One of the more anticipated PlayStation 5 games slated to come out this year looks like it will be delayed. Bloomberg is reporting that Horizon Forbidden West won't be coming out until the Q1 2022.

The sequel to one of the best PlayStation 4 games from Guerrilla Games, Horizon Forbidden West would have continued the story of Aloy as she explores the Forbidden West where she'll fight brand new machines that threaten the land.

The delay continues to add to a long line of games that have been pushed back. It's disappointing to be sure, but I'm always in the camp of making the game better on the first try and if you need to delay it some, then it's better than trying to release a product that can turn off fans. It's always harder to try and repair a game's reputation so hopefully, this delay can help deliver a top notch experience that everyone's hoping for.

Announced last month with a "Summer 2021" release date, Asassin's Creed Valhalla has pinned down the big day for its next major expansion. That day is set for August 12th, just two weeks away. Along with the Siege of Paris expansion we will also see Season 3, Sigrblot Season, bringing rewards and activities for all players. The Sigrblot Festival is already live as of today and will run through August 19th to see us through the transition. 

While the Sigrblot Season includes rewards for all, the content in Siege of Paris is paid DLC, available for $24.99 as a standalone purchase or as part of the Season Pass. The Siege of Paris brings with it the return of Infiltration Missions (similar to the old Black Box Missions) and concentrates on a campaign to lead Eivor to one of the greatest battles in Viking history. 

As for the free stuff and the Sigrblot Festival, festive activities are already kicking off in Ravensthorpe like mini-games, three new quests, and limited time rewards like settlement decorations customization items, and even weapons. You will need a Level 2 settlement in-game in order to access the festival. Future updates planned for this season also include a River Raids map pack adding destinations across France and Ireland. 

Frozen District just announced the first major early access update for The Tenants, a rental property empire simulator. 

The patch comes with new tenant archetypes. Wondersville folks have taken the time to expand their horizons, and now you’ll be able to house Artists who enjoy units designed with a bit more pizzazz than usual. Try to meet their demands, and you might make some money off them too. This update also introduces new Elite Contracts and dozens of new furniture items. You might also enjoy the set of contracts that involve designing a wedding reception space and the interior of a chapel for the ceremony.

Acquire apartments and then rent them out. Face problematic tenants and resolve their issues as quickly as possible. One minute you’re taking care of broken TVs, and the next, you’re stumbling in on loud parties that you need to shut down before someone calls the police. 

More information about the game can be found on Steam.

Hood: Outlaws and Legends, the co-op PvPvE heist game from Sumo Digital and Focus Home Interactive, has just launched a free update today, which adds a new PvE game mode: State Heist.

State Heist mode replaces the enemy player team with even deadlier opposition from the AI-controlled State, introducing challenging new mechanics that emphasize stealth and cooperation. Your team of four will be pitted against a far more dangerous and responsive State, with limitations on respawning for a completely new dynamic that requires a more careful and methodical approach for success.

To celebrate today’s launch of State Heist, Focus and Sumo are kicking off the Survive the State Event. Players who successfully steal the chest in State Heist without dying will receive the new Shadow Lords costume for the character they are playing. Rewards will be unlocked when the event ends on August 2.

While Chernobylite sounds like a lite version of a national tragedy, I think the -ite suffix is more in reference to being from a place. If you're from Seattle, you're a Seattleite. If you're from Moscow, you're a Muscovite. So, if you're from Chernobyl, guess what you are?

I'll stop word nerding now.

Every nation has its national tragedy. The one that Russia can always go back to is Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster in history. On April 26, 1986, an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction created two explosions that ruptured the reactor core and destroyed the reactor building. Thirty-five years later, it's a nightmare that's revisited time and time again in video games.

Chernobylite continues this fine tradition with its own survival-horror game. You've got your stutter-stop-motion zombies, the sickening green glow of nuclear fallout, and the distinctly realistic rain gear and gasmasks that make up your frumpy wardrobe in the midst of it all. It's also a love story! Love in the time of radiation. I also really appreciate that Chernobylite isn't all running and gunning. There are resources and human resources to manage, RPG dialogue trees, and even some base building elements. 

Chernobylite has been in Steam Early Access since October 16, 2019, but today, July 28, 2021, marks its 1.0 launch. It's coming later to PlayStation and Xbox.

My favorite Dark Souls game is Mortal Shell [official site]—the best Soulslike out there. Sick armor, sick weapons, laborious combat, and laborious maps. And I mean all of that in the best way possible. 

A couple things happen on August 18. One, it marks the one-year anniversary of Mortal Shell. Two, it fulfills Mortal Shell's one-year exclusivity on Epic Games Store and releases it into the wilds of Steam. And three, August 18 is when The Virtuous Cycle expansion launches.

Mortal Shell hit instant-favorite status around here, earning a strong 8.8 out of 10. "Mortal Shell will make you rethink your ideas around patience and frustration. You will love this game for all the same reasons that you hate it," said our own Carter Kilmann, and I would agree. Some days you eat the bear; some days the bear eats you, you know?

In vanilla Mortal Shell, the enemies are static. You walk around this corner, you know what's waiting. You climb those stairs, you know who's at the top. But The Virtuous Cycle roguelikes the enemy lineup, making the one thing you could count on suddenly no longer be anything you can count on. It'll keep you on your toes even more, if that were possible.

There's also a fifth shell you get to try on. ("Shells" are, in a sense, the different character classes you get to flip between in Mortal Shell.) They also introduce the Axatana, a weapon that appears to be a tribute to Monster Hunter World's Switch Axe. I'll absolutely take it. Along with that new electric guitar-looking lute at the end of the trailer with the merchant's kitty rocking out to your as-always mad guitar licks. Best part of the trailer.

Mortal Shell is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. On PC you can get it on the Epic Games Store and GOG, but, again, the game makes its Steam debut on August 18.

Over the past several months, I have been waffling back and forth on whether Ayo the Clown - the titular character of the new platformer releasing today - is cute and funny or creepy and horrific. With the release of today's launch trailer, it is finally clear; Ayo the Clown is cute and funny and not a nightmarish murder drone coming to steal our souls. 

This is, of course, a relief. Check out the fun new trailer, in which Ayo rocks out and makes it clear that he has his priorities ("I don't want to save a princess, I just want to save my dog).

You can purchase Ayo the Clown - which wears it's GameCube era Mario inspiration on its sleeve - right now on Steam and on the Nintendo eShop.

We’re a little short staffed today (no Joe) So we decided to bring on friend of the show Jeff. Jeff has a number of podcasts one might find interesting. Budget Arcade (they review a free to play game every other week) The Movie Draft House (a movie review podcast) and Hitchcock Chronologically (he reviews all of Hitchcock's movies, well, chronologically).

This week the gang dives into San Diego Comic Con, and the lack of excitement shared by all, as well as EA’s Play Live from last week. Elliot admits to never playing a popular series of games, Max recommends spending time outdoors, Eric talks of his love for Ghostbusters, and Jeff just finds everything ok.

You can always listen to the show on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Youtube. Once you subscribe on your platform of choice you can then check out some of our other stuff like Joseph's Twitch page, the soundtrack to Max’s game Ocean’s Heart, Eric’s YouTube or Elliot’s other podcast.

It's that time of the month - the time when we all gather around and judge the free games our various memberships and subscriptions dole out to keep us entertained for the next month. In keeping with tradition, Stadia today announced the games that you can pick up in August with a Pro account. 

It Came from Space & Ate Our Brains

Epistory: Typing Chronicles

Killer Queen Black

Valkyria Chronicles 4

Grime

In other news, Control Ultimate Edition is now available on Stadia for $39.99 (totally worth it if you don't already have it). And this weekend brings a Double Free Play Weekend, with Marvel's Avengers and Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 free to play from 9am PT July 29 through 9am PT August 2. Now go play that Avengers campaign. I promise you it's worth it.

Gamers that have been around for a while can probably tell you that the Contra series is some of the toughest games ever released by Konami. Now Konami has brought Contra to mobile devices once again with Contra Returns. The game is a reimagined version of the original arcade game and features over 200 levels along with new features, weapons, game modes, and more. After playing it a bit for myself it does play pretty well for a touch-screen run-and-gun game, though the controls may take some time to get used to. Either way, I'm all for a new Contra game so this will probably keep me busy for a while.