Temperatures are at an all time high, another school year is in the books and Game of Thrones had another epic finale. It must be summertime again. While Pokemon Go is doing its best to get us outside and enjoying the summer sun, it doesn’t hurt to take a break with some cool air conditioning and your gaming platform of choice while recharging your phone battery.
We’ve gone ahead and outlined a few titles, both new and old, that will help you escape the heat in the toasty days to come.
No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky is one of the most ambitious games to ever hit a console platform. It revolves around exploring the vast expanses of the universe thousands of lightyears in every direction. You’ll be able to explore 18 quintillion planets (just trust us, that’s an 18 with a lot of zeroes behind it), and while we don’t know how much variety we’ll see in those environments, it’ll still be easy to spend a night exploring the stars.
Players will be able to discover new planets, plant life, and animal species and get naming rights that will be visible to every other player in the game. All you have to do is get into your space ship, pick a spot on the horizon and travel.
You can start your own Star Trek like expedition on August 9th, and while it’s worrisome that this is developer Hello Game’s first foray into a title of this size, Sony’s support should make No Man’s Sky something to keep an eye on.
Banjo-Kazooie
People love Banjo Kazooie, so much so that they poured more than 2 million dollars into a Kickstarter campaign to develop a spiritual successor, Yooka Laylee. It’s scheduled to come out this Fall, so why not get ready for the release by playing the game that inspired it?
It’s one of the N64’s most charming platformers, and leaves players in a good mood every time they play it. It’s in the running for the highly contested ‘best 3D platformer on the N64’ throne. Banjo Kazooie has an incredible amount of charm through the hilariously voiced characters and incredibly catchy music playing throughout the game.
I’m not one to usually mention numerical scores as a valid point to my argument, but Banjo Kazooie currently has a whopping 92 on Metacritic. You can experience childlike wonder all over again with Banjo as part of the Rare Replay on the Xbox One.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force
It’s been six years since Metroid: Other M was released on the Wii, and most fans of the franchise don’t consider that a true entry in the series. So, how long will it be until we get to satisfy our craving for some arm cannon action? Not long, technically.
The new co-op shooter Metroid Prime: Federation Force is hitting the 3DS on August 19th, and while it’s been getting trashed left and right for not being the Metroid game everyone wanted, it does look like an enjoyable multiplayer experience. You take control of a space marine going on different planetary missions for the Galactic Federation. You don’t get to play as Samus Aran, but, developer Next Level games has said she will show up.
If it’s anything like The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes, it’ll offer a lot of good times around the 3DS local play circle. While the multiplayer Zelda title failed to provide a quality single player experience, it did offer a tremendous amount of fun when you had three players to conquer dungeons with. Let’s just hope that Nintendo has learned their lesson and added download play so that more players can jump in without having to own the game themselves.
Abzu
This underwater exploration game was one of the hidden gems of this year’s E3. While it didn’t get as much coverage as other titles, the people that did play it loved every minute of it. And the best part is that it’s out in a few weeks.
Abzu takes you to a world not often explored in gaming: the deep blue sea. You take control of The Diver as you investigate underwater caverns, kelp forests, and the deeper depths where you discover thousands of species of underwater creatures.
The game is gorgeous, taking on the style of similar titles Flower and Journey with vibrant colors and mesmerizing uses of both light and shadow. Taking a slow swim with a school of bluestripe snappers is reason enough to give Abzu a try. It hits the Playstation Network and Steam on August 2nd.
Flower
The cost of a typical spa day can add up quickly, so if you don’t have it in the budget and need a quick way to unwind, it’s time to sit down with Flower.
It’s an indie title that only lasts a few hours for a quick playthrough, and yet it’s one of the best indie games on Playstation 3. Developed by Thatgamecompany in 2009, Flower doesn’t challenge you as much as it attempts to soothe your senses as you journey through fields, valleys, and cities as a petal.
As one of the most gorgeous experiences in modern gaming, Flower takes advantage of the Playstations sixaxis controller to guide the flower petal. Sony re-released Flower on the PS4 and Vita for a cheap $7. If you haven’t had the chance to explore this beautiful game, then now’s the time.
