We’re almost out of the spooky season, what better way to celebrate than with a game that is sure to haunt your dreams! It won’t be because the gameplay & content of Alan Wake II is terrifying, no, it’ll be because of the insane PC specs required to play it!

Alan Wake II (PC – Epic Games Exclusive/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 27^th

Developed by: Remedy Entertainment
Published by: Epic Games

Our other big release this week is the FPP game Ghostrunner II. What’s an “FPP game”? Why that stands for “first person perspective” which is what you call an FPS game without any shooting. Sure, why not. Looking for something just as stressful to play but with a bit less murder? Check out Cities: Skylines II and bring your utopia to life, or create a dilapidated slum, it’s all up to you!

Ghostrunner II (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 26^th

Developed by: One More Level
Published by: 505 Games

Cities: Skylines II (PC) – Releases Oct. 24^th

Developed by: Colossal Order
Published by: Paradox Interactive

If neither of those games don’t sound like your sup of tea, there’s an action RPG from publish NIS America called CRYMACHINA, which is about a group of robot girls who just want to be human. Can they; and just what does it mean to be a “real human”? Well, part of being a real human is knowing that Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria looks really bad, and after the shit show of Gollum, I’m not sure many people are in the mood for another Lord of the Rings video game. Still, if the idea of playing a Valheim-esque Lord of the Rings game is intriguing to you, then, by all means, check it out.

CRYMACHINA (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch) – Releases Oct. 24^th

Developed by: FURYU Corporation
Published by: NIS America

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (PC – Epic Games Exclusive) – Releases Oct. 24^th

Developed by: Free Range Games
Published by: North Beach Games

Our last two titles this week continue the spooky trend, with the Polish developed World of Horror, who was heavily inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Junji Ito. The game was released back in 2020 in an early access phase and was finally fully released soemtime last week, I think, so I figured now would be a good time to give it some attention. It’s supposed to be some kind of RPG with turn based combat, but it looks a little more point & click-y to me. Might be a hidden gem, or it might be terrible, who knows!

Need more terror? Then the other new FPP game (hey, I used the acronym twice!) is Desolatium is here to scare you. It is also inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, because no one likes original ideas, and has you gathering clues and solving puzzles in order to find the answer to some grand, cosmic mystery that will probably turn out to be some kind of world takeover plot by a cult. Bonus points if the cult is made up of residents from a small town that may or may not be fish people.

World of Horror (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch) – Releases Oct. 26^th

Developed by: panstasz
Published by: Ysbyrd Games/PLAYISM

Desolatium (PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 27^th

Developed by: SUPERLUMEN
Published by: SOEDESCO

Ports and Re-releases:

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 17^th

The first five Metal Gear games are making their way to modern consoles, again. Will we ever get Metal Gear Solid IV on something other than PS3?

Everything else:

Ah yes, the glut of licensed titles continues to populate the shelves and server space of your favorite video game retailer, appearing just in time for [INSERT HOLIDAY HERE]. Which one is your kid bugging you for? Mine wants the Trolls game.

• Just Dance 2024 Edition (PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 24^th
• Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord (Meta Quest 2, 3, Pro/PS VR2) – Releases Oct. 26^th
• Barbie DreamHouse Adventures (Switch) – Releases Oct. 27^th
• EA Sports UFC 5 (PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 27^th
• DreamWorks Trolls Remix Rescue (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 27^th

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 (and sometimes 40) years ago:

Despite it being only a week before Halloween, our notable titles this week aren’t very spooky. 2013 gave us the next (and last) numbered title in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Set after the events of Assassin’s Creed III, but set in a time period BEFORE Assassin’s Creed III, Black Flag was one of several games in the franchise to come out near simultaneously. After the original game was released in 2007, twelve games, including mainline titles and spin-off’s, had been released. While I can’t speak for the entire gaming population, I was feeling intense fatigue with Assassin’s Creed. Part 3 was atrocious, easily the worst game in the franchise up to that point, however it did have one redeeming feature, its naval combat.

Taking this idea further, the team at Ubisoft decided to set AC IV in the time of the pirates (about 30-40 years before AC III), and had players sailing around the Caribbean. With a game almost solely dedicated to the best part of AC III, Black Flag was already a far superior entry in the franchise. Critics agreed and called Black Flag a major improvement over AC III, praising not just the sailing moments, but also the game’s massive open world that contained multiple places to visit and explore, with collectibles that were actually fun to look for.

Despite being the better title, it seems players were not about to fall for another terrible game after being burned by AC III, with Black Flag’s first week sales down 60% compared to AC III’s Ubisoft paid it no mind and claimed that players were holding off on buying the game because they were waiting for the PS4 and Xbox One versions, and he might have been right, as Black Flag sold 3 million more copies than AC III.

Being a critical success, Black Flag was nominated for, and won, several end of year industry awards, including “Best Action/Adventure Game” at the Spike VGX awards. As I mentioned earlier, the game would eventually launch with the PS4 and Xbox One when those system released in November, releasing again in November in PC, and coming to Switch in 2019. Your options to play Black Flag are numerous and I would strongly recommend checking it.

Our notable title from 2003 is the MMO Final Fantasy XI. After a successful launch in Japan a year earlier, FF XI was ready to hit North America, where it came bundled with the game’s latest expansion, Rise of the Zilart, and brought with it three new jobs; Dragoon, Ninja, and Samurai. While MMOs were nothing new and had its hits, a game in the genre carrying the Final Fantasy name was a pretty big deal, especially since the franchise was far more well known for being a single player RPG series.

FF XI is, like its predecessors, a player vs. environment style game, with very little focus on PVP gaming, as opposed to some other well MMOs of the day. At the start of the game, players choose their race, job, and home nation, taking on missions that will advance the storyline and unlock new gameplay elements, or partake in quests that will grant them more XP, gil, and rewards. While early parts of the game can be done solo, once players reach a certain point in their mission track, or go to specific areas, they will likely be required to have some kind of party joining them, as the enemies and their tactics require multiple players to defeat.

I remember playing FF XI very close to launch day, intrigued by the idea of enjoying my favorite game franchise with a slew of other people; I did not enjoy playing with other people. Sure enough, I spent most of the early part of the game playing alone, kind of fumbling my way around the world with little idea of where I needed to go or what to do. I tried to play with various friends and co-workers, but their commitment to the game was far greater than mine, I had very little interest in playing the game on a schedule. Alas, my initial time with Final Fantasy XI was brief, though I would pick it back up again a year later when the Chains of Promathia expansion would come out, sticking with it through its third expansion, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, before giving up on it completely.

While the game was initially launched in Japan on the PS2, it wouldn’t come to North American for PS2 until 2004, and would release on the Xbox 360 in both Japan and North America in April of 2006. A second MMO in the franchise, Final Fantasy XIV would appear in 2010 (then shut down and re-appear in 2013), and while you might think that Square Enix would have shut FF XI down by now, you’d be wrong, as the game is still alive and well in 2023. Part of me wonders if my little Tarutaru Lyall is still hanging around on their servers, but then I remember how clunky the game was to play, the lack of any kind of auto party system, and the generally slow gameplay. Oh well, it was fun(ish) while it lasted.

Moving on to 1993, we have the Super Nintendo game ActRaiser 2, the highly anticipated sequel to ActRaiser. However, all of the really interesting city building/strategy sections of the game were completely removed, making ActRaiser 2 a standard side scroller; womp womp. Why would they do this? Oh, because the American branch of Enix demanded it. Their audience in North America didn’t want all that RPG bullshit, just wanted to jump around and hit things. Was the change worth it? No!

ActRaiser 2 sold about 180,000 copies worldwide, far less than its predecessor’s 620,000 copies. Why so many fewer? Well, that’s because Japanese audiences outright rejected the game, by purchasing 360,000 LESS copies than before. The game sold 40,000 copies in Europe (same as the first game), and 100,000 copies in the U.S., 80,000 less than before. Clearly this was a game made for Westerners, but even then it still failed to meet the sales it previously did, losing those 80k RPG/strategy fans. This would (mostly) be the end for the series, though a spiritual follow-up called Solo Crisis would release in Japan for the Saturn. There were talks to revive the series for the N64 but that was shot down, however a remake of the first ActRaiser did release on modern consoles back in 2021. did it have the city building/strategy gameplay? Of course it did.

Our last notable title is the 1983 PC game M.U.L.E., one of the very first games put out by Electronic Arts, better known as EA. Hailed by critics when it released, M.U.L.E., along with two other EA titles, Archon and Worms?, gave the company a reputation for being one of the most cutting edge, creative studios in the gaming industry (makes you wonder what happened…). If you haven’t heard of or played M.U.L.E., that’s okay, only about 30k copies were ever sold. So, just what is M.U.L.E.? Well, M.U.L.E. is, at its heart, a four player strategy game in which players buy and sell goods & land in an effort to generate the most wealth.

The game’s title gets its name from the machines that players use to harvest goods from their lands, called Multiple Use Labor Elements, M.U.L.E.s. The game is, in a way, kind of like Monopoly, with players encouraged to trade amongst one another in an effort to advance their wealth & social status, while also doing everything they can to bankrupt their opponents. In true board game fashion, there are random events that can alter the game, such as pirates raiding your lands, meteorites crashing into your lands, or your M.U.L.E. malfunctioning.

Critical reception to M.U.L.E. was overwhelmingly favorable, with reviewers calling it fascinating, stimulating, though provoking, addictive, and, of course, really fun. While it didn’t set any sales records, M.U.L.E.’s legacy and reputation only grew over the years. It would win the Arkie Award for “Best Multiplayer Game” in 1984, and go on to be part of multiple “Best of…” lists over the past 40 years. The game was even cited as an inspiration to Shigeru Miyamoto for his game Pikmin, M.U.L.E. while easter eggs appear in games like Roblox and Starcraft II. In a fun turn of events, M.U.L.E. was eventually turned into a board game in 2015, though it is very hard to come by. While the game is not really available in its original format, a very close remake was released on itch.io, called M.U.L.E. Online, which is probably your best option to play this very original, very creative game from, let me check again…Electronic Arts.

Moving on to notable films, we had a couple of really terrible comedies, Bad Grandpa and Scary Movie 3, not much to say there. 1993 gave us a pretty badmovie that I think is a guilty pleasure, Judgment Night (good double feature with Surviving the Game), which featured a very interesting soundtrack, which paired rock acts with hip/hop artists. Each song was a collaboration between the two groups and was seen as a way to capitalize on the then growing popularity of Rap Rock. 1983 gave us one of the most critically acclaimed movies of all time, The Right Stuff, which tells the true to life story of the first men chosen to be astronauts. It was a box office bomb, failing to capture audiences at all, but that didn’t stop critics from foisting praise upon it, and receiving eight Oscar nominations, winning four.

Our notable albums didn’t really move me much when the released or in the last week when I gave them all a listen. Arcade Fire are completely overrated, I don’t get the appeal. While The Suburbs is fine enough, their 2013 album Reflektor was a masturbatory exercise in self indulgence, though the title track is great, until you realize that it’s over seven minutes long. Listening to 2003’s Room on Fire by The Strokes made me realize that the band really only have enough songs to fill one fantastic greatest hits album, with the rest of their songs just being meandering nonsense; Reptilia fucking rules.

1993’s notable album is God Shuffled His Feet by the one hit wonder band Crash Test Dummies, you know the song, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmmm, classic. Finally, 1983’s notable album is probably the best of the bunch, She’s So Unusual from Cyndi Lauper. Initially arriving on the scene as the lead singer of the band punk/new wave Blue Angel in the late 1970’s, that groups commercial and critical failure caused them to be dropped by their label. Lauper, however, was too much of a talent to just let go and she was signed to another label under a solo deal, releasing She’s So Unusual. The album was a major critical and commercial hit, due in large part to the successful single “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. The album would be one of 1983’s best selling, and earned Lauper six Grammy nominations, winning two, Best New Artist and Best Album Package (other nods were Album of the Year, Record of the Year & Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, and Song of the Year for “Time After Time”).

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (PS3/Wii U/Xbox 360) – Released Oct. 29^th, 2013: Wiki Link

Final Fantasy XI (PC) – Released Oct. 28^th, 2003: Wiki Link

ActRaiser 2 (SNES) – Released Nov. 1993: Wiki Link

M.U.L.E. (Atari 8-Bit PC/Commodore 64) – Released Oct. 1983: Wiki Link

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