New Releases: April 2016
As 2016 continues to chug along, video game studios start to become a little more confident in releasing some of their heaviest hitters. As a result, April definitely has a number of must-haves you should be saving your spare gold coins for.
First up on Tuesday April 5 is Quantum Break – the Xbox One’s highly experimental third person shooter from the guys behind the Alan Wake series. Play through a section of the video game, then sit back and stream an episode of the interconnected live action television show – both of which influence the other.
Meanwhile, jump down the week a bit to Friday April 8 and you can put your pedal to the metal with Dirt Rally. Originally released for PC late last year, the exceptional racer is now thankfully being ported to both PS4 and Xbox One with an extra tune-up in hand.
Elite hardcore gamers, however, have been patiently waiting for Tuesday April 12. Namely because that’s the day the tear-inducing Souls series gets itself a new sibling in the form of Dark Souls III(PS4, XBO, PC). For the uninitiated, expect a positively brutal game that pushes you forward by killing you. A lot. A word of warning: it’s definitely not for everybody.
Closing out the month on Wednesday April 20 is the PS4 iteration of Ratchet & Clank. Acting as more of a reboot than a complete remake of the PS2 classic, expect a bigger narrative, ridiculous new weapons and graphics that’ll make you drool.
What’s On:
GOOD GAME ANNIVERSARY
Taking place on Sunday April 24 at Sydney Town Hall, Good Game Live: The Anniversary Edition combines Steven ‘Bajo’ O’Donnell, Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen, Nich Richardson, Michael Hing and Gus ‘Goose’ Ronald as they test both their gaming credibility and improv skills to an audience. With a bunch of celebrities on board as well, this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the show’s tenth anniversary. Tickets range from $39.90 – $49.90 via Ticketek.
BONUS STAGE
A part of this year’s Sydney Comedy Festival, Bonus Stage is a live talk show made specifically for all the gamers out there. Set to take over Redfern’s Giant Dwarf on Wednesday April 27, hosts Carlo Ritchie (The Bear Pack), Ben O’Brien (Big Head Mode) and Rae Johnston (Gizmodo Australia) will be joined onstage by a variety of special guests from the world of comedy, television and games. You’ll be able to sit back and enjoy sketches, cosplaying, gaming, the odd appearance from real video game characters and smooth tunes from the musically inclined Benny Davis and The Triforce. The best part, however, is once the show is over there will be a bunch of classic Nintendo games, board games and cards for you to enjoy while you down a couple of drinks. Tickets start at $15.29 via Ticketek.
WIN A FAMILY ADVENTURE
Anyone who’s into social gaming will be more than familiar with Timezone. The gaming venue’s many locations are a hub for families and friends of all ages, and now Timezone is giving visitors the chance to win a Family Theme Park Adventure in Orlando, Florida. You and your closest kin can score a trip to the United States, just by spending $30 at your local Timezone (and they’ll throw in a bonus $10 on top of that). There’s also the chance to win a Samsung Galaxy Tab, free games and tickets. Visit timezone.com.au for details and T&Cs.
Review:The Division (PS4, XBO, PC)
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★★★★½
It’s amazing how quickly the world can fall. One moment we’re deciding which flat screen television works better in the living room, the next a designer virus set loose on Black Friday brings New York citizens to their knees. Such is the world of Ubisoft’s The Division: society has been thrust into an environment without food, water or any kind of human self-control. Thankfully, surviving it is a whole lot more entertaining.
To do so, you take the roll of a covert government agent trained specifically for doomsday scenarios. Your mission: help piece the city back together, save lives and find out what in the hell happened. Each mission you complete will help make New York that little bit better – whether it’s stopping a robbery in progress or rescuing a member of society crucial to upgrading your home base’s main wings. The more missions you complete, the faster your character level builds – allowing you to improve both their attributes and their abilities.
Operating as a blend between third-person shooter and RPG, there are naturally a lot of menus that contain a wealth of information for you to look into. As a result, getting accustomed to all of The Division’s various systems and rules can be quite intense. In fact, one of the game’s largest criticisms is that it can feel overwhelming in the opening hours. Skills, weapon attributes, upgrades and various statistics are thrown at you with such reckless abandon that it’s difficult to keep track of everything so that you can properly manage your inventory and quickly work out what’s worth keeping.
Eventually all the pieces come together, but regardless The Division is a game that wants you to be working it out with your friends. Enemy AI is surprisingly resilient and constantly working to flank you from whichever position you find yourself in. Sure, you can still go at it alone, but missions can start to feel a tad repetitive when you’re not working on new strategies as a team.
Meanwhile, the Dark Zone acts as a hybrid of the main game and a competitive mode against other players. It’s available to explore at any point, and is incredibly tense, but this is The Division’s most dangerous and treacherous area, so if you’re a low level, enter at your own risk.
The Division is far from perfect, but there’s a lot of room to build, and with such a large uptake already, it’s definitely worth jumping into and lending a post-pandemic New York a helping hand.
