Relive third-person action classics like Resident Evil or the more recent Saints Row IV, which both receive remastered new releases this week. Alternatively, think on a bigger scale and delve into the latest in strategy games with Grey Goo and Blackguards 2.
What will you be playing this week?
Resident Evil HD
PS3/PS4/Windows/X360/XB1 (January 20)
Shinji Mikami’s 1996 survival horror classic is back with shiny, 1080p visuals and improved lighting effects for a new generation of consoles. Play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, elite special operatives investigating mysterious murders in a mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City. Zombie and monstrous attack dog scares ensue.
This HD remaster is itself based on a 2002 release for the Nintendo GameCube. That update not only improved the visuals of the 1996 game, but also made substantial tweaks and additions to gameplay, making its survival, resource management, and exploration all the more tense.
Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell/Saints Row IV: Re-Elected
PS3/PS4/Windows/X360/XB1 (January 20)
It never ends for the Third Street Saints. After becoming President of the United States and saving the world from alien invasion, the gang’s leader has now been kidnapped by Satan and betrothed to his daughter. Fellow Saints Johnny Gat and Kinzie Kensington have to head down into Hell to rescue their boss in this standalone expansion that utilizes the engine of Saints Row IV for an original, download-only release.
Arriving at the same time is Saints Row IV: Re-Elected for PS4 and XB1. This next gen update includes all of the downloadable content released for the 2013 open world game, and can be purchased in a bundle with Gat out of Hell by fans looking for hours and hours of the franchise’s irreverent fun.
Grey Goo
Windows (January 23)
The real time strategy veterans at Petroglyph Games have developed this return to form for a genre that has received little attention outside of eSports in recent years. Like Starcraft, Grey Goo balances three very differently-playing factions against one another in a sci-fi slug-fest of base building, resource collection, and territorial control. The designers have emphasized macro-scale decision making over micromanagement.
The three factions in question are the enterprising Humans, the alien Betas, and the eponymous Grey Goo. Derived from speculative science and Ray Kurzweil’s nightmares, the Grey Goo is a sentient mass of nanorobots, hungrily consuming resources as it expands and assimilates material.
Blackguards 2
Mac/Windows (January 20)
Take command of scrappy anti-heroes with checkered pasts in this strategy roleplaying game with turn-based, hexagonal combat. This follow-up to Daedalic Entertainment’s 2014 Blackguards has a heavy focus on tactical combat over story, positioning it as a sort of fantasy XCOM.
Many characters from the first game will make a return. You command a squad of heroes and mercenaries in both individual battles and the strategic map of choosing when and where to engage.
What else is coming:
- Citizens of Earth (Win/Jan. 20) — As the newly-elected Vice President of the United States, it’s your responsibility to rally humanity against an alien invasion in this lighthearted, retro RPG inspired by Earthbound.
- Punch-Out (Wii U/Jan. 22) — Little Mac follows up his Wii U debut in Super Smash Bros. with the game that put him on the map. This is a port of the 2009 Wii iteration of the classic boxing series.
- Armello (early access; Linux, Mac, Win./Jan 22) — League of Geeks debuts with this fusion of card and board games with strategy RPG elements. Explore, scheme, and adventure your way to the top of a fantasy kingdom populated with anthropomorphic animals in the vein of Redwall.
