Greg “DoubtingThomas396” Decker
I’m not sure how Chris (or Mantid, for that matter) missed this one, but NIS America is publishing a game called Assault Spy into early access this week. It’s a stylish, character-action game where you can pick from one of two characters to fight a bunch of giant, walking smart-phones by beating them to death with your briefcase. Presumably the early enemies are current gen iPhones, which crack if you play Candy Crush too rigorously, but I’m hoping the boss battle is against a Droid Turbo 2.
Personally, I don’t see how anyone can pick anything else. I certainly can’t. Assault Spy is an easy choice for my game of the week.
Chris "C" Cesarano
Another week, another group of indie ports dropping onto the various platforms. After being unfortunately delayed due to real life being awful, Death Road to Canada speeds itself forward onto home systems. The Fall finally drops (eh? eh?) onto the Nintendo Switch, just in time to catch up and get hyped for the incoming sequel. Darkest Dungeon: Ancestral Edition crawls in desperation onto PlayStation 4.
In terms of actual new games, I know one person that's excited about Megadimension Neptunia VIIR!
It's Mantid. Mantid is always the one looking forward to this series.
I, meanwhile, will be playing Warmind, the latest Destiny 2 expansion. I wasn't so cold to the sequel as others were during launch, but Curse of Osiris blew up all my enthusiasm with a Gjallarhorn rocket. Warmind is Bungie's opportunity to convince me I should invest further cash into this game or move on to other co-op possibilities. Will the narrative squander (to put it kindly) the potential of the lore just like Curse of Osiris? Will this new Horde-type mode deliver like Prison of Elders? If the answer to these is "no", then I will likely return to the original Destiny and accomplish what I can before Activision shuts the servers down.
Destiny 2: Warmind is my cautious pick of the week.
Felix “Fuming Proper Administration of Legal System” Threepaper
In Australia, “AO” used to stand for “Adults Only” – the TV content rating that had all the S, L and V. So when I see AO International Tennis (made by Australian studio Big Ant) on the list, my mind reels with the possibilities. Exploding balls that do gory limb damage? A minigame about yelling profanities at the umpire? A campaign mode with a dating sim attached?
Turns out “AO” now stands for “Australian Open”, so … it’s just tennis.
I’m personally glad Tacoma is coming out on consoles, as it increases my likelihood of playing it. I gave it a GOTW on its PC release, though.
The side-scrolling beat-em-up has been enjoying a revival these past few years. No other genre is as redolent of the arcade era. However, my general feel about the arcade era is perhaps the same feel many have about their school days – not “Those were the days” but “Thank [personal belief system] those days are over”.
So why am I struck by Raging Justice after ignoring the rest of the pack of revivalist beat-em-ups? Firstly, because it isn’t JUST playing the nostalgia card. The aesthetic is updated, rather than going for retro pixel graphics. It looks like Streets of Rage would, if it were released today. It’s got the sense of silliness and mayhem one needs to justify violent rampages.
The one misgiving I have is the same one I have with all side-scrolling beat-em-ups. How precise are the controls? How can you tell when you’re going to hit and be hit? A cautious GOTW.
Here's the list, now in release-date order!
PC
-
05-07
- After Dreams
- Aik's Cheese Adventures
- Airbo
- Assault Spy
- Blacktea With Moon
- Boxes Inc.
- Cursed Caves
- Cyadonia
- Defendion
- Find your way
- GHOUL
- GUNS BATTLE ROYALE
- HellStar Squadron
- Katie
- Labirinto 2
- Let's Go Nuts!
- Lost (Ambivalent title: Could Not Confirm)
- Momoiro Closet
- Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru
- Penny Black
- Primitive Race
- Project R.A.T.
- Save her, from dreams
- Sky Dodge
- Slab
- The Last Dawn : The first invation
- Vortex Rush
- Woodstock 1969
-
05-08
- Air Threat
- AO International Tennis
- Beginner'sGame
- City Patrol: Police
- Conan Exiles
- Demolition Engineer
- Destiny 2: Warmind
- Digit Daze
- Doughlings: Arcade
- Dungeon Quest
- First Winter
- Gardener the Ripper
- GAY Nation: a Gay Game for Gays
- Glick's Cat Simulator
- Hodl: The God of Crypto
- Hypersonic Speed Girl
- Last Encounter
- Linear Chicken
- Number Guesser
- Omnicube
- Pestis
- Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire (not to be confused with the Piklars of Eternity Deadfire pack, released last November)
- Raging Justice
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - Ultimate Edition
- Starting The Game
- Steins;Gate Zero
- Tiny Bubbles
- Trailblazers
- Viki Spotter: Sports
-
05-09
- Angel's Love
- Cheese Maze
- District 112 Incident: Bowling Alley
- Gulman 5
- Maze Madness
- Potemkin
- PuzzGun
- RPGolf
- Russian Gangsta In HELL
- SHARK (Ambivalent Title: Could Not Confirm)
- Supaplex
- Super Punchman
- Zap Zap Zombie Cats
-
05-10
- aMAZE Classic
- Cowboy: Attack of Wild Animal
- Deadfall Tropics
- DEEP SPACE
- Desire
- Distant castle
- Froggy BOI
- Gansel and Hretel
- Heat Guardian
- Helicopter Flight Simulator
- Infectonator 3: Apocalypse
- Lake Ridden
- Laser League
- Match Connect Challenge
- Ruler and Eraser
- SLICE
- Terror World
- The Armclaw Experiment
- The Day I Died
- Thunderbolt 2
- Tomb Towers
- Wild West Online
- World Of Walking Cities
-
05-11
- ATTACK OF THE KILLER FURRIES
- Dark SASI
- Dino Dawn
- Endersite
- Extreme Formula Championship
- Fortune-499
- Frightened Beetles
- God Vs Zombies
- Hyper Sentinel
- Mad Frost
- Merry Glade
- MONMUSU
- Odium To the Core
- Slum Ball VR Tournament
- Snail Racer EXTREME
- Spaceguy 2
- Star Speeder
- Torture Chamber
- Trapped
- ValeGuard
- Voltage
-
05-12
- Falling words
- Starcats
-
05-13
- Venal Soul: Chapter One
PS4
-
05-08
- AO International Tennis
- Conan Exiles
- Darkest Dungeon: Ancestral Edition
- Dead Ahead: Zombie Warfare
- Death Road to Canada
- Destiny 2: Warmind
- Inksplosion
- Lunch Truck Tycoon
- Megadimension Neptunia VIIR
- Raging Justice
- Reverie
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - Ultimate Edition
- Tacoma
- Through the Woods
- Trailblazers
- Tyr: Chains of Valhalla
-
05-09
- Subaeria
-
05-10
- Laser League
-
05-11
- Grim Legends 3: The Dark City
- Hyper Sentinel
PSVR
-
05-08
- 2MD VR Football
- Coolpaintr VR
- Megadimension Neptunia VIIR
Xbox One
-
05-08
- AO International Tennis
- Conan Exiles
- Death Road to Canada
- Destiny 2: Warmind
- InkSplosion
- Raging Justice
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - Ultimate Edition
-
05-09
- Subaeria
- Trailblazers
-
05-10
- Laser League
-
05-11
- Hyper Sentinel
Switch
-
05-08
- Death Road to Canada
- Raging Justice
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - Ultimate Edition
-
05-10
- ACA NeoGeo: Super Sidekicks 2
- Garage
- Immortal Redneck
- One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 - Deluxe Edition
- Suicide Guy
- Super Chariot
- The Fall
- Three Fourths Home
-
05-11
- Hyper Sentinel
3DS
-
05-10
- Up Up Bot
- Dillon's Dead Heat Breakers
Vita
-
05-08
- Dead Ahead: Zombie Warfare
RIFT
-
05-07
- Arbiter
- Defendion
- EggTime 2
-
05-08
- Ocean Wonder VR
-
05-09
- Ghost Mountain Roller Coaster
-
05-10
- Cave Digger
Vive
-
05-07
- Arbiter
- Defendion
- EggTime 2
- LOVE Obsession
- The Stray Cat
-
05-08
- Ocean Wonder VR
-
05-09
- Block Smashers VR
-
05-10
- Cave Digger
-
05-11
- Dreamland Defender
Comments
No one looked at GAY Nation: a Gay Game for Gays [GAYS ONLY]?
Here's the description:
The good news it was apparently delayed indefinitely:
These guys can go f- themselves.
How did I live before digital distribution of old, cheap games?
MilkmanDanimal wrote:You did live before digital distribution of old, cheap games. Now you just play games.
Am I missing something or is Pillars of Eternity II missing from the PC list?
I didn’t realize it was a full-on sequel. I saw “pillars of eternity” and “deadfire” and thought that Metacritic accidentally re-listed the Deadfire expansion pack (released November 2017) , so I deleted it.
My bad.
Edit: fixed.
Jonman Wrote:
Yes, you can cancel Darksiders, but only by using your Sony Golds. Which, while pretty good, aren't a patch on Zelda.
I'm A Steam Curator!
Ah, yeah, that expansion pack was just a free promotional thing for the first game to tie in with the sequel I think.
Anyway, no big deal, just wanted to make sure I wasn’t losing it
Pillars II hype!
WCG USA 2005
Pillars 2 hype intensifies.
Might as well end the year now, it can only be downhill from here.
I surprised it came out in an even numbered year.
Even number years for video games are like odd number Star Trek films. Usually passable, but ultimately forgettable. At least when compared to the odd numbered years/even numbered Trek films anyway.
Jonman Wrote:
Yes, you can cancel Darksiders, but only by using your Sony Golds. Which, while pretty good, aren't a patch on Zelda.
I'm A Steam Curator!
I though 1998 was considered "best year of gaming ever". Until 2017 anyway.
I think 2004 or 2006 was pretty good too. And 1996 was the internet gaming boom!
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
redfang#1780
I recall 2008 (Star Wars The Force Unleashed, Mirrors Edge, Fallout 3, Burnout Paradise, Okami) being something of a let down after 2007 (Bioshock, The Witcher, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Super Mario Galaxy, Crackdown, Uncharted, Assassins Creed, STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl, Sam and Max Season 1)
I wish to reiterate that even numbered years, like odd numbered Trek films, aren’t bad. They just feel like the years when the industry takes a breath. By this time last year I had already played several games that were contenders for my top ten. This year, looking at the upcoming release list for 2018 I’m hard pressed to find ten games I’m interested in buying in the first place.
Jonman Wrote:
Yes, you can cancel Darksiders, but only by using your Sony Golds. Which, while pretty good, aren't a patch on Zelda.
I'm A Steam Curator!
I so excited! Guess what is finally out!
Oh nevermind...
I actually have mixed feelings about this one. It a release of Megadimension Neptunia VII with balance changes, improved graphics, and, of course, VR content. Still it's only been two years since the VII was released and it is being released on the same system...
What I'm hearing is that we should do another timewarp theme week.
Words... are a big deal.
Jill Lapore wrote:Editing is one of the great inventions of civilization.
Robert Wuhl looks pissed.
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