Coming Attractions - 15/07/2009
By Matt Keller - Wed Jul 15, 2009 6:31pm
The dreaded winter drought is in full swing, with only five new releases planned for this week. Fortunately, most of these games are looking like they’ll be quite good. Leading off the week is the spit and polished version of The Secret of Monkey Island for Xbox Live Arcade and PC, followed by the realistic military shooter ArmA II also for the PC, with highly anticipated Wii first person shooter The Conduit rounding out the week, unless you’re into arcade-style baseball, in which case you’ll want to check out The Bigs 2.
Don’t forget to check out the full release schedule for the latest changes and information on upcoming games.
Next week seems pretty quiet, but that’s largely because nobody wants to go up against Nintendo’s 400 pound gorilla Wii Sports Resort, the sequel to what’s now the best selling game of all time and a damn fine game in its own right. If you’re into the digital download thing, the Winter (or Summer) of Xbox Live Arcade begins on Wednesday, with Twisted Pixel’s second game ’Splosion Man leading the way.
Don’t forget to check out the full release schedule for the latest changes and information on upcoming games.
15/07/2009
| Madballs in...Babo Invasion Platform: Xbox Live Arcade Developer: Playbrains Publisher: Microsoft RRP: 800 Microsoft Points ($AU13.20) Madballs are apparently high quality rubber balls with various different character designs; a bizarre choice of license when developing an arcade shooter, but one that Playbrains has gone with for their latest XBLA game. If the Madballs don’t take your fancy, you can play as your Xbox Avatar. It’s designed with 16 player multiplayer in mind, so potential enjoyment depends heavily on the game finding a player base. | ) | |
| The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition Platform: Xbox Live Arcade, PC Developer: LucasArts Publisher: LucasArts RRP: 800 Microsoft Points ($AU13.20, XBLA), $TBC (PC) The Secret of Monkey Island is one of the golden haired children of the adventure game genre, and LucasArts is finally giving it the attention it deserves. This special edition promises all-new high quality art and a fully voiced soundtrack – and if you don’t like that stuff, you can play it in its original form. It’s a true classic, so buy it; here’s hoping that they give the same treatment to the second game. | ) |
16/07/2009
| ArmA II Platform: PC Developer: Bohemia Interactive Publisher: 505 Games RRP: $AU99.95 ArmA II is Bohemia Interactive’s third ultra realistic military simulation. It’s very demanding on both players and system resources, and far from what you’d call optimised, but there’s really nothing else like it. The scope is huge, with a massive game world, tons of equipment and a heck of a lot going on at any one time. It’s also highly customisable; if you’re not into the whole military thing, I have two words for you: parachuting cows. | ) | |
| The Conduit Platform: Wii Developer: High Voltage Software Publisher: Sega RRP: $AU79.95 High Voltage Software is attempting to break away from its early kid-friendly licensed work and establish itself as a premier developer of original titles for the Wii. The Conduit is their first major title from this new strategy, boasting all sorts of fancy visual effects many thought impossible on the Wii. It’s also got Hercules himself – Kevin Sorbo – on voice acting duties, and online multiplayer support for 16 players. Early reviews from the northern hemisphere indicate that it’s all style and no substance though, so be wary if you’re looking to get your Wii FPS fix this week. | ) |
17/07/2009
| The Bigs 2 Platform: Xbox 360 (Coming to Wii in August) Developer: Blue Castle Games Publisher: 2K Sports RRP: $AU99.95 Arcade sports titles seem to have fallen out of favour since the early part of this decade, but 2K Sports’ The Bigs was quite well received, thanks largely due to an in-depth career mode and a fantastic gameplay system developed by newcomer Blue Castle Games. The Bigs 2 promises to build upon that foundation, adding support for a full 162 game season mode with full general manager support, a new batting system and a number of Hall of Fame players including Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs and Reggie Jackson. Baseball’s not exactly Australia’s thing, but these arcade-style baseball games can be really entertaining, so it’s worth a shot. | ) |
Next week seems pretty quiet, but that’s largely because nobody wants to go up against Nintendo’s 400 pound gorilla Wii Sports Resort, the sequel to what’s now the best selling game of all time and a damn fine game in its own right. If you’re into the digital download thing, the Winter (or Summer) of Xbox Live Arcade begins on Wednesday, with Twisted Pixel’s second game ’Splosion Man leading the way.
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