New computer games: Colonise Mars, make pizza or escape from prison

In Surviving Mars you're kept busy looking for precious metals to mine and sourcing housing, energy, water and oxygen for your settlers. — dpa

A guerrilla fight against crazy end-time disciples, leading a Mars colony or building a pizza empire – the latest games offer all sorts of challenges. We look at four of them.

Surviving Mars – Dusty with a view of solar storms

The title says it all: The strategy game Surviving Mars from Paradox Interactive makes players the manager of a Martian colony. It all depends on good planning.

Before the spaceship even lands, the new home has to be explored and once the colony is founded precious metals have to be mined and settlers supplied with housing, energy, water and oxygen.

Occasional meteorite impacts and solar storms complicate this Martian adventure. This complex strategy title is available for PCs and Macs, the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 for around US$40 (RM155).

Pizza Connection 3 – Return of the pizza maker

Put an apron on, turn on the oven and off you go. The developers have taken 16 years to deliver Pizza Connection 3 to the gaming community. As with its predecessors, the game is all about building up a pizza empire while keeping the competition in check.

At the beginning the player-entrepreneur has to ask many questions such as where will I rent my restaurant, how can I get good staff and which kind of advertising works best?

Creating and designing the pizzas is all about creativity and an appreciation of customers' differing tastes. Lots of toppings isn't always the answer.

And sometimes a couple of well-placed cockroaches and an anonymous tip-off to the health department can help to quell competitors. This youth-friendly game for PCs costs around US$30 (RM116).

A Way Out – Prison escape into the unknown

The third-person co-op adventure A Way Out takes players to a US jail in the 1970s. Prisoners Vincent and Leo want to escape but they'll have to work as a team to achieve this. So two players sitting at home in front of the TV or online via EA Origin get to direct their fates.

The game is played split-screen and a playing partner has to be available as the game server doesn't allow a free search for someone to play with. The game is shaped from start to finish by team-play and anyone who makes decisions alone won't get very far.

The quieter passages of the game are amply supplemented by action such as motorbike chases and shootouts. Depending on the decisions made, different game outcomes are possible.

A Way Out is available for PCs, the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One and costs around US$30. It's suitable for players aged 18 and older.

Far Cry 5 – Fighting apocalyptic hillbillies

Insane antagonists and gigantic game worlds are a trademark of Far Cry and the fifth edition is no exception. The game takes place in the US state of Montana where cult leader Joseph Seed and his followers have established a reign of terror. The player's mission is to capture the charismatic madman.

Against a backdrop of mountains, forests and lakes, this action-packed game brings the player into a guerrilla war against the powerful doomsday cult.

However, the player is far from alone, as support can be won from locals as well as a dog called Boomer. There's also plenty of transportation methods available, from quad bikes to pickups and planes.

Far Cry 5 for PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 costs around US$60 (RM232). The game is suitable for players aged 18 and older. — dpa