This week is a quiet one by recent standards, but there’s still a lot to check out. My recommendation for the week? Probably Expand, a unique Australian game that’s difficult to describe, but effortlessly brilliant. Oh, and that Tony Hawk game is out this week. And a new Animal Crossing game.
But seriously — I worry for a game like Expand. How do you release a game like that on Steam? It’s literally being drowned in a pool of garbage. Every week I check out Steam for new releases. There are so many games that are literally not even worth a sentence. This week is especially whiffy. There needs to be some sort of quality control. It’s getting out of hand.
80 Days (PC)
What is it? It’s that super good mobile game that won awards. Now it’s on PC.
Should you care? I didn’t play the original, but this looks really good. Really does some unique things with story.
Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer (3DS)
What is it? I had forgotten all about this. It’s an Animal Crossing game about interior design basically!
Should you care? I think there is an audience for this. It’s not me. But someone is gonna love this.
Armikrog (PC)
What is it? I feel like we’ve written about this before — was this supposed to come out last week? Either way — it’s stop motion, clay animated adventure game.
Should you care? Cool concept. It looks incredible.
Daily Espada (PC)
What is it? This sounds bizarre. A man is drawn into a strange Brazilian game show. And fights monsters from Brazilian mythology.
Should you care? No idea what’s going on here, but looks well-made. More than I can say for some of the junk being released on Steam.
Drone Zero Gravity (PC)
What is it? This seems like a super polished twin-stick shooter, but there are elements of exploration.
Should you care? This looks really gorgeous. I love how it looks. Worth checking out.
Expand (PC)
What is it? An Australian-made game that I played at PAX Australia last year and ADORED.
Should you care? If you only check out one game this week it should probably be this one.
Fallout Anthology (PC)
What is it? Hey this is out! Shame it’s not on consoles.
Should you care? You probably already have these video games. But maybe you want a really cool looking box?
LEGO Dimensions
What is it? It’s the reason you’re going bankrupt. The reason you’re eating pizza out of a bin.
Should you care? If you’re a fan of toys, LEGO or video games, you’re probably going to care about this.
Lost Horizon 2 (PC)
What is it? I know nothing about this. Seems like a big production though. An adventure game set in the shadow of the Cold War.
Should you care? I don’t know enough about it to be honest. Have a look.
Luna Sky (PC)
What is it? A high speed, high precision platformer. I like these things.
Should you care? Looks pretty decent. Worth investigating
Might & Magic® Heroes® VII (PC)
What is it? It’s the super solid turn-based strategy game based in the Might & Magic universe.
Should you care? These are usually pretty good.
NBA 2K16
What is it? A game about a game where you through a ball into a basket. They call it ‘basketball’.
Should you care? This game has been reviewing extremely well. It is apparently good!
ORBIT (PC)
What is it? A twin-stick shooter, but for multiplayer. Like same screen shoot your friends multiplayer.
Should you care? It looks really good. Nice visuals.
Pixel Galaxy (PC)
What is it? A twin-stick style shooter where you don’t actually shoot.
Should you care? I love the visual style.
Stairs (PC)
What is it? A horror game based on real events apparently.
Should you care? It looks decent but there are a lot of these games nowadays and none of them are as good as SOMA.
The Escapists: The Walking Dead (PC)
What is it? Remember The Escapists? Well they have The Walking Dead license and there’s now a weird top-down RPG rogue-like style thing in that universe.
Should you care? People seem to love this stuff. I don’t understand it at all.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 (Xbox One/PS4)
What is it? The lack of fuss surrounding this release troubles me.
Should you care? It’s not really looking that good to be quite honest.
What are you picking up this week? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
20 responses to “This Week In Games: Expand Is Out This Week!”
Armikrog!
I knew this game existed but just lost track of it. What a pleasant surprise!
Lego Dimensions today?
Isn’t Lego Dimensions out today?
Totally disgusting money grabbing overpriced bulls**t.
My girlfriend’s picking it up for me this afternoon! Woo!
My daughter will be grabbing the Animal Crossing game, I’m ken to see how it plays.
Hi Ken!
I just came home with Lego dimensions, bought every figure and level pack. My wallet hurts
Jeez… how much? If you don’t mind my asking.
Over $400
Unbelievable. Puts Skylanders to shame, really.
Also out this week:
Arcana Heart 3 Love MAX!!!! (PC)
Dungeon Defenders II pre-alpha (PS4)
Mighty Gunvolt (PC)
Prismatic Solid (PS4)
Journey: Collector’s Edition (PS4 Physical)
Keen Dreams (PC)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 (PS3/XBox360)
Samurai Warriors 4-II (PS4/PC)
NBA Live 16 (PS4/XBOne)
I love warriors series but 4-2 is just dumb it’s a rehash of 4 with a couple of extra characters. Shame koei
Need me some Tony Hawks reviews…. Kotaku jump all up on this asap please.
It looks TERRIBLE.
They’re using the below image to advertise the game on the Xbox One Store:
http://blogs-images.forbes.com/insertcoin/files/2015/08/hawk1.jpg
Seriously! That image brings back weird late 90’s memories of terrible, low-res digitalisations and blocky, foggy environments.
I don’t want to sh*t on the game before it’s out, but I’d be absolutely shocked if it’s not garbage.
Wow… that is terrible looking… man i had such high hopes, and ive been hanging out for a new GOOD Tony Hawks game for sooo long 🙁
I think it’s the mix of cel shaded and realism. it’s..very strange
Activision also did NOT send out any review copies.
Generally, that is a very good indication a publisher has no confidence in the product
I’ll be picking up Armikrog on Friday.
Heroes of Might and Magic VII, huh? I’ve just been playing the old Heroes Chronicles lately. I loved this series, and even quite liked IV but V put me off it. The slow speed of all the combat, the complex skill trees and the square grids put me off. It looks like none of this was corrected in VI (which I haven’t played) and VII, so I might skip it again. But if anyone has played it, let me know…
I’ve got my fingers crossed that Tony Hawk isn’t as much of a crapfest as it looks to be, but I’m still playin’ Metal Gear so I’m good.
I woke up yesterday not even remembering that Lego Dimensions is out. I love Lego but thought I could control myself. My wife however got the email from Target and already bought the Wii U portal pad and Simpsons pack. She plans to head back to the shops to get the rest after her pay day…
(On another note: the second she showed it to me I was broken and wanted the lot!)