Microsoft begins to fight back this week, starting their holiday campaign. The anticipated UE5 powered survival shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl – originally revived in 2018 following a cancellation in 2012 – comes to Xbox Game Pass, as does the bigger than ever Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. If early impressions are to go by, these two are set to score highly when reviews go live.
The Xbox additionally gains Genshin Impact, the hugely successful free-to-play action RPG with an estimated 50-60 million active monthly players. With Indiana Jones and the Great Circle just a few weeks away, the Xbox Series has gained a lot more this winter than we’ve seen during past holiday seasons – and Avowed has just been confirmed for a February release too.
As for this week’s multiformat releases, there’s the retro cyberpunk themed FPS Sprawl – which was well received on Steam – the side-scrolling pixel art brawler G.I. JOE: Wrath of Cobra, a PS4/Switch release of the tactical bullet hell Touhou Spell Carnival, the sandbox soul-shifting 2D adventure AMEDAMA, eastasiasoft’s auto-shooter Spellagis, and the top-down mech-based roguelike Uragun – which was also well received on PC.
Then on PSN there’s the explorative open-world biome building sandbox Towers of Aghasba, cartoony deck building hack ‘n slash Spirit Mancer (also on Switch,) and the 2.5D action-platformer The Devil Within: Satgat.
The Switch isn’t without a few new releases too, including EA’s MySims: Cozy Bundle – which brings together two Wii titles – a belated release of Stray, and the body poppin’ Zero to Dance Hero. Wizardry Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord and Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection also head to retail, although frustratingly Marvel Collection is a code in a box.
The Spectrum also launches on 22nd Nov, featuring 48 built-in games and support for 48K and 128K models. It seems to be one of the more desirable retro products of late, taking the iconic computer and beefing it up with HDMI, USB controller support and the ability to add more titles.
New release trailers
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Genshin Impact
Sprawl
Touhou Spell Carnival
MySims: Cozy Bundle
Stray
G.I. JOE: Wrath of Cobra
AMEDAMA
Towers of Aghasba
Spellagis
Spirit Mancer
The Devil Within: Satgat
Project 13: Taxidermy
Uragun
Super Rolling Heroes Deluxe
The Spectrum
New multiformat releases
- Sprawl
- G.I. JOE: Wrath of Cobra
- AMEDAMA
- Spellagis
- Super Rolling Heroes Deluxe
- Aery – Peace of Mind
- Project 13: Taxidermy
- Uragun
New on PSN
- Touhou Spell Carnival
- Magnitude
- Predecessor
- Towers of Aghasba
- IDOL MAKER VR
- The Devil Within: Satgat
- Spirit Mancer
New on Xbox Store
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
- Genshin Impact
- ARIDA: Backland’s Awakening
- Buck Blastem
- Burst Hero
- The Ouroboros King
- Sky Roll!
- Ratopia
- Galaxy Kingdoms
New Switch retail releases
eShop round-up coming Thursday
- MySims: Cozy Bundle
- Stray
- Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection (code in box)
- Needy Streamer Overload
- Wizardry Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
- ANNO: Mutationem
- Evil Nun: The Broken Mask – Unholy Edition
- Zero to Dance Hero
- Chants of Sennaar
Next week: MXGP 24: The Official Game, Snow Bros. Wonderland, Starship Troopers: Continuum, Neon Blood, Liberte, Shines Over: The Damned, Pretty Girls Pop Match, Beyond Hanwell, MiceGard, Death Elevator, plus Toaplan Arcade Collection 3 and Data East Arcade Collection 2 for Evercade.