So I was planning on having a somewhat relaxing weekend but that got turned upside down in a huge ass hurry. Needless to say this weeks new releases is a wee bit late. Not a good start to the week sadly. On the plus side, I think we may be over the summer slump of game releases as this week we have around 17 games coming out! But let's be honest here...only a handful of those are worth mentioning.
Lets take a look at my curated list.
Ark: Survival Evolved
Platforms: Linux, Mac, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Release Date: August 29th, 2017
After a beta/early access that has lasted for 2 years, Ark: Survival Evolved (a dino-themed action adventure MMO if you have been living under a rock) is finally leaving early access status behind! Millions have already played this game so I am unsure what bringing it to release status will do for Ark's audience at this point. For those of you that are still playing Ark, maybe one day you will be able to play cross platform as the developers are actively working on it still. I will say that I have tried playing Ark in the past. I didn't survive. I didn't evolve. I stopped playing it.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Episode 1
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Release Date: August 31th, 2017
A prequel to the previous story, Before the Storm follows 16 year old Chloe Price (who Max rescues in the previous game) as she makes choices both good and bad. Instead of the time travel ability Max had in the first game, Chloe has the ability to "Backtalk" to make changes in the dialog she had with other characters in the game. Sometimes for better and sometimes not. If you enjoyed the first game, you will likely enjoy this first of three parts of Life is Strange: Before the Storm.
Pillars of Eternity: Complete edition
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One
Release Date: August 29th, 2017
Remember the days when RPG's ruled over our PC's and consoles with titles like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Diablo, Ultima, etc? Pillars of Eternity is trying to bring those glory days back! After a US$4 million Kickstarter campaign back in 2012, Pillars was launched on Steam back in 2015 and won best RPG of 2015. A sequel is in the works, but in the meantime us console players get a taste of RPG goodness complete with both the previously released expansion packs. Sadly, it looks like Pillars of Eternity is a single player only experience. Mrs. Soup loves RPG's and we have a blast playing together so I would have loved some same couch co-op. Oh well we have Diablo III for that I guess...you know...in a pinch.
ReCore: Definitive Edition
Platforms: PC, Xbox One
Release Date: August 29th, 2017
I played ReCore when it first came out. I should have reviewed it for you then but I didn't because I couldn't get through the better portion of the game and thought it unfair to base my review off of that. Visually appealing, the gameplay outside is good (repetitive but good), the story is decent and kept me engaged but when Joule gets into the middle tower the game fell apart for me. ReCore went from a decent adventure game to a terrible platformer in a hurry. You "climb" the tower jumping through and over obstacles and end up battling enemies in an arena. Once complete, you find out the door to the next level is blocked until you level up Joule again. Back outside you go. Rinse and repeat and that is the entire game...at least what I played. I got bored fast but kept at it for a number of hours until I finally couldn't bear it.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Platforms: Switch
Release Date: August 29th, 2017
Did we really need this game? I understand the appeal the concept may have had but honestly I don't see Mario + Rabbids being a big hit. I am always happy to be proven wrong but I don't see this particular crossover concept going beyond this game.
