This week’s Xbox sales may be offering huge discounts on games published by EA and Bandai Namco, but there are plenty of other titles up for grabs outside of those publishers. The TA news team has rummaged around the available bargains to offer you a surprisingly varied collection of games as their choice picks. Whether you like playing with balls, killing undead creatures, befriending wild animals, or slashing your way through a tower like a vengeful spirit, there is sure to be something here to please everyone. Heidi — Far Cry PrimalFar Cry Primal is my favourite Far Cry game. Set in the Stone Age, the game tasks us with surviving: an objective that sounds simple enough, but is far from it, as Far Cry Primal brings us a harsh world full of fierce creatures and aggressive enemies. It feels like the most imaginative Far Cry game, and is a breath of fresh air for it. Our character, Takkar, quickly learns to tame animals, and the animals he can tame become increasingly ferocious as we progress through the game, ranging from wolves to bears to sabretooth tigers. It’s an awesome gameplay mechanic that never gets old, especially when you pair your tamed animal with the owl which you also control — taking out an enemy camp by unleashing a massive bear into it, while your owl swoops overhead killing enemies and causing chaos, is a whole lot of fun. The world of Far Cry Primal is beautiful as well as deadly, with sunlight streaming past towering trees or the moon gleaming in a bright night sky. As well as surviving in this world, Takkar will also attempt to rebuild his tribe, the Wenja, the members of which are scattered all across the land of Oros. Setting out into the land to explore feels like a real adventure, and is paired perfectly with the need to rebuild your village as your base of operations, giving you a sense of ownership over your corner of Oros. Taking out enemy camps and building up an arsenal of weapons might be reminiscent of other Far Cry games, but the change in setting and the context of such a wild world sets the game far apart. I had so much fun with Far Cry Primal, which sits on the latest sale at under £9, with a discount of 67% — a bargain! Far Cry PrimalThe award-winning Far Cry franchise returns with its innovative open world gameplay, bringing together massive beasts, breathtaking environments, and unpredictable savage encounters.
Welcome to the Stone Age, a time of danger and adventure, when giant mammoths and saber-toothed tigers ruled the Earth, and humanity is struggling to climb the food chain. As the last survivor of your hunting group, you will have to rise above extinction and unite your tribe.Kes — FIFA 22I feel kind of ridiculous putting this out here. I mean, it’s FIFA. You’ll soon be able to access it via EA Play if you have Game Pass Ultimate and those of us in the world who like football have probably already nabbed it. However, for the current price, I think this still offers absurd value for money no matter how much my thoughts on the game have deteriorated since my initial FIFA 22 review. It’s still solid and the best FIFA for a few years, but subsequent updates have somehow removed a lot of the pace-slowing gameplay that allowed the beautiful game to open up and replaced it with speedier passing and route one metas. However, if it gets its hooks in you, then you can be assured that there is a comfortable game of football waiting for you every evening in Ultimate Team or in a Career Mode save where you are taking the mighty Sunderland from League One to the Champions League final. Take that, TA dev Robbie: Newcastle might have the real-world money, but my fantasy of a good Sunderland lives on in the digital world. It also happens to be a great time in online co-op and remains one of the best sports titles out there. So, why not give it a blast? FIFA 22 Xbox Series X|SPowered by Football™, EA SPORTS™ FIFA 22 on Xbox Series X|S moves the game forward with the groundbreaking next-gen HyperMotion technology that elevates every moment on the pitch.Luke — XCOM 2I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve nearly picked XCOM 2 for one of these articles, only to stumble across something that I’d rather champion. This week, though, with the sale loaded with games many folks can already download via EA Play and the sci-fi strategy game at a ridiculous 95% off, it’s finally time to give XCOM some love. This sequel turns the long-running series’ concept on its head. Rather than forming a global defence network against alien invasions of Earth, XCOM 2 sees us piecing together a resistance force to take back the planet from the extra-terrestrial menace. That’s right, the aliens won — a decision reportedly informed by achievement data, with developer Firaxis noticing that only around one in eight players beat the game and making humanity’s failure the canon XCOM ending. This switch makes for an interesting change of pace, especially if you’ve been following the franchise since back in the Nineties, although the core gameplay loop remains intact, as satisfying as ever.It’s also as punishing as ever, and while hit chance feels a little more honest here than in previous games (where 90% often felt more like 9% as your star sniper failed to find their mark, again), you’re still going to end up falling foul of the odds and missing key shots that allow the afford the enemy a chance to gain the upper hand. Loss is expected in the XCOM games, though there’s a huge difference between a rookie getting blown to bits in an early mission and losing half a seasoned squad in one turn to a sudden volley of alien grenades. Predictably, then, the XCOM 2 achievements are also super challenging, with just 250 completions here on TA from a player base of over 43,000. If you think yourself something of a tactical mastermind, this superb strategy title is as good a place as any to prove it, and they’re practically giving it away this week. XCOM® 2Earth has changed and is now under alien rule. Facing impossible odds you must rebuild XCOM, and ignite a global resistance to reclaim our world and save humanity.Sean — GhostrunnerGhostrunner is a tough and unforgiving game, but it’s also a great one if you’re willing to give it a chance. Set in a dark, post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world, you as a sword-wielding cyber ninja who has lost all memory of who he is but is then tasked with taking out The Keymaster, who rules from atop a vast megastructure that you’ll need to climb. To climb this tower, you’ll need to sprint and freerun your way through various platforming sections that are filled with enemies. Thankfully, the Ghostrunner is cybernetically enhanced and has a variety of tools at his disposal, such as lightning-quick reflexes, a grappling hook, and abilities to wall run and dash, allowing you to slice up enemies in an instant while keeping the momentum going. However, the game doesn’t allow much room for error, and if you don’t quite make a jump or dodge a bullet, you’ll have to attempt the platforming section again. It’s almost puzzle-like in its execution at times, and it’s great fun approaching a section and figuring out how you can take out all the various enemies in one fluid parkour run. The Ghostrunner achievements will require a bit of effort to unlock, but that largely comes down to mastering the Ghostrunner’s traversal and abilities. Once you’ve got that nailed down, it becomes a case of seeking out collectables, which isn’t too bad. Ghostrunner Ghostrunner offers a unique single-player experience of fast-paced, violent combat, and an original setting that blends science fiction with post-apocalyptic themes. It tells a story of a world that has already ended and its inhabitants who fight to survive.Tom — Yet Another Zombie Defence HDI’d love to sit here and reel off a ton of reasons to back up my decision to highlight Yet Another Zombie Defence HD this week, but I only have one; 79p. Yep, it’s had 80% of its price slashed so you can pick it up for less than a quid — that’s better than anything Poundstretcher is offering this week, and you’ll get to spend your weekend slaughtering zombies with some pals. Surprisingly, it’s a half-decent game as well, so this was an easy choice for me. The Yet Another Zombie Defence HD achievements can be mopped up in under ten hours, so it’s a fairly quick completion, too. Like it or hate it, for that price, it doesn’t really matter how you feel after playing it.Yet Another Zombie Defense HDYet Another Zombie Defense HD is a top-down zombie shooter with tower defense elements, featuring up to 4 players local and online co-op. Build your base by day, defend it by night, put your skills to the test and stay alive as long as you can!If there isn’t anything here for you or you’ve found a much better deal, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Let us know in the comments section below!
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