In just a few months, the PS+ program will be receiving a much-anticipated overhaul. As far as one can tell, for now, the $10 Plus subscription tier will exist as it always has as the “Essential” tier; similar things were said about keeping Xbox Live Gold alive and it’s clearly been given the cold shoulder for a while now. Then, the other new prestige tiers come into the picture. The middle-of-the-road “Extra” level obviously includes all the benefits of the baseline service, but also grants access to 400 PS4 and PS5 games to be freely downloaded. Then, the “Premium” subscription level unlocks 340 legacy PS-to-PS3 titles, cloud streaming of select PS4 and below games on PS4/5 consoles and PC, and time-limited game trails. Extra will be $14.99/month or $99.99 yearly, while Premium will be $17.99/month or $119.99 yearly.

It’s a big shift that obviously aims to directly compete with Xbox’s Game Pass in some capacity – the $15 tier lacks certain features to offer a direct comparison, while the $18 tier does a few extra things to earn the higher price tag – and I’m sure it leaves subscribers with feelings of both excitement and anxiety. The question remains: will PlayStation keep up the quality of their baseline service’s offerings for those who choose to stay at that tier? Well, if the answer lies in April’s PS+ free offerings, there’s reason to be nervous. An admittedly charming remaster of a classic franchise tie-in platformer, an aggressively poorly-received free-to-play action title, and a niche deckbuilding fantasy game doesn’t instill confidence that they’ll be upholding the base tier’s substance. But, maybe they’re holding the good stuff in the reserves for once the new PS+ framework kicks into gear.

PS5

Hood: Outlaws and Legends

With the likes of Assassin’s Creed, Thief, and other medieval stealth games being around, the absence of a good, dedicated Robin Hood game makes a lot of sense. If someone wants a theft or bow-‘n-arrow simulator, they’re able to scratch that itch in those games alongside their added storytelling differences, covering most of the simulator bases outside of embodying the actual folklore character himself.  At this point, direct comparisons would even be drawn if someone attempted a traditional third-person style of game featuring Robin Hood.

Perhaps those reasons are why Hood: Outlaws and Legends veers away from the norm. Instead of a traditional adventure game that’d essentially adapt one of the many movies about Robin Hood’s fall and rise with the Merry Men, this game from Sumo NewCastle takes an even more straightforward, purely action-based approach by pitting “Hood” and his merry team against rival thieves in a stealth-based race to steal the Sheriff’s key, raid a vault for riches before the others, and escape with the loot. In theory, this kind of light, pick-up-and-go online title that merely uses the familiar characters for a dose of flavor could work, but both critics and players alike have struggled with its shallowness, clunky controls, and monotonous mission design.

PS4

Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated

Back in 2003, Battle for Bikini Bottom suffered the fate of countless tie-in games like it, where a subpar critical reception really didn’t matter to both young and old audiences who just wanted to enjoy the characters in a videogame format.  More than that, it’s also an original story in the Spongebob world and most of the original cast voiced the characters, so fans will inherently play and at least partly enjoy the story of Plankton’s robot invasion of Bikini Bottom. Over the years, the game’s level design and attitude has invited a new outlook, and the combo of Spongebob’s fanbase and that the game has built popularity among the speedrun community – I know, right? — has given it unexpected longevity.

Is that enough to earn a remastering? The folks at Purple Lamp Studios certainly think so, and it seems as if they knew what to do to craft a satisfying “Rehydrated” version of a PS2-era title. They’ve preserved the original creative intentions and re-recorded the dialogue – the original recordings are also available; no, the missing cast members from the original didn’t come back – and they’ve specifically mirrored the feel of the controls and gravity for an authentic reconstruction with an audiovisual facelift. This will inherently make the title feel like it’s a family-friendly adventure game from the early 2000s, but it also works in overdrive to satisfy the nostalgic and the speedrunners out there.

Slay the Spire

It’s tough to strike a proper balance between the strategy, selection, and in-action combat of deck-building videogames: titles typically of the fantasy variety that incorporate a deck of “cards” as strategic special abilities to use during turn-based combat. Too much focus on the player collecting, refining, and implementing these cards could result in a decrease of momentum in the combat, whereas too little collaboration with the cards might make them feel like an unnecessary step in what’s otherwise a standard turn-based battle system.

Slay the Spire works really hard to make sure that all those elements coexist with one another for a complete, absorbing gaming experience, taking the expected but welcome paths of making it a randomized roguelike dungeon crawler. After selecting one of 4 characters, the player progresses through the spires of a castle and randomly encounters various creatures with a range of strengths of weaknesses, which the player exploits by choosing what types of attack, defense, and special ability cards to use on a turn by turn basis. Both critics and players have heaped praise upon Slay the Spire’s execution of the tricky concept in videogame form, remarking on its sneaky addictive properties despite the inherent sameness of battles and progression.

April’s PS+ Freebies Sneak, Speedrun Through Month In Leadup to June’s Big Changes

To say that February’s a big month for video games would be an understatement, so it stands to reason that gaming subscription services like PS+ would keep from including high-profile free games in their monthly offerings since they’ll likely get overlooked anyway. All points considered, however, this still ends up being a pretty brave month in terms of what they’re offering and an inability to offer them later, from a noteworthy recent sports title – one that’s essentially locked into being a freebie on the competition’s service — to the precursor-slash-inspiration game behind one of the larger titles to be released in March. Let’s take a closer look at what’s in store, but before doing so, remember to head over and Grab a 1-Year Subscription to PlayStation Plus at Amazon.

PS5

Planet Coaster: Console Edition

Despite having the name “coaster” in the game’s title, Planet Coaster shares just as much in common with the classic SimCity games of yesteryear as the outlandish ride creation game Rollercoaster Tycoon. While this game does allow for the player to cook up elaborate, chaotic coasters, there’s an entire other side of this management and creation sim that’s far more laid-back, relaxing, and therapeutic in tone, found in how the player designs their ideal theme part to accommodate for guests. In Planet Coaster, the player can really invest themselves in the minutiae of the park’s aesthetics, from the color of booths and types of light sources for ambience to the placement of benches, bathrooms, and garbage cans.

Sure, there’s also aspects of this in Rollercoaster Tycoon, but it’s hard to ignore how the semi-realistic 3D graphics of Planet Coaster lend themselves to being incredibly enjoyable through the lens of someone who’s lovingly crafting their ideal theme park. The general tone of Rollercoaster Tycoon comes across as keeping guests satisfied enough so they’ll stay engaged with the outlandish coasters being created, whereas Planet Coaster’s first priority seems to center on providing a satisfying amusement park atmosphere and then building the rides that “fit” said atmosphere, similarly to fitting bigger structures into a smaller developing city in SimCity. Obviously, the comparisons are tough to avoid as Planet Coaster has been labeled the unofficial successor of Rollercoaster Tycoon by both players and critics, and this Console Edition tries admirably to bring the mouse-and-keyboard intentions to the PS5 … with mixed results, in terms of control user-friendliness.

PS4

Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep

It’s a big deal when a piece of spinoff downloadable content for a base game makes the transition into being a standalone downloadable title, as was the case with Far Cry: Blood Dragon and Red Dead Redemption’s Undead Nightmare. But it’s an even bigger deal when the content’s so appealing and holds so much potential that the creators decide that the DLC isn’t enough, and it deserves further development into its own full-scale game. Saints Row IV is kinda-sorta an example of this, where a piece of fleshed-out DLC skipped the add-on phase and became its own thing. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands occupies yet another area, though: it’s a full-sized game that takes the concept of the spinoff DLC, a wild high-fantasy extrapolation from the looter shooter Borderlands, and develops it into a standalone campaign.

So, what’s it about Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep that makes it so appealing? For starters, it takes the general dungeon-crawling and loot-management joys of Borderlands and transforms them into something much more literally inspired by tabletop RPGs, as audience favorite character Tina get the Vault Hunters together to play “Bunkers and Badasses” – yes, Dungeons and Dragons – after the events of Borderlands 2, with her as the dungeon master. The perspective then shifts from the post-apocalyptic wasteland setting to a full-fledged fantasy realm, and you gain control of one of six premade characters that have modified, wacky weapons and abilities to confront a new roster of dark and whimsical baddies. With Tina as narrator and game master, Assault on Dragon’s Keep becomes a fantasy spin on Borderlands of which players couldn’t get enough, hence the coming full-sized game.

UFC 4

What started as a wacky, taboo cage-fighting event in the early ‘90s — probably orchestrated to capitalize on the popularity of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, as well as of Bloodsport and Kickboxer playing on cable all the time — has transformed into a highly authentic, skill-based combat sport. UFC stands as the legitimized face of mixed martial arts, where methods of essentially any hand-to-hand combat discipline are allowed in bouts so long as they follow within the sport’s carefully crafted loose ruleset, ranging from wild punching and kicking strikes to grueling wrestling and grappling. There’s still a “wild west” aspect to the matchups based on the range of disciplines, but between rules, weight classes, and the competitive tactics that consistently work in the octagon, UFC has moved almost entirely away from shock value and into the space of competitive sport.  Almost, as fighter personalities are still key.

Therefore, one shouldn’t go into the UFC games with the expectation that it’ll control like a traditional arcade fighting game, as it’s just as important to get the technical aspects of the sport right as it is to make the fights exhilarating to play. Past installments have struggled with this balance, but UFC 3 and now UFC 4 seem to have gotten much closer to the sweet spot, telegraphing the intense striking and grappling of the sport in a polished and entertaining package.  Critics are quick to point out that while UFC 4 tightens up the gameplay and delivers one of the better MMA games out there, it still leaves a lot of room for improvement, especially in the more technical submission and ground aspects of fights. Players, on the other hand, expressed their distaste for advertisements and copy-and-paste game design between UFC 3 and UFC 4 (not unlike Madden), knocking the franchise on the ground and in trouble.

February’s PS+ Free Titles: A Wonderland of Coasters and Badasses

Competition has greatly benefitted subscribers to Sony’s PS+ program, because the company’s desire to keep up the pace against the awkward tiers of Microsoft’s cluster of services led to a surprisingly robust and consistent 2021, full of both next-gen and current gen free downloadable games.  One would assume that so long as one studio maintains the status quo, the other likely will as well, and the start of 2022 seems to convey this as well.

Sony continues their streak of offering both a decent pair of titles for the legacy PS4 and at least one attention-grabbing title for the PS5, though there’s a little added spice this month: there are actually 2 PS5 titles here, one being a heavy hitter and another being a well-reviewed, badass action-fueled title. It’s not a groundbreaking month for the service or anything, but it does reinforce why the Plus subscription service remains a tremendous value for Sony’s customers.  Let’s take a gander at the titles, but before doing so, make sure to Grab a 1-Year Subscription to PlayStation Plus at Amazon.

PS5

Dirt 5

There was a time when Codemasters explored different genres with the games they developed, yet ever since they discovered exactly what works for them with the racing genre, they’ve become reliable industry leaders with a predictable calendar. That consists of the annual F1 title based on the corresponding year’s season, and … some kind of offroad/rally racer, usually alternating between GRID and DIRT. DIRT 5 marks the last title independently developed by Codemasters before their acquisition by Electronic Arts – cue cartoonishly ominous music here – and they make sure to do so with a bang by delivering one of the most refined iterations of the rally racer yet.

For the most part, DIRT 5 doesn’t try to deviate from the formula that works, telegraphing much of the same satisfying borderline-arcade racing action of previous entries in its most refined, graphically impressive state. Some new additions that come along with the jump to next-gen hardware include dynamic weather changing that inherently affects the gameplay, as well as impressively stable 60fps splitscreen compatibility for up to 4 players. There’s also a more story-focused, forward-moving career mode featuring the voice of Nolan North in the lead. Most critics and players have been kind to DIRT 5 and how the PS5 version exemplifies the franchise’s evolution, though players have also dinged it for wonky AI, gameplay that’s tilting too arcade-like, and online connectivity issues.

Deep Rock Galactic

Sometimes, just describing a game with a single sentence is enough to capture one’s attention. With Deep Rock Galactic, it’s this: “First-person shooter dwarves use lots of neat gadgets to blast their way through randomized caverns and alien foes, and you can do it with up to 3 other friends.” The combination of elements has such a wonderful flow to it. Dwarves? Already sold. Not enough games with dwarven playable characters.  First-person shooter gameplay? Even the staunchest of opponents to the genre has got to be mildly intrigued by how these things would fit together.  Procedurally generated caverns/landscapes? A surprise at every turn, and that’s not even taking the destructible aspects of the environments into account.  Aliens? Yup. And 4-player co-op? You have my axe.

Deep Rock Galactic marks the first outing for Danish developers Ghost Ship Games, though they’re also powered by partners Coffee Stain Studios, the folks also responsible for Goat Simulator.  Billed as “Minecraft meets Left 4 Dead”, the end result is a delightful blend of genres that hinges on class selection, progression and upgrading along the way, driven by the dwarves mostly just doing honest work of retrieving resources and gear while demolishing their way through colorfully rendered caverns. Both critics and players have noted that the premise does have some slight longevity issues once you’ve been in the caverns repeating tasks for a while, but otherwise it delivers on the concept in an exceedingly fun way that heavily encourages playing with friends (or matchmaking).

PS4

Persona 5: Strikers

 It’s difficult to imagine a more popular spinoff video game series than Persona, originating from the consistently appreciated JRPG series Shin Megami Tensei; the third installment in the series, Nocturne, was recently remastered to critical acclaim. Persona operates around a cluster of focal high-school aged students who utilize the power of “personas” – a real-world materialization of the individual’s psyche – to engage in combat against evil enemy types. Labeling them by genre isn’t very successful since all of the entries incorporate a little something new, though they generally involve turn-based combat scenarios and traditional dungeon crawling exploration.  And from those, there are other spinoffs: Persona 4 Arena delves into fighting game mechanics, while both Persona 3 and 5 have rhythm game modeled after their particular settings.

Persona 5: Strikers finds the series in the hands of Dynasty Warriors game-makers Omega Force, serving as a crossover event between the two franchises and, thus, employing a much more action-oriented gameplay style. A continuation of the Persona 5 narrative in a new gameplay space, the game latches onto the series’ classic role-playing aspects in combat and its vibrant almost-cartoonish visual style, but it also amps up the pacing through the more twitch-based action and dazzling chaos of Dynasty Warriors.  Much like the way the Yakuza series was received when it shifted from straight action to turn-based combat in Like a Dragon, both critics and players have praised the way Persona took a detour into direct action-RPG territory, though a lot of it simply roots in the reunion of the Phantom Thieves in any capacity.

PS+ Titles for January: Dirt, Strikers, SPACE DWARVES

Throughout the year, Sony seems to have viewed the release of the PS5 as a transition point for their PS+ program, ensuring that there has been a mixture of both a shiny new PS5 game and a unique pair of PS4 games with each month. The quality of the games has wavered, for sure, but when compared to the base subscription service of their competitor, they’ve sustained the reputation since the release of the new consoles.

December continues this, but in a clumsy fashion.  The two PS4 games are arguably more satisfying than other months, containing both a successful family-friendly action game and a layered action-RPG for the more intense gamers.  The PS5 title is … a portion of a game? A booster? It’s several things at once without being the full experience of the title it’s representing, ending 2021 on an awkward note for the Plus service. Let’s look closer at all the titles, but before doing so, be sure to head over and Grab a 1-Year PlayStation Plus subscription from Amazon.

PS5

Godfall: Challenger Edition

So, what exactly is the “Challenger Edition” of the action-RPG Godfall? After checking around a bit, you’ll discover that this version of Gearbox’s game offers a catch-me-up experience that drops the players into “endgame-level content”, and in turn powers up the player accordingly.  From there, the player engages in a trio of challenge modes that flex the maximum of what Gearbox wants to accomplish with their intense gameplay, where adept player characters – solo or in co-op groups with up to 2 others – can be customized and power through with what’s described as “looter slasher” game design. Essentially, the Challenger Edition jumps ahead of all the grinding and gets the player to the good stuff, then gives them lots of fun trials and tribulations with this newfound power.

What’s missing, however, is the entirety of the campaign of Godfall, which makes this a complicated inclusion for the PlayStation Plus program as its PS5 title. For those who are interested, the Challenger Edition can seamlessly integrate with the preexisting version of the base title, or the rest of the campaign can be purchased later as an add-on. That’s the thing, though: the base game itself simply doesn’t come with this iteration, and considering the state of the game itself – it received middling reviews from critics, harsher impressions from gamers, and can be purchased for $20 – it seems much wiser to include the whole package and spark some positive word of mouth and goodwill instead of providing additional hoops to gamers. The Challenger Edition is a budget title otherwise at $15.

PS4

LEGO DC Super-Villains

By now, most people – not just gamers, but people in general – know what to expect from one of the LEGO video games. While uncomplicated, the third-person action controls are merely there so players of all ages can gain control of toy iterations of their favorite characters, interact with a block-built versions of the worlds in which those characters live and work their way through exaggerated spins on their familiar stories (usually popular movies). Since their rise in popularity, however, there have been new movies made about the LEGO versions of the characters featuring unique stories, which has snowballed into unique games that don’t rely on those familiar stories to push them forward.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it does, but rarely are the games simply unfun to play … especially those from DC and Marvel wing of the work done by Traveller’s Tales.

LEGO DC Super-Villains takes all that to another level, allowing the player to create and customize their own super-villain who powers through levels and bumps into the familiar faces of the DC Rogues Gallery. Instead of getting involved with a “bad guy” plot, however, the villains are forced to take the place of the Justice League and fight against villains from a parallel universe: the Justice Syndicate (aka Crime Syndicate of America), evil counterparts of the Justice League characters from another Earth. As the story progresses, the player’s customized character develops their attributes and eventually gains access to superpowers, the most novel aspect of this LEGO title beyond the gameplay’s pillars of a wide roster of other playable characters, exaggerated environments, and vibrant sense of humor.

Mortal Shell

Sometimes, it can seem unfair to compare one game’s style to another or label it a clone, something that’s fairly common in the arena of third-person action-RPGs. Cold Symmetry doesn’t shy away from those comparisons, though, as they’re happy to prop Mortal Shell up as a “soulslike” game that’s heavily inspired by the Dark Souls franchise. Designed as a pint-sized indie version to scratch the itch in a period when there weren’t any other uncompromising, aesthetically and emotionally grim dungeon crawlers out there, it showcases many evident similarities to the design of the Souls franchise and many areas where they obviously tweaked aspects for specific effects.

Players gain control of an “empty shell” of a character who roams the landscape of a world in the aftermath of humanity’s collapse, and in that collapse they encounter the bodies of the fallen, who provide different shells that the player can occupy and embrace their skillsets. The environment looks and feels like an extension of those from the creations of FromSoftware: shadowed yet stunning, grim with glimmers of possibility, and full of obstacles. Through it, the player engages a layered, weighed third-person combat scheme and intuitive RPG skillsets, and it all gains even more respect when taking the studio’s small size into consideration.  Mortal Shell certainly isn’t perfect in the eyes of either critics or players, with some not seeing enough difference or longevity inside, but most view it as an admirable and engaging soulslike crawler.

December PS+ Freebies: Mortal Shell, LEGO DC … Part of Godfall?

Regardless of the shortage in consoles available to purchase, 2021 has been a terrific year for new video game titles. Be sure to hop over to Ben’s Bargain’s Holiday Software Gift Guide to see a brief rundown of some of the hits, which range from novel spins on open-world games and innovations in horror and sci-fi to several celebrated rejuvenations of franchises. There are three variables clogging up the last two months in the year, though, that’d understandably scare off other developers from dropping anything too big during the period: holiday shopping in an already complicated year, the approaching release of Halo in December, and of course Call of Duty.

Even with those things in mind, the months of November ad December shaped up into a diverse, packed stretch of remasters, unique new titles, and one delayed long enough to unfortunately “compete” with CoD in the same genre during November, resulting in a nice array of titles squeezed into the last months before the holidays that could end up being worthwhile gifts. Let’s take a closer look.

Call of Duty: Vanguard – November 5 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

It’s difficult to make heads or tails over whether the gaming community really feels positive or negative about a new Call of Duty title at release, as there’s always a hefty rush of impressions and opinions before and around the big date. Ultimately, this has all but stopped mattering, as the latest COD title works off the nonstop energy of its multiplayer fanbase who’ll continue to purchase the FPS juggernaut despite any iffy thoughts about the latest campaign’s tone and longevity or the multiplayer’s sameness. Despite this, the folks at Sledgehammer, Treyarch, and Infinity Ward – and Raven Software in a support role – have continued to deliver annual titles that utilize AAA polish and ambitions to keep the series immersive, versatile, and exhilarating for both campaign and online players.

Vanguard is the latest, in which the campaign takes the audience back to the World War II and shortly after, where special ops forces are tracking down the actors involved with “Project Phoenix” and a theoretical true successor to Hitler’s place in government. Alongside the interesting single-player narrative, the multiplayer hopes to shake things up with a new “Combat Pacing” function, which allows players to select the intensity, style, and team size for the upcoming match. So far, critics have received both those core aspects of Vanguard fairly well, though there seems to be some “been there, done that” attitudes towards those things and a stronger consensus that the Zombies mode is lacking this year.    

Order Call of Duty: Vanguard at Amazon

Jurassic World Evolution 2 – November 9 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Sequels to sim games have a different set of benchmarks to hit than other genres, and they also tend to have a bit more of a forgiving player base when it comes to delivering incrementally better versions instead of drastically new entries. While enhanced features and expanded options will always be celebrated, there’s also lots of satisfaction to be found in picking up a simulator and discovering that a lot of the gameplay aspects remain the same, kind of like having a bunch of brand-new tools and upcoming projects yet the same workbench and organization area to know where everything’s at. Jurassic World Evolution delivers on the concept of, essentially, a “dinosaur zoo simulator” with callbacks to the movies and books, but critics generally felt that the sim could use more depth.

Evolution 2 has the opportunity to improve upon its middlingly reviewed first entry by improving its big draws, by deepening the business and construction aspects and refining its dinosaur interactions. It hopes to do so by widening the workspace maps – relocated to the US for more landscape variety — and placing more unique demands upon the players, such as maintaining animal diets and catering to different visitor tastes.  Improvements in those areas seem less pertinent to game-makers Frontier Developments than enhancing the authenticity of the dinosaurs themselves, though, upping the species count to 75 and ensuring that their behaviors authentically intersect on a more frequent basis. Whether that’ll amount to enough to make Evolution 2 a worthwhile upgrade remains to be seen.

Order Jurassic World Evolution 2 at Amazon

Skyrim: Anniversary Edition – November 11 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

At this point, the multiple iterations of Skyrim across several consoles have transformed into a running joke – a meme, if you will. For the most part, all the re-releases have had their purpose for showing up when they did, from lateral ports to other consoles and virtual reality accessibility to new console upgrades that’d hopefully tide players over until Elder Scrolls 6 finally arrives. The mantra’s pretty simple, according to Bethesda’s studio head: so long as players are buying and enjoying Skyrim, they’ll keep finding ways of re-releasing and upgrading the celebrated open-world RPG. Thus, when the announcement came that the studio would release an “anniversary edition” of Skyrim designed for Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles, few if any people were surprised. So, what else could possibly be added?

In essence, the Anniversary Edition of Skyrim makes it easy for players to have an up-to-date version of the complete Special Edition game – including all official DLC — that’s also beefed up with a ton of small to moderate additions through Bethesda’s Creation Club, ranging from artifacts to activities and quests. This includes brand-new content released alongside the Anniversary Edition from the Creation Club, such as fishing, a simulator-ish survival mode, and new quests. The Anniversary Edition also touches up the visuals for next-gen consoles, though those on the Xbox Series X will likely see no appreciable difference over the already optimized version of the Special Edition. There’s a $20 digital upgrade options for those who already own the Special Edition, but there’s also a complete physical copy of the Anniversary Edition for $50.

Get ESV: Skyrim Anniversary Edition at Amazon

GTA: Definitive Trilogy – November 11 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; Switch; PC)

It’s hard to overstate how influential the sequence of Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas was to the video game landscape. GTA III brought together different aspects of free-roaming action and emergent gameplay into a singular experience, Vice City took that blueprint and gave it a distinct, violent attitude … and then San Andreas upped the attitude, narrative potency, and sheer volume and variety of things to do to such a degree that it almost felt like a simulation. The ability for players to do essentially whatever they wanted in a “sandbox”, to create whatever degree of chaos they wanted, became a blueprint for other games to follow that range from revolutionary and historical assassin sims to animated show tie-ins.   They’ve aged, but their legacy exists in the bones of countless modern titles.

One would naturally assume, then, that games with such a rich legacy would receive high-quality remasters, especially during a time when remasters are hotter than normal. The recently renamed Grove Street Games, previously known as War Drum Studios, the developers behind mobile ports of this same trilogy, have undertaken the challenge with this Definitive Edition, and they showed clear inspiration early on in how to approach the project. From what aspects to preserve full stop (such as the physics engine) to which aesthetics should be cleaned up and which ones should be amplified, it sounds like worthwhile promises. The execution, however, has been polarizing, due in large part to the underwhelming visuals and a lack of editing and refinement, alongside a hefty share of technical glitches.

Order GTA Trilogy: Definitive Edition at Amazon

Shin Megami Tensei V – November 12 (Switch)

It took a bit of time, but Atlus has really grasped one fact about their Shin Megami Tensei series: the fanbase still really, really likes the third entry, Nocturne. Even as the spinoff Persona series mounts in popularity and creates its own hot spinoffs – like the fighting-based Arena line – there remained plenty of enthusiasm behind the prospect of a remastered iteration of the PS2-era Nocturne, which was finally released to critical acclaim earlier this year. Aside from the rerelease, the enthusiasm has also spread into the development philosophies of the long-awaited fifth entry in the primary numbered Shin Megami Tensei series, where the vague but somewhat telling description of its “profound charm” has been laced into the new entry alongside the more objective demon-raising aspects of SMT IV.

As one would expect, players gain control of a high-school student who ropes a few buddies into a demon search through underground tunnels. Shortly after entering the tunnels, the player gets transported to an alternate reality version of Tokyo embroiled in a war between angels and demons, where the existence of the high-schooler – and his friends — soon becomes linked with that of a god-like being so that the students can get directly involved with the battle. From there, the signature turn-based combat system of the Shin Megami Tensei series and the frequently challenging nature of its battles take hold, supported by a choice-and-consequence system that’ll help dictate the sort of ending you’ll receive.  It’s a manifestation of much enthusiasm that’s currently exclusive to the Switch.

Halo: Infinite – December 8 (Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Xbox turns 20 this year, and it’s hard to argue with the assertion that the most popular … well, thing, period, to ever come out of Microsoft’s console would be their exhilarating sci-fi shooter series, Halo. The first confidently labeled itself “Combat Evolved” and the distinction didn’t feel unmerited, providing an engaging campaign and multiplayer experience that handily dethroned previous competitors such as GoldenEye, escalating the popularity of LAN parties and shaping the PvP landscape as it’s known today. Its sequels would refine the positive aspects of that experience, even when the campaign’s storytelling or brevity would wobble and waver across both Bungie and 343’s installments. After half of a decade away from regular installments, Master Chief has decided to jump back into action for the 20^th anniversary of Xbox in Halo: Infinite.

With the creative energy of former Bungie writer and cinematics director Joseph Staten as the project lead of the campaign, Halo: Infinite aspires to bring the series back to its original glory in the modern era, tying familiar aesthetics and plot devices into a new story of alien invasion and world repair. Players once again control Master Chief for the entirety of the game as they zip across the landscape of Zeta Halo, opening up the gameplay for free roaming and emergent battles while also sticking to a firm campaign with its sights sets on Cortana. The multiplayer also has its heart in the right place by focusing on familiar modes such as capture the flag and slayer, while also incorporating new powers and designs to spice up the formula. More than anything, though, folks who’ve played Halo: Infinite have reaffirmed the expected: the gunplay is outstanding, and should make either campaign or multiplayer a blast.

Order Halo: Infinite at Amazon

The end of year has a cluster of other interesting titles worth looking into, though one of them may or may not be Battlefield 2042, which has been getting dragged through the mud by the community and certainly is up against some hefty competition in the shooter genre through here. Just Dance 2022 (November 4) gets the party moving at the end of the year with a smattering of new songs and intricate choreography, while Football Manager 2022 (November 9) keeps the pace slow, familiar, yet addictive with its updated roster simulation gameplay. Similar to Far Cry: Blood Dragon, the Borderlands-themed DLC Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon’s Keep (November 9) has received a standalone release, while Frogwares has returned to the Sherlock Holmes for something of a prequel, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One (November 16), that focuses on the detective’s career in his early twenties. There’s also a space combat game called Chorus (December 3) worth keeping an eye on, as well as a futuristic platformer Solar Ash (December 2).

Notable Video Game Releases Closing Out 2021: Call of Duty, Halo, MOAR SKYRIM

At first glance, there may not seem like there’s much to the PS+ games made available for November, a month that’s bound to be hectic for any and all trying to get their hands on a PS5 for the holiday. An under-the-radar remaster, a deception party game, and a sports game centered on … dodgeball? Thing is, they all have underlying strengths that make them more than meets the eye, and while they may not push new subscriptions or anything, they’re bound to satisfy those hopping onto PlayStations and linking up with their subscription service in this pivotal, chaotic month. Plus, that number actually doubles to 6 this month for those who are into Sony’s VR system.

Let’s take a closer look at the titles, but before doing so, head over and Grab a 1-Year Subscription Card from Amazon to access the benefits.

PS5

Knockout City

In a way, some of the concepts of dodgeball exist in the early pieces of gaming’s DNA, where the likes of Pong and Breakout involve timing the player-controlled icon to “catch” a ball and send it back at a precise target. Games nowadays naturally require a little more oomph to hold interest than that, and when it comes to the actual schoolyard sport of dodgeball, it usually has to coexist with other aspects of a game like as a side activity in Rockstar’s Bully. Developers have picked up on how fun the concept can be in videogame for, however, and they’ve had some success in making dedicated games about it, from the story-based side-scrolling Dodgeball Academia to the hyper-futuristic hybridization of Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball.

None of them have really captured the sport of dodgeball in an objective, near-simulation fashion, though, and that’s where Knockout City comes in … sort of. Sure, the game takes place in a colorful, futuristic setting reminiscent of Fortnite or Splatoon instead of in gym class or a sports arena, it isn’t limited to the confines of a rectangular court, and one strike of the ball doesn’t mean you’re out.  That said, once the player gets involved with the multi-level battlegrounds and adjusts to the power-ups, there’s a fluidity to the gameplay in Knockout City that genuinely gets what playing dodgeball is about, and the rest of what’s going on – the power-ups, life bars, and quirky characters — comes across as the necessary expansions to the gameplay to give it variety and potential longevity.

PS4

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning

There’s a pretty odd and winding story behind the original development and release of Kingdoms of Amalur, involving a professional baseball player, incentives through the state of Rhode Island, shut-down and acquired studios and, ultimately, an MMORPG remodeled into a single-player experience. With a host of talent behind the world-building – R.A. Salvatore for the text lore, Todd McFarlane for the visuals – what was once an immensely ambitious project ended up being a better-than-average dungeon crawler with an impressive amount of character customization. Alas, against the likes of Dark Souls and Dragon’s Dogma, not to mention the rampant and enduring popularity of Skyrim, the remodeled fantasy game had to settle for being an alternative, the next in line for genre fans.

That’s a shame, because despite the obvious roots of its creation being visible in the finished game, Kingdoms of Amalur is actually quite enjoyable and layered as a hack-‘n-slash RPG, and it has built a niche following since its initial release. It’s strong enough for THQ Nordic to go back to the well and release the Re-Reckoning version for modern consoles, to perform a measured visual remaster while also including gameplay difficulty tweaks – including zone level recalculations and a “very hard” mode – and a compilation of all DLC. Fantasy RPGs have progressed a bit over the past decade and Kingdoms of Amalur doesn’t attempt to counterbalance this much, allowing its enjoyable aged leveling and customization systems to get the job done in the same way they fought to do so almost a decade ago.

First Class Trouble

Social deduction games have become popular over the past decade, escalating in popularity as the likes of Werewolf and Mafia were modified into variations within different settings, from WWII Germany with Secret Hitler and renaissance times with Love Letter to a dystopian future with The Resistance. However, it could be argued that the format has taken another dramatic jump in popularity with the introduction of Among Us, a like-minded game of deduction that uses various colored spacesuit meeples that are deemed “sus”(picious) or not in their effort to survive on a space station. Determined either by the crewmates completing tasks or the impostors killing off the crewmates before they can, it’s a way of bringing the social concept to a digital interface in a colorful, animated way.

In a way, First Class Trouble piggybacks off the success of Among Us and attempts to bring the social deduction concept back to a more “humanoid” and normal level. Even though it also takes place on an outer space station and some of the other players are murderous robots, it operates around customizable human-looking avatars who are observing the actions of other humans in the beautiful 3D space of a luxury space transport. Players vote on who’s suspicious or not and, of course, throw those on the wrong end of the vote out the airlock, and eventually winners are determined based off whether she ship’s AI maintains control of the transport or not. In theory, First Class Trouble is a smart way of executing a mature videogame version of the social deduction game; however, players have struggled with stability and repetitiveness issues on the PlayStation, so that’s worth keeping in mind.

PS VR

On top of those games, Sony has also made a trio of VR titles available for free download this month: The Persistence, a sci-fi survival horror game hinged on repairing a space colonization ship that’s been plagued by monstrous mutated humans; The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, another horror survival experience set in the popular zombie universe from the comics and show; and Until You Fall, a color and dynamic hybrid of laser sword-fighting and rhythm coordination. It’s worth noting that The Persistence actually has a non-VR mode as well, which essentially makes it a 4^th free general title for this month.

PS+ Games For November: Knockouts, Troubles, a Re-Reckoning

Last year’s hardware gift guide began with the somewhat obvious preface that 2020 was an incredibly different year in several ways, with the video game market both thriving and struggling with supply issues … and that was before the next generation of consoles were released before holiday shopping. Ideally, a year later, one would imagine that some of the issues might be smoothed out, and that this following holiday season would be primed for gift givers to get their loved ones caught up on the latest and most desirable in gaming. Alas, with the extended stay of the pandemic and its impacts on both the construction and distribution of electronics, it looks as if 2021 will be another year where folks will be frantically searching for the elusive next-generation consoles … and probably the other consoles, too.

Availability of those ever-so-desirable PS5s and Xbox Series X consoles will be in short, narrow windows where folks will need to be at the right place at the right time to get what they’re wanting to give. On top of that, it’ll be a bit tougher to “substitute” the newest systems with those of the current generation due to how many games simply perform more properly on the newer ones, even though heaps of great games still came out on them this year. At least Nintendo Switches shouldn’t be impossible to obtain this year, though it wouldn’t be unwise to go ahead and grab one of those while they’re available now.

Below, we’ve pieced together a bit of a guide to help point readers in the right directions during what will likely be yet another complicated holiday shopping season. Be sure to check out our Software Guide to figure out which games to gift.

For Fans of Marvel, God of War, and 4K UltraHD Superiority, Gift This.

In the early stages of this side-by-side console release, choosing between one or the other usually boiled down to brand loyalty, exclusives, and scrutinizing specks without much hands-on review impressions.  After a year of seeing how these consoles perform, the choices have expectedly become much easier and determined by less factors, with the PS5 having two easy and noteworthy positives in its column: it has a not-so-arguably superior slate of exclusive games, and it’s a reliable, above-par 4K playback device. Discussions about performance have become more practical: while there may be moments of stronger processing power on the Series X, both essentially play their big, shared games on about the same level, and that’s understandable since the two machines are incredibly similar under the hood.

When it comes to their library, the PS5 started things off on a strong note by having their exclusive Spider-Man: Miles Morales title ready at launch, an impression that’s continued at a low, consistent level over the past year. Deathloop, Ratchet and Clank, and the dazzling remakes of Final Fantasy VII and Demon’s Souls are currently only available on PlayStation consoles, and future titles like God of War Ragnarok, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Wolverine will continue their exclusivity on Sony’s hardware. After a brief digital hiccup at release that overclocked the brightness levels while watching movies, the PS5 has also very quietly taken the crown as the superior 4K UltraHD disc player, though that’s to be expected from the company that produces dedicates players.  While neither are top of the line in that arena, the PS5 has developed a reputation for being more stable and crisper through playback.

Check Price/Availability on Amazon Or Search Ben’s for PS5 Console Deals

For Those Who Value Nostalgia, Versatile Power, and Bethesda, Gift This.

Following the shaky release of the Xbox One, Microsoft has restructured their game plan to fill a void and satisfy users in ways neglected by their competitors: through easy backwards compatibility. While other systems choose to focus almost entirely on the latest and greatest, the folks at Xbox figured out that making older games and libraries available to play on their next-gen console wouldn’t so drastically impact the attention placed on new content, resulting in their effort to make 360 and even original Xbox games playable on the system through emulation. One of the most compelling parts of the Xbox Series X has been how one can essentially unplug all their old hardware from the Xbox One, plug it into the same slots on the Series X, and they’re good to go with continuing their gaming without much of hassle. Those games installed on an external HD? Easily playable on the Series X once the system recognizes it.

Here’s the thing: the Xbox Series X can also process games on a more advanced level, whether they’re new or classics. While new titles have been “Optimized for Xbox Series X” to take advantage of the full 4K graphical power coming from this machine, old-school games like Fallout 3 and Elder Scrolls: Morrowind have also been “Xbox One X Enhanced” with immense performance upgrades that make replaying them more than just a nostalgic rehash of joy, and effortlessly playable from either discs or external HDs. From storage and controller adaptability to downloading both old and new titles through the Xbox Game Pass subscription program, the experience in owning an Xbox Series X feels more diverse and accessible than the others … and the purchase of Fallout and Elder Scrolls gamemaker Bethesda Studios by Microsoft will have significant ramifications on the exclusivity of games to come.

Check Price/Availability on Amazon Or Search Ben’s for Xbox Series X Deals

For Those Who Love Portability, Family-Friendly Quality, and Zelda, Gift This.

Limited Edition Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch Console

Pros: Cute Colors, Kid-Room Appropriate, Semi-Available | Cons: Game Not Included MSRP: $299

Through the development and release of these new powerhouse systems, the Nintendo Switch has been content with being along for the ride, serving as both a primary gaming system for some folks and a secondary one for those who choose sides in the console wars. Sales were phenomenal in the previous year during the rise in popularity of Animal Crossing: New Horizons amid the pandemic, and the release of several games from Nintendo’s attention-grabbing franchises – Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Metroid Dread, and Mario Party – make the system equally or perhaps even more appealing this holiday season. Outside of issues where the screen gets scuffed in the dock and the motion controls have a brief lapse in connectivity, Nintendo’s hybridized system has proven to be a wildly successful experiment.

From among the primary video game systems of the latest generation and the one before it, the Switch will likely be the least difficult system to purchase this year. Currently, some models of Nintendo’s portable-home crossbred console can be purchased for mid-November delivery from Amazon, though the color selection is already limited.  Bear in mind that the Animal Crossing version of the Nintendo Switch console, which does seem to be floating in and out of stock currently at several locations, does not come with that game included: an easy mistake to make considering how it’s designed. Some colors of the Nintendo Switch Lite – the compact, portable-only version of the system that doesn’t hook up to the TV or use detachable motion controllers — also seem to be available in a few colors right now at the $199 price point.

Check Price/Availability on Amazon Or Search Ben’s for Switch Console Deals

So, Uh … Where Are They? A Guide of a Different Sort.

Normally, this is where the Holiday Video Game Hardware Guide explores different console bundles and other gift options, but 2021 is a unique year where a perfect storm of slowed manufacturing, supply-chain issues, and halted last-gen console production has resulted in a major shortage across the board. Awesome bundles of last-gen gaming systems thrown together with some of their most popular titles are nowhere to be found, nor are most of the creative and colorful skinned systems, and it’s a struggle to even find regular standalone consoles from the PS4 and Xbox One era.

This isn’t a year where walking into a place that sells video games and walking out with holiday shopping done will be a common occurrence; in fact, most will have to resort to strategizing with different stores and keeping an eagle eye on stock will be necessary. Here are some of the methods that people are using to keep track of in-stock status of certain systems:

Twitter. One of the quickest and most reliable methods to receive alerts will be through Twitter, as there are numerous accounts dedicated to stock updates: @PS5StockNews, @SwitchStockNews, @XboxStockAlerts and so on. It’s possible to continuously refresh the Twitter feed for updates, but signing up for an account and following them will allow you to receive real-time updates when new stock alerts are published, so one can hop online and grab a system before that dreaded gray “out of stock” button shows up once again.

Get Connected. Different brick-and mortal stores will also have certain programs available so that customers may luck out and get one of the restocked systems, though they all involve jumping through hoops. One of the consistent themes about nearly all of the options is that it pays to be a member of some fashion to one of the stores, as that will grant exclusive access either to early info about the drops … or straight-up access to the consoles themselves when they’re available.

• BestBuy has a new TotalTech program that costs subscribers $200/year, but it boasts access to in-demand electronics before non-subscribers, and it makes sense that PS5s and Series X consoles would apply. The TotalTech program also comes with product protection benefits, free delivery and installation of purchases, around-the-clock GeekSquad service, and extended return windows alongside the discount perks, so there’s plenty of other stuff that comes alongside the membership fee.
• Walmart also has a subscription service, Walmart+, that grants early access to deals for its customers, and that has applied to next-gen console availability. Pricing for the subscription is $13/month or right at $100 for a year, and it also comes with free store-to-home deliveries, gas discounts and free shipping for Walmart items regardless of price (normally orders over $35 ship free).
• Costco recently got a restock on console bundles as well, but obviously only for members. That bundle features the console, an extra controller, a premium headset, and subscription cards for PlayStation’s 2 services. Here’s the landing page for that PS5 bundle.
• NewEgg periodically restocks with their own custom bundle (usually an extra controller and/or an HD Camera), but it’s gated by a raffle system called NewEgg Shuffle. After signing up for a NewEgg account, customers can visit the Shuffle page or receive notifications to be entered into specific raffles, which are started once certain items hit the warehouse.  The landing page for that PS5 bundle can be found here.
• GameStop will be announcing when inventory will be available at select locations. Recently, they made a page available for a console “Bundle Event”, in which certain stores in and surrounding a half-dozen major cities would have custom bundles available on a given date at 8am. Bundles have also been available to purchase online, though the company’s PowerUp Rewards Pro Members — $14.99 for purchase discounts and trade/point benefits, or $19.99 if you want physical GameInformer magazines – have early access.

There’s no telling what the next few weeks leading up to Black Friday will have in store, whether little pockets of console stock will be unearthed and made available to the general public, or not. Until then, it’s the kind of year where one can only wish shoppers the best of luck in tracking down and rushing home with their treasures.

For Those Who Have Their System Situation Under Control, Gift This.

Pictured: Xbox’s Limited Controller in Aqua Shift

The one semi-benefit to there being a console shortage is that gift givers will likely have an easier time picking up the extra items for a given system, and just about every gamer will tell you that a new controller is a welcome sight. Also, with this being a year into the console’s life cycle, some new color options have been debut. While Sony has cranked out Midnight Black and Cosmic Red variants of their stock white controller, the folks at Xbox have predictably made more headway with numerous color variants that are compatible with the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X. That includes a snazzy Aqua Shift blue ombre controller that was released in August.

If none of the stock options will suit a specific person’s personality and they’re on the Xbox, there’s the Xbox Design Lab, which reopened for business in July of this year.

Click Here to Visit Xbox’s Revamped Design Lab

For Online Players and Freebie/Deal Hunters, Gift These.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate / PS+ Subscriptions

Game Pass Ultimate 3-Month on Amazon PS+ 12 Month on Amazon

Each yeah, there’s a little bit of uncertainty when discussing the future of the main console subscription services, as to what they’ll look like in the near future and whether card purchases are still viable.  Regardless of the answer, the recommendation hasn’t really changed … until this year. While folks on Sony consoles will still be content with picking up year subscriptions to PlayStation Plus, those on the Xbox side of things may want to consider a shift, or perhaps more accurately an upgrade. This also opens a prime opportunity for a quality gift as well, one that’s essentially worth what the receiver decides to squeeze out of it.

Instead of loading up on yet another 12 Month subscription of the baseline Xbox Live service, folks will want to take a close look at the value of the Game Pass Ultimate program. Over the past year, the benefits of subscribing to just that program have dwindled: online play remains a must, but the Games With Gold freebies and associated discounts at the Xbox Store haven’t been as worthwhile. While the Game Pass Ultimate subscription is notably more expensive — $15/month as opposed to $10/month for Live; card discount prices not taken into account – it also opens the door for subscribers to download a huge amount of current, quality games and have access to the same Games With Gold benefits. There’s a Game Pass Only subscription for $10/month as well, but the online play might be integral to the subscription decision and the combo rate is preferable. Cards only come in 3-month increments though, for now.

For Tabletop and Tech Enthusiasts, As Well As For The Fam, Gift This.

Arcade 1UP’s Infinity Table

Pros: Movable, Pause Games, Apps Added; Cons: Light on Game Quantity | MSRP: $699/899

Over the past 4-5 years, Arcade1UP has been gradually building a reputation for its brand, delivering affordable yet high-quality duplications of arcade game cabinets at roughly ¾ scale. Many attempts have been made to do similar emulations and failed to fully capture the retro spirit, so it’s a noteworthy accomplishment for this company to survive the scrutiny of nostalgic gamers and become known as a reliable source of decent hardware. After moving to slightly unique products with their pinball machine and reshaped “counter-cade” cabinet for bar tops, Arcade1UP now moves into another more innovative stage of their product line with the Infinity Table.

What began as a Kickstarter campaign last year has moved into general availability, with two sizes of table displays currently available: 24” at $699, and 32” at $899. The Infinity Table essentially functions like a giant touchscreen tablet that exclusively boots up old-school board games and family-friendly activities.  For some, that might downplay the uniqueness of the product; for others, the concept of a “giant game tablet” will effortlessly draw their attention. Nearly 50 different applications are available as of this writing, including licensed games that range from Monopoly and Scrabble to the outstanding strategy game Pandemic. The availability for new titles to be loaded into its library makes it very appealing, especially if they keep up the momentum by licensing more quality board games.

Click For the 24″ Model on Amazon Click For the 32″ Model on Amazon

2021 Gift Guide: Video Game Hardware and Accessories

One of the somewhat cruel and unusual things about 2021 is that while it’s been incredibly difficult to obtain video game systems, notably the backwards-compatible Xbox Series X and the PS5, this has also been a particularly fantastic year for new video game releases.  While there are some exceptions, for the most part this quality stems from studios revisiting longstanding franchises for either sequels or conscientious remasters, which results in a slate of new titles that almost comes across like comfort food. From Samus and Ratchet to Commander Shepard and Link, there’s a lot of familiar territory this year.

The familiarity also comes about in surprising ways, though. An unofficial, spiritual sequel to a popular franchise stumbled into the gaming arena, while another horror series borrowed generously from one of its older, most popular installments in creation of a very overt callback game. And then, a studio answers the impassioned requests of fans for a sequel to a decade-and-a-half old property.  What’s remarkable is that barring a few expected quibbles with modern-era glitches or perhaps some features that could’ve been beefed up or done better, the wide spectrum of games have all received rampant acclaim, to a degree where it was tough leaving off games from this list instead of finding stuff to add.

Below, you’ll find a list of over a dozen video games worth giving for the holiday season, with links to each game’s page on Amazon to make purchasing easy. Be sure to pay attention to the system format for the game this year, though, as the visual differences between Xbox and PlayStation games of different console types can be somewhat minimal. You’ll know a Switch game when you see it.

For the Open World Lover With an Open Mind

Following a period where it seemed like every big game had to be a sandbox time-sink as a prerequisite, it seems like that demand for everything open-world seems to have hit a decline.  If a game has an open aspect, now it’s usually in service of novel gameplay or quirky personality to justify it. Below are a pair of games that actually make the player want to continue exploring the nooks and crannies of the world they’re in.

No More Heroes 3

• After nearly a decade away from the series proper, Travis Touchdown returns from the middling success of a spinoff title for No More Heroes 3. With this return, the series also reintroduces several popular aspects from previous titles, notably a more open world for exploration.
• No More Heroes 3 takes place two years after the spinoff game and takes the action to a grander scale, pitting Travis Touchdown against invading aliens who have established a new tier of assassins to eliminate and drawing him back to the fictional California city of Santa Destroy.
• Travis must earn enough money to move up the ladder of assassins, and he does so by traveling across 5 distinct islands completing side tasks and grinding, utilizing his “beam katana” and wrestling repertoire to get him through the brisk, amusing third-person combat scenarios and pop-culture references.

Click to Order on Amazon

Hitman 3

• IO Interactive has poured a lot of energy into making the rejuvenated Hitman franchise a satisfying mix of old-school stealth pleasures and modern polish and open-world freedom, and they’ve reached a pinnacle with Hitman 3, opting for fan-pleasing refinement over rocking the boat with changes.
• The story follows Agent 47 as he flips allegiances and works to take down Providence, a cabal of powerful political and industrial forces pulling strings from the shadows.  Expect lots of big twists and turns, which is where most of the risk-taking for the game takes place.
• While the plot makes significant moves of the espionage variety, the freedom of the gameplay and its willingness to not take itself too seriously lets Hitman 3 feel like familiar territory, allowing for a wide variety of ways to complete missions and create chaos if desired.

Click to Order on Amazon

For the Patient Gamer Awaiting the Return of Fan-Fave Franchises

It’s impressive to see the longevity and staying power of video game characters and settings, as we’ve reached a point in the culture where a property can lie dormant for a decade or two – or three! – and come back with a vengeance if there’s enough passion and demand. All three of these properties have undeniable fanbases behind them, and the resurgence of two of them isn’t exactly unexpected. However, the fact that the first game on this list exists at all is a marvel, a delightful fruition of fan requests stemming from an initial game that, while it’s built a cult following since release, didn’t sell well.

Psychonauts 2

• A devoted fanbase has been waiting patiently for a second entry in the Psychonauts narrative, continuously asking the folks at Double Fine Productions when they’ll get back there. Well, the mythical has finally turned real with the third-person action platformer Psychonauts 2.
• Players once again gain control of Raz, a wayward and agile acrobat with psychic powers, whose fascination with joining the mental-power research and regulation agency Psychonauts has landed them in their office, the  Motherlobe.  There, he uses his powers to help root out a double agent.
• In a fashion befitting the wacky personality of Double Fine, Psychonauts 2 weaves together a compelling premise with clever, bizarre puzzle-platform levels, while also striking a meaningful chord involving mental health in the process.

Click to Order on Amazon

Metroid Dread

• It’s been a while since a new Metroid game has been released, but it’s been even longer since a new 2D Metroid game – that isn’t a remake — has rolled onto the scene.  Metroid Dread goes back to the series roots and delivers a fresh side-scrolling adventure with Nintendo icon Samus Aran.
• Originally conceived as a Nintendo DS follow-up to a Game Boy title from the early 2000s, Dread follows Samus as she investigates the alien planet ZDR after parasite-killing EMMI robots fail to complete their mission. Ambushed and lacking full powers, Samus must battle local enemies and sneak past the EMMIs.
• Dread gets the Metroid formula back to its roots with 2D side-scrolling level design with a modernized feel, placing Samus in the position of both hunter and hunted through old-school skill progression through levels and new stealth components. It does everything a classic Metroid game should do, well.

Click to Order on Amazon

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

• Despite their rampant popularity during the PS2 and PS3 eras, Ratchet and Clank only showed up once during the PS4 era for a reboot/reimagining of the first game, titled Ratchet and Clank. Their devoted fans have been waiting anxiously, and now they’ve received Rift Apart on the PS5.
• Rift Apart serves as a meeting-point sequel to both 2013’s Into the Nexus, the last game produced for the PS3, and 2016’s Ratchet and Clank. During a battle with Dr. Nefarious, several dimensional rifts open and relocate the characters to alternate realities; Clank is found by Rivet, a female Lombax like Ratchet.
• Using a new device called a Rift Tether, both Ratchet and Rivet can zip between portals to realities, a new gameplay tactic introduced within the series’ signature run-‘n-gun antics and bountiful artillery. A mix of old and new weapons, locations, and combat mechanics ensure Rift Apart has something for all.

Click to Order on Amazon

For Those Who Enjoy (Re)Playing Beloved Games Polished in HD

Sometimes developers make remastered versions of games simply because they want to ensure fans will keep playing and remembering the same game for years, preserving legacies by essentially making archive versions of their games to keep up with the times.  Other times, however, studios take risks and get their hands dirty with improving certain titles by listening to fan feedback, and the result ends up being a noteworthy upgrade and a reason for people to revisit that goes beyond nostalgia. Both the titles below have that going for them.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

• Nearly a decade after the series reached a polarizing conclusion, the folks at BioWare have begun the process of revisiting the Mass Effect franchise with this Legendary Edition collection for newer consoles.  All three games from the original trilogy have been included, along with their respective DLCS.
• Players gain control of Commander Shepard, who can be a customized character creation or a preset, as they race against time to stop the Lovecraftian Reapers from wiping out civilization. The player makes choices – from who live and dies to brokering deals and building relationships – that’ll have degrees of impact throughout the whole series.  
• The original Mass Effect received a drastic overhaul in visuals and gameplay without fundamentally changing how it operates, while the other two games have been more subtly polished. Like this, including the extended version of the ending and all the character and story DLC, Mass Effect feels complete and still presents one of the most engrossing and adaptable sci-fi arcs in gaming.

Click to Order on Amazon

Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD

• Once considered the black sheep of the modern Legend of Zelda creations, Skyward Sword has enjoyed some laid-back reevaluation amid Breath of the Wild’s successful tweaking of the franchise. This HD remaster takes some voiced issues to heart and shapes it into a fresh, worthwhile adventure on Switch.
• Skyward Sword follows many of the familiar story beats of other Legend of Zelda games, yet its focus on the early aspects of the history of the Hyrule kingdom and the Skyloft setting in the clouds give it an extra dose of storytelling intrigue. Link still needs to rescue Zelda, hacking-‘n-slashing across time.
• Skyward Sword HD may not have drastically improved visuals, but other aspects of the new version make it well worth a second look, from tweaking the autosave feature to making it so the game doesn’t require motion controls (the Joy Cons can still be used this way).  Link’s still in baggy trousers and the level design and exploration show their age, but this Switch version improves the conditions to enjoy it.

Click to Order on Amazon

For the Nostalgic Horror Lover

Whether it’s by being stranded among zombies in a European village or teaming up with buddies to wipe out infected humans, the horror games included below rustle up memories of game past through wildly different methods.

Resident Evil Village

• Arguably the best entry in the Resident Evil series succeeded by isolating itself in a small European village invaded by a zombie-creating parasite. Capcom decided to try and recapture this magic with Resident Evil Village, taking place a few years after the last one and featuring protagonist Ethan Winters.
• From a first-person viewpoint, Village lets the player openly explore the stuck-in-the-1800s European village, allowing them to use the setting for tactical combat against the enemies. Aside from the now iconic vampire Lady Dimitrescu and her sisters, Ethan battles against werewolf like creatures in an effort to rescue his daughter.
• Resident Evil: Village brings the scale back to a stripped-down, scarier place in how Ethan explores the area and scrounges together an inventory of resources, combining iconic aspects from earlier games – there’s unsurprisingly a lot of Resident Evil 4 in here — with what’s worked in the current iterations.

Click to Order on Amazon

Back 4 Blood

• The folks responsible for the Left 4 Dead franchise, Turtle Rock Studios, have returned after a decade to deliver the spiritual third entry in the franchise.  Back 4 Blood is the result, and while it isn’t pound-for-pound an exact continuation of those popular games, the developers got about as close as they can.
• Somewhat differently, Back 4 Blood takes place about a year after a parasitic outbreak has claimed much of humanity, where groups of survivors known as Cleaners try to clear out post-apocalyptic surroundings. This progression makes the atmosphere a little lighter while coordinating squad attacks.
• Sure, Turtle Rock deliberately models much of the co-op gameplay off Left 4 Dead, but they’ve also incorporated modern RPG-ish aspects like deeper weapon customization and skill cards to update the gameplay.  Coupled with plentiful maps and a quality attitude, Back 4 Blood largely feels like the sequel everyone’s wanted.

Click to Order on Amazon

For Those Dazzled By Conceptual Sci-Fi

Whether it’s temporal anomalies, tapping into the power of human brain, or the idea of superheroes being a bunch of poor renegades traversing the galaxy for their next payday, these games latch onto unique science-fiction concepts and apply relatively conventional gaming control ideas to them. The results are thrilling entertainment against the backdrop of engrossing sci-fi atmospheres.

Deathloop

• Stealth, steampunk, and the supernatural interweave in the games of Arkane Studios, the team behind the Dishonored series. Deathloop continues that legacy, telling a story of assassinations and time loops that plays into the studio’s narrative strengths while hooking the player with novel mechanics.
• With a setting that’s more identifiable and realistic than Arkane’s previous worlds, pegged to the ‘60s or ‘70s, Deathloop follows an assassin who must eliminate 8 different targets on an island in the same time loop … or else the timeline will reset. Naturally, another assassin is also hunting the main character to thwart their progress.
• Paying attention to details and routines is one of the keys to success in Deathloop, which incorporates a familiar caliber of strategy to Arkane’s previous games, observing how obstacles move and knowing what weapons to use for different scenarios. It opts for a credible variety of solutions to endless possibilities, and that’s ideal for a concept with a bunch of moving parts already. Deathloop is a timed PS5 exclusve; Xbox users should expect to pay it next year.

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Scarlet Nexus

• Some might be quick to dismiss Scarlet Nexus based on the anime stylings of the characters and the conversation panels, but they’d be overlooking a much more engaging action-RPG experience from Bandai Namco that taps into fast-paced action, open-roam exploration, and science-fiction concepts.
• Echoing the stellar sci-fi action game Control, Scarlet Nexus focuses on agents for a supernatural defense force who also have psychokinetic abilities. The world-building differs in how society has developed around the potential of the human brain, and how citizens with elevated abilities are recruited to defend civilization from hostile aliens.
• Scarlet Nexus makes the most of its relatively standard anime-style plotting and conversational rhythm by dialing up the smooth superpower combat and chaotic battles with unique enemies. And it only grows more interesting as the player gains access to further abilities and explores the futuristic Japanese landscape.

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Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

• While the enthusiasm for Marvel’s The Avengers may have petered out much quicker than most had anticipated, that shouldn’t hold one back from jumping into  Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which has one very clear thing going for it: it’s focused on delivering an engaging single-player experience.
• In a post-galactic war environment, the story finds the Guardians of the Galaxy – Peter, Gomora, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Drax — strapped for cash and willing to go to sketchy lengths to make some. They end up pissing off the wrong person while on a mission to make a quick buck, which chains together the events that’ll shape this new raucous adventure.
• This game from Eidos and Square goes down a different path than the Avengers game by molding the story around light RPG elements, allowing the story to branch from choices made and dialogue chosen in prompts. Wrapped around serviceable, if repetitive third-person sci-fi shooting, Guardians of the Galaxy makes an effort to fill the space opera RPG void left in the absence of others like Mass Effect.

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For the Console Gamer Who Misses Out On Great PC Titles

Console players lucked out this year, as they’ve been granted the honor of being able to play two of the best PC titles to come out in recent memory, in very short order. They couldn’t be more different, either: one’s a colorfully action-based dungeon crawler with levels of difficulty, and the other’s a bleakly moody and dialogue-heavy RPG with layers of complexity.

Hades

• This roguelike dungeon crawler has amassed a strong following since its release, touting it as one of the best current games that couldn’t be played on Xbox or PlayStation. After much celebration, Hades has finally been ported over to those systems a year later, in both digital and physical formats.
• After gaining control of the Prince of the Underworld, players navigate through the beautiful, complex maze of the constantly changing realm as the Olympian gods cheer you on. The path is challenging and unpredictable, but gifts from the gods help the journey, if you can keep them. Die, and boons are reset.
• Between the ever-changing dungeon and the boons to other character-driven paths the game can take, Hades has been designed with countless runs in mind, and it generates enough excitement to do so. That also makes it worthwhile to get this physical edition for the shelf, which includes a 32-page character compendium and a digital code for the soundtrack.

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Disco Elysium: The Final Cut

• While Hades gets the adrenaline flowing through its action and unpredictability, Disco Elysium has been making a name for itself in the opposite spectrum. A dialogue-driven RPG that’s almost entirely stat-based and driven by dialogue or situational decisions, it has been celebrated as one of the best of the genre since its release.
• As a boozed-up detective, the player navigates the subtly futuristic realm of Elysium to pursue the case, which opens up a wealth of conversations and only the tools in the character’s noggin to navigate them. Skills are all about temperament, and as the character moves up in level, overdeveloped aspects of their personality can come into conflict with one another while trying to “succeed” in a conversation. Min/max isn’t effective here.
• Due to the fluid nature of the skills and the wealth of options at the player’s disposal – the game and setting originated as a tabletop RPG, after all – Disco Elysium carries heaps of replay value for the right type of player, with the Final Cut’s addition of fully voiced characters and new quests elevating that.

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2021 Gift Guide: Video Games for the Holiday Season

The momentum seems to have slowed down for Sony’s PS+ subscription service and its run of impressive monthly free games. From the release of the next-gen consoles – soon to be current generation – in November of last year, PlayStation has stayed in step with the curve by offering one juicy PS5-enabled game and two others that usually ranged in quality from good to excellent, with the trio of titles amounting to a relevant, audience-aware cluster of additions. Then, over the past months, the quality has hit a downward slope, often including a new PS5 title that doesn’t grab much interest and a pair of support PS4 titles lacking firepower on their own or are sequels that are either dated or have lukewarm reputations. For October, Sony earns a commendation for thinking outside the box with their next-gen selection, but ultimately the trio of games doesn’t scare up enough enthusiasm to trend upwards. Let’s take a look at the titles, but before diving into that, here’s a reminder to Grab a Year’s Subscription to PlayStation Plus from Amazon.

PS5

Hell Let Loose

Developers have a strong, aware grasp on the need to keep players locked into the action of their game, something that has impacted the first-person shooter genre since its earliest stages. When the transition happened from chaotically mowing down monsters or Nazis around every corner to a desire for more realistic combat shooting games, balancing those things grew trickier since constant action doesn’t always line up with real-world military situations. Games like Rainbow Six, Call of Duty, and even Battlefield aim for the middle with their military shooter designs, but the push to constantly keep the experience in motion prevents them from achieving a full sense of realism, especially when it comes to the desolation of historical and tactical warfare that doesn’t begin and end in a flash.

Developed by the globally staffed Australia-based developer Black Matter, Hell Let Loose works hard to satisfy those looking for a more grounded, tactical, and realistically paced military shooter experience. From the scope of the battlefield to the coordination of soldiers for necessary activities and the travel time to points of battle interest, this game lays the groundwork for a sprawling simulation for multiple players … but it can also result in unsatisfying scenarios where, say, a long and semi-uneventful trek to a battle location may result in a quick death. Both critics and players seem to appreciate this focus on authenticity in the landscape of battle achieved by Hell Let Loose, though they also understand the mind state of someone who’d find the execution of this drawn-out, minimal reward gaming experience unsatisfying.

PS4

PGA Tour 2K21

As the Tiger Woods brand of simulator golf games from EA started to wind down in popularity, HB Studios began developing an alternative, initially titled The Golf Club. Upon release in 2014-2015, the franchise was met with lukewarm to subpar reviews that didn’t bode well for its continuation.  However, after the series was picked up by publisher 2K Games and garnered official licensing from the PGA Tour, things have started looking up.  Now, with this installment, the series has been rebranded to PGA Tour 2K21 to better echo the game’s intentions – hearkening back to when the EA games were just called PGA Tour of whatever year – as the new star filling that void.

Is it there yet? Probably not, but it’s getting there. The gameplay has been heavily refined since HB Studios first tackled the golf simulation gameplay a half decade ago, wherein players feel like the simulator’s working with them instead of against them due to faulty aiming or physics issues. The player roster features a hefty list of real-world atheletes, only without some of the bigger names of the sport that’ll still probably take enthusiasts out of the illusion by not seeing them in the mix. And while some of the other modes in PGA Tour 2K21 have been met with critic and player frustration due to shallowness, the game’s create-a-course engine has been widely celebrated.  It may not be in the same place as the simulators of yesteryear, and other zany golf games might prove engrossing enough for the average player, but most seem to agree that the franchise has reached par with room for growth.

Mortal Kombat X

Over the course of its history, Mortal Kombat has attempted to evolve its style into something more contemporary, applying its signature gruesomeness and mythical world-building to 3D movement and action beat-‘em-up style of gameplay. What the folks at NetherRealm Studio eventually picked up on is that the storied game franchise that’s lingered in popularity since the ‘90s thrives on that old-school, side-scrolling fighting game design, amplified by the larger-than-life character appearances and executing those iconic fatalities. The Mortal Kombat rejuvenation of sorts from a decade ago brought that straightforward perspective back to the franchise, but it’s with the sequel, Mortal Kombat X, where the figured out the right way to bring the beloved fighting franchise into a more modernized platform.

The 10^th official release in the Mortal Kombat lineage springboards off the events at the end of 2011’s “reboot” to jump ahead twenty years in the narrative, opening up the possibilities for both old and new combatants – some being younger family members of the legendary original cast — to enter the battle. The result is a huge roster of characters that leads to heaps of variety for players, both in fighting style and aesthetics, all rendered with some semblance of authentic graphical depth and dimensionality in mind against engaging landscapes. The really neat thing about this rebooted Mortal Kombat is that while the graphical polish and tight fighting controls are of this generation, the 2D design and prompts for fatalities make it so old-school players can pick up and play Mortal Kombat X without missing a beat.  

October’s PS+ Titles: No Flawless Victory, But Not Off-Course

October’s here, and while many associate the month with watching horror movies while gobbling down Halloween candy or sipping on pumpkin spice something or another, those involved with video game culture know that things are ramping up in preparation for the holiday season. The newest generation of consoles are becoming ever-so-slightly more available to buy, even though getting them remains a bit of a nightmare, and the rush of attention-grabbing games leading into the holiday season has officially begun. Chiefly, this is a huge month for the Switch as they get geared up early for a holiday season where supply may be tricky for their competitors, reaffirming that they’ll have a slew of quality games – both new and significant ports — ready to buy alongside their now actively available, innovative system. Let’s take a closer look at what October has to offer.

Alan Wake: Remastered (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC) — October 5

The story behind the development of Alan Wake is a bit of a frustrating one, where developer Remedy Entertainment got caught in a whirlwind of console releases, hesitant publisher commitments, and a wealth of ambition behind what they wanted their post-Max Payne game to be.  Initially, the tale of Alan Wake was designed with an open-world landscape and a consistent survival-horror attitude in mind, influenced by the surrealism of David Lynch and Stephen King in how a struggling author a small coastal city and the violent shadows that come out when the sun’s down.  Armed with a flashlight used to ward off the supernatural threats, Alan Wake eventually released as an Xbox exclusive, but in a fashion that can only be described as stripped-down from the expectations, more linear and structured.

Thing is, once any remaining feelings of disappointment over “what could’ve been” have subsided, you’re left with an Alan Wake that’s incredibly atmospheric, clever in its control scheme and weapon usage, and engaging in terms of where the story ends up going. A slow launch transformed into under-the-radar popularity driven by word-of-mouth recommendations, and it has developed something a bit larger than cult status over the years, but roughly on the same level of enthusiasm. Now, Alan Wake has been remastered and, through Epic Games as publisher, makes it debut on PlayStation consoles alongside Xbox Series X and PC. Changes, tweaks, and spit-polish have been added – product placement is gone; licensed music remains — but Remedy sticks to the gameplay and narrative structure that established the game’s reputation over a decade ago, instead of trying to restore old ideas.

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Far Cry 6 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC) — October 7

While some franchises benefit from switching things up and keeping the gameplay ideas fresh, others are less interested in doing that because part of their appeal comes from comfort-zone gameplay. With certain franchises, you kind of know what to expect with each following installment, and Far Cry has developed that reputation over the course of the last 2-3 releases from Ubisoft. If anything, one would come to expect innovation from their spinoff series, like Blood Dragon and Primal, that deliberately go in other directions while using the most recent base game’s engine as a foundation. Some entries, like Far Cry 5 and its brushes with current political concerns, may generate controversy with narrative choices, but the core gameplay itself makes sure to still provide heaps of familiarity for those playing through it.

Far Cry 6 takes a step back from immediate controversy and instead places the visage of film and TV star Giancarlo Esposito firmly at the front, casting him as a dictatorial leader of a fictional island in the Caribbean who’s grooming his child to become the next ruler. The player, naturally, takes control of a freedom fighter out to dismantle his nepotistic government ambitions, and with that the game draws the player into the familiar environment of freedom to do essentially whatever they want to accomplish that goal. Far Cry 6 hopes to smooth out some of the wrinkles created by the previous release with star power and a clear return to the status quo, though it runs the risk of doing too much of that and not getting the franchise up to the level of this next generation of gaming.

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Metroid Dread (Switch) — October 8

It’s been a while since a Metroid game has rolled onto home consoles, the last of which being Other M on the original Wii over a decade ago. Some hesitation seems to have developed since that one received less than stellar reviews, which always tends to spook out Nintendo, resulting in only portable releases of non-primary games over the past decade and an entire console generation from the company without a new adventure featuring Samus Aran; luckily, she comes back to kick butt throughout the Super Smash Bros. series. The time seems to have finally arrived for the legendary character to make their return to new content, and while another entry in the Metroid Prime first-person series remains in development, Nintendo has decided to first return Samus back to her roots with the 2.5D action-platformer Metroid Dread.

Originally in development as a DS game over 15 years ago, it makes sense that Dread follows the events of the Gameboy Advance title Metroid Fusion, in which Samus delves into an alien world known as ZDR. The devs at MercurySteam and Nintendo may have added new stealth mechanics, but those with a grasp on MetroidVania style of gameplay know what the action’s all about, preventing the character from moving forward in certain areas of the interconnected level design until they’ve earned certain powers, weapons or tools that get them beyond obstacles.  With the surge in popularity of “modernized” retro platformers over the past several years, it’s a great time for Metroid’s gameplay designs to show back up on a Nintendo console.

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Back 4 Blood (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC) — October 12

Turtle Rock Studios has had a pretty complicated history, with its legacy largely hinged on the work it accomplished under another name, Valve South, on the wildly popular Left 4 Dead cooperative zombie-horror shooter. They were responsible for developing the core original game that everyone knows and loves, and while they separated from Valve to once again be known as Turtle Rock Studios, they still came back and completed work on the DLC for the Valve-developed sequel, Left 4 Dead 2. Sure, it can be argued that improvements were made to the sequel, but it’s hard to argue with the idea that Turtle Rock is responsible for Left 4 Dead’s successful creation and longevity, and that it’s fully within their scope to craft a spiritual successor utilizing many of the same concepts for a new gen of game consoles.

That’s where Back 4 Blood enters the picture. From the name to the premise, it walks and talks like an extension of Turtle Rock’s first foray into survival horror multiplayer shooting, though they’ve made sure to make the tone less grim and deepen the storytelling underneath what’s going on. Back 4 Blood isn’t as heavily influenced by the likes of The Walking Dead as their previous creation, instead crafting the post-apocalyptic conditions and zombie-like infected monsters roaming the area into the doings of an alien source. The squad coordination, shooting, and dynamics are quite similar, though, to such a degree that early impressions have essentially labeled it as “Left 4 Dead 3”, only marginally updated to get it up to current gaming standards.

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Guardians of the Galaxy (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC) — October 26

Last year, there was a significant amount of hype that followed behind the release of Marvel’s The Avengers, where players would be able to control versions of their favorite characters from the comic-book universe in a new, exciting setting. Unfortunately, those expectations weren’t met, as the AAA game from Square, Crystal and Eidos ended up being heavy on character substance and light on campaign longevity and gameplay refinement, hampered by an underwhelming loot system and other design issues. Eidos Montreal hopes to not make the same mistakes with their attempt to take on Guardians of the Galaxy.

Inherently, due to the sorts of capabilities that the Guardians have above those of the Avengers, the scale of the action will skew a bit smaller in this game, which has been tailored into a fast-paced combination of superpowers and shooting through futuristic level designs. As players gain control of Star Lord for a wild adventure, they also become the commander of the squad and their ship, which translates to the gameplay style in which they issue commands to their squad members instead of directly controlling them in third-person combat situations … and they get involved in dialogue trees and in-game decisions with some impacts. Everything here feels more like Eidos has drawn more inspiration from Mass Effect, Deus Ex, and Saints Row IV in how it’s handling these rogues and their galactic antics.

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Some other new, reliable family-friendly goodies rolling out this month are the latest iteration of the Super Monkey Ball franchise, Banana Mania, and the very clear Smash Bros. replica Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl that are both releasing on practically all major platforms on October 5, as well as Mario Party Superstars – a collection of 5 older Mario Party boards and over 100 rebuilt minigames from the 64 era — coming to the Switch on October 29. A remastered edition of the full Crysis Trilogy will be out on Switch, PC, and last-gen consoles on October 15, while strategy fans will be able to enjoy Age of Empires IV on October 28. Switch and Xbox users will finally be able to play Disco Elysium with the port coming on October 12, and of course soccer fans have FIFA 22 to kick around this month if they so desire.  And finally, spooky season’s here, so it’s pretty awesome to see the Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water making its way worldwide by the end of the month (October 28).

October’s Video Game New Releases: Far Cry, Metroid, GROOT