10 best computer games for the bank holiday

Destiny: House of Wolves expands the world further than ever before

With Bungie releasing meaty expansion pack House of Wolves this week, it is the perfect time for lapsed Destiny players to come back and shoot aliens in the face. New loot, new story missions and new modes for both co-operative and competitive play. For those who haven’t started yet, well, you are a way behind, but Destiny’s compulsive gunplay makes the journey worthwhile.

Project Cars (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Video game loving petrolheads will be delighted that a proper challenger to Forza and Gran Turismo has taken the grid. Project Cars throws the garage doors wide open too, allowing you to pursue your driving career however you wish, and giving you the vehicles to do it. Great handling and visuals too.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

This standalone expansion/prequel to last year’s excellent first-person shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order is the perfect weekend game. £15 for 7 hours worth of accomplished Nazi-blasting. The action is meaty and exciting, with a ferocious pace that fires you headlong through a satisfying, meticulously-crafted shooting gallery.

Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

^{Mario feels the need for speed}
For everyone-around-the-TV hijinks, you can’t beat a bit of Mario Kart. With its speed and swirling track design, Nintendo’s boisterous and colourful racer has never been better. It’s a good time to strap in too, with two generously priced expansion packs bolstering the track count to 48. Flinging banana skins at Bowser while barrelling around the Animal Crossing track as Link? Oh go on then.

Sunset (PC, Mac, Linux)

^{Play a bit of Sunset for a change of pace}
For those looking for a more low-key and thoughtful experience this weekend, Tale of Tales’ fascinating exploration piece is well worth a look. You play as young American student, Angela Burnes, in a fictional South American state that is being torn apart by civil war. Angela has a part-time job cleaning the swanky apartment of wealthy businessman, Gabriel Ortega. The two never meet, communicating only through notes. Given free-range of his apartment, you perform your duties, respond to Ortega’s notes, and discover not everything is as it seems. Strangely compelling and a brilliant use of a single interactive space.

Ether One (PC, PS4)

^{Ether One transports you into a maze of memories}
Probably the top pick in an excellent month for free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers, Ether One is a first-person adventure game that projects you into the mind a 69-year old woman with dementia in order to retrieve her lost memories. Wistful and atmospheric, the puzzling has been compared to adventure oldies such as Myst. Only, you know, good.
By the way, the other games available for PS+ users this month are Guacamelee, Hohokum and Race for the Sun. They’re all great, so fill your boots.

Not A Hero (PC, PS4)

^{Go all out with Not a Hero}
Hyper-violent shoot ‘em up from the makers of skateboarding sim OlliOlli,Not A Hero has you campaigning for mayoral candidate BunnyLord by, well, killing the competition. Demanding, frantic, hedonistic and a lot of fun.

Life is Strange (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Oh to be a teenager again – Life is Strange

We are three episodes into DONTNOD’s flawed but brave and fascinating teen drama. You play as Max, a photography student who has the ability to rewind short periods of time. The science-fiction twist is more of a backdrop to the politics of an American college, with Max using her power to negotiate social minefields as much as saving the day. Always earnest, sometimes gawky but often powerful.

Invisible Inc. (PC, Mac, Linux)

^{Steal around corridors in Invisible Inc}

Following the excellent Mark of the Ninja, Canadian developer Klei seem to be making smart stealth-action their own. Invisible Inc. has you infiltrating nefarious megacorporations to restore your decimated agency. The action is a clever twist on XCOM’s turn-based movement, with the focus on stealth and espionage. Witty, challenging and very, very good.

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