SSpai Monthly Roundup: Big Walk and Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2 Lead August Releases

Big Walk, available on PS5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC, is a first-person co-op adventure that requires at least two players and supports up to 12. Its world is based on Wilsons Promontory National Park in Australia, with terrain reproduced at a 1:20 scale using LiDAR scans and vegetation based on field photographs. The game emphasizes voice communication with realistic sound attenuation: voices fade with distance and change with terrain, and players can lose contact with each other unless they find walkie-talkies. There is no phone, GPS or minimap; instead, players use telescopes, laser pointers, flashlights, paper maps, compasses and radio. The game enforces interdependence, as items in backpacks can only be placed or removed by other players, and some mechanisms require lifting another player. Its puzzles are simple actions that encourage face-to-face communication, such as one player in a soundproof booth reading a pattern while another outside presses buttons according to instructions. Puzzle requirements scale with group size when there are 2-4 players, while groups larger than 4 still face 4-player puzzles. Exploration is non-linear, similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, with players spawning from a starting area and collecting tokens from puzzle facilities to unlock progression.

According to an interview in Edge magazine (issue 412) cited by SSpai, the developers began working on Big Walk during pandemic lockdowns as a way to meet internally. They chose Wilsons Promontory because they grew up near the park, and the game's environment carries personal significance for them. The team refers to the puzzles as "challenges" and said they wanted to recreate social games played during real hikes, keeping players' attention on their companions.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and PC. It includes the long-awaited Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD, and the Game Boy Color title Metal Gear: Ghost Babel. The collection marks the first time Metal Gear Solid 4 has been released on platforms other than PS3. Series producers Noriaki Okamura and Yuji Korekado said in an interview with Real Sound that as developers familiar with the series dwindle, it would become harder to bring it back to market in the future. Okamura specifically noted that Metal Gear Solid 4 used extensive hardware-specific optimizations, making its code unique and difficult to port beyond simple resolution upgrades. VGC has compiled more details about the original development history of MGS4.

Other games in the roundup include Pro Jank Footy, an Australian rules football arcade game released August 12. Developed by Powerbomb Games and Tinker Town, it features 18 players per team and a Roguelike twist: after each goal, the conceding team picks from three cards that change the rules, such as enlarging players or adding a DVD logo bouncing around. The game has no AFL license and uses fictional teams, with commentary by Australian comedians Aunty Donna and Broden Kelly. VHOLUME, released August 21 on PC, is a first-person parkour game set in the dystopian capital of the fictional nation "Afro-Eurasia," where the protagonist Robert runs to restore his family's ration coupons while evading a bureaucratic system. The game supports multiplayer and custom levels via Steam Workshop. Echobreaker, released August 6 on PC, is a 5MB speedrun-focused action game with slick vector visuals, self-challenge modes and global leaderboards.

The article also notes that the author recently finished Ace Attorney 2 from the Ace Attorney 123 collection on iOS, sharing reflections on the 2002 classic.