Friends, welcome back to Kotaku Australia for 2022. Happy new year, and I hope you had a wonderful holiday period despite Omicron’s rapid proliferation. To those of you already dealing with an infection, my sympathies, I hope you’re on the mend soon and the effects are not too difficult for you to deal with. To those who’ve somehow managed to dodge the bug despite the odds, may you outrun it a little while longer yet.
It’s our first proper week back in the office after the holidays and that means clearing the corkboard and starting the year fresh. What better way to do that than by looking at what we’re playing this week, and later into the month?
So, without further ado, here’s what’s out this week:
January 11
Super Sami Roll (XSX)
January 13
PUBG: Battlegrounds goes free to play (PS4, XBO, PC)
This is a big one, honestly. It’s kind of a surprise that PUBG didn’t go free to play a long time before now, especially given how lucrative the move was for Fortnite, but better late than never I suppose. If you’ve never played one of the foundational games in the battle royale genre, now will be a great moment. The servers will be buzzing at launch, so expect some lumps and bumps.
January 14
Monster Hunter Rise (PC)
The first of two console ports coming to PC this week. Monster Hunter Rise is making its way from the Switch to the PC. More of a traditional Monster Hunter RPG than the experimental Monster Hunter World, it retains the series’ layered, versatile combat and upgrade systems. I’d actually call it a better jumping-on point for new players than World because the degree of overall complexity is slightly lower.
The Anacrusis (XSX, XBO, PC)
Mushroom Wars 2 (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO)
January 15
Disney Classic Games Collection (PS4, NS)
This one has come up before but is getting a rerelease with a few extra titles. Previously released with Aladdin and The Lion King, the package now contains The Jungle Book as well. This includes the Mega Drive, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy versions of all three games so you can compare and contrast. Some, like The Lion King, are not terribly different from platform to platform. Others, like Aladdin, are entirely different games. The Mega Drive version of Aladdin is the superior version and I will go to my grave defending this take.
God of War (PC)
God of War comes to PC at last. The latest of the PlayStation library to go cross-platform, God of War is considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of PlayStation’s first-party titles. If you haven’t played it before, the spoiler-free rundown is this: Kratos and his son Atreus embark on a personal quest across the Nine Realms of Norse legend. These two very different people must learn to work together to overcome to many threats and obstacles that lie ahead of them. It’s worth noting that PlayStation titles have a growing history of performance issues when launching on PC. Check it out on Day 1 by all means, but if you find it’s not running terribly well, you may want to hold off for a few performance patches down the line.
New Home: Medieval Village (PC)
And that’s it for this week. All’s quiet until next week when Rainbow Six Extraction arrives to spice things up. The week after, the slalom into a very busy February begins with Rugby 22, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection. Hold tight friends, a second holiday deluge is about to begin.
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