Games On Net :: New Releases: Coming Attractions 14/01/09

Coming Attractions 14/01/09

By Matt Keller - Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:29pm

Welcome to Coming Attractions, a new regular piece on Games On Net where we look at the games that are coming out each week and ~~openly mock~~ evaluate them. In addition to this new feature, we’ll be striving to ensure that Games On Net has the most accurate and up-to-date Australian games release schedule.

The games industry is waking up from its post-Christmas hibernation earlier than usual this year, with major releases starting tomorrow with the slightly delayed but undoubtedly epic Lord of the Rings: Conquest from EA Pandemic on most major formats, and the much anticipated PC release of Mirror’s Edge.

15/01/2009

*Bolt* Platforms: PC (Also available on DS/PS2/Wii/Xbox 360/PS3) Developer: *Avalanche Software* Publisher: *Disney* RRP: AU$29.95 Video game tie-in to the latest computer generated talking animation movie about a dog named Bolt, a star of a TV series, who thinks that he has super powers and sets off to rescue his owner when she is kidnapped. Rather than mimicking the movie, the Bolt game takes place within the TV show that the main character stars in, creating a more game-friendly environment. However, like many licensed adaptations, it offers limited entertainment value and seems under developed.
*Igor* Platforms: Wii, Nintendo DS, PC Developer: *Legacy Interactive* Publisher: *Interactive Game Group* RRP: AU$49.95 (Wii/DS), AU$29.95 (PC) Igor, always the assistant in evil scientist doings, wishes to become one in his own right, and sets out to win the top prize at the “Evil Science Fair”. Low budget CGI film with B-List cast spawns equally low budget game is so bad that its only perceivably purpose is a punishment for naughty children.
*Lord of the Rings: Conquest* Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo DS Developer: *EA Pandemic* Publisher: *Electronic Arts* RRP: AU$99.95 (360/PS3/PC), AU$49.95 (DS) EA attempts to wring the last of the milk out of its Lord of the Rings film license five years after the fact by marrying the setting of the films with the gameplay of Pandemic’s biggest hit, Star Wars: Battlefront. The idea is sound, and the Howard Shore’s soundtrack is as stunning as ever, but it does look a little rough, despite the involvement of Weta, and you can see everything it has to offer in less than a day.
*Mirror’s Edge* Platforms: PC (also available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) Developer: *EA DICE* Publisher: *Electronic Arts* RRP: AU$99.95 One of the most divisive games of 2008 makes its belated debut for the mouse and keyboard crowd this week. EA DICE hasn’t taken the opportunity to add anything to the PC release of the game beyond the support for different control options and much higher resolutions and levels of detail (paid DLC will be available). Still, Mirror’s Edge is worth checking out for those who haven’t played it, but it’s not without fault.
*My Chinese Coach* Platforms: Nintendo DS Developer: *Sensory Sweep* Publisher: *Ubisoft* RRP: AU$49.95 Many people are quick to poo-poo any of Ubisoft’s offerings on the Nintendo DS due to the thick and fast pace at which they release them. Fortunately, the language games in Ubisoft’s My Coach series are actually useful, and not loads of throwaway garbage like the Imagine line. I’ve only toyed around with My Japanese Coach, but found it to be useful at teaching players the basics of the language, so K.Rudd wannabes might find this helpful in developing their basic understandings of Mandarin.

21/01/2009

The Maw
Platforms: Xbox Live Arcade
Developer: Twisted Pixel
Publisher: Microsoft
RRP: 800 Microsoft Points (AU$13.20)

The Maw is a straight up 3D action/adventure/platformer about an alien named Frank, a bounty hunter who crash lands on a strange planet. He finds the lazy gelatinous blob called Maw, the so-called “The deadliest organism in the universe” who can eat and absorb the powers of his enemies and grow to enormous sizes. The Maw was the winner of the Audience Choice Award at the PAX 2008-10 indie showcase and a runner up at the Independence Games Festival for Technical Excellence, so it should be worth a look, especially for only 800 spacebucks.

It’s not the greatest line up to ever kick a year off, but one cannot really expect to see the best of the best hit in January when people have just broken the bank on Christmas spending. This January does look to be the most release-heavy one on record, so we’ll just have to wait and see how the rest of the month turns out.