STACK #187 May 2020

GAMING PREVIEWS

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MAY

MANEATER

GENRE: A CTION RPG PLATFORM: PS4 | XBOX ONE

RELEASE: 22/5/20 MULTIPLAYER: NO

While humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks per annum worldwide, the average tally of humans killed by sharks is approximately five. With Manhunter , it’s time to start redressing that balance! You start out as a baby shark (yeah, yeah: “Doo-doo-doo doo-doo- doo…”), out to avenge the death of your mother at the hands of a fisherman bloke with the dubious name of ‘Scaly’ Pete. First, however, your goal is to survive and thrive long enough to be in a position to wreak toothy

carnage. Explore your ocean home, eating to grow while avoiding hungry, hungry humans as well as other wildlife that sees a shark pup and thinks, ‘MMM, lunch!‘ Even better? If you find the right resources, you can expand your sharky girth far beyond that which nature originally intended – yes, we’re talking super shark! Gleefully leave terror in your wake wherever you go, be it in rivers, swamps, oceans or even on land. Take that, evolution! With a full story-driven campaign narrated by Chris Parnell ( 30 Rock ’s Dr Spaceman), you’re sure to have the odd laugh on your quest – eat, prey... love it!

The iconic ‘Da-dun, da-dun” theme from the classic Steven Spielberg movie Jaws is really easy to play. It’s just the notes E and F repeated.

G: ACTION RPG P: PS4 | XBOX ONE M: YES R: 22/5/20 If something like Grand Theft Auto is just too serious for you then it’s possible that you’ve previously encountered the joys of Saints Row - it’s kind of like Hot Shots! to GTA ’s Top Gun . This remastering of the last-gen smash returns, and it’s more purple than Prince’s undies. Go crazy in a sandbox environment and rule the town, do your own thing or vaguely adhere to the plot and progress via completing missions. No matter what, you’ll have mad fun. SAINTS ROW: THE THIRD REMASTERED Enter the Project Alicization arc of the magnificent virtual world anime adaptation of the Japanese light novel series Sword Art Online and encounter the mysteries and wonders of Underworld. As the series’ key protagonist Kirito, players will encounter a world of seamless battles that adhere to the established canon storyline, as well as encountering familiar faces friendly and otherwise, from Alice and Eugeo through to the Administrator. Adventure awaits! SWORD ART ONLINE: ALICIZATION LYCORIS You’ve heard the story before. A bunch of vicious alien invaders have Earth in their sights. Somebody needs to do something, but who? That’d be you, along with your 100-strong team of wonderful heroes, who can unite to create super-weapons – and more - in order to take all-comers in this wild PlatinumGames jam. The further you progress, the more heroes you recruit. The more you recruit, the more phenomenal your morph powers become! THE WONDERFUL 101 REMASTERED G: ACTION ADVENTURE P: PS4 | XBOX ONE M: YES R: 22/5/20 If you’re a Switch player who – like us - is missing the AFL like crazy, and you were staring with green-eyes at your PS4 and Xbox One friends then rejoice, as AFL Evolution 2 is finally heading to your console. All the action of the virtual 2020 season is here, with all the big leagues from around Australia and an absolutely prodigious array of options. Pick your side, tweak the line-up and get out there, stick it up ’em and make Teddy proud! AFL EVOLUTION 2 G: SPORTS P: SWITCH M: YES R: 14/5/20

G: SHOOTER P: SWITCH M: NO R: 26/5/20 Is it a shooter? Yes! Is it a platformer? Yes! Is it a puzzle game? Yes! Are you sick of us asking questions? Yes! Switch peeps can now step into the boots of a fearsome bounty hunter known simply as Stranger. Your goal – yep, you guessed it - is to collect bounties. But in doing this, you have options. Do you take the gung-ho route with your crossbow for instant gratification, or go more pacifistic and reap greater rewards for your troubles? ODDWORLD: STRANGER’S WRATH HD Over three remarkable games, BioShock has become a much-loved series on PlayStation, Xbox and PC over the years. Now it’s time for Nintendo fans to find themselves in the depths of Rapture – as well as high up in Columbia – as they journey through three unforgettable game experiences in remastered takes on the original BioShock and BioShock 2 , as well as BioShock Infinite: The Complete Edition , which includes all single-player add-on content. BIOSHOCK: THE COLLECTION It’s once, twice, three times the mayhem as looter-shooters Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition , Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel head to Nintendo’s Switch in one awesome and very neat little package. Come for the action, stay for the loot – not to mention the insane weaponry! Being the latest editions of this here trio of games, there’s a bunch of bonus stuff included, adding even more gaming hours to a super fun triple time-sink. BORDERLANDS LEGENDARY COLLECTION The one that started it all in this man-versus-machine RPG series back on the Wii heads to Switch in suitably updated style. Enter a massive world in which you’ll wield your trusty future-seeing blade Monado, chaining together attacks, and carefully lining up your companion party members in strategic, real-time combat. So, have you got what it takes to defeat the might of the mechanical menace Mechon once and for all? XENOBLADE CHRONICLES: DEFINITIVE EDITION G: RPG SHOOTER P: SWITCH M: YES R: 29/5/20 G: SHOOTER P: SWITCH M: NO R: 29/5/20

G: ACTION ADVENTURE P: PS4 | SWITCH M: YES R: 22/5/20

G: ACTION RPG P: SWITCH M: NO R: 29/5/20

78 MAY 2020

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