TA Team Picks (February 11th)

The Xbox sale returns this week with a slew of discounts on games and DLC across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC, and as such the TA news team went on a hunt to find their recommended picks . is back, lovely people, with another roundup of our favorite pickups from this week’s Xbox sales. As always, discounts have been applied to numerous games and DLC on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC, so there’s plenty to look through, and there’s always the best free Xbox games to check out if nothing here in the sale makes you want to. These picks give you a chance to see what we like to play in our downtime, so it’s usually a pretty diverse bunch of games.

This week, however, we seem to have decided, if only by chance, that violence is the way forward. Heidi is gone at the moment, but almost certainly would have given Lord Winklebottom Investigation her seal of approval to smooth the chaos somewhat, but alas, she’s not here, so the three of us go to war – Luke with the help of some screeching demonic tentacles, as Tom puts meat back on the menu in his quest for Orc meat, and Sean… well, apparently, of all the things he could pick from the bargain bin, he chose the trash. However, banter time is over because the war horns are blaring…

Bargains from the Xbox SaleLuke — The Darkness & The Darkness II
I’m going to be a greedy boy and pick two games this week because I wouldn’t want one without the other and they’re both awesome in different ways. I picked up physical copies of The Darkness and the sequel The Darkness II (both of which are back-compat 360 games) fairly recently for around the same price as this, and while I’ve yet to dive back into them properly, I’m very afterwards out to do it. The choice of Mike Patton for the role of the title Darkness was not only ingenious casting, but led to some perfect performances – growling, roaring, screaming, arresting, grating and chilling in ways I can’t imagine that any other voice actor has nailed. so good about such a crazy series.

The first game from 2007 is much more narrative-heavy, as it obviously had to assume that many players wouldn’t be familiar with the comic the games were based on, so we’re doing the origin story dance and that’s fine, because it’s not something like that of Spider-Man or Batman which has been fed to us numerous times in slightly different ways over the years. Sure, it’s aged a bit, but it still seems to be holding up relatively well, and the second game, which came out some five years later, is doing even better thanks to a lot of improvements to gunplay and spectacle, so I can’t wait finding a gap in my schedule to double up on The Darkness games… although the first game’s multiplayer achievements absolutely could do one.

The darkness

On his 21st birthday, the destructive powers of a timeless force known as The Darkness awaken within Jackie Estacado, a hitman for the Franchetti crime family. Jackie must learn to fully command The Darkness in order to take back control of the Franchetti family ruled by his “Uncle” Paulie, a despicable man who is almost universally despised. But Jackie will quickly learn that The Darkness has a will of its own…

The Darkness II

(Online interactions not rated by the ESRB) The Darkness II is an intense first-person shooter that puts you in the role of Jackie Estacado, don of a NY crime family and wielder of an ancient supernatural force of chaos known as The Darkness.

Sean – Pixel Gladiator You read that right. My sales pick this week is the tower defense title Pixel Gladiator – hint: shock, horror and repulsion from the people in the comments. Yes, it’s an easy completion, but it’s not actually that bad of a game. Pixel Gladiator is a sci-fi themed tower defense game that lets you defend your base against all sorts of intergalactic agents by building structures and towers and controlling a tiny space guy armed to the teeth with high-powered weapons. Killing enemies earns you money that you can spend on upgrades for your weapons or your base – it’s all very simple, but things can get pretty chaotic in later levels, especially when you use a jetpack to jump between platforms jump. Sure, there are far better games in the genre that you could pick up, but at this week’s stupidly low price of $0.74/£0.62/€0.74, you can’t really go wrong here. Plus there’s the added bonus of some easy player scoring for your trouble. A completion here will only take a few hours, if that.

Pixel Gladiator

Far future…
Brutal gladiator fights is a top rated show, extremely popular all over the universe. You have been sent to the deserted planet as one of the participants in the show. Your goal is to survive as long as possible and fight back deadly creatures in the focus of billions of viewers.

Kill your enemies to earn the money for weapons and upgrades. You are funded by your audience, so you have to keep yourself admired by slaughtering the monsters.

Take the challenge and emerge victorious from a carnage with ferocious animals! Become a champion of the show, full of blood, pain and eerie cruelty. Morituri too saluting!

– Unique weapons and player upgrades
-Towers and traps to maintain security off screen
-Treacherous and deadly bosses
– Fight on cameras to earn more money

Tom — Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Game of the Year Edition I’ve been playing the hell out of Hogwarts Legacy for the past week or so, and in many aspects it shares similar gameplay elements to Monolith’s Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, such as an open world packed with activities and target-based combat mechanics. So, with that in mind, I had to give this beast the attention it deserves – it’s also 70% off, meaning you can get the base game and all its DLC for just over seven pounds ($4.99/€ 8.99 can add up) ). It is a wonderful action adventure game set in the realms created by JRR Tolkien and follows the story of Talion, a Gondorian Ranger bound with the wrath of the Elven Lord Celebrimbor. It’s an action-heavy game that sees the two avenge the deaths of their families by killing the Orcs that inhabit the lands. Talion provides brawn and martial prowess, while Celebrimbor offers otherworldly magic to manipulate their enemies. Battle rocks in this game, and it’s made all the more entertaining with the AI-powered Nemesis System, which gives boss and elite characters the ability to remember you from previous encounters, giving them a chance to adapt to your attacks . This is a neat feature that gives the game a “living” feel to it.

As a bonus, if you end up enjoying this game, its sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, is available via Xbox Game Pass, so you can jump right in for some more adventures without splashing any more cash. Now gather your equipment; you have a ton of orcs to slaughter!

Will you be adding any of these games to your library, or did you find another game worth highlighting when you were sifting through the sales? Leave a comment below and let us know!