Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Games Release Roundup!

This week, let the good times roll! Also, ninjas and vampires.

Re-Releases and Ports

Persona 3 Reload comes to Switch 2 this week, as the remake of Atlus’ 2006 classic from last year is now available for the Nintendo faithful.

Plants vs Zombies: Replanted (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) brings the classic PopCap mobile game to modern systems with a new HD visual style.

New Releases

If you’re looking for a fun, gently spooky game for Halloween, Spooky Express (PC) is a cute little puzzle game about transporting vampires, zombies, ghouls and ordinary people on a train. You must assemble the track around their stops to get everyone where they need to go. Developed by Draknek and Friends.

Hyperbeat (PC) is a trippy rhythm game set within a place known as the Wellspring, where a knight is out to seek their potential. Mostly by floating through a tube made of 90s retro visuals in time with an original soundtrack. Developed by Alice Bottino and published by Dreamware Media.

Dead Finger Dice: The Billionaire Killing Game (PC) already won me over with its title, but let me explain further. This roguelike dice game puts you into a game of death on a cruise ship owned by the 1%, where you must find ways to subvert their twisted rules and come out on top. Developed by Rocket Adrift Games and published by Black Lantern Collective.

The Lonesome Guild (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is an action RPG about The Power of Friendship. You play as Ghost, a spirit without memories in a world of encroaching mist that fuels loneliness. Now you must set out into the world, build a band of adventurers and save everyone. Developed by Tiny Bull Studios and published by Don’t Nod (Life is Strange, Jusant, Banishers).

Ila: A Frosty Glide (PC) is a cute platformer about a little witch on a skatebroom, navigating a magical island in search of her missing cat. Explore at your own pace and play around with the movement systems to uncover secrets. Looks adorable. Developed by Magic Rain Studios and published by First Break Labs.

Godbreakers (PC, PS5) is a co-op action game where you and your friends venture across strange worlds defeating a variety of foes in stylish ways. Developed by To the Sky and published by Thunderful.

Bounty Star (PC, PlayStation, Xbox X/S) is a mech-based Western with base building. You play as Clem, an ex-soldier looking to make a new life for herself out in the Red Expanse while battling enemies in her personal mech. As well as taking bounties to cleanse the landscape of criminals and dangerous beasts, you will gradually build up your homestead with the money you earn. Developed by Dinogod and published by Annapurna Interactive.

Painkiller (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is a reworking of the 2004 FPS about a man escaping purgatory by taking down the armies of Hell. The new game has a similar premise, only now it’s a joint effort, as this co-op game sees you and friend ripping apart demons as a team. Developed by Anshar Studios and published by Saber Interactive and 3D Realms.

Tormented Souls 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is the sequel to 2021’s survival horror game about the horrors of underfunded healthcare. Also supernatural powers, I guess. The first game’s protagonist, Caroline Walker, returns as she once again tries to save her sister from the sinister agenda hidden deep with the Villa Hess clinic. Mostly by blasting mutated creatures with improvised weaponry. The first game was a decent horror experience, even if the story had a lot of issues (and bizarre gratuitous nudity) that hopefully the sequel will improve on. Developed by Dual Effect and published by PQube.

Developed by AdHoc Studio, a new studio made up of ex-Telltale devs, Dispatch (PC, PS5) is an episodic narrative adventure set in a superhero call centre. You play as Robert Robertson, played by Aaron Paul, who takes on work as a dispatcher for superheroes. As well as office drama, you also have to manage which heroes work best for each incident as the calls come in. The first two episodes released this week, and further episodes will release as pairs each week until 12th November.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Aardman has decided to make a third Chicken Run. Even more surprisingly, it’s a video game. Chicken Run: Eggstraction (PC, PlayStation, Switch 1, Xbox) is a stealth game about rescuing chickens from captivity. Looks mildly chaotic and has all the twee British charm you’d expect from Aardman. And thankfully, no Mel Gibson.

If you’re the kind of person who asks what they could do without asking if they should, Jurassic World Evolution 3 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) offers up the third opportunity to run a thriving dinosaur theme park. It’s more of the same as the past two games – you manage a park, keep the dinos under control and try not to get your guests eaten (or encourage it, if you prefer). This time around there are juvenile dinos to raise and the park creation tools have been expanded. Developed by Frontier Developments.

As the name suggests, Double Dragon Revive (PC, PlayStation, Xbox) is a revival of the beat-em-up classic Double Dragon from Yuke’s (WWE series), as brothers Bimmy Billy and Jimmy set out to take down more street thugs. Now with 3D visuals, new playable characters and fighting game expertise from publisher Arc System Works (Guilty Gear, BlazBlue).

If you didn’t have enough satisfaction from cleaning in the first game, Powerwash Simulator 2 (PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox X/S) brings more filthy locations for you to scrape dirt off with your powerful water jets. As well as new locations, additional spray types and soap varieties have been added, and now you can even bring a friend along. No joke, the original was extremely good, so more of that is a good thing. Developed by FuturLab again, although Square Enix are nowhere to be seen with this one.

21 years after the original, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) aims to bring back the cult classic based on the World of Darkness TTRPG. However, since this is developed by The Chinese Room (Dear Esther, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs), reviews are suggesting the actual RPG elements may be a little downplayed and that Paradox might have done better to hand it to someone with more experience with the genre. Disappointing.

Ryu Hayabusa returns in Ninja Gaiden 4 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S), co-developed by Platinum and Team Ninja. It’s a return to the 3D entries in the series for the first time since the third game in 2012, and sees Ryu battling through a near-future Tokyo as he takes on the Dark Dragon. Expect a lot of flashy but difficult combat, and with Platinum at the helm, you know it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week is Once Upon a Katamari (PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S), the newest in Namco’s roll-em-up franchise.

Once again, the King of All Cosmos has accidentally destroyed the universe, and it’s up to you, his stupid ass son, to fix the problem by rolling up everything into a ball across history.

The return of Katamari is always something to celebrate. This is a series made from pure joy and the occasional fever dream. It’s always fun, always cheerful and always worth your time. Plus Bandai Namco have been steadily releasing bits of the soundtrack over the past few months, so they’re fully aware of one of the major draws of the series: its aggressively catchy soundtrack.