Now that Ubisoft has revealed it won’t release a mainline Assassin’s Creed game until 2017, fans obsessed with the series have to be content with the lone 2016 release in the series, the side-scrolling offshoot Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia. There’s also a massive expansion to last year’s excellent open-world zombie game, Dying Light, which gives new life to the undead game, and a unique indie charmer Not a Hero.
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia
(Xbox One, PS4, $10, Teen)
Ubisoft caps off its trilogy of globe-hopping, story-supplementing Assassin’s Creed spinoffs with a grim trip to Bolshevik-era Russia. There you guide assassin Nikolai Orelov as he tries to win his family’s safety by completing a harrowing mission for his order. The nimble ninja-like killer has to leap, climb and crawl his way through a political stronghold to steal an ancient artifact that could tip the balance toward his side in their ongoing struggle with the Templars and preserve the last survivors of the fallen tsar dynasty.
As with the other games in the trilogy, the platforming is a mixed bag. Strong level design is tempered with frustratingly cheap deathtraps that bottleneck your progress and tempt you to give up. The array of weapons and story-driving dialogue helps keep you willing to keep moving on. Like the China and India entries in the series, the story tidbits help fill out the wider, confusing saga and expand the reach of the centuries-long battle to global terms. Russia is by far the best-looking game in the series, with early 20th century Russian architecture captured in vivid glory. If you weren’t into the other Chronicles games, though, this one’s got little to get you to give it another go. If you want to get them all the Chronicles together, there’s a compilation that collects all three games.
Order Assassin’s Creed Chronicles here
Dying Light: The Following–Enhanced Edition
(Xbox One, PS4, $15, Mature)
One of the surprise successes of 2015 gets considerably better with a big-time expansion that improves nearly every aspect of an already strong title and re-establishes Dying Light as the best top-to-bottom zombie-slaughtering game on this generation. The new entry, set in Aussie-style bushlands ruled by an undead-worshipping cult that looks to be connected to the zombie outbreak. You’ve got to infiltrate the crazies, facing off against human and supernatural enemies to work your way through the grim, brutal tale.
The expansion takes what’s best about the main game — the free-form exploration and open-ended mission structure — and infuses it into the main quest, making Dying Light even better than it was. If you already own the main game, you can download The Following as a $15 add-on. Newcomers can pick up the expansion as part of an Enhanced Edition rerelease for $60. Since used copies are available for around $30, the only reason to get the new version is if you’re somehow entranced by the new box art.
Order Dying Light: The Following — Enhanced Edition here
Not a Hero
(PS4, $13, Mature)
The hilarious indie political satire comes at just the right time, as the election year gets a full head of steam. You play as Steve, an assassin and campaign manager who is determined to get a time-traveling rabbit elected as mayor. That entails fixing up campaign blunders and eliminating candidates by death, destruction and all the other dirty tricks that would make the characters in House of Cards envious.
Playing out something like that area-capturing metagames in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Crackdown, the task is to take down thugs to overtake territories and secure pliable voters. The cover-based shooting mechanics are smooth and engaging, and the cast of characters and dialogue keep the laughs rolling. The game, which has been drawing raves since its PC release last year, looks to capture an entirely new audience with the expanded release.
