Every week, it feels like there are more games for more platforms than ever. So we cut through the horde to find the five games you should play. And it starts, this week, with a zombie game that was six years in the making.
Pick Of The Week: Fortnite, Tuesday ($40, PS4, Xbox One, and PC)
First surfacing in 2011, Fortnite is the eagerly anticipated next game from People Can Fly (Bulletstorm) and Epic Games (games about storms of bullets), which mixes Minecraft and Left 4 Dead. During the day, you loot the abandoned town you’re in for the resources and weapons you need to hold back the zombie hordes. When night falls, you go out and trash zombies while protecting your increasingly elaborate and absurd fort.
This is technically an early access version of the game, which will be free-to-play when it officially opens for business in 2018. While that may give some pause, it is an interesting concept, and if you’ve been looking for a game that emphasizes both working together constructively and blowing up zombies, this’ll be your best bet.
Infinite Minigolf, Tuesday ($15 to $20, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and VR Platforms)
If whacking balls along goofy courses is more your speed, Zen, the studio behind all those pinball tables you keep seeing in console and Steam sales, has you covered. Infinite Minigolf is really about building courses; you boot up the course editor, put together your most fun or most fiendish course, and then put them online to see how you stack up to other builders. It’s a good chill game for the late summer months.
Vostok Inc., Wednesday ($15, PS4 and Xbox One)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghXeDxSszYQ
If unrestrained capitalism is more your speed, this twin-stick shooter will fit the bill. As you fly around gunning down aliens, you also collect planets, executives, and resources to upgrade your ship, build your company, and take over the universe. Basically it’s Wall Street with more action and intentional satire. Hey, that champagne won’t chug itself.
Aven Colony, Tuesday ($30, PS4 and Xbox One)
Prefer to build cities instead? Aven Colony puts you in charge of the first human colony on an alien planet, where the wildlife is placid, the environment is pleasant, and nothing at all could go wrong. Just kidding, of course everything is going to seed all at once and it’s up to you to ride out the crisis and ensure humanity can settle this planet without too many fatalities.
Hey! Pikmin! ($30, Nintendo 3DS)
FInally, the Pikmin franchise gets this adorable platformer that mixes Mario and Lemmings. Olimar, who can’t seem to catch a break, crash-lands yet again and needs to track down Sparklium. Helping him are the tiny little plant guys, who help him solve puzzles and, overly generously, let him use them as projectile weapons against enemies. Have a little self-respect, little dudes!
Any games we missed? Let us know in the comments!