Up Next – A look at the Xbox One games out in February 2018

February: The second month of the year is a very obscure one – and all for no apparent reason. But hopefully the Xbox One retail games dropping onto store shelves this February will make the month a memorable one.

The following titles have a lot to prove… let’s get started and take a look at what is on offer!

Metal Gear: Survive

Despite not having Hideo Kojima’s gifted hands all over it, the illustrious Metal Gear series is still out to prove that it is here to stay with Metal Gear Survive. As it isn’t really an entry into the main series – Big Boss/Snake/whoeverheis won’t be taking centre stage – the sign that your series has officially made it is a zombie survival spin off, and Survive is basically that.

After some Mother Base soldiers get absorbed into a wormhole, transporting them to a mysterious new world, your character will be left managing levels of water and the like, setting up defences to fend off the crystal headed ‘creatures’ that litter the environment, and doing it all with some online buddies (if you wish), ultimately attempting to get back to where you came from.

Konami are here to say that they don’t need Kojima to make an enjoyable open-world experience. Chuck in zombies, base management and some friends, and Survive could be being played for months to come. But make sure you check out our Beta thoughts before you go splashing that cash.

Gravel

Originally set to release all the way back in August 2017, Gravel should finally be hitting the shelves this month. With the racing market on Xbox One being quite saturated – with franchises Forza and DiRT more or less leading the line at the moment – it can be hard for a new IP to shine through, but this is what experienced racing devs Milestone are attempting.

With titles such as Ride 2, Valentino Rossi: The Game and Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame behind them (you can read more about that below), Milestone are taking to four wheels and the off-road world with Gravel.

Gravel will set you the challenge of starring on the Gravel Channel, a web channel dedicated to seeing no-holds barred, competitive racing across many diverse environments in pursuit of some epic stunts, races and some real adrenaline! Gravel will not only take the race off-road, but will also include some track events – with every one counting towards your main goal of making it to the Final League and become the newly crowned OFFROAD MASTER.

With various offline and online modes all wrapped up in the stunning Unreal 4 Engine, you can be sure that Gravel could be up there with the best. To sweeten the deal, anybody who pre-orders the game will receive the first DLC for the game – the Porsche 924 GTS Rallye and its 1981 and 1982 liveries, and the Porsche 959 Rallye complete with its livery from 1986, for free!

Past Cure

Past Cure will have you picking the pieces of your mind up off the floor, as you explore a creepy psychological thriller involving Ian, a former elite soldier who after years of experimentation gains the powers of telekinesis and manipulating time.

But, as cool as this may seem Ian starts to swap between the real world and hallucinations, making for a mind-bending game. Combined with some torturous times in prison and the recent experiments, Ian sets out to get revenge, enlisting the help of his brother on this shadowy journey.

Stealth opportunities and survival horror will accompany the physiological thrills, with Past Cure looking like a unique title to keep an eye out for.

EA Sports UFC 3

Whether it’s Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey or even Little Dragon – aka Bruce Lee himself – you can be sure that EA Sports UFC 3 will deliver some cut-throat, high adrenaline fighting in the octagon. But’s that been true for the last two UFC titles, so what has changed to ensure EA don’t fall into the trap of making the series a one trick pony?

Well for starters and over 5000 new animations have been captured and rebuilt, resulting in every strike, kick and the like being faithfully recreated to make UFC 3 the most realistic mixed-martial arts simulator.

Modes wise, and the G.O.A.T. Career mode (that’s the Greatest of All Time for anyone who doesn’t know, NOT the farmyard animal), will see you making important decisions outside of the Octagon regarding promotion of your upcoming fights and the use of social media to form heated rivalries and reflect your persona.

The multiplayer Knockout Mode has also been built upon, giving players fast multiplayer fights to engage in against friends. Further modes are included – but the amount of content UFC 3 delivers is too much to detail here in this article.

Just be safe in the knowledge that if you want to play a mixed-martial arts game, then EA Sports UFC 3 is most probably your best bet.

Kingdom Come Deliverance

Bohemia is one of these medieval cities that is sprawling, with castles and culture aplenty. But of course like most cities in the center of Europe it is based around its current monarch, so upon the death of Emperor Charles IV, the kingdom dived down into dark times. Cue further royalty problems, with the kidnapping of one of Charles’ sons, and it is up to you, as a measly son of a blacksmith, to serve in the resistance against an invasion threatening Bohemia.

In order to fight to your utmost potential, you will be using your mental skills to dodge some sticky situations or give an enemy the correct punishment, using an array of weapons throughout the RPG gameplay.

Along your journey for what is right, you will encounter castle sieges, conflicts and a twisting plot. What’s more, many of the battles will be actual historically correct ones fought across Middle Europe back in the 15th Century!

Castle sieges, bloody battles and an array of weapons – Kingdom Come: Deliverance is shaping up to be a double decent, realistic looking, RPG.

Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame

Motorbiking masters Milestone have teamed up with Monster Energy to make the first official Monster Energy Supercross game. For this reason a number of the real life riders (such as Chad Reed and champion Ryan Dungey), tracks and championships will be available in the game, as well as both the 250SX and 450SX classes to throw dirt up with.

But possibly the most exciting feature is the inclusion of an extensive track editor, making for endless track possibilities to share and play across the planet. A career mode has also been added, enabling you to customize both your rider and bike to add a touch of personality to the competition.

If you are looking for a supercross title complete with all the bikes, riders, unique appearances and aspects, then the official Monster Energy Supercross title could be worth looking out for.

Dynasty Warriors 9

The Dynasty Warriors series has amassed a bit of a cult following with the last few releases, and Dynasty Warriors 9 takes the tried and tested ‘one versus thousands’ formula to an open world format – a first for the franchise.

The open world allows for more environmental interaction, including using a grappling hook and climbing the terrain, to spring attacks on the enemy in new ways. The combat system has also been redefined, introducing three new attacks which influences a key point in combat. Flow Attacks change based on the state of the enemy, whilst Trigger Attacks change the enemy’s state itself, and Reactive Attacks are based around reacting to the surroundings. It is a game of strategy in order to use the optimum attack.

A ton of new characters have been dropped in to the game, interweaving with the story told in Dynasty Warriors 9. Among these are every officer in the series – of which there are 83!

If you want to continue the story of Dynasty Warriors or are new to the JRPG series and searching for an open-world adventure, Dynasty Warriors 9 will more than cater for you.

de Blob 2

de Blob 2, complete with all its colourful painting and powers, will be available on Xbox One and PS4.

Prisma City is a city which is slowly being ridded of its colour by the evil Papa Blanc, and it is exclusively up to prankster Blob to use his paints, patterns and music to restore the city. You will be doing so across icy outposts and distant space stations in order to free the good citizens of Prisma City. When transforming into super Blob, you can smash through walls, jump over skyscrapers and the like to make the most out of our pal Blob’s abilities.

Mixing colours and painting the town all sorts of colours is the name of the game, in order to progress through the game and open up new areas. You will have to use your painting abilities in thoughtful ways also. Complete with all new local co-op modes, as well as mini missions and bosses, de Blob 2 looks to be a great adventure title to enjoy on Xbox.

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet will see you experience an original story from the Gun Gale Online series, firstly creating your avatar and then diving into some third person shooting and RPG action. An array of weapons can be used, and many familiar faces from the Sword Art Online series will be showing up too.

As well as a load of modes to get stuck into, one of the main draws of the game are the co-op and competitive multiplayer offerings, having you square up against online enemies with a party of 8, or working together in a group of 4 if you don’t fancy going it alone.

This is the first time that the series will be hitting Xbox consoles: don’t miss your chance to play it.

So there we have it. It may still only be February but there are already a whole host of Xbox One games due to release and hit our lives. Will you be picking any of them up? Don’t forget to let us know your thoughts by posting in the comments down below, or hitting us up on the usual social channels.

February is no longer one of those boring months!