Games On Net :: New Releases: Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions - 02/09/2009

By Matt Keller - Wed Sep 2, 2009 6:01pm

This week marks the start of the holiday video game release season. It’s a time when reviewers are drip-fed Red Bull and have their eyes pried open ala Clockwork Orange to bring you the skinny on the latest and greatest games, where wallet pillaging and credit card abuse are par for the course, and when time spent with loved ones is a rare commodity. Surely they will understand that Batman, Cloud and Mitsurugi need love too.

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

02/09/2009

*Defense Grid: The Awakening* Platform: Xbox Live Arcade Developer: *Hidden Path Entertainment* Publisher: *Microsoft* RRP: 800 Microsoft Points ($AU13.20) Evidently, the world cannot have too many Tower Defence games. *Defense Grid* promises 20 story levels and over 100 different challenge levels, where players will need to strategically plonk down one of ten different types of defence towers to prevent the enemy from stealing their power cores. If you can’t get enough of Tower Defence, give it a look, but I think most players could be satisfied with one of the other million free variations on the theme.
*Yo Ho Kablammo* Platform: Xbox Live Arcade Developer: *Canalside Studios* Publisher: *Microsoft* RRP: 800 Microsoft Points ($AU13.20) *Yo Ho Kablammo* puts you on the high seas in command of your own pirate ship (don’t say it while holding your tongue), with the primary objective being to blast your opponents down to Davy Jones’ locker. It looks good, but seems to be pretty straightforward and light on content. Definitely check out the trial before spending your Allards.

03/09/2009

*Academy of Champions* Platform: Wii Developer: *Ubisoft* Publisher: *Ubisoft* RRP: $AU69.95 What would you get if you took the Harry Potter universe and substituted magic with soccer? That appears to be the premise of Ubisoft’s latest football foray *Academy of Champions*, where players are invited to be part of an exclusive football school run by legendary Brazilian champion Pele. Players must develop their football skills, recruit new team members and build a squad worthy of winning the champion’s cup. Ubisoft is really throwing their weight behind it – could be worth a look.
*Batman: Arkham Asylum* Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Coming September 24 for PC) Developer: *Rocksteady Studios* Publisher: *Eidos* RRP: $AU119.95 (Standard), $AU149.95 (Collectors) Batman’s video game endeavours to date have been pretty awful (with few exceptions). Canadian developer Rocksteady Studios has taken up the challenge of producing a decent game based on the popular franchise – *Batman: Arkham Asylum* is that game, and it looks very good. Rather than being another simple beat ‘em up, *Arkham Asylum* demands that players actually approach the game like Batman, analysing each situation, doing detective work, and striking only when he has the advantage. It also helps that the production team and voice cast behind the Batman: The Animated Series are heavily involved, so you’ve got Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker. The special edition also comes with a batarang, which is pretty damn cool.
*Dissidia: Final Fantasy* Platform: PSP Developer: *Square Enix* Publisher: *Square Enix* RRP: $AU69.95 (Standard), $AU89.95 (Collectors) In spite of the popularity of the Super Smash Bros. games, no studios seem to be in a rush to copy the concept. Square Enix, however, has decided to give it a go with *Dissidia, which brings together the heroes and villains of its mainline Final Fantasy* games for ridiculous over the top battles. It is fan service in its purest form, but there’s actually a pretty good game underneath. Besides, we’ve always wanted to pit Squall and Sephiroth against each other in a grand “Battle of the Emo Nancy Boys”.
*IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey* Platform: Nintendo DS, PSP, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *Gaijin Entertainment* Publisher: *505 Games* RRP: $AU59.95 (DS), $AU69.95 (PSP), $AU99.95 (PS3, Xbox 360) *IL-2 Sturmovik* was a popular flight sim on the PC, and now it’s coming to the consoles and handhelds. It’s still based around large scale aerial combat and such in a number of different theatres in the Second World War like the Battles of Britain, Stalingrad and Sicily. The new engine is meant to be pretty hot, with real time aircraft damage and a neat environmental engine that allows for higher detail and more realistic landscapes. The game is meant to feature a scaled difficulty system to accommodate novice players as well as those players looking for the level of realism in the PC version, but we’ll have to wait and see how that turns out.
*Metal Slug 7* Platform: Nintendo DS (Coming soon to Xbox Live Arcade) Developer: *SNK* Publisher: *Ignition Entertainment* RRP: $AU49.95 For reasons unknown, *Metal Slug 7* has taken more than a year to reach our shores, but if you’re into the old school shooter series, you’ve probably imported it already. It’s another side scrolling shooter with all of the usual Metal Slug trimmings – hardcore action and awesome sprite based visuals. If you can tolerate waiting for a bit longer, I’d recommend waiting for the Xbox Live Arcade version of the game, which will be cheaper, better looking and packing new features like two player support.
*Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny* Platform: PSP Developer: *Project Soul* Publisher: *Namco Bandai* RRP: $AU69.95 The PSP has been home to a few fighting games over the years, but the Soul series has proved elusive – until now. *Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny* matches the gameplay of *Soulcalibur IV* with a friendlier control scheme and content targeting beginners and series newcomers. It also adds a new character called Dampierre (who’s packing an awesome curly moustache), and God of War’s Kratos joins the cast as a guest character. If it’s anywhere near as good as Namco’s last major PSP fighter, *Tekken: Dark Resurrection*, it should be one of the best games on the system.
*Supercar Challenge* Platform: PlayStation 3 Developer: *Eutechnyx* Publisher: *System 3* RRP: PRICE Eutechnyx is giving the PS3 exclusive racing game another try with *Supercar Challenge, which features a greater selection of cars (more than 40) and over 20 tracks, including the popular Nurburgring and Silverstone circuits. The complex physics system was one of the main points of praise for Ferrari Challenge*, but the Ferrari license proved a bit restrictive, so this should turn out a little better.
*Warriors Orochi 2* Platform: PSP Developer: *Omega Force* Publisher: *Koei* RRP: $AU69.95 A lot of people like to put the Warriors series down for its high repetition, but it has a pretty rabid fanbase which love to roam the battlefields cracking skulls with their superpowered versions of Chinese and Japanese generals. This version is a port of last year’s *Warriors Orochi 2, but without the usual cutbacks that faced earlier Warriors* games on the handheld. Probably not worth the effort if you’ve got a console version, but it would be a good time-killer for the bus or train.

Next week is a little quieter than expected – evidently nobody wants to take on The Beatles: Rock Band, which will be crooning its way onto the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii next Wednesday. Accompanying the Fab Four to retail next week are the local sports duo AFL Challenge and Rugby League Challenge for the PSP and the superhero MMO Champions Online.