Games On Net :: New Releases: Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions - 16/09/09

By Matt Keller - Wed Sep 16, 2009 6:01pm

This week’s Coming Attractions is brought to you by broken street dates and clearance sales. Many of the games marked for release tomorrow, like Colin McCrae DiRT 2, Need for Speed SHIFT and NHL 10 should already be available in stores now, unless your local game shill is one of those ones that plays by the book. There is also a few neat console ports hitting the PC this week, namely destructor-sim Red Faction Guerilla and Resident Evil 5.

From next week on, we’ll be bringing Coming Attractions to you on Mondays, mostly in an effort to avoid street date breaches messing up our hard work. Don’t forget that you can check out our full release schedule for any updates and changes.

16/09/2009

*Bubble Bobble Neo* Platform: Xbox Live Arcade Developer: *Taito* Publisher: *Square Enix* RRP: 800 Microsoft Points ($AU13.20) Arcade classic Bubble Bobble comes to Xbox Live Arcade this week in a new incarnation. You can play a full-on recreation of the original game, or a new mode with fancy visuals and support for up to 4 players. As much as I love Bubble Bobble, I can’t help but think that 400 Allards might have been a fairer price.
*Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Commander’s Challenge* Platform: Xbox Live Arcade Developer: *EA Los Angeles* Publisher: *Electronic Arts* RRP: 800 Microsoft Points ($AU13.20) If you haven’t had enough of *Red Alert 3* and you enjoy the console version, *Commander’s Challenge* gives you the opportunity to play through 50 challenge levels, some of which feature new units like the Giga Fortress and Desolator. PC gamers already received this content as a part of the *Uprising* expansion, so it’s only really worth it if you’re a dedicated console RTS player.
*Guitar Hero 5* Platform: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 Developer: *Neversoft* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU59.95 (PS2), $AU89.95 (PS3, 360, Wii), $AU159.95 (PS2 w/ Guitar), $AU179.95 (PS3, 360, Wii w/ Guitar) On top of a track list consisting of over 85 master recordings, *Guitar Hero 5* adds new features like Avatar support, drop-in/drop out party play, the ability to play with up to four of the same instrument and song specific challenges. All *World Tour* DLC is forward compatible, which corrects one of our biggest issues with the series so far. It’s much more polished than recent outings, but in the end, it really comes down to whether or not you like the track list and feel like tapping away on plastic instruments for another few months.
*Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2* Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS (Due September 23 for PS2 and Wii) Developer: *Vicarious Visions* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU99.95 (PS3, 360), $59.95 (DS) The Marvel Civil War saga was one of the biggest events in comics history, so it shouldn’t be too big a surprise that the latest Marvel Universe action RPG from *Activision* is all about the heroes becoming divided over superhero registration. Twenty four of Marvel’s best are in the game, including favourites like Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk, various members of the X-Men and everybody’s favourite fourth wall breaking loon, Deadpool. These light action RPGs from *Activision* have always been a lot of fun, especially when played with a few friends, so it’s certainly worth checking out.

17/09/2009

*Colin McCrae DiRT 2* Platform: Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 (Coming to PC in December) Developer: *Codemasters* Publisher: *Codemasters* RRP: $AU59.95 (DS), $AU69.95 (PSP), $AU79.95 (Wii), $AU109.95 (PS3, 360) After the tragic death of Colin McCrae last year, *Codemasters* decided to continue keeping his named attached to the PAL releases of their games as a bit of a tribute. The developer is promising a boatload of new event types, a reworked career mode and more realistic environments. The first *DiRT* was actually pretty good, despite a few quirks – if they work these out, then *DiRT 2* will be the rally game to get this year.
*Fossil Fighters* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Red Entertainment* Publisher: *Nintendo* RRP: $AU69.95 *Fossil Fighters* combines the exciting world of archaeology with the create combat of Pokemon. Find fossils, carefully dig them up and chisel them out, revive them and battle them against all kinds of opponents. Probably not as good as Pokemon, but you could do a lot worse.
*Heroes Over Europe* Platform: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *Transmission Games* Publisher: *Ubisoft* RRP: $AU69.95 (PC), $AU99.95 (PS3, 360) Local developer *Transmission Games* is taking their second stab at arcade style World War II air combat action with *Heroes Over Europe, the sequel to Heroes of the Pacific. Presumably, it’s going to consist of a bunch of air battles from the European theatre of the Second World War. Heroes of the Pacific* was reasonably entertaining, so this might be worth a look if you’re into the less realistic kind of flight sim.
*MotorStorm: Arctic Edge* Platform: PSP (Coming to PS2 in October) Developer: *BigBig Studios* Publisher: *Sony Computer Entertainment* RRP: $AU59.95 Sony’s preparing the resurgence in its PSP catalogue in the lead up to the launch of the PSP Go, and the first cab off the rank is *MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, the first portable game in the series of off-road racers. BigBig Studios, responsible for the Pursuit Force* games, has been in charge of this snow-based iteration. There are 24 vehicles across 8 classes, 12 different courses, support for up to 8 players on ad-hoc and infrastructure mode and online leaderboards. Should meet and exceed the expectations of most MotorStorm fans and off-road racing types.
*Need for Speed SHIFT* Platform: PC, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox 360 Developer: *Electronic Arts* Publisher: *Electronic Arts* RRP: $AU49.95 (PSP), $AU99.95 (PC), $AU109.95 (PS3, 360) A couple of years ago, EA decided to split Need For Speed duties across two development teams, meaning they could have one release each year, but each game would have a full two years of development time, rather than just one. *Need for Speed SHIFT* is the first game to come out as a part of this plan, and, as expected, it looks a lot better than recent offerings. The focus is now on more serious simulation racing, rather than the arcade-style street racing the series has employed for the last five or so years. There’s an entirely new game engine at play with highly realistic physics and other environmental factors, the dashboard view returns, there’s a fully featured upgrade system and many more features that should have racing game fans drooling. This could well be the return to form the Need For Speed fans have been begging for.
*NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer* Platform: Wii Developer: *Lightning Fish* Publisher: *Black Bean Games* RRP: $AU99.95 Yet another Wii fitness game hits shelves this week with *Black Bean Games* getting into the action. *NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer* looks to be more of an all-encompassing lifestyle change in its approach to getting players to improve their fitness, with the game not only offering physical exercise challenges, but also dietary suggestions. More than 130 recipes are packed into the game for various times of day (breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner and dessert), selected by the folks from You Are What You Eat. It certainly offers more than one would expect from a fitness game cash in, so it’s worth keeping an eye on if you’re committed to improving your health.
*NHL 10* Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *EA Canada* Publisher: *Electronic Arts* RRP: $AU99.95 *NHL 09* was one of, if not the best sports game of last year, so expectations are pretty high for *NHL 10*. EA are promising to clean up the cheap tactics players used online last year while adding new features like first person fights, the new GM mode which builds upon the Dynasty Mode, enhanced atmosphere for post-season hockey, a new precision passing system and better defensive play. Don’t let your lack of familiarity with ice hockey let you miss out – it makes for a damn fun video game, so check it out.
*Resident Evil 5* Platform: PC Developer: *Capcom* Publisher: *Capcom* RRP: $AU79.95 It’s pretty much what you’d expect – the same *Resident Evil 5* that came out in March of this year, but with far higher detail graphics thanks to superior PC hardware. *Capcom*’s PC ports have become a lot better since they stopped outsourcing them, so give it a go if you missed the console version.
*Red Faction Guerilla* Platform: PC Developer: *Volition* Publisher: *THQ* RRP: $AU89.95 Volition’s ludicrous destruction spreads across to the PC this week after a three month wait. *Red Faction Guerilla* was a pleasant surprise when it hit the consoles back in June, proving to be a whole lot more fun that previously anticipated. The PC version should benefit from better visuals due to superior hardware, provided the port is a little bit better than the *Saints Row 2* one earlier in the year.
*Singstar Motown* Platform: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 Developer: *Sony Computer Entertainment* Publisher: *Sony Computer Entertainment* RRP: $AU49.95 *Sony’s slowed down on the Singstar* releases a bit this year, but the release of Singstar Motown indicates that it hasn’t forgotten about its legion of karaoke fans. Singstar Motown includes tracks from talent such as Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder in celebration of Motown’s 50th anniversary. So if you’re into Motown and aren’t afraid of a bit of drunken, off-key singing, give it a look.
*Wacky World of Sports* Platform: Wii Developer: *Sega* Publisher: *Sega* RRP: $AU49.95 *Sega’s getting into the business of mini-game compilations for the Wii with Wacky World of Sports, which promises unconventional fun in games like tuna tossing, cheese wheel rolling and timber sports, among other things. Controls usually make or break these collections – if sufficient quality is there, Wacky World of Sports* might be worth a rental or two.

18/09/2009

*G-Force* Platform: Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 Developer: *Eurocom* Publisher: *Disney* RRP: $AU49.95 (DS, PS2, PSP), $AU69.95 (Wii), $AU79.95 (PS3, 360) Disney’s latest talking animal CG flick comes with the requisite video game tie-in. *G-Force* is all about a force of guinea pig super agents, an amusing premise with decent video game potential. *Eurocom* tends to develop fairly cookie-cutter games when they’re called into do licensed stuff, but early impressions of *G-Force* were better than expected. It’s straight up action/platforming, but the sense of scale and some good puzzles get it over the line.
*Order of War* Platform: PC Developer: *Wargaming.net* Publisher: *Square Enix* RRP: $AU89.95 Another World War II based RTS for the PC, from *Square Enix* of all publishers. Developed by [comp=162]Wargaming.net[/app] who you may remember from their *Massive Assault* series, *Order of War* lets players control up to 1000 soldiers, tanks, planes, armoured vehicles and artillery units at once in some pretty contentious battles in 1944, from both the American and German perspective.

The new release fun continues next week with the mystery solving ways of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, the cross platform FPS Section 8, the return of Terry Bogard and co in King of Fighters XII, while the King of All Cosmos hits the PS3 in Katamari Forever and the best named title of the year Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman: What Did I Do To Deserve This? lands on the PSP. See you again on Monday.