Game of the Month: August 2018

Last month brought us quite the heat wave, both in terms of scorching weather and a spicy selection of new games to pick over. It should come as no surprise, really.

August is right on the cusp of that familiar spiral leading into an onslaught of late year launches. So the best chance some publishers have of getting eyeballs on their new, slightly more niche games is to get them out of the door before the summer sun begins to fade.

We saw a bit of that last year, August 2018 presenting a spread of great games that don’t necessarily tick those AAA boxes. Games such as Firewall: Zero Hour (which is still our favourite PlayStation VR shooter, by the way) as well as Yakuza Kiwami 2, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Overcooked 2, and WarioWare Gold.

Twelve months later and we were treated to a similarly diverse array of new releases. We nearly had another Nintendo-published winner come out on top, following Fire Emblem and Cadence of Hyrule, but there was one special game that stoked our curiosity, even long after the curtain fell.

We’re of course referring to Control – the latest from Finnish studio Remedy Entertainment. They’re certainly one of the more fascinating developers to follow, being best known for creating Max Payne, Alan Wake, and Quantum Break, all of which have zealously attached fanbases.

Control feels just as creatively unbridled yet familiar at the same time, building on the kind of third person action gameplay that has always been a core focus for Remedy, and marrying it to a metroidvania world design. What really underline Control, as Aran states in his 9/10 review, is a sense of mystery produced through masterful world-building.

It stood out as the clear winner for us, though there plenty of competition, especially in that final week of August. Astral Chain, the newest Switch-exclusive game from Platinum could have made it a hat trick of GOTM awards for Nintendo, scoring an impressive 8/10 in Dom’s review.

Supermassive Games also kicked off its Dark Pictures Anthology with Man of Medan. While not as good as Until Dawn (a firm favourite here at TheSixthAxis) as a series it definitely shows promise and has the cutting edge visuals and multiplayer features to rival all other narrative driven games. Tuffcub gave it a 8/10.

Other highlights from August included Age of Wonder: Planetfall, as well as some slightly older games which were re-released and remastered. Among these we saw Wreckfest finally make its way onto consoles where it left quite the impression on Thomas, achieving a spectacular 9/10, while bonkers dating/puzzle/dreaming sim, Catherine, proved just as brilliantly niche a second time round with a 9/10 from Miguel.

For our full reviews coverage from August 2019, you can find them here:

• Control – PS4, XBO, PC – 9/10
• Catherine: Full Body – PS4 – 9/10
• Wreckfest – PS4, XBO, PC – 9/10
• Astral Chain – Switch – 8/10
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan – PS4, XBO, PC – 8/10
• Madden NFL 20 – PS4, XBO, PC – 8/10
• Gibbous: A Cthulhu Adventure – PC – 8/10
• Age of Wonders: Planetfall – PS4, XBO, PC – 8/10
• Heave Ho – Switch, PC – 7/10
• Gravity Ghost Deluxe Edition– PS4, PC – 7/10
• Metal Wolf Chaos XD – PS4, XBO, PC – 7/10
• Subdivision Infinity DX – PS4, XBO, Switch – 7/10
• Telefrag VR– PSVR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive – 6/10
• Sagebrush – PS4, XBO, PC, Switch – 6/10
• MXGP 2019 – PS4, XBO, PC – 6/10
• The Church in the Darkness – PS4, XBO, PC – 3/10
• Darksiders 3: Keepers of the Void DLC – PS4, XBO, PC – No Score
• We Happy Few: Lightbearer DLC – PS4, XBO, PC – No Score

Hardware reviews:

• Nacon Daija Fight Stick Review – 8/10
• Logitech Pro X Headset – 8/10

Make sure you come back next month to see our top gaming picks for September (it’s sure to be a packed month!). In the meantime, let us know if you had any top picks from in the comments below.