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From: www.gamesradar.com

From: www.gamesradar.com

From: www.gamesradar.com

The 24 biggest, must-see games of Gamescom 2015

Added: 03.08.2015 17:55 | 93 views | 0 comments


And here we go! Gamescom, the games industry's other big expo, starts tomorrow in Cologne, Germany. We're going to have a bigger GR+ contingent than ever before out on the show floor, scrambling for demos and nodding sagely through press conferences, and even more of us covering the show from our respective offices all over the damn planet. It is, without doubt, going to be a big deal.

But enough about us. You know what's more important? The actual games. And oh boy, are there a lot of them this year. To help you stay focused, as Gamescom news starts hurtling into your face at a rate of knots over the next week, we've compiled this handy and delightful list, running down the biggest and best titles getting a fresh showing this year, alongside what we reckon we're specifically likely to see. So without further ado, click on to start with probably this year's biggest game of all, and then proceed to hype yourself silly over the following pages too.

Fallout 4 made its grand debut just before E3 2015, but now that the warm glow of long-rumored confirmation is fading - maybe that was just all the radiation in the first place - it's time for Bethesda to get down to brass tacks. For all the combat, story, and building demonstrations, we've still only seen a fraction of The Commonwealth (AKA post-apocalyptic Massachusetts). Here's hoping that Fallout 4's Gamescom presence will include a grand tour of whatever's left of downtown Boston, The Institute, and places beyond. We've only been waiting a decade to return to massive Star Wars battles, so there's absolutely no pressure for EA and DICE to put on a good show at Gamescom for Star Wars Battlefront. An impressive E3 demonstration bought it some time, but we've still only had hands-on play sessions with the Battle of Hoth multiplayer map and some of the co-op survival missions. Snow speeders are great, but it's speeder bikes or bust at Gamescom. By rights, Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst shouldn’t exist. Faith’s first parkour adventure came smack in the middle of EA’s late-00s rush of original single-player games, and while it earned a fervent following of loyalists, it never found mass sales success. DICE has bucked the odds and returned to its beautiful dystopia, doubling down on what made the original great and fixing its flaws. Not many got to play its gun-combat-free demo at E3, so thankfully Gamescom will give us a fresh shot at its free-running pleasures. There aren't too many shooters out there that are appropriate to play with your kids or younger siblings, so Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is like a breath of fresh air from the typically violent genre. It has all the hallmarks of a good team-based military shooter, but with wacky zombie scientists, peashooters, and a plant that swallows enemies whole. The first Garden Warfare came out of nowhere last year and surprised us with its charming take on the genre, and the sequel looks to expand on those ideas, giving us new plants, new zombies, and new modes to continue the eternal struggle. It's not reinventing the wheel, but it will have a zombie pirate named Captain Dreadbeard. Unexpected but very welcome, Dark Souls 3’s E3 announcement was quite the surprise, given that series mastermind Hidetaka Miyazaki seemed to have moved on with this year’s Bloodborne. But the man is back, directing the third entry of the series that shot him to (relatively) mainstream fame, promising a game that will add the last bits of refinement to an already almost perfectly honed series, before he evolves it in a new direction in years to come. A new, more aggressive combat style - likely inspired by Bloodborne’s much less defensive approach - compliments DS’ traditionally methodical play, with new combat stances putting players, literally and figuratively, in a better position to take the initiative. Expect to see both combat and story - such as it is - fleshed out more at GC. This is Destiny 2.0. The next major chapter of the story starts here, with Hive god-king Oryx waging all-out war on the galaxy. The core gameplay gets an overhaul, with highly modified Taken variants of every enemy species appearing to remix and rework expected combat behaviours completely. As for the new content? There’s loads. Destiny’s biggest, most ambitious raid by far. New sub-classes for all Guardian types, with brand new Super abilities. A raft of new story and strike missions, and side-quests, making up a whole new campaign. Remixed versions of existing strikes, a bunch of new Crucible maps, and whole new PvP modes. And of course, a sizeable level-cap increase, alongside big changes to the levelling system. It’s not so much an expansion as a full, game-wide reboot. Final Fantasy 15 has had a good long while to incubate. While most other games in the series have had a two or three year development cycle, FF15 has been under construction for a full ten years, so long that the developers had to abandon the original title because 'Versus 13' is so 2013. Yet it's managed to beat back every cancellation rumor, emerging with a new, meaty demo last March, and now its cast of boyband hopefuls will be strolling nonchalantly into Gamescom 2015 as well. It's uncertain exactly what we'll see - something brand new, or the same demo with a few improvements - but when a game's been kept hidden from the public for over a decade, any sign of life is a good one. It's that time of year again: the Assassin's Creed train is rolling into the station, and coincidentally, it's bringing a few extra trains along for the ride. Assassin's Creed Syndicate is set in 1868 London, just as the Industrial Revolution is just getting underway. That means a slew of new toys to play with, like fully drivable carriages, a grappling hook, and steam trains that our Assassin protagonists can use as mobile fight platforms. And that is protagonists, plural, because Syndicate stars a pair of Assassin twins who you can switch between as you desire while you explore open-world London. Each has a unique fighting style that emphasizes different ways to approach the Assassin's Creed model: Jacob goes in fists flying, while Evie has stealth assassination on lock. Evie has kept to the shadows in most promotional material so far, but Gamescom promises to finally shine a light on how she operates. We suspect there will be much stabbing. Expect fo on the competitive portions of Rainbow Six at Gamescom. We’ve already seen Terrohunt, and the regular 5vs5 online modes, but now’s the time to learn about more traditional PvP stuff. We already know about the one-life-and-you’re-out team deathmatch options, but expect far more - especially considering Siege is betting its entire hand on being an online-only outing. Will we see some kind of objective-based multiplayer modes, that split the main game’s missions into individual slices of play? Very likely. The path to Homefront's sequel has been tumultuous, but if publisher Deep Silver can keep believing, so will we. is set in the year 2029, where the armed forces of the Greater Korean Public have shifted their focus from the western United States to an East Coast occupation, with Philadelphia as the linchpin. Rather than playing as yet another seemingly invincible super-soldier, you're an everyman member of the local militia, using guerilla tactics to get the upper hand in the fight against your oppressors. It's an intriguing spin on near-future warfare, and if you're partial to strategic flanking and indirect combat against an enemy with superior firepower, The Revolution could be right up your alley. The original Crackdown will forever be known as "that game that you bought because it gave you access to the Halo 3 beta but that's okay, because it turned out to actually be pretty fun." It’s an open world adventure hopped up on comic books and steroids, allowing players to leap over buildings, sprint at superhuman speed, transform cars, and more, all wrapped up in an incredibly compulsive levelling system. Basically, the more you did of X, the cooler X became. A new developer took the reigns for Crackdown 2, but couldn't replicate the joy of the original. Series creator David Jones is back for this third installment, so we'll be watching closely to see if lessons have been learned. It's been a rocky road to release for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, but in less than a month, none of that will matter, because Big Boss' final, vengeful chapter of the Metal Gear saga is almost here. The Phantom Pain represents the culmination of years of tactical espionage action, applying the series' trademark stealth gameplay and absurd attention to detail to a pure open world. Players can sneak through massive environments, recruit soldiers by hilariously launching them into the air with balloons, and build and customize their own mercenary empire. Konami's giving The Phantom Pain one last hurrah before release at Gamescom, providing the first chance for the public to play the game before it hits retail on September 1st, and we can't wait to check it out. The jury’s still out on Halo 5, but that only makes this week’s Gamescom appearance more exciting. We know that, while the core shooting is resolutely Halo, the new, Destiny-style focus on aerial play, verticality, and powered-up melee makes the overall combat flow rather different. We’ve seen a campaign demo at E3 that had common with Call of Duty’s scripted, AI-driven spectacle than Halo’s usual emergent, player-driven combat. But we’ve also seen great things in Warzone, Halo 5’s large-scale, multi-objective multiplayer mode, which blends PvP with campaign-style tasks over a vast, vehicle-strewn battlefield. Despite what we’ve seen elsewhere, it feels like a rallying cry for all that Halo has traditionally been about. Surely Gamescom’s showing will focus on cementing further reassurance? We’ll see in a few days. Everything has been turned upside down in XCOM 2. The aliens have won, and Earth now rests in the palm of their hand. Humanity is undergoing complete subjugation, and XCOM itself has been labeled a rogue organization. After suffering greatly during the initial stages of the invasion, XCOM has reinvented itself to combat the exterrestrials' dominance. It’s a faster, leaner strike force that hits hard before flying off into the night in a totally-not-from-the-Avengers helicarrier. From half-human, half-snake mutants, to sword-wielding XCOM troopers, and the fresh ability to carry injured soldiers to safety, there are a ton of next features to get excited over in XCOM 2. The sequel to one of last-gen’s most under-rated action games, Mafia 3 has immense potential. The follow-up to an initially confusing, but ultimately excellent crime epic - Mafia 2 is effectively a sumptuously realised linear tale, played out against the arrestingly atmospheric film set of a pseudo open-world city - it remains to be seen whether Mafia 3 will maintain its predecessor’s focus or opt for a more traditional free-roaming structure a la Grand Theft Auto. Our hopes are for the former, but either way, if new developer Hangar 13 can maintain 2K Czech’s affecting characterisation and atmospheric world-building while handling the new game’s apparent four protagonists, we could be looking at one of the most interesting actioners of the next couple of years. While Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a worthy restart to the classic series, it dropped a few balls here and there. Prescriptive, combat-only boss encounters, limited hub areas and less than stellar open-combat… Square willingly admitted to all of these transgressions at E3. We’ve already seen examples of a far improved fighting system, bringing this up to spec to most modern FPS-es-es. We’ve even seen a boss fight ended with nothing but a quick chat. Hopefully, Gamescom will expand on this promise and show us a real-life version of the game we’re all imagining. Only maybe without the weird bit where 1000 dancing Adam Jensens break out into New York, New York. That bit’s probably just us. Everything IO Interactive has said and shown so far of Agent 47’s latest outing is perfectly pitched for fans of well-paid global contract murder: huge levels rammed with hundreds of NPCs. Multiple routes, options, disguises and weapons. The thing is, we’ve really only seen the promise so far, by way of one mission set in massive fashion show in a Paris castle. The scale and ambition of that setting alone is daunting, but what we haven’t really seen yet is any action. Square’s got to be planning some decent gameplay demos, taking in at least a couple of radically different example hits at Gamescom. And there are all the interesting, online enabled, dynamic challenge features to expand upon too. More than two years after making its E3 debut, Avalanche Studios’ Mad Max is finally ready to grind players into the blasted pavement of its post-apocalyptic wasteland. The PS4/Xbox One demo at this year’s E3 offered a taste of what it’s like to customize Max’s Magnum Opus, the loving name for his custom war-ready roadster, but didn’t provide much of a look into how the story plays out. Gamescom comes just weeks ahead of the game’s release, so the experience on the show floor will be close to the full, dusty, violent thing. Fingers crossed it’s a lovely day. As a proof of concept, the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot was a resounding success. Launching to nigh-universal acclaim and the highest sales ever in the series' history, Tomb Raider showed how to do right by a character while taking things in a new direction. The team at Crystal Dynamics will have to prove that its vision is no one-hit wonder, and Rise of the Tomb Raider (currently) looks to do exactly that. With current-gen power rendering its exotic locales, and the promise of bigger, more elaborate tombs to raid, it's got us anxious to see and learn more. This temporally focused sci-fi shooter's gone through some time distortions of its own, being pushed back into 2016 to give it some breathing room away from the Christmas heavy-hitters. That's no bad thing - Max Payne creator Remedy has been releasing high-quality, low-expectations chunks of action for 20 years now, and Quantum Break looks like a natural evolution of its best work, incorporating MP's chronologically-disturbed shoot 'em ups and Alan Wake's more considered fantasy narrative. Following Jack Joyce on a bullet-riddled journey to find out why he’s suddenly gained time-altering powers (and including an in-game live-action TV show about the bad guys that shifts depending on your actions), it should play out like Life is Strange colliding with Hard Boiled. By which I mean: it should be really, really cool. Call of Duty: Black Ops is back. Considering the previous two entries were also two of the biggest money makers in Activision’s indefatigable series, a third BLOPS is no surprise. What is surprising is how magical and absurd this entry’s Zombies mode is. Gamescom represents an early, welcome chance to dive into all that Jeff Goldblum, all that Ron Perlman, all that Heather Graham starring Zombie campaign action that Treyarch has somehow squeezed into what used to be a pretty stone faced military series. It’s time to see how the latest NBA 2K plays. Expect the answer to be ‘slick as hell’, especially if Visual Concepts has made the necessary tweaks to defence and in-game presentation that fans have demanded. It’s unlikely we’ll see the new Spike Lee-made story mode at Gamescom, as the MyCareer stuff is usually held back until REAL close to launch, but for those hungry to know what’s in there, expect some info to dribble out of the event. Yeah, yeah, the pun is intentional. Oh, and there should be info about the much-maligned online, and still-not-quite-ripe MyTeam modes too. Double-yoo tee eff is Scalebound, anyway? No one knows, and that's why it's so fun to speculate! All we can do for now is extrapolate based on what we've seen in the announcement trailer, and there is a lot going on there: giant monsters, dragons, medieval weaponry, magic, wireless headphones and a human with a transforming set of scale armor. Perhaps the most interesting tidbit of all, however, is Platinum Games being listed as the developer. This is the studio behind games like Bayonetta, Vanquish and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, some of the biggest and best action games of all time. Okay, Platinum also made Legend of Korra and Anarchy Reigns, so it's not a flawless record, but hopefully the backing of Microsoft as publisher will ensure a quality product. Only time - and Gamescom - will tell. If you put Streets of Rage, Hotline Miami, and about 16 pints of blood in an industrial-sized blender, the resulting mess would look a lot like Mother Russia Bleeds. This wildly violent, side-scrolling beat-'em-up is being published by Devolver Digital, which has a track record of picking up cream-of-the-crop indies. And after MRB's savage debut during , we're excited about getting our hands dirty, bruised, and possibly broken when we jump into the fray at Gamescom. It's not just the excessive pixelated brutality that has us intrigued, mind you - we're hankering to see what those drug-induced manias, gimp-suited enemies, and toilet-based executions are all about too.
Dynasty Warriors Series Turns 15

Added: 03.08.2015 12:18 | 11 views | 0 comments


The Dynasty Warriors series has turned 15 years-old. And Koei Tecmo is celebrating with the release of a special trailer.

From: n4g.com

Need For Speed Producer Admits The Series Got Too Confusing

Added: 03.08.2015 10:20 | 21 views | 0 comments


Over the years, Need For Speed saw a large number of sub-series with different gameplay modes, driving styles, physics...

From: megagames.com

The best games of 2015 (so far)

Added: 31.07.2015 18:12 | 41 views | 0 comments


July ran the gamut as far as game releases go, but the good far outweighs the bad. You can safely skip stinkers like are all going exceptionally strong. That just leaves our two nominees for this Game of the Month celebration... start writing down those guesses now.

At the end of each month, we look back at the standout games that demand your attention above the rest of the year's releases thus far. That way, you know what to prioritize before you're caught up by all the other amazing . So, without further ado, here's what you should be playing right now to tide you over until next month.

An entire realm being reborn is a tough act to follow, but aces the trial that is an MMO's first expansion. By expanding on just about every aspect you can think of - most notably, some gigantic zones and three intriguing Jobs - it feels as substantial and vibrant as the revamped version of the base game. Oh, and you can soar through the sky atop a flying mount, including a tubby Chocobo with tiny, adorable wings which you motivate with a slice of cake on a stick. For some, that fact alone will justify a renewed subscription.

Heavensward sweetens the deal with a wealth of engaging, plot-thickening quests (provided you've reached the end of A Realm Reborn's storyline), and the fresh abilities for each class make the journey to the new level cap a joy. For all you living room adventurers, FF14 continues to be the best console MMO on the market - but whether you're playing on a PC, PS4, or PS3, chit-chatting with Moogles, felling colossal Primals, and dancing some merry jigs in celebration is simply delightful.

is what happens when ‘the beautiful game’ is usurped by clusters of rocket-powered battle cars. It’s not quite as intricate or as Messi as football, but Rocket League is sincere in its sports presentation, right down to the chanting arena crowds and cheesy pop music in the menus. It also doesn’t feel derivative, coming to its own cartoonish crescendo when those somersaulting sports cars butt bumpers over an oversized, blinking ball. It takes a long time to master the bumps, the bounces, the jumps and the jukes, but Rocket League is brilliant right off the bat.

Even while you’re learning the right timing for a forward-flip, or when it’s ok to drive on the stadium ceiling (right now, actually), you’ll pull off some amazing stuff. It’ll be the perfect metallic maneuver: clipping the ball with your front left tire in a graceful somersault, sending it straight into the points pen where it explodes with a satisfying KABLOOSH. Wow. Just… wow. And nobody has to know you did that completely by accident. We’ll just keep that between us.

is an absolute marvel of storytelling, making ingenious use of out-of-order video clips to spin out its mystery. Despite the fact that the game’s unique structure means your path to the end won’t match anyone else’s, Her Story is complete and coherent, though its solution is open to interpretation. It’s a detective game that relies on your natural instinct to push its narrative forward, never nudging you in one direction or the other, letting you explore avenues of investigation as they come to you.

Watching FMV clips on a reproduction of a computer from the '90s certainly doesn’t sound terribly exciting, but you’ll be thinking about Her Story for days after you’ve tracked down that last video. You’ll find yourself rolling little details around in your head, mulling over their implications, deciding that you finally know the “truth,” only to realize that another detail makes your assumptions invalid. But then again, does it? One final bit of advice: go in knowing as little as possible, and don’t try to game the system. Be a true detective.

is another biff-pow display of Rocksteady’s exceptional craftsmanship in bringing a classic comic icon to life. Though combat and stealth are again refined and expanded within Batman’s beautifully rain-slick city, the game’s elegant design is reflected not in its individual components, but in how well they connect with one another, like nodes in a web.

Though the Batmobile’s roaring arrogance has made it a controversial addition to the Arkham series, there’s no question about how integral it is to Batman’s latest patrol. Conceptually, it’s meant to be a way to move quickly in a much wider slice of dour ol’ Gotham, and its visual appearance is, of course, inspired by Batman’s history of driving - as The Riddler calls them - rocket-powered hearses. But Rocksteady dives in fully and makes sure the vehicle connects to combat, stealth and every part of Batman. The overall game’s polish and continuity can be seen in one motion, with the Batmobile hurtling down an alley and launching Batman into full flight, right through a window and into a savage display of ne’er-do-well punishment. It’s one move, one world and one of the coolest moments of 2015. It’ll get you pumped to track down every last super criminal, including whoever masterminded the dreadful PC port.

In a sea of multiplayer shooters obsessed with grit, gore, or teabagging, stands out like a brightly colored squid catapulting through the air - which is actually a thing that happens regularly in this game. Nintendo's take on team deathmatch puts the focus on marking your squad's territory with a rainbow of ink rather than racking up kills, but it still delivers the thrilling blend of twitch shooting and coordinated tactics that define the genre.

Even if those human-squid hybrid Inklings are dripping with kid-friendly personality, this is the kind of joyous multiplayer experience that anyone of any age can enjoy. There's still weapon progression like you'd expect from Call of Duty or Battlefield, but with ink-filled Super Soaker facsimiles and colossal paint rollers. You won't hear anyone raging on voice-chat (because there isn't any), but the GamePad provides clear cues for what to do next. And while the selection of maps currently feels a bit sparse, the moment-to-moment gameplay is fresh, exciting, and - most importantly - good fun.

As open-world experiences go, takes high fantasy to new heights with its staggeringly massive world and rich, engaging storytelling. The grizzled Geralt of Rivia finds himself in landscapes that are as picturesque as they are treacherous, where otherworldly beasts and crazed cultists lurk in the wilderness. There are unforgettable side-quests and delightful supporting characters to distract you at every turn, but you best remember Geralt's primary goal: finding his adopted daughter (and witcher-in-training) Ciri before some supremely evil people get to her first.

That's not to say that you need to rush through the main story, because taking the time to stop and smell the eviscerated corpses is well worth it. The sword-and-spell-casting combat looks stunning on new-gen, and the deep upgrade system gives you plenty of options to slay your way. There are a few hitches - notably some framerate issues that can hopefully be patched out - but the sheer depth of the overall experience makes The Witcher 3 a triumph among action RPGs. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got to return to a rousing round of the in-game card battler Gwent.

It takes a lot to make a fighting game appeal to the masses. You need slick graphics, excellent presentation, and the kind of depth that'll ensnare those highly skilled players who people want to watch. has got all that, and more. While the Fatality finishers still pack in more gore than you can shake a disembodied limb at, MKX brings a lot of new, refreshing ideas to the table that really make this fighter stand out.

For starters, there's the variations mechanic: every combatant has three unique movesets to choose from before each fight, letting character loyalists mix things up and giving the roster a wildly diverse variety of playstyles. You'll also have a blast playing through the elaborate story mode, which introduces a swath of likeable newcomers while imbuing familiar faces with . The online play still has a few kinks that could be worked out, but fans of the Mortal Kombat series - or fighting games in general - will have one hell of a time with MKX.

Of all the re-releases that have come out this year, .

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is massive, sporting one of the most interesting locales ever designed. Its sprawling swamps and rolling hills - all set on the backs of two titan-sized dead gods and filled with beasts both great and small - are practically begging to be conquered. While its lush, verdant landscapes lose a little luster and detail on the smaller screen, what you trade in graphical quality you gain back in portability. Being able to take an adventure of this magnificent scope with you wherever you go is a technical marvel. Don't miss it.

somehow manages to be diamond tough and lovingly tender at the same time, balancing out its demanding difficulty with a story that'll practically yank your heartstrings right out of your chest. Playing this open-world platformer puts you in a wondrous state of conflict: the tight controls inspire you to run free throughout the lush world, but the sheer depth of the beyond-gorgeous backdrop art makes you want to stand still and gaze at the environment for hours.

The protagonist Ori is such a cute li'l critter that it's hard to watch the fuzzball die again and again while you struggle to overcome the many deathtraps and spike pits in this treacherous forest. But you'll get over any bruises to your ego, so long as you remember that you're the one responsible for plunking down checkpoints before delving into the trickier bits. The degree of challenge here may rattle anyone without an affinity for hardcore 2D platformers, but Ori's dazzling presentation has a universal, heartfelt appeal.

You’ve probably heard that is really hard. You might've heard it’s really easy. The reality lies somewhere in between. Yes, it sends an army of writhing, fanged, flayed, terrible, tormented beasts your way, beasts only someone bragging about their perceived gamer cred would ever deem a pushover. But it teaches you how to deal with them expertly, their unique attacks and defenses and behaviors, building you up until you look and feel like a great gothic badass. And when you do, you'll have earned it.

In streamlining some of Dark Souls’ complexities (the weight system, magic attacks, a few character skills here and there), Bloodborne gains a rawer sense of immediacy, with vital combat that require relentless attacking sans the comfort blanket of a shield, and unpredictable bosses that force you to develop reflexes alongside your already honed skills of pattern memorization. Oh, and the world. That mystifying, atmospheric, intricately hewn world. Developed for PS4 from the ground-up, the enigmatic Yarnham looks like a beautiful waking nightmare.

If you've yet to succumb to monster hunting fever, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Plenty of games let you battle vicious beasties and craft fancy gear - but few can develop the kind of player investment and cooperative dedication typical of Monster Hunter. For the uninitiated, is a great way to educate yourself on its gloriously addictive ways. Not just because it's the most beginner-friendly entry in Capcom's hit series - it's also the best Monster Hunter game yet.

Gathering materials and killing harmless herbivores is really just a build-up to something greater: downing fearsome creatures after incredibly demanding battles that require true mastery of your chosen weapon. Series vets are already familiar with MH's captivating gameplay loop of fighting and looting, but the new Charge Blade and Insect Glaive playstyles offer entirely unique ways to test your prowess. If you're looking to start or join a dedicated hunting party - preferably with an expert as your guide - Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate offers the kind of adventure that can hook you for hundreds of hours.

Majora's Mask is... well, it's a bit weird. Instead of following the familiar formula that Zelda games have stuck to for years, Majora's Mask asks that you play the same three days over and over again, trying to make the world a little bit brighter each time. It's certainly strange, and more than a little stressful - but taking the time to learn its rhythm opens up one of the most intriguing and creative Legend of Zelda games ever made. Perhaps that's why, 15 years and a 3DS port later, it feels even better than ever.

Much of that feeling is thanks to the improvements found in this portable version of the N64 classic. The updated Bomber's Notebook makes tracking numerous sidequests a painless process, boss design has been retooled to make things teresting, and additional save points help make portable adventuring much more palatable. Plus, New 3DS owners even have some improved camera control with the C-Stick. Whether this is your first time playing through those ominous 72 hours or your hundredth, is a master quest that stands the test of time.

Grim Fandango is, without a doubt, one of the most unique video games ever made. The quest of an undead travel agent as he attempts to atone for his sins is a love letter to film noir greats like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, but it also transcends its influences to be something truly original. And with , you'll finally get to play this lost classic on your PlayStation 4, complete with (some) updated graphics and a fantastic re-recording of the original score.

Grim Fandango is also one of the most uniquely frustrating games ever made, and the Remastered edition only serves to highlight its many game-ruining bugs. Whether it's glitching out a puzzle, clipping you through a wall, or just flat out crashing, Grim Fandango Remastered actually seems buggier now than it did 17 years ago. Make no mistake: Manny's journey is still definitely one worth revisiting - just remember to save your game. Often.

sounds kinda ridiculous at first - it's literally a remastered HD version of a rebuilt SD version of the original Resident Evil. Turns out the joke's on us, though, because that's all we really needed to enjoy the survival horror staple all over again: the HD Remake gives all the main characters and the Spencer Mansion an enticing facelift but keeps the little quirks that make Resident Evil awesome/a total headache/undeniably unique.

You'll still need to manage eight (at most) inventory slots, and you'll still need to keep your distance from downed zombies - or preferably burn them on the spot. The most major change is the new default control scheme, which makes it handle more like a modern fixed-camera game, but you're free to select the old 'tank' controls if you want. With modern conveniences where it needs them and good old weirdness where it doesn't, Resident Evil HD Remake is a near masterpiece… of unlocking.

The best games of 2015 (so far)

Added: 31.07.2015 18:12 | 71 views | 0 comments


July ran the gamut as far as game releases go, but the good far outweighs the bad. You can safely skip stinkers like are all going exceptionally strong. That just leaves our two nominees for this Game of the Month celebration... start writing down those guesses now.

At the end of each month, we look back at the standout games that demand your attention above the rest of the year's releases thus far. That way, you know what to prioritize before you're caught up by all the other amazing . So, without further ado, here's what you should be playing right now to tide you over until next month.

An entire realm being reborn is a tough act to follow, but aces the trial that is an MMO's first expansion. By expanding on just about every aspect you can think of - most notably, some gigantic zones and three intriguing Jobs - it feels as substantial and vibrant as the revamped version of the base game. Oh, and you can soar through the sky atop a flying mount, including a tubby Chocobo with tiny, adorable wings which you motivate with a slice of cake on a stick. For some, that fact alone will justify a renewed subscription.

Heavensward sweetens the deal with a wealth of engaging, plot-thickening quests (provided you've reached the end of A Realm Reborn's storyline), and the fresh abilities for each class make the journey to the new level cap a joy. For all you living room adventurers, FF14 continues to be the best console MMO on the market - but whether you're playing on a PC, PS4, or PS3, chit-chatting with Moogles, felling colossal Primals, and dancing some merry jigs in celebration is simply delightful.

is what happens when ‘the beautiful game’ is usurped by clusters of rocket-powered battle cars. It’s not quite as intricate or as Messi as football, but Rocket League is sincere in its sports presentation, right down to the chanting arena crowds and cheesy pop music in the menus. It also doesn’t feel derivative, coming to its own cartoonish crescendo when those somersaulting sports cars butt bumpers over an oversized, blinking ball. It takes a long time to master the bumps, the bounces, the jumps and the jukes, but Rocket League is brilliant right off the bat.

Even while you’re learning the right timing for a forward-flip, or when it’s ok to drive on the stadium ceiling (right now, actually), you’ll pull off some amazing stuff. It’ll be the perfect metallic maneuver: clipping the ball with your front left tire in a graceful somersault, sending it straight into the points pen where it explodes with a satisfying KABLOOSH. Wow. Just… wow. And nobody has to know you did that completely by accident. We’ll just keep that between us.

is an absolute marvel of storytelling, making ingenious use of out-of-order video clips to spin out its mystery. Despite the fact that the game’s unique structure means your path to the end won’t match anyone else’s, Her Story is complete and coherent, though its solution is open to interpretation. It’s a detective game that relies on your natural instinct to push its narrative forward, never nudging you in one direction or the other, letting you explore avenues of investigation as they come to you.

Watching FMV clips on a reproduction of a computer from the '90s certainly doesn’t sound terribly exciting, but you’ll be thinking about Her Story for days after you’ve tracked down that last video. You’ll find yourself rolling little details around in your head, mulling over their implications, deciding that you finally know the “truth,” only to realize that another detail makes your assumptions invalid. But then again, does it? One final bit of advice: go in knowing as little as possible, and don’t try to game the system. Be a true detective.

is another biff-pow display of Rocksteady’s exceptional craftsmanship in bringing a classic comic icon to life. Though combat and stealth are again refined and expanded within Batman’s beautifully rain-slick city, the game’s elegant design is reflected not in its individual components, but in how well they connect with one another, like nodes in a web.

Though the Batmobile’s roaring arrogance has made it a controversial addition to the Arkham series, there’s no question about how integral it is to Batman’s latest patrol. Conceptually, it’s meant to be a way to move quickly in a much wider slice of dour ol’ Gotham, and its visual appearance is, of course, inspired by Batman’s history of driving - as The Riddler calls them - rocket-powered hearses. But Rocksteady dives in fully and makes sure the vehicle connects to combat, stealth and every part of Batman. The overall game’s polish and continuity can be seen in one motion, with the Batmobile hurtling down an alley and launching Batman into full flight, right through a window and into a savage display of ne’er-do-well punishment. It’s one move, one world and one of the coolest moments of 2015. It’ll get you pumped to track down every last super criminal, including whoever masterminded the dreadful PC port.

In a sea of multiplayer shooters obsessed with grit, gore, or teabagging, stands out like a brightly colored squid catapulting through the air - which is actually a thing that happens regularly in this game. Nintendo's take on team deathmatch puts the focus on marking your squad's territory with a rainbow of ink rather than racking up kills, but it still delivers the thrilling blend of twitch shooting and coordinated tactics that define the genre.

Even if those human-squid hybrid Inklings are dripping with kid-friendly personality, this is the kind of joyous multiplayer experience that anyone of any age can enjoy. There's still weapon progression like you'd expect from Call of Duty or Battlefield, but with ink-filled Super Soaker facsimiles and colossal paint rollers. You won't hear anyone raging on voice-chat (because there isn't any), but the GamePad provides clear cues for what to do next. And while the selection of maps currently feels a bit sparse, the moment-to-moment gameplay is fresh, exciting, and - most importantly - good fun.

As open-world experiences go, takes high fantasy to new heights with its staggeringly massive world and rich, engaging storytelling. The grizzled Geralt of Rivia finds himself in landscapes that are as picturesque as they are treacherous, where otherworldly beasts and crazed cultists lurk in the wilderness. There are unforgettable side-quests and delightful supporting characters to distract you at every turn, but you best remember Geralt's primary goal: finding his adopted daughter (and witcher-in-training) Ciri before some supremely evil people get to her first.

That's not to say that you need to rush through the main story, because taking the time to stop and smell the eviscerated corpses is well worth it. The sword-and-spell-casting combat looks stunning on new-gen, and the deep upgrade system gives you plenty of options to slay your way. There are a few hitches - notably some framerate issues that can hopefully be patched out - but the sheer depth of the overall experience makes The Witcher 3 a triumph among action RPGs. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got to return to a rousing round of the in-game card battler Gwent.

It takes a lot to make a fighting game appeal to the masses. You need slick graphics, excellent presentation, and the kind of depth that'll ensnare those highly skilled players who people want to watch. has got all that, and more. While the Fatality finishers still pack in more gore than you can shake a disembodied limb at, MKX brings a lot of new, refreshing ideas to the table that really make this fighter stand out.

For starters, there's the variations mechanic: every combatant has three unique movesets to choose from before each fight, letting character loyalists mix things up and giving the roster a wildly diverse variety of playstyles. You'll also have a blast playing through the elaborate story mode, which introduces a swath of likeable newcomers while imbuing familiar faces with . The online play still has a few kinks that could be worked out, but fans of the Mortal Kombat series - or fighting games in general - will have one hell of a time with MKX.

Of all the re-releases that have come out this year, .

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is massive, sporting one of the most interesting locales ever designed. Its sprawling swamps and rolling hills - all set on the backs of two titan-sized dead gods and filled with beasts both great and small - are practically begging to be conquered. While its lush, verdant landscapes lose a little luster and detail on the smaller screen, what you trade in graphical quality you gain back in portability. Being able to take an adventure of this magnificent scope with you wherever you go is a technical marvel. Don't miss it.

somehow manages to be diamond tough and lovingly tender at the same time, balancing out its demanding difficulty with a story that'll practically yank your heartstrings right out of your chest. Playing this open-world platformer puts you in a wondrous state of conflict: the tight controls inspire you to run free throughout the lush world, but the sheer depth of the beyond-gorgeous backdrop art makes you want to stand still and gaze at the environment for hours.

The protagonist Ori is such a cute li'l critter that it's hard to watch the fuzzball die again and again while you struggle to overcome the many deathtraps and spike pits in this treacherous forest. But you'll get over any bruises to your ego, so long as you remember that you're the one responsible for plunking down checkpoints before delving into the trickier bits. The degree of challenge here may rattle anyone without an affinity for hardcore 2D platformers, but Ori's dazzling presentation has a universal, heartfelt appeal.

You’ve probably heard that is really hard. You might've heard it’s really easy. The reality lies somewhere in between. Yes, it sends an army of writhing, fanged, flayed, terrible, tormented beasts your way, beasts only someone bragging about their perceived gamer cred would ever deem a pushover. But it teaches you how to deal with them expertly, their unique attacks and defenses and behaviors, building you up until you look and feel like a great gothic badass. And when you do, you'll have earned it.

In streamlining some of Dark Souls’ complexities (the weight system, magic attacks, a few character skills here and there), Bloodborne gains a rawer sense of immediacy, with vital combat that require relentless attacking sans the comfort blanket of a shield, and unpredictable bosses that force you to develop reflexes alongside your already honed skills of pattern memorization. Oh, and the world. That mystifying, atmospheric, intricately hewn world. Developed for PS4 from the ground-up, the enigmatic Yarnham looks like a beautiful waking nightmare.

If you've yet to succumb to monster hunting fever, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Plenty of games let you battle vicious beasties and craft fancy gear - but few can develop the kind of player investment and cooperative dedication typical of Monster Hunter. For the uninitiated, is a great way to educate yourself on its gloriously addictive ways. Not just because it's the most beginner-friendly entry in Capcom's hit series - it's also the best Monster Hunter game yet.

Gathering materials and killing harmless herbivores is really just a build-up to something greater: downing fearsome creatures after incredibly demanding battles that require true mastery of your chosen weapon. Series vets are already familiar with MH's captivating gameplay loop of fighting and looting, but the new Charge Blade and Insect Glaive playstyles offer entirely unique ways to test your prowess. If you're looking to start or join a dedicated hunting party - preferably with an expert as your guide - Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate offers the kind of adventure that can hook you for hundreds of hours.

Majora's Mask is... well, it's a bit weird. Instead of following the familiar formula that Zelda games have stuck to for years, Majora's Mask asks that you play the same three days over and over again, trying to make the world a little bit brighter each time. It's certainly strange, and more than a little stressful - but taking the time to learn its rhythm opens up one of the most intriguing and creative Legend of Zelda games ever made. Perhaps that's why, 15 years and a 3DS port later, it feels even better than ever.

Much of that feeling is thanks to the improvements found in this portable version of the N64 classic. The updated Bomber's Notebook makes tracking numerous sidequests a painless process, boss design has been retooled to make things teresting, and additional save points help make portable adventuring much more palatable. Plus, New 3DS owners even have some improved camera control with the C-Stick. Whether this is your first time playing through those ominous 72 hours or your hundredth, is a master quest that stands the test of time.

Grim Fandango is, without a doubt, one of the most unique video games ever made. The quest of an undead travel agent as he attempts to atone for his sins is a love letter to film noir greats like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, but it also transcends its influences to be something truly original. And with , you'll finally get to play this lost classic on your PlayStation 4, complete with (some) updated graphics and a fantastic re-recording of the original score.

Grim Fandango is also one of the most uniquely frustrating games ever made, and the Remastered edition only serves to highlight its many game-ruining bugs. Whether it's glitching out a puzzle, clipping you through a wall, or just flat out crashing, Grim Fandango Remastered actually seems buggier now than it did 17 years ago. Make no mistake: Manny's journey is still definitely one worth revisiting - just remember to save your game. Often.

sounds kinda ridiculous at first - it's literally a remastered HD version of a rebuilt SD version of the original Resident Evil. Turns out the joke's on us, though, because that's all we really needed to enjoy the survival horror staple all over again: the HD Remake gives all the main characters and the Spencer Mansion an enticing facelift but keeps the little quirks that make Resident Evil awesome/a total headache/undeniably unique.

You'll still need to manage eight (at most) inventory slots, and you'll still need to keep your distance from downed zombies - or preferably burn them on the spot. The most major change is the new default control scheme, which makes it handle more like a modern fixed-camera game, but you're free to select the old 'tank' controls if you want. With modern conveniences where it needs them and good old weirdness where it doesn't, Resident Evil HD Remake is a near masterpiece… of unlocking.


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