This week’s new releases offer something for every mood. In addition to a hard-hitting stealth shooter, there is also a cosy crafting role-playing game.
May ends with a whole bunch of interesting games. The two highlights both let you fight battles on huge maps, but couldn’t be more different from each other otherwise:
While you stalk through 1944 France in Sniper Elite 5 and put the fear of God into the occupying forces with your sniper rifle, you lovingly rebuild the small town of the same name in the cosy build-up RPG My Time at Sandrock.
First highlight of the week: Sniper Elite 5
(Genre: Shooter –Platform: PC, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X – Developer: Rebellion – Release: 26. May 2022)
Once again, in the fifth instalment of the series featuring the iconic X-ray vision tracking shots, you’ll sneak and shoot your way through World War II to thwart the Nazis’ most sinister machinations.
This time, the secret project Kraken endangers the Allied landing in Normandy. On the hunt for precise plans and the masterminds behind them, protagonist Karl Fairburne relies primarily on his trusty sniper rifle, which can of course be pimped out with numerous upgrades.
In addition to the familiar campaign co-op, the fifth part also offers the possibility to face waves of enemies together with three other snipers. The invasion mode, on the other hand, allows you to invade other players’ missions and compete in PvP there. Alternatively, you can jump straight into the 16-player competitive multiplayer mode.
If you’re interested in our first impressions of the game, we’ve summarised them for you here:
Second highlight of the week: My Time at Sandrock
(Genre: Role Playing Game – Platform: PC, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Switch – Developer: Pathea Games – Release: 26. May 2022)
Love Open Worlds, crafting and building a thriving settlement? Have you enjoyed Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing in the past? Then our second tip might be just right for you.
My Time at Sandrock tasks you with turning the tranquil desert village of Sandrock into an absolute showcase town 300 years after the apocalypse. In the process, you will also explore the extensive surrounding countryside in search of raw materials and relics of the Old World and fight all kinds of monsters from the shoulder perspective.
In your production facilities you then manufacture everything you need for your dream projects, whether it’s an enclosure for the numerous animals, a flourishing farm on the prairie or a train line between the two.
You also have neighbours, of course: over 30 NPCs live in Sandrock and invite you to get to know them better in numerous dialogues and quests, become part of the community and take part in mini-games. The much anticipated multiplayer mode of the Early Access title is to follow in the near future.
More exciting game releases of the week
Tuesday, May 24, 2022:
Monday, 23 May 2022:
- Soda Crisis: In the fast-paced side-scroll shooter, you’ll dash through wacky sci-fi levels as a world-saving Coke can, upgrading yourself as you go and regularly dismantling high-tech bosses. Should you ever be recycled into a can of lute in a flurry of effects, you can jump right back into the action thanks to the charge-free checkpoints.
- Crossfire Legion: The real-time strategy game with a setting in the near future is primarily intended to pick up fans of Command & Conquer: Generals . Accordingly, the focus is on base building, the procurement and tactical use of resources and, of course, exciting real-time battles between your armies. In addition to the story campaign, there is also a competitive multiplayer mode.
What makes the surprising hopeful so special, we tell you in our in-depth kick-off report:
Crossfire: Legion is real-time strategy the way you’ve wanted it for years
- Hardspace: Shipbreaker: In the junk recycler simulator with a space setting and grandiose visuals, you dismantle crashed spaceships in zero gravity and delight in the fact that everything floats around physically correct. After almost two years in Early Access, the anti-building game now celebrates its full-fledged release with the final act of the campaign and numerous improvements. The title is also included in Microsoft’s Game Pass.
- Voodoo Detective: In the rather unknown little point&click adventure game, you explore hand-drawn backgrounds as a private eye and manoeuvre your way through intrigue and plenty of slapstick. The developers are openly emulating the great role model Monkey Island and have brought on board its composer Peter McConnell as well as some well-known voice actors from Bioware and Bethesda hits such as Mass Effect and Fallout.
In case you haven’t heard, the original is coming back soon too!
Return to Monkey Island: Legendary game series to be surprisingly continued in 2022
Wednesday, May 25, 2022:
- Forgotten Fables: Wolves on the Westwind: The Visual Novel sends you across northern Aventuria with one of two playable characters to defeat an awakening ancient evil. It is a rare representative of PC games based in the universe of the German pen&paper template Das Schwarze Auge. It’s not a perfect game, but as far as DSA conversions go, it’s a step in the right direction.
- Roller Champions: The casual multiplayer fun shifts Rocket League-style athletic competitions to rollerblades. In the Free2Play title from Ubisoft, two teams of three compete against each other and sometimes jostle each other out of the arena as they chase the game ball.
Thursday, 26 May 2022:
- Out There: Oceans of Time: This intriguing indie project mixes exploration of a diverse galaxy with role-playing, roguelike and strategy elements. If you encounter other life forms, you can negotiate with them or even recruit them for your crew as in FTL. Even well-known Hollywood authors were involved in the production of the dialogue and the picturesque cutscenes.
Friday, 27 May 2022:
- Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy: In the action role-playing game with the surreal look, your characters only have one life each, but when your next hero enters the fantasy world a few years later, you will feel the effects of your predecessor’s deeds. Since everything is dynamically generated, no two playthroughs resemble each other.
- Kao the Kangaroo: The 3D platformer aims to revive the genre’s glory days and impresses with its precise bouncing controls and varied levels. The eponymous kangaroo with the boxing gloves has to solve lots of puzzles, find secrets, overcome chasms and, of course, knock down opponents along the way.
Well, which direction are you most drawn to this week? Are you grabbing any of the games featured here or are you currently bogged down in a completely different title? Let us know what you’re playing in the comments
