The Summer Video Game Drought (capitalized because it is, in fact, a known event) is slowly drawing to a close. While indie and massively multiplayer online games have supplied players over the course of these post-E3 months, we’re slowly creeping closer to the holiday season, where big triple-A games come out of the woodwork.
That creep is still months away though. So to celebrate this Saharan-esque period coming to a close, here are a few big releases that have dropped in these past few weeks.
"Mad Max"
Less shiny, and more original than the Mel Gibson movies, “Mad Max” is an open-world action game (of course), crafted by Avalanche Studios, the same folks who brought us the fun "Just Cause" series. “MM” bases itself on vehicular combat with weaponized cars supplanting most of the action.
Reviews have been mixed so far, with Polygon’s 5.5 rating citing a vague story and fetch quests. Eurogamer gave the title its “Recommended” rating, saying that the game weaved together “(George) Miller's cinematic universe and the modern open-world video game with a real sense of purpose.”
"Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain"
The controversy surrounding Hideo Kojima’s last "Metal Gear" game has not only filled the spaces of the Internet, but has also crafted a certain hashtag about Konami that I shan’t type here (it’s really not that hard to find). Long story short: Konami fired Kojima a few months back for a still unofficial reason(s), and even went so far as to strip his name off boxes of the “Phantom Pain” prior to release.
But we all know this is a Kojima game, which is one of the reasons why it’s been received so well. “The Phantom Pain” takes the series’ stealth trademarks and drops it into an open world (a first for the series), with home base customization and resource management to acquire new gear. Not only that, but they’ve opened up the combat to allow for guns blazing, provided you’re smart about it. And with the amount of stuff to do, there’s plenty to eat up your time here, including using a Fulton balloon to send sheep (and almost anything) skyward.
"Super Mario Maker"
If you’ve ever wanted to craft your own Mario level and didn’t have the technical wherewithal to hack into game code, then rejoice. “Super Mario Maker” opens up the Mario toybox (mostly) to give you (nearly) everything you need to make some fun levels to share with friends. Items and objects from “Super Mario Bros.” up to “3D Land” are all on tap here, and can be mixed up to get the most out of the creator.
Even before the game was released, levels popped up designed for anything from speed runs to shoot-‘em-ups using the green shoe in an aerial level. The possibilities can be staggering, and it’s been entertaining just to watch videos of what people came up with.
"Forza Motorsport 6"
The popular racing simulator, exclusive to the Xbox line, got high marks across the board before its official release Tuesday. It stocks 460 cars, including various stat boosting modifications for your fleet, and 26 tracks ranging from the Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe in France, to the "Top Gear" test track from the BBC show. Although if James May had a say in it, the Nurburgring wouldn’t be here.
Listening to fan requests, the developers at Turn 10 have added rain and night cycles to the game (though they are not available on all tracks). These changes are more than cosmetic. Nighttime will do no wonders for your visibility, while rain will slick the tracks.
One fun fact, as pointed out in Arthur Gies’ review on Polygon, is that the game provides force feedback via the rumble feature in the Xbox One controller, meaning that you’ll feel how the car is doing based on different vibrations. A not so fun fact is that this will play hell on your controller’s battery.
Related Links:
'Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes' could begin disturbing trend in gaming
How "free-to-play" titles are ruining the gaming industry
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