Weekly Deals... XB1|PS4 (The Division and... Fury Road?) (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Thursday, March 29, 2018, 09:12 (2217 days ago) @ Korny

For those waiting for a Division sale on Xbone, it's on sale for $15 if you get the base game, or $27 for the Gold Edition, which comes with the Season pass and a handful of other non-cosmetic things, as part of the Xbox Live Spring Sale. If you're not certain about the game, remember that it does have a six-hour free trial period for you to check it out!

Sigh . . . I said I was going to buy this, but I'm not sure. I played about five hours of the trial, and while I enjoyed it, I didn't find it super compelling. And with God of War coming next month, and Dark Souls Remastered the month after, and wanting to squeeze trying Warframe in there somewhere . . . if five hours wasn't enough to really grab me, maybe I should just hold off.

While I haven't really played it myself, and it's early access (caveat emptor!), Malagate has been saying some great things about Astroneer, which is a 2-player co-op game in the vein of No Man's Sky/Minecraft, with a pinch of Nuts & Bolts, and a hint of Deep Rock Galactic. I dunno about you, but that sounds like a winning combo to me, and it's on sale for $15.

Speaking of which, No Man's Sky is getting another big update, called NEXT, in Summer 2018, and will also be launching on Xbox One at the same time, with 4K and HDR support on the One X.

I haven't actually checked out the game since any of the updates hit, but I played about 20 hours or so at launch and enjoyed it for what it was. The updates sounded like they turned it into a pretty compelling game. No mention of what the price will be on Xbox One.

Also, here are the free XBL games for next month:

The Witness - April 1-30
If you're a nerd who likes puzzles, folks around here have great things to say about it!

I really liked The Witness. I can't speak too much on the underlying themes of the game and all the videos and intellectual stuff sprinkled throughout the game, but the puzzles are great.

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate - April 16 to May 15
Yet-another-AC-game: The Game

I heard it was good. I dunno, I might give it a shot, but I think it'll be hard to go back after playing Origins.

Dead Space 2 - April 16-30
The peak of the Dead Space franchise (yes, somehow even better than the first), and as close as you can get to a flawless horror survival game. Play it on Zealot difficulty for best results (I like that the higher difficulties have some more in-depth rebalancing besides just "everything is harder".

I never did get into Dead Space. I have EA Access, which has the whole series available, should I make an effort to go through them?

Assassin's Creed Origins has gotten decent reviews, and some folks can't stop spamming the Activity Feeds with their screenshots, so the game clearly looks great. Haven't played an AC game in ages, but this one allegedly overhauls the combat, and gets fun, In spite of/especially with the obligatory Ubisoft bugs.
You can get the game for $30, although the latest DLC has been getting a lot of positive press, so you might want to throw the season pass in there and get it all for $50.

I was done with Assassin's Creed about halfway through Brotherhood, which was . . . six games ago? Seven? Something like that. Origins really nailed it for me, though. It's almost a nearly perfect blend of still being Assassin's Creed, but also changing enough to feel fresh. The combat is a particularly welcome change, for me, which is very Dark Souls-lite. I don't like the loot system much, but it was easy enough to find a few weapons I liked and then upgrade them as I went, so I didn't have to engage with it much. I just don't think it added anything compelling to the game.

The stories and missions are where it really shines, though. It has plenty of typical Assassin's Creed silliness, but a lot of the side missions and stories are really personal and heartfelt and well-told. Bayek, the main character, feels genuine and actually cares about the people in a real way beyond "we're Assassins so that others can be free," which also helped me connect to the story and world in a way I haven't in any other Assassin's Creed game.

Combined with a big, really gorgeous world to explore, and it's a winning formula in my mind. It's the first time since Assassin's Creed II that I find myself actually looking forward to a sequel in the series.

If you want a couch-co-op game that will have you in tears of laughter, grab three friends and hop into Gang Beasts for $15. Whether you're doing versus or co-op, this game makes for a simple, fun time.

It is a great couch game. As you said last night, it seems like it would get old quick, but it really doesn't.

Thanks for doing these posts, Korny. I'm bad at even remembering to look at weekly deals.