With Titanfall/Apex Legends developer Respawn at the helm and no loot boxes to speak of, we’re expecting big things from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The last single-player focused Star Wars game was a long time ago on a generation far, far, way.
It’s also bound to set tills ringing not just because of the lucrative license, but because there are fewer big releases this winter than usual. Next week’s triple threat of Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, and Shenmue III lead us into a very quiet December, with just a few mid-tier titles to look forward to.
Pokémon Sword/Shield is Nintendo’s last big Switch release on 2019, meanwhile. Set in the UK-inspired Galar Region, it has faced backlash from fans due to a smaller Pokedex, this being the first mainline game not to feature a full roster of critters. The thing to remember here is that the missing Pokémon aren’t gone for good. They’ll doubtlessly return in future games.
European gamers also get Terminator: Resistance this week, roughly a month before the US. This first-person shooter comes from the developer behind Rambo: The Video Game and the Heavy Fire series. While the pre-release footage looks a little generic and gung-ho, the fact that the European and US releases are a month apart makes us reasonably confident they aren’t about to drop a total stinker. Word spreads quickly in this age of social media.
Then there’s Doctor Who: The Edge of Time for PC and PSVR, featuring Jodie Whittaker. As Doctor Who games go, this one is reasonably big budget. Sadly, the high production values can’t mask the faults found elsewhere – both VR Focus and Upload VR awarded it 3/5. “It plays more like a rejected episode of the TV series rather than something that fully embraces its platform,†said the latter outlet.
On Friday we can expect Woven (or Woven the Game, as it’s also known) on all major formats. While this colourful caper may look like a typical 3D platformer, starring a stuffed toy and his robot chum, it plays very differently due to using an icon-driven interface. Even jumping over edges requires an action to be selected from a radial menu. There’s no combat either; instead it relies more on puzzles. We’ll have a review of this bright and breezy endeavour later in the week. Â
Also look out for our review of Tracks: The Train Set Game on Xbox One – a surprisingly relaxed experience entailing tinkering with toy trains, smooth jazz and all. The trailer can be found below.
Others hitting the download services this week include Bee Simulator – which initially looked quite intriguing, but the lack of pre-launch buzz is concerning – game development sim Mad Games Tycoon, JRPG re-release ROMANCING SAGA 3, and the equally lengthy time sink Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition – an ideal game to play during these cold and dark winter nights.
New release showcase
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield
Doctor Who: The Edge of Time
Terminator: Resistance
Bee Simulator
Woven
Mad Games Tycoon
Tracks: The Train Set Game
New digital multi-format releases
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Terminator: Resistance
- The Unicorn Princess
- Woven
- Fractured Minds
- Bee Simulator
- Yaga
- ROMANCING SAGA 3
- Mad Games Tycoon
New on PSN
- Tokyo Ghoul re Call to EXIST
- Astroneer
- Blacksad: Under the Skin
- Vektor Wars
- Doctor Who: The Edge of Time
- Last Labyrinth
- Spirit of the North
- Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
- Eastshade
- Tamarin
- Arcade Archives T.N.K
- Cuisine Royale – Starter Bundle
New on Xbox One store
- Tracks – The Train Set Game
- Spider Solitaire F
- Tokyo Warfare TurboÂ
- Sparklite
- Valfaris
- Scarlett Mysteries: Cursed Child
New Nintendo retail releases
- Pokémon Sword/Shield
- Beast Quest
- Risk Of Rain 2
- Sparklite
- Harvest Moon: Mad Dash
- Slay The Spire
- Horizon Chase Turbo
- Garfield Kart Furious Racing
- Bee Simulator
- Gear Club Unlimited 2: Porsche Edition
- The Unicorn Princess
- WRC 8
Next week: Shenmue III, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, Asterix & Obelix XXL 3: The Crystal Menhir, Blazblue Cross Tag Battle Special Edition, Will: A Wonderful World, Munchkin: Quacked Quest, Farmer’s Dynasty Deluxe Edition, Titeuf: Mega Party, and We Happy Few: We All Fall Down.