Team Sonic Racing (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
After almost seven years, Sonic the Hedgehog is returning to kart racing with Team Sonic Racing. Sumo Digital is the team behind the new title, and it will be the developer’s third racer featuring the Blue Blur and his friends.
The game will have 15 playable characters at launch and will feature racing complete with tricks, drifting, and power-ups. What sets Team Sonic Racing apart though is its focus on working with your fellow drivers.
During each race, there will be four teams of three that can share power-ups and perform group moves like a Team Ultimate. Working with other racers is essential because the teams overall ranking is determined by where each member is placed.
While kart racing games are not nearly as common as they once were, the value Team Sonic Racing places on teamwork should allow it to stand out against any plumber or bandicoot-led competition.
Team Sonic Racing is currently set to release on May 21 following a delay late last year. Hopefully, the extra time that has been given to Sumo Digital will allow them to release a title that can build on their experience making Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
Blood & Truth (PSVR)
For better or worse a lot of people are comparing Astro Bot Rescue Mission to Blood & Truth. While mechanically they are quite different, both games are based on early PSVR demos that Sony recognized were popular among their players.
In the case of Blood & Truth, it is based on the PlayStation VR Worlds’ The London Heist and the same PlayStation London team is behind the new project. The original demo was known for its impressive first-person shooting mechanics and set pieces, and these aspects will likely be a primary focus of the new game as well.
Sony set a new bar for PSVR exclusive games when Astro Bot Rescue Mission came out and provided additional depth to the original Rescue Robot mini-game, so Blood & Truth has a lot to live up to. Luckily, they seem to understand this and have been talking quite a bit about the game’s story moments and the impressive level of influence the player can have on interactions.
Focusing on improving the aspects of the game around the action should make for an overall better experience as the shooting was the one aspect that The London Heist was universally praised for.
Assuming these character interactions meet the expectations set by the development team and the action matches the promise of the original demo, Blood & Truth seems like it will be not only an excellent PSVR game, but also one of the best VR games of the year when it releases on May 28.
Total War: Three Kingdoms (PC)
Total War: Three Kingdoms is shaping up to be one of the best games in the series. Not only is it exploring a new era of history but it is also adding a handful of new and exciting mechanics that should freshen up the experience for long-time fans.
In particular, changes to heroes and diplomacy have been a big point of focus in the game’s marketing.
When players start a campaign now, they will be prompted to choose a hero instead of a faction. Each character will come with an assigned class and traits that can affect all levels of play.
As for diplomacy, the most significant change is the added levels of complexity coming to Three Kingdoms. For example, players can now form coalitions to complete specific goals instead of fully committing to the requirements of an alliance.
It would be easy to imagine Creative Assembly losing interest in the Total War series as Three Kingdoms will be the 12th mainline game in the franchise, but the emphasis on bringing in new things for players to do is very promising. Hopefully, when the game launches on May 23, it can exceed the expectations of its fans.
Rage 2 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
The combined development experience of id Software and Avalanche Studios means that the expectations for Rage 2 are incredibly high. Mainly because much of the game’s marketing has leaned into both the first person shooting and vehicle combat the developers are known for.
Though there has been less said about the open world in which all of this violence happens. Luckily, early impressions of Rage 2 and the environments the game takes place in have been very positive.
Twinfinite’s own Jesse Vitelli was able to play the game at this year’s PAX East and described the world as having “so much life and character around every corner it’s hard not to get swept up in just exploring.”
This is in large part a result of the developers making a deliberate effort to stand out among the many other post-apocalyptic settings in video games. One of the main ways they have accomplished this is by choosing to feature a bright color palette with colors that are rarely seen in games like Rage 2.
When creative projects are based on the collaboration of two experienced teams, there is always a danger of one group stepping on the toes of another, but with Rage 2 it seems like id and Avalanche have worked very well together. Both teams seem to have been able to bring what they are good at to the project and masterfully combine them.
Fans now just have to wait until May 14 to experience the fruits of their labor.
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