Don asked me if I wanted to write up this week’s intro. He did that before he showed me the list of games coming out. Sure there is XCOM 2. And Dying Light is getting an expansion. But really, can either of those compete with American Truck Simulator or Cat Simulator? I think not. And I haven’t even mentioned that the Wii U is getting the biggest release of all, Peg Solitaire. This week, without a doubt, is the pinnacle of gaming releases. Pack it in folks, games are done for 2016. -Chris S.
Several of us at Critically Sane have listed the reboot of the XCOM series as a Game of the Year candidate, if not our GOTY itself. Now I know I’m the only one who had to restart at some point because the aliens devastated me late in the game, and it was that playthrough that spawned the sequel, XCOM 2 (PC). XCOM 2 is a direct sequel based on Earth’s forces losing the original war 20 years prior (ie XCOM). Firaxis Games has tweaked the details of the game, adding some briefer missions that require speed, procedurally generated maps, and sadly, PC-exclusivity. But I think that’s a ruse, and us console gamers will get it this Fall, but in the mean time, PC gamers should absolutely check this game out.
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I’m not going to lie, I found European Truck Simulator to be a weirdly wonderful experience. There was something relaxing about taking a big rig out for a drive between Poland and Germany, at least until I had to park the damn thing (then it became a stressful mess). American Truck Simulator takes the scene to California and I imagine it will be just as weird and wonderful this time around.[/one_third]
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Fortified (Xbox One, PC), looks like an action game and a tower defense game thrown into a blender with nostalgic Martian propaganda. You do remember when Martians were invading back in the 1950’s, right? No? Well, at any rate, if you need a new co-op game in your life, Fortified has four-player co-op. And Martians. [/one_third]
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It may be blasphemous but I think Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot is on the same level as Sherlock Holmes. In Agatha Christie – The ABC Murders (PC), players will get to take on the role of the classic detective solving a classic mystery. All of it with some goofy cartoon graphics.[/one_third_last]
Last year Dying Light was one of my favorite games. It was the polished culmination of everything that developer Techland set out to do with Dead Island. Now a year later and Techland has more Dying Light for us in the form of an expansion, The Following. Dying Light: The Following (PC. PS4, and XBOX One) sees players once again take on the role of hero Kyle Crane, this time as he goes outside the quarantine zone to take on the zombie horde and a sinister cult. Boasting a land mass as big as the base game and the addition of drive-able vehicles, this could be just what I’m looking for after Fallout 4 left me wanting a bit.
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Two months after release, it’s time for the first BlOps 3 map pack, Call of Duty: Black Ops III – The Awakening (PS4). If you’re still digging Call of Duty’s latest game, you’ll get four new maps and a new Zombies chapter. As with every new COD map pack, one map is a re-imagining of Hi-Jacked, creatively called Skyjacked. [/one_third]
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Have you ever been in a restaurant and they had one of those peg games that was inevitably missing a peg or two? That’s Peg Solitaire (Wii U), minus the missing pieces and debatable food choice. The fact that it is on this list should indicate to you what a weird week it is.[/one_third]
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Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4, Vita) is a, according to Wikipedia, “roguelike rhythm” game. So, you explore the dungeons by matching your commands to the beat, which is a new idea at least. While new to Sony’s family, the PC version had a solid 87/100 Metacritic rating. Not bad, not bad.[/one_third_last]
Honorable Mentions –
Are you picking up anything this week? Let us know in the comments below.
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