7 games to spend your summer playing
The holidays offer the perfect chance to catch up on all the games you didn’t have time to play during the school year. But where to begin? We found seven of the hottest games of 2016
Overwatch
Overwatch is an online, multiplayer, first person shooter created by Blizzard Entertainment, the studio that made Hearthstone. You choose from 21 playable characters to either attack or defend on four different game modes: Assault, Escort, Control, and Assault/Escort. With constant balance changes, Blizzard ensures that none of the characters are exceptionally strong, which helps smooth and even gameplay.
One of the best things about Overwatch is that it is a team game, and you can join up with players from all around the world to complete the missions. The pacing of this game is also a draw, as death timers are relatively low compared to other games such as Team Fortress 2. This makes it much more exciting because players rush out to control points faster.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
As Naughty Dog’s final instalment to the series, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End follows protagonist Nathan “Nate” Drake and his brother as they travel around the world to places such as Italy and Scotland, searching for Henry Avery’s long lost treasure.
There’s plenty of back story here, as you discover that Nate has strained his relationship with his wife to save his brother. The game also has one of the most interesting plot twists during the epilogue, where it makes possible references to the title of the game. Compared to previous instalments of the series, Uncharted 4 has much better visuals.
The game moves quickly, thanks to advanced non-player characters (NPCs). Your companions will imitate your moves, and they seldom get in your way. And unlike other games, enemies will spot you if you are hiding in obvious spots that usually fool computer controlled enemies. This makes the game a little more challenging, but much more realistic.
Dark Souls III
In the fourth instalment of the Souls series, gamers play as an undead known as the Ashen One. You’re searching for the essences of heroes who have sacrificed their souls to keep the First Flame burning.
Like every other game in the series, Dark Souls III is notoriously difficult, to the point that some players has described it as “too difficult to be enjoyable”. But others take this difficulty as a challenge.
The monsters you encounter vary in behaviour and difficulty. Some of them can even change attack pattern throughout the battle, which means you might have to change your strategy halfway through the fight. It can be especially challenging for beginner players, but defeating difficult monsters will give you some solid bragging rights in the community.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine
The original version of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released in May 2015. But being one of the most popular open world exploration games, the studio quickly released additional content. Blood and Wine, the second expansion pack of the game, was released on May 31 for Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Windows.
In addition to letting you customise your weapon, this expansion pack allows you to explore Toussaint, which is an entirely new area to the Witcher series. Along with this new area, comes new characters, and their designs are one of the most attractive features of the game.
Fights focus heavily on strategy and speed. Fortunately, you can dodge, which helps reduce your damage while facing an enemy.
Inside
Developed and published by Playdead, Inside is a platformer game where you play an unnamed young boy in a red shirt. Your job is to travel along solving puzzles – and not dying.
This artwork in this game is very unique, and each scene has a lot of detail to it. After moving for a while, you will actually hear your character – the boy in red – breathing deeply.
Many people compare this game to another one of Playdead’s creations, Limbo, which received critical acclaim upon its release in 2010. Inside continues the very creative, very weird output from the studio.
Doom
A reboot of the classic series and the newest addition to a four-part series, Doom is one of the original first person shooter games. You take control of a nameless marine, referred to as the Doom Slayer.
Developer id Software sets this latest version of the game on Mars, where a research facility has been invaded by demons from Hell. Fighting through the facility, Doom Slayer has to destroy the power source of the portal to the red planet.
Doom features a new move called the Glory Kill, which you can do after you deal enough damage to an enemy. When you are close enough, the Doom Slayer will do a special melee attack that instantly kills the enemy. It’s such a popular addition to the game that you can watch compilations of these Glory Kills online.
XCOM 2
The sequel to the reboot of the original series XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2 is a strategy game where you battle aliens who have taken over Earth. The turn based combat is unlike any other game, and keeps you in suspense. For those who are interested in a continuation in the storyline from the first game, this a great second part to the XCOM reboot.