January is often a very slow month when it comes to games. In last month’s Big 5 it was almost a struggle to come up with five games to be excited about. But we did it. We shone the spotlight on five very deserving games: LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, Life is Strange (Limited Edition Box Set), The Witness, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, and Blade & Soul. All worthy games to look at but only a couple offering that real big bang. As we look forward into February things are a lot brighter. Finding five games wasn’t the hard part, narrowing it down to five was the hard part. With that in mind we’ve decided to add a new component to the Big 5 this month with our special mention, an add-on that isn’t it’s own stand alone game and an Indie Spotlight on our favorite independently developed game of the month. Heck, not only that… we had to pick six games as we couldn’t narrow it down to five. Sorry, I guess we cheated. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Unravel – Electronic Arts – Feb 9 (Multiplatform)
Our first glimpse at Yarny in Unravel came at last year’s E3. We were immediately enamoured by this little man made of yarn. After getting some hands-on time with the demo we were left with three words to sum it all up; simple, intuitive, wondrous. Much more than a simple platformer or puzzle game, this project from relatively unknown developer Coldwood Interactive, tells a moving story about an elderly woman who has lost touch with her family. Yarny’s journey is all about connection and you’ll be hard pressed not to get tangled up in his story. This one hits multiple platforms on February 9th and starts the month out strong.
Street Fighter V – Capcom – Feb 16 (PS4/PC)
Chalk up a huge win here for Team Sony and Street Fighter V. One of the single biggest fighting game franchises in the business, if not the biggest, Capcom struck a deal with Sony that would see console exclusivity go to the PlayStation 4 with no hope of the game ever hitting the Xbox One. Introducing four new characters (16 total at launch), a new mechanic with the ‘V-Gauge’ and fully interactive environments you can be sure that fighting game fans are clamouring to get their hands on this. After a bit of a bumpy beta we’re sure that Capcom has everything ironed out for Feb 16th when the game launches.
XCOM 2 – 2K Games – Feb 5 (PC)
Turn based strategy fans have waited a long time for XCOM 2. Set 20 years after the events of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, humanity has lost its war with the aliens. XCOM proved unable to defeat the alien threat and was quickly reduced to a fringe resistance force. But… they’re back. You take command in the Avenger, an alien supply barge that has been commandeered by XCOM to be its mobile command base. The journey to freeing humanity from alien rule begins Feb 5th.
Layers of Fear – Bloober Team – Feb 16 (Multiplatform)
After a fairly lengthy Early Access stretch, Layers of Fear is set to see its full release on Feb 16th. Take a trip into the world of a painter overtaken by madness in his attempt to create his masterpiece. There have been comparison made between Layers of Fear and cancelled horror game P.T. and while there may be similarities there are plenty of things that make the game stand out on its own. This game will get in your head and have you questioning everything you see just like a good psychological horror should. Was that there before? Is that painting watching me? Put on your big kid pants because this one is not for the faint of heart.
Click on thru to page two for the next games on our list…