Our most anticipated Xbox One and PS4 games of July

Awesome Level Max isn’t as much a full on game as it is an expansion, but if you saw the teaser trailer at Ubisoft’s E3 Press Conference, you’d understand why it needs to be on the radar for this month.  The expansion is made up of two separate events, one being an Adventure Mode that stars a handgun toting cat that rides a fire breathing unicorn.  Considering that Trials Fusion’s main gameplay is all about pulling off stunts on dirt bikes, it will be interesting to see how the mechanics of a fire breathing unicorn change up the formula.

The other part of the DLC is a collection of unique tracks made by both Developer RedLynx and the Trials Fusion community called RedLynx vs All-Stars.  This Expansion is sure to resonate with fans on multiple levels having the developers tip their caps to their fans as well as telling an epically non-sensical story with characters nobody would hate to play as.

Potentially the most intriguing of the releases for July is the first episode of the new King’s Quest titled A Knight to Remember.  The game will release in installments over the next few months spilling over into 2016 and tells the story of King Graham, the hero from the original games, as he recounts his adventures to his granddaughter, Gwendolyn.  Many of the levels will be modern re-imaginings of the game’s classic adventures, including Graham’s very first adventure from King’s Quest 1 to reclaim the Magic Mirror from the lair of a green dragon.

King’s Quest looks to be delivering on the angle of fan service while balancing the need to ease in those who are new to the series.  Fans of adventure should be very excited about King’s Quest as it retains a lot of the qualities that made the originals so timeless.  Sharp and witty writing, a branching narrative for replayability, and a beautiful art style which is a modern take on the colorful and whimsical world from the originals along side exciting third person action that prevents the game from feeling too much like an interactive narrative.

The third entry in Sony Santa Monica Studios’ epic and bloody take on greek mythology is the latest big game to get the HD Remaster treatment.  God of War III: Remastered is the ultimate version of Kratos’ final chapter, running at 1080p and 60 FPS so for those who (for some reason) still haven’t played the game, now will be as good an opportunity as there has ever been.

The original version of God of War III was very well received by critics, scoring a prestigious 92 overall.  It was a nominee for Game of the Year in 2010 but did take home the award for Best PS3 game and Best Graphics.  Now with God of War III: Remastered, the best graphics of 2010 just got even better.

Classic monster beat em’ ups are something of a rarity these days.  Games like Rampage and War of the Monsters were very popular in the 90’s and early 2000’s and the formula was pretty much as simple as it gets.  Monsters beat things and/or each other up and immense city destruction follows.  These are the things Godzilla: The Game is trying to bring to the Playstation platforms.  The game features both classic and modern Godzilla monsters to the fray including a host of infamous beasts like Mothra, Mecha Godzilla and Jet Jaguar.

Developer Natsume is also trying to recreate the special effects from the original movies to make the game feel more authentic.  As the creature you inhabit rages through the environment, buildings will break off in chunks, reminiscent of the destruction from the the classic films.

July is traditionally a dead month for video game releases.  Every year gamers scour the internet for anything that might be remotely interesting that might otherwise be overlooked during the busy months.  Once this fruitless endeavor finally comes to an end, we generally settle on a game from the pile of shame, a Steam sale regret or replay an old favorite.  If you’d rather not do any of these things, here are five games you may want to keep an eye on this month.

For a lot of gamers, being pitched a sports game can be a hard sell.  Not everybody is a Madden and/or FIFA aficionado but there are aspects of these franchises that make for quality video games.  Developer, Psyonix operates under this very philosophy and is delivering the sequel to their 2008 Playstation 3 game, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars.  Rocket League is a futuristic, arena Soccer game that replaces the players with high octane cars and the ball with…a bigger ball.  The object of the game is as straightforward as Soccer is, score more goals than your opponent to win.  The gameplay revolves around three basic gameplay principles, Jumping, Sliding, and Boosting and players will be able to combine these things together to score satisfying goals or make dramatic saves that keep your team in the game depending on how you choose to play.

Rocket League features a heavy emphasis on customization as well with 10 different car body types, a multitude of color shades, decal designs and unlockable items like sombreros and siren lights to give your car a personal flair.  The game is also going for a very player friendly experience, doing away with classes that could upset the balance of the action, having the player unlock something after every match, providing up to 4 player local split screen action and cross-platform online play between PS4 and PC.

Rocket League will be releasing on July 7 for PC and PS4 and is also a part of Playstation Plus’ Free Games for the month of July.