. Plays, 31st October, 2015

Tom Orry, Editor – Halo 5: Guardians, Xbox One

This is surprising, even to me, but I'm really enjoying Halo 5's multiplayer. I've focused mainly on Breakout and SWAT in Arena, but it's incredibly moreish. I'm not at the point where I look forward to playing it in the evening, having a couple of matches in each. I doubt I'll ever get properly good at Halo 5, but if I keep playing presumably I'll become competent. I'd be quite proud of myself if I became competent.

Dave Scammell, News Editor – Need For Speed, Xbox One

Hey, you seeing this, bro? That new Need For Speed is on EA Access and it is cray! Like, so cray you won't believe it, man! It's like you're there talking to these real people! One of them is a mechanic, dude, and she can hook you up with some sweet lookin' mods to make the rest of your crew jelly! And another guy, he feels like my brother, man. I met him in a club and we are tight!

And when you hit the streets, it's so sick you can almost feel your heart fall out your ass! Like, for real bro! And the best thing is, because we only race at night, there aren't many other cars on the streets - except the Hot Wheels trucks. Yo, those toys are sweet, dude!

So yeah, bro, you gotta check it out! It's like, totally dope and won't make you miss the simple pleasures of Criterion's Need For Speeds at all! Like, nope. Nada. Not one bit. Sick!

Jim Trinca, Apologist - Assassin's Creed Syndicate, PS4

I've been working through Assassin's Creed Syndicate, slowly and almost begrudgingly, out of a perverse sense of duty – I've played all the other games, and if I drop out now, I won't find out what happens. A back of a fag packet calculation tells me that quitting now would be a waste of at least 400 hours of my time playing the series so far. And there are so many questions still to answer. Will the templars win? Will the assassins? Will anyone win? What's even happening? Why can't I be a pirate any more? Why am I still doing this after so many years?