Games On Net :: General News: Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions - 25/02/2009

By Matt Keller - Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:09pm

This week is probably one of the more heavily anticipated as far as February game releases go, with the long awaited Halo Wars and Killzone 2 making their debuts on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 respectively. If you’re not up for the gung-ho space marine tomfoolery on offer there, perhaps you should check out Pikmin for the Wii, or become reacquainted with a few classics in the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection

Don’t forget to check out the full release schedule for the latest changes and information on upcoming games.

25/02/2009

Exit 2
Platform: Xbox Live Arcade (Also available on PSP)
Developer: Taito Corporation
Publisher: Taito Corporation
RRP: 800 Microsoft Points ($AU13.20)

Due to the unforeseen circumstances (chimps at the control panel), Microsoft buggered up and claimed Exit 2 was due out last week, when it had no intention of releasing it. Fortunately for us, Mr. ESC’s adventures will continue tonight. The game crams in 240 levels of saving people from natural disasters for only 800 points, which is a hell of a lot better value for money than last week’s Death Tank.

26/02/2009

*50 Cent: Blood in the Sand* Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *Swordfish Studios* Publisher: *THQ* RRP: $AU109.95 50 Cent: Bulletproof was a real stinker, so colour I was a little surprised when I found myself slightly interested in this sequel. The main difference is that the sequel isn’t your typical serious gang banging snuff-fest like the original, rather, it’s a more absurdist adventure that has Fiddy and his G-Unit homies heading over to the Middle East to crack some terrorist skulls after they steal some of his uber bling. Apparently does a pretty good job of ripping off *Gears of War*.
*Bomberman Land Touch! 2* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Hudson Soft* Publisher: *Rising Star Games* RRP: $AU49.95 Another year, another Bomberman game. Hudson continues to miss the point with these sequels, filling them with terrible story modes and piles of mini-games while doing nothing to further the main draw of the series, which is its multiplayer battle mode. I suggest they find a copy of Saturn Bomberman and two multi-taps, and use that as inspiration for a new, multiplayer heavy Bomberman game for the DS, with some actual variety.
*Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop* Platform: Wii Developer: *Capcom* Publisher: *Capcom* RRP: $AU79.95 *Chop Till You Drop* has been the recipient of a lot of criticism, being a poster child of the Wii downgrade movement. People seem to ignore the fact that there is a bit of potential for a good game here, seeing as it’s running on the wildly loved *Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition* technology. It’s structured totally differently to the Xbox 360 game, which might appease some of the morons who didn’t understand the intentions of the save system in that game. I remain hopeful for the game, but the lack of pre-release reviews is worrying.
*Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Intelligent Systems* Publisher: *Nintendo* RRP: $AU69.95 The Nintendo DS RPG barrage continues with a remake of the original Fire Emblem, which was previously never released outside of Japan. The game focuses on the royal prince Marth, whom many of you will remember from his appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, as he embarks on a quest to rescue his sister and regain control of Altea from the Dohl Empire. It’s a lengthy and challenging strategy RPG, with 25 chapters and over 20 character classes, and in true Fire Emblem-style, all of your characters that die in battle remain dead, so take care of them. Also includes online play with voice chat support over Wi-Fi Connect.
*Halo Wars* Platform: Xbox 360 Developer: *Ensemble Studios* Publisher: *Microsoft* RRP: $AU99.95 (Standard), $109.95 (Collector’s) Halo takes its first step out of the first person shooter genre with the Ensemble developed real time strategy game. Early impressions of the game are a bit mixed – it seems like Ensemble hasn’t done too great a job of translating RTS control to the console, while unit counts are low, and players can only play as the Humans in the campaign. Halo fans will probably buy the game regardless of perceived quality (like *Halo 2*, zing), but the jury is still out for the rest of us.
*Imagine: Ballet Dancer, Imagine: Movie Star* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Ubisoft* Publisher: *Ubisoft* RRP: $AU59.95 each It’s easy to rib on Imagine games, and oh so fun, but the reality is that they’re not for gamers like you and me. They’re for young girls and their uninformed parents’ money. They also pay the bills at Ubisoft, so that they can develop better games and take risks on projects like *Beyond Good and Evil 2*.
*Jewel Quest Expeditions, Mahjong Quest Expeditions* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *iWin* Publisher: *Activision Blizzard* RRP: $AU49.95 each Last year, Activision teamed up with iWin to release The Quest Trio for the Nintendo DS, which contained Jewel Quest Expeditions, Mahjong Quest Expeditions and Jewel Quest Solitaire. We lower hemisphere citizens, on the other hand, have to buy them separately. So I suggest that if you’re after some puzzley-action this week, you track down and import The Quest Trio, and skip these separate releases.
*Killzone 2* Platform: PlayStation 3 Developer: *Guerrilla Games* Publisher: *Sony Computer Entertainment* RRP: $AU109.95 Sony’s heavily hyped shooter finally lands on shelves this week. While our own Matt Williams *loved the game, I’m not quite as enthusiastic about it. Killzone 2* looks amazing, perhaps the best looking game on the PlayStation 3, but it play quite as well as you’d expect. It reminds me a lot of Criterion Games’ Black from early 2006, with more of a focus on “gun porn” than quality gameplay and competent AI. Whatever *Killzone 2* lacks in single player should be made up for with its multiplayer, though.
*Lost in Blue 3* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Konami* Publisher: *Konami* RRP: $AU79.95 Another massively delayed release from Konami Europe (11 months, in this case) is, unfortunately, a fairly basic retread of the same formula from the previous Lost in Blue games. Boy and girl are on ship which crashes and forces them to learn to survive on a remote island until help comes. Unlike The Sims 2: Castaway, *Lost in Blue 3* makes an effort to suck any remote chance of fun out of your desert island experience.
*New Play Control! Pikmin* Platform: Wii Developer: *Nintendo* Publisher: *Nintendo* RRP: $AU49.95 Pikmin is the first of Nintendo’s “GameCube game with Wii control” re-releases, and easily one of the best games on the system. You control Captain Olimar, a space man whose ship collides with a comet and causes him to crash on a strange planet. With only 30 days oxygen supply, Olimar must team up with the plant like Pikmin to gather the parts of his ship so he can return home. Wii version includes widescreen support, and adds options to allow players to replay specific days from their timeline to improve performance. It’s a must buy for everyone who never had a GameCube (which is probably 95% of you).
*Patapon 2* Platform: PSP Developer: *Sony Japan Studio* Publisher: *Sony Computer Entertainment* RRP: $AU49.95 The sequel to last year’s popular combination of cuteness, rhythm games and real time strategy unfortunately does very little to add or improve the formula, beyond adding some new units and bosses, and multiplayer support. It’s a little disappointing that they didn’t do more, but the core game is still very good, and that’s all that really matters.
*Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection* Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *Backbone Entertainment* Publisher: *Sega* RRP: $AU69.95 The *Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection* has me very conflicted. On one hand, it contains some of the greatest Mega Drive releases, such as the four main Sonic the Hedgehog games, the four Phantasy Star games, the Streets of Rage and Golden Axe trilogies and the beloved Shining Force RPGs. On the other hand, Backbone Entertainment’s half-assed approach to emulation spoils the package – you just need to see their excuses about why Sonic 3 & Knuckles doesn’t appear in the collection to see their level of commitment to quality. There are some extras, but not really enough. The most irritating thing to me, however minor it may be, is that they couldn’t be stuffed properly converting all the covers, art and box arts to their Mega Drive equivalents.
*Time Hollow* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Konami* Publisher: *Konami* RRP: $AU79.95 *Time Hollow* is one of those games with an awesome concept, but lacking gameplay execution. Ethan Kairos’ parents disappear on his 17th birthday, but it soon appears that the world has changed to reflect what would have happened if they disappeared 12 years ago. Ethan discovers the hollow pen, an object that allows him to open portals to the past. He uses the pen to go back in time to correct problems from the past to change the present. It’s a shame that the gameplay is ridiculously simple and linear.
*Tom Clancy’s EndWar* Platform: PC (Also available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PSP) Developer: *Ubisoft* Publisher: *Ubisoft* RRP: $AU89.95 After a 4 month wait, *EndWar* hits the PC. As far as we know, it’s the same game, with the obvious benefits of higher resolution, frame rate, anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering offered by the PC. As I wrote in *the PS3 review last year*, the game is a bit simple as far as real time strategy goes, but the voice command interface is really well implemented.

And now we leave February behind and trudge onto March, which is traditionally the busiest non-holiday month for game releases. Next week is a little more subdued as far as quality games go, but keep an eye out for the Revolution era strategy sim Empire: Total War on the PC, and vampire hunting Action/RPG Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia on the Nintendo DS, provided it doesn’t get delayed for a fourth time.