has now been pushed further up to an unconfirmed new date until the situation with the pandemic is settled. READ MORE: Review: Resident Evil 3 Naughty Dog recently issued a statement on their social media stating that their upcoming title, The Last of Us: Part II, has been delayed indefinitely from its original May 29th release date. However, the studio has assured fans that the game is nearly done, but state that due to logistics beyond their control, they cannot release it on its planned release day. This marks the second time that The Last of Us: Part II has been delayed, as it was also originally planned to launch in February before being pushed up to May, and now, with no planned release date. A message from us about the delay of The Last of Us Part II: pic.twitter.com/aGsSRfmJ8a— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) April 2, 2020 Kotaku editor Jason Schreier predicts that this isn't the first time we'll be seeing delays for video games. While games releasing in April should be safe, beyond that, it's possible that games will be delayed as well. This means it's also likely that Ghost of Tsushima, which is planned to launch in June, might face a similar fate. Bookmark this post... https://t.co/QSdzMC8ROX— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) April 2, 2020 As the outbreak continues to become a serious problem worldwide, it's great that companies are taking precautionary measures until a time is right when the pandemic is resolved. The Last of Us: Part II will certainly be worth the wait, though we have challenges to overcome first. Stay home, stay safe!

Capcom have been on a rather successful video game roll over the past two years. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, Devil May Cry 5 and Resident Evil 2 were all hits. Rightly so, there’s been a lot of anticipation and hype surrounding their Resident Evil 3: Nemesis remake. The original game was highly successful way back in 1999 and fans of the franchise have been itching to get their hands on a proper remake. Does Resident Evil 3 (2020) do justice to the original game from way back then? In Resident Evil 3. players will take on the role of Jill Valentine, with the game set a little while after the Arklay Mountains mansion incident. Within the first five minutes of the game, players will know that they are in for a treat. A first person segment segment plays out and this immediately establishes the game’s excellent sound design. When the game switches over to its full third person view, Jill quickly finds out that she needs to flee her apartment. Things escalate really quickly and soon enough you’ll find yourself out on the streets of Raccoon City. Multiple in-game mechanics from the Resident Evil 2 remake have made their way into the Resident Evil 3 remake... Gameplay in Resident Evil 3 plays out in a very similar fashion to last year’s Resident Evil 2. Multiple in-game mechanics from the Resident Evil 2 remake have made their way into the Resident Evil 3 remake while bafflingly, some elements have been removed. The ability to stab knives into zombies and escape their clutches has been removed for some reason. While this might seem like a small edit in the grand scheme, Jill now has to struggle with the player hammering the action button to escape from a zombie grab. Her knife has unlimited usage but ultimately seems quite weak compared to its predecessor from the previous game. Controlling Jill’s movement is fluid and Capcom have opted to add a dodge mechanic to alleviate some frustration from dealing with multiple enemies. Pressing the dodge button at the right time initiates a “Perfect Dodge” animation in which Jill will move out the way, time will slow down and you will be allowed to fire off an attack with pinpoint precision. Given the fact that zombies in the game are quite literally bullet sponges, dodging and avoiding them at every opportunity is recommended unless you really want to go on an undead killing spree. Pressing the dodge button at the right time initiates a “Perfect Dodge” animation... Unfortunately much of what made the Resident Evil 2 remake great involved having a large environment to explore and puzzles to solve. Resident Evil 3, however has taken the opposite approach. Instead of having a large open environment with a lot of backtracking and interconnected exploration, the game is a lot more linear with a clear path from start to finish. You can still explore and find additional items in safes and optional rooms but the game is pretty straight-forward and far more action orientated than its predecessor. Nemesis, being a key factor in the game, is not exactly the terrifying menace he was in the original game. Mr. X in the Resident Evil 2 remake induced a sense of anxiety in you as you’d run around the Raccoon City police station. Nemesis does none of that. Instead, Nemesis feels like an overpowered chunk of meat with extendable tendrils. He’s also used sparingly in some select encounters and we wish that he would have been more present in the game like Mr. X was. When you do encounter Nemesis, he’s easily pacified too and the whole premise around him in the early game seems like a wasted opportunity. Thankfully, in the late game Nemesis takes on a different role and this is satisfying in every aspect. Circling back to the zombies in Resident Evil 3, they aren’t quite the same as in the Resident Evil 2 remake. This time around they are far more “jelly-like” and the gore displayed when shooting at them has been significantly toned down. The *spoiler alert* Hunters in the game were however a step up and we wish that they featured a lot more than they did. These enemies are relentlessly fast and quite tough to beat while not presenting an impossible challenge. Kudos to Capcom for designing them so well. Graphically, Resident Evil 3 is absolutely gorgeous. The graphics are flat out amazing and there are plenty of moments in the game where you’ll be in awe at how great it looks. Carlos and Jill look incredibly great too with both characters being quite a step up over Resident Evil 2’s rather emotionless Claire and Leon. Environments in the game are quite diverse and the attention to detail is truly remarkable. The soundtrack and voice acting is on point and so too are the weapon sound effects. Overall, Resident Evil 3 is more of the same while being watered down in some aspects and excelling in others. It does just enough to satiate fans and disappointingly, is over far too quickly. The entire single player campaign will take you just over five hours to complete at a leisurely pace. While there is some replayability in the form of unlockable challenges to take on once you’ve finished the game, gamers will definitely find this lacklustre. The “Hardcore” mode adds another layer of complexity to the game but once you’ve played through it once, you’ve essentially experienced the main meat and bones of the title. Resident Evil 3 is still, however, extremely fun to play. The streamlined action orientated gameplay and the story it tells is enjoyable and while a lot of potential was squandered, the game still shoots for the stars.

As South Africa enters its 21-day lockdown in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, it has left many civilians in the isolation of their homes. Many see this as a great opportunity to spend quality time with some family and loved ones, while others cherish diving into forms of entertainment to occupy their time and pass the weeks (when not working remotely, in that case). To cushion some of the tedium, Nexus has decided to create a daily feature in which we recommend games of varying lengths and content that could pass the time. Our seventh recommendation in Lockdown Gaming is not without some irony, but it is one of the most intense survival horror experiences in gaming; the wonderful Alien: Isolation. In 2014, developer Creative Assembly made an incredible survival horror game that sadly may have flown under the radar of many gamers at the time. Since then, it has gained a cult following, and rightfully earned its place in the halls of gaming's horror greats. I'm of course talking about Aliens: Colonial Marines- Sorry, I stuttered, I mean Alien: Isolation. Alien: Isolation is basically the 1979 Ridley Scott classic morphed into a video game, down to the tense, palpable atmosphere and strong emphasis on - you guessed it - the overwhelming feeling of isolation. Instead of playing as Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley, you instead play as her daughter, Amanda Ripley. Set 15 years after the events of that original film, Amanda comes across the Nostromo's flight recorder. Desperate to track down her mother's location, Amanda stumbles upon a gigantic space station. She soon learns that it's mostly abandoned, and a familiar foe now stalks its vents. Alien: Isolation felt like a godsend when only the previous year, the Alien gaming series had been violently tainted with Aliens: Colonial Marines, one of the worst video games of the last decade. Isolation came along and breathed life back into not just the survival horror genre - which had been on a tragic downward spiral ever since Resident Evil 6 abandoned the genre to make a generic action shooter - but breathed a newfound confidence into the Alien series that felt remarkably faithful to the lore and tone of the universe. Isolation was one of the few video games to keep the horror genre afloat in 2014, which had a short supply of some effective genre standouts, joined by The Evil Within and P.T. on the better end. Isolation works because it strips away all the action set piece fluff and hones in on creating an atmospheric horror experience. To that extent, it succeeds well beyond expectations. The game's highly intelligent A.I. is one of its highlights, and probably the biggest critical praise thrown its way by fans and critics. The xenomorph's ability to learn and adapt to your movement and paths meant that it never repeated a path of its own and always changed positioning, meaning no two playthroughs would ever be the same. Amanda roaming the empty hallways of the space station is eerie enough, but with a clever xenomorph mercilessly hunting you down by turning your own tactics against you, it made for a memorable and unique gaming experience that we rarely see done, even today. Alien: Isolation's atmosphere is one of my favourite aspects of the game. The long stretches of hallways, the gloomy bedrooms, the dark vents, the barely functional electricity, it all culminates to create a haunting, terrifying feeling of helplessness that hasn't been successfully done to this extent since 1999's Silent Hill. Armed with, well, not many gadgets except for a radar device to track the alien's movements, and occasionally thrown a weapon to fend yourself with, Amanda's smarts became your smarts as you were suddenly playing a game of outwitting and outrunning the xenomorph. Finally, Alien: Isolation is actually bloody scary. I know that's something that's thrown around a lot and hardly has any weight to it when talking about video games or films, but Isolation really deserves (and earns) that title more than any horror game I've played recently. Thanks to a terrific feeling of dread, some iconic soundtrack choices, brooding tension, and cleverly implemented A.I., Isolation rises above expectations and delivers the quintessential Alien survival experience that we've been waiting for in gaming. So why should you play Alien: Isolation during lockdown? Considering that the title is fairly aged now, it should be affordable on store fronts for a relatively cheap price. On top of that, it's also surprisingly one of the longer horror games in recent memory. The main story should clock you around 20 hours to beat, which is quite lengthy in an age where horror games rarely breached the 10-12 hour mark. The weather is looking dreary, so why not snuggle up to one of the finest horror games of the last decade? Other Lockdown Gaming Features: Lockdown Gaming Day 1: Skyrim Special Edition Lockdown Gaming Day 2: Persona 5 Lockdown Gaming Day 3: Fallout 4 Lockdown Gaming Day 4: NieR: Automata Lockdown Gaming Day 5: Bloodborne Lockdown Gaming Day 6: Anthem & Fallout 76 Remember to visit the South African Coronavirus Website for more information on safety and prevention tips. Stay safe! Emergency Hotline: 0800 029 999 WhatsApp Support Line: 0600-123456

Persona 5 Royal, much like the "enhanced" Persona titles before it, brings content to entertain new players and see veterans glued to their seats. An overhauled story, revamped battle system, an entirely new school semester, and a host of other additions warrant a fresh playthrough of one of this generations best JRPGs. Sit back, set sights on your husbando/waifu, hunker down, and lose yourself in the ultimate Persona 5. Seeing as the Persona games have always been about the phenomenal stories, I will not touch on anything relating to the main plot of Royal. As mentioned in the opening paragraph, the addition of a full new semester should be enough to tantalize the story-hungry JRPG fans. Social Links, the staple of Persona games (outside of combat) has been expanded upon. Not just one or two, but every-single-one. Revisiting them felt fresh and rewarding, and not like retreading old ground at all. Social Links, the staple of Persona games (outside of combat) has been expanded upon. If this wasn't already enough, an new district called Kichijoji has been added. This free to roam area contains a club, a temple, a jazz bar, and shops to visit. Billiards and darts minigames can be played to strengthen your relationships and empower your baton pass respectively. Two new confidants make their debut in Royal, giving Joker even more Social Link and activities to juggle while balancing his double-life. As a small side note to the social portion of this review, fans can rejoice in the reworked social progression of everyone's favorite detective: Goro Akechi. To say the least, no longer will Akechi's Social Link effortlessly trial on as you progress through the campaign. It has been overhauled, that is all I'll say. New monsters, different puzzles, revamped boss mechanics, these all form part of a more fluid, refined experience when within a palace. With so many new activities and Social Links to partake in, one might be fearful of not having enough time to do so. Atlus saw this and introduced a fair amount of time to enjoy all that is new. For instance, there's a chance to gain stat and social points through the manner of a dream if you opt to do nothing during the evening. Some members in the game can also grant permanent increases, enabling new ways of approaching combat, or even lengthening your stay in a palace. Mentioning palaces, most of them have been tweaked to give players a new experience. New monsters, different puzzles, revamped boss mechanics, these all form part of a more fluid, refined experience when within a palace. The Velvet Room, home to Igor and co., has been improved with a few small additions. Having a chance to sound an alert in Igor's room after a normal combat encounter has the potential to massively boost your fusing results, some might even have implicit abilities not commonly found on them. There's a catch though; misuse this feature, and your fused Persona might be a complete dud. Gunning for stronger Personas is desired, as some monsters have received quite the buff. So much so, that some of them have been boosted to easily wipe your battle if they are not finished within one party turn. The excitement, and subsequent anxiety, of encountering such a behemoth of a monster in familiar zones is enticing. To help the Phantom Thieves out during trying encounters, new combat moves have also been introduced, like a Showtime finisher and reworked baton pass system. A complaint many a Phantom Thief had was the monotonous nature of Mementos. Thankfully, Atlus listened and re-invented it. The loop of yore is still present, but this time with more to do. One example is the inclusion of the mysterious Jose, who will trade you exceptionally powerful perks for collectibles found in Momentos. Another, and this is truly a massive quality of life change, is the ability to ram over enemies a few levels lower than you, while still netting you experience, items, and money: thank you, Atlus. These are just two changes made to the near-endless labyrinth, given everything that has been changed, the Mementos now feels like a location you want to explore, instead of having to. I found the entirely new Thieve's Den to be a magical place with Royal. The customizable area, which serves as a hang-out spot, comes with its unique features. Decorating the Den with statues of Personas, rewatching cutscenes, and listening to the sublime soundtrack can all be done here. Speaking of, 2017's Persona 5 soundtrack has traveled with me since it was released. With the addition of new songs and some reworked originals, it's not hard to see this new soundtrack accompanying me for the next 4 years. The soundtrack we've all come to adore essentially just got better, somehow. With all that said, Persona 5 Royal is not merely the base game dipped in new garments, no. It's a definitive edition of an already stellar edition, hand-crafted by Atlus while being inspired by years of feedback of their 2017 masterpiece. In an age where the old normal of hanging with friends, going shopping, and visiting movie theaters is no more, Royal, together with its 100+ hours worth of content, will spirit you away and let you experience the ways of old. Make sure to read our original review for Persona 5, and if you're in lockdown, why not consider playing it again during these times?