October 30 - November 5

  Felix “Serving Lewks” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “85th Anniversary of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast” week!

On 30 October, 1938, Orson Welles delivered his infamous news-style reading of a Martian invasion, which was reported as causing ‘mass panic’ and ‘hysteria’ across America. Except that it didn’t, really. Sure, a larger than usual number of people called the radio station and the police for more information, but you see way worse public hysteria in America after sporting events or on Black Friday. It was mostly a beat-up by overenthusiastic journalists, seized upon by moralising blowhards who wanted to demonise radio as a medium, and its mass audiences. You may all celebrate by playing a game where someone just can’t get with anything newfangled.

This week is full of less-than-AAA curiosities that could be worth a look once you’ve finished gorging on the big names from 2023... and all the other smaller games that have already been overlooked this year.

Achilles: Legends Untold looks like an upscaled, PSP-era God of War game. It’s isometric, with a fixed camera but with target lock and stamina mechanics. It is set in the Trojan War of The Iliad, but does not follow the same plot points. Rather than sulking in his tent for weeks, Achilles will be in action straight away, running through hordes of Trojans and the occasional boss, upgrading his skill tree along the way. It kinda plays like an early PSP game too, with not much to do besides combat, and although you get a Spartan kick, it looks like the first game where this might get old. It’s fairly short, at about 6-10 hours. Hopefully it is priced to match.

Phantom Blade: Executioners is also an action-RPG. This one’s a side-scroller with anime sensibilities in its art style, voiceover work, and extravagant, screen-filling combo animations.

Silent Hill: Ascension is the first part of Konami’s multi-pronged plan to revive Silent Hill. It isn’t on the list because it’s an “interactive streaming experience” that will run every day for a few months. You’ll be able to get it through your TV, console, PC, or mobile device through Google Play and through the App stores. The game is presented as a show that is streamed at a set time each day. The audience can watch the stream and input choices, and the game will respond to those choices in aggregate. Maybe the on-screen character will be in a dangerous situation that has a quick-time event—if enough people watching fail the QTE, the character will die. Other choices tied to the story can be lined up in advance, so you don’t have to be watching the stream live to have your vote counted. Sound complicated? Imagine trying to write the game to react to these outcomes each day. What if the audience is a bunch of noobs (or trolls) and all the main characters die in the first few days?

Speaking of games not on the list: Gangs of Sherwood, a fast-paced co-op action brawler with a steampunk take on Robin Hood, was a late scratching this week. It demoed at the recent Steam Next Fext and player feedback was so (in the devs’ words) “abundant” that the devs immediately pushed it back a month for some further tuning.

Ebenezer and The Invisible World is a Castlevanioid based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with a hand-drawn art style that makes it look like a Victorian-era Banner Saga. If you thought Pinocchio was 2023’s most unlikely literary character turned action hero, strap in for Ebenezer Scrooge. This miserly old geezer will be double-jumping, dodge-rolling, and meleeing his way through levels with surprising sprightliness. The different powers he unlocks to help in combat and puzzling take the form of different ghosts that he can summon.

Teyon, as a developer, has carved a niche from making games out of 1980s movie franchises: Terminator, Rambo and now RoboCop: Rogue City. This is not a reboot or reimagining; it is very much RoboCop: The Movie: The Game, with a story that sits between the 2nd and 3rd movies and Peter Weller returning to voice RoboCop. RoboCop gets past the ACAB factor by saying: oh yeah, but what if a whole city has been overrun by nihilistic, murderous, Fallout-style raiders, who hand out super-meth like candy on Halloween? Best not to think too hard and just keep shooting.

Gameplay-wise, RoboCop eschews all the recent FPS trends towards player mobility and agility. RoboCop doesn’t sprint, crouch, wall-run, or mantle. He plods, shooting or punching anything in front of him, taking hits on his armour instead of taking cover. He can punch through walls, and there are a lot of destructible objects. This is old-school, red barrels and medpacks territory. On top of the shooting, there’s skill trees, clue-scanning investigation, and a hint of a story relating to RoboCop’s psychology and memories of his life as a human cop.

The Talos Principle 2 is a sequel to the renowned philosophical puzzle game. It’s set in a future Earth where humans are extinct and robots rule the roost. It’s in Unreal Engine 5, so the future looks super crisp and shiny, with impressive architecture and grandiose vistas.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice is a VR horror game set in the World of Darkness, specifically Venice. It’s Dishonored-style stealth assassination: lots of death from above as you creep along rooftops and ceiling beams, doing takedowns. You will have an arsenal of gadgets and supernatural powers, including a Blink teleport ability.

Microsoft Flight Simulator: Dune is a tie-in. You can fly the cool dragonfly-lookin’ ornithopters and it sure does look like you’re flying around in Dune: The Movie.

Fashion Dreamer is a chill Switch game about creating looks as a fashion influencer. You collect clothes and mix-and-match them into stylish outfits. Then you give your outfits to your Muses to wear around town and see how many likes they get. If you spend too long in the inventory menu of other games, fitting out your character, then this game is for you.

My Time at Sandrock is a Stardew Valley/Animal Crossing-style life sim game where you’re a fledgling builder who’s new in town and you have to use your tools to restore the town to greatness. It has been in Early Access on PC for a year and got a lot of favourable reviews—the full release will bring multiplayer mode for the first time.

There’s no must-play GOTW for me this week. RoboCop: Rogue City looks very RoboCop but is about 30 years too late to capitalise on my appetite for a RoboCop game. Silent Hill: Ascension has an interesting concept, but I know I won’t make time to catch the streams. The Talos Principle 2 looks super crisp, but maybe too ponderous. Achilles has a cool setting, but not-so-great execution. So, I’m going to give the GOTW to Fashion Dreamer for delivering best on its premise. I didn’t originally think I would pick it for GOTW, but I didn’t think I’d spend thousands of gold on armour dyes in Baldur’s Gate 3, either.

Here's the list, in release-date AND alphabetical order!

PC

• 10-30

• AfterTheCloud
• Alone
• Beneath The Backrooms
• Buried
• Fallen (Main Street Games)
• Inukari - Fateful detour
• KEEP OUT : Black Protein
• Labyrinthatory
• Meowing Point
• Mystic Valley Battleground
• One Week With The Mafia
• Painter Simulator
• Paper Dash - Ghost Hunt
• Phantom Rose 2 Sapphire
• Sleepless Night
• Spooky Tower
• The Dungeon
• Warpath
• WFD

• 10-31

• BYLE
• CapsuleMan
• Cave Heroes
• Coin Toss Rainbow Simulator
• DAEMON MASQUERADE
• Darkless
• Divine Pig
• Dream Cafe
• EdgeRunner
• Effugium (DVoid)
• Elfs From Elsewhere!
• Enypnion Redreamed
• Flower Simulator
• Headbangers: Rhythm Royale
• HELL HUNTER - Damned Soul
• Hidden World 5 Top-Down 3D
• Hokkaido Game
• Jusant
• Labyrinth (Francesco Battiato)
• Love Alone Death
• Macabre Stage Vol. 1: Cursed Cartridge
• Madra Glowa
• Mocaverse
• Mostroscopy
• Necromancers' Arena
• Odd Infinitum: First Contact
• Only Evil Remains
• Only Wish
• Pudji
• Run 'n Gun: Deluxe
• rush
• Scorching Shrine Maiden Shizune
• Sorrows End
• Substitute Priest
• The book of death for dummies
• The Hauntings: Dark Passenger
• The Hunter's Journals - Return to Wight Chapel
• Thousands Rooms Under The Reality
• Trim For Your Dream
• Tube Be Continued
• Tyrium - Dawn of a New Era
• UNSANE 2
• Viking Chef: Feast Frenzy
• You Will Die Here Tonight
• Young Hero's Jianghu

• 11-01

• Alien Hominid Invasion
• At Winter's End
• This Bed We Made
• Song of Nunu: A League of Legends

• 11-02

• 2 Bit Operative
• Achilles: Legends Untold
• Cactus Cowboy - Desert Warfare
• Dead Island 2: Haus
• Drive Up
• For the King 2
• Magicraft
• My Time at Sandrock
• Phantom Blade: Executioners
• Phantom Galaxies
• RoboCop: Rogue City
• The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone
• Star Ocean The Second Story R
• The Talos Principle 2
• Thirsty Suitors
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice

• 11-03

• Back to the Dawn
• Ebenezer and The Invisible World
• Iron Marines Invasion
• Jumanji: Wild Adventures
• Microsoft Flight Simulator: Dune
• StrangerZ
• WRC

Xbox Series X

• 10-31

• ARK: Survival Ascended
• Headbangers: Rhythm Royale
• Jusant
• PlateUp!

• 11-01

• Fusion Paradox
• RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe
• Wizardry School: Escape Room

• 11-02

• Achilles: Legends Untold
• Dead Island 2: Haus
• FINIS
• My Time at Sandrock
• RoboCop: Rogue City
• The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone
• The Talos Principle II
• Thirsty Suitors

• 11-03

• DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing
• EA Sports WRC
• Ebenezer and The Invisible World
• Jumanji: Wild Adventures
• Microsoft Flight Simulator: Dune

Xbox One

• 10-31

• Headbangers: Rhythm Royale
• PlateUp!

• 11-01

• Alien Hominid Invasion
• Fusion Paradox
• RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe
• Wizardry School: Escape Room

• 11-02

• Dead Island 2: Haus
• FINIS
• My Time at Sandrock
• The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone
• Thirsty Suitors

• 11-03

• Call of Toys: Tower Defense!
• DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing
• Ebenezer and The Invisible World
• Jumanji: Wild Adventures

PlayStation 5

• 10-31

• ARK: Survival Ascended
• Headbangers: Rhythm Royale
• Jusant
• PlateUp!
• The Foglands
• The Forest Cathedral

• 11-01

• This Bed We Made

• 11-02

• Achilles: Legends Untold
• Dead Island 2: Haus
• My Time at Sandrock
• Phantom Blade: Executioners
• RoboCop: Rogue City
• Star Ocean: The Second Story R
• The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone
• The Talos Principle II
• Thirsty Suitors
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice

• 11-03

• DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing
• EA Sports WRC
• Ebenezer and The Invisible World
• Jumanji: Wild Adventures
• Quantum Error
• RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe
• The Silent Swan

PlayStation 4

• 10-31

• Headbangers: Rhythm Royale

• 11-02

• Dead Island 2: Haus
• My Time at Sandrock
• Phantom Blade: Executioners
• Star Ocean: The Second Story R
• The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone
• The Talos Principle II
• Thirsty Suitors

• 11-03

• DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing
• Ebenezer and The Invisible World
• Jumanji: Wild Adventures
• RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe

Nintendo Switch

• 10-31

• Ace Robot Combat
• Headbangers: Rhythm Royale
• Mystery Lover
• Mystery Lover Nonexistent Summer
• Silent Paws: Hidden Valley

• 11-01

• Alien Hominid HD
• Alien Hominid Invasion
• Alpha Particle
• Enchanted Portals
• Fusion Paradox
• Ninja or Die: Shadow of the Sun
• RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe
• Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story

• 11-02

• Attouteki Yuugi: Mugen Souls Double Pack
• Chicken Journey
• City Parking Driver: Draw the Path Simulator
• Eigengrau
• Foosball League Cup: Arcade Table Football Simulator
• FX Unit Yuki: The Henshin Engine
• Kurukuru Puzzle Yokaishi B
• Maigo no Koneko-chan
• MODEL Debut3 #nicola
• My Time at Sandrock
• Oku Dake Doriru Shougaku 6-nensei Kanji
• Star Ocean: The Second Story R
• The Fox Awaits me HANA
• The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone
• Thirsty Suitors

• 11-03

• Amabilly
• DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing
• Ebenezer and The Invisible World
• Fashion Dreamer
• Jumanji: Wild Adventures
• One Night: Burlesque
• Pokemon Scarlet + The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero
• Pokemon Violet + The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero
• WarioWare: Move It!

• 11-04

• Real Car Parking 2024: Driving Simulator
• White Wings