Game On

After a relatively slow January, things begin to pick up in the video game world with a handful of quality titles throughout February worth spending your hard-earned cash on. The first cab off the rank is XCOM 2 – the devilishly difficult PC sequel to the 2012 strategy hit. Take control of humanity’s resistance and defeat Earth’s alien overlords when it hits shelves on Friday February 5.

Next up on Tuesday February 9 is Assassin’s Creed Chronicles (PS4, XBO) – a single-disc collection that packs in the series’ three stealth-centric 2.5D spin-off titles (China, India and Russia). Jump ahead to Tuesday February 16 and fighting game fans will finally have their chance to get quarter-circle punching again with Street Fighter V (PS4, PC). After a fairly rocky beta, hopefully the only problem with the final release is memorising the game’s wealth of impressive combos.

The month’s big-ticket item, however, doesn’t drop until Tuesday February 23 when the surprise release of Far Cry Primal (PS4, XBO) takes you to the Stone Age and pits you against giant mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers. If you’re after some more family-friendly fun, however, then hold out until Thursday February 25 for Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 to lay its roots into your lives. It’s the sequel to the surprisingly successful third-person shooter multiplayer title that adds more modes and characters into the mix.

Wrapping things up is a little something for Nintendo 3DS fans. More specifically, it’s Bravely Second: End Layer, the follow-up to the hardcore RPG smash hit Bravely Default. You’ll be able to attempt to rescue the kidnapped Agnès Oblige when the game drops on Saturday February 27.

News:

CRAFTING A FUTURE

As the Minecraft[pictured above] juggernaut continues to dominate, the series has its sights set on an unexpected target: schools. Minecraft: Education Edition is being produced in collaboration with Teacher Gaming and will build upon MinecraftEdu’s current platform – set to be built with the classroom in mind.

Mojang COO, Vu Bui, is obviously all for the new venture. “We’ve seen that Minecraft transcends the differences in teaching and learning styles and education systems around the world. It’s an open space where people can come together and build a lesson around nearly anything,” Bui claims.

SHOW ME THE MONEY

Call Of Dutymakes a lot of money – that should be no surprise to you. But now we have specific numbers to gawk at, and they’re mighty impressive. Activision has revealed the lifetime sales of the Call Of Duty franchise have now reached over 250 million units worldwide since the series’ introduction in 2003.

A HEROIC FEAT

Calling all MMO fans: Blizzard has announced plans for its Heroes Of The Storm Spring Championship. For budding players on our shores, the ANZ Season 1 will feature two online open qualifiers taking place on Saturday January 30 and Sunday February 7, with the top four teams progressing to the finals. The top ANZ team will be flown to Korea for the Spring Global Finals and a shot at a US$500,000 prize pool.

Review: Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster (XBO, PS4, PC)

★★★½

Resident Evil isn’t what it once was. In its original inception, the zombie series was one that placed the bulk of its attention on the dark, the unnerving and the flat-out terrifying. Distant moans and unexpected zombie dogs were the order of the day, as was hilariously atrocious dialogue. Then, after the overwhelming success of Resident Evil 4, everything changed – and not necessarily for the better.

Resident Evil Zero was the last vestige of the horror game’s roots before they were left behind. For those managing to keep track of Capcom’s zany canon, Zero is unsurprisingly set before the events of the first game in the series. Rebecca Chambers, a field medic within STARS, is sent to track down an escaped convict, Billy Coen, aboard a train just outside of Raccoon City. Before Chambers is able to complete her mission, however, the train is overrun by zombies, leaving the couple no choice but to team up.

What that means for you is that for much of the game Rebecca and Billy are stuck by each other’s side – controllable via separate analogue sticks. You’re able to swap between them at any point, and they have differing skill sets that require doing so often, but it’s an awkward design choice at first. Still, you’ll grow to appreciate it in particularly hairy situations, especially considering the fact that your comrade’s AI is impressively capable of getting you out of trouble. Meanwhile, although tank controls remain an option, if you value your sanity, an updated, more responsive control scheme has also been added.

The other big change you’ll notice almost instantly is visuals. Thanks to improved lighting and a new coat of paint on the textures, Zero looks as good as you remember. And that’s almost representative of the remaster as a whole. As a port, it’s faithful to its source material; however, that can simultaneously be a good and bad thing. At the end of the day, though, if you’re a fan of the Resident Evil series, then you’d be doing yourself a disservice to ignore the tale’s origin, especially with fun little extras like Wesker Mode (a post-game bonus that lets you play as the overpowered series veteran). It’s certainly not perfect, but there’s also no better way to play it.