SECTION
by: Justin Clark and Matt Rose
CASTLEVANIA: LORDS OF SHADOW
Konami
360, PS3
10/5
MSRP: $59.99
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
There is no good reason it should have taken this long for someone to finally sit down and get a 3D Castlevania up to snuff, and I certainly didn’t expect the guiding hand of Hideo “Oh Just Make A Pretentious CG Movie For Fuck’s Sake” Kojima to be the guy to make this happen, but the word so far is that they finally managed to birth a quality current gen Castlevania onto a console with a bare minimum of discomfort. Aside from some nitpicks about the imperfect platforming, and my own personal mourning that Michiru Yamane’s name is nowhere to be found, the prevailing complaint is that there’s almost TOO much to do in the game, which sounds like a strange thing to whine about, although the GTA 4 hating community may have just collectively twitched at that statement.
ENSLAVED
Namco Bandai
360, PS3
10/5
MSRP: $59.99
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
Enslaved seems like it may be the newest sufferer of a little benign disease I call Silent Hill 2 Syndrome. That is, a game with entirely pedestrian gameplay, entirely redeemed and elevated by the characters, the environment, and the story. Sometimes, just sometimes, where and who you’re playing needs to overshadow how fun it is to do so. Whether it amounts to the level of rewarding that SH2 does remains to be seen, but some high praise does seem to be going towards the twist ending.
NBA JAM
EA
Wii
10/5
MSRP: $49.99
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
There have been only three games in my lifetime that have managed to overcome my lack of interest in most sports: Tecmo Bowl, SSX, and this. Tecmo Bowl had a pretty damn decent revival a few months ago, SSX has been slowly crashing and burning since 3, but NBA Jam‘s been MIA till now. Word of mouth’s been pretty muted on this title so far, but at first glance, it looks like they’ve added some needed substance to what was a pretty basic structure: Basketball, but with loose rules, gravity, and celebrity cameos. Also, things spontaneously combust. if they can deliver that, plus enough to justify the $50 price tag, cool beans.
By the way, I’m resigning from humanity if at least some of you don’t have this in your head all day.
WII PARTY
Nintendo
Wii
10/4
MSRP: $49.99
I’m sure your girlfriend, your grandparents, and your mom will be overjoyed. I actually say that without snark. The next few months will see you disappear into the bleak, nerdbound pit you call a living room with all the A-class titles in the pipe. Nintendo’s giving you an opportunity to smoothly transition from life with friends and loved ones to Gollumnitude while having a lot of simple, clean, wholesome fun. This chance should be embraced. Then your Wii can go back under the screen door where it belongs.
Other Titles Of Interest
Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs (Nintendo; DS; 10/4; MSRP: $34.99)
NBA 2K11 (2K Sports; 360, PS3, PC, Wii, PS2, PSP; MSRP: $59.99, $49.99 Wii, $29.99 PC, PS2, $19.99 PSP)
Def Jam: Rapstar (Konami; 360, PS3, Wii; 10/5; MSRP: $69.99, $59.99 Wii)
OOOHHHHH: ON THE DLC TIP
LEFT 4 DEAD 2: THE SACRIFICE
Valve
XBox Live Arcade, PC
10/5
560 MS pts/FREE on PC
Man, I know I’m burned out on zombies when even Valve can’t get me aroused one way or another about them. Regardless, Left 4 Dead‘s still one of the best multiplayer times one can have, and the loyal fans are probably gonna have a blast with this new scenario. But the time has come to find a new monster gimmick to run needlessly into the ground, dontcha think?
ROCK BAND TUESDAY
R.E.M. Pack 01 ($13.49/1080 MS pts)
- Driver 8 +
- It’s the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine) +
- Living Well Is the Best Revenge
- Radio Free Europe +
- Stand +
- Superman +
- These Days +
- What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
T. Rex Pack 01 ($5.49/440 MS pts)
- Children of the Revolution +
- Cosmic Dancer +
- Jeepster
$1.99/160 MS pts per song
+=Available for Lego Rock Band
There’s some absolute jewelry in that R.E.M. track pack, but let’s not bullshit ourselves that you didn’t hear a planet-wide squee when End of the World As We Know It showed up on that list. That 4.1 earthquake you felt? That was every Rock Band mic on the planet shuddering in embarrassment.
All I can think is that this T. Rex pack is as close we will ever get to Zeppelin in Rock Band. We will collectively have to settle for Zeppelinesque. Sigh.