10 Most Anticipated Xbox Series X|S Games (October 2020)

 

 

We continue on from yesterday, with a look at what I'm looking forward to on  Microsoft's next gen offerings with the Series X|S consoles.

 

12 Minutes

 

As Dusk Falls

 Avowed

Call of the Sea

Everwild

 

Fable

 

Halo Infinite

Last Stop

The Medium

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II

 

E3 2019 Xbox Predictions - Halo - Gears - Forza and more to come

                    

Out this Week on Xbox One - Plague Tale - Rage 2 - Castlevania and more

 

14th A Plague Tale: Innocence

Xbox One X Enhanced - Follow the grim tale of Amicia and her little brother Hugo, in a heartrending journey through the darkest hours of history. Hunted by the Inquisition and surrounded by unstoppable swarms of rats, they will struggle to survive and fight to find purpose in this brutal, unforgiving world.

 

 

14th Rage 2

Xbox One X Enhanced - Dive headfirst into a dystopian world devoid of society, law, and order. Rage 2 brings together two studio powerhouses – Avalanche Studios, masters of open world insanity, and id Software, creators of the first-person shooter – to deliver a carnival of carnage where you can go anywhere, shoot anything, and explode everything.

 

14th Sniper Elite V2 Remastered

Xbox One X Enhanced / Xbox Play Anywhere - You are elite sniper Karl Fairburne, parachuted into Berlin amidst the Germans’ final stand. Your mission: prevent Nazi V2 rocket technology falling into the hands of the Red Army. With all DLC missions included, take the fate of the war into your own hands, and hunt the Führer himself.

 

14th Lost Orbit

Stranded after his ship is destroyed in deep space, Harrison, a lowly maintenance worker and our hero, must struggle to find his way home. Armed with an improvised set of equipment and a relentless spirit, Harrison will need to use the gravitational forces of planets to navigate and propel himself through space.

 

15th Devious Dungeon 2

Devious Dungeon 2 is a medieval focused action platformer title. The castles ever-shifting halls are filled with deadly monsters, treacherous traps, and treasure. It’s also the domain of The Summoner and he does not look kindly upon uninvited guests. Slay monsters, collect loot, level up, and upgrade your gear and pick one of three different playable heroes.

 

15th Feudal Alloy

Explore an unusual medieval world with a fish-controlled robot, Attu. Improve your combat techniques and skills by smashing many kinds of mechanical creatures in a beautiful hand-drawn world. Discover a huge interconnected world, filled with a wide range of enemies, bosses, skills, and equipment. Choose which paths you take and which enemies you face. Defeat evil and find your way back home.

 

15th Undead Horde

Xbox One X Enhanced - Become a necromancer and raise the dead in this action RPG/RTS wrapped in an undead package. Command, lead, raze, loot, and fight your way through the lands of the living with your horde and claim the kingdom for the Undead Horde!

 

16th Castlevania Anniversary Collection

This Konami Castlevania Collection is designed to be a compilation around the origins of the historic franchise. Included is a unique eBook that has details provided by developers, artists, and other inspired by the Castlevania legacy. Released as part of the Konami 50th Anniversary celebration, now’s the best time to relive these timeless classics that helped define the platformer genre.

 

17th Dragon’s Lair Trilogy

Play as the heroic Dirk the Daring, a valiant knight on a quest to rescue the fair princess from the clutches of an evil dragon, and then go to outer space as Ace, defender of justice, truth, and the planet Earth in the arcade classics Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, and Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp.

 

17th Darkwood

A challenging survival horror game that doesn’t rely on jump scares. Craft weapons, prepare traps, fortify hideouts and explore the eerie forests of the Soviet Bloc by day, then hunker down in your hideout at night while nightmarish forces corrupt the woods as you wait and pray for the sun to come up the next morning.

 

17th Steel Rats

Wreck and ride in Steel Rats, a game that fuses destructive motorbike combat and death-defying stunt gameplay set in a visually stylized retro future world. Switch between four characters, each with unique abilities, as you wreak havoc fighting deadly Junkbots.

 

17th Molecats

A challenging, indirect-control puzzler. Play as the Molecats as you delve into nearby caves to retrieve delicious 'shrooms and shiny relics. It's your job to keep each of them on the safest, most direct path to goodies, avoiding traps, and monsters along the way!

 Get your Xbox codes and more here

A hole new lot of games Out this Week Dec 18th - 21st

 

18th Donut County

Raccoons have taken over Donut County with remote-controlled trash-stealing holes. You play as BK, a hole-driving raccoon who swallows up his friends and their homes to earn prizes. Meet interesting characters, steal their trash, and throw them in a hole. Donut County is also part of the ID@Xbox Winter of Arcade.

 

18th Nippon Marathon

San! Ni! Ichi! Hajime!!! Stretch your muscles and embark upon the ultimate marathon of Japan in a silly party racer! Hurdle barrels, outrun Shiba Inu, and dive out of the paths of bicycles, all while throwing fruit at your opponents and dashing across planks precariously balanced over waterfalls in an unreal marathon across the whole of Japan.

 

19th Road Redemption

An action racing game where you lead your motorcycle gang on an epic journey of pursuit, blood, and speed. Through your travels, you will upgrade your character, bike, and weapons by completing races, assassinations, robberies, and more.  You’ll need to use kicks, grabs, counters, and other moves to stay alive.

 

19th Hellfront: Honeymoon

An intense twin-stick action strategy game, Hellfront: Honeymoon is said to be enjoyed best with friends over a six-pack of fruit juice. It’s PvP with up to four players locally as you battle it out across brief, intense battles.

 

21st Sundered: Eldritch Edition

Sundered is a horrifying fight for survival and sanity, a hand­-drawn epic from the creators of Jotun. You play Eshe, a wanderer in a ruined world, trapped in ever-­changing caverns filled with hordes of terrifying enemies. Harness the power of corrupted relics to defeat gigantic bosses, at the cost of your humanity in this metroidvania-like game.

 

21st Asdivine Hearts II

With a world on the verge of being frozen in ice, heroes will come together once again to save the world in this sequel to this epic RPG series. Utilizing a brand-new team system, lead up to six characters into battle and destroy powerful foes to save the parallel world of Archelio. 

 

 Get your Xbox codes and more here 

The First Tree Review

You may have seen my recent let's play of The First Tree after watching you might think this isn't much of a game.



Due to the fact when you're playing as the fox, you basically just walk forward towards The First Tree and you could even miss all the collectables along the way if you really wished.

You might also think the game looks very pretty in some parts such as a scene with a deer but even on the One X, foliage can appear out of nowhere and some other odd occurrences.

 

That you may be thinking this doesn't sound good at all, which is sort of a problem with this sort of game to review as if you do pick up the collectables you'll get a backstory which is fully narrated, I believe by the games creator and his wife.

Now, this is where the game shines and it's the emotions you'll feel along the way which will even mean you'll like the game or not. I don't want to go into the story too much which is based around one of the characters talking about his childhood.

It might just be me but he doesn't mention his mother once that I do believe he is talking about a single parent in his father. Now this hits home to me being raised by a single parent in my father, that the emotional notes of The First Tree may have reached me more than it would some.

 

Get your Xbox codes and more here 

 

Two highly anticipated indie titles coming this December

With the year almost over and The Game Awards happening in a few hours, over the last day or so we've had some news on some upcoming titles.

 

First up Ashen has been spotted on the French Xbox store to be releasing Dec 7th and will be launching into Game Pass as well. From doing some research it seems this was meant to be announced at TGA with the devs sort of acknowledging the leak.

Then late last night Below was finally dated for Dec 14th after 5 years in development, with Winter of Arcade being announced at X018 with more details to come at TGA, I wouldn't be shocked if this is the marquee title of Winter of Arcade.

 

 Get your Xbox codes and more here 

The First Tree Complete Playthrough

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More titles coming to Game Pass this year

The guys over at Xbox weren't done with the announcements from X018, as today they confirmed The Gardens Between would be available right now, Mutant Year Zero will launch into Game Pass on December 4th then two days later Strange Brigade will also be available to download. 

They will be joined by Ori and the Blind Forest, Kingdom Two Crowns and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice in December.

 Get your Xbox codes and more here

Out this Week Mutants and Witchers

 

4th Gods Remastered

Play the classic 2D action classic Gods from the acclaimed Bitmap Brothers, full of exciting levels full of monsters and puzzles that you can play either in the original pixel graphics or in a modern 3D mode with an extensive new soundtrack.

 

4th Subnautica

Officially leaving Xbox Game Preview, Subnautica is an underwater open world adventure game where you can craft equipment, pilot submarines, and out-smart wildlife to explore lush coral reefs, volcanoes, and cave systems.

 

4th Monica e a Guarda dos Coelhos

Monica e a Guarda dos Coelhos is a couch co-op game up to four players with a focus on teamwork and cooperation. Everyone has a different role to defend the castle from smudge horde. Use magical bunnies with unique powers, load them into cannons, and fire them at incoming enemies.

 

4th Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

A legendary series returns with a grand new adventure! Enjoy a colorful action-adventure game made alongside Ryuichi Nishizawa, creator of the original Wonder Boy in Monster World series. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom borrows the best from the classic series to deliver a fresh, modern adventure with fun gameplay, memorable music and gorgeous hand-drawn animations.

 

4th Gwent: The Witcher Card Game

Xbox Play Anywhere - In Gwent: The Witcher Card Game, gamers clash with their friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction. The game is played over a best-of-three series of rounds, as players unleash their hand by slinging spells and diverse units with special abilities and use clever tricks to deceive their opponents.

 

4th Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

Xbox Game Pass - A tactical adventure game combining the turn-based combat of XCOM with story, exploration, stealth, and strategy. Take control of a team of mutants navigating a post-human Earth. Created by a team including former Hitman leads and the designer of PayDay.

 

4th Just Cause 4

Xbox One X Enhanced - Experience a sandbox game full of towering tornadoes and tropical lightning storms, taking the iconic Just Cause action to incredible new heights. In Just Cause 4, rogue agent Rico Rodriguez lands in Solis to hunt down the truth about his past, at any cost. Strap into your wingsuit, equip your fully customizable grappling hook, and get ready to bring the thunder.

 

4th Override: Mech City Brawl

Xbox One X Enhanced - Control gigantic robots and duke it out in this 3D mech brawler. Epic battles await in local and online versus mode and four-player co-op where each player controls one part of a mech. Also includes a full single-player campaign where you must master each mech’s own unique play style, special moves, and finishers.

 

4th Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

December 04, 2018

Thronebreaker is a single-player RPG card game set in the world of The Witcher. Choice-driven, and cast with rich, multi-dimensional characters, it once again thrusts gamers into the monster-infested universe of Geralt of Rivia. 

  

5th Energy Cycle Edge

Xbox One X Enhanced - Energy Cycle Edge is the sequel to the original puzzle game Energy Cycle. The core of the game is the same: when you activate each cell in the game field, it changes the colors of the cell and any adjacent cells in a straight line. Each cell switches between three different colors, and your task is to make them all match the same color.

 

6th Battle Princess Madelyn

Follow the journey of a young knight in training, Madelyn, and her ghostly pet dog, Fritzy as they set out on a journey to save her kingdom and her family from the clutches of an evil wizard. With classic and challenging gameplay in the vein of Ghouls N' Ghosts, join Madelyn as she battles through graveyards, swamps, and castles.

 

6th Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek

Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek follows the tragic story of the Neighbor’s family in this dramatic prequel to Hello Neighbor. Experience playing a game of hide-and-seek with your brother as you both deal with the loss of a family member, as a new light shines on the events that influence the original game.

 

7th On a Roll 3D

Xbox One X Enhanced - A fast-paced 3D platform game, roll your way through 24 huge levels across six different themes and be prepared to take on spikes, mines, dynamite, conveyor belts, springs, switches, doors, bumpers, lasers, saws, fire, ice, water, electricity, trapdoors, and much, much more. 

Get your Xbox codes and more here

Games with Gold December

 

Q.U.B.E. 2  December 1 to 31 on Xbox One
In this mysterious puzzler, you awaken in the ruins of an ancient alien landscape with no memory of how or why you got there. Navigate through mind-bending puzzles and use your manipulation-gloves to change the structure of the world to find your way back home. As you explore, you’ll face thought-provoking questions of your true purpose, with a devastating truth that will shake your world.


Never Alone December 16 to January 15 on Xbox One
Delve into the rich lore and culture of the Iñupiat people in this unique adventure game. Nominated for multiple awards and built in partnership with the Alaska Native community, play as a young Iñupiat girl and an arctic fox to find the source of the eternal blizzard which threatens everything. Encounter traditional native characters, share their wisdom and stories, and experience a game like no other.


Dragon Age II Available December 1 to 15 on Xbox One and Xbox 360
Experience an epic adventure in an ever-changing world in Dragon Age II. Taking place over the course of a decade, mold your character, Hawke, from a destitute refugee to the revered champion of Kirkwall. Gather the deadliest of allies, amass fame and fortune, and seal your place in history. The legend of your rise to power begins now.


Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction Available December 16 to 31 on Xbox One and Xbox 360
Anything goes in this classic action title. Your mission is to topple a sinister military regime by any means necessary. If it drives or flies: hijack it. If it shoots or explodes: use it as a weapon. In this playground of destruction, there are no limits and no mercy.

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X018 Recap: Game Pass

This past Saturday was X018 and one of the big focuses was Game Pass where new 16 games were announced to be coming to the subscription service alongside Crackdown 3 which was dated for Febuary15th. 

Thief of Thieves is out now.
PUBG launching November 12th. 
Agents of Mayhem, MXGP3 and Thomas Was Alone are launching November 22nd.

Ori and the Blind Forest, Kingdom Two Crowns and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice are coming in December.

 

Aftercharge, Supermarket Shriek, Mutant Year Zero, Pathologic 2, The Good Life, Void Bastards, Secret Neighbor, Ori and the Will of the Wisps are all going to launch into Game Pass on the same day as release.

 

 Get your Xbox codes and more here

 

 

Best Games on Xbox Game Pass

To be honest, I don't have the most original of ideas, someone will talk about their favourite RPG's which will get me thinking what are my favourites and I'll go write a blog post or do a video on them.

This past week, a friend on twitter brought up that she was looking at getting an Xbox One S which led to replies from a few people, including myself, bringing up the great value you can get from an Xbox One S due to its price and the services on offer such as Backwards Compatibility and Game Pass.

I've done a few videos on Backwards Compatibility which you can find on the blog but never on Game Pass.

Game Pass has some great games on it but as I know my friend has never owned an Xbox console, which got me thinking what are the best games on the service and is this good for someone new to the ecosystem.

With rumours of a fourth entry, using Game Pass you can go back to Albion to play the three main games including the Xbox 360 HD Anniversary version of the first which might still be the best Fable out of the three.

FH4 shows the incredible value of Game Pass, it's one of the best games of the year and is available just to play with a sub to the service. I'm not even the biggest racing fan but FH4 gameplay just rewards you for playing, that you can come 6th in a race and still feel you've progressed.

Much like Fable, with a fifth mainline game upcoming Game Pass allows someone to go back and experience this great series, also both the 360 and Remaster of the first are playable through Game Pass.

With the recent addition of Halo Master Chief Collection to Game Pass, and Halo 5 on it as well this brings all five mainline games to the service and not only that but the excellent Halo Wars and its sequel are also playable.

I only played this one recently due to it being on Game Pass, I don't know if I ever would have if it wasn't on service. And it's decent 3rd person action game with a neat idea due to the blend of gameplay and live action. 

Yep I mean the studio Rare as if you're new to Xbox you might want to check out some familiar faces with Banjo-Kazooie and what Rare has been up to after becoming an Xbox First Party Studio, not everything has been good or on Game Pass but with likes of the three Banjo-Kazooie games, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Sea of Thieves and Viva Pinata there's bound to be something for someone.

All the games on here are Xbox games and shows what Xbox is all about but like I said at the start, Game Pass does have some big third party games on service and Rise of the Tomb Raider is one of the best plus if you've got an Xbox One X then you're in for a real treat.

RotTR also showed me some great things about Xbox One as I played RotTR on release and since sold it. One day I decide to download it via Game Pass and my game save from my old Xbox One S was right there on my One X due to the automatic cloud saves and being in Game Pass I get a discount on DLC, that I decided to continue Lara's adventure.

This is the most criminally overlooked game on Xbox One, it's just a fantastic action platformer, which you should be playing.

A great 3D platformer which would have felt right at home during the late 90s / early 2000's, that is well worth a look.

Game Pass might allow us to play Xbox One first party games on the day of release, go back to some classic games and big 3rd party games but it also allows us to checkout some great indies which we may have never played if it wasn't for the service.

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What touches down this week August 7th - 10th

 

Dead Cells

August 07, 2018

Dead Cells puts you in control of a failed alchemic experiment trying to figure out what's happening on a sprawling, ever-changing, and seemingly cursed Island. Describing itself as possessing tough but fair combat, responsive controls, challenging foes, permadeath, and of course, the emergency panic roll to get you out of trouble, Dead Cells seems to have all the ingredients for makes for an intense action game.

 

Defenders of Ekron

August 07, 2018

In this adventure/shmup game with features like 360° shooting range, unique scenarios to discover, exploration modes to analyze the environment, a powerful shield, and different upgradable combat modes, you must defeat The Renegades and stop the bursting civil war threatening Ekron.

 

Flipping Death

August 07, 2018

Possess the living, aid the dead, and flip between the worlds of Flipping Death, a puzzling adventure platformer where you find yourself filling in for Death itself. Maybe your new powers will help you solve the mystery of your own demise?

 

Hyper Universe

August 07, 2018

Xbox One X Enhanced - Choose from a diverse cast of colourful characters, each with their own unique abilities. Leap into intense 4v4 MOBA combat on every level of the battlefield as you and your teammates work together to destroy the enemy base.

 

Overcooked! 2

August 07, 2018

Overcooked returns with a brand-new helping of chaotic cooking action! Journey back to the Onion Kingdom and assemble your team of chefs in classic couch co-op or online play for up to four players. Hold onto your aprons; it’s time to save the world again!

 

Megaton Rainfall

August 08, 2018

Become an indestructible interdimensional superbeing in this first-person superhero game and save Earth from an alien invasion. With unprecedented freedom of movement as you fly through buildings, break the sound barrier, and accelerate to extraordinary speeds. Then rise above the atmosphere, circumnavigate the Earth in seconds, and get ready for your next battle.

 

Tetra’s Escape

August 08, 2018

A platforming puzzle-game that’s all about blocks named Tetras and it’s up to you to save them and make the most out of their special ability -- shape-shifting. Tetras can turn into different Tetrominos and used to fill holes and master puzzles in order to reach the portal on the other side of the level.

 

City of the Shroud

August 09, 2018

Your choices and the choices of every player will drive a living story and determine the fate of the city of Iskenderun. Paired with an explosive real-time, combo-based battle system, your decisions will change the story forever in City of the Shroud.

Madden NFL 19

August 10, 2018

Xbox One X Enhanced - Madden NFL 19 gives you game-changing control on and off the field, with Real Player Motion (RPM) transforming the way you play Madden, giving you precision player control.  Create and share custom draft classes, design your game strategy, progress your players, and execute your game plan with all new positional archetypes in Franchise mode. Then in Madden NFL 19 Ultimate Team, train your favourite players to fit your roster and lead them to glory.

 

We Happy Few

Xbox One X Enhanced - We Happy Few is the tale of a plucky bunch of moderately terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial in the city of Wellington Wells. In this alternative 1960s England, conformity is key. You’ll have to fight or blend in with the drug-addled inhabitants, most of whom don’t take kindly to people who won’t abide by their not-so-normal rules.

 

TerraTech

August 10, 2018

Explore, build, craft, and battle across alien worlds in this physics-based construction sandbox adventure. Design cars, tanks and planes from a huge library of blocks. Scavenge, craft and buy new parts to survive, and become the ultimate planetary prospector. Or jump into a 16-player PvP battle to grab and build as you fight.

You can get your Xbox codes here