S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: HEART OF CHORNOBYL

Here’s a recent and obvious one to kick things off. Every step of the way, it feels like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is trying to kill you. The game takes a lot of pride in how brutally demanding it is, to the point where it can feel actively hostile to the player. Terrifying mutant monstrosities, a constant dearth of weapons and ammo, radiation and extreme weather, or the plain and simple fact that you’re incredibly easy to kill- plenty of factors come together to ensure that you never feel at ease in the Exclusion Zone.

There are, of course, major spoilers ahead for each of the games featured in this rundown, so skip a section if you want to discover the game’s conclusion for yourself.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar’s wild west opus has four endings (three as Arthur Morgan, one as John Marston) but owing to your inevitable attachment to Morgan during the 50-hour-or-so campaign none are especially uplifting. The ‘good’ – in inverted commas – ending sees Morgan assisting Marston in a shootout against Dutch’s gang and the Pinkertons. High honour: Arthur succumbs to tuberculosis watching the sunrise; low: he takes a bullet to the head. Abandoning Marston for the bad ending sees Morgan lose a knife fight to Micah Bell. Each ending elevates an already engrossing story, but it sure does suck for Arthur to lose his life no matter what you choose.

Ghost of Tsushima  

Jin’s defence of Tsushima from Mongol invaders culminates in the ultimate moral quandary, and players are divided on which direction is most canonical. On the one hand, killing Lord Shimura – his surrogate father – is most honourable for Shimura but distressing for Jin. Sparing his uncle dishonours the family, spitting in the face of samurai code. Opt for the former to poetically symbolise Jin’s full transition to ghost, severing any remaining connection to the samurai code he once adhered, no matter how much Shimura demanded it. Either way, Jin is left a lone wolf, his heroism reduced to villainy in the eyes of the Shogun.

Shadow of the Colossus

Yeah, you’ve slain sixteen colossi to revitalise your lady love Mono, but at what cost? The scheming Dormin doesn’t reveal their identity as annexed demon until the game’s very end, but by that time it’s too late, the damage is done. Shadow of the Colossus has a way of making you feel sorry for the fierce-now-slain colossi, even though your actions as Wander were in good faith; to be fair to Dormin too, they do uphold their end of the bargain in reviving Mono. Agro the horse survives too, at least.

Limbo

Enigmatic Limbo, the odyssey of a boy in search of his sister. This silent, dark ambient masterwork is open to interpretation, but the presiding theory is that the boy is dead and that the game is an allegorical retelling of his life right up until the moment he checks out. With all the gravitational flailing during the game’s final moments it seems the boy died in a car crash, but the gut punch here is that he clearly doesn’t know he’s already dead. Maybe his sister was never in Limbo? Or maybe she died in the crash too? The two never clap eyes on each other at the end, despite the sister sensing the boy’s presence. Tragic.

Braid

An ending which re-contextualises the narrative, during Braid we play as Tim during his attempts to rescue a princess from an evil monster, although maybe Tim is the monster all along? This blatant switcheroo is not as trivial as it first appears. Tim, as revealed via in-game texts, was instrumental in The Manhattan Project, with the princess being a manifestation of his guilt surrounding his part in the atom bomb’s development. The flip-reverse finale whereby we believe we’re rescuing the princess only for time to switch backwards to reveal she’s running away cements Tim’s legacy as wrongdoer. It’s a beautiful, bittersweet full circle.

SOMA  

Say what you will about SOMA, but it’s got one of the heaviest existential crises in all video games. Uploading consciousness to digital formats is conceptually and morally nebulous; SOMA asks just what it is to be human. Is it someone’s thoughts, personality, memories? If so, is it the same person if you extract these thoughts and implant them in a carbon-copied body? Experiencing this first-hand through the eyes of Simon, we feel a sense of triumph as his fourth iteration is deposited into the ARK before its voyage to interstellar sanctuary, but our eyes stay with Simon3 as he’s left behind in dark, subaquatic abyss, abandoned and alone.

The Last of Us

The pinnacle of moral middle ground, you play the majority of The Last of Us as grief-stricken smuggler Joel, and you’ll endear yourself to him principally due to the tragic loss of his daughter some two decades prior; a heinous tragedy, with unshakeable grief hanging over him like a dark cloud. Ellie is his chance at finally conquering his sorrow, of blowing this dark cloud away, so his actions – as abominable as they are for the rest of humanity – are explainable. There’s no denying his selfishness though; The Last of Us has us believe we play the good guy, but our nobility is shattered at the very end.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

A game about working together to overcome insurmountable challenges, little brother Naiee heavily relies on older sibling Naia, until he can’t. Ingeniously exemplified via in-game controls, the loss of thumb-stick functionality for the older brother symbolising the very real loss Naiee experiences when Naia is no longer his guiding light. Together with Naiee, we’re forced to adapt, to learn strength, and live without help. It’s a bittersweet ending to an emotionally charged story.

A Way Out

Two endings are possible in dual-protagonist prison break drama A Way Out, yet the deaths of seasoned criminal Leo or undercover agent Vincent don’t bring any significant gratification to the player. Canonically, Leo killing Vincent makes more sense. After all, he’s the real criminal here despite his final actions motivated by betrayal than bloodlust. Vincent killing Leo is the easier pill to swallow but implies a failure to morally resolve his sting operation. Both share kinship, both have families outside of the drama, there’re no winners at the end of A Way Out.

L.A. Noire

Despite L.A. Noire adhering to the tragic finale trope of film noir, numerous players find the game’s ending dissatisfactory. Centring on Cole Phelps’ humdrum death at game’s end, Phelps’ quest for redemption ending on a damp squib, with little recognition for the man he is, for his uneventful funeral, it’s easy to see this resolution as a rushed job by the developers. Thing is, Phelps spent his life seeking redemption for his failures as a soldier, police officer, and husband. The fact he was on the cusp of reclamation before his untimely death is plain tragic.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Sure, there are endless clues throughout MGSV: The Phantom Pain that Venom Snake isn’t in fact the real Big Boss, but The Medic whom Zero imparts skills, wisdom, and memories of Big Boss to act as decoy. By the end of the game, it feels like we’ve been playing as a lie. We eliminate the bad guys, but do we feel fulfilled? Aren’t we left with a feeling of emptiness – a Phantom Pain?

Inside

Monochromatic side-scroller Inside plunges a boy into a dangerous world, intriguing, otherworldly, hostile, and mysterious. He’s forging towards something, but that something is totally unexpected. Is the globule mass calling him? That point is up for interpretation, but once he’s enveloped, and the hulking mass escapes from the tight-knit facility all hell breaks loose. We escape, but to where? Was this whole thing orchestrated? One thing worth mentioning: when we reach the grey shoreline come the game’s very end, there’s a sense of tranquility. Of peace. Inside’s a strange one.

It Takes Two

Struggling couple Cody and May are forced to cooperate in It Takes Two, overcoming obstacles together in miniature toy-like form initially as a means to reach their daughter back in their human form, but then growing as a way to save their marriage. However, together they must torture and kill a stuffed elephant toy; a toy that, yes, whilst stuffed and not real is begging for mercy. It’s challenging, disturbing, quease-inducing, but come games end the trio of husband, wife, and daughter have a new perspective on their life and relationship. It’s just that getting there takes monumental challenge – kind of like true life.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead

Yes, an obvious pick for this feature. There’re question marks over saviour Lee’s fate – does he die in both the game’s possible endings? Sure, he’s bitten, so in one ending you shoot him out of sympathy, but in the other you can spare him. The tragedy here is that in saving your bullet you condemn him to becoming a walker. You’re left broken either way, a true example of survival but at what cost.

Gears of War 3

The ending of Gears of War 3 centers on sacrifice. It’s revealed player-character Marcus Fenix’s father Adam infects himself with Lambent cells in order to test his Locust eradicating machine. The machine works, sweeping a shockwave across Sera and completing the mission for Marcus and his team. They’ve won, but of course Marcus has lost his father, and perhaps greater, he mournfully ponders the remnants of humanity – was it all worth saving?

On August 3rd, narrative adventure A Short Hike joins the subscription service, while Broforce Forever, the newest update for the side-scrolling shooter, arrives on August 8th. Limbo, Playdead’s critically acclaimed atmospheric platformer, is coming on August 9th.

Airborne Kingdom, a management title focused on building a city in the sky, will also be added on August 10th. These games will be playable on consoles, PC and the cloud. August 15th sees Everspace 2 finally releasing on consoles, and it will be playable for Xbox Series X/S and cloud players. Check out our review for more details.

Some major titles are also leaving on the same day. Play them now, or use the 20 percent subscriber discount to keep them.

• Death Stranding (PC)
• Edge of Eternity (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Midnight Fight Express (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Total War: Warhammer 3 (PC)

Of course, adventures that would otherwise be impossible – like surviving in a jungle and searching for ancient treasure – become all the more tenable in a video game. So let’s take a look at 10 games that had great forest and jungle settings along with what made them so unique.

Far Cry 2

The sequel is more popular – and responsible for establishing the current formula of the series – but there’s just something so appealing about Far Cry 2’s setting. As a mercenary sent in to hunt The Jackal, an arms dealer contributing to both sides in the war, players navigate through sweeping forests, plains and intricate jungles with a wide range of vehicles, from boats to hang gliders.

Malaria is also a factor, requiring the player to treat it with medicine or risk death, and there are limited healing supplies. The world itself feels alive with various animals roaming about, and physics influencing the environment, like fire that spreads naturally to surroundings. It’s not the most story-driven experience but the survival mechanics coupled with simply exploring the world as your Buddies lay out the next objective is still fairly unique.

On July 1st, Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts will be playable via the cloud. Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling, an acclaimed Paper Mario-style RPG, will also be available for cloud, consoles and PC alongside Gang Beasts and Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars. If that weren’t enough, Playdead’s iconic platformer Limbo is coming to the service as well.

Interestingly, Judgment wasn’t announced for the subscription service despite a recent tease. Perhaps we’ll see it added later. In the meantime, some titles will be leaving Xbox Game Pass on June 30th so play them now while you have the chance. The games in question include:

• Battle Chasers: Nightwar (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Messenger (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Mistover (PC)
• Monster Hunter World (Cloud and Console)
• Out of the Park Baseball 21 (PC)
• Outer Wilds (Cloud and Console)
• Soulcalibur 6 (Console)

RAGE 2

For all intents and purposes, RAGE 2’s story is stupidly simple. You meet the members of Project Dagger, fight General Cross and corrupt him with a virus that prevents more of his clones being made. The virus happens to be lethal to Walker, the protagonist, as well. But lo and behold, his friend Lily saves him, there’s a rendezvous with the Project Dagger members again and…that’s it. It’s not a terrible cliffhanger like RAGE 1 but that’s not saying much.

Hollow Knight – Path of Pain

The White Palace is already a pretty haphazard place full of platforming terrors but necessary for getting the best endings. The Path of Pain, added with the Grimm Troupe DLC, is on another level though. There’s your average range of spikes, buzz-saws, thorns and whatnot but this area tests your mastery of bouncing off obstacles with the Nail. Even if you happen to get through it all, there are two Kingsmoulds waiting to be fought.

Echtra Games may be developing Torchlight Frontiers, bringing the franchise into the free to play space. However, you can enjoy the first Torchlight by Runic Games for free via the Epic Games Store. You need to have an Epic Games account and download the launcher to claim it.

Torchlight is quite the outstanding action RPG, created by former Diablo developers and featuring some stellar combat. Players can also have different pets that will carry their gear and could be sent to town to sell it. The game will be free until July 18th.

On that day, Playdead’s Limbo will become the next free offering. A classic in its own right, Limbo is a monochromatic platformer starring a child traversing limbo in search of his sister. It will be available from July 18th to 25th. In the meantime, grab Torchlight while you can (and maybe check out its equally stellar sequel Torchlight 2 later).

Limbo

Set on the precipices of Hell, Limbo sees a lone boy trying to find a missing girl, who’s apparently his his sister. Along the way, he meets either angry folk or dead folk. Oh, and a terrifying giant spider that will quickly murder him. After all the trials, the boy finds himself back in the forest and seemingly finds the girl. Suddenly, the game ends. Yes, just like that. Did they proceed to the afterlife? Are they stuck in limbo? The unknown can be scary in its own right and Limbo masters it quite well.

Please note that due to sheer number of games on the Xbox 360, it’s impossible to make everyone of you happy! But please note that this is our list so there is a good chance your favorite game may not be present here.

Dead Space

Dead Space puts the player on a spaceship that is infested with grotesque monsters known as Necromorphs. You were sent with a team of engineers to repair the USG Ishimura, a mining flagship that had sent out a distress signal. The player was put in the shoes of Isaac Clarke, an engineer for the CEC, a trade organization forefronting deep space and solar mining. The game was made to be a psychological horror shooting game and it hit its mark fairly well. It was the kind of game you knew something was coming if it got too quiet.  It didn’t help that air vents were the main path for the monsters to jump out and scare the living daylights out of you. The game was critically acclaimed for its  writing, polished level design and incredible atmosphere. 

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