Kaser Focus: The Return of Max, Lara and Guybrush

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I don’t know what was on the air this week, but the game industry decided to announce the return of several iconic game characters this week. Earlier this week we heard that a new Monkey Island game is coming, and Ron Gilbert will be involved. I’m not as excited as Mike Minotti, but I’m excited to see the return of one of the greatest point-and-click adventure games of all time.

Rockstar and Remedy have announced that they will be remaking the first two Max Payne games for current-generation consoles. I’m not exactly the biggest Max Payne fan, but I’m a big fan of noir and urban thrillers, and Max Payne is one of the best examples of video games of both genres. In addition, I just like the cut of Remedy’s breeding in general.

Crystal Dynamics is making the next entry in the Tomb Raider series about the newly launched Unreal Engine 5. We don’t know anything else about it, but that’s all I need to know because I missed Lara Croft. I’m assuming Lara Croft will return in the new title, although no one at Crystal Dynamics has explicitly said so. It’s not a Tomb Raider game without Lady Croft.

Other than that, a big piece of news is that Activision Blizzard has made more than 1,000 of its contract workers full-time, with a corresponding pay rise. Specifically, the pay change doesn’t apply to Raven Software or their QA team, who spearheaded union efforts after their colleagues were fired. Very interesting.

As for the games this week, I played the new adventure game Chinatown Detective Agency. This return to the old Carmen Sandiego games fuels my love for investigation and detective work. But then again, I’ve finally completed my review of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. The two games feel as far apart as possible, so it’s been an interesting week.

What to play this week?

What’s new:

MLB The Show 22Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker SagaChinatown Detective AgencyOutbreak: Contagious MemoriesRoad Maintenance Simulator

New on subscription services:

Hoods: Outlaws and Legends (PS Plus)Slay the Spire (PS Plus)SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom — Rehydrated (PS Plus) Cricket 22 (Xbox Game Pass)MLB The Show 22 (Xbox Game Pass)Dragon Age 2 (Xbox Game Pass)Chinatown Detective Agency (Xbox Game Pass)Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (Xbox Game Pass)Star Wars: Squadrons (Xbox Game Pass)Die After Sunset (GeForce Now)Elderborn (GeForce Now)Tunic (GeForce Now)Northgard (GeForce Now)Offworld Trading Company (GeForce Now)Spirit Of The Island (GeForce Now)

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This post Kaser Focus: The Return of Max, Lara and Guybrush

was original published at “https://venturebeat.com/2022/04/08/kaser-focus-the-return-of-max-lara-and-guybrush/”