The games of June 2013
A guide to the (naughty) dog days of summer gaming
Summer is on our doorsteps, which means it's time to shutter the windows and lock ourselves in our living rooms to play some of the hottest new releases of the season. Need a few suggestions? Here's a rundown of the adventures, infections, battles, and mind-trips heading to a console and rig near you this June...
June 4
EVE Online: Odyssey
Platforms: PC, Mac
EVE Online celebrated its 10th anniversary this May. Why not mark the rare MMO milestone with even more free content? Free content like new space-faring tools, systems, and other tweaks are inbound for the EVE Online universe. This free expansion is the nineteenth of its kind for CPP's intergalactic MMO. It will extend the game's storyline beyond the Battle for Caldari Prime and feature useful goodies like a new Discovery Scanner, ship skill changes, a fresh reward systems, a new hacking mechanic, dual character training, rebalances, and other gameplay improvements.
Marvel Heroes
Platform: PC
Captain America, Deadpool, Magneto, and Doctor Doom are just a few of the Marvel all-stars tapped to appear in Gazillion Entertainment's forthcoming MMO. Designed by Diablo veteran David Brevik, this free-to-play action RPG will let players control their favorite Marvel characters to stop Doctor Doom and his villainous crew from reshaping the world with the Cosmic Cube. The game features a storyline penned by Marvel comic veteran Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers), and top-down action resembling the Diablo series. Players will have full access to the game for free, with the option to purchase costumes, perks, and customizable assets for those who wish to spend a little extra. You can read our Marvel Heroes MMO – 12 Reasons it might be more marvelous than you think to see why it's worth wearing tights for when it officially launches this month.
Remember Me
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
EU: June 7
Neo-Paris plays host to this futuristic action-adventure from indie studio Dontnod Entertainment. Set in the year 2084, it follows an ex-memory hunter named Nilin who joins the Errorists rebel group after being betrayed by her former employers at MEMORIZE, a corporation hellbent on manipulating the populace through brain implants called Sensation Engines. This brand new series will incorporate a blend of stealth, platforming, open-world exploration, and combo-based combat. It will also see players fighting through broken down French locales as well as delving into the memories of Nilin's targets. We spent some time invading brains in a Remember Me preview build. See what we discovered in RadarPlays - Remember Me.
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June 5
Prime World Defenders
Platforms: PC, Mac
Stand your ground and stack your deck in this hybrid strategy game that brings card battling to the tower defense genre. Prime World: Defenders casts players treasure hunters who must defend their territory against 36 types of monsters and bosses by collecting and wielding cards to trap, kill, or wound enemies as they approach. Developed by Nival (Heroes of Might and Magic V, Allods Online), Prime World: Defenders will ship with a story-based campaign spanning 23 missions and packed with towers, upgrades, hero perks, and special cards to collect. It will also sport randomly generated missions to keep the action going well past the final march.
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion - Forbidden Worlds
Platforms: PC
Fans of Stardock's sci-fi RTS will soon have interstellar surprises to uncover in this standalone expansion. Forbidden Worlds will expand the 4X strategy series' content with four addition planet types (Barren, Ferrus, Greenhouse, and Oceanic), 15 new research subjects, a new planet specialization system, 40 new plant bonuses; and five new Steam Achievements. Story wise, players will gain a deeper perspective of the conflict between the loyalists and rebels while digging into the history of all warring factions within Trader Space. We've already logged some time in this large-scale space adventure. Read up on our travels in the Sins of a Solar Empire review.
State of Decay
Platform: Xbox 360
How long can you hack it in a world overrun by zombies? This is the question at the core of State of Decay, an open-world survival horror game from Undead Labs that aims to drops players in an undead sandbox and watch them squirm. Arriving as a premium download for Xbox Live, State of Decay will challenge players to loot, build, craft, and stab their way to survival against an unrelenting hordes of zombies. The focus will fall on finding resources, developing a home base, and interacting with other survivors for the purpose of staying alive and staving off loneliness. The game will also include story missions that will add meat the main character Marcus and his new life as a head-chopping member of the (dwindling) human population.
June 6
Panzer Corps: Allied Corps
Platforms: PC
Virtual World War II buffs are getting a re-stock of scenarios and units for the Panzer Corps series. Playable as an expansion to Panzer Corps or a standalone entry, Allied Corps will put players in command of Western Allies in 30 campaign scenarios that will cover significant WWII events between 1940 and 1945. Players will be able to start the expansion as the US or UK forces, with more options and units available in future missions. Battle tracking, a scenario editor, and multiplayer modes will also be included. The add-on is being touted as the spiritual successor Allied General, Strategic Simulations' 1995 turn-based strategy game that cast players as an Allied general tasked with destroying Axis forces.
Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at 12DOVE until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.
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