{"id":37993,"date":"2020-03-06T14:37:37","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T22:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/?p=37993"},"modified":"2020-03-06T14:37:37","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T22:37:37","slug":"marchs-video-games-showing-half-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/features\/marchs-video-games-showing-half-life\/","title":{"rendered":"March’s Video Games Showing More Than Half-Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With the recent release of a demo for a long-anticipated remake that’s coming out next month (April), the year in video games feels like it\u2019s finally starting to kick into gear. The release schedule\u2019s catching up to that enthusiasm a little bit, as March delivers a handful of interesting new adventures to embark upon, though it\u2019s all a little scattered between consoles as exclusives \u2026 except for one big damn shooter. Let\u2019s dig in.<\/p>\n

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\"ori<\/p>\n

Order Will of the Wisps at Amazon<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Order Nioh 2 at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

Ori and the Will of the Wisps — March 11<\/h3>\n

With platform action video games, it can be incredibly difficult to hit the sweet spot between family-friendly fun and genuine challenging design, tilting either too easy for seasoned gamers or too tough for an intended widespread audience. Ori and the Blind Forest<\/em> did a tremendous job of landing in the center almost perfectly, while also boasting dazzling fantasy visuals and supremely endearing characters wrapped up in an emotional story.\u00a0 Hopes are naturally running high, then, for Ori and the Will of the Wisps<\/em>, in which developer Moon Studios continues its exhilarating tales of the forest in an equally whimsical design space.\u00a0 Some tweaks to the gameplay and upgrade systems\u00a0 shouldn\u2019t intrude on what Moon Studios hopes to replicate in this sequel.<\/p>\n

Nioh 2 — March 13<\/h3>\n

With the Ninja Gaiden<\/em> franchise currently on the backburner to a few iffy releases in the early-2010s, Team Ninja has been exploring other avenues for their brand of challenging martial-arts gameplay. Nioh<\/em> became a vessel for that, and after years of tough development that involved adapting \u2013 and abandoning — an unused script from Akira Kurosawa and preventing it from becoming a Ninja Gaiden<\/em> replica, it received both critical acclaim and a stamp of (mostly) approval from the intended audience.\u00a0 More importantly, it stands out as yet another daunting challenge from the developer, which naturally escalates hopes for what\u2019s to come in Nioh 2<\/em>. \u00a0This time\u2019s a little different, though, as Team Ninja will be exploring the realm of character creation \u2026 and the early demos for what\u2019s capable are rather impressive. Here\u2019s hoping the effort put into customization won\u2019t detract from their hard-hitting design.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

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Order\u00a0 MLB 20 at Target<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Order Doom Eternal at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

MLB The Show 2020 — March 20<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of sports video games, choosing between consoles really isn\u2019t much of a big deal since the vast majority of titles are available across all platforms. That is, unless you\u2019re a baseball fan.\u00a0 Sure, there are baseball games available on all of ’em\u00a0 \u2013 Super Mega Baseball<\/em> is an under-the-radar gem and should be a stronger competitor \u2013 but in terms of authentic simulators with updated rostors, the choices have remained slim: either MLB The Show<\/em>, or MLB The Show<\/em>. That has remained one of the PlayStation\u2019s most surprising exclusives, something that continues into 2020 with their latest iteration of the franchise. Changes are likely to be marginal between this year\u2019s release and last year beyond roster updates and the inclusion of Minor League player representation, if for no other reason than The Show 2020 marks the last time that the franchise will be exclusive to the PlayStation. While no hard info has been revealed, the assumption is that it\u2019ll be coming to Xbox and possibly PC in 2021.<\/p>\n

Doom Eternal — March 20<\/h3>\n

One of the easiest ways to trigger memories in old-school computer gamers is to mention the one-two punch of Wolfenstein<\/em> and Doom<\/em>. These two games from id Software have been responsible for countless hours of entrancement by way of immersive, innovative 3D graphics and intense shooter gameplay, a legacy that paved the way for countless other first-person shooters.\u00a0 Doom itself has lingered in the shadow of the likes of Halo<\/em> and Gears of War<\/em> for roughly a decade and a half now, though, waiting for the right time to reemerge in the 2016 reboot, which received reviews that were a far cry from the unyielding praise received by the games of yesteryear.\u00a0 With Doom Eternal<\/em>, id Software sets its sights on reestablishing that reputation by taking everything that worked in the reboot \u2013 quite a bit \u2013 and escalating the firepower and versatility movement as the Doomguy<\/del> Doom Slayer works to purge demons invading Earth.\u00a0 And hey, it’ll be on Stadia for those who are interested.<\/p>\n

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\"half<\/p>\n

Pre-Purchase Half Life: Alyx at Steam<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

Half-Life: Alyx — March 23<\/h3>\n

Well, folks, here it is: irrefutable proof that there\u2019s still life left in the Half-Life<\/em> franchise, and that Valve hasn\u2019t decided to complete abandon it. Yes, of course Valve\u2019s sticking with a PC-only release right now; yes, it\u2019s designed as a virtual reality experience; and yes, it\u2019s a mid-quel instead of that much desired sequel that\u2019s become the source of jokes and memes and everything in between. \u00a0However, Half-Life: Alyx<\/em> does bring players back into the familiar world that hasn\u2019t been revisited in roughly 13 years, telling the story of how the popular character from the franchise, Alyx, and her father flesh out the resistance to the alien forces of the Combine before they hook up with Freeman. Boasted as being the next step in storytelling for the franchise, as well as being non-episodic and roughly the same lengthy end-to-end as Half-Life 2<\/em>, Alyx<\/em> marks the proving grounds for one of Valve\u2019s largest and most audacious team efforts \u2026 and a possible precursor for more to come.<\/p>\n

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A few interesting odd-and-end ports and sequels are also coming out in March.\u00a0 Two tie into video games being released later in the month: Black Mesa<\/strong><\/em>, an unofficial remake of the original\u00a0Half-Life<\/em>, has been given the green light from Value for an official release and will be made available ahead of Alyx<\/em> on March 6; and Doom 64<\/em> <\/strong>will be receiving a rerelease on all major platforms on March 20. Animal Crossing: New Horizons<\/em><\/strong> will continue the slice-of-life simulator game series on the DS on the same day as Doom 64, and Nintendo Switch players will have the chance to play the gleefully violent sci-fi superhero sandbox spoof\u00a0Saints Row IV: Re-Elected<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0on March 27.\u00a0 Finally, the latest installment of the SMT: Persona<\/em> series will see a worldwide release of its upgraded version, Persona 5 Royal<\/em><\/strong>, on March 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the recent release of a demo for a long-anticipated remake that’s coming out next month (April), the year in video games feels like it\u2019s finally starting to kick into gear. The release schedule\u2019s catching up to that enthusiasm a little bit, as March delivers a handful of interesting new adventures to embark upon, though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":38012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1612,2211,2212,2213,1416,401,2080,25,378],"class_list":["post-37993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-doom","tag-half-life","tag-mlb-the-show","tag-ori","tag-pc","tag-ps4","tag-switch","tag-video-games","tag-xbox-one"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37993","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=37993"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38013,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37993\/revisions\/38013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}