section by: Justin
Clark and SCOTT!
SPIDER-MAN: SHATTERED DIMENSIONS
Activision
360, PS3, Wii, DS
9/7
MSRP: $59.99; $49.99 Wii; $29.99 DS
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There hasn’t been a quality Spider-Man game since Spider-Man 2, and even that has shown its cracks over the years. Like all their other ill-treated properties, Activision’s tried everything under the sun short of releasing a Spider-Man Pilates game, with varying degrees of failure. And this game has them essentially attempting four different Spider-Man games in one. I’d like to believe only needing to craft a fourth of a game per Spidey might give them some measure of focus, resulting in an overall stronger title, but why bullshit you? We know who’s developing this thing.
R.U.S.E.
UbiSoft
360, PS3, PC
9/7
MSRP: $59.99; $49.99 PC
Oh, Ubisoft. You know I love you guys, right? So, I’ve got to break your hearts right now and get it done: REAL TIME STRATEGY DOES NOT WORK OR SELL ON CONSOLES. I know there’s a lot of people at a lot of studios who have this pie in the sky dream of making the RTS equivalent of Goldeneye 64, and there are a bunch of cool features showing up in R.U.S.E. that sound really slick (the level of individual decisions impacting future storyline in particular), but this is simply a gameplay sensibility that’s just not going to carry over where the real money’s changing hands. Notice how the highest profile RTS in ages just came out, and the lack of clamor for a console port? Good reason for that.
TOM CLANY’S HAWX 2
UbiSoft
360, PS3
9/7
MSRP: $49.99
Continuing the theme of misguided military acronyms this week, the first H.A.W.X. was a scattershot mess. The feel was right, in that they don’t try to make it a flight simulator and you can whip planes around to your hearts delight without having to worry much about the specifics, but the actual gameplay and dogfights themselves were just geriatric, unengaging affairs. H.A.W.X. 2 looks like they upped the excitement a bit, but, frankly, at this point, any flying game that isn’t a Crimson Skies sequel would earn the same scorn from me.
KINGDOM HEARTS: BIRTH BY SLEEP
Square Enix
PSP
9/7
MSRP: $39.99
I’ve gone back and forth on the Kingdom Hearts series over the years, where one minute it’s right up my alley, and I’m having a blast exploring this dichotomous universe, and the next I’ll want to send every copy hurtling into the dead abyss of space back to the mind of an uncaring God that allowed His creations to fuck things up this spectacularly. Birth By Sleep promises a long overdue set of tweaks to the battle system, mini-games that aren’t total wastes, and a less linear style of character development, but I’m not entirely sure this is enough to make a series that’s always been close-but-no-cigar cross into good territory once and for all.
NHL 11
EA
360, PS3
9/7
MSRP: $59.99
Yep. That’s hockey all right. Have fun.
BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD
Warner Home Video Games
Wii, DS
9/7
MSRP: $39.99; $29.99 DS
CLICK TO BUY FROM AMAZON!
Prior to Arkham Asylum winning at damn near everything forever, the last game to do anything truly interesting with the property was the Adventures of Batman and Robin on SNES. The pacing and gameplay were much slower than its contemporaries at the time (noteably, the hand-animated Genesis version, and the stellar Batman Returns on SNES), but it was, at the time, closer than anyone had gotten to being more than just a random beat-’em-up starring Batman. Brave and the Bold is still an old school beat’-em-up, and apparently, the game’s intended audience takes some of the bite out of the difficulty, but more love has gone into replicating the feel of the show (which more of you need to be watching, I might add) and the joy of teaming up with some of DC’s finest than in most games that AREN’T Arkham Asylum. Besides, it’s good to have a reason to pull out the Wii besides avoiding having to talk to your grandparents about when you’re gonna settle down.
OOOHHHH: ON THE DLC TIP
MASS EFFECT 2: LAIR OF THE SHADOW BROKER
Bioware
XBox Live, PC
9/7
800 MS pts
There’s been fun, quality DLC for Mass Effect 2 so far, but this may be the only one that I might mark as vital, as this truly bridges ME1 and 3, with decisions in this mission carrying over to the forthcoming sequel, and a story that truly brings Liara T’Soni back into the fold, and any relevant storyline decisions you made in the first game along with her. This is sure to be fantastic news for those who caught the blue chick fever back in ME1 only to find that the romance didn’t carry over, though pre-suicide mission space coitus with Yvonne Strahovski mopped up a lot of gamers’ tears, I’m sure.
DRAGON AGE ORIGINS: WITCH HUNT
Bioware
XBox Live, Playstation Network, PC
9/7
$7/560 MS pts
And on the other end of Bioware’s RPG spectrum, there’s yet more Dragon Age DLC, answering all the questions everyone had about the witch Morrigan and her actions during the main game. No, I still haven’t played it. Yes, I know I need to jump on this shit. Yes, I know you’re holding my family hostage until I do, you can pick up the money at the pier at 2am.
PLANTS VS ZOMBIES
PopCap Games
XBox Live Arcade
9/8
1200 MS points
My dislike of playing games on PC, and not owning an Apple anything capable of games (I have a 32 GB classic IPod and haven’t needed anything more) means this game has still never passed into my hands. However, like Peggle before it, now that this thing is hitting XBox Live, it means my soul once again belongs to PopCap Games for a few months, as yet another terrifyingly addictive, charming game seeks to usurp what little free time I have. For those who do know and love the game, PopCap wants another piece of your asses too, since they’ve added co-op and a versus mode where you get to play from the zombie side. It’ll be fascinating to see how this game does, considering almost everybody who’s played it owns it on at least 4, 5, 17 different platforms.
ROCK BAND TUESDAY
Snoop Dogg Pack 01 ($13.49/1080 MS pts)
- Beautiful
- Drop It Like It’s Hot
- Ridin’ In My Chevy
- Sensual Seduction
- Snoop’s Upside Ya Head
- Tha Shiznit
- That’s Tha Homie +
- Who Am I (What’s My Name)?
$1.99 per track
+=Available for Lego Rock Band
Well, they told us this was coming months ago, and I still feel just as conflicted about it as before. Drummers and bassists will likely have plenty to do, guitarists, not so much. Keyboard support will likely help, and I will be deeply disappointed if Rock Band 3‘s harmony support isn’t immediately put to work on What’s My Name, but otherwise, it’s the first genuine dose of hip hop the game’s gotten in all this time, and it’s simply the wrong artist.
Yes, feel free to read that as “There better be Roots’ Things Fall Apart DLC coming”.