Posted in: Games, Movies, Recent Updates, Video Games | Tagged: Assassin's Creed Rogue PC, Codename S.T.E.A.M., entertainment, hotline miami 2, Ori & The Blind Forest, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Tokyo Twilight, video games

Sweet Release! Hotline Miami 2, Ori & The Blind Forest, Resident Evil Revelations 2, Codename S.T.E.A.M., Assassin's Creed Rogue PC, Tokyo Twilight

By Jared Cornelius

Welcome back to Sweet Release!  Bleeding Cool's weekly look at the new video games coming at you this week.  Although February didn't light the world on fire as far as big box releases go, it was quite the month for smaller titles.  A trend it looks like is going to continue into March with a ton of high profile indie games that should satisfy a wide range of gaming tastes. We start out this week with the sequel to a highly acclaimed independent game and one of my most anticipated games of the year.

If I were to ask if you liked the idea of American Psycho: The Game how would you respond? Because honestly you could get a very similar experience from Dennation Game's Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number.  The direct sequel to 2012's brutal pixelated overhead action game, it's a unique mix of classic Grand Theft Auto with a puzzle solving element.  Levels are populated by an ever expanding cast of mobsters whom you need to dispose of, with your options being, stab, shoot, bludgeon and so on.

However, drawing attention with a gun can put you in a firefight and draw more enemies, while beating someone to death may take too long.  Instead of playing as the first games main character, "Jacket" you'll be playing as a variety of strange characters, each with a unique ability.  The original title had an amazing soundtrack, a creepy feel, and was a genuine challenge, I'm looking forward to this game immensely.  Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and PC Tuesday.

Highly stylized, beautifully animated, and heartstring tugging are all phrases I'd use to describe Moon Studio's Ori & The Blind Forrest.  The currently exclusive Xbox One platformer was a big talking point for Microsoft at a few of their tradeshows and looking at it there's no question why.  With gameplay commonly referred to as "Metroid-Vania" Ori is a 2D exploration based platformer, described by Moon as, "a bit of a coming of age story" you take the role as a forest spirit trying to find his place in the world.  With an emphasis on narrative, Moon hasn't been forthcoming with too many story details, but all signs point to this being really good.  Ori & The Blind Forest releases Wednesday on Xbox One, with a PC release somewhere down the line.

Another week of Capcom's grand episodic journey continues with Resident Evil Revelations 2: Episode 3.  The third of four planned episodes see's series veteran Claire Redfield with key holder Barry Burton, and Moira Burton caught in more spooky mischief.  Taking a slower paced approach to the series survival horror roots, Revelations has been received much better than 2013's Resident Evil 6, which isn't saying much.  Resident Evil Revelations 2: Episode 3 released Tuesday on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC with an Xbox 360 and Xbox One release Wednesday.

Goggle and top-hat enthusiasts rejoice! Nintendo finally responded to your gentlemanly threats and made a bizarre steampunk strategy game just for you.  Code Name S.T.E.A.M. is a third person tactical action game, that plays somewhere between Gears of War and X-Com.  Taking place in an alternate history where President Lincoln's set up a secret government agency to deal with aliens via the amazing power of steam.  You lead the elite squad of characters straight out of classic American literature like John Henry and Tom Sawyer in a defense of world safety.  Code Name has a distinctive comic book vibe with 60's style Batman sound cues popping up on screen while gameplay takes place in a 3D level where movement and actions are dictated by the amount of steam the character has.  The title has a few notable inclusions, including Star Trek's Wil Wheaton as Abe Lincoln, and gameplay from Nintendo's veteran strategy developers of the Fire Emblem and Advance Wars series.  Code Name S.T.E.A.M. also has Amiibo functionality with the Fire Emblem figures, but good luck finding any.  Code Name S.T.E.A.M. releases Friday for Nintendo 3/2DS.

With Assassin's Creed Unity failing to impress almost anyone last year, it fell to the last generation title, Assassin's Creed Rogue, to do damage control for Ubi Soft's conveyer belt action game.  I already covered Rogue last year, so let's jump in the way-back machine and see what I said about it. "Taking place in the 1800's and looking largely like an upgrade to Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Rogue has you playing as Assassin turned Templar, Shay Cormac, who's out to hunt down his former colleagues.  Rogue features  refined ship combat that people were so fond of from Assassin's Creed III and Black Flag, as well as expanded locations to the series like the north Atlantic sea, and an expansive New York city.  The story actually sounds more interesting to me than the new generation version making me wish they hadn't split the series off into two different directions, but place your bets on how long before we see it ported up to new generation."  With modding and graphical upgrades PC may be the place to play it depending on if it has Ubi Soft's contemptible U-Play integration.  Assassin's Creed Rogue released Tuesday on PC, with PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions currently available.

In what's becoming a regular segment for me, Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters, is the weird Japanese game of the week.  A visual novel in the vain of Danganronpa and 999, Tokyo Twilight sets itself apart by using 5 emotions and senses to convey feelings while talking to other characters.  There's not much to say about it, but if you found yourself enjoying the Phoenix Wright games this might warrant a look.  Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters released Tuesday for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.

That's all for this week folks, you can check out my other regular column, Typing on The Dead, which gets a new installment this week. I also interviewed the prolific Adam Hughes about a variety of topics, including his Spider-Gwen variants at my local comic shop, Conquest Comics. Why not also check out my colleague and fellow Jersey native Christine Marie's articles like Geek Shopping.

Jared Cornelius is some guy from the Jersey coast who just made a pretty good buffalo tofu panini, ask him for the recipe on Twitter @John_Laryngitis

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!