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We’re back with another instalment of our weekly podcast and, after seeing what the future holds thanks to Gamescom 2021, are ready to discuss the games that are already here. This means TheXboxHub Official Podcast Episode 95 features chatter about the likes of Psychonauts 2, Song of Iron, and Aliens: Fireteam Elite. As well as plenty of news, there’s also a look ahead to the imminent arrivals of interesting titles including The Artful Escape and World War Z: Aftermath. So, please enjoy everything this episode has to offer. 

As gamers we've been pretty starved of decent boxing experiences on console and PC. In fact, you could probably look all the way back to the Fight Night series for the last properly good all-round puncher. That all looks to change though with the release of Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions on PC and console, as the Survios team break free from the shackles of VR to provide boxing fans with a new option. We wanted to find out more so reached out to the team behind it. Thankfully they were more than happy to divulge a little more info ahead of launch.

We made a long-list of potential games for this Up Next, and it ran to thirty titles long. That’s no exaggeration: we had to kill our darlings and leave some awesome games off the table. That tells you something about the quality of games in this Up Next and of those Xbox games looking to release in September 2021. They’re good, they’re varied, and they’re coming for your wallet.

Remember when August was a quiet month for gaming? The summer holidays were a time to go outside, kick the football into your neighbours’ garden countless times and then you could get an ice cream for just 50p. Now though, August is as busy as all the other months; just this month we have had Psychonauts 2, Twelve Minutes, Hades and Lawn Mowing Simulator to name but a few. And with releases aplenty, you can expect some easy Gamerscore! Thankfully we are here to point you towards the easy achievements yet again for the games released on Xbox during the month of August.

If you’re wondering about what went down during Gamescom 2021, then rest assured that this episode of our weekly podcast should have all the interesting topics covered for you. That’s right, TheXboxHub Official Podcast Episode 94 is a Gamescom 2021 Special, which touches upon many different announcements, updates and reveals from the various presentations during the event. Get ready for a discussion regarding everything from Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5, to Marvel’s Midnight Suns and Saints Row, plus a whole lot more. 

The purpose of this article is to look back to one of my favourite fighting games of all time, Tekken 2. While at the time it was cutting edge, with more polygons on display than other games such as Battle Arena Toshinden, with the benefit of hindsight it’s a rough looking game these days.

There are plenty of reasons to play a video game, but one of the most undervalued is to relax. ISLANDERS definitely wants you to kick back. Developed by newbie studio GrizzlyGames, it’s a beautiful, serene little city-builder, where all of the usual pressures of the genre - resources, time limits, enemies - have been stripped out completely. You take your time, place your buildings, and keep playing until you or the game stops. It’s a fascinating model for a game, and we couldn’t wait to grab GrizzlyGames to talk about it.

In a year where digital events and showcases have ranged from pretty good to downright abysmal, how did Gamescom's Opening Night Live fare this year? And what should Xbox gamers be excited for?

Slowly but surely the Saints Row franchise began to take off. After a little struggle with the original game, all of Saints Row 2, Saints Row: The Third, and then Saints Row IV proved that there was much love and admiration for the Third Street Saints. But once you’ve given your players the chance to rule a city on an exploded planet, and then sent those same folk to Hell with Gat, where exactly do you go next with your franchise? Well, Deep Silver Volition are going back to the start again, with the announcement of a brand new tale in Saints Row. 

Why hasn’t the red carpet been rolled out now that F-Zero is well into its 30th year, with new games, fancy Joycon decals and reissues of older games? They did it for Link, right? The wait for a new game in the series is entering its fifteenth year. Whisper it, but it may well be that F-Zero is no longer an ongoing Nintendo property...

Bringing a game to Xbox, particularly one as console-unfriendly as a turn-based battler, will always be a challenge, so we approached Cookiebyte about how they managed it with Fort Triumph, as well as the joys of getting their game launched on our fair green shores.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was released exactly five years after its predecessor, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It built on the world set up in the previous game, whilst taking steps to evolve the gameplay further. Despite being a solid sequel, it didn’t quite manage to capture the imagination in the same way as Deus Ex: Human Revolution, despite being thoroughly enjoyable to play.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution was ahead of its time. It was near impossible not to be absorbed into the morally grey and at times dystopian future society, where technology had advanced so far its power was unrivalled. Ten years later and the game still impresses today.

With Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock Studios brought a new way to gather your friends and slay some zombies. Evolve took that formula and replaced the zombies with alien creatures. Now, TRS is at it again with Back 4 Blood. Returning to the world of the undead,  the open beta for Back 4 Blood has given us a glimpse of what we can expect when the game launches fully in October. 

While Gamescom 2021 is approaching swiftly, there are still matters to tend to before then including the hottest news and our thoughts regarding the newest gaming releases. You can expect TheXboxHub Official Podcast Episode 93 to cover the latest Pokémon presentation, the Call of Duty Vanguard trailer, rumours for Gamescom, and more. There’s also insight on The Vale: Shadow of the Crown, Twelve Minutes, Action Arcade Wrestling, plus a few other titles. So, relax and please enjoy our musings.