Out with #WFH, in with #PFH (Play From Home). It’s the year end, and while travel restrictions are still in place, we can still holiday, albeit through the digital realm. Even if you aren’t an ardent gamer, there are still enough suitable titles released or to be released for PS4 and PS5, Xbox, PC and Nintendo to keep you and your loved ones occupied in the upcoming few months – just make sure to choose kid-friendly titles if you intend to make it a family activity. Ready, set, and read on!
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
(PS4/PS5, Xbox and PC. Single player)
Still missing Game of Thrones action? Then dig into the 12th major installment of Assassin’s Creed. This time, you wield weapons and power as a Viking raider (you get to choose the gender) embroiled in the warring conflict between lords, the Templar Order and the Brotherhood of Assassins, while leading your clan from Norway into Anglo-Saxon England. It’s like travelling to exotic locales with your whole extended family, but just way more primitive, action-filled and violent (well, more than some families at least). Don’t bring along your kiddos for this, please.
Release date: 10 November 2020.
Official game website: www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/assassins-creed/valhalla
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
(PS4/PS5. Single player)
Fill that Marvel movie-shaped hole in your life this year with Insomniac Games’ follow-up (and PS5’s launch title) to the massively popular 2018 PS4 exclusive, Spider-Man. Get spandexed-up and swinging as Miles Morales (Original Spidey Peter Parker is on vacay with his paramour MJ – even game characters get to do what we can’t) and play as an aspiring hero of the Manhattan nabe. Tweens, teens and kidults will relate to the growing-up tale of Miles while getting wowed by the graphics of PS5’s next-gen ray tracing tech. In other words, with power comes responsibility… and lots of web-slinging fun.
Release date: 12 November 2020
Official game website: www.playstation.com/en-sg/games/marvels-spider-man-miles-morales
Overcooked! All You Can Eat
(PS4/PS5, Xbox Series X. Local co-op/Online multiplayer)
Technically this may not be a new game, but this release can almost qualify as one. How so? Remastered versions of Overcooked, Overcooked 2, and all of their DLC (downloadable content); 200 gaming levels plus 7 new ones; 3 new chefs; co-op and multiplayer modes; and a buffet of other bits and bobs – all stuffed in one package. Hours of chaotic silliness guaranteed. That and your children shouting at you – it’s legit given how frustrating flipping them burgers in a virtual kitchen can get.
Release date: 12 November 2020 for PS5. TBA for Xbox Series X.
Official game website: www.team17.com/games/overcooked-all-you-can-eat
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
(Nintendo Switch/Local co-op)
If you love the fantasy-action RPG series The Legend of Zelda, then you should get your hands on this. A prequel to 2017’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and set 100 years before the events in the game, this hack-and-slash adventure lets you control the hero Link, Zelda and other champions of Hyrule to battle monster hordes as you find out how the Great Calamity war befell the kingdom.
Release date: 20 November 2020
Official game website: www.nintendo.com/games/detail/hyrule-warriors-age-of-calamity-switch/
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake
(PS4/PS5, Xbox, PC. Single player)
Anyone old enough and/or a gamer in the early 00s would know how much of a, well, game-changer this action-adventure title was (you got to rewind time and replay actions within the game, which was a rather impressive mechanic back then). Now, you can intro this classic to your tween children and impress them as the Prince who saves a kingdom in this full-scale remake upgraded with modern graphics and improved gameplay.
Release date: 21 January, 2021
Official game website: www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/prince-of-persia/sands-of-time-remake
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
(PS5. Single player)
Why stop at daydreaming of trotting across the globe when you can jump between dimensions (and fight an evil emperor) in this third-person shooter-platformer? While its release date is still TBA, we still had to feature this as we know the kids will love the colourful visuals, speedy action, amazing weapons (Burst Pistol, Shatterbomb and erm, Topiary Sprinkler), obstacle-puzzle solving and cute-as-a-button characters, and oh, so will you, too! So keep an eye out for this when it drops in the near future.
Release date: TBA (to be made available during PS5’s launch window)
Official game website: www.playstation.com/en-us/games/ratchet-and-clank-rift-apart/
Featured image: Shutterstock
