Welcome to You Should Play, a series where we highlight all of the video games that you should be playing this week, from big-budget releases through to little-known indie games.
This week sees the release of one of the most highly anticipated games of the entire year, as Ubisoft’s The Division finally makes its way to store shelves after previously being touted for launch alongside the PS4 and Xbox One.
If that’s not enough excitement for one week, a certain chrome-domed silent assassin will make his return, and an interesting new platformer will also make its way to Steam.
Here’s what You Should Play this week:
Arguably the biggest new IP of the year, Tom Clancy’s The Division drops this week and threatens to be the next blockbuster online shooter.
Taking place in a post-apocalyptic New York, The Division tasks players with teaming up with one another to fight their way through the game’s co-operative story, along with venturing into the hostile PvP Dark Zone. After having been delayed numerous times, many are excited to finally get their hands on what has been branded Ubisoft’s answer to Destiny, with the game’s RPG leanings and heavy emphasis upon co-operative play seeing it being positioned as the next major video game IP.
While the beta was relatively well-received, it only offered a very thin slice of what we expect from the finished product, with The Division hopefully being able to match our lofty expectations come launch. Fingers crossed.
Why You Should Play It:
- It’s one of the most highly anticipated new games of 2016
- The Dark Zone looks to be a highly addictive and intense PvP experience.
- Threatens to be the biggest console multiplayer game of the year.
Hitman
The news that Hitman‘s 2016 comeback was going to be transformed into an episodic game was hardly welcomed with open arms, and could stand to negatively impact upon publisher Square Enix’s bottom line if they don’t manage to pull it off. However, early impressions of the game have been good, and despite a few bumps along the road it seems that the next entry in the stealth series could mark a true return to form for Agent 47.
The game is set to take place across seven downloadable episodes, with at least six different locations being made available in these installments. The first episode releases this week, with it set to include the game’s prologue and its Paris map. While the series’ last entry, Hitman: Absolution, was a decent enough game, it failed to truly capture the spirit of the more accomplished earlier entries in the series. Hitman 2016 promises to do just that, and for the sake of the future of the franchise, we hope it succeeds.
Why You Should Play It:
- The game’s episodic treatment means that you can try out its first installment without having to pay the price of a full retail release.
- The thrill of earning a Silent Assassin, Suit Only rank.
- Looks to be a return to form for the series.
Upwards, Lonely Robot
Upwards, Lonely Robot is a simplistic, budget-friendly 2.5D platformer that has all the makings of becoming one of the most addictive games of the year thus far.
Placing players in control of a particularly isolated robot tasked with scaling up a series of towers, developer Random Layers have created an intriguing little oddity that blends challenging platforming with a leaderboard driven multiplayer component, available for both online and splitscreen play.
While Upwards, Lonely Robot is likely to slip quietly beneath the radar, its low price means that it’s definitely worth checking out in among this week’s two heavy hitters.
Why You Should Play It:
- Addictive, challenging platforming.
- Both online and splitscreen multiplayer modes drastically increases its replayability.
- You don’t want that little robot to remain lonely, do you?
