Holidaying with monsters, battling for relics and running a busy kitchen – these are a few of the new games for PCs and consoles.
Get the gang back together
Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard continues the story of the animated film Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation and tasks players with reassembling the troop of monsters around Dracula, Mavis and Frankenstein after they're shipwrecked on an island.
Players are aided by little monsters called impas whose abilities can be used to fight opponents such as carnivorous plants.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard is available for the Playstation 4, the Nintendo Switch and the Xbox One for around US$45 (RM184). The game, with its colourful graphics, is aimed particularly at families and has no age restriction.
Fighting for relics on a hostile planet
Powerful artefacts from bygone times lure four warring parties – Space Marines, Astra Militarium, Orks and Necrons – to the inhospitable planet Gladius in the round-based strategy title Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics Of War.
Each party brings its own special abilities, technologies, heroes and units. The goal is to explore the planet, expand areas of influence, exploit resources and defeat opponents.
The difficulty level is tough from the start. Players also have to worry about the planet's aggressive flora and fauna, and in addition, an ancient, unknown threat is awakening in the depths of the planet.
Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics Of War is available for Windows and Linux PCs, and costs around US$40 (RM163).
Monsters under the bed
In Sleep Tight, the childhood nightmare of a monster under the bed becomes real and turns the bedroom into a war zone. The bed becomes a fort, the desk and chair are turned into a bulwark, and toys and waterbombs become defensive weapons against the charging monsters.
The game is built around day and night phases. During the day, the defensive ring is built, new weapons are developed and defence plans are prepared, and then in the night-time, the action starts.
Up to 12 different characters are available, ranging from a trigger-happy Rambo type to a brainy nerd. However, only a handful of these are available at the start of the game; the remainder are unlocked by success in the game.
Sleep Tight is available as a download from the Steam platform.
Chaos in the kitchen
The saying that too many cooks spoil the broth proves true in Overcooked 2. As with its predecessor, players (along with up to three others in the new co-op mode) have to face the challenges of everyday kitchen life – and that kitchen isn't necessarily stationary, but could be on a moving truck or the deck of a ship.
Players have to fight against time to serve burgers, sushi, soup and other culinary creations to discerning guests who mercilessly deduct points for mistakes or delays. As if cooking were not stressful enough, fire-spitting volcanoes and other nasties complicate things.
Overcooked 2 is available for PCs, the Playstation 4, the Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch. The PC version costs around US$26 (RM106). — dpa
