Five Games: ‘Fallout 4: Far Harbor’ And Everything Else You Need To Play This Week

Keeping track of all the games arriving each week on PC, handhelds, consoles and mobile is no easy track, but don’t worry, I’m here to help. Every week in Five Games I separate the wheat from the chaff and pick five titles you need to play attention to.

We recently freshened up the Five Games format a bit. The Pick of the Week is now listed first, and the rest of the games are filed under headings that will hopefully be more helpful for you. Looking for the latest indie hotness? Check the Steam picks. Want to download something for your Xbox One or PS4 on a Saturday night? Hit up the Console Downloads section. Now, without further ado…

Pick of the Week

Fallout 4: Far Harbor (PC, Xbox One & PS4, May 19)

Thus far Bethesda has kept Fallout 4 fans on a drip feed when it comes to DLC, but they’re about to open the floodgates. In Far Harbor, you team up with your robot detective pal Nick Valentine to search for a woman who’s gone missing on an island populated by rogue synths. Said island is quite large, and comes with its own population of unique characters and a batch of new quests.

Nick Valentine’s detective cases were some of the most entertaining parts of Fallout 4, and Far Harbor looks to be much more atmospheric than the base game. Bethesda has a history of delivering excellent expansions for their RPGs, and it looks like Fallout 4: Far Harbor has a good shot at continuing that tradition.

This Week on Steam

Shadwen (PC, Mac, Linux & PS4, May 17)

From the developers of the critically-acclaimed Trine series comes Shadwen, a stylish new stealth game. You play as the titular Shadwen, an assassin who gets paired up with a young girl named Lily. You’ll have to stealthily clear a path for Lily and decide whether you want to kill in front of the child or shield her from your true nature. Here’s the game’s Steam page.

This Week in Console Downloads

VEV: Viva Ex Vivo (Playstation Store, May 17)

In VEV: Viva Ex Vivo, you play as a single-celled organism who has to survive in one of four different environments — fresh water, soil, blood or spinal fluid. Gross! Explore your environment, find food and avoid the other microscopic organisms that want to turn you into food. VEV certainly looks like a refreshingly original take on the survival genre.

Shadow of the Beast (Playstation Store, May 17)

Americans may not be terribly familiar with Shadow of the Beast, but the 1989 computer game was a big hit in Europe, and now decades later a remake is coming to the PS4. This new version of SotB replaces the original game’s simple action with more complex brawling, but it retains the trippy, anything goes sci-fi aesthetic. Trust me, this is a weird game, but it’s one worth experiencing. Expect a review later this week.

This Week in Retail Releases

Valkyria Chronicles Remastered (PS4, May 17)

One of the most acclaimed RPGs of the past generation returns! Valkyria Chronicles is a strategy RPG that takes place in a fictional universe loosely based the events of World War II. This remastered version boosts the game’s beautiful cell-shaded graphics to modern 1080p, 60 fps standards and includes all previously released DLC. If you missed out on Valkyria Chronicles when it first came out (and a lot of people did), you owe it to yourself to give this new version a look.

A high-quality week to be sure. Any games you’re looking forward to that I neglected to mention? Feel free to shout ’em out below.

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