December is here and as is always the case when the winter months hit, the plethora of new Xbox One and Xbox 360 games has massively slowed down. In fact, there are no more than three new titles dropping into the Xbox world throughout December, with them all appearing near the start of the month.
But hey, I guess it gives us a couple of extra Christmas list additions.
Steep
I wouldn’t say that extreme winter sports are as popular as the likes of football or rugby, so I also wouldn’t say that a game that encompasses snowboarding, skiing and wing-suiting wouldn’t be as popular as huge titles such as FIFA. However, while this may be true, it seems that the morbid draw of horribly breaking bones and spectacular falling as you crash down a huge snow-topped mountain is so large that Steep will be a bit of a hit.
Whether you’re a gamer that just want to mucks about with friends and see how stupidly they can propel themselves off a huge mountain, or wish to join the hardcore, competing to top the leaderboards with the furthest jump or the best skill combo they can muster, then Steep will deliver.
Because you see, that is essentially what Steep is.
The winter sports title hitting Xbox One soon is the optimum blend of open world sandbox – allowing you to do what you want, when you want, throwing in some fiendishly hard challenges such as wing-suiting through the smallest of gaps or navigating a steep peak on your skis that will have you coming back for more… until you finally beat your friends and earn those all important bragging rights.
Why Should You Buy It? Steep is a perfect title to keep you coming back time and time again, if it is only to go crashing down a mountain resulting in a double leg break.
Dead Rising 4
Ah, Christmas. Presents. Food. Quality time with family and friends. And zombies – all traditional staples of the festive season.
Okay, maybe you wouldn’t associate zombies with Christmas, but Capcom sure does and this is why we are all going to be treated to some more zombie killing with a tinge of Christmas joy.
Frank West is back, camera and all, for another trip to Willamette Mall and Colorado but, unsurprisingly, it has yet again become infested by thousands upon thousands of deadly zombies that are all out for your brain. In traditional Dead Rising style you, as the kickass photographer himself, will have to craft some incredibly wacky weapons to beat every zombie in sight to a bloody pulp – and believe me there will be a lot of the undead.
With his trusty camera in hand, Frank will also have the option to take pictures of the crazy things that happen to the zombies he finds and will receive points depending on how wacky the picture is – and, of course, there is a selfie mode complete with stupid gestures to pull off because this is 2016 and there HAS to be a selfie mode!
Oh, and don’t fear, as finally the stress-inducing timer system from the previous three games has been dropped from the main campaign, leaving you to be free to complete missions when you want without having to worry about timings!
Why Should You Buy It? Unlike other zombie games, Dead Rising is calm romp, leaving you free to smash through thousands of the undead with a truly crazy arsenal of weapons at hand.
The Dwarves
Have you ever imagined what Lord of the Ring’s would be like if the dwarves were the stars of the show? Well THQ Nordic’s new dungeon crawler/RPG mash-up allows you to stop imagining.
Starring as one of some hilarious but brutal dwarves (or humans), you and your party will have to battle through armies of fiendish foes that are in greater number than your group – however with the numerous powers that the heroes possess, you can quickly turn the tables in your favour.
Picking from a diverse group of characters, from a brutish warrior to a splendid actor, you will have to make use of the various powers you have at your disposal to fight through your enemies. These include Boindil Twoblade who has – yes, you guessed it – two hulking axes to swing around in a berserker fury cutting down anyone getting in his path, or Rodario, one who prefers to attack his enemies from a distance with his flamethrower and acid clouds. He also has passive abilities like turning enemies against their comrades or feigning death for a short while to avoid some unwanted attention.
Why Should You Buy It? This tactical fantasy RPG will have your eyes glued to the screen as you deploy a whole manner of crazy abilities to rescue the Dwarf world from the clutches of evil.
So, that’s it for December. The quantity may not be there, but the quality hopefully will be. At least they give us something else to wile away the Christmas period before getting back on it in January. What will you be picking up? Make sure you let us know in the comments below.
