What we're playing this weekend: Rise of Iron XCOM

Ubisoft bought back 3.6 million of its own shares for $137.9 million, staving off a hostile takeover from media conglomorate Vivendi for just a little bit longer. Max Brooks, author of the excellent World War Z, is writing an official Minecraft novel, described as a "cuboid Robinson Crusoe, but madder." And Geoff Keighley's Live with YouTube Gaming premiers Thursday, which brings together live entertainment, game developers, top YouTube creators and mainstream culture.

What are you playing this weekend?

Chapel Collins, Staff Writer, @ChapelCollins

This weekend, I'm going to try and revisit Deus Ex: Human Revolution. With the new Deus Ex: Mankind Divided being so popular right now, I figured I'll take advantage of the backwards compatibility and see what all the fuss is about. Other than that, I'm really enjoying the Death Star DLC for Star Wars Battlefront, and if I find myself with just a little bit of time to kill here and there, the E-11 will probably be my weapon of choice.

Jeremy Duff, Senior Staff Writer, @Duff3c

This weekend I will be taking the GN crew on a descent into madness as we explore the dark and twisted world of Darkest Dungeon. I have been waiting for the Vita and PS4 versions to drop and they are finally here. As if we weren't already mad enough, we will see how everyone fairs when we throw a variety of psychological trauma into the mix. When I am not tied to one of my consoles, my quest for a complete North American Pokedex in Pokemon GO will continue as I creep towards the magic number of 142. I am currently sitting at 128, with four or five just a few candies away from being added, Now, if I can only hatch a Snorlax from a 10K egg rather than the constant Eevees that I have been getting...

Randy Kalista, Staff Writer, @randykalista

If you pull up the big map you'll see that I've got XCOM 2 sitting dead center on it. Excuse after excuse keeps me from getting a gaming PC going again, so I'm super happy when a AAA turn-based tactics video game actually makes it onto console. The strategy category on a PlayStation 4 gets occasional gems like The Banner Saga and Prison Architect, but it's more often populated with strategy titles like, buhhh, Angry Birds Star Wars or whatever Tropico they're up to now. But XCOM 2, aside from frame rate hitches here and there (not a big deal in a turn-based game), is everything I've super wanted in a return to the tactically-bludgeoning series, at least in these first hours.

When I'm not waking up my sleeper cell to overthrow our alien overlords in XCOM 2, I'm taking water and gas breaks in Mad Max. I'd hesitated for a year before buying this one—and I regret every minute that I'd latched onto that hesitation. Thank goodness for Let's Plays. They finally talked my tight-wad wallet out of my pocket and forced me to buy one of my favorite new-to-me games this year. Mad Max's openworld environment runs hot. The desert is gorgeous and handcrafted in a way that hides very few flaws. The car combat, while not (yet) matching the Cirque du Soleil antics of the film, is still explosive, punishing and white-knucked. I have no idea why it has over 5,000 reviews pushing it up to a 5-star customer rating in the PlayStation Store while video game journos wrestled it down to a C- in Metacritic, but I'm siding with the players on this one.

Aidan Kelly, Staff Writer, akelly@gamingnexus.com

This weekend can't come quick enough. I haven't booted up a game in nearly two weeks. My plans to make a Bloodshade character in Dark Souls 3 is gone out the window with Destiny: Rise of Iron available. For the weekend I'll (hopefully) spend the entirety of it getting my fix of Destiny. The Rise of Iron DLC looks immense and I need to get my grind on and hit the new raid. I'll be playing catch up with the rest of the squad to get raid ready. It's already been completed by six-man fireteams—even three-man fireteams—and now I want in on the action. The community is abuzz with talk about the loot system and drops. My oh my the new sparrows look menacing.

Rob Larkin, Staff Writer, @Rob_GN

I've been playing a lot of Destiny since Rise of Iron released last week. And that won't change this weekend. I'll will be taking some time off for Divinity: Original Sin 2 now that the new floors and carpets are installed at my place and I have access to it, and my PC, again. No longer homeless, new Destiny content, and a new ISP to bring my internet services out of the Dark Ages, everything's coming up Millhouse!

John Yan, Senior Hardware Editor, @TheJohnYan

This weekend is going to be rather light for me on gaming. I'll see if about getting in some HTC Vive time with some Pool Nation VR and Space Pirate Trainer. Other than that, I will just enjoy a nice relaxing weekend before I go full bore into The Witcher 3.