One thing I forgot to mention last week is that Madden is also usually the signal for the rush of new, triple A video games to start appearing on store shelves and eventually to the madness that is November. Although this week’s “big” game is debatable, it’s a hell of a whole lot better compare to what we’ve been getting in the weeks previous to Madden. Looks like my Sunday nights are going to be sleepless once again.
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
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (Xbox 360, PS3)
Tuesday August 17, 2010
Anyone who follows video game journalism knows the name Kane & Lynch, and it’s not exactly a pleasant memory either. Aside from that little nasty memory, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men wasn’t exactly critically well received which makes a sequel rather unlikely. It must’ve sold pretty well because here we are with Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days. Like before, we follow the eponymous criminals as they managed to have gotten into yet more trouble involving people wanting them dead. Now in China! New plot aside, several things been tweaked in this third person, cover based shooter. Probably the most striking difference is the camera. It looked a hell of a whole lot like a bad youtube video complete with artifacting and compression errors. Odd as it maybe, it’s on purpose to show the action in a gritty, realistic way. They even blur out naughty bits of women and gore. All this in the name of making the game feels like a real life documentary. The much requested co-op mode is in Dog Days, so now Kane & Lynch doesn’t have to be a solitary experience.
The unique multiplayer mode of the first Kane & Lynch returns with some new modes that plays on the theme of a bank heist with allies that you just can’t entirely trust. You and 3 others rob a bank. The robbing part is easy. It’s the getting away part that gets problematic. From allies that might kill you for your share to the cops trying to kill you, you just can’t turn your backs on anybody. If you do kill an ally though, everyone will be alerted and has the option to kill you for a reward. A slight twist on this is mode is the Undercover Cop mode where one of your allies is an undercover cop, and when he kills one of you, no one will be alerted.
The one thing I do like about sequels of games that aren’t all that good is that the developers tend to get a lot of flack for it and usually do make good on their second chances. From the various previews I’ve read along with my own hands-on with the demo, Dog Days stands a fair chance at being at the very least decent. Despite the mix critical reviews of the first one, most of them agree that the characters Kane & Lynch was at least interesting to watch and listen. Kane & Lynch may yet redeem themselves after all.
Honorable Mention
Ys Seven (PSP)
Tuesday August 17, 2010
In the pantheon of games that you might hear on the periphery but never anywhere near the mainstream, the Ys (pronounced like the word “ease”) series ranks pretty high up there. Given how the series occasionally pop up in the US and suddenly go dark for a couple of iterations, it’s a bit of a minor miracle that we’re even getting Ys Seven at all here in the US. The thing that people in the know latches onto about this Ys is that Falcom, the original developer of the series, developed this Ys. Apparently, most of the Ys series that we get, namely the compilations and ports of late, are pretty crappy, and we pinned it on the fact Falcom had nothing to do with those. So what exactly is all the fuss about this action RPG? Supposedly in the realm of action RPGs, the series is one of the better ones out there. Ys Seven continues the story of Adol who now finds himself in Altago with his frequent ally Dogi. One of the new mechanics in Seven is the ability to change control over to your party members instead of controlling Adol the whole time. The people most excited about this are probably Ys fans and only Ys fans, but just because a game has a small audience doesn’t necessarily make it a bad game. Check it out, and see if you’re a Ys fan who just doesn’t know it yet.
Coming This Week
Tuesday August 17, 2010
Mr. Bean (Wii, DS)
I love Mr. Bean! I would like the animated series that this game is based on, but he looks so goddamn ugly! Won’t you help Mr. Bean find 450 cat biscuits to pay the ransom for his beloved Teddy? I would, but seriously have you seen how ugly he is in this cartoon?
Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles 2 (Wii)
I’m pretty sure the whole “brain exercising games” fad has finally died down, but unfortunately some people haven’t quite gotten the message yet. In this second iteration of even more brain teasers, we get Sudoku, Towers, Number Soup, and other games whose names doesn’t tell me what they are. The good news is that the puzzles are randomly generated every time you restart the game. That’s something I guess.
Gold’s Gym Dance Workout (Wii)
I don’t know what magical enchantment is in every copy of Just Dance from Ubisoft, but it seems the dancing to a Wii game is in itself becoming popular, which might explain why we have a dancing fitness game. Dance those calories away with Gold’s Gym Dance Workout, and in the process make yourself an internet sensation all thanks to your Peeping Tom neighbor with his camera and YouTube account.
Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar (DS)
This series keeps giving you weird ass reasons to farm. At first, it was farming for the sake of farming. Then it was to save your little town from a mega corporation or something. There was one where you had to save the world somehow through farming. Now we’ve got a bazaar to save! All the standard Harvest Moon tropes return like finding (Well, choosing really) your true love, and you know, farming. Like all the other Harvest Moons before it, this one is aimed squarely at you Harvest Mooners. Enjoy.
LTTP
- Montessori Music (DS) 10/19/2009
That Ys game sounds kind of interesting to me. As for that Kane & Lynch game, I don’t know how many more shooters I can take. I’d rather slash some randomly encountered enemies or something. How ‘bout you guys? Who’s up for lending Mr. Bean a hand?
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