Ah, February. The time of love, the herald of the end of winter, and apparently the time to fight a whole bunch of monsters. As we trek into the second month of 2015, the game release calendar starts to become a little bit more dense. Here are the monster-hunting releases that we think you should keep your eye on this month.
Evolve – February 10
One of the biggest releases of the month, Evolve is a 4 vs. 1 monster hunting game made by the same people who did Left 4 Dead . If you decide to play as the monster, your goal is to avoid the four hunters while searching for food, evolving, and eventually getting strong enough to either kill them or take out their base. If you are playing as the hunters, you need to take advantage of your vast variety of sci-fi tools and technology and use teamwork to take the beastie down. This is sure to become one of the big multiplayer games of the year, so don’t miss it!
The Order: 1886 – February 20
If sci-fi monster hunting isn’t your speed, what about gothic horror monster hunting? The Order: 1886 follows the actions of an age-old order of knights that use steampunk technology in order to hunt and fight horrendous beastmen that stalk the knight. It’s also the only PS4 exclusive to come out this month, which is OK because it’s one of the big exclusives that Sony has been pushing since the PS4 was released. An interesting combination of stealth, gunplay, and horror, anyone looking for an interesting cover-based shooter should pick this one up.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate – February 13
What better game to celebrate the month of monster hunting than a game actually named Monster Hunter ? One of the original monster hunting franchises, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is an online co-op action RPG with heavy loot elements. If your weapon of choice in your monster hunting exploits is a sword as big as your body and you want to take on giant T-Rexes with a group of your friends, then this game is for you. Similarly, if you are the type of person who wants loot, so much loot, from your kills, in order to make bigger weapons and then kill bigger T-Rexes, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will likely keep you playing for hours on end.
Resident Evil Revelations 2, Episode 1 – February 24
Of course, what would a month of monster killing be without everyone’s favorite pop-culture monster, the zombie? Resident Evil Revelations 2 is set between the events of Resident Evil 5 and 6 and will star Claire Redfield and Barry Burton’s daughter Moira. Claire hasn’t gotten a lot of screentime in Resident Evil games latley, so this is going to be quite a treat. Capcom has pushed this as a resturn to traidtional Resident Evil horror. That’s good. We can always use a few less exploding cars in our survival horror games.
Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late – February 24
Perhaps you are looking for something a little bit more Lovecraftian in nature? Maybe the monsters that you want to fight take up residence in the odd hours beyond time, preying on humanity. Maybe the only ones that can stop these monsters are you and your group of spiky-haired anime protagonists with awesome weapons and cool powers. Welcome to the word of Under Night In-Birth , the latest fighting game from Ecole Software and French Bread. UNIB has a lot of interesting systems, including an open combo system, an interesting tug of war-style meter management system, and lots and lots of interesting individual mechanics for each character. If you aren’t still absorbed by Guilty Gear , give this fighting game a shot.
Dragonball Xenoverse – February 27
Sometimes the only thing you need to fight monsters that want to blow up the planet are your own two fists. That’s what the Dragonbal l universe taught me, and since Bandai Namco just won’t stop making these games, we will never stop buying them. The cool thing this time around is that you can make your own monsterous characters, things like Namekians, Majins, or whatever the heck a Frieza is. Get ready to see a lot of crazy fan fiction creations, and I can think of nothing more monstrous than fan fiction.
Game of Thrones: Episode 2: Lost Lords – February 3
Finally, Telltales’ Game of Thrones proves that the true monster that you have to fear is man. Well, that and dragons and white walkers and giants and the strange things that lurk north beyond the Wall, but mostly man. Episode 2 of the series invites you to continue your politicking, backstabbing, and general inability to care about the wellness of your fellow man. How will the Forresters survive in a world where everyone wants to burn them to the ground? Only you can decide.
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D – February 17 and 13, respectively
Finally, these last two games don’t really fold into the whole monster theme that well, but they are worth a shot. Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is the latest and final update for the much beloved fighting game, at least till we see Dead or Alive 6 . The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D is a fantastic remake of the N64 classic with a much more disturbing moon. Both are great titles and are certainly worth your time.