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Scream your head off to survive in 'Supermarket Shriek'
Getting through the grocery store with your sanity intact can be tough -- what with the legions of shelf stockers, geriatric Rascal riders and bawling basket babies blocking you at seemingly every aisle. But that's a walk in the park compared to the challenges you'll face in Supermarket Shriek by UK-based studio, BillyGoat Entertainment. The premise of the game is simple. You're a man, stuck in a shopping cart, with a goat. Firmly wedged into the lorry, your only means of mobility is your shrieks of terror propelling you through maze-like markets riddled with boobie traps. With 30 levels available at launch later this summer, that adds up to a lot of hollering. The controls are delightfully straightforward. In single-player mode, you can control the man and the goat independently using the left and right triggers -- having one yell turns you left, having the other yell turns you right, have them scream simultaneously to move forward. There is no reverse. But, like most games, Supermarket Shriek even better with a friend. Plug a microphone into each of your XBox or Playstation controllers and have each person start yelling. The louder you are, the harder you turn and the faster you go. The effect is similar to the classic NES game, Marble Madness, but each person has control of just half the avatar's movement. It's a challenge, and be sure to keep plenty of lozenges on hand. It becomes even more challenging when you begin to encounter the various obstacles littered around each level. From giant guillotine blades to water hazards, flame pits, and springboards, there are more than enough ways for you to fail at every turn. However if you can complete the level quickly enough, you'll earn 3 Stars (like Angry Birds) and unlock the ghost racer of whoever is currently sitting atop to global leaderboards, allowing you to rerace levels against the best screamers on the planet. Supermarket Shriek is slated for release on the Xbox, Playstation and Switch later this summer. It's expected to retail for around $10-15.
Four players fight for undersea supremacy in 'Swimsanity'
If you've ever watched The Little Mermaid and thought to yourself, "dang, that'd be some good hunting," have I got the game for you. Swimsanity is a four-player adventure shooter set at the bottom of the sea that offers a surprisingly wide variety of co-op and competitive gameplay styles.
The FDA thinks an Xbox game can stop kids smoking
The FDA is behind a horror video game designed to teach teens about the dangers of smoking. Inspired by the statistic that three out of every four high school students who start smoking continue on to adulthood, One Leaves sets players in a cell with three other teens. The free PC and Xbox One game's objective is to escape the cell, but only one of the players will succeed. The game is being released as part of the FDA's "The Real Cost" youth tobacco prevention campaign, which is aimed at youth who are 12 to 17 years of age.
'Stranger Things 3: The Game' arrives alongside the show on July 4th
When the Duffer Brothers said Stranger Things 3: The Game would tie in with the third season of the Netflix series, they weren't kidding. Bonus XP's suitably retro beat-em-up is due to launch on the Switch (and most likely other platforms) on July 4th, or the same day Stranger Things 3 is available to stream. The title has you playing one of 12 protagonists from the series and battling through events from the show, including the Starcourt Mall that has been at the center of Netflix's teasers from day one.
'Anthem' was the top-selling game in the US this February
BioWare may be racing to fix Anthem after its bumpy launch, but it doesn't have to worry quite so much about its bottom line. NPD Group data shows that the shared-world shooter was the top-selling game in the US in February, and the second strongest game for 2019 up to that point (Kingdom Hearts III is the year's current champion). Moreover, this was the second best launch month for a BioWare game, falling only behind Mass Effect 3's debut in 2012.
'Battlefield V' 64-player battle royale arrives March 25th
After months of waiting, Battlefield V's long-promised (but conspicuously absent) battle royale mode is nearly here. DICE and EA plan to make Firestorm available on March 25th to all players, and they've shed more light on what the mode will involve in a reveal trailer (below). The 64-player experience will take place on the largest Battlefield map to date, Halvoy, and will grant access to some rather unusual advantages if you complete objectives. Apparently, a farm tractor carrying artillery is one of your options. You can also expect helicopters, tanks and one-time perks like V-1 strikes.
'Left 4 Dead' studio Turtle Rock returns with 'Back 4 Blood'
You're probably not going to get Left 4 Dead 3 any time soon, but you might get the next best thing. Original developer Turtle Rock Studios and Warner Bros. have announced Back 4 Blood, a team-based zombie shooter that aims to modernize the L4D concept with "new features and state-of-the-art technology." The game is so early that there isn't even a logo for it yet, but Turtle Rock said in an FAQ that it will be a "premium, AAA title" initially designed for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
'Crackdown 2' is free on Xbox One ahead of updates to its sequel
Just because you're playing Crackdown 3 doesn't mean you've played its predecessor -- in fact, that's not too likely when the second game launched nearly nine years ago. The developers want to plug that hole in your gaming history. In addition to teasing some updates to the current game (more on those in a moment), they've revealed that Crackdown 2 is now free as an Xbox One backwards compatibility title. It's not the revelation that the first game was, but it will show you how the series evolved before its big hiatus.
'Devil May Cry 5' reveals the live action mockups behind its cutscenes
Numerous games have offered behind-the-scenes footage that shows how cutscenes came to be. But what if you could play the entire game that way? Capcom, at least, is willing to give that a shot. When Devil May Cry 5 launches on March 8th, the Deluxe Edition will include an option to watch the live action footage used to visualize cutscenes before the CG comes into play. In essence, it's like watching a low-rent, sweded version of Devil May Cry -- action figures, cardboard trucks and simple costumes fill in for the usual digital wizardry.
Microsoft's 'All-Digital' Xbox One could launch in May
Those rumors of Microsoft releasing a disc-free Xbox One in 2019 are gathering steam. Windows Central sources claim the system will be named the "Xbox One S All-Digital Edition" (a very Microsoft-like name if we've ever heard one) and would ship worldwide in early May, with pre-orders starting in mid-April. The tipsters didn't mention pricing or design changes, but Thurrott previously heard that axing the Blu-ray drive could slash the price by up to $100.
The next season of 'Destiny 2' kicks off March 5th with a Gambit focus
Bungie is ready to debut the first season of Destiny 2 since the studio announced its split with Activision, and it's not a major break with convention -- though it might give you a reason to come back, even if you haven't played for a while. The Season of the Drifter is beginning March 5th with a focus on both the mysterious figure's signature Gambit mode as well as his background, particularly his connection to the enigmatic Nine that have persisted since the original Destiny.
The next 'Overwatch' hero is a battle-scarred combat medic
Overwatch fans only have a handful of options for healers, but they're about to get one more. Blizzard has revealed that the game's next hero is Baptiste, a Haitian combat medic who grew up an orphan during the Omnic Wars and learned hard lessons about helping others and choosing sides. There are precious few details in the preview, but an earlier teaser letter hinted that Baptiste's hallmark is an "adaptability to new situations." He may be closer to Ana (who can play an offensive role in a pinch) than more support-oriented heroes like Mercy and Zenyatta.
'Apex Legends' team plans to fix player hitbox issues
Apex Legends is a success by most measures, but that doesn't mean it's without problems. A Respawn community manager said the developer is aware of and "discussing" multiple complaints that the hitboxes (the invisible shapes that determine whether or not a hit counts) are inconsistent between characters and could give you an unfair advantage. Some Legends appear to have disproportionately large hitboxes that make them easier targets (Gibraltar's is 140 percent bigger than Wraith's, for example). Others, meanwhile, have more precise hitboxes -- you can shoot between the legs of Bloodhound, but trying the same with Pathfinder registers a hit.
BioWare outlines the next few months of 'Anthem'
Now that Anthem is available to everyone, there's an obvious question: what comes next? Not surprisingly, BioWare is ready to shed light on the future of its shared-world shooter. The studio has published a 90-day roadmap that shows plans for both more raw gameplay as well as deeper changes to the mechanics. The new Echoes of Reality phase starts out modestly, but you'll see more substantial additions before April is over.
Here's Bethesda's plan to keep 'Fallout 76' relevant in 2019
After a few very rough months, Bethesda is ready to show where Fallout 76 is headed next... and it might just inject some needed variety into the online action RPG. The company has published a 2019 roadmap that starts on March 12th with Wild Appalachia, a bundle of features, modes and quests to mark the spring. I'll start out modestly with a quest that opens up brewing and distilling at your home base, but it'll also include a seasonal event (the Fasnacht Parade on March 19th), the high-stakes Survival mode (March 26th), base decoration and player vending (April 9th), the Shear Terror storyline (also April 9th) and an Ever Upwards quest (May 7th) that includes Scouts-style merit badges and a customizable backpack. On May 23rd, a Purveyor vendor will scrap your legendary gear in return for fresher equipment.
'Apex Legends' will make it easier to report cheaters
Apex Legends already has cheaters just two weeks into its existence, and Respawn wants to be sure they don't become too much of a problem. The studio has dropped not-so-subtle hints that it's incorporating a cheat reporting tool in its battle royale shooter, calling it a "very good idea" in a community update. Right now, anyone spotting a cheat has to go through a website and, if possible, record their own evidence. If they can't, they have to report someone's ID and hope for the best.
'Apex Legends' racks up 25 million players in its first week
For a game that was announced and launched just a week ago, Apex Legends is doing well for itself. Respawn has revealed that its stab at the battle royale genre now has over 25 million total players, and had "well over" 2 million simultaneous players during the weekend. That's still a far cry from Fortnite's numbers (Epic's shooter has over 200 million players and 8.3 million concurrent), but it's a huge figure for a title that boasted 10 million players just a few days earlier.
'Fortnite' account merging cleans up Sony's cross-platform mess
Sony screwed up with Fortnite. When Epic Games' blockbuster landed on the Nintendo Switch in June, it included cross-console capabilities for every platform except PlayStation 4, due to Sony's long-standing reluctance to make nice with rival hardware manufacturers. Sony fans were able to play with people on PC, Mac and mobile devices, but they were locked out of games with Xbox One or Switch buddies. This all meant PS4 players with existing Fortnite accounts couldn't access them on Switch, and vice versa, so plenty of folks ended up creating a separate profile for each device.
'Crackdown 3' multiplayer test begins February 7th on Xbox and PC
You won't have to wait until February 15th to see if Crackdown 3 is worth its protracted development process, although you might want to temper your expectations. Microsoft is launching a stress test for the game's Wrecking Zone mode at 3PM Eastern on February 7th (installations are available at 12PM) to see how well its cloud-based destruction fares in real-world conditions. It's "not a beta," Microsoft emphasized -- this is about collecting data and feedback based on a slice of the finished game. You'll be limited to the Agent Hunter mode on one map, but there will be multiple play sessions, including two on the 7th and others on the weekend.
Planet-shaping survival game 'Astroneer' launches tomorrow
After years in early access releases and a fair amount of buzz, Astroneer is almost here. The finished version of System Era's survival sandbox title arrives February 6th on Windows PCs and Xbox One, and it might be intriguing even if you've burnt out on the genre. The central allure remains the ability to reshape its procedurally generated planets with your mining tool. You can dig tunnels (as deep as your oxygen supply will allow), carve pathways and otherwise remake the world to harvest resources and lay out your base.
