Hello everyone! It is clear that due to the coronavirus pandemic, we have been witnessing some continuous transfers in the gaming industry for the past month. Time passes, and there is not much to play. And besides, the beginning of the year is not the fattest time for new video games, however, I did my best and found for you the best April games that might interest someone, and return faith in the game industry.
Outriders. April 1st. (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One Xbox X).
The month will begin with a loud and expensive by European standards cooperative shooter on the theme of futurism and alien post-apocalypse. The demo, previously posted on Steam, broke many records, gaining more than 50,000 simultaneous online, which, as for a demo, is quite cool. The developers promise a large number of fixes in the final release, improved performance and long-term support, because it is already clear that this project will not share the fate of Anthem, and for some time it will actually be played. The local storyline campaign will generally require forty hours to complete. The graphics won't blow your imagination. As for the gameplay, it will be especially appreciated by fans of Gears of War, because the mechanics of shooting from behind cover are also richly implemented here, and, of course, parallels with Destiny cannot be avoided. The last game Of course, prettier, but the novelty is not devoid of its charm. In general, so far it seems that it will turn out much better than the skeptics thought.
Oddworld: Soulstorm. April 6. (PC, PS4, PS5).
The new appearance of another platformer from the universe of Strange World, criticizing capitalism and advocating social justice. However, this is not a new part as such. Soulstorm is an extended remake of 1998's Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus. In the arena, the same representative of the Mudokon race named Abe, who, after saving his fellows in the original part, became a real Mudokon hero, to whom the spirits of ancestors appeared, who told about the mudokon slaves who mined the bones of those same ancestors in deep mines from which beer is made ... Somewhere in this place the passage starts. In addition to the mine, players will be able to visit the jungle, the Lands of the Ancients, and, finally, get into the central enemy camp. Dynamic puzzles are added to the platforming technique, some of which need to be solved quickly, without the possibility of thinking. Generally,
Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game. April 6. (PC).
We continue with a curious sci-fi RPG with turn-based battles in the XCOM style, and the style is not only gameplay, but also visual, which is probably good. Why invent something else, if all good things have already been invented before. The plot develops on a huge space base, plowing the distant expanses in search of better worlds. Since the flight took a very long time, many things did not go according to plan, and a mutiny broke out at the base, after which the colonists split into factions, and began to live their own lives, generally not really wanting to colonize anything there. You are one of the gentlemen of fortune, striving for power on this ship, for which, of course, you will have to fight in a group with a maximum number of up to 10 fighters. Turn-based battles are created taking into account the traditional terrain, the characteristics of weapons and hero pumping, as well as various tactical tricks.
Lost Words: Beyond the Page. April 6. (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One).
Strictly speaking, this is not a completely new release before us, since this game was released last year on Google Stadia, but given the specificity of this service, we can say that this project has not been played at all, and this will not be an exaggeration. Lost Words is a surreal, fabulous and infinitely kind two-dimensional platformer about a dreamer girl and her diary, the words on the pages of which are asked to control, thus advancing the plot. Well, yes, the plot of this adventure was written by Rihanna Prachett, a famous British writer who directed the plots of such games as Mirror's Edge, BioShock Infinite, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and a couple of dozen other lesser known projects. Separately, it should be said about the style, since the Lost Words are made with imitation of watercolor drawings. This very watercolor world can be modified, influencing him through the decisions made. In general, of course, the game is unusual, beautiful and kind, but, again, not for everyone.
First Class Trouble. April 8. (PC).
A small network survivalist for those who like to scare, without any special claims to any deep meaning. The idea of the developers is as follows: a group of people find themselves on a fashionable space liner, which was taken under control by an artificial intelligence that went crazy, planning to take the lives of all passengers. The task of the latter is to try to interfere with the plans of the almighty computer, including by sacrificing their own friends in misfortune. Help yourself out, and perish your comrade. Separately, it should be noted that among the survivors there will be android robots disguised as people, and doing various dirty tricks for these very people. The task of the robots is not to betray themselves. The task of the people is to find out the deceivers. The game will end, either when all the passengers are killed, or when one of them can turn off the evil supercomputer. All this is still in early access,
Shadow Man Remastered. April 15. (PC).
It's hard to say who will play this game, but if this game is going to come out, then someone needs it. The original Shadow Man is a 1999 game that wasn't a hit back then, but it left its mark. She was remembered primarily for a deep, oddly enough, plot based on a relationship with the devil, who gives something, but takes something away. There is also a Voodoo priestess, references to Lovecraft and God knows what, but in fact this is a tough third-person action game with magic and the collection of human souls. Let no one be fooled by the term remaster. This is not the remaster that happened, for example, in Diablo 2. The game looks the same as it did 20 years ago. She just added clarity in the form of 4K-resolution, and adapted to modern hardware and operating systems. Otherwise, this is the fiercest antiques, which, however, has its own zest. Playing games like this is like playing some old notes, recorded by someone a long time ago. There is some magic in this, you know.
Godstrike. April 15. (PC).
This game may strongly remind someone of the once popular action game Furi: there is also a top view, arcade physics and the highest difficulty, but if you had to swing a sword in Furi, then shooting reigns supreme in Godstrike. The passage consists of a series of boss battles, where each of them has, as befits good bosses, its own unique style, combat mechanics and weaknesses. There is also a plot here that is unlikely to interest you very much, because they do not play this for the sake of a beautiful word, but we still say that the bosses with whom you need to fight are the former brothers of the main character. The developers classify the style of battles as Bullet Hell, and one cannot but agree with them, because the firing button here, perhaps, can not be released at all. Naturally, the further the progress, the more interesting the pumping, consisting of four dozen different skills, which will have to be selected for each boss. Not even so: after being defeated by each new boss, players who have understood what's what will have to select the necessary skills to counter the enemy as effectively as possible. In short, a good arcade game that will surely find its fans.
Ashwalkers. April 15. (PC).
We continue with a rather strange game about survival in a world covered with ash after an extensive volcano apocalypse. Therefore, the whole picture here is almost monochrome, in the sepia style with occasional splashes of red. There is no multiplayer or co-op here. The game is strictly solitary and extremely atmospheric with an emphasis on endless despondency and depression. Both the players will catch up with the plot, in which there will be - attention - 34 different endings. Agree - it's very cool, and it's even hard to remember right off the bat in which game there is still something similar. The passage, as you already understood, is non-linear, the gameplay is based on research, search for resources, as well as taking care of the physical and mental state of the squad members. But right away you need to be prepared for the fact that not everyone will get to the final. Well, there are also crafts here in the form of constructing any useful item from the found items. As for the allies, they are all versatile personalities with their own views and biography, which, however, will be difficult to delve into, since the developers did not declare Russian-language localization. Maybe it will still be, because the page on Steam has been completely translated.
Portal Reloaded. April 19th. (PC)
Meet an unusual modification created by the fan community, which turned out to be so massive that it was implemented as a whole separate game. And best of all, the game is completely free to play. The mod is based on the concepts of the second, not the first part, with the addition of the mechanics of the third portal, which unlocks the unique time travel feature. Thus, the already difficult game with jumping between portals will become even more confusing, since time jumps will also be added to it, which will require, as the authors write, not the usual three-dimensional, but four-dimensional thinking. All this is stretched into 24 puzzles, which, again according to the promises, will be much more difficult than those in the original. There will also be new music, but you should not count on the plot, and even more so on the appearance of GlaDOS. However,
MotoGP 21.April 22. (PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox X).
Motorcycles have always been difficult for the gaming industry. There are few games on this topic, because they are not particularly in demand, but on the other hand, those who love virtual motorcycle races complain that they are almost never done. And the MotoGP series from the Italian Milestone is almost the only one that continues to breathe life into this genre. Well, and here, therefore, a new part, which, according to the old and not very good tradition, of course, will be quite similar to the previous part. Nevertheless, the developers once again promise the most infinitely realistic realism, which was not there before. In the presence of 120 official racers, more than two dozen official and exactly copied tracks, forty legendary veteran racers and their rare motorcycles, full multiplayer, as well as the main decoration of the game - a single career. where you will have to start with a young athlete who has joined the team and begins to reach the first heights in his profession. Separately, it is worth mentioning five graphic editors with which you can customize the appearance of racers and motorcycles.
We Are the Caretakers. April 22. (PC).
This game is, according to the developers themselves, a rare representative of the genre called Afrofuturism. This is an RPG where the player is invited to take control of a combat squad whose goal is to take care of endangered species of animals. The fighters, who are called Rangers, need to be recruited, trained and equipped, because the energy barrier separating something like a reserve from the rest of the world has disappeared, and all sorts of futuristic poachers poured into the reserve. On their website, the developers directly admit that they were inspired by XCOM, Darkest Dungeon and Northgard, but at the same time they brought a lot of their own, adding more than 70 characters with various skills, a reputation system, money, many animals and alliances. The battles here are step-by-step, and so that no one was bored just to fight, the authors also added a plot,
Remake of NieR Replicant. April 23. (PC, PS 4, Xbox One).
This game is plot-wise the predecessor of the famous NieR Automata, and it is not surprising, because the Replicant was released back in 2010 in the status of a console exclusive. The new version is something between a remake and a remaster. The graphics have been tightened up, the camera has been zoomed in, the battles have been modernized, but it can still be seen that we are dealing with something that is no longer young. According to the plot, the main character, driven by a noble impulse to save a sick sister, goes in search of "sealed poems", armed with a sword and a talking magic book. The developers promise a story with treacherous twists, nightmarish monsters, terrible diseases, colorful NPCs and, of course, a unique combat system that combines fencing and magic spells. If you have never played NieR before, because of indifference, then even now this action is unlikely to catch you.
Remaster of Total War: Rome. April 29. (PC).
For many fans of Total War, it was Roman, the third in a row, that became the most beloved. Well, and here, therefore, a remaster of that famous, already practically classics, of 2004. Does it make sense to join? It's not the same for everybody. If the graphics are not important for you, or, for example, the PC will not pull it, then, of course, the classics are more alive than all the living, and there is no alternative to it. If you are not against modern technologies, then this game is simply from the category that is called "must have". Moreover, in addition to high resolution, new textures and smoother animations, the game will also receive new content. In particular, we are talking about 16 factions that were unplayable in the original, and which became playable in the restart. In addition, you will be able to rotate the camera, which you could not have done in the original game, and you will be able to monitor the state of your troops in more detail, thanks to new indicators. Also, merchants have been added, who will be able to engage in trade, bringing profit to the state. And finally, the authors are talking about improving diplomacy. Well, yes, if you have the original on Steam, then you can count on a 50% discount.
Returnal. April 30 (PS 5).
A notable PlayStation 5 exclusive. The first Sony exclusive of this scale this year. The plot of this shooter will tell the story of a woman astronaut, caught in a time loop, having made a hard landing on a mysterious and extremely hostile planet, whose local inhabitants are not happy with guests. Nevertheless, the heroine is forced to embark on research, studying the traces left by her predecessors. The game implements an interesting network function in the form of the corpses of other players scattered across the map, having studied which, it will be possible to understand how exactly they died. But this is not the main feature of this project, but battles. They here, to be sure, fascinate. This is achieved due to the abundance of light and noise special effects, as well as the unusual skills of enemies, the designer of which can be given a special thank you, since the author approached their creation with great invention. Well,
Century: Age of Ashes. April. PC.
Now and then there will be projects that do not have exact release dates, but are going to come out in April. The shareware network action about flying dragons begins counting down. Flights and battles. Those who have played Skyrim remember how painfully they wanted to fly over Tamriel, riding some fire-breathing creature. But then it was not destiny. Nevertheless, if the desire remains, then its fulfillment is closer than ever. The creators of this game, which is released, by the way, in early access, promise arenas in 6x6 format with three unique dragon classes available at the start: Windbreaker, Marauder and Phantom. The first one is able to distract enemies and cunningly defend, the second one - to track enemies on a special mark, and the third one - to become a little invisible, and sets traps. As it develops, new opportunities will open up, but at the same time the authors explain,
Hoa. April. (PC)
Of course, the main thing to say about this game is that it is made in the style of the unforgettable Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. It is enough to throw just a fleeting glance at the local gameplay, as the corresponding associations with the same Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro will instantly pop up in memory. Hoa is a beautiful, atmospheric and cartoonish fairy-tale puzzle platformer, which is also ranked among the games of the relaxing genre, which is rather strange. It would seem, where are the platformers, and where is the relaxation. The platformer genre is one of the most intense video games in the world, but this time it’s not like that. Soothing music, complete safety and beautiful landscapes are aimed at making a person relax and unwind. The heroine named Hoa interacts with the magic of nature, traveling somewhere where all life began. The plot, by the way,
Revolution: The Spark. April. (PC).
Well, we conclude with an adventure RPG, which was supposed to be released in March, as we talked about in the last issue dedicated to the games of last month, but now Steam has designated this project as coming out in April. Well, let's take our word for it, especially since this month is listed on Metacritic. So, in the early access Steam you will find a slightly alternative Victorian England in the atmosphere of a steamer, and the main character is a soldier who is destined to either become a revolutionary and overthrow the monarchy, or vice versa - betray the revolution and defend the crown. The large city, divided into 9 districts, will offer an abundance of dialogue, turn-based battles, 25 allies divided into 7 classes, supernatural creatures and 5 different endings. If you pull the owl a little on the globe, then we can say that Revolution is similar to Arcanum. Steampunk here too, quirky weapons and a certain fantasy touch. All of this will be in early access for at least six months, and judging by the fact that the developers are clearly late and generally abandoned their accounts on social networks, it is believed that they will have to wait much longer.
Can't wait for MotoGP 2021, it's one of my favorite game!