For most people, the biggest thing out this week will be the return of The Bat. I’m talking the latest season of Telltale’s Batman adventures, of course, the first episode of which drops fairly early in the week.
But there’s a few other games worth keeping an eye on. The most curious of them is the return of Ninja Theory, by way of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, a game about a Celtic warrior struggling with psychosis. If that wasn’t enough, Cliffy B’s LawBreakers is finally out, while WW2 RTS fans are catered for with a new Sudden Strike.
Graceful Explosion Machine (PS4)
What is it? The PS4 release of the 2D sidescroller that launched on the Switch earlier this year.
Should you care? It’s a very colourful sidescrolling schmup, but it also ran just fine on the Switch. If you didn’t grab it then, the PS4 version should do nicely.
Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 (PC, PS4, XBO)
What is it? Mega Man numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10 return.
Should you care? My first introduction to the Mega Man games was when they launched on PC. In any case, your mileage will depend on how much you loved each particular Mega Man game.
Sine Mora EX (PC, PS4, XBO, Switch)
What is it? A re-release of the sidescrolling schmup, with 4K support, local co-op, full English voiceovers and 16:9 support.
Should you care? Sine Mora was a good shooter when it first came out, and worth a look if you enjoy the genre. Nex Machina fans would get a kick out of this as well.
Foxfolk (PC)
What is it? A game about keeping your fox family alive during the winter.
Should you care? Something about the artstyle immediately melted my heart.
Batman The Telltale Series Season 2: Episode 1 (PC, PS4, XBO, iOS, Android)
What is it? Telltale’s take on the Bat is back.
Should you care? The last Batman Telltale games were in dire need of patches last time. I’d wait to make sure everything was up to scratch first.
Sudden Strike 4 (PC)
What is it? The war-time RTS returns after a long hiatus.
Should you care? If you’re a Company of Heroes fan, you’ll want to give some gameplay a look. It’ll be a little too slow for most people’s tastes, however.
Blackhole: Complete Edition (PS4, XBO)
What is it? A challenging platformer that mixes in comedy with some tough gravity-based puzzles.
Should you care? Blackhole got a solid reception on Steam when it launched a couple of years ago, for what it’s worth.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (PC, PS4)
What is it? A Celtic warrior goes on a quest into Viking hell to recover the soul of her dead lover.
Should you care? The devs released a feature recently about collaborating with neuroscientists and the lived-in experience of psychosis:
Might be one of the most unusual games we’ll see this year, and it’s a Ninja Theory game on top of that. I’m down.
LawBreakers (PC, PS4)
What is it? Cliffy B and co. return with an arena shooter where lightning quick movement and defying gravity is the order of the day.
Should you care? Most people don’t seem to these days, which is a bit of a shame. It’d be nice to see at least one or two arena shooters go gangbusters on PC.
Armello Deluxe Edition (PS4)
What is it? A re-release of one of Australia’s most successful Kickstarter games, with all the DLC included.
Should you care? It’s one of the highest quality digital board games going around, although the reliance on die rolls and other random elements might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Masquerada: Songs and Shadows (PS4)
What is it? The console launch of a singleplayer tactics RPG where Venetian-style masks grant users the power of magic.
Should you care? It’s an interesting looking game, that’s for sure.
Neon Drive (PS4, XBO)
What is it? A 80’s inspired retro arcade game with a banging synth soundtrack.
Should you care? Looks and sounds better than it plays.
Neptune Flux (PSVR)
What is it? An open-world VR adventure set in a sci-fi ocean.
Should you care? It’s about 90 minutes long, and the puzzles didn’t win any prizes when the game launched on Steam. Don’t set your expectations too high.
Fictorum (PC)
What is it? An action RPG with dynamic spell shaping, destructible environments and a procedurally generated maps.
Should you care? Might be fun, depending on how crazy the magic shaping can get.
Ironcast (Switch)
What is it? A turn-based strategy game that mixes match-three gameplay with steampunk mechs.
Should you care? It’s cooler than it sounds.
Phantom Trigger (PC, Switch)
What is it? A 2D action RPG where you journey through the very neon realm of demons, throwing around spells and combos all the while.
Should you care? You’ll get about seven or eight hours out of the game, as an FYI. The combat looks like it could be fun.
So that’s the headline games out this week, Hellblade being the standout for me. Fictorum could be neat, however, and plenty of people will obviously gravitate towards a new Batman adventure. What are you picking up this week, or are you still playing something from your backlog?
Comments
9 responses to “This Week In Games: A Celtic Nightmare”
Hellblade looks amazing. God I hope it’s respectful to the themes, and from all accounts it is, so I’m soooo down for that game.
Really curious about Hellblade. Ninja Theory are underrated IMO and I always really like their games. On the other hand the budget price for the game makes me worried.
How much is it?
30 bucks
I think the budget price is due to the game being half the length of a AAA title.
The second half of this video explains their thinking clearly. It definitely seems like a “we’re giving you every reason to take a chance on us” line of thinking rather than a “we’re cutting costs” thing. I’m definitely not worried about the price after this video.
the Norsca DLC drops this week as well for Total War: Warhammer
Wait… Mark “A Celtic Nightmare” Serrels is coming out in games this week?
I’m a bit disturbed by how little hype there is around Hellblade. It’s a Sony console exclusive so you’d Sony would be pushing it really hard. There only seems to be 2 or 3 articles here on Kotaku about it (versus 512 for Dream Daddy). And the game itself looks like a mix of HZD and Dark Souls – so you’d think the internet would be having a collective boner right now. Hope it turns out to be a sleeper hit, and not just a sleeper.