Even though it’s the shortest month, it’s been a little surprising just how quickly it feels like February has raced by. We’re just a few short days away from the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, and I know that’s one that series fans have been salivating over for a long time – and not just for the in-game chef’s creations!
But MHW is still in the future, what about in the here and now? Well, the week’s two biggest releases (full releases, not pre-order shenanigans releases) are the excellent Avowed and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Are you playing either of these this weekend?
In the News This Week
Steam Next Fest was the big and interesting thing this week, flooding the airwaves with announcements and demos. Let’s see what’s been happening:
- Dune: Awakening launches in May for PC – create your character & benchmark now
- NetEase cuts Marvel Rivals’ Seattle-based devs to “optimize development” in China
- Space Marine 2 devs Saber and Hasbro partner for a “tentpole” AAA game
- Play the Gothic 1 Remake demo with Steam Next Fest
- Ubisoft announce Rainbow Six Siege X with a full reveal coming in March
- Cosy LOTR life sim Tales of the Shire delayed again to July
- Among Us 3D is Among Us VR without the VR – Steam Next Fest demo incoming
- Monster Train 2 chugs to release this year, with a debut demo playable today
- GTA V on PC gets the PS5 & XSX|S upgrade for free in March
- Nintendo ditches Gold Points reward scheme ahead of Switch 2 launch
Games in Review & Featured Articles
We don’t have our Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review in the can just yet – look for that next week, hopefully – but we’ve had some fun with these games:
- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector – PS5, XSX|S, NSW, PC – 8/10
- Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog – PS5, PS4, NSW, PC – 7/10
- Dog Man: Impawsible Mission – PS5, XSX|S, NSW, PC – 7/10
- Warriors: Abyss – PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, NSW, PC – 6/10
And we got pad in hand for a controller review:
- SCUF Valor Pro – XSX|S, XBO, PC – 9/10
We had the film projector out for a video game documentary with Grand Theft Hamlet, chronicling the 2021 efforts to put on a production of Hamlet within GTA Online – you can watch this now on MUBI, by the way.
Over in the preview room, we checked out the upcoming exo-suit extraction game Exoborne, which is all about seismic weather events mixing up the map. Dom and I also teamed up for the MudRunner spin-off RoadCraft, which is all about what happens after seismic weather events have rolled through the world.
Meanwhile, Dom checked out Xenoblade Chronicles X on Nintendo Switch, and had a hands on look at the next project from PlayerUnknown, the procedural survival experience that is Prologue: Go Wayback!
Rounding out the week, What We Played featured RoadCraft, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and Avowed.
Trailer Park
Relic reveals Earth vs Mars – Advance Wars meets Mars Attacks!
Shotgun Cop Man sees My Friend Pedro creator blast their way to Hell
Hades 2 – The Warsong Update is now live
Dive into Solasta 2 with the Steam Next Fest demo
Your Achievements
What have you been playing this week? Well…
- Andrewww has been playing a bunch of backlog games and titles that were soon to leave the PS Plus catalogue. That included The Outer Worlds, though this was too old fashioned, and he started Life Is Strange 2. He also got The Shapeshifting Detective, which didn’t speak to him, and he played Call of the Sea with his daughter, but got a little stuck on a riddle.
That’s the round up for this week. Hope you have a great weekend ahead!
