5 videogames to look out for in August

And we're back! After a surprisingly slow July with few notable releases, August has a few titles worth keeping an eye out for in the lead up to summer's gaming deluge. Even better, all of them are under AUD$50.

Rare Replay 
Xbox One
August 4

Rare Replay contains 30 games by one of my favourite developers, Rare, and unlike most "retro" videogame collections, most of them are actually worth playing. The titles included span Rare's 30 years of videogame history, including Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Battletoads and Viva Piñata to name a few. Unfortunately, Donkey Kong is a major (but unsurprising) omission, but at AUD$50, you're paying less than AUD$2 per game.

All games are presented in their original form (with the exception of games that have already had a remake or upgrade), but thankfully, most still hold up surprisingly well.

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture 
PlayStation 4
August 11

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture has players take the role of a scientist trapped in a "very British" apocalypse, trying to uncover the mystery of the end of the world. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture was made by The Chinese Room, the developer responsible for Dear Esther and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs.

Volume 
PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows, Mac
August 18

Volume is a top-down stealth game from the creator of the award-winning Thomas Was Alone. Its gameplay has been described as similar to the stealth sections of earlier Metal Gear Solid titles, with the goal of sneaking through levels undetected.

Shadowrun: Hong Kong 
Windows, Mac, Linux
August 20

Shadowrun: Hong Kong is a standalone expansion to Shadowrun Returns, a popular tactical role-playing franchise that was revived via Kickstarter in 2012. Hong Kong runs on a revamped version of the Shadowrun Returns engine, includes a new single-played campaign and includes a level editor that will allow gamers to create and share their own stories.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition 
Xbox One
August 25

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is remastered release of the Xbox 360 classic. While (like myself) some argue the re-release trend is going too far, Ultimate Edition includes all multiplayer maps released in Gears of Wars' lifespan, modernised gameplay and controls, and comes in at a reasonable price-tag of AUD$50.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will also be made available for Windows 10 with support for 4K resolutions and DirectX 12. Microsoft has yet to confirm a release date for the PC port.