Microsoft has announced three new games coming to Xbox Game Pass.

The Gardens Between hits Microsoft's Netflix-style video game subscription service on 29th November - that's today!

It's a puzzle game developed by Australian studio The Voxel Agents, and launched in September 2018 for PC, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.

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A strange one indeed, this. Rebellion's efforts tend to be admirably direct in their titling - Zombie Army, Sniper Elite, Rogue Warrior, all games that serve up exactly what it says on the tin - and so it is with Strange Brigade, an all-new IP that is more than a little odd. What if the Zombie Army formula was transposed from the fuzzy VHS of a straight-to-video schlocky spin on World War 2 to the high-spirited world of 30s serials? What if Indiana Jones, but with a Path voiceover and a heavy dose of colonial derring do washing over that sense of innocent adventure? Best not linger on that last point too long - it seems that not many at Rebellion have, anyway.

Still, if this studio has forged a reputation for anything over the past few years, it's for making big, dumb and - more often than not - enjoyable action games. Strange Brigade takes the straight-to-the-point gunplay of Zombie Army and throws in its own kinks, doubling down on the co-op - the campaign can be soloed, or opened up to friends or strangers to play alongside you - and sprinkling the lightest amount of strategy atop the shooting.

And so you have four characters (five if you include the pre-order bonus, of course), all loosely drawn from some dusty archetypes, and all with their own particular traits. There's Frank, the thick-skinned and hard-edged veteran! De Quincey, the magician who can absorb souls readily and is a dab hand at sourcing secrets! Gracie, a Rosie the Riveter repro who's good with her fists and will remind you at every given opportunity - and a few more besides - that she's a no-nonsense Lancashire lass. And then there's Nalangu, the spirit warrior who can draw upon the supernatural as she draws health from the recently deceased.

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Strange Brigade may be the title of Rebellion's upcoming fantasy shooter, but I reckon it would be a rather fitting name for the Eurogamer video team, too.

Think about it - we're a group of misfits, each with a specialist skillset, who come together when the chips are down to overcome all odds.

Well OK, that theory kind of falls apart in that last part, but you get the idea...

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Developer Rebellion has announced that its rip-roaring 1930s-style co-operative shooter Strange Brigade will launch on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on August 28th.

Rebellion, the studio behind Sniper Elite and Zombie Army Trilogy, unveiled Strange Brigade back at E3 last year, with an immediately appealing, and appropriately pulpy trailer. It sees teams of up to four players working together, in the guise of globe-trotting Strange Brigade agents, to explore dig sites, ancient pyramids, and mysterious caves - solving puzzles, thwarting traps, and battling mythical hordes along the way.

Eurogamer's Robert Purchese was quite taken with Strange Brigade when it put in an appearance at EGX last year, calling it "a breathless romp right out of the pages of a hammy British adventure mag". Its gripping blend of relentless, Left4Dead-esque action, and calmer, more cerebral puzzling - all wrapped up in that irresistible pulp aesthetic - might not be especially deep, he said, but there's ample scope for a "hearty dose of good old fashioned fun with friends for a few evenings".

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Rebellion, the British studio behind Sniper Elite, Battlezone and Strange Brigade, has swooped in to save fellow UK outfit Radiant Worlds.

All 70 Radiant Worlds employees have been saved, including the studio's founders and industry veterans Philip and Andrew Oliver (them of Dizzy fame). The studio will now be renamed Rebellion Warwick.

Staff are being put to work on the development of other Rebellion projects, such as the upcoming Strange Brigade.

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