What to play: ‘Madden NFL 24’ and the ‘Mortal Kombat 1’ beta will keep you busy this weekend
The release of “Madden NFL 24” usually marks the unofficial kickoff of the busy season for video games. From here on out, there’s going to be a flood of blockbuster titles. It will be relentless as this year is already shaping up to be one of the best years ever in video games.
With that said, here are the games to take over your weekend.
“Madden NFL 24” — This year’s edition of the venerable football franchise adds to the changes EA Tiburon introduced last year. FieldSENSE, which produces more fluidity and realism to player movement, has more than 1,700 tackle animations and top-tier quarterbacks can now improvise and perform jump or dive passes.
The developers improved elements around the edges, making the AI smarter in places and more realistic to how their real-life counterparts play in others. When it comes to returning features, EA Tiburon brings back training camp and revamps the Superstar mode.
Of course, there’ll be bugs and other complaints, but that hasn’t hurt the franchise’s sales. With more depth and features added to franchise mode, “Madden NFL 24” will keep football fans entertained through the season and beyond. Price: $69.99
“Mortal Kombat 1” — If you preordered the latest chapter of the fighting game series, you’ll have access to the beta this weekend. Players will have a chance to check out six fighters including fan favorites such as Johnny Cage, Liu Kang and Sub-Zero while four Kameo fighters make an appearance as well.
This is a chance to adjust to “Mortal Kombat 1’s” new mechanics including the new Kamoeo fighters, where a partner jumps in to provide assistance during the match. The beta runs through 8 a.m. PDT Aug 21, so you have all weekend to have a bloody good time.
“Vampire Survivors” — A game of the year contender last year, this simple but addictive action title has finally arrived on the Nintendo Switch. The premise and the visuals of the game are simple. Players select a character and they take on an unending horde of monsters.
The weapon attacks automatically and players have to weave their heroes in and out of the creatures to collect power-ups and experience gems. It sounds simple enough but handling wave after wave becomes difficult as the enemies grow more powerful and crowd the screen.
Even if you die, the deceptively simple game will have you itching to play one more time. Price: $4.49