New Releases: November 30th-December 6th, 2023

Turn-of-the-millennium titles Turok 3 and Kingpin make reappearances, while the transit sub-genre grows a bit bigger with the debuts of Tram Simulator Urban Transit and Truck & Logistics Simulator. Elsewhere, Hentai Tales Vol. 2 is most likely junk, but it’s CGs are striking.

PlayStation 4
Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All 2 (digital, $24.99)
Catan: Console Edition – Super Deluxe Edition (digital, $19.99, $24.99, 29.99)
Devil Inside Us: Roots of Evil (digital, $14.99)
SteamWorld Build (digital, $26.99)
Tintin Reporter: Cigars of the Pharaoh (digital, $39.99)
Truck & Logistics Simulator (digital, $19.99)
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (digital, $29.99)
While the Iron’s Hot (digital, $19.99)

Switch
2weistein – The Curse of the Red Dragon (digital, $18.00)
A Highland Song (digital, $16.19)
A Long Journey to an Uncertain End (digital, $24.99)
Arcadian Atlas (digital, $17.99)
Basketball Arcade (digital, $1.99)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (digital, $TBA)
Batman: Arkham City (digital, $TBA)
Batman: Arkham Knight (digital, $TBA)
Batman: Arkham Trilogy (digital, $59.99)
Battle Stations Blockade (digital, $9.99)
Born of Bread (digital, $29.99)
Cattails: Wildwood Story (digital, $19.99)
Crashy Laps (digital, $6.99)
Corbid! A Colorful Adventure (digital, $11.99)
DIY Paper Doll (digital, $4.99)
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince (digital, $59.99)
Draw & Color Maze: Paint Labyrinth Puzzle (digital, $9.99)
Fall Cars – Ultimate Car Battle (digital, $9.99)
Genseisuikoden Plus (digital, $21.99)
Hentai Tales Vol. 2 (digital, $3.99)
Last Escape: Dead Complex (digital, $4.99)
Metro PD: Close to You (digital, $29.99)
Motesolo: No Girlfriend Since Birth (digital, $19.99)
Ortheo (digital, $1.99)
Pixel Café (digital, $12.99)
Skater XL (digital, $39.99)
Space Junk Seekers (digital, $1.99)
Speed or Death (digital, $7.99)
SteamWorld Build (digital, $26.99)
Teravit (digital, free)
This Means Warp (digital, $19.99)
Toasterball (digital, $9.99)
Toasterball + Buissons Bundle (digital, $12.99)
Trip World DX (digital, $19.99)
Uzzuzzu My Pet – Golf Dash (digital, $19.99)
Wall World (digital, $9.99)
While the Iron’s Hot (digital, $19.99)
Wildshade: Unicorn Champions (digital, $39.99)
Zomborg (digital, $4.99)

Xbox One
All of Us are Dead (digital, $19.99)
Catan: Console Edition – Super Deluxe Edition (digital, $19.99, $24.99, 29.99)
Chessarama (digital, $14.99)
Crashy Laps (digital, $6.99)
Devil Inside Us: Roots of Evil (digital, $14.99)
SteamWorld Build (digital, $26.99)
Tintin Reporter: Cigars of the Pharaoh (digital, $39.99)
Truck & Logistics Simulator (digital, $19.99)
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (digital, $29.99)
While the Iron’s Hot (digital, $19.99)

PC
A Highland Song (digital, $16.19)
Apocalypse Party ($TBA)
Born of Bread (digital, $29.99)
Faeland ($TBA)
Gangs of Sherwood ($39.99)
Hawked (free)
HoloParade ($TBA)
Kingpin: Reloaded ($TBA)
Pinball M (free)
Pixel Café ($11.69)
Reaver ($11.24)
Reign of Dwarf ($17.49)
Rogue Masters ($TBA)
Sledders ($TBA)
SOS Ops! ($8.49)
Soulash 2 ($14.99)
SteamWorld Build (digital, $26.99)
Svarog’s Dream ($TBA)
The Walking Dead: Destinies ($19.99)
Tram Simulator Urban Transit ($19.99)
Truck & Logistics Simulator ($19.99)
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion ($29.99)
While the Iron’s Hot (digital, $19.99)

Rob’s Pick: The SteamWorld franchise imagines a post-apocalyptic West populated by robots, which isn’t particularly novel. But each of the property’s five games have been mostly triumphant thanks to gameplay designed around accessibility and longevity. At first, SteamWorld Build might seem like a rather unexceptional city builder, as you place structures around a dusty mining settlement and watch your townsfolk scuttle about. But clever advancement, like being able to relocate buildings without penalty, elevate the experience. Soon, you’ll unearth the game’s second undertaking, as you excavate underground in search of rocket parts. Here, Build borrows a few of Dungeon Keeper’s mechanics, as enlist guards to keep your miners protected. The blend of tasks could have easily become convoluted, but developer The Station manages to make it feel cohesive, making for a thoroughly enjoyable and rather laidback experience.

I was ready to permanently overlook Zen’s pinball games following their shift toward subscriptions and not being able to import older tables. But fortunately, players resisted, forcing Zen to rethink their plans. As such, I’m eager for Pinball M as long as it’s not prohibitively priced.  Speaking of things to watch out for, try to read the first two words of Matt S’ pick and not have THAT song erupt from deep within your hippocamus.

Ryan’s pick: I missed the original Kingpin: Life of Crime when it released mid 1999, so I’m going to take the chance to try out Kingpin: Reloaded. When the game was originally released there was a considerable amount of scrutiny towards the violence and use of profanity in the game, and because of this many retailers wouldn’t even stock the PC game on shelves. While graphically the game may not be as impressive as other current-gen FPS games, I’m still interested in trying this one as it was actually a pretty advanced Quake II engine game for 1999, with impressive AI and area-based damage depending on where you shot enemies. The original also had Cypress Hill tracks as part of the soundtrack, so fingers crossed that those songs are included.

Curiosity may get the best of me this week, but the nostalgia from the N64 launch title Turok: Dinosaur Hunter has gotten me interested in the Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered release. There was just something different about how these games played that made them unique, and despite the first one being really difficult as a kid, I still really liked playing it. So far my only experience with the series is using a console controller, so I’m willing to give this remaster a shot with a keyboard and mouse on Steam.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): Last Christmas (or was it the Christmas before?) my brother and I, who hadn’t played games together in quite some time, sat down to play Asterix and Obelix: Slap ‘em All, and we had an absolute ball of a time with it. That’s genuinely a memory that I’m not going to forget any time soon. So I am very much looking forward to the sequel this week. If it’s anything like the original, it will be the best game to use that license in many, many years. If not ever.

Otherwise, I’m also really interested in SteamWorld Build. I like the SteamWorld series, from the card-based RPG to the 2D XCom. This looks like the most ambitious of them yet, and frankly, yes. Steampunk Sim City is an EXCELLENT idea for a game. Sign me the heck up.