Spotlight Sunday - Week 51 - 2015


Spotlight Sunday is a way for Choicest Games to feature PC games that are scheduled for release on the following week - games that we consider worthwhile checking out.

For the regular followers of this segment you may have noticed we didn't have a spotlight on any games last Sunday but that's because I was still running the The 10 Most Anticipated PC Games of 2016 feature instead.

This week (14th December to the 20th December 2015) there's a whopping six games coming out that I think are worth checking out (in fact, if I included Early Access releases, there'd be even more). I'm guessing developers are trying to take advantage of Christmas in order to sell their games perhaps? Anyway, all games to feature this week are indie games and there's a mixed bag of genres here:

Gulf of Aden - Task Force Somalia

  • Release Date: 14/12/2015
  • Availability: Steam - Not available for pre-order
I've never played any of the new crop of tower defence games but I do remember playing the Warcraft 3 mod of it, and I am aware that it's one of the most popular game genres in the past few years. So another one couldn't hurt right? Well Gulf of Aden - Task Force Somalia has a couple of differences; firstly, as you can tell by its title, it's (somehow) based on recent world events with respect to the rampant piracy off the coast of Somalia. Secondly, apparently the game has implemented some RTS elements too. So depending on the price, this could be a good one to pick up!



Star Nomad 2

  • Release Date: 14/12/2015
  • Availability: Steam - Not available for pre-order
This game is, as you can probably tell, a sequel to the game that Huy Phan (or Half Geek Studios) released in 2014. While the first one received mixed reviews on Steam (63% rating out of 30 reviews), I'm still keen to give it a shot since it seems to be a mix of space trading games like Privateer but with similar visuals to games like Solar Winds. Star Nomad 2 has been described by the developer as a "space trader" and "combat sim set in a dynamic sandbox". It apparently has tactical squad combat gameplay and random encounters inspired by Fallout, Star Wolves and FTL, dynamic factional conquest inspired by Mount & Blade and space trading/simulation in a dynamic universe inspired by Escape Velocity, Privateer and Freelancer. There are a lot of games in that list that I love so this whole Star Nomad series sounds like something I should jump into soon.

(As an aside, I also now hate Huy Phan - because he's an Australian developer with kids who still manages to find the time and motivation to develop indie games! If only I was that awesome!)


Gigachess

  • Release Date: 16/12/2015
  • Availability: Steam - Not available for pre-order but likely to be $3.99 USD, Direct - Free, although $3.99 USD for "full" version
The game sounds like an interesting concept despite being based on a very old game... namely chess. Gigachess has you trying to prevent waves of pawns trying to cross the board. You use a customised party of rooks, bishops and knights. Sounds like one of those games that are simple to learn but hard to master... just like standard chess.



Pay2Win: The Tricks Exposed

  • Release Date: 16/12/2015
  • Availability: Steam - Not available for pre-order
I had a lot of fun with the game DLC Quest and this seems to be the MMO version of it - basically a parody game that pokes fun at some of the more unpopular gaming industry practices.



Sinless

  • Release Date: 17/12/2015
  • Availability: Steam - Not available for pre-order
Science fiction? Check. Visual Novel/Point 'n' click adventure? Check. Inspired by classics of the genre like Rise of the Dragon? Check. References to other games like Deus Ex and Sleeping Dogs? Check. Okay, where do I sign-up?



Aviary Attorney

  • Release Date: 19/12/2015
  • Availability: Steam - Not available for pre-order
I remember first seeing this game on Kickstarter and was very tempted to back it but for some reason or another, I didn't at the time. Fortunately, it seems that the game is finished and will be released next week! It looks like to be a mix of Ace Attorney, Hatoful Boyfriend and several Sherlock Holmes games, although set in 19th century Paris with gorgeous visuals and soundtrack to boot. I'm probably most keen to play this one out all that have featured in this post.





So are you interested or excited about any PC games being released next week? Which games are you looking forward to?

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