Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown

Developer KT Racing’s most ambitious title to date has landed Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown a place on this rundown despite an onslaught of issues resulting predominantly from it’s always-online requirement. First, the good: Solar Crown’s Hong Kong open world is consistently complex and interesting, and the car feel – whilst not perfect – is a step up from Test Drive Unlimited 2. The bad however outweighs the good: time wasting bugs, server issues even when racing solely against AI, and inconsistent, non-adjustable difficulty settings makes Solar Crown a racer steeped in promise but with much to fix.

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

Sony’s “Remastered” trend hasn’t received the warmest reception over the years, but Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered more than earns its flowers. It revamps and improves its environments with more foliage, better lighting and shadows, and over 10 hours of new motion capture animation. Character models are pretty much carried over from Forbidden West and look fantastic. For just $50 ($10 if you own the original), it’s a pretty good deal.

Party-based brawler Mad Streets follows on October 7th. Daniel Mullins Games’ Inscryption will be available on October 10th, serving as the first spooky title added to the library for the month. In the meantime, Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can get their hands on All You Need is Help, Trials of Mana, Legend of Mana, and We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie (also available on Standard).

Of course, several titles will leave the library on October 15th, so you can finish them now or purchase them at a 20 percent discount. Check them out below:

• Dyson Sphere Program (PC)
• Everspace 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• From Space (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• F1 Manager 2023 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Scorn (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is especially noteworthy since it’s a day-one release. The multiplayer title sees players participating in Quidditch matches across various arenas and maps while taking up one of four roles. There’s a Career Mode, which goes from amateur backyard matches to the Quidditch World Cup, with support for up to three players in co-op.

MLB The Show 24 is the latest iteration in San Diego Studio’s illustrious baseball franchise, featuring a new Road to the Show focused on female players. Little Nightmares 2 is the last game in the series that Tarsier Studios worked on and offers even creepier environments and challenges to navigate. As for August’s PS Plus Essential titles, subscribers have until September 2nd to claim the same.

If you’ve played The Show before, this year’s entry will be familiar to you. On the offensive side of the ball, developers San Diego Studio have chosen to not fix what isn’t broken, providing very few significant changes to gameplay. In fact, aside from the annual updates to the score bug and on-screen icons, it’s difficult to differentiate this year’s hitting from last year’s. The same applies to pitching, which has virtually identical gameplay to past years, though a few quality-of-life improvements under the hood make themselves known, including a few new additions to Pinpoint Pitching, hitters no longer feeling like they foul off an unreasonable number of pitches, and the aforementioned pitch clock keeping the pace up. It’s not a terrible decision to keep these mechanics mostly unchanged, as they still offer a ton of variety and difficulty options, including dynamic difficulty settings, but it certainly isn’t reinventing the wheel.

"The Show 24 shows signs of relying too much on the past, with marginal gameplay improvements and its main new content a continuation of the Storylines mode introduced last year, but its charm, tight gameplay, and wide-ranging suite of modes remain to make MLB The Show 24 another great entry into the franchise."

Defensively, there are some more noticeable changes, particularly in the animations. On top of those carried over from past iterations, defenders at all positions have a lot more variety in how they act during a play. A shortstop might, for example, go behind the back with a toss to second when turning a double play, while an outfielder may throw himself into a tumble when trying to throw out a runner tagging up. These animations, combined with better visuals and consistently excellent broadcast, provide an improved presentation to this year’s game. Defense has also added a new mechanic on significant long throws, introducing a quicktime event that has you tap a sequence of buttons correctly to make an accurate deep throw, like a shortstop throwing from the hole or a right fielder throwing to third base. Again, none of these changes make the actual gameplay materially different from past years, but at least on defense there’s some more variety to how things play out and a slight tweak in skill needed for some of the more difficult plays.

Evidently, then, the biggest change in The Show this year comes in the level of content and the various way through which you can engage with this historic game. Last year introduced the Storylines mode with a focus on the Negro Leagues, allowing you to play through key moments as some of the League’s best players and learn about their stories. The Negro Leagues Storylines are back this year, with four of last year’s notable omissions available at launch, like the slugging catcher Josh Gibson and the all-time great Hank Aaron. These four players are a good start to build on last year, and despite having a disappointingly short runtime to complete all four of them, San Diego Studio has promised six additional players as post-launch content.

To complement the new Negro Leagues players, the biggest net-new content in this year’s Storylines follows the career of Yankees great Derek Jeter. The mode brings you along in the progression of the shortstop’s career, beginning at his Major League debut in 1995 and concluding with the Yankees third consecutive World Series championship in 2000. Like with the Negro Leagues Storylines, each step in this story combines a simple objective, like get multiple hits in a game or drive in a run, with a context-setting clip that documents the real-life events, all packaged into an authentic and charming New York City subway-themed presentation. Jeter himself sits down to be interviewed in many of these, and it’s surprisingly interesting to hear his personal perspectives on many of his career’s major events. Of course, Jeter’s career didn’t end in 2000, and the latter half of his career is also promised as post-launch content additions, which makes this engaging story feel unfortunately incomplete at launch.

"The biggest change in The Show this year comes in the level of content and the various way through which you can engage with this historic game."

In addition to the expanded focus on some of the game’s most historic and important players, MLB The Show 24 also increases the inclusion of women in this year’s game. For one, there are more female analysts providing insight before and after games. Most notably, though, Road to the Show now allows you to choose from playing as either a male or female ballplayer, though very little actually changes about the mode depending on your choice. If you choose to play as a woman, you have some specific moments where you’re congratulated on your achievements, primarily on things like being the first woman drafted by an MLB team or the first to play in an MLB game.

Otherwise, though, the process of Road to the Show hasn’t changed much. The biggest addition is the new Draft Combine, which allows you to participate in hitting and fielding drills as well as three games to attempt to improve your draft stock. Of course, you’ll still always be placed right into AA and can even choose which team you go to, but it’s a nice addition to more accurately match the real-life draft process.

The rest of the game modes remain relatively consistent with past years. Diamond Dynasty returns as always as baseball’s Ultimate Team equivalent, and while the Storylines in particular give you some nice rewards, the mode is still littered with microtransactions that can take over the experience if you’re not willing to put in the time to grind. March to October returns, too, as the best way to play a full season of a franchise mode in a condensed timeframe, and it actually feels a bit more diverse in what it asks you to do. The objectives themselves are the same, from pulling off a comeback win to give your team some momentum to playing as a minor league prospect to speed up their development, but the objectives feel like they don’t repeat quite as often, which made me feel a bit more engaged in bringing a championship back to my beloved Cubs.

"The Show continues to try to innovate annually as much as possible, and while this year’s improvements are small, its clear respect to baseball’s history make it another must-play for baseball fans."

Overall, MLB The Show 24 isn’t a reinvention of the series by any stretch. Its gameplay features only marginal improvements over previous years, and there aren’t any significant new modes or ways to play that change how you engage with the sport. However, the suite of modes that The Show brings to the table year after year allow you to play the game in virtually any way you’d like, whether it’s a player lock, a consolidated season, or a full-scale general manager, and it balances the returning content with new and welcome additions that honor baseball’s past through its Storylines. The Show continues to try to innovate annually as much as possible, and while this year’s improvements are small, its clear respect to baseball’s history make it another must-play for baseball fans.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

On March 20th, Supermassive Games’ The Quarry joins the service for the cloud and consoles, followed by Evil West on March 21st. March 26th sees Terra Invicta, the massive strategy title from the creators of XCOM’s Long War mod, releasing on Game Preview for PC players. Diablo 4 is perhaps the biggest release, coming to consoles and PC on March 28th.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged and Open Roads are coming on the same day and playable on cloud, consoles and PC. Finally, April 1st kicks off with the addition of Ark: Survival Ascended for cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. On April 2nd, F1 23 is playable via EA Play on the cloud while Superhot: Mind Control Delete arrives for subscribers on the cloud, consoles and PC.

The titles leaving on March 31st include Hot Wheels Unleashed and MLB The Show 23 (which makes sense considering the addition of their sequels). Infinite Guitars is also going away, though Game Pass subscribers can avail of 20 percent discounts to purchase the titles.

Release date

Obvious one out of the way first, MLB The Show 24 will be out Worldwide on March 19^th. Baseball enthusiasts and console owners rejoice, as San Diego Studio’s latest baseball sim will be available on past and current-gen PlayStation and Xbox, plus MLB The Show 24 will be available on Nintendo Switch for both in-home and out-and-about gaming. Alas, if you’re a PC owner you’re out of luck for now as there is currently no Windows version announced.

Editions

This year, there are three special editions of MLB The Show that fans can pre-order, as well as the basic version of the game. The first tier is the MVP Edition which includes numerous bonus items such as 1 Legend Diamond Choice Pack, 10 The Show Packs, and so on. Next level up is the Digital Deluxe Edition which provides all the MVP content plus some extras. The top tier, dubbed The Negro Leagues Edition, is essentially this year’s collector’s pack, including everything in the two lower rungs plus limited-edition physical steel book and new era cap. An oddity of note though is that the PS5 version of the collector’s edition does not come with a physical disc despite including the steel book. You’d need to order on Xbox Series X|S to get a disc with The Negro Leagues Edition.

Early access

One crucial point to note for those looking to gain early access to this year’s title is that they must pre-order one of the three special editions. Pre-ordering the basic game will not give you early access, which this year will begin on 15^th March 2024. Pre-orders can be made now, so don’t delay if you’re after getting into the swing of this year’s edition earlier than everyone else.

Cover star

One of the most anticipated aspects of any sports sim game release is who the developer will choose for their cover star. Well, this year it is none other than Toronto Blue Jays athlete Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The son of a Hall of Famer, Jr. is the Blue Jays’ designated hitter, a rising star who was voted the youngest ever MVP to the AL All-Star roster in 2021.

Negro Leagues

Appearing for the first time last year, MLB The Show 24 will continue its partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum with the return of players from the Negro Leagues. This year’s edition features ten new Negro League Legends, each with their own distinct storyline to play through. This game mode puts players in the shoes of important baseball legends, with the chance to recreate the events of some of the most pivotal games of their careers.

Features

Diamond Dynasty, whereby players can create fantasy teams comprising legends gone and current stars from the world of baseball returns for 24. The series’ career mode Road to the Show, with player’s progressing from minor league to MLB and tournaments, will of course be included too. Storyline mode and franchise mode round out the expected features returning for this year’s iteration.

Franchise mode

Winning the World Series is the ultimate goal for any baseball team, and for MLB The Show 24 players will yet again get their chance to lead their chosen franchise to glory. Through coaching, developing the squad, and acting as franchise manager, players will again exert control over the on and off-pitch dealings of their chosen team to eventually get them to the top of the rankings.

Storyline mode

MLB The Show’s storyline mode gives players chance to learn, experience, and celebrate the legacy of baseball legends. This year the legend featured is New York Yankees great – and MLB The Show 23 cover star – Derek Jeter. A fantastic feature overall, this year’s storyline will give players chance to re-enact Jeter’s most challenging and iconic moments via an immersive career retrospective.

New legends

Alongside Derek Jeter’s unique storyline there are a host of new legends being introduced in the Negro Leagues Storylines: Buck Leonard, Hank Aaron, Josh “The Black Babe Ruth” Gibson, and Toni Stone, the first woman to play professional baseball at the highest level. More are likely to be revealed the closer we get to MLB The Show 24’s release date. These four revealed will be available at launch, with ten legends in total expected.

New and reintroduced stadiums

Derek Jeter’s playable storyline begins with his debut at Seattle’s Kingdome which San Diego Studio have painstakingly recreated to include it in this year’s addition after a few years out. At least one other new stadium is expected, although don’t rule out more. That stadium is Greenlee Field in Pittsburgh, and will be the venue for one of the Storylines focus on the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

Overhauled menus

Often an over-looked aspect of any video game, in-game menus afford players a seamless, easy experience when done right, and MLB The Show 24’s overhauled menu system looks to be just that. It’s not just a splash of colour to give additional vibe to Storylines, but it’s slick, modern, and simpler to navigate too.

No tech test

Unlike MLB The Show 22 and 23, this year’s addition will not offer players access to a tech test before the game’s release. Essentially an open beta whereby players can get a feel for the upcoming iteration and its gameplay tweaks, the lack of tech test this year may imply that, in actual fact, there’s very little differentiation in gameplay between last year’s version and this. We’ll have to wait and see once 24 releases. Of course, no tech test could also indicate a confidence in the gameplay, with San Diego Studio not feeling like it’s necessary. The tight schedule from announcement to release date might also have played a part.

Crossplay and cross-progression return

Crossplay will be back for this year’s MLB The Show giving gamers chance to play with their mates on other platforms. Cross-progression will also be an option, giving players chance to play the game on one platform before continuing their progression on another. Worth noting though is year-to-year saves won’t be a thing again.

Stadium creator returns

Yes, one of MLB The Show’s favourite features the stadium creator returns for this year’s iteration, although it’s available on current-gen consoles only.

Feature premieres

Every week leading up to the launch of MLB The Show 24 San Diego Studio will provide an informative video which will highlight new features and generally act as opportunities for the developer to reveal new stuff. At the time of writing, multiple premieres have already happened, but four are still planned. San Diego Studio haven’t provided much detail on what’s going to be included in each presentation though, but the dates for your calendar are 13^th March for the dev tournament, and 14^th March for a final feature premiere.

March 13th is when Remedy Entertainment’s Control Ultimate Edition arrives on the service. It features the base game and two expansions, The Foundation and AWE. With the studio recently acquiring the rights to the series from 505 Games, now is a good time for new players to jump in.

Grasshopper Manufacture’s No More Heroes 3 is coming March 14th, followed by the early access launch of Lightyear Frontier for cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S on March 19th. MLB The Show 24 arrives on the same day for cloud and consoles, rounding out the first wave of titles.

As with every month, select titles will leave Game Pass. You have until March 15th to play the following or avail of a 20 percent discount to own them:

• Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Shredders (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Hi-Fi Rush (PS5)

Step aside Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – the true best Xbox exclusive is coming to PS5 on March 19th. Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush already cemented itself as one of the best character-driven, hack-and-slash action-adventure titles ever made when it suddenly dropped last year. The addition of rhythmic elements to the combat with a gorgeous art style and fun humor, made it all the more endearing, but PS5 players can experience the Arcade Challenge! Update! for more challenges and replay value right out the gate.

Outpost: Infinity Siege

If you’re a fan of sci-fi tower defense and base-building, then Team Ranger’s Outpost: Infinity Siege may be worth checking out. Story details are lacking at the moment, but it involves gathering resources, managing units and fighting for survival across multiple sci-fi zones with unique hazards, with a mix of first-person gunplay and overhead commands. You can customize your Protoslag Gun in different ways and team up with friends in co-op, including an endless Horde-mode style mode. Outpost: Infinity Siege is out on March 26th for PC.

Winter Survival

Between Palworld, Sons of the Forest, Enshrouded, Nightingale and Pacific Drive, there are plenty of survival crafting games to jump into. DRAGO Entertainment’s Winter Survival is another potentially worth noting as players fight for survival on a hike gone wrong in Mount Washington State Park. Hunt the wildlife, stave off the cold and hunger, and explore the area to find refuge. Random events can also occur, for better or worse, but the real challenge is managing your sanity, especially when hallucinations start to manifest. Winter Survival launches on March 6th for PC via Steam Early Access, where it will remain for at least six months.

Lightyear Frontier

Of course, those seeking something less stressful can look into Lightyear Frontier. The farming title sees players venturing to a far-off planet for farming purposes. Despite having a mech, it’s more of a multi-purpose tool, allowing you to plough the fields, clear out pollution, plant new trees, and much more (and yes, you can also build a home). With co-op support, it should be interesting to see how Lightyear Frontier fares when it launches into early access on March 19th for Xbox Series X/S and PC.

WWE 2K24

Controversies loom heavily for the WWE following a lawsuit against its former chairman, Vince McMahon. Wrestlemania season rolls on regardless, though, and a new WWE 2K title is out on March 8th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC. Visual Concepts’ WWE 2K24 offers a new 2K Showcase highlighting 40 years of memorable Wrestlemania matches; new match types like Ambulance, Gauntlet, Special Referee and Coffin; and various new features for MyGM, MyFACTION and Universe Mode. Even Backstage Brawl has been revamped to feel more brutal.

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is out on March 22nd for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Combat is real-time and includes new Vocations like the Mystic Spearhand, Warfarer and Trickster, powerful skills and Pawn actions, the world has limited fast travel and a hefty amount of side content that players may miss. Dragon’s Dogma 2 could be a stand-out RPG in this highly competitive quarter.

Rise of the Ronin

Rise of the Ronin is Team Ninja’s biggest project yet and seven years in the making. It’s an open-world action RPG that takes several combat cues from Nioh, particularly its Styles and weapon types while adding a glider, Grappling Hook and even character switching. As a Veiled Edge in the Bakumatsu era of Japan, players must side with different historical figures and carve their path, with multiple decisions deciding their fate.

Forming bonds with characters can alter the course of the story and unlock new endings. However, the developer also promises extensive side content and detailed cities like Edo, Yokohama and Kyoto. It’s out on March 22nd, exclusively for PS5, and with a character creator, four-player co-op and different difficulty options, we can’t wait to see how it pans out.

MLB The Show 24

It wouldn’t be a year of sports follow-ups without a new MLB The Show. Launching on March 19th for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and Nintendo Switch, MLB The Show 24 offers 400 new animations, including new pitcher animations, revamped base sizes, and multiple other gameplay improvements. Modes like Diamond Dynasty, Road to the Show, Franchise, and March to October also return, while this year’s Storylines sees the addition of Derek Jeter’s 1995 to 2000 seasons.

Outcast – A New Beginning

Appeal Studios’ Outcast – A New Beginning is a dream come true for long-time fans of the 1999 adventure classic, especially after the cancellation of Outcast 2: The Lost Paradise. Cutter Slade returns to Adelpha, and he’s once again on a mission to save the Talans. With extensive weapon customization, different abilities, a large open world with secrets to uncover and extensive wildlife, and a jetpack for quick exploration, A New Beginning promises an extensive amount of freedom like the original. It launches on March 15th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Contra: Operation Galuga

The Contra series hasn’t had the best track record lately, especially 2019’s Contra: Rogue Corps. However, Contra: Operation Galuga is a vast improvement, as WayForward embraces the 80s-style run-and-gun action complete with big bosses, several playable characters, three difficulty options and eight stages for players to test their mettle. New weapons, Overlord abilities and stackable upgrades also sound enticing, and there’s even support for up to four players in Arcade Mode. Contra: Operation Galuga arrives on March 12th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch, with a free demo currently available.

Expeditions: A MudRunner Game

If you liked Snowrunner and wanted more of the same, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game…isn’t exactly that. Instead, it’s more of an exploration title where you work with a research team to explore three massive maps. Unearth treasures, transport equipment, help other truckers – the list goes on, with several new tools to help navigate the dreaded landscape and Specialists to lend their knowledge. Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is out on March 5th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition (PC)

After Horizon Zero Dawn, it’s now the turn of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Forbidden West to launch on PC. The Complete Edition includes the acclaimed base game and expansion, The Burning Shores, while supporting 21:9 and 32:9 displays alongside 48:9 triple monitor set-ups. PC players can also look forward to Nvidia DLSS 3 and DLAA support, in addition to AMD FSR and Intel XeSS being supported. If nothing else, Nixxes Software being in charge should mean a much better port than the original when it arrives on March 21st.

Princess Peach: Showtime!

Princess Peach finally gets her time to shine as the protagonist again when Princess Peach: Showtime! arrives on March 22nd for Nintendo Switch. The action-adventure title sees her utilizing various transformations to defeat Wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch, from the deadly Ninja Peach to the martial arts of Kung Fu Peach. You can even don a detective hat as, well, Detective Peach and duel with Swordfighter Peach. Overall, Princess Peach: Showtime! looks like a massive step up from 2005’s Super Princess Peach in every way.

Planet Zoo: Console Edition

A console re-release of a Frontier Developments’ management title on PC from 2019? Odd as it may be, Planet Zoo: Console Edition is out on March 26th for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It features the same content that fans of the original love, from creating different habitats in your dream zoo to caring for various animal species (complete with console-centric controls). The Frontier Workshop also gets cross-platform sharing, providing even more content to download, but there’s also a Season Pass for a whopping 14 additional DLC packs for console players.

Open Roads

Previously set to launch in February, Annapurna Interactive’s Open Roads is now out on March 28th for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. The story of Tess and her mother, Opal, still looks endearing as they embark on a road trip and revisit the past (unearthing some secrets along the way). With a uniquely gorgeous art style and an atmosphere that evokes the nostalgia of simpler times, Open Roads should be worth checking out for adventure game fans.

MLB The Show 24 will feature Toronto Blue Jays player Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as its cover athlete, and will be available in the form of a standard edition, as well as a Collector’s Edition, which is set to be unveiled on February 6.

MLB The Show 24 will feature all of the game modes that fans of the franchise can expect, with an emphasis on the history of baseball through the Storylines mode. Through the mode, players will be able to experience career-defining moments from throughout the history of the sport.

The game will also feature the Road to the Show mode, which allows players to become a baseball player and play through an entire career, starting from the minors and eventually cementing their legacy as a player in the major leagues. Fans of the management aspects of sports will also be able to try their hand in the Franchise mode, where they can manage, build, and lead their team of choice to winning the World Series.

Along with its multi-platform release, MLB The Show 24 will also feature cross-platform multiplayer for both competitive modes, as well as its co-op modes.