Image via Complex Original
Maybe you don't get a summer break anymore, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the hot season by staying inside playing video games just like you did as a kid. And if you're still a kid who is able to game all day, enjoy those precious hours while you still.
We know that you may be looking forward to a bunch of games coming out this fall. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Evolve, and Battlefield: Hardline alone are going to make autumn your favorite season of 2014. But there are also plenty of game either upcoming or currently out that deserve your attention during the warmer months. So if you're looking to get lost in some virtual worlds to escape the heat outside, look no further than these 10 engrossing games.
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Watch Dogs
Platforms: PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One/PC
Availability: out now
Watch Dogs is certainly not perfect, but at least it gives you plenty to do. This hack-a-thon is set in slightly-futuristic Chicago and gives you the tools and know-how to manipulate elements of the city, whether that means changing traffic lights during a high-speed chase or spying on your enemies using security cameras.
Pick it up on PS4 or Xbox One for the best experience and enjoy the cyberpunk Grand Theft Auto you've always wanted.
Titanfall
Platforms: Xbox 360/Xbox One/PC
Availability: out now
If you aren't already playing Titanfall, now is a very good time to start. And if you are playing Titanfall, you definitely don't need us to tell you how it can be a glass of cool water on a hot summer day.
The blend of on-foot and in-mech shooting never gets old, and with an endless number of challenges and achievements to unlock Titanfall can keep you occupied for a very long time.
Murdered: Soul Suspect
Platforms: PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One/PC
Availability: out now
To many, Murdered: Soul Suspect is the first Square-Enix game in some time that's actually worth getting excited about. Its action-stealth gameplay seems promising, and it's extra satisfying to close the shades, block out the sun and get engrossed in a nice, bloody mystery.
Just don't expect much replay value if you do, unfortunately.
GRID Autosport
Platforms: PS3/Xbox 360/PC
Availability: June 24
The latest game in Codemasters' GRID series of racing games hits Xbox 360 and PS3 at the end of June. For driving fans, nothing else needs to be said; this is what you're doing with your lazy summer days.
The game features authentic handling across 100 routes in 22 locations, and—of course —78 cars. Get your vroom vroom on without the need for any sunscreen. It's just too bad there's no current-gen version.
EA Sports UFC
Platforms: PS4/Xbox One
Availability: June 17
Say what you want about EA, but the company puts out some grade-A sports games. And now that THQ has gone the way of the dodo (R.I.P.), EA is in charge of the UFC license.
Can the company behind everything from Madden and Titanfall to The Sims get MMA fighting right? Somehow, we have little doubt.
Project Spark
Platforms: Xbox 360/Xbox One/PC
Availability: out now (sort of)
Microsoft's Project Spark is not officially out yet, but the game is in public beta on Xbox One and Windows 8. That means anyone can hop online and download the in-progress version of the game—and start creating their own games with it.
Spark is a shockingly robust creation tool in which resourceful players can mold any kind of game they want, from combat games to RPGs and even simple card games. This is one that can definitely take up a lot of your time.
Mario Kart 8
Platforms: Wii U
Availability: out now
You know you're going to cave and buy a Wii U eventually. Might as well do it now so you can play the new Mario Kart game all summer long.
There are always those characters you fail to unlock, those challenges you fail to beat, and those trophies you could never get, so why not dedicate your sweaty days this summer to trying to finally conquer a Mario Kart game?
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Platforms: 3DS
Availability: out now
Whatever excuse you have for not playing the latest Zelda game yet is no longer good enough. If you don't have a 3DS, well, go buy one. If you don't like Zelda, well, nothing can save you.
This successor to the classic Super Nintendo title A Link to the Past is every bit deserving of that legacy, and in many ways it feels like an old school Zelda game with a big open world to explore. Then the game allows you to magically flatten yourself into a wall, enter a new world, feel completely fresh all over again.
Killzone Shadow Fall: Intercept
Platforms: PS4
Availability: this summer
If you own a PS4 then chances are you've already picked up Killzone: Shadow Fall, as it was really the only impressive triple-A exclusive when the console launched. But chances are you put it down again shortly after, whether you conquered the campaign or dabbled in the multi-player.
This summer the "Intercept" DLC will give you a reason to pick Shadow Fall up again, especially if you have a friend or three who will be wiling to do the same. This four-player co-op mode hearkens back to the days of the original Firefight mode in Halo—in other words, it's tough as nails and requires a lot of teamwork. And that's what makes it so good.
Super Time Force
Platforms: Xbox One
Availability: out now
Super Time Force is not the game you think it is. Partly that's because the trailers make it look like a completely insane 2D side-scrolling shooter with bullets flying everywhere, and partly that's because there's never been anything like it.
Play through a level until you die—that's it, right? Nope, rewind time and try to save your first character with a new character, picking the old one up as a power-up if you succeed. Do that 30 times in levels that technically last no more than a minute and you've got a game that's insane for reasons you never suspected—and a surprising time-suck, considering the brevity of its levels.