New Video Games You Don’t Want To Miss!
The start of the year 2021 has been relatively quiet in terms of new game releases which is something of a regular occurrence during winter. However, things appear to be taking a different turn, thanks to the arrival of spring and a few major video game releases. The next-gen consoles might be the rave of the moment, however, the old consoles aren’t being left out of the picture, and can boast the ability to play some of April’s exciting releases. Whether you play on PC, or Nintendo Switch there’s a new game coming every month for you, and that has gotten even the laziest gamer like me very hyped.
For fans of the horror, zombie series Resident Evil, the month of May can’t come soon enough, but until then there are more than enough game titles to keep you occupied and excited for a long time!
Outriders
Available now for all major consoles except Nintendo Switch
Outriders by People Can Fly is a third-person, co-op shooter with role-playing elements. The plot of the game takes place during the middle of the 21st century as climate disasters grow dangerous and more frequent, leaving humanity in the quest to mitigate them and survive.
Outriders offer players the opportunity to create and customize their characters and choose a unique ability for this character from a pool of four possible options. The four classes of unique abilities include the Devastator, which can unleash seismic attacks; the Pyromancer, which allows you to control and manipulate fire; the Technomancer, which players the ability to control turrets and other devices; and the Trickster, which allows players the ability to manipulate time.
Outriders received positive reviews from critics for its gameplay and customization capabilities. However, its graphics and voice-acting are somewhat disappointing.
Oddworld: Soulstorm
Available now for PC, PS4 & PS5
Fans of side-scrolling platform games would love Oddworld: Soulstorm. A sequel to 2014’s Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty, Soulstorm was also developed and published by Oddworld Inhabitants, and it is a re-imagination of 1998’s Abe’s Exoddus (one of the early titles in the Oddworld franchise).
Oddworld: Soulstorm sees Abe return as the protagonist, as he interacts with objects and steals from enemies to build weapons capable of helping him save his fellow Mudokons from slave labor. The game earned good reviews from fans of the franchise, whilst picking up a good rating of 3/5 from Eurogamer.
Returnal
April 30 for PlayStation 5
PlayStation fans who have always admired the game series Halo —which is exclusive to Xbox and PC— finally have something similar to look forward to. Developed using the Unreal Engine 4 by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation 5 only, Returnal tells the story of a space pilot (Selene) -equipped with a suit and armed with high-technology weapons- stranded on the alien planet of Atropos. Selene is stuck in a time loop and finds her cutting through foreign environments and alien entities after every death in the game.
Returnal is a third-person shooter that immerses players into the fictional, psychological, horror-filled world of the game thanks to the haptic feedback and 3D spatial audio of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller. The game was first announced during Sony’s PlayStation 5 reveal back in the summer of 2020.
New Pokémon Snap
April 30 for Nintendo Switch only
After more than two decades, Japanese game studio Bandai Namco is releasing a sequel to Nintendo 64’s Pokemon Snap. Published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo, New Pokémon Snap is a first-person simulation game based on photographing Pokémon and it also makes use of rail shooter mechanics —with the player traveling from one island to another in the Lental region with the use of on-rails hovercraft.
New Pokémon Snap features a Lental region with a chain of islands, as well as over 200 different Pokémon to take pictures of. Players can lure out Pokémon using a fruit called, Flutfruit or by playing a melody that gets the Pokémon dancing. The players also build a compendium called a “Photodex” which assists in the research studies of Professor Mirror and his assistants, Rita and Phil. The Japanese Pokemon is also available as a slot machine, and many want to know where they can play it. If you want to play for free, the best advice is to look into Japanese online casinos with slots. The game’s language settings can be changed to English and many other languages, and the best selection of Japanese games will be found on Japanese websites.
MLB The Show 21
April 20 for PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
Fans of Major League Baseball (MLB) are probably the most excited in April, as the latest edition of the simulation video game for their favorite sport will hit the shelf towards the end of the month. Since its inception, only PlayStation users have been able to play the various titles in the MLB franchise, however, the latest edition is expected to be released for Xbox players as well.
Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres becomes the youngest MLB player (22) to feature on the cover of any title in the series. The new game is expected to add a new ballpark creator feature that offers players the chance to create, download and share ballparks online.
