Pixel Vision turns 50 with some earthshaking news, before Ben and Tao turn protector and carrier and take on the armies of Provence in A Plague Tale: Requiem, sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence. The duo take opposing views as they discuss the contradiction between a didactic story and fun gameplay; why all in-game villains have caricature evil voic…

Ben and Tao dive into A Plague Ta - oh wait, no they don’t, what’s been going on?! Content Warning: PEGI 3. There’s literally no content. WTAF. Clarifications: * Yeah, to be clear, nothing to see here. Audio extracts: * Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? composed by Matthew Strachan Find us at www.pixelvision.netTwitter: @pixelvizEmail: pixelvisionpodc…

Wake up, Citizen! Ben and Tao are in festive spirits as they dish out a Christmas feast of sci-fi turkey with roast story spoilers on the side and cranberry DLC toppings in dice rolling space adventure, Citizen Sleeper - to be clear, absolutely not a turkey, by any definition! Your boys riding the mic get lyrical, discussing the overlap between boa…

The big wheel keeps on turningOn a simple line, day by dayThe earth spins on its axisOne man struggle while another relaxes~ Massive Attack Ben and Tao are on a roll, fleeing the all flattening, deadening turn of the great wheel of time - or not time, just a massive, physics defying concrete cylinder crushing everything in its path for all eternity…

To explore what it means to be human, Ben and Tao play with a pussy - a personified cat with an AI drone sidekick - while befriending wannabe artistic bipedal robots in feline post-apocalyptic, post-Homo sapiens adventure tale, Stray. It’s not all highfalutin social commentary though, they do get to remote detonate mutant bacteria with a light gun …

Happy Halloween! Ben and Tao wallow in corporate servitude and debt until unionisation galvanises them to join the intergalactic picket line in zen, outer space deconstruction simulator, Hardspace Shipbreaker. In addition to the usual breakdown of the game’s story and gameplay mechanics, the duo get into gaming loops, micro objectives and puzzles, …

Ben and Tao tug and pull each other - not like that - as they swing from leaf to bough to frog to swan, in stringy suburban couch co-op pendulous puzzler, Unravel Two. The duo break down exactly what they’re looking for in a co-operative platformer and if this side scroller has all the right ingredients. Between comparisons to other co-op titles an…

In servitude to a higher power and with a mysterious brand to show for it, Ben and Tao dominate multiple characters (and creatures), fill their posse, and ride hard all over the weird west in Wild West twin stick shooter, action RPG, supernatural spin-off: Weird West. And that infantile summary is in no way representative of the content herein. Tum…

Ben and Tao think therefore they are, getting mindfully and consciously philosophical, in 2015’s subaquatic survival horror existential crisis cultivator, SOMA. The conversation gets as deep as the abyss, with topics covering euthanasia; the nature of human existence, consciousness and digital transcendence; different forms of horror - the horrifyi…

Penal denizens Ben and Tao lower their visors and enter the airlock, ready to race against time and depleting oxygen, evade security cameras, turrets and warbots, and massacre all manner of space monsters in the droll and aptly titled looter-shooter, Void Bastards. Issues discussed include Roguelike game lengths and replayability; procedural genera…

Ben and Tao get jiggy with gravity in colour coded cubic confounder, Manifold Garden. As they get lost explaining its abstract infinity and implausible geometry, they find a lack of boundaries just as thorny in the manifold garden as in Tao’s vegetable patch, they weed out bugs (and I’m not talking ladybirds), deconstruct the ratio of time played t…

Always Rebels at heart, Ben and Tao finally join the Alliance, drop some sweet lightsaber sweeps, get feely with the Force and kick some Empire ass while reviving the Fallen Jedi Order in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, colon included. Ben alienates Star Wars fans with a hybrid cow-horse metaphor mashup and a broad critique of recent incarnations of …

Danger lurks as Ben and Tao figure out not just how to get away with murder, but how to do it with aplomb, in Inkle’s inverted murder mystery whodunit - (we did!) - Overboard! As well as discussing the various solutions and outcomes of the tricksy puzzler, the pair discuss the innovative use of time, repetition as both an obstacle and invitation to…

Among the streets and sewers of Racoon City, Ben and Tao flee the relentless Nemesis, hunt an elusive vaccine, stop an unstoppable sociopath, and split up to look for survivors in Capcom’s riveting zombie horror remake, Resident Evil 3. They discuss the gimmick of the invulnerable enemy, the controversial redesign of classic characters for new gene…

Ben and Tao notch their bows, load their trebuchets, unsheath their swords (thankfully not a euphemism) and lay siege to their enemies in Microsoft’s docuseries revival of historical RTS, Age of Empires IV. The duo flashback to memories of Age of Empires 2 and the role of games in education, query the environmental ramifications of forced epic down…

Baggy trousers, hanging shirts, tentacles and Furry flirts! Ben and Tao reminisce about school days gone by after trying to get laid in supernatural dating sim, Monster Prom. The innuendo filled discussion bounces from hentai to bestiality, UK vs UK cultural touchstones to what constitutes critical acclaim, and a voiceless new contributor joins in …

The cybernetic pixel kids and their anarchic mate, Keanu, are dickin’ about in the hood, implants upgraded and optics on point to hack the system and collapse the corps, in CD Projekt RED’s Night City brain dance RPG, Cyberpunk 2077. Dissecting what might be the most sexually explicit and graphic game covered by Pixel Vision to date, Ben and Tao di…

The boys are back for their first episode of 2022, armour donned and dropping feet first into a guns blazing, heady and impassioned round of Team Doubles in Halo Infinite: Multiplayer. Except there are no Team Doubles in Halo Infinite’s multiplayer - but don’t worry, they cover that; that and everything from TTK to the Freemium Model, to the Mangle…

In this special, early Christmas Day release, Ben and Tao upload themselves into neural noir, cyber arthouse, psychological horror, Observer. As they detangle the convoluted murder mystery, Ben finds his inner Luddite, Tao imagines cyber-limbed, animal-spliced, Super Tao, and discussion veers into dangerous political territory, sordid subject matte…

Good morning, Blackreef! Captains Ben and Tao rack their brains, reignite their memories, and mow down endless Eternalists in Arkane Studios' cocksure first person shooter, Deathloop. The team talk character development, playing detective, stealth, Twitter, Tao’s reluctance to play scary games, oh, and a spot of incest. Story spoilers abound I’m af…

Ben and Tao step aboard a floating shanty town in the purgatory of Afterlife, meeting spirits and harvesting crops in 2D platformer farming sim, Spiritfarer. Ben is grumpier than usual, testing the question, ‘How bad tempered is too bad tempered to record a podcast?’ While Tao stoically hunts for redeeming game design features. It’s an admirable ef…

Ben and Tao prove their '90s credentials and try not to drop the ball as they get happy flappy paddle slappy in 2D micro-adventure, Yoku’s Island Express. They talk pinball, completionism, sound effects, map modes, and what makes a ‘phone game’ a ‘phone game’. There’s some nostalgia, some gentle and not so gentle mockery, and very minor story spoil…

Those renowned legends of the Frontier, Ben and Tao, plummet into the Apex Games, where they compete for small change, notoriety, and ideally, at least one victory as Apex Legends. But do they succeed? The chaps discuss running and gunning, the legacy of Titanfall 2, and the sinister viability of the freemium model. Tao regales us with his exploits…

Ben and Tao rock out with their Gods out adventuring through the beautiful, peacefully fraught open world of Breath of the Wild wannabe, Immortals Fenyx Rising (no colon). After introducing the pre-jingle jingle - a novel feature nobody asked for - they discuss what makes great comedy writing in games, the power of narration (reliable or otherwise)…

Ben and Tao ride the ferry to forever and back again, and again, in time-twisting, ghost story campfire-and-click, Oxenfree. The duo revisit teen angst, past selves and old features - etymology disco anyone (no, sadly, it’s not a thing), introduce new characters - who is Henri’s gran anyway?, coin new terms - (‘wadsy’, you heard it here first), and…

Ben and Tao sit down to overcome their differences through Dr Hakim’s therapy-with-a-difference in the maritally redemptive, cooperative 3D platforming genre mangler, It Takes Two. In a very grown up discussion, they chat relationship difficulties, target audiences, comparable cooperative games and the confusion of critical acclaim, the role of min…

Ben and Tao conceal their weapons and don disguises as they pit their wits and murderous imaginations against operatives of the shadowy organisation, Providence, in Hitman 3. They introduce an exciting new feature to the show...Housekeeping...Tao’s a fan. Long may it continue. The chat covers replayability, title menus, spectacle and spectating, re…

Ben and Tao take a deep dive into the awe-inspiring underworld of Subnautica: Below Zero. Is everything as it seems or is something fishy going on? Nah, it's as it seems, I just really wanted to use that pun. They talk breathtaking moments, the exciting and troubling possibilities of VR, the magic of sound design, vocal protagonists, photorealism, …

Ben and Tao gear up to destroy everything and take no prisoners in dieselpunk real time strategy (RTS) barn stormer, Iron Harvest 1920+. Ben goes on the attack while Tao rallies to defend as they discuss RTS versus base-building, retro-futurism, parallel histories and the rising [insertgenre]punk trend, destructible environments, micro-squad manage…

Ben and Tao take a walk on the wild side in Lost meets The Descent survival game mash-up, The Forest. The duo share their adventures in the deep and discuss inventory management, save mechanisms, enemy AI, slaughtering animals, big breasted naked mutants and getting wood. The latter is not connected to any of the former. Promise. Major story spoile…

All aboard for the rogue-like deck-building card game sensation, Monster Train - a relatively new entrant to the genre, but already super popular. Ben and Tao plumb the depths of hell to see if it really deserves all its accolades, while admitting to differing degrees of n00bdom. Under scrutiny is the rise of the digital card game, the barrier to e…

Even more breathlessly than usual, Ben and Tao discuss the (quite literal) ups and downs of fast-paced parkour slasher, Ghostrunner. They get competitive in stat-chat to see whose reflexes aren’t quite holding up with age, discuss the increasing trend towards masochistic games and the Crash Bandicoot dilemma, and whether autosaves are the differenc…

Finally out of exile, Ben and Tao visit the resort of island 24 for a spot of light holiday crime solving in the surrealist fantasy mystery puzzler, Paradise Killer. Cocktails in hand and against a backdrop of sexy synths and sunsets, the duo talk kinks and dating sims, Vimto and Diogenes, and when it’s simply not cool to accuse your friends. Major…

Fresh from the saloon with dusty wide-brimmed hats a-tilt against the scorch of the midday sun, Ben and Tao turn gun-slingin’, knife-flingin’ cowboys and massacre their way across the Wild West in pursuit of vengeance in the paradoxically stealthy, real-time tactics showdown: Desperados 3. Topics include: when it’s ok to cliché, bad parenting, char…

New Year is off with a flash and a bang and not just on Capitol Hill as Ben and Tao get down to some rigorous rib-ripping, head-lopping and eye-popping demon slaying to save Earth from the ravages of Hell in first person shooter, Doom Eternal. Tao flexes his thumb muscle dominance, Ben finally uses the platform to bang on about time-to-kill (TTK), …

In this special Christmas bonus episode, Ben and Tao give Royal Mail a run for their money as post-apocalyptic couriers, stacked high with teetering packages but ready to deliver by road, zipline or exoskeleton in Death Stranding. Ben grills Tao on exactly what he found to enjoy in Hideo Kojima’s post-Stranding USA (or UCA as it’s called in-game: T…

A road trip through the Deep South finds Ben and Tao soaring among the clouds and scouring the deepest mines on route to deliver a prize antique in surrealist point-and-click-and-choose-your-own-adventure-kinda, Kentucky Route Zero. From poetry and music to humanity’s impending obsolescence and the nature of, as Tao likes to say, voracious capitali…

Our two adventurers set sail through the Deadfire archipelago, hot on the heels of the keep-stomping, giant-stealing, adra-devouring God, Eothas, in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. But with Ben playing as impatient neutral and Tao as dignified evil, can they get along? They spill secrets of their raunchy (on-screen) romances, question the rising t…

Drawing on divine favour and Godly boons, Ben and Tao are seduced by Aphrodite, hastened by Hermes and emboldened by Ares as they push the boundaries of daddy’s discipline in tongue-and-cheek roguelite, Hades. The two dissect the ‘roguelike’ genre, Tao finally finishes the game (not once, but twice!), and Ben reveals why his attitude towards this i…

Like ghosts in flying space balls, floating laptops and archaic CCTV, Ben and Tao go full Wheatley, buddying up with Dr Emma Fisher to solve the mysteries of low orbital space station, Observation, and its wonky AI, SAM. The pair ask where all the decent AI games are and tease apart scifi’s genre trope of ‘space gloop’, before Tao goes full Sigmund…

Equipped with space suits, backpacks and their trusty terrain tools, Ben and Tao shuttle between stars and planets while sucking up every available resource in space industry sandbox, Astroneer. The duo ponder the contrast between procedurally generated sandboxes and narrative driven adventures, the importance of tutorials, creation versus consumpt…

Arrr, me hearties! Step aboard as Ben and Tao turn insurance sleuth to investigate the mystifying, mysterious mystery of her not-so-good ship, The Obra Dinn. On the Orlop Deck they enlist the help of the Bosun (or is it Boatswain?) and his Mate (or Steward?) to decipher all the nautical jargon (or is it lingo?); they offer competing high brow refer…

Ben and Tao don their tricornes, unsheath their long swords and spare no prisoners as they ravage the virgin lands of Teer Fradee in colonialist RPG epic, Greedfall. Tao takes issue with the representation of race and colonialism, while Ben takes umbrage with just about everything else. Despite the theme, diplomacy goes out the window and harsh tru…

Fresh off the Hotline, directors Ben and Tao uncover the mysteries of the Oldest House and resist the Hiss, all while clearing out a serious Mold infection in Remedy’s third person shooter, Control. (Yes, Ben does take Issue with the Lazy Naming Convention of all those Proper Nouns.) Subjects include why gaming tropes are so persistent, the power o…

Ben and Tao big up and break down space exploration puzzler, Outer Wilds, while coming a bit unstuck on life, the universe and everything. They consider whether binge gaming is detrimental to enjoyment, what point open world game design becomes too open (if ever), and somehow, weirdly, the Fermi Paradox. This episode features a cameo from PhD physi…

Ben and Tao eventually navigate their way past the podcast intro to explore the tundra and blisteringly cold wilds of Victorian era, steam punk city builder, Frostpunk. They dissect the differences between real time strategy and city-builder genres, argue the merits of employing child labour, debate the importance of replayability and ponder the pi…

Ben and Tao climb out of their vent to revel in nostalgia and relive the glory of 1998 first person shooter, Half-Life, as they talk through the newly released Valve endorsed fan remake, Black Mesa. They whip out their (non-existent) PhDs, lament loading screens, rave about the longevity of really great graphics, analyse the value of remakes, and m…

Ben and Tao arrive in character (and with a new microphone!) to confront their demons and run through the cheerfully derivative action RPG/ Diablo-rip-off-hack-and-slash, Wolcen Lords of Mayhem. The duo chat about inexperienced devs, lag spikes and game breaking bugs, gender stereotyping, coop multiplayer, why feeling like a bad ass has limited app…

Shinobis Ben and Tao give Japanese a whirl, lament the naming conventions of video game franchising, and discuss the virtues or not of Souls-like-samurai-boss-brawler Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The conversation swings from Dark Souls and the genre it spawned, to controller defaults and remapping, skill versus luck, gaming versus musicianship, godli…

The podcast gets a name. Ben and Tao run through the ups and downs of moderating a 90s era cyber space in the sci-fi web simulator, Hypnospace Outlaw. Topics include the early internet, nostalgia, when puzzles become too puzzling, minigames, microtransactions and pseudo-currencies, music genres, and the limits of satire. Spoilers from half way thro…