Jan. 19 marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States, meaning plenty of people will be waking up on Monday with a bonus day off. You can spend that free tiem in numerous ways, but you and I both know what we really want to do: get some extra gaming in.
This week’s recommendations are all big-ass open-world games you can sink your teeth into while enjoying a three-day weekend. They include a satirical sci-fi jaunt and, because we’re talking open-world games, not one but two Ubisoft map games.
Revenge of the Savage Planet
In 2019, Journey to the Savage Planet developer Typhoon Studios was bought by Google. In 2021, it was shut down by Google. Rather than disappearing, the developers started a new studio called Raccoon Logic, got the rights to the Savage Planet series back, and channeled their frustration into a sequel. The result is Revenge of the Savage Planet, an open-world game about astronauts who are hired by a mega corporation for a research mission and then laid off while still in cryosleep. They wake up on an unfamiliar planet and are forced to survive by any means necessary.
There are shades of Subnautica in its crafting and base decoration, but it’s largely a collectible-loaded romp over a few different open-ended planets. Revenge of the Savage Planet serves up some great slapstick satire along the way, both in the way it slyly lampoons Google and in its over-the-top commentary on colonization. You’ll rob alien planets of all their resources. You’ll kick adorable animals like footballs. The world is your oyster… nevermind the fact that it’s not actually yours. —Giovanni Colantonio
Star Wars Outlaws
The best non-Jedi Star Wars game in years just landed on Xbox Game Pass. Star Wars Outlaws ditches Jedi, lightsabers, and The Force for a focus on the scummier side of Star Wars. You play as scoundrel Kay Vess as she travels the galaxy doing missions for crime syndicates, backstabbing them all along the way. Gameplay is Uncharted-like in that Kay is an expert platformer who knows how to wield a blaster.
It can be tough for any game to shake the stink leftover from a lackluster launch, and Outlaws‘ initial auto-fail stealth sections stunk. Those are patched now, and the thrilling stealth missions don’t end when Kay gets caught. Instead, they provide you an opportunity to blast some Stormtroopers in the face. At the very least, Star Wars Outlaws is worth checking out for its Sabacc card game alone. —Austin Manchester
Assassin’s Creed Origins
Some Ubisoft games get a lot of flack for being the epitome of the “Ubisoft Map Game,” what with their sprawling open worlds and icon-packed maps, but the reputation exists for good reason: The company really does make terrific open-world games. And Assassin’s Creed Origins is arguably the platonic ideal of the formula, too. Remember when open-world games were 40 hours instead of 400? Those were the days.
Origins, released in 2017, was the first Assassin’s Creed game to adopt a more RPG-like mold, breaking from the series’ roots as urban stealth games. It’s tightly paced, and features a wide range of optional activites: some deduction, some platforming, some sneaking, some straight-up action. There’s a lot to do, yes, but not too much to do. And it all takes place in a gorgeous setting (Egypt around 49 BC). —Ari Notis