{"id":35499,"date":"2019-08-03T15:43:19","date_gmt":"2019-08-03T22:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/?p=35499"},"modified":"2019-08-03T15:43:19","modified_gmt":"2019-08-03T22:43:19","slug":"six-rad-video-game-releases-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/features\/six-rad-video-game-releases-august\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Rad Video Game Releases Worth Blitzing Through This August"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The coming of fall means two very important things that frequently overlap with individuals, often with those of the video game culture: the arrival of football season, and the drive to watch more horror movies as Halloween approaches. August, of course, comes with the built-in expectation for one of gaming\u2019s longest running and predictably high-quality titles that speaks to the sports fans out there, while a few new, spooky entries in the horror and apocalyptic genre will be bringing up the rear for that seasonal excitement. \u00a0Gamers who don\u2019t fall into enthusiasts of those categories shouldn\u2019t fret, though, because there\u2019s plenty to look forward to in this reasonably stacked month, from an atmospheric third-person loot shooter to a newly revamped installment of a beloved action-RPG series. Let\u2019s huddle up and talk about this month\u2019s plays.<\/p>\n

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\"madden<\/p>\n

Order Madden NFL 20 at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

August 2<\/h3>\n

Madden NFL 20<\/h4>\n

Fun fact: EA\u2019s Madden<\/em> football games have been around for over 30 years now, with the first game being released on DOS in 1988 and on consoles in 1990. Obviously, tons of things have changed about Madden<\/em> during that span; yeah, it catches flak for offering only incremental changes and roster rotations year after year, but y\u2019know what I mean. One thing hasn\u2019t changed since its release, though, and that\u2019s its dominance in the market coupled with its overwhelming popularity, something that\u2019s only achievable if they maintain a high-enough quality to keep competitors at bay.\u00a0 Despite a few big moves from lower-ball indie titles, Madden NFL 20<\/em> doesn\u2019t seem to be straying from that pattern, tweaking its roster and controls while also incorporating a revamped career story mode for something new.\u00a0 Sure, at this point deep in the console life cycle, it\u2019s more of the same; however, EA have done just enough to sustain and make it another worthwhile upgrade, asserting that it\u2019s still a nimble franchise at 30. Madden’s blitzing onto Xbox One, PS4 and PC.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

Pre-Order Remnant at the PS Store<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Pre-Order Rad at Microsoft<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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August 20<\/h3>\n

Remnant: From the Ashes<\/h4>\n

Sometimes, releasing a video game is all about timing: creating and delivering on an experience during a period when something similar hasn\u2019t made its way onto the market in a while. In the absence of third-person sci-fi shooters like Gears of War<\/em> and dungeon action-RPGs like Dark Souls<\/em>, and hitting the market just before two big loot\/sandbox post-apocalyptic games in the form of Borderlands 3<\/em> and The Outer Limits<\/em>, Gunfire Games are hoping to strike at just the right moment with Remnant: From the Ashes<\/em>. \u00a0In the wake of hostile demons arriving from another dimension that decimated most of the population, the player takes control of one of the \u201cremnants\u201d of humankind and navigates through portals, discovering why they\u2019re here, how to defeat them, and how many of the critters they can mow down along the way. With its gloomy atmosphere, a wealth of artillery available to pick up, and the ability to charge forward either by yourself or with two other party members — playable solo or together, online or not — Remnant: From the Ashes<\/em> has the potential to scratch a bunch of different itches at once.\u00a0 Survivors will be exploring Remnant<\/em> on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.<\/p>\n

Rad<\/h4>\n

Psychonauts<\/em> will forever ensure that many will be interested in just about anything Double Fine decides to release, and that enthusiasm has led to them releasing other games with immense personalities, notably the metal actioner Brutal Legend<\/em> and the Costume Quest<\/em> RPG series. Rad, their latest creation, can\u2019t even get past its three-letter title without having an amusing play on words: it\u2019s a isometric post-apocalyptic action game where the main character continuously mutates due to radiation, and it\u2019s \u2026 well, potentially pretty rad. In a world where humanity has faced not one, but two near-extinction events, the main characters wanders a wasteland with bat in-hand and encounters numerous points where rads will grant them a host of new abilities, which completely changes the combat against oddly morphed monsters scattered throughout the neon glow of the landscape. Branded a roguelike for its ever-changing properties, Rad holds the potential to live up to its name.\u00a0 Know what else is Rad<\/em>? The game’s materializing on all major consoles, Switch included, and PC on the same day.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

Order Control at Amazon<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Order Blair Witch at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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August 27<\/h3>\n

Control<\/h4>\n

While Remedy Entertainment may be best known for their efforts in the Max Payne<\/em> series, it\u2019s in their other outlandish horror and science-fiction games — Alan Wake<\/em> and Quantum Break<\/em> — where they discovered the label\u2019s real sense of identity. They\u2019re reaching even further with their ambitions with Control<\/em>, a third-person sci-fi actioner where the new director of a supernatural government agency, Jesse, discovers that she has other-worldly powers and must use them to defeat a force that\u2019s invaded her bureau\u2019s headquarters and continues to distort reality.\u00a0 The versatile shooting gameplay seems reminiscent of BioShock<\/em>, where the player can choose whether to use Jesse\u2019s advanced weapon or utilize her supernatural ability to levitate and manipulate things in her surroundings, giving the player plenty of options in how to engage combat and solving environmental obstacles. There\u2019s still a lot of mystery around the game, but Remedy have certainly pulled a lot of interest toward their latest. Xbox One, PS4, and PC players will gain a firmer grasp on Remedy’s enigmas at release.<\/p>\n

The Bard\u2019s Tale IV: Director’s Cut<\/h4>\n

InXile\u2019s iteration of The Bard\u2019s Tale fantasy-action series built its cult following by maxing out its two key pillars: top-down isometric gameplay that echoed other games of the genre, and a palpable sense of humor woven throughout an alluring narrative. Along with the absence of Cary Elwes as the voice of the lead character, The Bard\u2019s Tale IV has also moved away from those familiar aspects and brought their RPG experience into a space that\u2019s much more old-school. Despite moving through the 3D world from a first-person perspective, the inventory and combat systems reach way back to the turn-based games of yore \u2026 and while that\u2019s uniquely satisfying in theory, critics weren\u2019t too thrilled with the original cut\u2019s fusion of elements, graphical presentation, and general abundance of bugs.\u00a0 That\u2019s hopefully where this Director\u2019s Cut will come into play, updating it with new content and \u201cthousands\u201d of fixes ranging from interface tweaks and character creation tools to new gear, combat functions, and an \u201cengine update\u201d. Consoles, PC, Mac, and Linux will be regaled by its tunes soon enough.<\/p>\n

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August 29<\/h3>\n

Blair Witch<\/h4>\n

To this day, the original Blair Witch Project<\/em> remains a polarizing film.\u00a0 Some can\u2019t stand the persistent motion and infuriating (and, uh, snotty<\/em>) reactions from characters, while others — myself included here — can still get entirely wrapped up in the found-footage eeriness captured in every frame, dictated by its clever sound design, well-crafted visual language, and\u00a0 appropriately frantic attitudes from the actors. Regardless of which \u201ccamp\u201d one falls into here, the concept of a survival-horror video game set within the films’ earthy, haunted landscape should be intriguing for those who appreciate interactive horror adventures on their consoles.\u00a0 Bloober Team, the folks behind the exquisitely unnerving Layers of Fear<\/em> series, are the ones who have undertaken the challenge in their adaptation of Blair Witch<\/em> to the video game format, and they\u2019re one of a few studios capable of doing it justice. Here\u2019s hoping they\u2019re able to get natural performances out of the VOs to complement their tight grip on psychologically demanding atmosphere.\u00a0 Blair Witch<\/em> will be scaring up audiences exclusively on the Xbox One and PC.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Switch is a little light on attention this month, though, with it seeing a few noteworthy ports: Pillars of Eternity<\/em><\/strong> on August 8, Sword Art Online<\/strong><\/em> on August 9, and Friday the 13th<\/sup><\/strong><\/em> on the, uh, 13th. <\/sup>Other releases worth keeping an eye on are the stealth narrative-based game The Church in the Darkness<\/strong><\/em>, which comes to all major platforms on the August 2; Episode 4 of Life is Strange 2<\/strong><\/em> materializes on the August 22; and the World of Warcraft: Classic<\/strong><\/em> experience will be up and roaring on August 27.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The coming of fall means two very important things that frequently overlap with individuals, often with those of the video game culture: the arrival of football season, and the drive to watch more horror movies as Halloween approaches. August, of course, comes with the built-in expectation for one of gaming\u2019s longest running and predictably high-quality […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":35505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1602,1416,401,2080,25,378],"class_list":["post-35499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-august","tag-pc","tag-ps4","tag-switch","tag-video-games","tag-xbox-one"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35499"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35504,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35499\/revisions\/35504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}