. Plays July 18, 2014

Simon Miller, Editor-In-Chief - Battlefield 4: Dragon's Teeth, Xbox One

A confession for the masses: I have never played a Battlefield game. I toyed around with the single-player in Battlefield: Bad Company for a while, but by and large it's been a franchise that's escaped me.

So, simply because I could, I thought I'd sit down with the latest DLC for Battlefield 4, Dragon's Teeth, mostly to see how I'd react to being thrown into a game I'd never experienced. Unsurprisingly, it was horrific.

Much like Call of Duty, entering an arena such as the one DICE has created with no prior knowledge is excruciatingly hard. Seasoned veterans dominate the map meaning it's a case of die, spawn, repeat. I realise I'm to blame, and it doesn't take a genius to understand the brilliance of Battlefield, but the hours you must need to even start being competitive must be the equivalent to getting a part-time job.

It's a harsh playground for the uninitiated.

Brett Phipps, Staff Writer - Destiny Beta, PS4

I’ve written a few bits on the site about the Destiny beta, and also had a chat with the lovely Jim Trinca about it, but didn’t get the chance to talk about how I completely trolled my first multiplayer match.

I briefly mentioned the overpowered vehicles in my feature, but didn’t note that the opposing players got so pissed off with my killstreak that one came close to ending the match for all of us. I’m not one to brag about my performance online - life is too short - but when you’re playing against what look like barely pubescent YouTube hopefuls, it feels incredibly sweet.

I love what I’ve seen of Destiny thus far, and if it can continue to aid me in ruining young YouTuber’s days, it could quickly become my game of 2014.

Tom Orry, Editorial Director - Need for Speed Rivals, PS4

In the days leading up to the Destiny Beta I messed around a bit with EA's Need for Speed Rivals. It's a solid looking game on PS4, but I wasn't quite expecting it to be so heavily geared around playing with friends. While previous entries have definitely pushed the competitive angle through the series' Autolog feature, there doesn't seem to be much of a game in Rivals unless you're doing things with friends.

When playing alone it's as if you're just mopping up side objectives, the kind you'd normally do to 100% complete a game after you'd finished the core experience. It's fun, but it's not the kind of game I want to be playing.

Dave Scammell, News Editor – Kerbal Space Program, PC

Something incredible has happened to Deputy Burns over the last few days: he's discovered something in life that makes him happy that isn't PES, Manchester United or his dog. And while I haven't been playing it myself, watching Burns play Kerbal Space Program has been the highlight of my gaming week.

The childish look of excitement on his face as he prepares his Kerbals for lift off and the dread as they start burning up on re-entry, parading around the office with the latest update on his mission to space... I've never seen him enjoy a video game as much as this in all the time I've known him, even if he is a little more astronut than astronaut.