PCs, handhelds, mobile, console, indies, triple A, free-to-play — the gaming scene gets more diverse and difficult to follow by the day, but thankfully I’m here ever week to guide you through what’s happening with games.
As always, I’ll rattle off five games I think you might want to check out this week. Keep in mind, these articles aren’t meant to be comprehensive lists of everything coming out that week so much as a nice rounded tasting menu. So, here are the games you need to know about this week…
This Week’s Squad-Based Shooter
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (PC, Xbox One & PS4, Dec. 1)
Rainbow Six Siege pits two teams of five up against each other, with one side defending, while the other breaches. Every team member has different skills and abilities, and you’re going to need to use careful strategy to succeed. Just don’t expect much of a single-player experience – much like the recently released Star Wars Battlefront, this is strictly a multiplayer affair.
This Week’s Shoot ‘Em Up
Dariusburst: Chronicle Saviors (PC, PS4 & PS Vita, Dec. 3)
The classic arcade-style shooter may be a relic of the past, but surprisingly Taito’s classic Darius franchise is still alive and fairly well. The latest game in the series, Dariusburst: Chronicle Saviors promises more of the old-school space shooting action you spent countless quarters on as a kid (assuming you’re a geezer like me).
This Week’s Handheld Horror Game
Dementium Remastered (3DS, Dec. 3)
The Dementium games were surprisingly good Doom 3-like horror games on the original Nintendo DS, and now the first game in the series is being remade for the 3DS with all new graphics, re-tuned gameplay and more unforgiving difficulty settings. Dementium may have aged a bit, but it certainly stands out amongst the mostly lighthearted 3DS lineup.
This Week’s Japanese RPG
Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U, Dec. 3)
Xenoblade Chronicles X may not have received as much hype as Fallout 4 or The Witcher III, but in terms of sheer size, this is the biggest open-world RPG of the year. The original Xenoblade Chronicles was secretly the best JRPG of the last generation, and Xenoblade Chronicles X looks to deliver enough beautiful landscapes, huge monsters, and kickass mechs to be considered a worthy successor.
Pick of the Week
Just Cause 3 (PC, Xbox One & PS4, Dec. 1)
Explosions! Have we mentioned Just Cause 3 has some very big, very cool explosions? I think we have. Some open-world games are all about complex role playing, and some are just about giving you a big, beautiful toy box full of explodey things to play with. Just Cause 3 is definitely the latter. If you want something a little lighter after binging on Fallout 4, Just Cause 3 is probably the game for you.
This is it, truly the last major gaming week of the year. We might round up a few more stragglers next week, but otherwise, the gaming industry is now going to sleep until 2016. Any games you’re itching to get your hands on that I failed to mention? Hit the comments and let the world know.