Amplitude, The Witness, Firewatch, Unravel — 2016 is off to a flyer and we’ve barely scratched the surface. In only two weeks’ time, we’ll be knee deep in Ubisoft’s primordial landscape with Far Cry Primal before putting our reflexes to the sword in Street Fighter V, and the release slate soon thereafter shows no signs of slowing down.
But what about the games peppered between such heavy-hitters? Regardless of whether they fall into the AAA or indie camp, there’s no question that the likes of The Witness and Unravel stole much of the mind share in the past few weeks, making it difficult to see the wood for the trees.
And so we arrive at Digger Deeper Than the Mainstream, a new feature designed to spotlight those titles arriving without much fanfare, either due to the nature of the small teams behind them or simply that their opportunity to make an impact has been dampened by industry heavy-hitters.
Besides, modern-day life and other responsibilities beyond the perimeters of our pixelated havens often push and pull at our limited time to pick up a controller (or indeed handheld), and that’s something I’m confident we can all relate to. Spare time is precious, and even when you only account for the software headed to PlayStation platforms, the list of games slated for a release in 2016 is staggering.
The plan now is to pitch Digging Deeper Than the Mainstream as a recurring feature on PlayStation LifeStyle (something I’ll probably regret come March or November, but hey!), and as always, we’re open to your feedback.
Will you be taking a psychedelic horror trop with Layers of Fear? Or are you more inclined to pick up Pixel Piracy for a high seas adventure? Do let us know.
Indie-Mainstream Feature Feb. 2016
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Digging Deeper Than the Mainstream - February, 2016
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Layers of Fear
Release Date: February 16
Platforms: PS4
In 2014, Bloober Team launched the much-maligned Basement Crawl for PlayStation 4. A broken mishmash of unfinished gameplay and technical mishaps, it ultimately spurred the studio on to completely overhaul the horror title from the ground up. Imagine our relief, then, that Bloober’s next creative venture is shaping up overly well. It’s called Layers of Fear, and it all revolves around one painter’s plight to add the finishing touches to an incomplete masterpiece.
But The Unfinished Swan this is not. Taking place in a single house, Layers of Fear has evoked comparisons to P.T. — the domestic setting, the haunted protagonist — for all the right reasons. Billed as a psychedelic first-person experience, Bloober’s title has already gained a fair amount of traction through its launch on Steam Early Access, and it’s poised to loom onto PS4 very soon indeed.
Last year, SOMA toyed with the concept of placing you in control of a protagonist spiralling into the depths of insanity, and if Layers of Fear can capture even a fragment of that vulnerability, then consider us on board.
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We Are Doomed
Release Date: February 9
Platforms: PS Vita
Originally released on PlayStation 4 early last year, Vertex Pop’s lucid twin-stick shooter We Are Doomed recently made a beeline to PlayStation Vita, where it’s available to pick up for $9.99.
Its minimalist style is matched only by its accessibility, and those on the hunt for a simple and relaxing experience in the shoot ‘em up genre need look no further. There’s an endless mode included as well, and even from the visual style alone you can identify Vertex’s chief inspirations — TxK, Geometry Wars et al. Less a reinvention of the wheel and more a satisfying addition to the arcade formula, We Are Doomed is a bright and breezy downloadable experience.
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Pixel Piracy
Release Date: February 16
Platforms: PS4
Avast, matey! Quadro Delta’s cutesy pirate simulator Pixel Piracy is plotting course for a PlayStation 4 release early next week. Taking up the mantle of a captain, the logline for Quadro’s maritime adventure pitches the game as a “side-scrolling, two-dimensional real-time strategy/sandbox/simulation game.” That may read as a shotgun blast of marketing buzzwords, but with a striking art style and intriguing management systems — not to mention the reworked control scheme and interface for consoles — Pixel Piracy has our curiosity for its recruitment system and ship customization.
It may not feature the depth of, say, FTL, but who doesn’t love the idea of assembling your own crew to chase the horizon? Pixel Piracy will hit the high seas (read: PS4) on February 16.
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Tron Run/r
Release Date: February 16
Platforms: PS4
Disney may have pulled the plug on Tron 3, effectively sentencing its futuristic film franchise to the shelf for the time being, but the IP still lives on through upcoming third-person running game, Tron Run/r.
Retaining the neon-drenched aesthetic of its cinematic forebear, Tron Run/r is essentially a stylish twist on the runner formula, thrusting players into the shoes of an avatar tasked with leaping, gliding and wall-running across various obstacle courses. If nothing else, the upcoming release is a stylish rendition of Disney’s cyberspace, though time will tell whether those “action-adventure elements” and character customization can justify the $20 price tag.
Tron Run/r makes a beeline for PlayStation 4 on February 16.
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Runner 2
Release Date: February 23
Platforms: PS4
Sticking with the theme of running for the time being, the next candidate brings us to long-awaited sequel, Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien. Already available across PS3 and PS Vita, the PS4 version will come packing the Good Friends Character Pack, one which bundles together a series of iconic personas from the indie scene — Machinarium’s Josef and Raz of Psychonauts fame and Spelunker to name a few.
Opening up the rhythm-platformer gameplay across five worlds and 120 levels, Runner 2 presents a ton of content all the while maintaining the rat-a-tat pace that made its predecessor so damn addicting in the first place. Besides, where else would you be able to play a drunk pickle and a guy with a cheeseburger for a head?
Featuring cross-buy with PS Vita, Runner 2 makes a dash for PlayStation 4 on February 23.
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The Walking Dead: Michonne
Release Date: February 23
Platforms: PS3, PS4
With so many licensed properities in the works at once, coupled with the studio’s tendency to keep release details under lock and key, Telltale fans often find themselves chomping at the bit for the next content rollout, be it The Wolf Among Us, Tales From the Borderlands or The Walking Dead.
As the studio revealed only yesterday, it’s the latter franchise that’s set to take the spotlight in 2016, with Telltale seemingly plotting “a very big year” for The Walking Dead series. That means season 3 is currently deep in development, though before the next chapter in Clementine's journey comes the three-part miniseries focusing on Michonne.
Having crafted its own adjacent universe independent of the TV series, this is the first time that Telltale has directly dabbled with a character from The Walking Dead canon, with the Michonne spinoff rooted between issues #126 and #139 of the comic. Samira Wiley (Orange is the New Black) is voicing the katana-wielding badass, a protagonist cut off from her group who is “deeply haunted by the decisions of her past.”
Entitled In Too Deep, the premiere episode will make its bow on February 23, before the remaining two chapters follow in quick succession in March and April.
