GAMOSPHERE: Your August Roundup of Gaming News

August is a great month for gamers

With Gamescon coming up on the 23^rd-26^th August, touted as Europe’s largest trade fair for digital gaming and entertainment culture and communities, there are a heap of new releases and updates from gaming companies to capture the attention of the market.

Sonic faces a new enemy

First up, something for Sonic fans.  Sega has released some new cut scenes from Sonic Forces™ that shows Sonic’s mysterious new enemy, Infinite,  during E3. We're intrigued at this addition to the familiar cast of characters - Eggman, Chaos, Metal Sonic, Shadow and Zavok, if you're also intrigued, check him out here. As with all villains, you also need a mean soundtrack to give the type of fanfare that baddies deserve. Take a listen below.

Yakuza Kiwami hits our shores on 29th August

Due to be released at the end of August, is the classic remake of Yakuza made back 2005 for the PS2, this new remake Yakuza Kiwami made exclusively for the PS4 is not just a simple graphical upgrade. It adds a good 30 minutes cutscenes to give better back story and narrative to the game’s plot line and links it back to the series prequel Yakuza 0. For all newbies to the series, take a look at the dedicated portal Yakuza Experience website, where there is an interactive timeline and character map. It also gives you a good base on the history and characters of the series. There’s also a bonus of the 10-issue digital comic, where you get to preview some of the key happenings on Yakuza 6: The Song of Life which is coming out on the PS4 early next year. Whether you’re a fan of the series already or just a newcomer, it is worth noting that this version is rebuilt from the ground up with all new HD assets, and has exclusive Japanese voice audio that has been re-recorded by the original series cast.

Feel the Need for Speed

Gamious will be unleashing their multiplayer 3v3 racer Team Racing League for early access on the 11^th of August this year. This game puts a new spin on the classic racing game instead of just aiming to finish first, you must work in a team of 3 and together you must master skills, ensure track focus and interact with your teammates. The game gives you free reign on your playstyle, whether it be racing to the end, trolling your opponents or supporting your teammates. But no matter what you choose working together is the key to coming first. It features intuitive controls and unique mechanisms such as the roadblock, flamethrower and abilities that allow you to speed up your teams hovercraft. The game was inspired by retro arcade racing games such as Super Off road, Micro machines, and Champion Sprint. Instead of relying on powerups and luck this game is all about teamwork and racing skills. The game will be available on the Steam Store for $9.99/£6.99/€9.99.

Get Outta Here!

For any fans of strategy games you should be excited to learn that The Escapists 2 is due to be released on 22^nd August on the Xbox One and Playstation 4. This game comes from the award-winning international games label Team17 and developer Mouldy Toof Studios as a follow up to their award-winning prison escape game. In a first for the series The Escapists 2 will allow for up to four players in both local and online play. This means you can plan and execute a calculated escape with your fellow inmates, or you can simple jump into a game that’s already in progress to help with the final touches of an escape. The game will also feature 10 unique prisons to escape from, with everything from a trip to outer space to a train hurtling through the desert. However your escape won’t be easy, you’ll have to work around a strict prison schedule in order to avoid the attention of guards, gather weapons and tools or just get a job to gather vital supplies whilst scouting out possible escape routes. The game also features a dedicated tutorial for newcomers to learn the ins and outs of the game and the extremely robust character customisation allows you to finally live out your dream of breaking out of jail. As an added bonus anyone who pre-orders from selected retailers will get access to an additional prison, the Glorious Regime. Join in on the fun by creating your Escapist 2 avatar here and share it on social media!

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Spooks Alert

For anyone craving a bit of excitement in your life, you need not look further then Agents of MAYHEM from Deep Silver. The three main characters are all diverse so none of them feel the same, ranging from an enigmatic assassin named Scheherazade who fights with swords and knives to the son of a Japanese business man who left the world of organised crime to join MAYHEM and then to a wannabe hip-hop star who fights with his machine gun and his irresistible musical force. These agents also utilise teleportation technology, which allows you to instantly teleport in and out of combat, it also allows for more strategic play such as swapping out agents so that one can heal while another fights in their place. This merciless, morally flexible and occasionally reliable team will appear on the PS4, Xbox One and PC gaming systems on August 18^th.

Incredible Worlds Discovered in New Alien Shooter

Putting a spin on the shooter genre the asymmetric shooter Raiders of the Broken Planet is promising to deliver on unique gameplay. Featuring an outlandish cast of characters with incredible abilities this game is a frantic mix of cover based shooting, close-quarters encounters and cunning teamwork. With a emphasis on the multiplayer elements, players are able to experience both sides of the story: You’re able to join the Raiders in their fight to free the Broken planet or switch sides and fight the Raiders on your own, alongside the invading hordes. On top of this there is also a story-driven single player experience. At Gamescon, MercurySteam will be offering hands-on demos of the game at their booth allowing attendees to catch a glimpse of the never before seen content from the first premium campaign – Alien Myths. In Alien Myths, one of the four campaigns you follow the raiders as they explore the Broken Planet in search of the legendary Protectors. The following campaigns: Wardog Fury, Hades Betrayal and Council Apocalypse will be released as separate episodes throughout the year. Each campaign will include a new mission as well as new characters. MercurySteam will also be showcasing, the multiplayer for the first time, including co-op and the 4v1 Antagonist gameplay. With closed beta keys available for PC, PS4 and Xbox One and the closed beta taking place every weekend it’s the perfect opportunity to see why this new shooter is creating such a buzz. Check out more on their website here.

Minecraft News

For any fans of the worldwide phenomena Minecraft the fact that the Better Together update will soon be released should be music to your ears. This update aims to unify the versions of Minecraft for console, mobile and Windows 10 allowing players on any of those platforms to join each other in-game. This will allow players to create, cooperate and compete together with ease. To make sure that this update works properly however the studio is going to be rolling out a beta of this update on Windows 10 and Android today, with the beta coming to Xbox One in the following days. A bonus to trying this beta is that you also get an early glimpse of some of the new things they have planned such as fireworks, parrot and new game rules. However, you need to own the digital version of the game as the beta does not support discs.

Time for Some War Games

Anyone considering buying Total War: WARHAMMER II will be glad to hear that for anyone pre-ordering the game or buying during the first week of its release will receive the Norsca Race Pack free of charge. The Norsca Race Pack will be playable in the first part of the trilogy from August 10th, ahead of Total War: WARHAMMER II’s release September 28th. This DLC will include two brand new playable factions each led by unique Legendary Lords. Players will be able to go on monster hunt quests, command ferocious units including War Mammoths and Skin Wolves and even construct towering monoliths in order to gain the dark gods approval.

For fans of the widely popular game War Thunder should be pleased to hear that Gaijin Entertainment has announced an expansion to the Naval Forces aspect of the game. Now, each of the five fleets represented in the game’s most recent game mode gets to feature their own Destroyers which can all be tried this weekend. Check out their calendar . These include the 1936-class Z20 Karl Galster for Germany, the Tribal-class for Britain, the 7-U-class for the USSR, the Fletcher-class for the USA and Yugumo-class for Japan. Armed with the largest-caliber weapons that are currently available in Naval Forces, Destroyers are able to attack opponents over extreme distance, even up to the opposite end of the map. They can defend themselves from torpedo boats and attacking aircraft by employing a large variety of lower-calibre automatic machine guns and cannons. The realistic model and playstyle of the Destroyers will allow everyone to feel that they are truly in control of a sizeable warship which requires them to quickly make important decisions. While the captain directs the fire of the main cannons he can decide who are the priority targets for the crew manning the secondary artillery or what sections of the ship require repairs. Remember in combat, time is of the essence.