Felix “Mech Believe” Threepaper
Welcome folks, and happy “44th Anniversary of the Sex Pistols’ last ever gig” week! On 14 January, 1978, the Sex Pistols took to the stage at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on the final date of their US tour, played one song, and left. They broke up the next day. The band had been tearing itself apart all tour, not least because they’d kicked out the bass player (who wrote most of their songs) and replaced him with the pretty, but musically talentless, Sid Vicious, who antagonised the audience instead of playing any songs. You may all celebrate by playing an overrated game that’s more about aesthetics than mechanics.
Things are afoot at Sony. PS3 game titles have started “appearing” on the PS5 store with their own pages, when searching for them previously would only link you to the PSNow game streaming service. You still can’t buy these games, and no one knows what’s really up, but there’s speculation that these are storefront placeholder entries for an upcoming Sony version of GamePass with greater backwards compatibility. If this is true, I’ll never play a PS5 game on my PS5.
Anyway, what’s actually out this week?
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction takes the Rainbow Six franchise from PvP to PvE. You play in teams of up to 3 to take on waves of aliens on maps that promise dynamic AI reactions and different enemy composition, ensuring unique playthroughs each time. It sounds more like a Left 4 Dead/Back 4 Blood game than a Rainbow Six game.
Humankind: Cultures of Africa is the first piece of DLC for Humankind. It adds 6 African cultures, one for each era, as well as African wonders and a bunch of new events. The cultures themselves are not just mercantile, but militaristic, expansionist, and agrarian as well. How many of these little DLC packs will come out before Humankind gets a full-on expansion to flesh out its features?
Blackwind is an isometric dungeon-crawler where you are in a mech, exploring the planet you’ve started on and fighting hordes of invaders. It’s part twin-stick shooter, part brawler, part RPG. There’s also a co-op mode where one player can be the mech while another player can be the mech’s little drone buddy.
Nobody Saves the World is the latest game from the makers of Guacamelee!. You play the titular Nobody in this action-RPG where you unlock different forms as you progress, each with their own sets of abilities. There’s dozens of form abilities to unlock and you are encouraged to mix and match to find powerful, customised builds. The dungeons are procedurally-generated and become harder as you level up. It’s got a cartoony, comical art style and you can play it co-op.
Hitman Trilogy bundles up all the rebooted Hitman games, hoping to add some new fans in time for the next phase of Hitman 3 DLC. Speaking of which, a new game mode, “Elusive Target Arcade” also drops this week. It’s a daily challenge where you have to take down a series of targets (instead of just one) and complete various side objectives. For VR Hitman players, they’re putting in throwing mechanics, so you can hook a spanner at a goon’s head when you need to.
As for the Switch, it gets another week of ports from previous years.
Blackwind and Nobody Saves the World stand out the most for me this week. There’s not much separating the two for a GOTW pick, as they both offer dungeon-crawling combined with different, extra layers to keep it fresh. Nobody Saves the World goes wide on abilities, builds, maps, and how to solve them, whereas Blackwind goes deep with a fixed skill tree and map. I prefer a more curated experience, so I’ll give the GOTW to Blackwind.
Here's the list, now in release-date AND alphabetical order!
PC
-
01-17
- Alchemist of War
- BombSweeperVR
- CALL OF DOOM
- Colony Simulator
- Dog Adventure
- Fear of the Dark
- Follow the Black Kitten
- I just want red
- Ibatic
- Kovox Pitch
- Krai. Digital-poetry vol. 1
- Mage Tower
- Nevedomo
- Operation: VICUS
- Pocket Rocket
- Race! Beauty! Bugs!
- Skator Gator
- Slime Crown
- The Amethyst Stones
- The Immaculate Drag
- Vaccine Delivery Adventure
-
01-18
- ---Red---Tether-->
- Aberration (TiernanGames)
- Ancient Gladiators
- Blacksmith Legends
- Chessformer
- File Under Kingdom
- Gravity Game
- Hop Skip and Thump
- Mental Math Tutor
- Nobody Saves the World
- Old Salt
- Paranormal Detective: Escape from the 90's
- Puck Bash
- Run Run Pinata
- Solitaire Expeditions
- Space Hopper
- Starship Wars
- The Zombie Smasher
- Time Master
- Trance
- Warriors Heaven
- Warspace
- Where is Paradise ?
-
01-19
- 3D Solar System Simulator
- Alina of the Arena
- Another Sight
- Cat Swap Tiles
- Energy Island Corp.
- Fireworks Playground
- Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S
- Heeey! Park-Boy!
- Hidden Islands
- Hidden Map
- Impulsive Force
- Luckitown
- Obama
- PRINCESS
- Shuzzler
- Slime Village VR
- Social Credit Simulator
- Spiders Everywhere
- The Monster Breeder
- Warm Snow
- Watcher Chronicles
- Wordish
- Zombie Vampires
-
01-20
- 20b
- Alan's Automaton Workshop
- Aquamarine
- Axiallis
- Blackwind
- Break
- Communicate your love with Morse code.
- Covenant of the Guardians
- Dark Flame
- Dead No Head
- Dimension Tripper Neptune: TOP NEP
- Downslope
- Elementite
- Expeditions: Rome
- GRAND CROSS: ReNOVATION
- Guns N Stuff 2
- Gunslinger Valley
- Hitman Trilogy
- How To Bathe Your Cat: Impossible Mission
- Humankind: Cultures of Africa
- If you win...you lose !
- JENTRIX
- Johnny Boy: Red Moon's Kiss - Episode 1
- Kill To Live
- Last Hour
- Late Bird
- Mirror 2: Project X
- NEON STRUCT: Desperation Column
- Newton Going Home
- Ninja Usagimaru: Two Tails of Adventure
- Nope Nope Nurses
- Pupperazzi
- Pyramid Quest
- RPGolf Legends
- SEARCH ALL - SUSHI
- Sharon and the Last Garden
- SHINORUBI
- SKAZKA
- Spinning Maze
- Spiritual path
- Straight Ahead
- Sucker for Love: First Date
- The Monstrous Frontier
- The Packetman
- the theft of WINE
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction
- Tough Law
- Trinoline Genesis
- Unriddle
- Virtual Maid Streamer Ramie
- War and Empires
- Warcos
- WARNO
- WindJammers 2
- Write 'n' Fight
-
01-21
- A Maze Fox
- Adventures Nearby
- After Dark VR
- Aternia: Deep
- Beat Reality
- Black Cat Wizard
- Cat Adventure
- China's War Epidemic
- Color Patterns
- Crown Claimer
- Crystal Chaos
- Cyber-Cat
- Dark Paradise Nigelopia: Mini Mix
- Darkness Inside
- Dimension Shifter
- Dummy Falls
- Edge of the abyss Awakening
- Forest
- Ghoul League
- Goddess
- Greedy Corgi
- GwenBlade
- Hello Lady! - Complete Edition
- Hyper Road Carnage
- jingor mine
- Jivana
- Kurokami-sama's Feast
- My Therapist is a Futanari
- Needy Streamer Overload
- NinNinDays2
- Porcelana
- Presidential Running Games
- Red Bash
- Rome 2077: Tactics
- Room Prison
- Simple Killer
- Stairway to Heaven's Gate
- Strange Horticulture
- Survive The Hill
- Sword Reverie
- Synchronizacja
- Tag Hop
- The Hollows Chapter 1 Multiplayer
- The Lost Era
- Twins Edge : Back and Forth
- UAL: Universal AIM League
- Velocity Noodle
- Walk with the Living
- Wars and Roses
- Word Game
- Zodiacats
- Zombie War
-
01-22
- UFOTOFU: HEX
-
01-23
- Cave Crawler
- Mission: Santa
- Venatio
Xbox Series X
-
01-18
- Nobody Saves the World
-
01-19
- Dysmantle
- Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S
-
01-20
- Blackwind
- Hitman Trilogy
- RPGolf Legends
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction
Xbox One
-
01-18
- Nobody Saves the World
-
01-19
- Dysmantle
- Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S
- RPGolf Legends
-
01-20
- Blackwind
- Fatum Betula
- Hitman Trilogy
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction
- WindJammers 2
-
01-21
- Gravity Chase
PlayStation 5
-
01-18
- Queeny Army
- River City Girls
-
01-20
- Blackwind
- Hitman Trilogy
- RPGolf Legends
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction
-
01-21
- Trigger Witch
PlayStation 4
-
01-18
- Queeny Army
-
01-20
- Arcade Archives: Hopping Mappy
- Battle Spirits: Connected Battlers
- Blackwind
- Hitman Trilogy
- RPGolf Legends
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction
- WindJammers 2
Switch
-
01-17
- Dobo's Heroes
- Kubi Adventures
- Racing Classics PRO: Drag Race & Real Speed
- Shadow Man: Remastered
- Top Bike: Racing & Moto Drag
-
01-18
- Drowning Cross
- Labyrinth Legend
- Queeny Army
-
01-19
- Guild of Ascension
- Vivid Knight
-
01-20
- Alien Destroyer
- Animal Revolt Battle Simulator
- Arcade Archives: Hopping Mappy
- Blackwind
- Demon Hunter: Ascendance
- Dragon Hills 2
- JankBrain
- Make the Burger
- Nature
- Pixel Game Maker Series THUNDER STRIKER
- Road Bustle
- RPGolf Legends
- Scrapnaut
- WindJammers 2
-
01-21
- Baby Storm
- Go Minimal
- Kinduo
- Merek's Market
- The Company Man
-
01-22
- Hammer Kid
Comments
I'm wondering if the reception to Rainbow Six: Extraction has been so negative that they decided it was worth putting on Game Pass. They've announced their U-Play Plus service will now be on Game Pass, but that's a separate subscription. One might view Extraction as an enticement, but I wouldn't be surprised if pre-order numbers were low and they are desperate to try and generate some degree of interest in the game.
Regardless, I don't plan on playing it. I don't think it looks bad, but it doesn't really look good, either. I'll continue waiting for Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
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Huh, Blackwind looks cool. Probably in the "looks cool but will never play/buy because reviews end up mixed on it" category for me.
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.
I thought Hitman already got rereleased? Hm
Nice rumor on the PS5 stuff. I still have my PS3 hooked up for older stuff but need to sell my PS4 now
What Stele said ^ -mortalgroove
Switch: 6273-9936-5107
I believe it's Epic exclusivity period is over and they're now adding the PlayStation VR component to PC versions as well (going purely off memory)
"What Eleima says is the final word on it and not even God could undo it"
- ClockworkHouse
There's a demo on Steam, at least. I'll give it a go, or at least a DL. I've been pretty good at focusing on a game until it's done lately, so I'll have to fit it in after I'm done with my current game (Scarlet Nexus). That could be in a couple days, or if I play the 2nd campaign, a few weeks. Probably a couple days and a youtube watch.
Backloggery
Oh, Windjammers 2. Curious if there's enough depth for there to be a second game, but glad it exists!
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.
So Steam informed me that one of the many pixel-art action-platformer indie games I have wishlisted just went on sale today, so if I were randomly buying things I guess that'd be the one.
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I'm excited about Nobody Saves the World because of how much I've enjoyed Drinbox's previous games. It's getting pretty good reviews and it's on GamePass so I'll definitely be giving it a spin.
Madre de Dios! Es el pollo diablo!
I think it looks pretty fun after watching an in depth review. A stealth take on the L4D formula is a bit refreshing. Not $60 worth of content but enough there to get quite a few nights of co-op with friends. Perfect for Gamepass.