Obsidian’s making another fantasy RPG, readers. But unlike their last goes at the swords-and-sorcery table, the devs are ditching their isometric comforts for something a little more intimate. Announced during today’s not-E3 Xbox stream, Avowed appears to be a grim first-person wizardy romp that may be taking a few cues from The Elder Scrolls.
This week the Electronic Wireless Show celebrates the 7/10 game. Yes, we know RPS doesn’t have scores but the 7/10 is as much a feeling or a way of life. It’s those games that are a bit jank at the same time as being a bit genius, the ones that you love even though they’re a bit rough around the edges. Plus: more fish anecdotes, and how the TV show Friends could have been improved (the answer isn’t “delete Ross”, sadly).
I absolutely fell in love with Everwild when Rare announced it last year. Back then, it was a bit of a mystery what this gorgeous natural, fantasy-looking game might entail, but thanks to a new trailer shown during Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase, we finally know a bit more. It sounds like this beautiful world is all about caring for the weird and wonderful creatures within it, and maintaining the balance of nature.
Undead Labs have just revealed the next instalment of their zombie-fest survival horror, State Of Decay 3. From the reveal trailer it looks like it’s set in a snowy wilderness, complete with scary wolves, and even scarier zombified-wildlife. We also see a lonely lady just trying to get by, aptly armed with a crossbow. Take a look for yourself:
Microsoft today announced the next Forza zoomy racing game, which it seems they’re calling simply Forza Motorsport. Re-using old game names is very en mode>. This mysterious new game is still “in early development” but they call it “a reimagining of the series”, without saying what that really means. Very importantly for a next-generation game, it will be all sorts of shiny. But don’t worry, it is coming to PC too. Here, come watch the announcement trailer for some very shiny cars.
This’ll be the big one, then. Following that debut trailer and a full week of teasing, Xbox kicked off their big not-E3 showcase today with a big proper look at Halo Infinite. John “Halo” Masterchief’s back on a colossal hula hoop to shoot some space gorillas in the gob – and this time, he’ll do that by swinging across a massive open world with a grappling hook.
Deus Ex director Warren Spector has always had very precise ideas about what games should be. A formative D&D campaign run by science fiction author Bruce Sterling. who helped to define the cyberpunk genre, showed Warren the importance of collaborative storytelling early on. “In a book or a movie the writer or director simply tells the audience what they think about a topic. You have nothing to do but decide whether you agree or disagree with the statement being made. There’s nothing wrong with that, but in a game we can do something different – we can set up a situation and let players decide for themselves,” Spector tells me over email.
It’s free games day once again over on the Epic Games Store, readers. This time, Tacoma is up for grabs, the interstellar sleuth ’em up from the studio behind Gone Home. Isometric hack ‘n’ slasher Next Up Hero is free too. The pair of ’em are yours to keep if you grab them by this time next week, at which point they’ll go back up to £15 a pop.
Polygon Treehouse’s excellent adventure game Röki is out today, and as you may have seen from my Röki review, I was rather enamoured with it. It’s a lovely, heartwarming and beautiful-looking game, but its soundtrack deserves special mention as well. Composed by Aether, Röki’s music is full of poignant and exquisite melodies that really drive home the game’s folkloric roots and fairytale environment, so I thought I’d pick out a couple of my favourite tracks below. Come on in and have a little listen.
Geralt of Rivia returns to Desperados 3 today with another four Baron’s Challenges for you. These are the bonus missions which revisit levels with some weirder objectives at the invitation of The Baron, voiced by yer witchy man Doug Cockle. The game launched with only five such Challenges, so another four in a free patch is a good whack more – and a good excuse to revisit a great game. Here’s a trailer with Doug encouraging you to ruin a party: