The pandemic shined an intense spotlight on the diverging fortunes of video games and Hollywood. While the former thrived during lockdown, the latter had difficulty adapting with movie theaters still looking for ways to draw an audience and resurrecting the blockbusting days of the past.
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Meanwhile, gaming has continued to steadily grow as a younger generation has become enthralled with the worlds they introduce. The movie industry has even leaned on video game properties as films such as “Minecraft” and “Super Mario Bros.” establish dominance in cinemas.
All of this highlights the importance of the fall and holiday season for the video game industry. This time of year is akin to the summer for movie studios as publishers unleash a torrent of video games to the public. Indie titles such as “Hade II” and “Silksong,” the sequel to “Hollow Knight” have drawn enthusiastic buzz. But other established franchises have also made noise over the past few months. Here’s a look at a few of them:
“Borderlands 4” — Although the star-studded film flopped at the box office, the latest entry continues the long-running series’ distinct take on the loot shooter genre. It lets players team up online or in local co-op and venture around the planet Kairos, which was opened after the events of “Borderlands 3.” A villain named the Timekeeper rules the locale, and it’s up to a new set of Vault Hunters to help the rebellious Crimson Raiders defeat him.
The premise is standard fare for a series that concentrates more on giving players four intriguing protagonists to choose from: Rafa, a gun-wielding exo-soldier; Harlowe, a Gravitar focused on area-of-effect attacks and controlling the battlefields; Amon, a tank-like Forgeknight; and Vex, a Siren who has the ability to spawn minions and drain life from enemies like a necromancer.
The fun in the series lies in leveling up a character, grabbing better gear and crafting a chosen hero so that they become devastating on the battlefield. Although the plot is the average save-the-world formula, it’s the outlandish humor sprinkled with touches of humanity that makes “Borderlands” franchise stand out.
As with every sequel, Gearbox Software improves the gameplay by adding an open-world element. Players are thrown into the vast planet of Kairos, and the developers give players tools to explore it such as the Digi Runner, a double jump, glide and a grappling hook. Although these help players traverse the terrain, it also makes finding objectives in each mission sometimes more difficult to find.
“Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds” — The kart-racing genre will have plenty of competition this holiday season. “Mario Kart World” has dominated headlines as the Nintendo Switch 2 launch title and “Kirby Air Riders” is coming in November. Those heavyweights will draw attention, but fans shouldn’t overlook “Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.”
The sequel to “Team Sonic Racing” shows that though Nintendo took a new open-world approach, the genre still has more treasures to mine in a traditional format. “CrossWorlds” features a decent roster of racers from the Blue Blur’s adventures, and it has a rival system, in which the game picks a competitor to shadow the player, that adds more personality to the competition.
But Sega’s title has more going for it with a dose of randomness. Each course starts with a regular lap, but the second one transports the field to a new destination based on the decision of the pack leader. The third and final lap teleports players back to the original course albeit with new obstacles, creating an unpredictable race narrative.
“CrossWorlds” also offers more depth by letting players unlock car parts for different racing styles, using Donpa Tickets earned by completing races. Players can mix and match pieces to build vehicles that excel at top seed, acceleration, handling, boost usage or build (which is used to knock into other racers). On top of that, players also have Gadgets that add perks to that loadout.
All of this creates a novel experience with a surprising amount of replay value.
“Mafia: The Old Country” — The 2K Games series about organized crime has carved a niche for itself by embracing the history behind crime bosses and the lore around the mob. Previous games aimed for a “Mad Men”-type accuracy while focusing on the Prohibition era and the times after World War II and the Vietnam War.
In this iteration, “The Old Country” goes back further to the turn-of-the-century Sicily. The 1900s is a snippet of time where the modern world is emerging out of the old. Horses and cars share the road. Firearms are more common but denizens still fight with knives. The campaign transports players to an era that feels familiar with its “Mafia”-type touches, but it also echoes a bit of the Wild West.
Players take on the role of Enzo Favaro, a miner who survives a tunnel collapse and flees the pit after insubordinately attacking a cruel underboss. His escape takes him to Don Bernardo Torrisi’s land, where he becomes embroiled in the politics between the Torrisi family and that of Enzo’s former boss, the mine owner Don Ruggero Spadaro.
In a narrative-driven game with some open-world elements, players control Enzo as he rises through the ranks to become a trusted underling of Don Torrisi. The developer, Hangar 13, doesn’t waste the setting and creates a fascinating world in “The Old Country” that leads to memorable scenarios but also some predictable moments.