Woo! What a game! Go Saints! I always knew they’d pull it off. What with their kicking and running and… quarterbacking. Okay so I don’t watch football, but I love the barbecues around football games. So yay for football! This week, we’re getting quite possibly the least looked forward to sequel of all time. Funnily enough, not in a bad way either. You’ll see what I mean when you get to it.

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

Bioshock 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday February 9, 2010

2007 had a near undisputed game of the year, the first person shooter Bioshock. It was so beloved by many that a very odd sentiment came up when a sequel was announced. Many felt that Bioshock was such a complete experience that some wondered “What can they possibly do next to improve on it?” Basically, Bishock 2 has the unpleasant task of living up to an impossible hype. By all accounts, Bioshock 2 stands a very good chance of being at least a great, Triple-A game. Players can combine Plasmid powers (Bishock’s version of magic), wield the big drill arm that we see Big Daddies wield from the first one, acquire new weapons like the mini-gun, and fight new enemies (Including a new Big Daddy and a the infamous Big Sister). In short, Bioshock 2 has all the ingredients necessary to make a great sequel, but if you’ve played the first one and, like many of us, loved it like your own first born, you must learn to set your expectations. Bioshock bottled lightning by accident. Don’t expect it to happen twice. I would like nothing more for Bioshock 2 to get the same reputation, but I most certainly won’t expect it to.

Strident gum introduces the Holy Mint.

Dante’s Inferno (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP)

Tuesday February 9, 2010

Perhaps I really shouldn’t be too surprised that eventually someone is going to make a knock-off of God of War. Meet Dante’s Inferno, a game based off of the epic poem The Divine Comedy. Fortunately for us, Dante’s Inferno isn’t going to be some kind of interactive tour of hell, although that actually does sound kind of interesting. As Dante, you fight hordes of the denizens of Inferno inflicting upon them his scythe, which he got from Death itself, and a holy cross in his quest to save his beloved Beatrice from Lucifer. Like most action games post-God of War, this one is going to revel in its M rating. Enemies will be dismembered and ripped apart. Blood and guts will spray everywhere. Private parts will be displayed with. If you love God of War and is desperately looking for a fix before God of War 3 comes out in March, you probably won’t find a better choice than this one.

Honorable Mention

Star Ocean: The Last Hope International (PS3)

Tuesday February 9, 2010

The Star Ocean series is one of those Japanese Role Playing Games I hear a lot but really don’t know all that much about it. This much I do know though. It’s a JRPG/space opera. The combat is a little bit more action oriented than your normal Role Playing Game, and it’s set in space. Wait I mentioned that already. The set up is pretty simple. Earth is recovering from World War III. What better way to do so than to explore the stars. As Edge Maverick, No I didn’t make up that name, you get to explore the universe looking for a new home for humanity. Unfortunately from what I hear, this 4th entry in the Star Ocean series is a bit of a discredit to its name. At least that’s the general rumblings I heard about this game. Most of the complaints come from the bad dialogue, voice acting, and quantity thereof. It’s rare for a game to be drastically dragged down by a bad script, but it seems The Last Hope gets to take home that dubious honor. Nevertheless, the combat remains fairly solid. Check it out. Who knows, maybe the dialogue isn’t as bad as everyone says it is.

Coming This Week

Tuesday February 9, 2009

Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral (Wii, DS)

Here’s a new one. A match 3 colored jewels game with an environmental theme. Matching these jewels apparently feeds the denizens of the ocean. Also, it can combat pirates and sharks too. Who knew matching 3 colored gems have so much power?

Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll (Wii)

It looks like these tenacious monkeys aren’t ready to fade away into obscurity quite just yet. This time around, you can control them with a balance board in addition to the normal nunchuck and Wii Remote set up. With 7 brand new worlds to traverse through and a bunch of mini-games, this edition might just fulfill your inner need to trap monkeys inside transparent balls.

Data East Arcade Classics (Wii)

Way back yonder when arcades were around, apparently Data East released a lot of arcade games. I was kind of surprised how many of them I recognize in this compilation. You should check their full list of games yourself. You might be as surprised as I was. At $20, it might not be such a bad deal for this walk down arcade memory lane.

City Builder (Wii)

I find it a bit odd that Sim City doesn’t have nearly as many imitators as I thought it would. This is basically Sim City with a giant twist. You only build the infrastructure (streets, powerline, pipes for water), and you don’t control what kind of piece you get to use. Basically, the resulting city is going to have some very messed up streets.

Shiren The Wanderer (Wii)

Roguelikes is a subgenre of Role Playing Games. Like most RPGs, roguelikes are all about leveling your character, but they are brutally, unforgivingly difficult. Shiren The Wanderer will undoubtedly follow suit, and fans of the genre will tell you that that is exactly the point. I do suggest you give it a shot though. You might be a roguelike fan and not know it.

Best Friends Tonight (DS)

I’m starting to think that the Simulation genre is absolutely limitless. This “Social Sims” game has you playing peacemaker on a set of a TV show. Your goal is nothing short of making everyone become each other’s BFFs by the end of the day. Otherwise, the TV show gets cancelled. I’m not sure what to laugh at though. The premise or the butt ugly box art.

World Cup of Pool (DS)

I had to look this up, but apparently there really is a World Cup for Billiards. You’d think they’d come up with their own name for their championship. Lazy bums!

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (DS)

The dreaded licensed game for this movie is here, but at least it’s doing something pretty radically different from most others of its ilk. It’s a Role Playing Game. Instead of the usual 3D brawler/platformer, this one looks to be a full on RPG complete with turns and percentages. Color me surprised.

Pet Pals: New Leash on Life (DS)

Just how many sub-genres can a genre have? With all these veterinarian job sims out there, I’m starting to think it should have its own genre. This one kinda sets itself apart by having actual veterinarians create the animal cases in the game.

Hot Shots Tennis (PSP)

Hey man, you got tennis in my golf game! It looks like the Hot Shots series is looking at a new sport to capitalize on. Hot Shots Tennis has all of the trappings of the Hot Shots Golf games except in Tennis form. Enjoy!

LTTP

• Rock Blast (Wii)
• Scene It? Twilight (DS)
• The Legend of Kay (DS)

Regardless of how resistant I am to a sequel for Bioshock, I’ll definitely get Bioshock 2 on day one. Dante’s Inferno can rot in hell for all I care though. How about you guys? Who’s up for making friends with virtual characters?