The Character Unlock Podcast

Here lies the final entry in the Character Unlock saga. Thanks for listening to our stupid brand of bullshit for the last five years.

Nothing to talk about but plenty to say? Sounds like another relatively successful episode to us.   John tried out the Battlefield beta, Lee continued his Wolfenstein binge and Brooker finally started Deathloop. All is right at Character Unlock Towers this week.

A full house this week, and there was a fully loaded and really good looking Playstation experience since the last episode.  So the boys go through the list of stuff shown and get super excited about a load of stuff shown. Then it's all about September's challenge game and what the boys have been playing.

John has hidden himself away for a week. So that just leaves Lee and Brooker to dissect the news for the last week or so and chat about the games they've been playing. From Hades (again!) to Dishonored (again!) to Raji and The Medium. The boys survived without John... Just about.

Because scheduling is a bitch and calendars are hard, enjoy the guys talking about the first hour of Gamescom 2021. As always, the boys have played games. As always, none of them played anything new! Except for The Swapper, Lee chose it, they all played it, 2013's Puzzle Platformer is August's challenge game.

With still very little going on in the game world, the summer drought is in full effect for releases and news, the boys decided to spend a bit of time chatting about some of their favourite video game bosses. Big ones, final ones, mini ones, you name it, we chat about them. As well as the usual run through whet the guys have been playing, it's a fun old week.

The boys have come together this week with a mutual hatred for John's choice of game for this month. As the boys dissect last week's EA Play event and the latest freebies from the big boys, they also get to chat a few games they've been playing. Come along, join us

It's been a quiet couple of weeks for the boys, but we still have stuff to talk about. Nickelodeon Brawlers, million dollar Mario games and genre mashups galore in this weeks recording.    

With a man down and an impressive lack of news, Lee and Brooker took advantage of being half done with the year to chat about their favourite games so far in 2021.   Wanna guess at what they picked?    Join Us

A long weekend is made even longer when E3 goes digital and goes on FOREVER! Come listen to the boys bitch about it.

With the summer's biggest gaming news festival just around the corner, everyone is getting their news out early and we've got a ton to talk about. New reveals from Horizon: Forbidden West; Dying Light 2; House of Ashes and Far Cry 6 have whet our appetite for the next year and we have loads to say. We played games, too. With a solid amount of time dedicated to Resident Evil and Mass Effect over the last week or so. Come join us.

With the remastered Mass Effect trilogy now out, two thirds of our hosts are balls deep into the Shepherd adventures. While another has been so busy celebrating cinemas opening that he played almost nothing. No prizes for guessing who is who in this. But come listen in to see if you're right.

Plenty of stuff to talk about this week. Sony fleecing devs, and trademarking xbox games. No one is playing Anthem any more and loads of games getting the High FPS treatment on XBox. Lee and Brooker are here to discuss, at length, the ups and downs of Housemarque's latest slice of Bullet Hell insanity. All three of us get into the myriad of games they've gotten into this last couple of weeks.   If you want to hear Lee and Brooker chat about the latest Mortal Kombat movie, tune into to Reel Talk (https://twitter.com/reeltalkwmt) next week.

Challenge week. The guys sat round to chat Double Kick Heroes and a load of time spent playing Outriders together. Coffee, entitled game directors and Sony flip-flopping are all on the menu in this episode.

What games really disappointed you in the last generation? That's the question Lee poses to the group in this latest episode as the guys chat about the games that annoyed them in the Xbox One/PS4 era. Outside of that, it's chatting about the delay-loop that Deathloop appears to be in, a digital E3 and Streets of Rage 4 DLC. All before we get to the list of stuff we've been playing.

It's monthly game challenge week. So the boys come together to talk about Brooker's choice for March, Call of the Sea. As well as Avengers DLC, Destiny, The Medium and the Square Enix presentation that announced a whole load of stuff. Come listen in, won't you?

It's March. There's nothing new out. The boys have pretty much given up and are sat playing the same stuff they've been playing all year. So, they shook it up. And instead of talking about the games they are playing, they spend a bit of time chatting about those games that you can go back to over and over again. Those games that you can jump on because you don't know what else to play, or you've got an hour to kill. Come join us.

A ton of stuff to get through this week. From New PSVR to GT7 delay, to Vampire The Masquerade woes and Sony games on PC. Oh, and apparently it's Pokemon day soon. Who knew? Along with that we played some games, and all suffered through Lee's choice of game for February

Who's down for a digital E3 this year? No? How about buying the source code off of someone that can't spell and uses the phrase "Epically Pwned"? Ok, then come listen to us talk shit about the games we've been playing over the last couple of weeks. Planet Coaster and Dead Cells join returning hits Cyberpunk 2077 and Hitman III as well as Dora The Explorer beatboxing! Intrigued?

Didn't even get a a full month into 2021 before the gaming industry did something to piss us off. From more Control Ultimate Edition nonsense to broken games and pants launches, it's a bumper week for the boys' anger. Join us...

It's 2021. And magically the world hasn't fixed itself and the apocalypse hasn't been halted. So we played some games. Lee has bashed through a handful of games and found a couple worth talking about while John and Brooker have sat more or less stale starting 2021 the way they ended 2020. Come listen in, why don't you?

As is tradition, the boys have got together for the last recording of the year to run down their favourites, and not so favourites, of the year. What did they love, what did they loathe, what are they up to in the next year? Come join us and find out

In the penultimate episode of the year, the boys are settled down into just killing time with the stuff that's just... installed on their consoles. Besides John picking up Cyberpunk 2077, it's been a couple of weeks of old favourites and finishing off long-running games that a re taking way too long. Chatting about the winners and losers of the Game Awards, issues with CDPR's latest tops off this weeks recording. Join us after Christmas as we close out the year with our favourites of the last 12 months.

"It'll be a short one" Lee said. Nope. From scalpers, to Spiderman. There's so much for the boys to chat about this episode. Everyone has a new shiny box, and everyone has games to play on them (and old games to watch load at lightning fast speed). Wanna join us as we talk about them?

Co-Op week took a turn this month as John's choice of sudden cult hit Among Us meant the three regular players suddenly became ten! Carnage, of course, was delivered. Come listen in on how it went, plus Lee's new Xbox, Bethesda games and Call of Duty having its winning streak busted.

And here we are, for the first time since the Character Unlock podcast came to be, we are about to see a new generation of consoles hit TV units, Shelves, desks, whatever around the world. So this episode, the boys left the normal nonsense at the door and have spent a couple of hours discussing the games that made this most recent generation for them. Some games are obvious, some are a bit out there, but every one is an excellent addition to any "games of the generation" list. Enjoy.

With a man down this week, Lee and Brooker chat about Shadow Warrior 2, this month's co-op game choice. While getting their teeth into Playstation's voice chat recording, Avengers delayed content and a decent amount of games played.

Once again the guys are say around their little camp fire discussing the new consoles that are yet to arrive. It seems that little bits of news are appearing now that some people are getting their industry supplied freebies, and the boys have stuff to say.   Elsewhere, Among Us, Hades, Avengers and Uncharted fill the last two weeks of games.

As the boys revisit and finish World War Z as their co-op session for September rolls around, now regular multiplayer matey Phil Bower pulls up a seat at Character Unlock Towers for a repeat visit. Everything from the last couple of weeks; Microsoft buying out Zenimax Studios, Xbox and playstation pre-orders and a couple of weeks of games from everyone gives us another bumper length episode. Come let us know what pre-order you have gone for this time around. https://twitter.com/CharacterUnlock/status/1309238527364866049

John has vacated his seat this week to go on a GILF caravanning holiday in Brecon. Meanwhile, our remaining hosts have invited Brooker's younger brother CJ to return to the pod to chat about all things Flight Simulator X, Graphics cards and spending money on PC building. We talk the new Xbox Series of consoles, the forced exclusivity of Nintendo games and balloting for pre-orders. Elsewhere it's Axiom Verge, Final Fantasy, Uncharted and Wolfenstein in the mix. Wanna hear more of CJ's stuff? Find him here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CJBrookesFM/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CJBrookesFM/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CJBrookesFM/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPtgmgRpcdCU8JlQ3mgjPYA

A little under four years ago, we started sharing our stupid brand of nonsense with the internet. It was an excuse to get together every couple of weeks and chat nonsense, and somehow we have hit 100 full episodes.   So, for our centenary, we decided to... Not change a thing. Bitching about the news, chatting about the games we've played and a little look back on the games we've recommended in the past, a great time was had by all.

It's a warm one this week. A feeling not helped by a lot of negative news in the video game world that affects the boys. But... It's also co-op week. Which means the lads have been playing together for a couple of days. Come see what Lee chose for them to play this month.

Welcome, once again to a fully loaded Character Unlock.   There was an Xbox Gamepass showcase last week. The boys are going to pick it apart; everything from the Halo Infinite showing to Fable to Medium and Grounded. Before Lee and Brooker chat a little bit about The Last of Us and Brooker puts together half a review on his experience with Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima.   Summer is here. And it's all go at CU Towers  

Following on from a mostly successful session in World War Z last month, the boys invited Phil (just Phil, no other names. Like Cher or Prince) to join them for John's co-op choice for July. A couple of sessions of Titanfall later, and here he is joining your regular three on this latest episode where we talk about the Ubisoft Forward event, the PS5 colour scheme and borrowing consoles from Lee. Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoy.

Welcome to the final part of our the Last of Us Part II Spoilercast. It's been an emotional ride to get here. The boys have proclaimed their love to everything TLOU and as sad as they were to finish the game, they were just as sad to finish this chat. Come listen to the conclusion of two complete fools drooling over The Last of Us   If you like what you hear from Paddy, find his stuff below: Let's Survive - Paddy Plays - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/letssurvivepaddyplays Let's Survive - Paddy Plays - Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/letssurvivepaddyplays Celtic Badger Media: https://www.youtube.com/celticbadgermedia The Perished: https://thehorrorcollective.com/films/the-perished/    

Welcome to part two of our the Last of Us Part II Spoilercast. Paddy and Brooker continue their in depth dissection of Naughty Dog's superbly bleak adventure game.   If you like what you hear from Paddy, find his stuff below: Let's Survive - Paddy Plays - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/letssurvivepaddyplays Let's Survive - Paddy Plays - Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/letssurvivepaddyplays Celtic Badger Media: https://www.youtube.com/celticbadgermedia The Perished: https://thehorrorcollective.com/films/the-perished/

Welcome to part one of our the Last of Us Part II Spoilercast. After tripping over himself avoiding spoilers on the last episode of Character Unlock, Brooker invited podcast guest and mate Paddy Murphy for what was supposed to be a couple of hours talking about the bleakest of survival games. Happily it became a marathon six hour conversation that we are now going to spread across three episodes. Come join us on this crazy, passionate and emotional ride.   If you like what you hear from Paddy, find his stuff below: Let's Survive - Paddy Plays - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/letssurvivepaddyplays Let's Survive - Paddy Plays - Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/letssurvivepaddyplays Celtic Badger Media: https://www.youtube.com/celticbadgermedia The Perished: https://thehorrorcollective.com/films/the-perished/

As we drag regular guest Lee back on and make him a part of the team, The lads have precious little to talk about in this episode. Worldwide pandemics are killing all the fun across the industry and there's precious little going on that isn't a delay! But it is all good. Plenty has been played and the guys, as they always do, will find a way to waste an hour and a bit of your day.

There really is nothing else really to talk about is there?  Sony revealed the Playstation 5 and that all the lads are talking about. Wanna know what we think? Come have a listen.

Welcome back. Yes, another bumper episode in store for our lovely listeners today. Bumper in as much as along with Lee Loveridge being our regular guest/co-host again, we have also invited the beautiful and talented Paddy Murphy to join us and talk Supermassive Games' Man of Medan. Everything from Dishonored to Bastion with a healthy dose of The Witcher somewhere in there too. It's another hour and a bit of the boys letting off a little steam and wondering just what the best pornhub search is. Intrigued? Join us. If you like what you hear from Paddy, find his stuff below: Let's Survive - Paddy Plays: https://www.youtube.com/letssurvivepaddyplays Celtic Badger Media: https://www.youtube.com/celticbadgermedia The Perished: https://thehorrorcollective.com/films/the-perished/  

And as the lockdown continues, so does our 2020 co-op challenge. Which means that once again, regular guest Lee Loveridge joins John and Brooker in chatting games this week. From the Xbox Series X "gameplay" showcase and the Ghosts of Tsushima event, to Worms and Rocket League together, it's a packed couple of hours this episode. Come, sit and Enjoy

With regular guest Lee joining the boys last minute for a video chat this week, Episode 92 is less of a focussed podcast and more of a two hour recording as the lads ramble on and on and on. Much discussion was had about past, present and future Assassin's Creed with the announcement of the viking flavoured next entry. Johns been playing with trains, Brooker has been playing with time and Lee has been playing... Everything. Join us in a couple of weeks for our latest co-op challenge exploits!

A bumper edition to keep you going during lockdown... Once again, Lee Loveridge joins the lads to talk about their latest co-op challenge game - Doom: Eternal's 3 player Battlemode. Elsewhere, Brooker is struggling to finish Doom, Lee is struggling to justify an Animal Crossing purchase and John is struggling to stay awake!

Quarantine may be getting to your usually delightful hosts this week. John has sunk hours into a game that ISN'T Football Manager and... AND... Brooker is singing AND playing games. What the hell is going on?

Yup. In the midst of a country-wide lockdown, the boys have still managed to get together and find stuff to talk about. Regular guest Lee Loveridge joins John and Brooker to chat about Left 4 Dead 2, the guys' latest entry on their 2020 co-op challenge. As well as talking about Ori and the Will of the Wisp, the Vanquish remaster, Doom Eternal and why money probably shouldn't ever be spent on the latest Assassin's Creed game! Will being cooped up in their houses drive the lads crazy? Were they already crazy? Why the hell are they singing Safety Dance?

Movies, movies, movies. Brooker has been away watching movies, but managed to squeeze in a cheeky 20 hours to play some XCom. While John got into Call of Duty's new Battle Royale mode and The Witcher.  

Once again we welcome our favourite co-op partner Lee Loveridge to the podcast to wax lyrical on his choice of CU Co-Op challenge game for the month of February. A good thing too, because the regulars haven't played anything. So come listen to the guys chat about Gunfire's Remnant and a whole host of other games as well as a surprise angry rant that DIDN'T come from Brooker. Join us...

Welcome to another short, sweet, and only half game filled episode of the podcast. At least we're slightly better at keeping on track this week and we get to the games a bit quicker. You know, after the Apple talk.

This is getting daft now. With little in the way to talk about news wise, the early part of this episode went around all the subjects imaginable.  From WWE Wrestling, to local concerts and loads in between. It doesn't get better when new of the log delayed Uncharted film sends one of the hosts off on a film rant! Still, there were games to talk about. Ashes Cricket, Rugby 20, Kakarot and What Remains of Edith Finch.

Happy new year! The boys are back this week to discuss the games they played over the Christmas period, the games that got delayed the second the new year rolled in and the first entry in their co-op challenge for 2020 Welcome back.

As we close out yet another year, it's time for our now traditional annual round up of our favourite and least favourite games of the year. But in a twist - that absolutely everybody else has jumped on board with - we are joined by regular guest Lee Loveridge to discuss our favourites of the decade and what we are up to in 2020. The next time you hear for us, it'll be the new decade.  Merry Christmas everybody!