Armored Core 6 

FromSoftware has done an excellent job with Armored Core 6 and made this entry a glorious comeback for the long-running series. Taking place on the planet of Rubicon 3, Armored Core 6 tasks players to partake in increasingly tough battles against different kinds of mechs. There’s just a distinct sense of power fantasy that comes from controlling a heavily armed mech, and the developer’s signature difficulty makes sure that this power fantasy always feels earned.

Street Fighter 6 

Street Fighter 6 adds plenty of new elements to this long-running fighting franchise including but not limited to a full-fledged open-world, and it gets all the better for it. The core fighting mechanics are extremely solid, and it’s a lot of fun to experiment with different characters and find out what catches your fancy. Street Fighter 6 has a really high skill ceiling, and it makes climbing to the top ranks really fun with its selection of diverse game modes.

Mortal Kombat 1 2023 

Mortal Kombat 1 2023 is an excellent new fighter that’s easy to pick up but difficult to master. There’s just a vast list of combos available for each of the dozens of characters, and mastering each of these moves lists one by one is a consistently enjoyable experience. The combat really kicks into high gear on higher difficulties, where you must study your opponent’s moves and quickly devise a strategy to defeat them all in a matter of seconds – and that is something that will keep you coming back for more.

Dead Space Remake

Dead Space Remake is a faithful recreation of the 2008 horror classic, and developer EA Motive has done a job of cleaning up its many rough edges. What we get as a result is a modern first-person shooter that’s every bit as addictive as it is scary. Sure, the encounters are not as frequent as other action horror games – but Dead Space Remake offers plenty of player freedom with its selection of different weapons, abilities, and dismemberment mechanics which makes it all so endearing in the first place.

Hi-Fi Rush 

Tango Gameworks surprised us all with the recently released Hi-Fi Rush, which is easily one of the most well-designed games in recent memory. The entirety of the game world moves to the beat, and you must keep in time with the rhythm as you dish out damage to your foes. It’s a simple gameplay loop that manages to be extremely satisfying due to its rhythmic nature, and it’s made all the better through the use of catchy tunes among others.

Final Fantasy 16 

Final Fantasy 16 features over-the-top, fast-paced, hack-and-slash combat, which makes the resulting experience nothing short of extraordinary. The combat feels extremely polished and fast-paced, and using your abilities and weapons in creative ways not only looks really flashy but also provides a distinct sense of power fantasy. Add to that some amazing Eikon fights, and Final Fantasy 16 becomes a really addictive game.

Batman Arkham Knight

Batman Arkham Knight might just be the end of the Arkham games as we know, and it wouldn’t be an understatement that Batman went down in style. There are a few rough edges here and there, but Arkham Knight nails the rhythmic combat that the series is known for. The parry timings are generously large, the moves really flow into one another, and there are plenty of combat challenges for players to test their mettle.

Ghostrunner 2 

Ghostrunner 2 excellently builds upon what came before in new and interesting ways, and what we get is a sequel that is bigger and better than the original in almost every conceivable way. The one-hit one-kill mechanic is utilized to the fullest extent, and players are expected to do a meticulous ballet of wall slides, slashes, and slides to clear out large rooms of enemies. Ghostrunner 2 has a really high skill ceiling, which is what motivates you to go back and do it all over again – and that is what makes it all so intrinsically addictive in the first place.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 

MachineGames’ delivered an excellent shooter with Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, which smartly marries the chaotic shooting of 90s first-person-shooters with modern gameplay conveniences and open-ended design. The New Colossus really embraces the chaos with dozens upon dozens of enemies filling the arena at any given point and the ability to dual wield any weapon type, and that makes the experience really fun and replayable.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is an excellent sequel that does a fantastic job of taking what worked in the original and ramping it up to eleven. Everything from the traversal to the story and the combat has been improved in significant ways, which makes it all the more addictive. Parker and Miles both have different movesets and special abilities and chaining them together to create a flurry of hard-hitting combos delivers a power fantasy like no other. Add to that plenty of combat challenges, and Spider-Man 2 becomes a really fun action game. 

Soulstice 

Soulstice is in many ways a glorious throwback to hack-and-slash classics like Onimusha, and it does a really good job of simulating that flashy combat design that made those games so great in the first place. Soulstice’s unique mechanic of controlling two conjoined characters also adds a fresh twist to the experience.

Lies of P

Lies of P tells the story of Pinocchio in a rather unique fashion thanks to its dark fantasy setting, but it’s an experience that has plenty to love as well. The combat draws heavy influence from Bloodborne, so it naturally revolves around striking a careful balance between aggressive strikes and calculative dodges. It also infuses some of its own mechanics like attachable prosthetic tools and customizable weapons into the mix, which makes it feel unique in a way. It obviously has a learning curve to it, but once you really get to grips with the systems – Lies of P becomes a really captivating experience.

Elden Ring

FromSoftware knocked it out of the park with Elden Ring, and it truly feels like an amalgamation of the developer’s best works to date. The combat system is still about managing stamina and carefully dishing out damage to your opponents, but what makes it so addictive is the sheer variety of weapons on offer. You can be a master sorcerer with a buffet of spells under your belt or you could be tank dual-wielding heavy swords. The challenging enemies and compelling NG+ options make it really difficult for players, which is what makes Elden Ring so much more addictive. 

Wild Hearts

Wild Hearts might have looked like a Monster Hunter ripoff at first glance, but the game was able to legitimize its existence upon launch with its fun gameplay and unique set of crafting ideas. The Kemono battles offer a diverse set of challenges to overcome, and you can use your knowledge of the Karakuri technology to craft interesting solutions to these challenges. The progression loop and the general smooth-flowing gameplay loop makes it all really addictive, and fans of Monster Hunter should definitely check this one out.

Gears 5

Gears 5 puts players in the shoes of Kait Diaz as she embarks on a grand quest to find the origin of the Locusts, and it’s a journey that’s punctuated with some really amazing firefights. The cover-based third-person shooting has been refined to an immaculate sheen and everything from the feedback to the balance and intensity are on point – which makes it all such an amazing experience. 

ARTHUR MORGAN (RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2)

With Red Dead Redemption 1, Rockstar had delivered probably their best protagonist ever with John Marston, so before Red Dead 2’s launch, there were many who were more than a little skeptical of this new protagonist they’d be playing as. It’s fair to say that when the game came out, Arthur Morgan proved all his doubters wrong comprehensively. He is, without a doubt, one of the most compelling protagonists we’ve ever seen in a game- complex, conflicted, flawed, brought to life by excellent writing and a memorable performance by Roger Clarke. Red Dead 2’s story is surely its greatest strength, and Arthur Morgan is surely that story’s greatest strength.

Microsoft announced the new additions to the Xbox Game Pass service for October during their Inside Xbox stream earlier today, and it’s a great bunch being added into rotation. The company confirmed that Forza Horizon 4, the superlative racing game by Playground Games, will headline the lineup, but also revealed the other games fans can look forward to.

These other games include Bethesda and MachineGames’ excellent Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, the incredible quasi-reboot/sequel to the Wolfenstein series that launched in 2014, and took the series further down its alternate history where the Nazis won the Second World War. Beloved racing game Split/Second will also be added to Game Pass this month, as will the excellent LEGO Indiana Jones.

The final big name is Metro 2033 Redux, which should let people pick up on the first entry in the series ahead of next year’s release of Metro: Exodus. Hopefully, Last Light will be making its way to the service soon, too.

You can check out the full list of games being added to the service below:

• Forza Horizon 4
• Wolfenstien: The New Order
• Metro 2033 Redux
• Westeradro Double Barrelled
• Lego Indiana Jones
• Shante 1/2 Genie Hero
• Split/Second

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is set in an alternate America, where the Nazis won the Second World War, and took over the U.S. This setting in the first game was one of its most acclaimed aspects, and it looks like Bethesda and developer Machine Games are really fleshing it out and making it richer for the sequel, to contextualize the game’s action that much more.

A lot of the game’s marketing has been based around that, too. Take this newest video for the game, for instance- this shows us the kinds of superhero shows that the game’s Nazis watch, recreated with all the cheese that characterizes 1960s television.

There’s no in game footage in this video, obviously, but for once, I don’t even care- I love just how well the world is being built for this title, and I really hope all of this comes through in the final game, too.

Wolfenstein: The New Colossus is real. The game continues in the same continuity as Wolfenstein: The New Order, in which the Nazis won the Second World War. In a Germany ruled America, it sounds like this game will follow the story of a bunch of people trying to stage a revolution to overthrow the Germans and win back freedom for the American people.

That apart, it will have the same kind of high octane, action packed gameplay that made Wolfenstein: The New Order and DOOM last year so beloved. It also looks like the game will be taking a lot of aesthetic cues from Fallout as far as its look, sound, and sense of style goes. You can check all of this out for yourself in the trailer for the game below.

Wolfenstein: The New Colossus launches on October 27 this year, for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. What do you think of the new game? Is this something you will be buying? Make sure to let us know in the comments section below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2HKHdVIy9k

Let’s take a look at 15 games rumoured to be appearing at E3 2017, the credible reasons behind the same and whether you should look forward to them or not.

The Evil Within 2

A leaked job listing emerged as early as March 2017 about QA and translation for Psycho Break 2. Target hardware is the Xbox One and PS4. Of course, Psycho Break is the Japanese name for The Evil Within so this pretty much points to The Evil Within 2 being in development. It’s also worth noting that Bethesda VP of PR and marketing Pete Hines talked about RAGE and The Evil Within both doing well enough to warrant sequels. Maybe E3 2017 is the place where one of those comes to light? As it stands, the world could always use more survival horror games with searchlight headed femme fatales and insta-kill mechanics.

Bethesda Softworks has seen a decent measure of success with its E3 pressers till now and it will likely have another one in 2017.

Bethesda VP of marketing Pete Hines revealed as much to Metro, stating that, “Given what I know about what we’re gonna have going on next year, and what we’re gonna have to talk about, I would say that we’d probably have enough stuff to fill the time.

“And again, mostly because I really continue to like the idea of being able to talk to everybody about what we’re doing at the same time. So yeah, knowing what I know, I think we would probably do another one next year.”

Along with possibly dating Prey, Bethesda could showcase the next Wolfenstein (for which an Easter Egg was spotted at E3 2016) and maybe Fallout: New Orleans. None of this confirmed by the way so refrain from bricking us if the show doesn’t meet your expectations in less than a year.

What would you like to see from Bethesda at E3 2017? Let us know below.

Bethesda had this great intro to their E3 presser this year, which was a neat little throwback to the classic MS DOS PC gaming days, as well as the PC gaming heritage of id Software. It started with what looked to be a command prompt, but when one takes a closer look at it, it seems like Bethesda may have ended up putting a nice little tease in there.

See, this command prompt had a list of games from the Wolfenstein and DOOM franchises- for DOOM, it listed DOOM 3 and DOOM, while for Wolfenstein, it listed WOLF3D (which was the name of the executable file of the original game), The New Order, The Old Blood, and… something called The New Colossus. This one followed the other three entries, which, by its placement, makes it seem like it will be the next Wolfenstein game. It was probably too early to announce it, but at least it seems like we have a name!

Could that be right? Or was this just a cool easter egg thrown in there, with no larger meaning? Let us know in the comments below!

The announcement of another Wolfenstein-related release got glossed over, but it's there: The New Colossus pic.twitter.com/wD3EyrTXLN

— Duke Bilgewater (@Duke_Bilgewater) June 13, 2016