August is the last month in the summer video game slump before things pick up again in September, but there are still plenty of new games to sink your teeth into. Massive titles like No Man’s Sky and Deus Ex will take plenty of free time off your hands.
ABZÛ – PS4, PC
Some games focus on the experience that they guide the player through. ABZÛ is one of these games. You take on the role of a scuba diver as they explore beautiful underwater environments and uncover the mystery of an ancient alien race.
Movement is graceful and filled with purpose as you glide through the water as fish swirl around you in curiosity. While there is a narrative to uncover, the main draw is the gorgeous visuals and the interaction with some denizens of the deep.
Clocking in at roughly three hours, it’s easy to blaze through, which gives it more re-playability than most titles. If you’ve played the excellent Journey on PS3 or PS4, ABZÛ is worth a look.
Batman: The Telltale Series Episode 1 – Xbox One, PS4, PC, Xbox 360, PS3, IOS, Android
Tell is a company that makes adventure games based on popular properties, and DC has given them the keys to the Dark Knight. This tale will be as much about Bruce Wayne as his brooding alter ego.
You’ll talk to various characters from the Batman universe, changing the path of the story with your choices. So, if you’ve ever wanted to shape the future of Gotham as Batman defends it from its many villains, now’s your chance.
But do be warned: the gameplay is not focused on action, but rather on narrative and puzzles. There will be moments of action but these are played out through timed button presses. The graphics mimic the style of the comics and the characters seem incredibly well realized. This is a different kind of Batman game, but that’s a good thing.
No Man’s Sky – PS4, PC
This is it, August’s biggest game. The gaming community has been waiting for No Man’s Sky’s release for almost three years. The ambitious sci-fi survival title gives players all of space to explore.
The entire play space is procedurally generated, so you won’t know what’s on a planet until you land, as it randomly generates around you. This sense of discovery and freedom hasn’t been given to players in a game before. You can also play several different ways.
Spend your days exploring planets and seeing the sights; collect resources and trade them for a profit, or fight your way across the galaxy, gunning down anything and everything that moves, in orbit and out.
Grow Up – Xbox One, PS4, PC
Grow Home was released in 2015 and starred a little red robot called BUD. He clambered up a massive plant, grabbing hold of stalks jutting out of the main plant and riding them higher into the sky to make it back to your spaceship. Grow Up will take this basic concept and give them a larger scale.
You land on an alien planet that just happens to have a mass of vegetation growing out of it. You’ll once again have to jump, glide, and shimmy your way up the massive green towers to make your way to the moon.
The game will have loads of collectibles and challenges to complete, but it’s at its best when you just climb up the plants, hand over foot, watching the cheerful robot work his way ever upwards, edging closer and closer to his end goal.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force – 3DS
Metroid Prime originally took Nintendo’s popular sci-fi exploration series turned it into a first-person shooter. Now, Metroid Prime: Federation Force brings the series to 3DS with a cute art style and cooperative mission design.
I’ll admit that it isn’t the Metroid Prime game that I or the rest of the internet was hoping for, but Nintendo always treats it flagship series with care, so Metroid shouldn’t be any different.
The action will be a blend of shooting and platforming, tasking you with quickly dispatching enemies and working your way through the detailed environments. If you’re a fan of the franchise, it may not be the big Metroid game you’ve dreamt of, but this will certainly tide you over in the meantime.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – Xbox One, PS4, PC
Deus Ex takes place in a not-so-distant future where humans have begun to augment themselves with technology. But not everyone likes this future. It has become the subject of many political debates, with different groups committing horrific acts in order to try and shift the tide.
The premise is enough to intrigue, but it’s the varied and smooth stealth/action gameplay that truly impresses. You can choose how to approach every scenario – going in guns blazing or skulking through the shadows and silently dispatching foes.
As you work your way through the game you gain new abilities, weapons, and learn the ins and outs of the mechanics. It’s great fun for anyone who wants a deep, complex, and story driven game to sink their teeth into. The choices you make throughout your adventure shape the story and the path it takes, and whether or not you kill everyone in your way also shapes the way the world looks at you. The entire game can be played many different ways, letting the player shape the experience to them.
Matthew Herst is a Carleton University communications student, video game journalist and Sudbury.com’s resident geek writer. Yeah, this guy love’s video games. Besides Sudbury.com, you can also find his work on TheNerdStash.com. Follow him on Twitter @supergurst.
