What an angry week this is turning out to be. Not only do we have a game that’s all about anger that invariably leads to violence and destruction, we also have a game that states it right on the title! I hope you’ve got your anger management therapy group on speed dial. Better yet, just make an appointment right now. Wouldn’t want to see your expensive wide screen turn in to a nice heavy paperweight now would we?

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

Dark Souls (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday October 4, 2011
I gotta admit. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a developer say with absolute sincerity that they want to kill gamers... in their game I mean. Because Demon’s Souls just wasn’t infuriating enough, From Software has vowed to make its spiritual sequel, Dark Souls significantly harder and probably more sadistic.

From the looks of the various videos and previews, Dark Souls could have easily gone with the title Demon’s Souls 1.5. Almost everything in Dark Souls seems identical compared to Demon’s Souls. Dark Souls still puts you in the shoes of a lone warrior who must inexplicably, singlehandedly save the world from some kind of pervading evil. Not that the story has ever mattered mind you. Once again, you have near obsessive level of control in your character build ranging from being able to choose what kind of magic you can cast, what kind of armor and weaponry you can wield, and most importantly what kind of stats you’ll have. Even the leveling system remains exactly the same where killing enemies net you souls which can then translates to an extra point on your stat of choosing, that is if you can survive long enough until you can get to a checkpoint where you can actually apply your collected souls to your stats.

Not to say that nothing has changed of course. The biggest change looks to be the world design itself. Instead of it being divided into hub world and dungeons like Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls instead works sort of like an open world game. The entire world can be visited at any time if you can survive the denizens of darkness that lingers in the area. In place of a hub world, you get bonfires. Bonfires does just about everything the hub world in Demon’s Souls does from letting you level, giving you a moment of respite, access your stash of weapons, armor, accessories, and spells, and perhaps the only downside, cause all enemies to respawn. Dark Souls also promises much more equipment for you to choose from, so you can customize your character even further than you ever did in Demon’s Souls.

You better get used to this sight

Demon’s Souls truly unique take on multiplayer returns unchanged in Dark Souls as well. Once again, you’ll find messages left behind by other players around the world as well as bloodstains of dead players, which shows you how that player died. Given the nigh unforgiving difficulty of Dark Souls, co-op makes an unsurprising return, and if Dark Souls has driven you into a maniacal, evil mood, you can still invade other worlds, meaning other players’ game, as a black phantom charged with killing the player of that world. For those who choose this dark path, may the ire and scorn of other decent players plague your dreams to eternity.

No other game in recent memory has caused as much fervor in its fan base as Demon’s Souls has. This masochistic bunch defends Demon’s Souls difficulty as the epitome of fairness and a rewarding experience. Clearly Demon’s Souls did something right to cause for such admiration and accolades, and Dark Souls looks to be on the right path in bringing more of the same kind of experience. Dark Souls will undoubtedly turn off many, many gamers, especially those unexperienced in the ways of the old, but perhaps the only to know for sure if it would turn you off or not is to try it out for yourself.

NBA 2K12 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP)

Tuesday October 4, 2011
The NBA may be in a lockout, but that hasn't stopped Visual Concepts from unleashing upon the world what could possibly be the finest basketball simulation game of all-time. NBA 2K11 blew our minds last year with the introduction of one Michael Jeffrey Jordan to up the ante on what was already the best basketball game on the market. This year not only are we getting a finely tuned my player mode, but even creating a legend has been boosted to add even more depth to an already feature rich roster of gameplay.

“My Player” has been tweaked so your created player can now do far more off the field than ever before. From hiring your own agent, signing more in-game endorsements, to supporting charities to up your popularity, My player might just be the most intricate sports simulation game mode ever. And then you have “Creating a Legend,” which last year had you in control of a rookie Jordan and this year opens the floor to anyone and everyone. This year you can choose any current NBA player and guide them to the heights of his Airness.

But who are we kidding? What made last years entry so special was the inclusion of the greatest basketball player of all-time. Well Jordan is back, and, as 2k12's marketing won't let you forget, this year he's brought along friends. Yes this year roster includes legendary players the likes of Magic, Bird, Dr. J, and the greatest wingman of all-time, Scottie Pippen. With gameplay options almost as legendary as its formidable roster, NBA 2k12 might just be more than enough basketball to tide us through the lockout.
-Wolf96

Rage (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday October 4, 2011
I suppose Tantrum or Bad Mood wouldn’t be as evocative as Rage. Generic titles aside, Rage caught the attention of First Person Shooting fans when it was shown off some E3 ago with its silky smooth frame rate and stunning graphics despite the fact that all we saw was yet another post-apocalyptic setting.

In Rage you play as one of the group of humans put in cryostasis to survive a meteor impact. After said event, your job would be to repopulate the earth. Fortunately, as it turns out, the meteor didn’t kill all the humans. Unfortunately, the meteor didn’t kill all the humans, if you get my drift. From the mutants and the various coalitions of humans looking out only for numero uno, you’re going to have a hard time surviving out there.

In addition to just plain old first person shooting everyone in the face, Rage also lets you build mechanized units like little spiderbots that skitter around and shoot enemies or turrets. You can even make healing items and other useful items so long as you scrounge the right components for such items. Moreover, you can also create ammo type of varying kinds like an exploding arrow Gears of War Torque Bow style or the much more exotic, almost Insomniac-esque, mind control bolt that lets you take control of any enemy you manage to land your bolt on. That’s when you can force them to shamble closer to other enemies making the inevitable explosion from the mind control bolt just that much funnier.

You’d think a game developed by the venerable Id Software, whose games have literally coined the term “Deathmatch,” would also include standard FPS multiplayer modes, but you’d be wrong. Instead, the multiplayer modes in Rage all involve car combat. The single player mode does have elements of vehicular combat, so a multiplayer mode involving vehicular combat does make some sense. But having only vehicular combat modes for multiplayer might be a bit... surprising to hear. Fear not! One of the modes, titled Vehicle Deathmatch, should sate your multiplaying bloodthirst. The co-op front does involve actual on-foot missions, fortunately, but these missions only consist a subset of missions from the main single player mode. They range from unique missions that you could not access from the single player mode to slightly altered takes on missions that you’ve played. Moreover, they must be unlocked from your time playing in single player before they can be played.

On the surface, Rage looks to be your typical post-apocalyptic FPS (ever get the feeling that post-apocalyptic FPS should be its own genre?), and interesting choices in multiplayer aside, it really doesn’t do very much to distinguish itself from the rest of the pack. Nevertheless, Rage’s execution in doing said run-of-the-mill features looks to be exquisitely top notch, and that may very well be enough.