It’s July 4th weekend folks, but releases don’t stop coming just because we’re celebrating the day we happened to become a nation. No siree. Not when we’ve got SoulCalibur clones to release! And do you think Shadows will vanquish themselves in their tower? Hell no! So you see folks, I gotta keep working.
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
In this alternate reality, the cars are people and people are the cars
Crackdown 2 (Xbox 360)
Tuesday July 6, 2010
Everybody’s favorite Halo 2 Beta key pack in just got a sequel! Well, that’s not fair really. As it turns out, the first Crackdown became noteworthy by its own merits and not because specially marked boxes of Crackdown came with a key to get into Halo 2’s Beta. Pacific City has gotten more screwed up since the last time you cleansed it of crime. Now you’ve got mutants running amok at night and insurgents running amok during the day. The city is in complete disarray, and somehow only the lowly new recruit, that would be you, will be able to turn things around. Structurally speaking, the game seems to be exactly the same as before. You level up yourself by actually doing things like using explosive weaponry increases your proficiency with explosive weapons or driving increases your driving proficiency. Everybody’s favorite collectible Agility Orbs are also back ensuring people will be jumping around like fools looking for that one ledge that gets them up that building to the orb on top of it. Multiplayer-wise, Crackdown 2 has doubled the number of people you can play co-op. Meaning, now 3 of your buddies can screw around in your Crackdown 2 world. They’ve also added your standard Deathmatch modes as well.
As for what’s actually new, well you’ve got new gadgets like the magnet grenades. When thrown in pairs, it will cause the grenades to gravitate towards each other pulling anything it happens to be attached to along with it before blowing up like a regular grenade. New types of orbs, new vehicles, new enemies. Basically all the things that comes standard with sequels. People were quite surprised to find out that little game that happens to come with their Halo 2 Beta keys turned out to be pretty good. Now let’s see how this game fares with a more normal expectation out of a new game.
Honorable Mention
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable (PSP)
Tuesday July 6, 2010
JRPGs may be a dime a dozen over in Japan, but occasionally, just ever so occasionally, one comes out that does it just right. Back in 2007, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 came out over here and, as it turns out, was absolutely spectacular in all the right ways. Persona 3 Portable is a port of that game with some new content along with certain modifications to fit the UMD. Person 3 is basically, and this is boiling-it-down-to-fit-into-a-sentence kind of boiling it down, a dungeon crawler mixed with a friend-making simulator. The former doesn’t need too much explanation beyond “It’s turn-based,” but the latter deserves some explanation. By spending time and conversing with the various residents of the city as well as your team members, you strengthen your bond with them. The stronger those bonds are, the stronger you are in battle. As for the new stuff, the biggest addition is the ability to pick the gender of the main, silent protagonist. Its biggest impact lies in the friend-making simulator side of the equation, but suffice it to say that it’s probably enough of a change to entice fans of the original to pick up this version. Other additions include direct control of your team members, more people to befriend, the option to fight stronger version of certain enemies, and various other little tweaks. The modification mentioned earlier is all about the interface, mainly while outside the dungeon. Instead of roaming around the city or school, you’re given a pointer, which you use to point at various people or objects to interact with them. Also the anime cutscenes of the original Persona 3 is replaced with combinations of still images and in-game engine cinematics. A bit of a shame given how good the original anime cutscenes were.
Unfortunately, Persona 3’s greatness is loaded with caveats. If you don’t mind Japanese culture in your games. If you don’t mind spending hours and hours crawling through a dungeon without a save point. If you don’t mind lots and lots and lots of talking. If you don’t mind a J-Pop infused soundtrack. If you don’t mind RPGs in general (which if the previous E3 is any indication is not many of you). Basically, Persona 3 is a great game in its little corner of the gaming world, but it’s by no means a bridge between its world and the general mainstream world. Sigh.
Coming This Week
Tuesday July 6, 2010
Big Beach Sports 2 (Wii)
This week’s mini-game compilation is brought to you by Big Beach Sports 2 where you get to play beach related sports like soccer, rugby, cricket, and 2 other presumably beach related sports. I’d love to see what they’d call a Winter sport. Sunbathing perhaps?
Tournament of Legends (Wii)
Watch out SoulCalibur! Tournament of Legends has its eye on your crown. Meet the Wii’s newest weapons based 3D, not in a visual way, fighter. Fight as a Roman gladiator or a minotaur or 8 other fighters taken from various mythologies. Chupacabra not included.
Astro Invaders (DS)
Picking up right where you left off in Asteroids, now you gotta shoot at space pirates! Watch out, they shoot back! Now with new weapons, special attacks, and a new ship, teach those space pirates a lesson in 32 stages. I truly wish I was kidding.
Despicable Me: The Game – Minion Mayhem (DS)
Is it me or do these minions from the movie kinda remind you of those Servbots that hang around Tron Bonne? Well, instead of having the main guy from Despicable Me star in his own game, we’ve got his lousy minions solving puzzles, missions, challenges. I feel insulted for the game.
Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar (DS)
AKA Harvest Moon revision number God-Knows-What. You’ve yet again found yourself in a sleepy town where you’ll start a farm, grow crops, milk cow, woo someone to marry you, and whatever other things you do in harvest moon. New to the series? Storekeeping and item crafting. I can’t wait until they add in “Defend the farm from Nazi alien zombies with nothing but a pitchfork and your fire-breathing cow” mode.
Paws & Claws: Regal Resort (DS)
If the box art is to be believed, the point of this pet resort simulator is to groom and care for cats and dogs who have now become our overlords judging by the crowns and scepters they wield.
To play Persona 3, or not to play Persona 3? That is the question I’m faced with this week. Et toi? Who amongst you shall serve our lords and masters at their resort?
If you enjoy this article, please visit our website at www.rrbgames.com. This feature is released every Monday.
