It’s nearly over. The electric fan can go back in its box for another year. The creases in your arms can remain as dry as God intended. There’s no more waiting in line at your local shop with a bead of sweat dripping onto the bag of cookies in your grasp, the moisture extending to your love handles and making you question where it all went wro–
Summer is almost over! August is around the time when the sun leaves its murder quest for another time and the weather settles to a comfortably mild temperature. This also means that the gaming release schedule is about to heat back up again after a relatively quiet patch.
August 2018 holds plenty of new games, though the year really starts to excite against next month with the return of a certain sassy slinger of webs. Until then, here’s what you have to play over the next thirty days.
1. Dead Cells |Â August 7th
Developer: Motion Twin
Publisher: Motion Twin
Platform: PC, PS4, XB1, Switch
We’ve been waiting on this one for a long time. Currently still in Early Access, Dead Cells will bring its Metroidvania beauty to a bevy of platforms when it fully launches in August. It’s a slick and challenging title that’s brimming with style, so be sure to check it out. Put Dead Cells down as a sleeper hit for 2018.
2. Overcooked 2 |Â August 7th 2018
Developer: Ghost Town Games
Publisher: Ghost Town Games
Platform: PC, PS4, XB1, Switch
The ultimate game to test your relationships with, the original Overcooked was a great time if you could muster enough friends to play with. Featuring improvements on the original game and more ways to approach the responsibilities of running a kitchen on a deadline, Overcooked 2 promises to ruin many friendships when it launches this August.
3. We Happy Few |Â August 10th
Developer: Compulsion Games
Publisher: Gearbox
Platform: PC, PS4, XB1
A game that certainly underwhelmed when it first launched, We Happy Few is a survival adventure that looks like it’s come on leaps and bounds since its Early Access debut. In a dystopian world where everyone is addicted to Joy to keep their emotions in check, you rebel against the system and go on the run. One for Orwell fans and anyone who loved the aesthetic of BioShock.
4. The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series – The Final Season | August 14th
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Platform: PC, PS4, XB1
We’re not ready to say goodbye. Telltale’s vision of The Walking Dead has been going strong for many years and many games, but its fourth season will be its last. It will also be the last game from the developer to be made using the creaky Telltale Tool, though it looks like they’re pushing it to the very edge of what it can do for one final hurrah. Keep that hair short and pick up what’s likely to be an emotional farewell. The first episode will drop on the 14th while the last three episodes to drop on as yet unannounced dates.
Buy: Humble
5. Guacamelee 2 |Â August 21st
Developer: DrinkBox Studios
Publisher: DrinkBox Studios
Platform: PC, PS4
Grab your friend and let’s wrestle: Guacamelee 2 is finally heading to PC and PS4. Fans of the original will find a lot of the original game’s loveliness making a return for its sequel except with a lovely spit polish and the introduction of four-player co-op. Having played this at EGX Rezzed on a PS4 Pro, I, for one, can’t wait to dive back into Guacamelee again on August 21st.
6. Yakuza Kiwami 2 |Â August 28th
Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA
Platform: PS4
If it’s looking slightly broke, remake it. That’s the mantra of SEGA with the second remake in the series that’s hot on the heels of the well-received Yakuza Kiwami, itself a do-over of the original game. As you might expect, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a remake of the second game featuring some lovely new visuals and refinements to bring it into this generation. Don’t worry: karaoke is still very much intact.
Buy: Amazon
7. Strange Brigade |Â August 28th
Developer: Rebellion
Publisher: Rebellion
Platform: PC, PS4, XB1
We’ve played and talked about Strange Brigade here a fair bit since it was announced, so it’s almost wild that it’s finally here. The longevity of Rebellion’s loot shooter is up for debate, but for exploring a style rarely seen in games with a smile on its face the whole time, Strange Brigade certainly looks like scratching an itch. Bring some friends along for a journey into 1930s Egypt at the tailend of August.
8. Firewall Zero Hour |Â August 28th
Developer: First Contact Entertainment
Publisher: SIE
Platform: PSVR
After Bravo Team stunk the place out for everybody, people might be right to be cautious about squad-based shooters. However, early signs indicate that Firewall Zero Hour will be everything Bravo Team wanted to be with a development team who aren’t stretched between far too many projects at once. If you wanted an old school Rainbow Six game in virtual reality, Firewall Zero Hour might do the job for you.
Buy: Amazon
Any big games we missed out on? Let us know down below. While we have you here — if you’re the 1% of people who read all the way through lists, that is — we’d really appreciate it if you could read our selection of the best PS4 games as the thing is 12000 words long and we need the validation. Please.
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