I know it’s been a slow summer, with barely any notable game releases. However, the new wave of AA releases has just begun, and we have quite a few hugely anticipated games releasing this month.
1. ABZU
Platform: PC, PS4 | Release Date: 2 August 2016
Abzû was announced at Sony Computer Entertainment’s 2014 E3 press conference, the first game under development by video game studio “Giant Squid”, founded by Flower and Journey art director Matt Nava, to be released for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows. Its name derives from the ancient words “ab” (ocean) and “zu” (to know), intended to be interpreted as “ocean of wisdom”. This is analogous to Abzu, the ancient Mesopotamian name for the religious concept of a primeval sea.
The game is a stylised swimming simulator, with an emphasis on exploring peaceful human interactions with aquatic animals. It simulates the shoaling and predatory behaviours between fish, and incorporates interaction with them. The game also incorporates elements of role-playing games such as upgrades to equipment. The progression through the game is linear, rather than open-world sandbox, though the environments are designed to be explored. Individual chapters of the game are set in different areas of the sea, including caverns, deep oceanic areas, coral reefs and flooded ruins.
2. Batman: The Telltale Series
Platform: Android, iOS, Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One | Release Date: 2 August 2016
Batman: The Telltale Series is an episodic point-and-click graphic adventure video game developed and published by Telltale Games and distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment under its DC Entertainmentlabel. The game is based on Bill Finger and Bob Kane’s Batman comic book series, though not tied to any previous adaption of the work in film or other media.
The player takes the role of Batman, both as the superhero and as his alter ego Bruce Wayne. Telltale Games CEO Kevin Bruner has stated that playtime will be split evenly between them, though at times the game will offer the player a choice of whether to approach a situation as Wayne or as Batman. The game’s narrative offers a “fresh interpretation of the universe set in current times, not tied to any existing iteration of Batman in games, film, or comics”, according to Telltale Games. According to Bruner, the game is set a few years after Wayne decides to become Batman, giving them flexibility in their writing and gameplay to give the player some control on how they want to play the character without ties to any established narrative.
3. No Man’s Sky
Platform: PlayStation 4 and Windows PC | Release Date: 9 August 2016
No Man’s Sky is an upcoming action-adventure survival video game developed and published by the indie studio Hello Games for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows. The game is scheduled to be released worldwide in August 2016.
No Man’s Sky‘s gameplay is built on four pillars—exploration, survival, combat and trading—in which players are free to perform within the entirety of a procedurally generated deterministic open universe, which includes over 18 quintillion (1.8×1019) planets, many with their own set of flora and fauna. By exploring, players gain information about the planets that they can submit to The Atlas, a universal database that can be shared with other players of the game.
Players get compensated in in-game currency every time new information is uploaded to The Atlas. Players also gain materials and blueprints to upgrade their character’s equipment and purchase a variety of starships, allowing them to travel deeper into the center of the galaxy, survive on planets with hostile environments, interact in friendly or hostile manners to computer-controlled space-faring factions, or trade with other ships. Some activities, such as killing too many lifeforms or draining too many resources from planets, will draw the attention of Sentinels that will attempt to kill the player-character.
4. Bound
Platform: PlayStation 4 | Release Date: 16 August 2016
Bound transports you into a beautiful, fantastical world that exists in the mind of a woman revisiting the memories of her childhood. You’ll use dance moves to traverse vast environments filled with platforming challenges. As the game progresses, the introspective story unfolds through powerful metaphor and imagery, adding emotional depth to the protagonist’s journey.
Bound is a 3D platformer designed for people with the desire to concentrate on the narrative side of games and experience a mature story. On the other side of the spectrum, Bound is also being prepared for hardcore gamers looking for the challenge of one big puzzle that can be only solved by a community of players working together.
5. Grow Up
Platform: PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One | Release Date: 16 August 2016
Grow Up is an upcoming adventure platform video game developed by Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft. The game is scheduled to be released on August 16, 2016 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, andXbox One. It is a sequel to the 2015 video game Grow Home. The game was announced on 13 June 2016, at Ubisoft’s E3 press conference. It is set in an open world environment.
6. Obduction
Platform: Mac and Windows PC | Release Date: 22 August 2016
Obduction is an upcoming adventure video game developed by Cyan Worlds. Obduction is considered a spiritual successor to Cyan’s previous adventure games, Myst and Riven. In the game, the player finds their character transported to strange alien worlds but with human elements within the settings. The player must explore and solve puzzles to figure out how to return home.
The game was funded via a Kickstarter campaign in October 2013, and currently is expected to be released in August 2016 for Microsoft Windows and OS X, including a virtual reality version for Oculus Rift systems.
In Obduction, the player’s character has been abducted from Earth by aliens and transported to one of several alien worlds, with the goal to try to find a way home. The game, played out as an adventure game from thefirst-person perspective, has the player exploring the environment of several different worlds, which includes a mix of alien landscapes and familiar human settings, solving puzzles, and making decisions that can influence how the game ends. The game features traditional navigation controls for first-person games as well as a node-based point and click system. Many objects in the game can be selected and examined in a full three-dimensional view, allowing the player to discover possible hidden drawers or features that aid in puzzle solving.
7. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC | Release Date: 23 August 2016
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is an upcoming cyberpunk-themed action role-playing stealth video game developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix as a sequel to the 2011 Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Set two years after Human Revolution, Mankind Divided features the return of Adam Jensen, with new technology and body augmentations. It is played from the first-person perspective, with a third-person perspective cover system.
The year is 2029, two years after the events of Human Revolution and the “Aug Incident”—an event in which mechanically augmented humans became uncontrollable and lethally violent. Unbeknownst to the public, the affected augmented received implanted technology designed to control them by the shadowy Illuminati, which is abused by a rogue member of the group to discredit augmentations completely. The Illuminati successfully conceal the truth behind rumors and disinformation, while the augmented are now outcasts from normal humans in an era of “mechanical apartheid”.
The player character is Adam Jensen, an augmented former private security officer now working with Interpol to capture a terrorist group of augmented humans. Jensen secretly works for the Juggernaut collective, a hacker group helping him to confront the Illuminati.
8. Attack On Titan
Platform: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows PC and Xbox One | Release Date: 30 August 2016
Attack on Titan known in Europe as A.O.T.: Wings of Freedom, is a video game based on Hajime Isayama’s manga series of the same name released forPlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita in Japan. It was released on February 18, 2016, in Japan. On April 7, Koei Tecmo announced a Western release in North America and Europe for August 2016. Xbox One and Microsoft Windows versions were also revealed.
The game retells key moments from the first season of the Attack on Titan anime, in addition to new scenarios involving the key characters.
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