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

This week, Life is Strange, Slitterhead, Dragon Age and Mario & Luigi!

This week is a double bill, as scheduling for last week meant that I wasn’t able to work on this roundup. However, last week was a big week so I have to cover it along with this week’s release. As always with these entries, there are two Games of the Week, one for last week and one for this week. Enjoy!

Re-Releases and Ports

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) brings back Suda51’s collaboration with Shinji Mikami, where demon hunter Garcia Hotspur battles his way through Hell to find his girlfriend. Perfect for anyone wishing to relive the weirder games of the PS3/360 era.

Developed by Grasshopper Manufacture.

Clock Tower: Rewind (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) brings this cult classic horror game to the West for the first time. One of the most influential horror games of all time, this starred a girl named Jennifer attempting to survive in a mansion stalked by the Scissorman. This new release also adds new animated scenes and a theme song sung by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (best known as Akira Yamaoka’s go-to singer – she’s also in Shadows of the Damned).

Originally developed by Human Entertainment, remaster by WayForward and published by Limited Run Games.

If you’re in the mood for an entirely unnecessary remaster, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (PC, PS5) brings a game you can already play on PC and PS5 to…PC and PS5. Only it’s marginally prettier now. Look, I love this game and even I can’t justify this release, sorry.

Developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Early Access

The first Early Access release this week is No More Room in Hell 2, a co-op zombie shooter where your team starts out in separate corners of the map and has to find each other to effectively fight the hordes.

Developed by Torn Banner Studios (Chivalry).

Unrailed 2: Back on Track is a co-op puzzle game where you have to build tracks while the train is running. You’ll have to work together to make sure the scenery is clear and the tracks are laid before the train derails, and looks like complete chaos.

Developed by Indoor Astronaut.

Trash Goblin is a game about running an antiques shop. You basically just clean off trinkets, making sure they’re shiny and brilliant for customers. Think of the appeal of Powerwash Simulator and you’ve got the idea.

Developed by Spilt Milk Studios (Tango Fiesta, King of Crabs).

Sulfur is a first-person shooter dungeon crawler, where you venture into deep caves, battling monsters and gathering the treasures they’re guarding. Has a really cool art style

Developed by Perfect Random.

New Releases

Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) (PC) is a narrative adventure set in 17th century Canada, where you play as both a shipwrecked French woman and an Innu hunter investigating strange happenings in the forest. Decisions you make influence both protagonists’ attitudes as we see from two different perspectives.

Developed by Unreliable Narrators.

Chicken Police: Into the Hive! (PC) is the sequel to Chicken Police, aka the noir detective game where you play as a chicken detective in a world of predators. Utterly weird but charming.

Developed by The Wild Gentlemen and published by Joystick Ventures (Lost in Play, Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099, Hell of an Office).

Farmagia (PC, PS5, Switch) is a hybrid game combining dungeon crawlers, Pokémon and farming sims. You play as the titular mage as they join a rebellion against the rise of a dictatorship. However, having played this for a review (pending), it’s kind of mediocre, a case of trying too much at once and not really perfecting any one aspect of the game.

Developed and published by Marvelous (Story of Seasons, Rune Factory, Daemon x Machina).

Metro Awakening (PC – SteamVR, PS5 – PSVR2, Meta Quest 3) is a VR spin-off to the Metro franchise, set in the subway tunnels of a ravaged future Russia. This is a prequel to Metro 2033 and details the origins of Khan, an important character in the franchise. It’s a first-person shooter in VR, although the protagonist is not a skilled soldier, so alternate tactics are encouraged.

Developed by Vertigo Studios (The 7th Guest VR, Arizona Sunshine II, After the Fall).

Remember Metal Slug? It’s back! In strategy RPG form! Metal Slug Tactics (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) sees the classic side-scroller shooter turned into a tactical RPG, making it more like Advance Wars. It’s been getting good reviews, but might be worth waiting until some of its technical issues have been ironed out first.

Developed by Leikir Studio (Rogue Lords, Synergy) and published by Dotemu (Streets of Rage 4, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap) and SNK.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Switch) is the triumphant return of the Mario & Luigi RPG series, bringing the first new entry in almost a decade. The brothers venture across a new world on an island that’s also a ship, while the story and combat should be familiar to fans of the series so far.

Developed by Acquire and published by Nintendo.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is the latest in BioWare’s Dragon Age franchise, and is almost certainly a test to see how the studio’s faring after Anthem. Bit of a mixed reception, however, with some critics falling in love with it while others have significant issues. Best to do some research beforehand.

Developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts.

Games of the Weeks

Game of the Week for last week was Life is Strange: Double Exposure (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S).

There have been many Life is Strange games, but this is the first to revisit Max Caulfield, protagonist of the first game. She’s moved on with her life after the events of the first game, but now a friend has been murdered, and she gains the power to jump into alternate dimensions, which she hopes will allow her to catch the murderer.

Life is Strange is always a good time if you want to kick back with some choice-based melodrama, and my hopes are high for this one too. It’s interesting they’ve returned to Max, however, as the series up to this point has been more of an anthology. Curious to see how they pull it off (haven’t gotten round to playing it yet).

Developed by Deck Nine Games and published by Square Enix.

This week’s Game of the Week is Slitterhead (PC, PlayStation, Xbox).

This is the first game from the new studio founded by Silent Hill and Gravity Rush director Keiichiro Toyama. It’s set in Kowloon, and you play as an entity known as the Hyoki who lacks a physical form and has one goal – to destroy the monsters known as Slitterheads. You swap around different bodies, fighting off these creatures to save humanity.

I’ve been curious about Slitterhead from the moment Toyama confirmed it was in development. Reviews, and even Toyama himself, have said it’s a bit jank, but that weirdly makes this sound even more enticing. It’s a weird concept that’s likely to be entirely its own thing, even with all its flaws, and sometimes those solid 7/10 games can be some of the more interesting to play.

Developed by Bokeh Game Studio.