This Week in Gaming (Week 43)

[TheLostSwede]

As we enter the last full week of October, the AAA game releases are off the charts, with no less than three massive releases this coming week. Our top pick is a horror game from a Finnish developer that most of you should be familiar with. The remaining releases this week involve a bullet hell, skyscrapers, metal, a beast, a ghost and silent gods, of sorts at least. If that sounds confusing, read on to see what's being released this coming week.

Alan Wake 2 / This week's AAA title / Friday 27 October
A string of ritualistic murders threatens Bright Falls, a small-town community surrounded by Pacific Northwest wilderness. Saga Anderson, an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases arrives to investigate the murders. Anderson's case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true around her.





FatalZone / Monday 23 October
FatalZone is an auto shooter with roguelike and RPG elements set in a savage world of zombies. Exterminate zombie hordes, collect resources, upgrade your camp, and level up mercenaries. Humanity must survive at any cost!



Cities: Skylines II / This week's second AAA title / Tuesday 24 October
Raise a city from the ground up and transform it into the thriving metropolis only you can imagine. You've never experienced building on this scale. With deep simulation and a living economy, Cities: Skylines II delivers world-building without limits. Lay the foundations for your city to begin. Create the roads, infrastructure, and systems that make life possible day to day. It's up to you - all of it.



Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 / Tuesday 24 October
Released in 1998, this was the first 3D title in the METAL GEAR series. The game pioneers 3D stealth action against the threat of war and global nuclear weapons, using live action footage, cinematic cut scenes, interwoven with innovative gameplay.



Beast / Wednesday 25 October
Beast is a dynamic and brutal gridless tactical turn-based RPG where moral choices during battle influence the gameplay. In a grimdark medieval world, torn by plague and military conflicts, you decide if you should exercise or exorcise your inner beast with dire consequences for you and your allies!



Ghostrunner 2 / This week's third AAA title / Thursday 26 October
Blood will run in the highly anticipated hardcore FPP slasher set one year after the events of Ghostrunner. Adventure through a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk future that takes place after the fall of the Keymaster, a tyrant who ruled over Dharma Tower, the last refuge of mankind. Jack is back to take on the violent AI cult that has assembled outside Dharma Tower and shape the future of humanity.



Dragonheir: Silent Gods / Friday 27 October
Dragonheir: Silent Gods is an open-world high-fantasy strategy RPG that takes players on an epic journey where they can discover a dynamic world with high-quality character models and diverse exploration possibilities that include character customization options and branching storylines.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[mama]

The spec requirements for some of the AAA games are madness.

 

[Denver]

I wanted a new sim city. Cities Skylines is cool and graphically beautiful, but it just doesn't have the same feeling.

If they made a remake of Sim city 4, with some graphics updates and minor changes, in my opinion it would be much better than cities Skylines

 

[Deleted member 185088]

The spec requirements for some of the AAA games are madness.

And games don't look very impressive. I remember the PS2 or 360 games or Crysis and Half-Life 2, they were truly impressive compared to previous games.

 

[Gucky]

Don't buy the MGS Collection, it is a bad Konami cashgrab.
They are resolution locked and FPS locked.
And no mouse/keyboard support.
A simple 1:1 port from console.

 

[Tomgang]

Be careful with Cities skyline 2. When you first have build your big city, your door may be broken down and you arrested for cpu abuse...

At least the first game could be brutal on a cpu when a big city first was build. Fps could drop like a rock i water.

But i am curious about Alan Wake. I will not pre order, as i have not done for years. The disappointment of being early and getting a bug and lag fest. Is not fun and to many games releases unfinished. Games are supposed to be fun. So i am out of the preorder race.

In short, you release a good optimized game = you get my money. Releases a bug fest = f you, im keeping my money.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Don't buy the MGS Collection, it is a bad Konami cashgrab.
They are resolution locked and FPS locked.
And no mouse/keyboard support.
A simple 1:1 port from console.

Yeah, if you want them just...emulate

 

[AusWolf]

Be careful with Cities skyline 2. When you first have build your big city, your door may be broken down and you arrested for cpu abuse...

At least the first game could be brutal on a cpu when a big city first was build. Fps could drop like a rock i water.

That's one thing. Another is that if you start your city from a small village (like it normally happens), you'll find it impossible to manage its traffic when it grows as you won't have any space for bigger streets. I hope this second iteration fixes this problem.

 

[Hyderz]

Don't buy the MGS Collection, it is a bad Konami cashgrab.
They are resolution locked and FPS locked.
And no mouse/keyboard support.
A simple 1:1 port from console.

thanks for the heads up..

i think this week will probably conclude big releases this year... unless there is something else..

 

[Bigshrimp]

Too bad that Alan Wake 2 is only going to be on the Epic Games Store for the PC release. If it came to Steam, I would probably buy it.

 

[Frick]

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria releases on tuesday, same day as C:S2. On the Epic store, PS5 comes december and Xbox early 2024.

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™

Embark on an epic adventure in Middle-earth's Fourth Age with 'The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™' game. Join a company of Dwarves to reclaim the lost treasures of Khazad-dûm. Explore, craft, and survive in a procedurally generated Dwarven realm. Immerse yourself in J.R.R. Tolkien's rich...

www.returntomoria.com

 

[TheLostSwede]

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria releases on tuesday, same day as C:S2. On the Epic store, PS5 comes december and Xbox early 2024.

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™

Embark on an epic adventure in Middle-earth's Fourth Age with 'The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™' game. Join a company of Dwarves to reclaim the lost treasures of Khazad-dûm. Explore, craft, and survive in a procedurally generated Dwarven realm. Immerse yourself in J.R.R. Tolkien's rich...

www.returntomoria.com

We've covered it a few times. Can't squeeze everything into these updates of what's coming.

 

[HOkay]

I'm very much looking forward to Cities Skylines 2! I loved the first one so much, I didn't play 100s of hours, but what I did play I really enjoyed. Also being on Game Pass means it's "free" to me as well, oh what a lovely day!

 

[trsttte]

Don't buy the MGS Collection, it is a bad Konami cashgrab.
They are resolution locked and FPS locked.
And no mouse/keyboard support.
A simple 1:1 port from console.

Exactly! It's great the games will finally be available on all platforms but it's completely disgusting the price they're charging, the quality or more specifically lack thereof and even dividing in different volumes to be able to charge extra!

I might get them eventually to finally play the entire series as different games were only available on some plaforms, the legacy collection (which this maybe replicates) for example was PS3 exclusive, but only when they drop A LOT in price and Vol2 with the rest of the series is released.

PS3 Legacy collection vs current "Master" Collection, the new master collection leaves out MGS4 and Peace Walker for the NES version of the original Metal Gear and Snake's Revenge unnoficial MGS2 that didn't have any Kojima envolvement. Shameless cashgrab!

 

[sKam]

in like 2000 or 2002 i had the PC version of MGS 1 ... and it was better looking than the copy/pasta PS1 i see on those screenshots... with a freaking TNT2 M64 32mo ... 2023 is awesome

 

[outpt]

Don’t have time to be a beta tester.

 

[Deleted member 234997]

Day 1 buy MGS.

 

[Prima.Vera]

Metal GS is the worst release. They didn't even bother to add keyboard/mouse support.
Graphics is the same. This is very callous from greedy Konami.

 

[AusWolf]

Alan Wake 2 is probably going to be my first and last purchase on the Epic store.

I'm a huge fan of the original and Remedy Entertainment, and a huge boycotter of Epic due to their disgusting exclusivity deals (such as Alan Wake 2), so I'll have to weigh the pros and cons.

Before anybody starts crying about the preliminary system requirements: 1. They're preliminary, so might change, 2. I don't care. Ultra+RT isn't the only visual setting one can enjoy a game at.

Edit: I'm also curious about Cities Skylines 2, but I want the devs to fix the problem I mentioned above.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I hear Batushka, instantly picks up my interest as PROPER release.

 

[L'Eliminateur]

i don't do "AAA" gaming, don't care about them they're all flawed barely beta overpriced releases, i only play them when they're free on epic or 90% off on steam.

that "fatalzone" might have been interesting but it does not have coop, dropped.

i'm very interested in LOTR moria...

 

[vmarv]

Don't buy the MGS Collection, it is a bad Konami cashgrab.
They are resolution locked and FPS locked.
And no mouse/keyboard support.
A simple 1:1 port from console.

To each one his own, I guess. I disagree with the mouse thing.
Those games were designed for console and controller. I remember playing MGS on the PSX and a the combination camera view + controller was perfect. Just like The first three Resident Evil on the PSX.
You should give it a try with a gamepad.

 

[Deleted member 234997]

Compared to £70 - £80 which is a frequent price now, £49.99 is not even bad.
The only issue I have with the MGS collection is the fact 4 is still not on PC, but they may remaster it eventually.

Crying about a console game that is fully made for consoles and would never function correctly on keyboard and mouse due to nuanced movement that an analogue stick can give but digital keys cannot is... disingenuous at best.

They have stated the FPS is locked and visuals no different. Last I heard these are not remasters.

 

[MarsM4N]

Good week. I am not a day 1 consumer sheep, but if I have to buy just one it would be MGS. Should be the most unbroken & complete title out of them.

Don't buy the MGS Collection, it is a bad Konami cashgrab.
They are resolution locked and FPS locked.
And no mouse/keyboard support.
A simple 1:1 port from console.

Parts of it is misinformation circling around. Let's wait for release reviews. There's also a good post on the Steam forums going into it:

List of everything that is wrong :: METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.1 METAL GEAR & METAL GEAR 2: Solid Snake General Discussions

- No keyboard and mouse support, even though we can already play most of them with keyboard and mouse TODAY! And I'm guessing: - FPS locked at 60 - Resolution locked at 1080p But somehow they managed to implement achievements?? So they have the source code and they can mess around with it, but...

steamcommunity.com

Tbh. I don't think a 25 year old game would benefit from more than 60FPS or a higher resolution (the resolution could be upscaled since it's also coming to 4K consoles).. I am more for a unaltered version made playable on todays hardware. No mouse/keyboard support would be a bummer, but I don't think that's a deal breaker for most who have a controller laying around anyways for arcade games.

Too bad that Alan Wake 2 is only going to be on the Epic Games Store for the PC release. If it came to Steam, I would probably buy it.

I couldn't care less about 3-12 months EPIC exclusives. Most games nowadays are broken anyways and take months to get in a playable state. Once they come out of EPIC exclusive they're patched & discounted, so it's a clear win/win if you just sit it out. And since it's a single player game it doesn't matter anyways when you pick it up at a later date.

I'm very much looking forward to Cities Skylines 2! I loved the first one so much, I didn't play 100s of hours, but what I did play I really enjoyed. Also being on Game Pass means it's "free" to me as well, oh what a lovely day!

I would hold off for the first few months. Seems like the game is a huge "Construction Site". And with the removed Steam Workshop support it will lack content.

Cities: Skylines 2 review: "Its promise is completely overshadowed by its technical problems"

Cities: Skylines 2 offers the foundation of a world-class city-building game, with a wide array of features, smart quality-of-life improvements, and a genuinely impressive simulation to help bring you

www.gamesradar.com

The only issue I have with the MGS collection is the fact 4 is still not on PC, but they may remaster it eventually.

MGS4 will most likely be included in the "METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.2".

Metal Gear Solid 4 Finally Freed From PS3 as Part of Leaked Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 - IGN

The internet has spotted the line-up of games for the unannounced Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2., which includes Metal Gear Solid 4, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, and Metal Gear Solid 5.

www.ign.com

I wanted a new sim city. Cities Skylines is cool and graphically beautiful, but it just doesn't have the same feeling.

If they made a remake of Sim city 4, with some graphics updates and minor changes, in my opinion it would be much better than cities Skylines

There won't be any new "Sim City", ever. EA has run the franchise into the ground & closed the company after. It's dead.

What Happened to the Simcity Franchise?

The SimCity franchise used to dominate the city builder genre, but the series has faded into obscurity while Cities Skylines took its place.

gamerant.com

 

[trsttte]

Alan Wake 2 is probably going to be my first and last purchase on the Epic store.

I'm a huge fan of the original and Remedy Entertainment, and a huge boycotter of Epic due to their disgusting exclusivity deals (such as Alan Wake 2), so I'll have to weigh the pros and cons.

You always wait out the exclusivity time

To each one his own, I guess. I disagree with the mouse thing.
Those games were designed for console and controller. I remember playing MGS on the PSX and a the combination camera view + controller was perfect. Just like The first three Resident Evil on the PSX.
You should give it a try with a gamepad.

That's not the only problem, they already launched a similar collection - the legacy collection - for the PS3 that included 2 more games: MGS4 and Peace Walker from the PSP. They're relaunching the games they already ported, dropping MGS4 - the game that would need most work to port from PS3 to x86 based systems - and Peace Walker for the heck of it, and replacing them with the NES copy of the first game (PSX version already covers that) and Snake's Revenge from the NES which isn't really a Metal Gear game.

And they're still charging 60$ for it! It's a cashgrab, pure and simple

Last I heard these are not remasters.

I don't think they are, which makes the price even more crazy.