Recore

Microsoft has announced a handful of its games are coming to Steam and PC disc.

The Xbox Games Pass has unveiled its offerings for the month of September.

UPDATE 20TH AUGUST: The Definitive Edition of ReCore was confirmed by Microsoft during its Gamescom conference stream. Importantly, Microsoft also said the update will be free to existing owners of the game. In addition, ReCore: Definitive Edition will be a free Game Pass game next month (September).

Microsoft exclusive ReCore now has a free trial - and a big new update that improves the game.

The trial, available on both Xbox One and Windows 10, lets you play the first 30 minutes of the game. So, you get to meet Joule, her Corebot companion Mack, and begin their adventure.

If you want to buy the game afterwards, your progress carries over.

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Whether you loved or hated the recently-released ReCore, one thing most agree on is that it had pretty horrible load times on Xbox One (the game's also out on PC). Now, a patch has come out that makes them shorter.

A note on the ReCore website signalled the release of an update for the Xbox One version of the game that improves load times.

There is a caveat, however:

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They don't make them like this so much anymore. Recore, a spirited action adventure from a chaos of developers assembled by Microsoft Game Studios, is what was once known as a double-A game - sitting somewhere behind the big budget blockbusters and before indie was really a thing, they were games that made up for their lack of clout by a certain pluckiness. Games such as Psi-Ops and Metal Arms: Glitch in The System were standouts in the PS2 day when your local CEX would be full of such offbeat treasures; today, Recore stands almost entirely alone in lands as deserted as its own Far Eden.

The talent behind this one is a bunch so diverse, eccentric and divisive it feels like Microsoft's tried to get together video game development's answer to the A-Team. Keiji Inafune, fresh from the infamy of Mighty No. 9, gets a production credit while his Comcept studio is put to work, Microsoft lends Joseph Staten for his first big writing gig since seeing much of his story for Destiny jettisoned at Bungie while Armature - an Austin studio formed by veterans of the Metroid Prime series - is also involved. Heck, even Asobo, the French studio responsible for the gloriously ambitious (and hugely flawed) Fuel is in on the act with this one. As mid-tier games go, Recore's got an all-star cast.

You're Joules, a would-be colonist of distant planet Far Eden who wakes up from cryosleep to find her fellow settlers depleted in number and scattered across the sands while rogue bots stalk the lands. It's hardly an original set-up, but it does at least plunder from elsewhere with a spring in its step. Perhaps you can thank Staten's presence, with Recore sharing with classic Halo the same appetite for pulpy sci-fi told with puppy dog enthusiasm; Joules herself is a lightly sketched out yet endearingly upbeat lead, while Far Eden itself is a captivating sprawl, full of mysteries secreted under its baking sands.

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There's not been that much fanfare over ReCore, the Xbox One and PC exclusive that's coming primarily from Armature and that's being directed by the talent behind the legendary Metroid Prime series. Which is something of a shame - having played it for a short while I think it's got the capacity to be a pleasant surprise when it comes out in a few weeks time.

The new Gamescom might do a better job at selling people on it, as it does a pretty good job of showcasing the exploration and combat as well as ReCore's winningly bright visual style.

It does showcase something else, though: an absolutely awful jump animation, which seems like something of a shame when much of your time exploring is spent jumping and double-jumping around the place. Is it too late to put in something a little more weighty in there? Given that ReCore's out on September 13th it probably is, though I'd be more than happy to see something a little less limp in its place. Still, there remains a lot to like about ReCore.

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If you're looking for pedigree, it doesn't really come much stronger than this. Directed by the man who helmed the Metroid Prime trilogy. Written by the man who helped build the Halo universe. And with the involvement of an outspoken Japanese development legend who's never far away from the headlines.

UPDATE: ReCore will be a cheaper, £30 game, according to a FAQ on the official website.

ORIGINAL STORY: Microsoft's robotty action adventure game ReCore will be released 13th September (probably 16th in UK) on Windows PC and Xbox One, as leaked yesterday, and will be a Cross-Buy, Play Anywhere title, so you only need buy it on one platform to be able to play it on both.

Microsoft showed a new trailer for ReCore during its E3 2016 press conference. In it we saw hero Joule and robot companion Mack, as we did last year, in addition to two other robot friends: Duncan, a big robot, and Seth, a spidery thing. It's clear that each robo-pal serves a specific companion purpose for Joule, and that they're all broadly similar to animals. Mack is basically a dog, Seth a spider and Duncan a gorilla.

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The leaky E3 pipe sprays another: Microsoft will apparently release Xbox One exclusive, ReCore, this autumn. ReCore was also listed for Windows 10 earlier in the year - presumably this date applies to that version too.

The European release date is listed as 16th September, and the American date as 13th September.

The leak comes from NeoGAF again, and from the same person responsible for the Dead Rising 4 leak. There are a couple of new screenshots.

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"Wouldn't it be nice if I could just say that I'm done and retire?" Keiji Inafune, implausibly 50, lounges on a bench, back against the wall, legs outstretched, crossed at the ankles, arms folded. The translator laughs to mask the sense of unease in the room. But it's not unexpected. Inafune, whose career in Japanese game development began in the late 1980s when he joined Capcom as an illustrator (he helped design the original Street Fighter's iconic characters, Ken and Ryu) has a reputation for bolshiness. After designing Mega Man, a game series that sold tens of millions of copies, Inafune rose Capcom's ranks to become global head of production. It could have been a job for life, but in 2010 Inafune announced on his blog that he was leaving to "start...life over." Freedom of employment (he started his own company, Comcept) seemingly brought with it freedom of speech: during a talk at the 2012 Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, Inafune accused the Japanese video game industry as being in a "tragic state." The verdict made him few friends.

UPDATE 24TH JUNE: We weren't offered a ReCore interview at E3 and the game wasn't present at the show in any way beyond the trailer released below. It's still very early days.