By Collin Junkin
We are finally in the closing stretch before Rockstar's long-awaited return to Vice City. Every prominent publisher has cleared the way for Jason and Lucia to the August-October window resulting in a congested span of two months. With industry prices rising, and the switch to digital only content, gamers are being much more conservative with what games they spend their hard earned dollar on. However, there are a handful of high quality titles released before we explore Leonida that don’t deserve to go unnoticed.
Marvel’s Wolverine
Insomniac Games is making a return September 15 to the long awaited, Marvel’s Wolverine.
After its bold announcement in 2021, Insomniac is switching gears to a more grounded, personal, and brutal superhero experience. Ditching the open-world “checklist” game-loop of the Spider-Man titles. Wolverine is bringing a cinematic M-Rated experience so expect plenty of gore and violence throughout. Intentionality looks to be the focus of Wolverine with a linear, non-open world experience with a heavier focus on story and combat. If Insomniac can continue to put out the industry leading console optimization and an unforgettable story, Wolverine will be a high profile release if it lands.
The Blood of Dawnwalker
Witcher 3 veterans at the newly founded Rebel Wolves grants you only thirty in-game days to save your family in this blood-soaked, dark fantasy vampire story. You take the role of Coen, our human at day, and bloodthirsty vampire by night. The world of 14th-Century Carpathia is vast with many secrets and narrative opportunities. Scarcity is the selling point in this “Narrative Sandbox” where your choices can change your entire playthrough. Help people during the day or don’t. It is all up to player freedom. Quests are optional as this is your rescue mission that can be taken head on (or from afar) September 3 will feel genuinely different from the rest on the fall slate.
Gears of War: E-Day
Silent Hill: Townfall
Simon Ordell wakes up on the cold shore of a small town called St. Amelia. He has no recollection of how he got here and can only be guided by an old CRTV. The screen constantly flickers and is coated with static and bloom but Simon can twist the device to different frequencies and see the outline of the creatures that stalk him. Faintly he hears a voice of a woman guiding him through this rain-slicked foggy hell. “Come back to me, Simon.” The combat is heavy and up close, utilizing a first person perspective echoing Kojima’s P.T. Screen Burn is making a statement with this spin-off title from the beloved psychological series. Silent Hill Townfall rolls in September 24. Will Simon finally make things right?
Phantom Blade Zero
Hunted down by former allies of a powerful organization known as “The Order”, our main Protagonist “Soul” was left for dead and stabbed in the heart during a duel. To save his life, a mystic granted him a sixty-six day timer till his true demise. You must cut through this dark wuxia world described as a “Kungfupunk” Combat is highly stylized, poetic and reverberates Chinese culture. Martial artist and actor Donnie Yen provided full facial and performance capture ensuring the combat is authentic to traditional martial arts. There are over 30 weapons and an array of fighting styles so players are encouraged to pinpoint what feels right to them. The team at S-Game have unequivocally stated Phantom Blade Zero is not another soulslike but a high-speed kung fu experience focused on combos and player momentum. October 29 cannot come soon enough.
From iconic comic book heroes, to the bloodstained streets of Kalona, and the fog-dense horrors of St. Amelia, Leonida is hard to ignore.Yet each of these games stands apart and holds its line. Play these tiles while you can before Rockstar’s magnum opus beholds us all when Grand Theft Auto VI releases November 19.