Games On Net :: General News: Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions - 27/05/2009

By Matt Keller - Wed May 27, 2009 6:31pm

It’s the last week of May, marking the end of what is quite possibly the busiest May we’ve had in recent memory – things are only going to get busier too, with June packed full of exciting new games. Headlining this week’s line up is the unexpectedly good Guitar Hero: Metallica, the verbose-but-brief Terminator Salvation, war sim Battlestations Pacific and the latest entry in Sega’s superb arcade tennis series Virtua Tennis 2009.

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

27/05/2009

*Guitar Hero: Metallica* Platform: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii Developer: *Neversoft* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU69.95 (PS2 standalone), $AU89.95 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii standalone), $AU149.95 (PS2 w/ Guitar), $AU169.95 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii w/ Guitar) I know what you’re thinking – another sodding Guitar Hero game – because I felt exactly the same thing before I played *Guitar Hero: Metallica, but I came away loving it. The game contains 28 of the band’s best tracks along with 21 of their favourites from other artists, along with a bunch of fixes to the game engine and the new expert plus double pedal drumming system. The extras like lyric sheets, videos of various Metallica live sets and Pop-Up Video style facts make Guitar Hero: Metallica* the best of the band-specific music games to date.
*Terminator Salvation: The Video Game* Platform: PlayStation 3, PC, Xbox 360 Developer: *Grin* Publisher: *Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment* RRP: $AU89.95 (PC), $AU99.95 (PS3, Xbox 360) Terminator games have a very spotty history – if they weren’t developed by Bethesda, Midway or Virgin, they’re generally utter dross. Grin tried to subvert this for *Terminator Salvation* by ripping off *Gears of War* and replacing the Locust with Terminators (and using a superior cover system). It’s highly derivative and extremely short (one four hour session at most), but I personally had a bit of fun running through it. It’s a rental at best for the curious.
*Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventures - Episode 1* Platform: Xbox Live Arcade (Available on PC) Developer: *Telltale Games* Publisher: *Telltale Games* RRP: 800 Microsoft Points ($AU13.20) Telltale Games' latest episodic project makes its way to the Xbox Live Arcade. *Wallace and Gromit* has already been available on the PC for a while, and pulled a reasonably good reception there; one can only hope that the Xbox version maintains that integrity. I must say that the adventure game genre seems much more appropriate to Aardman’s characters than the platformers they’ve been shoehorned into on previous console outings, and the more reasonable price point of 800 Microsoft Points makes this much more impulse buy friendly.
*Yosumin!* Platform: Xbox Live Arcade Developer: *Square Enix* Publisher: *Square Enix* RRP: 800 Microsoft Points ($AU13.20) Yet another match-four puzzle game for the Xbox Live Arcade. It’s kind of hard to get excited about them when there has been so many over the past three months. This one was previously released on the Nintendo DS. It’s got all of the usual trimmings – online play, leaderboards, more stages than you’ll ever need and a cute aesthetic, but I think you’ll probably need to play the trial before spending your Allards on this one.

28/05/2009

*Battlestations Pacific* Platform: PC, Xbox 360 Developer: *Eidos* Publisher: *Eidos* RRP: $AU89.95 (PC), $AU109.95 (Xbox 360) Eidos’ multiplayer focused multi-role war game makes its second trip to the Pacific Theatre. Two campaigns are included; an American campaign, which has you fighting from Midway to Okinawa, and a Japanese campaign which has you attacking Pearl Harbour before attempting to change history by winning the war in the Pacific. The scale is impressive, but like its predecessor, I don’t think there will be enough active player interest to see it live up to its full potential.
*Family Trainer* Platform: Wii Developer: *Namco Bandai* Publisher: *Namco Bandai* RRP: $AU129.95 Namco Bandai tries to cash in on the *Wii Fit* craze by coming up with their own mini-game compilation and expensive peripheral bundle. Gaming historians out there will note that Bandai previously released a similar peripheral for the NES, which Nintendo licensed and re-released as the Power Pad (the original is one of the most sought after, and expensive, NES items). Outside of that, it’s really just another Wii mini-game compilation that Namco will use to fund development of better games like Soulcalibur.
*Jewel Quest Solitaire* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *iWin* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU59.95 More match-three puzzle fun on the DS. It’s a shame that Activision sees fit to charge us sixty bucks for single titles which the US market received bundled over two years ago, or that you can play for free online, but that’s expected from a company that likes to “exploit” their IP.
*Trash Panic* Platform: PlayStation Network Developer: *SCE Japan Studio* Publisher: *Sony Computer Entertainment* RRP: $TBC Take Tetris and replace the tetrinomes with garbage, and you’ve got *Trash Panic*. The goal is to cram as much trash into a large container as possible without letting it spill over the sides. Realistic physics come into play; you’ll need to smash items or set them on fire to try and fit them all in. It sounds simple, but it’s apparently very addictive. Might be worth a look if you’re not tired of the recent torrent of puzzlers.
*Unsolved Crimes* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Empire Interactive* Publisher: *Empire Interactive* RRP: $AU49.95 Adventure games are getting a bit more love on the Nintendo DS – pity it’s taken far too long. *Unsolved Crimes* looks like it fits into the mould of Ubisoft’s CSI games, so if you liked those, you’ll probably like this too. The rest of us will be sitting here wondering when the hell LucasArts and Sierra will get their act together.
*Virtua Tennis 2009* Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Coming June 18 for Wii and PC) Developer: *Sega* Publisher: *Sega* RRP: $AU99.95 Virtua Tennis is arguably one of Sega’s best sports outings, and it seems to get better with every iteration. There’s a hefty single player component in the Sega Professional Tour, where you’ll create a player and work your way up the world ranks, dozens of exciting mini-games and the all important online play system. My only concern at this point is that *Virtua Tennis 2009* doesn’t look all that different from 2007’s *Virtua Tennis 3* – if they fix up the diving sillyness, then this will be the best tennis game ever.

June starts off with a bang with the release of the electric inFamous for the PlayStation 3, the explosive Red Faction: Guerilla, the oddball Rhythm Heaven, the majestic Star Ocean: The Last Hope and a little game called The Sims 3. Your local game store is going to be a madhouse next week. Good luck – you’ll need it.