If you’re looking for some fresh new games, after the snoozefest Far Cry Primal and The Division turned out to be (I’m just kidding), here’s what coming in April 2016.
Quantum Break
Platform: PC, Xbox One | Release Date: 5 April 2016
Quantum Break is an upcoming action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios, to be released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. A Quantum Break digital live-action series is also in production.
The game will feature digital episodes that interact with the game based on the player’s choices. Players play as Jack Joyce, a person with time manipulation powers in a world where time stutters, making everything freeze except Joyce. Players can use a variety of firearms, as well as their time-manipulating powers to defeat enemies in the game.
Dirt Rally
Platform: PS4, Xbox One | Release Date: 5 April 2016
Dirt Rally is a racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows. An early access version of the game was released on 27 April 2015, via digital distribution service Steam. The full version was released on 7 December 2015. The launch trailer for the game announced PlayStation 4, Xbox One and physical PC DVD versions to be launched on 5 April 2016.
Players compete in timed stage events on tarmac and off-road terrain in varying weather conditions. On release, the game features 17 cars, 36 stages from three real world locations (Baumholder, Powys and Argolis), and asynchronous multiplayer. Dirt Rally features a large number of vehicles in a wide variety of classes. It contains cars from the 1960s, 70’s, 80’s, Group B, Group A, Group R, 2000s and 2010s modern rally, Rallycross and Pikes Peak.
Dark Souls III
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One | Release Date: 12 April 2016
Set in the Kingdom of Lothric, an undead warrior known as the Ashen One is tasked to avert an oncoming apocalypse brought about by the ongoing conflict between Light and Dark. But the only means to avert this event is with the destruction of the Lords of Cinder, previous heroes who have linked the First Flame across eons.
Throughout the game, players encounter different types of enemies, each with different behaviors. Some of them change their combat pattern during battles. New combat features are introduced in Dark Souls III, including “Weapon Arts”, which are special abilities that vary from weapon to weapon that enable extra damage and unique movesets for a limited time, at the cost of magic points.
Small gravestones are introduced. These gravestones light up when interacted with and not only serve as players’ torches, but also provide additional lore to the game. The game puts more focus on role-playing, in which the character builder is expanded and weapons are improved to provide more tactical options to players. The game features fewer maps than its predecessor Dark Souls II, but levels were interconnected and were made larger, which encourages exploration.
Ratchet & Clank
Platform: PS4 | Release Date: 12 April 2016
Ratchet & Clank is an upcoming platformer-shooter video game under development by Insomniac Games, and to be published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is a re-imagining of the first game in the series, based on the upcoming film by Rainmaker Entertainment and Blockade Entertainment.
The game’s plot is based upon elements from the original Ratchet & Clank game and the upcoming animated feature film, which incorporates elements from later entries in the series. It is said to include a deeper origin story and over an hour of cutscenes, including footage from the film.
Though the game is a re-imagining of the first game, it will have a variety of gameplay elements from different entries in the series, with features like strafing, weapon and health upgrades, raritanium weapon upgrading and the inclusion of weapons that came after the first game. It also features brand new weapons. For example, the Pixelizer, which, as the name suggests, turns enemies into an 8-bit appearance.
The Banner Saga 2
Platform: PC | Release Date: 19 April 2016
The Banner Saga 2 is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Stoic and published by Versus Evil. The game is scheduled to be released for Microsoft Windows and OS X on April 19, 2016, with PlayStation 4 andXbox One versions due later. It is a sequel to The Banner Saga.
The game was announced at the The Game Awards on December 5, 2014.[2] Initially, the game was scheduled to be released for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2015. However it was later delayed into 2016.
Star Fox Zero
Platform: WiiU | Release Date: 21 April 2016
Star Fox Zero is an upcoming 3D scrolling shooter video game co-developed by PlatinumGames and Nintendo for Wii U. After a delay from November 2015, the game will be released worldwide in April 2016. It is the 6th installment in the Star Fox series. Lead producer Shigeru Miyamoto stated the game is neither a prequel nor a strict remake of the first game, while Nintendo stated it is neither a sequel nor a prequel to the series. A standalone tower defense game, Star Fox Guard, will be bundled with the game.
Star Fox Zero largely follows the classic gameplay of its predecessors, such as Star Fox 64, in which players control Fox McCloud as he pilots his Arwing craft through various levels. The game is controlled using the Wii U GamePad, with the left control stick used to maneuver the craft while gyroscopic controls can be used to aim weapons. A cockpit view is displayed on the GamePad’s screen to assist with aiming.
Hitman – Episode 2 Italy
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One | Release Date: 26 April 2016
Hitman is an episodic action-adventure stealth video game developed by IO Interactive and published by Square Enix for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It was the sixth entry in the Hitman series. The game’s prologue acts as a prequel to the series, however the main game takes place after the events of Hitman: Absolution.
If Paris recalled the best of Blood Money’s Curtains Down mixed with Hitman 2’s Invitation to a Party, then Sapienza’s sleepy Italian setting is reminiscent of Hitman 2’s Anathema. It’s a coastal town, with a sunny square to drink coffee in and pleasant roads which lead down to a beach filled with the speedboats of the not-so-idle rich. The town is dominated, for the purposes of your visit at least, by a large mansion which overlooks the bay. As ever it’s your job to get in, kill at least one person deader than Kinect, and get out.
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