8 Games to Look Forward to in August

Summer Blues

As we approach the month of August, major game releases seem to slow down, as well as the buzz from major industry events of the previous months.

Students prepare to go back to school, and developers prepare to make a good impression during the holiday season at the end of the year. But that doesn't mean we won't have some great new games coming out to keep us busy before the frantic flurry of the fall.

So to close out the summer, here are 8 games to look forward to in the warm, sunny month of August.

Disney Infinity 3.0

Disney Interactive Studios' popular toys-to-life series, Disney Infinity, is back again this year, and this time it's filled with battles of galactic proportions, as Star Wars will be the next mega-franchise to take over Disney's plastic universe.

Developed by Avalanche Software, Disney Infinity 3.0 will include three Star Wars Play Sets spanning both trilogies and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as a Disney•Pixar Play Set based on the film Inside Out, and a Marvel Play Set based on Avengers: Age of Ultron.

All-new multiplayer Toy Box Expansion Games such as Toy Box Takeover and Toy Box Speedway will allow every character from all three installments of Disney Infinity to play together in Toy Box 3.0, so there'll be lightsabers, superheroes, pirates, and more!

Fly to Infinity and beyond in a galaxy far, far away on Windows, PlayStation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, iOS, and Android on August 30th.

Satellite Reign

From Brisbane-based 5 Lives Studios comes a real-time, class-based strategy game set in an open world cyberpunk city.

Billed as a spiritual successor to the sci-fi Syndicate series, the 2013 Kickstarter success lets players command a group of 4 agents to climb up the corporate ladder and take over the most powerful monopoly of all time through every devious mean possible.

The city of Satellite Reign functions like a living, breathing world, where civilians, police, and corporate soldiers react uniquely to the actions of the player as they explore the manipulative world and uncover new missions seamlessly.

Each of the four agents can be customized for any play-style through different skills, weapons, gear, augmentations, and genetic base, while the freedom of choice also seeps into the emergent game-play, as a wide range of strategic options is available at every opportunity.

Reign supreme on Windows, Mac, and Linux on August 28th.

Until Dawn

There aren't many successful horror games these days; same goes for PlayStation 4 exclusives.

But this summer, Sony Computer Entertainment developer Supermassive Games is looking to change that with a survival horror adventure made specifically for the current generation of consoles.

Until Dawn tells the story of eight high-schoolers who spend the night in a cabin in the mountains, unaware that their night is about to turn into a real-life nightmare.

Every decision that the player makes leads to consequences that can save someone's life or result in their death. 

Beautifully realized through an evolved Killzone Shadow Fall engine, the eight characters play a role in countless scenarios and multiple endings, where the death as well as the survival of all eight is possible.

But players cannot change the decisions they make, as a strict auto-save system prevents players from reloading a previous save file to an earlier point in the game, so every single choice bears an important amount of scrutiny.

Survive Until Dawn exclusively on PlayStation 4 on August 25th.

Volume

The latest game from award-winning indie game designer Mike Bithell is a narrative stealth action game inspired by the father of all great stealth games, Metal Gear.

As Robert Locksley, players act as a futuristic Robin Hood robbing from the rich and giving to the unheard using the heist-simulating device, Volume.

In the face of a country-running CEO played by critically acclaimed actor Andy Serkis, Locksley seeks to take down the corporatocary over 100 levels of intense stealth action.

In addition, a full set of creation tools is provided for endless level-building and sharing, featuring an arsenal of gadgets to avoid, distract, and evade detection.

With the full campaign playable using pre-made or user-generated levels, the challenges in Volume never cease to excite.

Enter the Volume on Windows, Mac, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita on August 18th.

Armikrog.

After 20 years, the team behind The Neverhood and Earthworm Jim are back for another clay animated point-and-click adventure game.

A space explorer named Tommynaut crash lands on a weird planet and ends up locked in a mysterious fortress called Armikrog. Together with his blind alien talking dog, Beak-Beak, Tommynaut has to find his way out through clever puzzles and uninviting characters.

Developed by Doug TenNapel and Pencil Test Studios, the 2013 Kickstarter success is inhabited with characters that are brought to life by well-known actors such as Jon Heder, Rob Paulsen, and Michael J. Nelson. 

Enhanced by an original soundtrack by American songwriter and record producer Terry Taylor, the tongue-in-cheek adventures of Tommynaut and Beak-Beak is one not to be missed.

Escape Armikrog on Windows, Mac, and Linux on August 18th, and PlayStation 4 and Wii U in the near future.

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Story-driven games have grown in popularity in recent years, and one of the best has arguably been Dear Esther by The Chinese Room. 

But while their first game didn't really have much in the way of interactivity, the British developer's first game on console is complemented with not only the freedom to interact with the environment, but much, much more.

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture takes place in 1984 in the English countryside of Yaughton Valley, Shropshire. Through six different characters, each with their own story, players immerse themselves in a beautifully detailed open world to discover and uncover the mystery of the apocalypse.

Homes are left empty to be explored, and environments are left with traces of those lost. With a haunting soundtrack, revolutionary environments, and non-linear interactive storytelling, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is an innovation deserving of the current generation of consoles.

Discover the Rapture exclusively on PlayStation 4 on August 11th.

Five Nights at Freddy's 4: The Final Chapter

What better way to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the YouTube phenomenon Five Nights at Freddy's than to release the final game in the indie point-and-click horror series?

Developer Scott Cawthon has taken over the world with a trilogy of crafty jump scares, disturbing characters, and surprisingly cohesive stories.

But the latest iteration of horrifying animatronic bears may be taking it one step too far, as the wiry monsters will be let loose out of public property and into personal homes.

As a little child armed with only a flashlight, players will have their hands full as they try to stay alive to watch the sun rise five times.

Stay up for The Final Chapter on Steam on August 8th.

Rare Replay

What's better than one game? 30 games!

After developing over a hundred video games in the past three decades, Rare has picked out 30 hits to celebrate their 30th anniversary in the business, all for only $30.

By earning up to 10,000 Gamerscore across all 30 games, which include gems like Banjo-Kazooie, Battletoads, and Perfect Dark, players can unlock more content, with Gamerscore previously earned for the Xbox 360 games carrying over. 

Old-school features like scanlines and rewind are available for some games, as well as online multiplayer and most downloadable content, while a new feature called Snapshots presents small segments of the games as challenges for the player. 

In addition, a one-hour documentary feature on the history of the studio is included in the compilation, along with concept art and information about unreleased Rare games.

Replay through 30 years of video gaming history on Xbox One on August 4th.

What games are you excited about this coming August? Talk about your favorites in the comments below.