The best releases of the week and the biggest discounts in online stores.
Hello! I’m review with you, and you read the regular column “What to play this week.” In this issue:
- step-by-step strategy Gears tactics trying to be unlike Xcomand she does it very well;
- players brutalized by lack of cyberpunk attacked indie project Cloudpunk – and they suddenly liked it;
- Snowrunner – and the St. Petersburg developers who made the Russian off-road simulator, and released the US off-road simulator;
- Iratus: Lord of the Dead – Another St. Petersburg developers who decided to make Darkest dungeon, just the opposite: we play as a villain and scare heroes;
- Sakura wars – Reboot of the Japanese classic RPG, action about giant robots and a date simulator in one bottle;
- and finally retro beat em up Streets of Rage 4 – as retro as possible!
Gears tactics
Developer: Splash Damage, The Coalition
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Platforms: PC, Xbox One
Gears Tactics is a turn-based strategy game that does not try to be like others. The battlefield is not divided into familiar cells, you can move anywhere. There is no economy and development base either. And in the gameplay we are waiting for real meat, familiar to all fans of the series. For example, there is the mechanics of executions: after the bloody finishing of the enemy, the entire detachment receives an additional action point – this motivates a more aggressive style of play. By the way, for each move, the fighters have three points at once, and this also greatly adds dynamics.
But the main difference between the game and competitors is a powerful focus on the plot. The cutscenes in quality are almost not inferior to what we saw in the license plates of the series, so the game is perceived as a real blockbuster that accidentally was squeezed into the framework of a niche genre. And more details about Gears Tactics we will soon tell in our full review – wait for him the other day.
Cloudpunk
Developer: Ion Lands
Publisher: Maple Whispering Limited
Platforms: PC
Tired of waiting Cyberpunk 2077? Especially for you, the indie studio Ion Lands has released Cloudpunk’s story adventure – there is a huge night city, neon lights and a rich atmosphere straight from Gibson’s works. The game takes place overnight, and the main character is an ordinary courier named Rania, who delivers packages to residents of the metropolis. She finds herself in a whirlpool of strange events, during which she will meet with dissimilar townspeople from different social backgrounds. And the decisions that Rania will make can forever change their fate.
In the very first days after the release, the novelty sold tens of thousands of copies and received a rating of 77 on Metacritic. However, we warn you: there is no action, no cool quests, and the plot is served exclusively through dialogs. But if you are primarily interested in the atmosphere and relaxing gameplay with flying around the city at night, then this project can be a real find for you.
Snowrunner
Developer: Saber Interactive
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PS4
A series of Russian off-road simulators once again changes its name. At first it was called Spintires, but then its author, Pavel Zagrebelny, quarreled with the publisher and went to the studio Saber interactive. Then the series began to be called Mudrunner. However, the main audience was foreign players who were not very interested in riding Soviet equipment in our taiga spaces. Therefore, we meet a new incarnation of the project: now it is called SnowRunner and is aimed primarily at American players.
At first glance, it seems that the developers only added a new map and a bunch of Western equipment, but this is not so. All key changes SnowRunner – under the hood of the updated engine. The size of locations increased four times, increased detail and viewing range. Fully updated vegetation, weather system, as well as snow and ice simulations. Added support for ultra-fine textures. Now some screenshots from the game can really be confused with a photograph. In general, from an entertaining indie project, the series is steadily turning into a serious niche blockbuster.
Iratus: Lord of the Dead
Developer: Unfrozen
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch
And another project from Russian developers: studio Unfrozen released turn-based tactical role-playing game Iratus: Lord of the Dead. During the early access, it became very successful: more than 100 thousand copies, 86% of positive reviews have already been sold. Many people compare the project with the cult Darkest Dungeon, just the opposite: we control a necromancer who collects an army of corpses of defeated enemies. Attached to this is the ability to frighten mortals or make them mad – and many other funny moments. And although the game did draw inspiration from Darkest Dungeon, it is very different from it. Some reviewers like this, while others, on the contrary, seem to be a drawback – but everyone recognizes that for a small team from St. Petersburg this project was a great success.
Sakura wars
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Platforms: PS4
The Sakura Wars series has existed since 1996, but if this is the first time you hear this name, consider yourself lucky. Just this week, the developers arranged a series of reboots, so you can start getting to know from scratch without worrying about the previous parts. The updated Sakura Wars can not be described in one word: this is a role-playing game, and action, and even a date simulator! You play the role of captain of a fighting squad of giant robots that work under the control of pretty girls – in general, a typically Japanese game. The voice acting is also only in Japanese, by the way; for other languages only subtitles are provided, and there is no Russian among them yet. But it never stopped real fans of Japanese culture, right?
Streets of Rage 4
Developer: Guard Crash Games, LizardCube
Publisher: Dotemu
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch
Retro lovers should pay attention to the release of the bit-em up Streets of Rage 4 – this is a continuation of the legendary Japanese series about street fights. And although this time the game was no longer made by Sega, the developers who received the license from it were very careful about the heritage of cult classics. Minimum changes: for example, new blows appeared, and also added the ability to beat enemies with their heads against the wall. The rest of the game is before us, as if it had flown straight from the nineties. And to make it easier to immerse yourself in the atmosphere, you can unlock music and heroes from the original trilogy. In general, ten out of ten attacks of nostalgia are definitely provided for you.
Discounts
Well, now let’s find out what interesting discounts there are this week.
To online store Sony new discounts have not yet been delivered, however, the sale of discs with discounts of up to 25% will be held in retail chains of Russia and Ukraine until May 10. Basically, these are the exclusives of Sony itself, but there are several games from third-party studios. The action involves stores 1C Interest, Eldorado, M. Video, Respublika igra, Citylink, Technopark, Beru.ru, Ozon.ru, Wildberries and Gamepark. And in the Sony Store and DNS, you can get a 40% discount if you buy two games at once.
To the store Xbox one finally brought fresh discounts on blockbusters. Some games of the series Call of duty discounted by 70%: for example, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare now costs less than 20 bucks. There is a great discount on Metal Gear Solid V: just $ 12 for a full edition. Also involved in the sale of a series Dead raising – The fourth part can be bought half as much, for $ 30. And for 25 you can take the gold edition Resident evil 7.
On the Nintendo switch there is still a shortage of discounts, but there are still a couple of interesting offers. Just released Adventure Sunless sea with addition Zubmariner temporarily sold for 1200 rubles – this is 80% of the full price. Where the whole series of quests fell in price Syberia: for example, the second part with a 96% discount costs 130 rubles. Horror Close To The Sun discounted by 40% – now it will cost you 1125 rubles. And if you are tormented by nostalgia for Steam with its wild discounts, buy Flashback – remaster of the hit of the nineties. It costs only 69 rubles.
That’s all for today. The most attentive of you must have noticed that this release was out of schedule. The answer is simple: now we will try to release “What to play” closer to the middle of the week. Previously, many of the discounts described in the text ceased to work with the arrival of the weekend, but now they will be relevant for a few more days. Write in the comments what you think about the change of schedule and what else you would like to see in this section. And see you next week!
