It’s a big week for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One users this week with major releases coming to each console, as well as the launch of the long awaited PlayStation VR.
Gears of War 4
The most important Xbox release this week is by far Gears of War 4, which puts players in the boots of Marcus Fenix’s son 25 years after playing as Marcus in the original trilogy. This iteration of Gears brings a new race of creatures to fight called the Swarm. Gears is mainly about multiplayer, however, and from early reviews it looks like that’s where the game really shines. It doesn’t seem like developer The Coalition changed anything drastic with their first full Gears of War game, but sometimes the best thing a new developer of a franchise can do is say “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” So if you loved the prior Gears of War games and want a new multiplayer experience to jump into on Xbox One or PC, be on the lookout for this Tuesday release.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
After nearly a year this Xbox One and PC exclusive is finally making its way over to PS4. The action-adventure game is a direct sequel to the excellent 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, and judging from that game, as well as reviews of Rise of the Tomb Raider from Xbox One and PC, this game is well worth picking up. It sticks with much from the 2013 release, simply improving on and expanding the mechanics. If you want to grapple from cliff to cliff whilst being shot at and trying to solve a platforming puzzle, this rendition of Tomb Raider is probably worth looking into when it releases Tuesday on PS4.
PlayStation VR
The time has come for another competitor to enter the virtual reality marketplace. Facing new hardware competition for the first time in a while, how will Sony’s PlayStation division hold up against Samsung, Oculus and HTC? This $400 device is on the lower end of the price spectrum, even when accounting for the hardware needed to run it. Does the quality match the price or has Sony managed to create a device that can bring the gaming experiences we expect to a broader audience? Time will tell, as this new technology begins to take hold in consumer society, but many early reviews paint a bright future for this piece of hardware. Hopefully the software supports that future as we approach and go into 2017.
Some of the staple games coming out this week for PSVR include Batman: Arkham VR, Driveclub VR, Rollercoaster Dreams and Super Hyper Cube.
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