Sorry about the delayed release. My weekend was just a little too hectic. Last week’s releases saw a slight dip in quantity. A trend they’re keen on not repeating. We’ve got two big titles coming out this week. One will take you to yet another post apocalyptic wasteland, in the middle of a desert no less. Another will make you wish you have your own cybernetic suit that can make both Marcus Fenix and, oddly enough, Pete Townshend jealous.
Remember. Release dates are quite literally made at the whims of the publisher. The following are subject to change without any warning.
Releases To Watch For This Week
I always knew security at casinos are tight, but damn!
Fallout: New Vegas (Xbox 360, PS3)
Tueday October 19, 2010 (PS3 version comes out on Thursday October 21, 2010)
What started out as what some fans of the Fallout series would call an abomination, Fallout 3 did pretty well for itself despite changing the very basics of its gameplay from an isometric RPG to a first person shooter RPG. It must have done well enough to warrant a spin-off, Fallout: New Vegas. As far as I can tell, this is just Fallout 3 but set in the Las Vegas area instead of the Washington D.C. area. As dismissive as that may sound, it’s a pretty big change. Not only is the scenery different, there’s a lot of new things you can do with a Las Vegas landscape. Gambling is the big and obvious new thing in this one. The casinos all come packed with various gambling games like slot machines and card tables. Another change is the scenery itself. It may not sound like much, but stare at a wasteland long enough and the lights and glitz of the Las Vegas strip will actually be welcoming and refreshing. Now there’s two adjectives I thought I’d never associate with the Las Vegas Strip. Storywise, New Vegas isn’t connected to Fallout 3. It’s a separate story with all new characters and factions. Of all the things Bethesda could’ve done with the Fallout series after Fallout 3, a spin-off was kind of the last thing I thought they would do, but who am I to argue against more of Fallout 3?
Baseball in the future is going to be Awesome!
Vanquish (Xbox 360, PS3)
Tuesday October 19, 2010 (PS3 version comes out on Thursday October 21, 2010)
You ever wonder what would happen if you give Japan a video game made by America and tell them to make their own version? If that game was Gears of War, we’d get two results. One is Quantum Theory which has been lambasted for being a little too Gears of War and not much else. The other is Vanquish. Vanquish is a third person, cover-based shooter. After that, the similarities with Gears of War stops cold. Whereas Gears of War has you playing as giant hulking brutes that are Marcus, Dom, and the gang, Vanquish has you playing a normal shaped human being wearing probably the most badass cybernetic battle suit that isn’t red and yellow. You’re still shooting enemies behind cover strewn around the battlefield, but your “Roadie Run” is a rocket propelled slide usually done on your knees, Pete Townshend style. You can even shoot while you’re sliding. The suit also enables Bullet Time under the right circumstances. This happens when you’re shooting while sliding, shooting right after a dodge roll, when you’re near death, and probably the coolest time it activates is when you’re shooting while you’re vaulting over a cover. From the demo I’ve played, Bullet Time isn’t just a tool to make yourself look cool. The game’s breakneck speed practically demands it.
For all the newfangled, futuristic weaponry and whatnot, the story is very old school. You’re fighting a robotic army made by the Russians because we haven’t just haven’t vilified them, both robots and Russians, enough in the 80’s. Apparently, San Francisco got blasted off the face of the Earth by an orbital space station taken over by some Russian forces. You and your kick-ass cybernetic combat suit, along with a squadron of normal soldiers, have to go up there and retake it. Simple enough if it isn’t for the fact that the robots come in soldier sizes, Hummer sizes, and 10 story building sizes. Good luck.
Suffice it to say, Vanquish will certainly not be compared to Gears of War. If you’re interested, you should check out the Demo on XBL Marketplace and PSN.
Honorable Mention
DJ Hero 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)
Tuesday October 19, 2010
DJ Hero was one of those slow burn games that as it turns out sold far better than most people expected. That might explain why DJ Hero 2 exists. Like every sequel to a music game, this one boasts new mixes and a couple of new modes, most of which seems to be in the multiplayer mode. The first DJ Hero only had one multiplayer mode where one tries to score more points. Now there’s 6 more multiplayer modes, and some of them aren’t about getting more points than your opponent. Party mode isn’t even a versus mode. It’s a drop in and drop out mode where you let the music play in the background, and you and a friend could drop in, or drop out, and start playing at anytime. Another one is DJ Battle. This one is a kind of call and response style versus mode where one player does a mix, and the other one has to respond to it. As for changes to single player mode, there’s a new mode called Empire mode. This is basically the career mode where you get to play out your fantasy as a new DJ on the rise. You get to pick out your brand, your club name, the décor of your club, and your DJ and play venues from around the world to get your name out there. If you liked DJ Hero and would love to get more songs, I guess you can’t go wrong with DJ Hero 2, but it’s a little hard for the rest of us who already feel like we have too many peripherals hanging around the living room as it is to want to add more to that pile.
Shaun White Skateboarding (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)
Sunday October 24, 2010
Did you know Shaun White also skateboards? It’s news to me. Before you write this off as a Tony Hawk clone though, Shaun White Skateboarding seems to be taking inspirations from the least likely place of all for a skateboarding game. Okami. The single player portion has you playing in a drab city, and by doing stunts around the city, you bring color back into the city. Beats going around with a bucket of paint. There’s even a little story about why this city is as drab as it is. Apparently, some repressive government called The Ministry is trying to get rid of anything dangerous, risky, or just plain fun out of the city, and it’s up to you and Shaun White to show them the light. If that’s not enough to differentiate it from other skating game, there’s also the Shaping mechanic. You can shape some obstacles in the game freely. A quarter pipe’s height can be extended. You can merge rails by shaping them towards each other. More importantly, all this is done while you’re playing. By the end of the game, the city isn’t just going to be livelier and more colorful, it’ll be your creation of your ideal skateboarding course as well. Shaun White Skateboarding is also aiming to bring in more players through the control scheme, which has been simplified to the point where most tricks can be pulled off at a press of a button. You get access to more complicated tricks later on, but even those, in theory, won’t cause you to break your fingers. I don’t know all that much about skateboarding games, but from what it sounds like, Shaun White Skateboarding stands a reasonable chance at being at least decent. You should check it out for yourself.
