July games roundup: A month of aliens, dinos, mercs and weird plants

I find myself asking if there is really a point for any new games to be released in the next few months. Why? Because I am sure most gamers would still be playing Diablo IV especially since its first season will go live in the coming weeks.

But I guess if you are not a fan of Diablo or just want to play something else for a change, here are four upcoming releases that look pretty fun.

Exoprimal

Release Date: July 14

Platform: Personal Computer (PC), PlayStation Four, PlayStation Five, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

To say that we do not have enough games with dinosaurs in them is an understatement but they are few and far between.

Personally, I cannot even remember the last game I played that involved dinosaurs in them. No, Monster Hunter does not count. But it seems like Capcom is about to remedy that with their upcoming multiplayer third-person shooter, Exoprimal.

Set in the year 2040 (which is not that far off now that I think about it), dinosaurs have appeared and are destroying cities across the globe.

The powerful Aibius Corporation creates the revolutionary Artificial Intelligence (AI), Leviathan, to forecast where the next dinosaur outbreak will occur and deploy Exofighters armed with state-of-the-art mechanised armour known as Exosuits to defeat them.

The game is a co-op game but with a competitive edge.

In the main game mode, Dino Survival, two teams of five players will race to complete objectives against each other and the hordes of dinosaurs.

Like any other team-based games today, the Exosuits come in an array of classes, each playing a distinct role in combat with their unique armoury and special abilities.

The other game mode that has been unveiled is the Savage Gauntlet where five-player teams take on Player versus Environment (PvE) scenarios that rotate weekly.

These limited-time missions are packed with late-game content and offer a higher level of challenge. In this mode, players will also gain access to Alpha variant Exosuits that feature distinct combat styles compared to the default models.

Jagged Alliance 3

Release Date: July 14

Platform: PC

After 24 years of waiting, we are finally getting another mainline Jagged Alliance game and it is developed by Haemimont Games Attack Damage (AD), a developer that knows how to do strategy games right and they might just be the ones to revive the series.

If you have not heard of or played Jagged Alliance before, it is an isometric tactical role-playing game where you command a squad of mercenaries, each with their own unique backstories and personalities.

To take it one step further, mercenaries will interact with each other and have personal preferences and animosities that can influence their performance.

So, it is up to you to hire the right people for the right jobs or they might all just end up dead on the battlefield.

Jagged Alliance 3 takes place in the fictional country of Grand Chien. After the kidnapping of its president, the country is now in chaos and the president's family has come to you to help orchestrate the president's rescue and bring order back to the country.

To do this, not only will you have to hire and command your squad of mercenaries but you will also need to gather intel, earn money, loot and salvage weaponry and equipment, train the locals and fight off "The Legion."

The game will also feature online co-op so you can experience the campaign with friends. You can already pre-purchase the game from Steam and it currently has a 20 per cent discount that will end on the day it fully launches.

Pikmin Four

Release Date: July 21

Platform: Nintendo Switch

The six-year-old Nintendo Switch may be an elder statesman when it comes to the world of video game consoles, but at least Nintendo is still releasing exclusives for it.

The upcoming Pikmin Four is a game that fans have waited for for 10 years now and from what I have seen so far, it looks to be yet another wholesomely fun game.

For the very first time in the series, the game will feature a customisable playable character who is the newest recruit of the esteemed Rescue Corps.

You have been sent on a mission to rescue Captain Olimar, the protagonist of the previous games, and the Rescue Corps team that was sent to rescue him, both of which have crash-landed on the same mysterious planet.

Similar to the previous games, you will rely on cute plant-like creatures called Pikmin to help you through the various obstacles and puzzles in this strange new world.

Another first for the series is the new day and night system which lets you explore at night instead of having to retreat to safety at the end of a day.

However, the creatures will go into a frenzy at night, so you will still have to be on your guard and use the new Glow Pikmin to drive them away.

If you would like to try out Pikmin Four before the game is fully released, you can download its demo from the Nintendo eShop and the My Nintendo Store on Nintendo.com.

Remnant Two

Release Date: July 25

Platform: PC, PlayStation Five, Xbox Series X|S

Remnant Two is the sequel to the underrated Remnant: From the Ashes which was released in 2019.

This is a Soulslike game that set itself apart from the rest by being more focused on gunplay instead of swordplay and offered a full co-op experience that lets you team up with two other players and progress through the story.

The sequel is set after the events of the first game where humanity was victorious against the inter-dimensional evil known as the Root.

However, peace did not last long and humanity has to prepare for the next fight. Once again, you can enter the fray as a lone wolf or even the odds against the Root by teaming up with two friends to overcome daunting challenges.

Gunfire Games has expanded and improved many of the features that were in the first game such as the procedurally generated maps that changed the layout and enemy spawn points.

This is taken up a notch in Remnant Two as enemy types, the aesthetics of a region, boss characters, non-playable characters and the game's storyline and quests are also randomly generated.

On top of that instead of just three archetypes (classes), players will now be able to choose from four; the Gunslinger, the Handler, the Challenger and the Medic.

That is not all however as you progress through the campaign, you will then unlock the ability to equip a secondary archetype, which essentially allows you to multiclass.

ALSO READ: Diablo IV review: The devil draws us back in

This article was first published in Potions.sg.