July’s traditionally one of the quietest months in the gaming calendar, although there’s been quite a few standouts this time around. And rounding out the month this time around are games with a bit more of a sporting flavour.
There’s the locally-produced Rugby League Live 4, made down in Melbourne. Pyre comes from the same studio that made Bastion and Transistor, but it’s a vastly different kettle of fish, blending a party-based RPG with a game about navigating a ball into your enemies goal. The Switch gets a new minigolf game this week, the PSVR gets a physics-based action game, and the makers of Jotun are back with another hand-drawn Metroidvania. Let’s check out This Week In Games.
Rugby League Live 4 (PS4/XBO)
What is it? Virtual rugby league.
Should you care? Much like Don Bradman Cricket, this is the kind of game where you already made a decision two or three iterations ago. And as was the case with Don Bradman, a PC release is due later in the year.
Infinite Minigolf (Switch, PS4, XBO, PSVR)
What is it? A cute minigolf game with an in-built editor.
Should you care? It’s made by the same studio behind the Zen Pinball games, so it should play well. A minigolf game on the Switch sounds good too.
Fortnite (PC, PS4, XBO)
What is it? A survival co-op game that’s more Pixar and Plants vs Zombies than The Walking Dead.
Should you care? You really need to see some gameplay to work out whether its your thing.
Pyre (PC, PS4)
What is it? The latest game from the makers of Transistor and Bastion, Pyre revolves around two teams of three characters trying to get the ball into their enemy’s pyre.
Should you care? Supergiant is one of the few developers I would trust to make this weird mashup of sports/party RPG work. If nothing else, the artstyle and soundtrack would still be worthwhile.
Fable Fortune (PC, XBO)
What is it? The Fable franchise returns, this time as a CCG.
Should you care? There’s plenty of competitive or casual CCGs to play these days, and it’s hard to see how Fable Fortune is going to cut through.
Heroes of the Seven Seas (PSVR)
What is it? A virtual reality FPS game about being a pirate, complete with a singleplayer campaign and RPG elements.
Should you care? Worth a look if you need some PSVR variety.
Vostok Inc. (PS4, XBO)
What is it? A game about exploring space and blowing things up for profit.
Should you care? There’s talk of incorporating elements of idle clickers. Mini-games, one of which includes an FPS. It sounds weird enough to be interesting.
Sundered (PC, PS4)
What is it? A hand-drawn 2D Metroidvania from the makers of Jotun.
Should you care? If you enjoyed Dead Cells recently, this might be your next calling.
Namco Museum (Switch)
What is it? A string of Namco classics, including Pac-Man, Rolling Thunder and Tank Force.
Should you care? It’s nice to have, but the Switch needs more new games than it does arcade ones.
The Low Road (PC)
What is it? A dark spy comedy set in the 1970’s, where the player navigates their way through various puzzles and the world of corporate espionage.
Should you care? Looks fun. I’m in.
A Healer Only Lives Twice (PS4)
What is it? A game about being cornered in a dungeon as a Priest.
Should you care? The concept is quite neat, although it looks real dated. Game came out on Steam last year, if you’d rather play there.
Unbox: Newbie’s Adventure (PS4, XBO)
What is it? A game about saving the Global Postal Service from bankruptcy by selling and delivering cardboard boxes.
Should you care? It’s pretty cute, but probably not most people’s cup of tea.
It’s actually quite the chockers week for indies and smaller games, so if I’m missed something major let me know below. Picking up Pyre or Rugby League Live this week, or sticking with something else?
Comments
20 responses to “This Week In Games: Time To Scrum”
anyone know when Rime is coming to the switch? I feel like it will work well on the switch
Also out this week:
Circuit Breakers (Ps4/XBOne)
Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion (Vita)/Fallen Legion: Sins of an Empire (PS4)
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star (PC)
Super Cloudbuilt (PS4/PC/XBOne)
Theseus (PSVR)
Phantom Trigger (Switch/PC)
Hey! Pikmin (3DS)
FUCK yeah to Pikmin, been spending a chunk of time in the hospital with my 3ds and am keen to play something thing else, you can only play so much Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright, Castlevania.
Are Melbournian’s best placed to make rugby games? (as a Melbournian I know next to nothing about rugby league).
The last thing I need is new games to add to my backlog, so will keep slogging on the games I already have until Yakuza Kiwami comes out
TruBlue/Big Ant are competent devs, but they really need to be afforded a higher budget. The games are very fun, but wear thin quickly, much like the AFL Live series.
It will probably fall prey to the same AI crappy thing as 1, 2 & 3 — you can cut through the forward row by running backwards and then looping around them for easy tries on any difficulty.
I was making a joke about Melbourne’s anti-rugby attitude, but I’m sure that the devs are great at their jobs considering the budgets they work with! I remember years ago that the rugby and afl games were pretty decent and fun, but I guess the quality gap between these games and the likes of FIFA, NBA2K etc has grown exponentially in recent years.
For sure, the gap between the 2k and EA series and theirs isn’t so much a gap as it is a gaping chasm.
Also out –
Tiny Trax PSVR
Infinite Minigolf
I assume that’s the retail version of Fortnite since that came out last week.
Last week was an early access/those who preordered got in earlier deal. The “official” full release for all platforms isn’t until early Wednesday morning.
Then why is it up on the PS4 store?
Wait, I thought Fortnite was not releasing until 2018 and that this was just the start of early access. Have these lists always had early access / beta release games? Am I going crazy?
You’re not. I typically don’t include early access/beta release games in these lists. Yesterday was pretty rushed though (hence TWIG being up later than usual) and Fortnite is the kind of thing that a lot of people would have forgotten about, so I made a last second call to include it this time around.
Probably shouldn’t have, but can’t wind the clock back now.
Definitely going to play Pyre. Sundered looks like it could be good too.
How Tru Blu Studio gets away with making such crap NRL games is beyond me. Just look at their website FFS.
What does web development have to do with game development?
Well, if I am looking for studios to publish a game for me. I am going start at google, if their website is shit, its pretty indicative of how their end product is going to be shit. Which in this case multiple iterations of shit.
A crappy-looking restaurant can still employ an amazing chef. And when I go out to eat I’m only interested in how good the food is.
Yeah but when you look at pictures of the food on the menu, and they’re shit. Its hard to justify the price of admission.
RIP Fable 🙁