Every month, the gaming industry releases over a hundred games on distribution platform such as Steam, and every month, the folks at OpNoobs look at each closely, to make a selection of what they believe are the Top 10 most significant releases.
OPN's DevLounge Monthly brings together industry professionals for a lively conversation on Twitch, to reflect upon the highlighted games of the month and bring insight on their significance for the indie gaming movement as a whole.
The OpNoobs organizers present each title and the studio behind them to a panel of game developers, after which they open the floor to commentaries. The conversation has a free form format, therefore allowing for flexibility in topics approached, whether the focus lies on the game itself, its genre, competitors and predecessors, or the studio, its creators and developers.
THE PANEL
STEPHANIE ‘VIRLOMI’ EDGAR
Twitch Streamer
Twitch: twitch.tv/virlomi
Virlomi is a nighttime variety broadcaster. She started streaming in 2012 and began broadcasting full time January 2013. Only a year later, in February 2014, she became a partnered twitch streamer playing Final Fantasy 13: Lightning Returns. Virlomi has a wide variety of content ranging from classic RPGs to new releases to fps, even doing creative content such as cooking and cosplay sewing streams. Virlomi has over 19 wigs that she wears for different cosplays or just because she wants to change the way she looks on a particular day. Her stream is community driven. Virlomi and her viewers are interactive and inviting so go check her out!
CHRISTOPHER NATSUUME
Creative Director and co-founder of Boomzap Entertainment
Website: http://www.boomzap.com/
Producer of the original Far Cry, Chris Natsuume has been actively working as a designer, producer, and director in the game industry since 1992, with credits on almost 50 games. Currently, Chris is the Creative Director and Co-Founder of Boomzap Entertainment, one of the pioneers of the virtual studio environment (100% home-based and pants optional).
MARK NG
Co-Founder, Clapfoot Games
Website: clapfootgames.com/
Mark Ng is the co-founder of Clapfoot, an independent studio from Toronto that is now focused on developing unique multiplayer games for PC and Console. Before founding the studio six years ago, he worked in the gaming and graphics industry for over five years. Earlier this year, Clapfoot launched Fortified, a co-op action strategy game for the Xbox One and Steam. The studio is now working on an ambitious massively multiplayer game called Foxhole.
OPN TEAM
Frederic Brizzi, OpNoobs President
Shane Gamez, OpNoobs Executive Producer
#10 – Brut@l
RELEASE DATE: 02/09
THE GAME
Brut@l is a modern re-imagining of the classic ASCII dungeon crawler, fusing old-school gaming with a stunning 3D visual style to create an adventure that's totally unique!
Choose your hero – Ranger, Mage, Warrior or Amazon – and descend into a procedurally generated world constructed entirely from ASCII. Your goal? Reach the 26th floor, vanquish the fearsome Guardian of the Dungeon and claim his crown.
#9 - Aaero
RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 2017
THE GAME
Speed through stunning, stylized environments tracing ribbons of light, releasing the energy in the music. Battle strange enemies and fight epic boss battles all driven by an incredible licensed soundtrack. Coming to Xbox One, PS4 and Steam: Q1 2017.
#8 - 911 Operator
RELEASE DATE: 02/24
THE GAME
911 OPERATOR is a game about the difficult work of people that manage emergency lines and services. Main task is to answer incoming calls and to react properly - give first aid instructions, advise, dispatch correct number of fireman, police, ambulances, or sometimes just ignore the call.
#7- LEGO Worlds
RELEASE DATE: 02/21
THE GAME
LEGO® Worlds is a galaxy of procedurally-generated Worlds made entirely of LEGO bricks which you can freely manipulate and dynamically populate with LEGO models. Explore each World and unlock new discoveries: from cowboys and giraffes to vampires and polar bears, to steamrollers, race cars, and colossal digging machines! Use the multi-tool to shape environments and alter any World to your liking: raise the terrain to create vast mountain ranges, or enter the Brick-by-Brick editor to build anything you can imagine. Save your creations to build with them again. LEGO Worlds enables you to populate your Worlds with many weird and wonderful characters, creatures, models, and driveable vehicles, and then play out your own unique adventures. Probably not worth upsetting the Skeletons though…
#6 - Night in the Woods
RELEASE DATE: 02/21
THE GAME
College dropout Mae Borowski returns home to the crumbling former mining town of Possum Springs seeking to resume her aimless former life and reconnect with the friends she left behind. But things aren't the same. Home seems different now and her friends have grown and changed. Leaves are falling and the wind is growing colder. Strange things are happening as the light fades.
And there's something in the woods.
NIGHT IN THE WOODS is an adventure game focused on exploration, story, and character, featuring dozens of characters to meet and lots to do across a lush, vibrant world. After a successful Kickstarter it's being made by Infinite Fall, a teamup of Alec Holowka (Aquaria), Scott Benson (Late Night Work Club), and Bethany Hockenberry.
#5 – Gunmetal Arcadia
RELEASE DATE: 02/07
THE GAME
War is coming. How will you serve? Following the events of Gunmetal Arcadia Zero, the Tech Elves of Arcadia continue their struggle against the hordes of the Unmade Empire. Play as one of the heroes Vireo, Grackle, Thrush, or Starling and take the fight back to the enemy! Gunmetal Arcadia features roguelite platformer action and world-class CRT simulation technology that evokes the aesthetics of past generations.
From developer J. Kyle Pittman (Super Win the Game) and Minor Key Games (Slayer Shock) comes Gunmetal Arcadia, an all-new action-adventure platformer roguelite drenched in glowing retro goodness.
#4 - Sniper Elite 4
RELEASE DATE: 02/14
THE GAME
Sniper Elite 4 is the next game in the award-winning, chart-topping shooter series, combining genre-defining ballistics, breathless emergent stealth, and gripping third-person action across the largest and most diverse environments ever seen in a Sniper Elite game.
WELCOME TO ITALY, 1943
Set in the aftermath of its award-winning predecessor, Sniper Elite 4 continues the series’ World War Two heritage by transporting players across the beautiful Italian peninsula, from sun-drenched Mediterranean coastal towns, to colossal Nazi megastructures, daunting forests and giddying mountain monasteries inspired by Monte Cassino.
Covert agent and elite marksman Karl Fairburne must fight alongside the brave men and women of the Italian Resistance to help free their country from the yoke of Fascism, and defeat a terrifying new threat with the potential to halt the Allied fightback in Europe before it’s even begun.
If his mission fails, there will be no Operation Overlord, no D-Day landings, and no Victory in Europe.
TRUE NEXT-GENERATION SNIPING.
With an expansive campaign for 1-2 players and dedicated co-op and adversarial multiplayer modes, Sniper Elite 4 aims to deliver the definitive World War Two shooter for a generation, with unrivalled sniping freedom across maps many times the size of those seen in Sniper Elite 3.
#3 - FOR HONOR
RELEASE DATE: 02/14
THE GAME
Carve a path of destruction through an intense, believable battlefield in For Honor.
UNIQUE WARRIORS TO MASTER
Choose your warrior amongst a variety of bold Knights, brutal Vikings and deadly Samurai, each with their own weapon set, play style and customization options.
MEMORABLE STORY CAMPAIGN
Storm castles and fortresses in massive battles and confront deadly bosses in intense duels to ensure the survival of your people against a mysterious and deadly foe.
CONQUER FOES ALONE OR WITH FRIENDS
For Honor offers an engaging single-player campaign and thrilling multiplayer.
INNOVATIVE ART OF BATTLE CONTROL SYSTEM
Wield the weight of your weapon and feel the power of every strike through the system that puts you in total control.
#2 – ATELIER SOPHIE: THE ALCHEMIST OF THE MYSTERIOUS BOOK
RELEASE DATE: 02/07
THE GAME
17th in the Atelier series. The budding alchemist Sophie of Kirchen Bell meets the Mysterious Book, Plachta, and embarks on a wonderful adventure of fulfilling dreams.
#1 – Halo Wars 2
RELEASE DATE: 02/21
THE GAME
Halo Wars 2 is an upcoming real-time strategy (RTS) video game developed by 343 Industries and Creative Assembly, and published by Microsoft Studios. The game is set in the science fiction universe of the Halo series in the year 2559, and is a sequel to the 2009 video game Halo Wars. The game sees the return of the human crew aboard the UNSC warship Spirit of Fire and introduces a new alien faction known as the Banished. Development of Halo Wars 2 began in 2014 and the game was announced at Gamescom in 2015. It is scheduled to be released in February 2017 for Windows personal computers (PCs) and the Xbox One video game console.
