Games On Net :: New Releases: Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions - 08/04/2009

By Matt Keller - Wed Apr 8, 2009 6:24pm

Easter’s coming up this weekend, but it doesn’t look like the video game publishers of Australia are in a rush to release anything new for the extra long weekend. The Godfather II, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor and Puzzle Quest: Galactrix should be able to hold the interest of anyone looking for something new this week, but the rest of us can look forward to spending time with a few of the recently released big hitters like Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter 4

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

08/04/2009

*Flock!* Platform: PC, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network Developer: *Proper Games* Publisher: *Capcom* RRP: 1200 Microsoft Points ($19.80) (XBLA), $US15.00 (PC), $TBC (PSN) Take control of The Flocker and herd a bunch of innocent animals into your mother ship (The Mother Flocker) to save them from nasty environmental hazards and hungry predators. Concept sounds reasonably interesting on its own, but a full level editor and online level sharing really complete the package. Well that and the ability to call fellow players “sheep flockers” without raising the suspicion of them being from New Zealand.
*Puzzle Quest: Galactrix* Platform: Xbox Live Arcade (Also available on PC and Nintendo DS) Developer: *Infinite Interactive* Publisher: *D3 Publisher* RRP: 1600 Microsoft Points ($AU26.40) Local boys Infinite Interactive shipped their latest Puzzle Quest game out for the PC and DS a couple of weeks ago, though local distributor AFA Interactive seems to have undershipped it. Fortunately, you won’t have any such problems with getting a hold of the Xbox Live Arcade release, even if the 1600 point price is a bit of an eyebrow raiser. Hexic doesn’t make for quite as good a main puzzle mechanic as Bejewelled, but there’s still plenty of reasons to pick a copy and support a talented Australian outfit.

09/04/2009

*Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor* Platform: PC Developer: *Relic* Publisher: *THQ* RRP: $AU49.95 Relic is set to renew a bit of interest in its smash hit RTS series *Company of Heroes* this week with a new standalone expansion pack called *Tales of Valor*. The new pack adds new units, new maps, three new short single player campaigns and three new multiplayer modes. Some of the new stuff sounds pretty cool too, like the direct fire feature (players can now aim and take shots for their units) and the Invasion mode, where one must defend a city against a ridiculous number of incoming forces. Certainly worth a shot for RTS buffs.
*The Godfather II* Platform: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *EA Redwood Shores* Publisher: *Electronic Arts* RRP: $AU99.95 I have to admit that the original Godfather game is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. It’s far from perfect, but there’s a certain lure to running your own mob family. *The Godfather II* expands on this premise, taking ideas from the more management oriented PSP release (The Godfather: Mob Wars) and combining them in with the gameplay of the original release to produce a thinking man’s Grand Theft Auto. I’m sure there will be some quality issues that hold it back, and the lack of a Wii port will disappoint fans of the fabled Black Hand edition, but I reckon this one is worth a look.
*Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic* Platform: PlayStation Network Developer: *Tarsier Studios* Publisher: *Sony Computer Entertainment* RRP: $TBC Tarsier Studios has been charged with bringing *Rag Doll Kung Fu* to the PS3, a title which some of you will remember was developed by key Media Molecule personnel prior to their Sackboy days. The updated version of the online brawler features a few PS3 specific features like highly upgraded HD visuals, SIXAXIS control, online rankings and trophy support.

10/04/2009

Braid
Platform: PC (Also available for Xbox Live Arcade)
Developer: Number None, Inc.
Publisher: Impulse, Steam
RRP: $US15.00

A few last minute bugs forced the Windows version of Braid back a couple of weeks, but it should arrive on Friday. As we said last time, Braid is a bit artsy and totally pretentious, but ingenious platforming puzzles and an amazing aesthetic give it the right to be. Worth checking out, even if it’s just to see what all the fuss was about

14/04/2009

*Disney’s Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Disney Interactive* Publisher: *Disney Interactive* RRP: $AU59.95 Disney’s shirking industry tradition and going with a Tuesday release for their latest releases. Club Penguin was something of a sleeper hit when it hit US retailers last Christmas, making the charts and selling several hundred thousand copies seemingly out of nowhere. It’s a spinoff of a popular children’s MMO, focused on penguins who work as secret agents. They’ll do whatever it takes to pay Walt’s cryonics bill, I guess.
*Ultimate Band* Platform: Nintendo DS, Wii Developer: *Fall Line Studios* Publisher: *Disney Interactive* RRP: $AU59.95 (DS), $AU79.95 (Wii) Disney attempts to join the music craze with *Ultimate Band, but it’s far from what you’d call ultimate. The track selection is rather mixed, with a little decent stuff from The Doors, Radiohead and the Who, but it’s also filled with some earbleeding crap like The Jonas Brothers, Avril Lavigne and Fall Out Boy. None of the tracks in either version are masters, but apparently that’s been done on purpose to allow for both male and female vocal tracks and to make it a little friendlier to the young ‘un’s voices. It’s not going to unseat Rock Band* or *Guitar Hero*, but it might be a more approachable solution to the family friendly types.

If you thought it was quiet this week, next week you’ll be hearing pins drop and nuns fart. Just four new releases are planned for next week at this stage; Outrun Online Arcade for Xbox Live Arcade, the heavily delayed Blast Works for Wii, Sega’s latest online focused RPG Phantasy Star Portable for PSP and the return of Larry Laffer’s nephew in Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust.