Halo... is it me you’re looking for?
THE LATEST OUTING IN THE FRANCHISE IS AMONG A FLURRY OF FESTIVE RELEASES
IT’S hard to believe it’s that time of the year already, but the first doors on the Advent calendars have been cracked open.
As Santa ramps up his toy production, we take a look at the handful of games getting a festive release.
There’s brain-teasing fun with Big Brain Academy, a new Grand Theft Auto collection, and Halo Infinite is finally unleashed.
Halo Infinite
(PEGI 16) Xbox X/S, Xbox One, PC Release: December 8
Microsoft was clearly determined to make this the best game it could, pushing its release back from November 2020, to late 2021.
There are many reasons to be excited for Master Chief’s new outing, not least as Infinite is being billed as a ‘spiritual reboot’ for the entire Halo franchise.
The third chapter of the ‘Reclaimer Saga’, it sees Master Chief playing a more central role than in Halo 5: Guardians.
Unlike in previous titles, multiplayer in Infinite is free-to-play, and it’s been in open beta since mid November, to mark the franchise’s 20th anniversary.
Whatever your plans are this month, you might want to think about cancelling them to spend some serious time with this game.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition
(PEGI 18) PS4, Xbox One, Switch Release: December 7
This came out last month on the PS5 and XBOX X/S, and I have to say it’s had mixed reviews.
The ‘definitive’ collection includes Grand Theft Auto III, GTA: Vice City and GTA: San
Andreas, all boasting across-theboard enhancements like environmental upgrades and improved gameplay. The problem is, players have found the new release to be chock-a-block with bugs. There have been so many issues, developer Rockstar has now apologised for the ‘unexpected technical issues’, saying the game ‘did not launch in a state which meets their standards of quality’. Patches have been hastily released, and the game has been pulled from sale for PC players while work is carried out on the remasters. All of this is a shame, because this trilogy is some of the best gaming you can get. Hopefully it will all be worked out very soon.
Big Brain Academy: Brain vs Brain (PEGI 3) Switch
Release: December 3
In essence this is a learning game, but before you start rolling your eyes, let me tell you why these can actually be a lot of fun.
If you like to challenge yourself – and sharpen your skills without even realising it – then this is the game for you.
Focusing on five key groups – memorise, identify, compute, visualise and analyse – you’ll be served games that work on improving your dexterity in those areas.
You can move through the stages, and increase the difficulty until you’re a proper egghead.
If you fancy really flexing the little grey cells, the game is playable with up to four people, so you can prove once and for all that you are the brainiest member of your family.
Beyond a Steel Sky
(PEGI 16) PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, Switch, PC, IOS
Release: December 7
This cyberpunk sci-fi adventure was initially released 12 months ago on Apple Arcade and Steam, but is now being released for console owners to try.
It’s the sequel to cult 1994 pointand-click adventure Beneath a Steel Sky, which saw you play as Robert Foster, a man abducted from his adoptive home and thrust back into the bright lights of dystopian Union City.
Nearly three decades later and Robert is back, this time returning to Union City – which is now under the control of an ‘altruistic’ AI – on the hunt for a kidnapped child.
The beautifully detailed, comicbook styled world is not all it appears to be however, and Robert soon discovers the dark and murky reality lying beneath the neonsoaked surface.
Monopoly Madness
(PEGI 3) PS4, Xbox X/S, Switch Release: December 9
After the gifts have been opened, and the dinner’s been eaten it’s time to break out the Christmas Day games.
And nothing says family fun like Monopoly.
Monopoly Madness claims to reinvent the much-loved traditional game, taking place while Mr Monopoly is away on holiday.
With the action set in Monopoly City, up to five players battle it out in frenetic rounds to earn enough cash to buy and upgrade their properties.
There are 20 playable characters and four different zones to tackle, meaning it will take a while for the fun to wear thin.