This week in gaming is largely dominated by one of those titanic releases that no one dares to compete with. However there are a few other little points of interest that might take your fancy.
Continuing my stream of ignorance from last week, I’m going to attempt to talk about another football game. Brace yourselves for more of my ill-informed ramblings. FIFA 16 hits stores this Thursday (although anyone who has EA Access can get it now in advance). The latest installment in the annually updated series comes with the expected improvement of details and mechanics but also brings a more noticeable change, with the addition of female players. A selection of 12 women’s national teams are now available, along with 78 stadiums, a new training mode, and various graphical improvements. The game is released on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Playstation 4, PC.
There, that wasn’t too painful was it? On a more The Edge related note, the Rainbow 6 Siege closed-Beta launches this week. A ‘closed’ Beta, for those who don’t know, means that only a select few places have access to it. In the case of Rainbow 6 Siege, The Edge is one such publication. So expect to see our first impressions some time this week, in the form of a preview of the tactical first-person shooter. Much excitement.
A significantly smaller release, Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma is available as of 22nd. The game (based on the manga of the same name) switches the protagonist of the first game out for his childhood friend, Kuma. Kuma is a cybernetically enhanced killing machine by the way. The episodic indie game is on a much smaller scale than its predecessor, but has some unique features going for it. Chief among them, is the much touted slicing mechanic, which promises to make the game the “undisputed leader in dynamic dismemberment”. The game is available on Playstation 4 and PC as of 22nd, with an Xbox One release on its way further down the line.
More Batman: Arkham Knight DLC is scheduled for this week as well, with two separate packs released on Tuesday. These two add-ons take the form of ‘GCPD Lockdown’ and the ‘Tumbler Pack’. The former is a new story campaign set after the events of the main game, in which players will control Nightwing, while the latter allows gamers to drive the Tumbler from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Which is something that I have wanted to do since I was ten years old, all the way back in 2005.
Finally, September 25th sees the release of Skylanders Superchargers, which is one of those exploitative toy-to-life games like Disney Infinity. You know the type, where kids pester their parents for an overpriced figurine to place onto a ‘portal’, which then allows them to control a new character in the game. In other words, a licence to print money. New to Superchargers in particular, is the inclusion of vehicles, which come in land, water and air based forms. They too of course have to purchased individually, because greed. The game is released on Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3 and Playstation 4.
