Features

Coming Soon To A Console Near You: The April Edition

31 March 2015

A brand new month already! That means a whole host of brand new games will be released to keep us gripped to our controllers. So far, the month is looking a lot quieter than March has been, but there’s still plenty of releases to get excited about. My personal highlight from all the games coming out in April is going to be Bastion, coming to PSN on 7 April. There’s also the long-awaited Mortal Kombat X finally seeing a debut on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Dark Souls II and plenty of new indies to fill our hard drives with.

All release dates listed are the UK/EU release dates – in many cases, the North American release is a day or two earlier.

Week beginning 30 March

Run, Sackboy, Run!

PS Vita (1 April – digital only)

FREE TO PLAY!

The star of the show from LittleBigPlanet is getting his own spin-off game coming to PS Vita – and it’s free to play! It’s a platform survival game, fully-featured with leaderboards, power-ups and challenges to complete. You can even unlock costumes for LittleBigPlanet 3 by collecting various stickers throughout the game. Yay for free games!

Axiom Verge

PS4, PS Vita (Vita date TBA) (1 April – digital only)

Axiom Verge has been five years in the making, with ex Tiburon Studio developer Tom Happ working on it single-handedly in his spare time. The internet has been going mad for this in the last few days, and we’ve seen some excellent review scores. It’s a bit of a retro throwback, heavily influenced by the “metroidvania” style games, so if that’s your thing, be sure to check this one out.

Story of Seasons

Nintendo 3DS (1 April)

Originally released in Japan as part of the Harvest Moon series, Story of Seasons is a farming simulator featuring the typical cutesy Japanese anime we’ve come to know and love. You play as a bored young boy who decides to move away to a small town to try his chances being a farmer. You’ll be growing crops and tending to animals and generally trying to be a successful farmer.

Order Story of Seasons from Amazon

Super Mega Baseball

PS4, PS3 (1 April – digital only)

Super Mega Baseball, is, you’ve guessed it, an arcade-style baseball game. Cartoon 3D graphics and bright colours make this look like good fun, whether on your own or in co-op with a bunch of friends.

Paranormal Pursuit: The Gifted One

PS3 (1 April – digital only)

A “hidden object” game from Alawar, Paranormal Pursuit has already been available on PC and mobile for some time, and is getting a PS3 release this week. Certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, but if like me you’re a bit partial to indulging in a hidden object mystery adventure, it may be worth checking out.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

Nintendo “New” 3DS (2 April)

Xenoblade Chronicles was originally released for the Wii, and has had a 3D facelift in a port to the “New” Nintendo 3DS. Be warned – that means it won’t play on your previous generations of the 3DS, only the brand new console released earlier this year. Xenoblade is an open-world action RPG that received critical acclaim on its original release, so hopefully the 3DS port will do it justice.

Buy Xenoblade Chronicles 3D from Amazon

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC (2 April)

Dark Souls II finally gets a “next gen” release with Scholar of the First Sin. The game contains everything that the original release of Dark Souls II had to offer, along with brand new content, an expanded story and new enemies – even deadlier than before. The PS4 and Xbox One versions will include, as expected, enhanced graphics for an overall better experience. We’re looking forward to seeing how it compares.

Buy Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin on Amazon

Hyperdimension Neptunia Hypercollection

PS3 (3 April)

NIS America like doing compilation packs lately – last month we hard Arland, and now we’ve got Hyperdimension Neptunia. The trio includes the first three Neptunia games: Hyperdimension Neptunia, Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 and Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory. That’s a whole lot of JRPG action on one disc.

Buy Hyperdimension Neptunia Hypercollection on Amazon

.

Week beginning 6 April

Monster Bag

PS Vita (8 April – digital only)

We don’t know a whole lot about Monster Bag, but what we have seen of it over at the PlayStation Blog looks pretty great. It’s a puzzle platforming game, where you play as a cute blue monster called V. Humans are your enemies, and you’ve got to help V sneak past people to get back to safety. The screenshots look like this has a pretty special art style – we’re looking forward to trying it out.

Bastion

PS4 and PS Vita (8 April – digital only)

Bastion previously had success on PC and Xbox 360, and now it’s finally coming to PS4 and Vita. Developed by Supergiant Games, Bastion is a stylised RPG. Your character is simply known as “the Kid”, and you’ve got plenty of enemies to defeat as you move through various fantastical environments. The highlight of Bastion is the awesome voiceover narrating the game – it’s like having Morgan Freeman in your living room.

Stealth Inc. 2

PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, PC (8 April – digital only)

The sequel to last year’s popular Stealth Inc. started out life as a WiiU exclusive – having been released on the Nintendo format in October 2014. But now it’s spreading its wings and landing on all major formats. Stealth Inc. 2 is a Metroidvania style world, made up of over 60 levels for you to complete, with the aim of rescuing your fellow clones.

Week beginning 13 April

Mortal Kombat X

PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, PC (14 April)

Finally, a new Mortal Kombat to stick our teeth into! It’s been a long time coming to get the brutal favourite onto this generation of consoles, but hopefully it’ll be worth the wait. We’re promised it’s going to be the “most brutal Kombat experience ever”. Finish him!

Buy Mortal Kombat X from Amazon

Titan Souls

PS4, PS Vita (15 April – digital only)

Titan Souls is a pixellated 2D landscape, home to you – the hero – and 20 giant bosses that you have to destroy. Sounds simple enough? The catch is you’ve got a bow and a single arrow. Oh. Rather than being about brawling battles, Titan Souls is more about exploring the world and puzzling out the best way to take down a boss. Apparently, you’ll die. A lot. But that’s all part of the fun.

Week beginning 20 April

Shovel Knight

PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One (22 April – digital only)

Already available on 3DS, WiiU and PC, Shovel Knight is getting a wider release this month. It’s a 2D side-scrolling platform game with quaint throwback 8-bit graphics – a nod to classic NES games from the 80s. As the title Shovel Knight may suggest, your main weapon at your disposal is a shovel, and with that shovel you can whack, dig and stab your way through waves of enemies and bosses whilst collecting as much treasure as possible.

Infinity Runner

PS4, Xbox One, WiiU (22 April – digital only)

Infinity Runner is an endless runner game set in space. You’re a prisoner desperately drying to escape The Infinity, the largest spaceship ever built, which has been left doomed and decaying. There’s a story mode as well as multiplayer and the PC version features Oculus Rift support, so this could be something we see on “Morpheus” in the near future.

Tropico 5

PS4 (24 April)

Tropico 5 is a construction and management sim, which was previously released on Xbox 360 and PC in May 2014. The fifth instalment of the series allows co-op and competitive multiplayer for up to four players – you and your friends can all build on the same island, and either work together or become rivals. Simulations are not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like the idea of managing your own towns and cities in a tropical island setting, this might be worth checking out.

Buy Tropico 5 on Amazon

Week beginning 27 April

Siberia Complete Collection

PS3 (28 April)

There’s very little information about this title, but it does seem to be getting released this month. The Syberia Complete Collection includes Siberia 1 and Siberia 2, puzzle adventure games originally released on PC. If you’re into 3D point and click style adventuring, it’s got to be worth a look.

Buy Siberia Complete Collection on Amazon

State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition

Xbox One (28 April – digital only)

State of Decay is a zombie survival horror that was originally released on Xbox Live in 2013. It’s has a bit of a overhaul – being remastered into 1080p first and foremost, as well as other graphical enhancements, and some new content including a few new missions and new weapons.

Broken Age

PS4, PS Vita, PC (29 April – digital only)

Broken Age by Double Fine is the first brand new point and click game from Tim Schafer since Grim Fandango first released in 1998. Hype. You get to play as two characters, both located in separate worlds. Besides you controlling each of them, they do not ever interact together, but we can imagine that the actions of one will somehow affect the other. The game boasts a gorgeous dreamlike art style, and if Schafer’s track record is anything to go by, we’re expecting a cracking story with some tough puzzles. We can’t wait.

Project Root

Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita (29 April – digital only)

Project Root is a take on the classic shoot ’em up genre (or “schmup” as the cool kids like to call them). You’re in control of a fighter ship, tasked with the job of taking down as many enemy ships as possible. Unlike most other schmups, Project Root has an element of free-roaming explorations – meaning you’re not flying on a linear course; the world is yours to roam (and destroy).