CAG's shipwreck & mrs. shipwreck Wombat preview the new releases for the week of June 4th, 2008. Like a well-oiled machine of awkwardness and rambling, Wombat and I discuss the likes of Ninja Gaiden II, LEGO Indiana Jones, and things that are facts (to varying degrees of success).
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Multi-Platform
GRID Dev. Codemasters Pub. Codemasters Systems: DS, PC, 360, PS3 MSRP: $29.99-$59.99
The racing genre is a crowded field these days with heavy hitters like Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport, Project Gotham Racing and others. Maybe this is the reason Codemasters' "Race Driver" series has never really gained much traction... or maybe it is because they can't come up with a decent name for the series and change the title to something different with every release. No longer will we Americans be confused by such names as "TOCA" or the incredibly difficult to decipher "Pro Race Driver", for Codemasters has given us another easy to remember four-letter name in the vain of last year's Dirt. So we have GRID (I'm not sure what it stands for, but it's all in caps), a racing game that straddles the line between simulation and arcade style racing. It mixes the two well, and what GRID lacks in the way of customization and tuning, it makes up by providing an overall fun driving experience. The cars handle well, if not a little floaty, and the variety of camera views and adjustable driving aids make it easy for you to tune the experience to your liking. Races run the gamut from circuit races to drifting competitions to street races and, from my experience with the demo, offer up some pretty spectacular vehicle damage. Maybe you don't like driving around in the beater that all my race cars become, well, GRID takes a page out of Full Auto's manual for accommodating ill-conceived corners by allowing you to pause and rewind back to before you ran headfirst into that cement butment. Add in a really slick interface that updates you on your overall game (and Achievement) progress and what I can assume will be some entertaining online racing, and you've got a pretty nice little package that should keep you satisfied for the summer. As an added bonus, apparently the DS version doesn't suck either. - ship
Best Deal:
Circuit City seems to have the best deal, offering a free $10 gift card and a code to unlock Drift Tuner Cars with the purchase of GRID. Alternatively, EB/GameStop is enticing you with a free t-shirt and a code to unlock Muscle Cars.
Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping & free code to unlock all of the Drift Tuner Cars)
Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock muscle cars)
Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card and code to unlock Drift Tuner Cars)
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $28.84 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping & free code to unlock all of the Drift Tuner Cars)
Purchase At EB Games $39.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock muscle cars)
Purchase At Fry's $32.99 ($5 shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping & free code to unlock all of the Drift Tuner Cars)
Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock muscle cars)
Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card and code to unlock Drift Tuner Cars)
The Incredible Hulk Dev. Edge of Reality Pub. SEGA Systems: DS, PS2, Wii, 360, PS3 MSRP: $29.99-$59.99
The Incredible Hulk game comes out late this week and, as of me writing this, there is currently not a single review of the game. I attribute this to one of two factors: 1) The "Iron Man game did the same thing and sucked factor" and 2) "People are as disinterested about this game as I am factor". Due to this, I asked someone who actually reads Hulk comics, but apparently Wombat was very busy and could only provide me with a "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" quote. If Wombat can't show interest, who can? - ship
Best Deal:
Circuit City is offering a free $10 gift card with the purchase of The Incredible Hulk.
Purchase At Amazon $59.95 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Amazon $29.95 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $28.84 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Circuit City $29.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Family Video $27.64 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $29.95 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $28.84 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Circuit City $29.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Amazon $59.95 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Amazon $49.95 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $48.01 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Kung Fu Panda Dev. Luxoflux Pub. Activision Systems: PC, DS, PS2, Wii, 360, PS3 MSRP: $19.99-$49.99
Okay, so this game-based-on-a-movie doesn't really excite me that much, but if 13 levels of Kung Fu action and lots of fuzzy animals get your heart racing, then this is your game. Apparently it's right up Ship's alley, as he played the demo. - mrs. ship
Sure, your kids would rather be playing Ninja Gaiden II, but Kung Fu Panda gives them something to play when you happen to be in the room. Featuring the kid-friendly version of Jack Black as a legendary panda who knows kung fu, you must control a kung fu-knowing panda as he embarks on a legendary quest full of stuff that legends are made of. Legendary. You also get to play as a few other characters from the movie including Angelina Jolie's "Jungle Cat Lady" and Dustin Hoffman's "Is That A Kinkaju Guy". The game itself is a pretty standard platformer mixed with an easy to pick up two-button fighting mechanic that allows for players to string together combos really easily. In addition to your standard attacks, you can use super "Chi" attacks as well, so that you don't have to waste as much time pummeling enemies until theyexplode into bloody giblets fall down and disappear. Made by the same development studio that made the Shrek 2 game (no, not the Shrek the Third game which blew hard), it's easy to see that this is the natural evolution of their movie tie-in game design. It will probably bore more experienced gamers to the point of seppuku, but as a kids game, it's actually not terrible. Plus your kids will probably get a kick out of the multiplayer mini-games and co-operative play that is available throughout the adventure mode. So if you've already finished up GTA and need some breaks while mastering Ninja Gaiden II, maybe it's time to let little Timmy or Sally play a game with you again. Besides, they'll be overjoyed to hear the singer of "
Her Gently" voicing a anthromorphic panda. - ship
Best Deal:
EB/GameStop is offering a free $10 gift card with the purchase of Kung Fu Panda. If you'd rather have a stuffed animal, Circuit City is the route to go. Target is also offering what amounts to a free movie ticket as well.
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At EB Games $49.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50)
Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free plush toy)
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At EB Games $29.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Target $29.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50)
Purchase At Circuit City $29.99 (Free plush toy)
Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)
Purchase At EB Games $19.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Target $17.99
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At EB Games $39.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Target $39.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50)
Purchase At Circuit City $39.99 (Free plush toy)
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At EB Games $49.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50)
Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free plush toy)
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At EB Games $49.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50)
Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free plush toy)
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Dev. Traveller's Tales Pub. Lucas Arts Entertainment Systems: DS, PC, PS2, PSP, Wii, 360, PS3 MSRP: $29.99-$49.99
The theme this week seems to be games based on movies, which typically register pretty low on the quality game radar, but the LEGO franchise is definitely the exception. Great movies combined with comical quirkiness and fun in-game "achievements" make for a sure hit. The game play is based around the three original movies, but when compared to the Star Wars titles, this game has more puzzles and searching than the linear play we've seen before. The characters each have their given abilities, and this time around they also have fears that limit their use in certain situations (we all know Indy hates snakes!). The co-op game play is generally unchanged from what we've seen, and the camera angles are (still) annoying at times. Overall, the game has gotten about 7-8/10 review scores, which makes it well worth the price. - mrs. ship
Best Deal:
Circuit City is offering a free t-shirt and a code to unlock the Belloq character with the purchase of LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. Best Buy is giving you the opportunity to buy any of the Indiana Jones movies on DVD for only $5 with the purchase of the game.
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code)
Purchase At Family Video $46.87 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga)
Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock Belloq character)
Purchase At Best Buy $49.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase)
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $26.44 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code)
Purchase At Target $27.99
Purchase At Best Buy $29.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase and save $10 when you pre-order select PC games)
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code)
Purchase At Target $39.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga)
Purchase At Best Buy $39.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase)
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code)
Purchase At Family Video $46.87 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga)
Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock Belloq character)
Purchase At Best Buy $49.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase)
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code)
Purchase At Target $39.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga)
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code)
Purchase At Family Video $46.87 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga)
Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock Belloq character)
Purchase At Best Buy $49.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase)
Robert Ludlum's: The Bourne Conspiracy Dev. High Moon Studios Pub. Sierra Systems: 360, PS3 MSRP: $59.99
In order to properly convey the The Bourne Conspiracy game experience, I have decided to write this preview in the style of the game. Okay, here we go. So, I'm sure we're all familiar with the Bourne franchise by now and it has all the elements you would think necessary (*Press the "W" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) to make an interesting game. The game is basically broken up into three different parts. First you have the hand-to-hand fighting parts. These consist of a Kung Fu Panda-esque two button (*Press the "D" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) combo system that, while interesting to watch, feels like you are doing exactly that: watching. Sure, you can block, but you can't really counter well out of the (*Press the "A" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) blocking and the best way to take people out is to build up a meter that allows you to do a contextual quick-time button press that instant-kills the enemy. Cool looking, sure, but again... a lot of watching.
After you get done watching that, you might move on to a fire arms section of the game. I can only imagine that the developers were trying to make this like Uncharted: (*Press the "S" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) Drake's Fortune with the use of cover, but the aiming is terrible and you again just end up waiting for your "I can't aim, but if this meter builds up, I can just press this button and kill this person in a cool pre-rendered way" meter to fill up. Well, after that, maybe you're not sure where to go. Have no fear as "not Matt Damon" is equipped with a form of Bourne Spidey-Sense that with the push of the button tells you (*Press the "D" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) where you should go next and what you can interact with. And by interact with, I mean hit a button and see what "not Matt Damon" has queued up for this contextually inviting situation.
Clearly it's time we get behind the wheel of a Mini (*Press the "S" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) Cooper. And the driving mechanic works well enough. Time to outrun these cops until some magic (*Press the "A" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) time limit is up and Mr. Contextual Button Meter is ready to come solve the situation for you. Now wasn't that rewarding? - ship
Best Deal:
Fry's is offering Robert Ludlum's: The Bourne Conspiracy for $50. Target is offering a free $10 gift card. EB/GameStop is offering a free mini flashlight that unlocks some sort of bonus game content. Both Best Buy and Circuit City are giving away various flavors of the Bourne movies on DVD.
Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free mini flashlight which unlocks bonus game content)
Purchase At Target $59.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free Bourne Identity DVD)
Purchase At Best Buy $59.99 (Free Bourne Identity or Bourne Supremecy DVD)
Purchase At Fry's $49.99
Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free mini flashlight which unlocks bonus game content)
Purchase At Target $59.99 (Free $10 gift card)
Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free Bourne Identity DVD)
Purchase At Best Buy $59.99 (Free Bourne Identity or Bourne Supremecy DVD)
Purchase At Fry's $49.99
Wii
Cabela's Trophy Bucks Dev. Pub. Activision Systems: Wii MSRP: $39.99
Don't sell yourself short there with that title Cabela. Apparently, in addition to eleven species of deer, you can also shoot waterfowl and landfowl and "varmints". Hell, I'd just suggest gunning down everything that moves; I doubt they're will be anyone popping out from behind a tree yelling "Don't Shoot!". - ship
Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Cabela's Trophy Bucks.
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $38.46 (99 cent shipping)
DS
Paws & Claws: Pet Vet - Healing Hands Dev. THQ Pub. THQ Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
Are healing hands at all similar to jazz hands? Or spirit fingers? - mrs. ship
Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Paws & Claws: Pet Vet - Healing Hands.
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $27.94 (99 cent shipping)
Summon Night: Twin Age Dev. Flight-Plan Pub. Atlus Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
Another Atlus published RPG is released this week (man, they've been pumping them out lately) and although it shares the same pre-colon name as the late generation Game Boy Advance RPG's, this Summon Night is not directly linked to those games. In fact, a lot has changed this time around as the game has evolved into a stylus controlled action-RPG with battles taking place in real-time on a three-quarters view overhead map. The game revolves around the conflict between two races: the humans and the summon beasts; and wouldn't you know it, your primary party characters are a female human and a male summon beast that have been raised as siblings. You can switch between these characters on-the-fly and each, of course, has varying abilities. When you aren't directly controlling a character, the computer AI will control your other characters, which is why there is a very important relationship system built into the game that affects how your party members react to one another and the effectiveness of their powers. How well you get along with your teammates also factors into your success rate at conjuring monsters to fight alongside you, as it takes multiple characters to re-create creatures that you have previously defeated in battle. These unique interactions alongside what appears to be very good use of stylus commands to perform spells and special attacks definitely set this game apart from the majority of RPG's that we've seen on the DS. I definitely see a lot of furious scribbling taking place on my DS very soon. - ship
Best Deal:
Family Video is offering Summon Night: Twin Age for around $28.50 shipped.
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $27.64 (99 cent shipping)
PlayStation 2
Chaos Wars Dev. Idea Factory Pub. O~3 Entertainment Systems: PS2 MSRP: $39.99
Here's an interesting GameStop exclusive that surpasses the likes of .......hmm, well that Anno 1701 game for the DS was supposed to be okay, so we'll go with that. Originally released in Japan nearly two years ago, Chaos Wars is a tactical RPG amulgamation of several characters from lesser known RPG series like Shadow Hearts, Growlanser, Spectral Force, and Gungrave. To come up with an agreeable aesthetic, all of the characters have been turned into super-deformed anime versions of themselves and the game has a very traditional 2D sprites in a 3D environment look. The plot is pretty much ripped straight out of Secret Wars, so don't be surprised if one of your favorite characters returns from this alternate dimension accompanied by some alien symbiote. Judging by the reception of the Japanese version, the game is fairly decent, but tends to be a little easier than most tactics games (which means I have a chance to succeed, alright!). Maybe the lack of difficulty stems from avoiding the rigidness of a grid based battlefield and instead giving you a large ring in which you have free reign to move about. While this certainly isn't pushing any new boundries, fans of any of the represented series will likely get enough enjoyment to justify spending the $40 on a game that may become difficult to find in the near future. - ship
Best Deal:
There are no deals for Chaos Wars as it is an EB/GameStop exclusive.
Purchase At EB Games $39.99 (EB/GameStop Exclusive)
PSP
God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP Bundle Dev. Ready at Dawn Pub. Sony Systems: PSP MSRP: $199.99
Wow, that certainly is a bright red PSP with Kratos' face emblazened on the back. I was shocked to see just how red the thing was when I saw it in person. I mean, it's red, really, really red. And if you haven't guessed, it comes with God of War: Chains of Olympus. But that's not all, as it comes with... man that thing is red... I mean, it also comes with the movie SuperBad on UMD and a free download of Syphon Filter: Combat Ops. Not a bad deal at all for a slim PSP with all the fixins'. - ship
(Deja Preview) Explore Kratos' past in this all new prequel to the original God of War. It's pretty much everything you would expect when you cram the series down into portable form. You've got your gratuitous violence (and sex), easy to perform combos, quick-time finishing moves, and reasonably easy environmental puzzles. All in all, a great game for the PSP, but it only clocks in between five and six hours. That said, I think I'm going to wait for the inevitable PS2 release that will likely come out at a cheaper price and be more to my liking in the controls department. Stupid nub. - ship
Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for the God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP Bundle.
Purchase At Amazon $199.99 (Free shipping)
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 Dev. Clap Hanz Pub. Sony Systems: PSP MSRP: $29.99
The original Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee launched alongside the PSP, and to this day I still think it is one of the best games available for the system. After playing the demos for the follow-up, it seems like Sony felt that way as well as they are releasing nearly the exact same game. There are certainly new courses, characters, and unlockables, but the gameplay itself is nearly identical to the original. You've got the same triple-hit swing mechanic, the same point building system for hitting good shots, and pretty much the same graphics (which have always looked nice on the PSP). The major difference between the two is that the first game was released at $40, while the sequel is being released for $30. But then again, the original game didn't have an identical game already on the market for $20 when it released. It pretty much comes down to this: if you really enjoyed the first game and want some new courses, you'll enjoy Open Tee 2. If you never got around to playing the first game, just go buy that one instead. - ship
Best Deal:
Family Video is offering Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 for around $28.50 shipped.
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $27.64 (99 cent shipping)
Xbox 360
Ninja Gaiden II Dev. Team Ninja Pub. Tecmo Systems: 360 MSRP: $59.99
Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox was my undisputed favorite game of the last generation, so like the buckets worth of blood found in the sequel, expect this preview to be gushing. Actually, I've played the first level of the game now, and it's everything I had hoped for. Fans of the original will most likely eat this up, while fence-sitters won't find anything new to sway them towards the dismembering joy of pure awesomeness. The new methods of catering to the less hardcore crowd like the regenerating health & multiple difficulty settings are nice touches, but this is still the same finely tuned chaos that will cause controllers to be destroyed amidst impossible to see projectiles and newly added suicide bomber dismembered ninja mutants. Really, what's not to love? Whoever made this game should get some kind of a bonus or something. - ship
Best Deal:
Amazon is offering Ninja Gaiden II for $55 shipped. Circuit City is offering a Ryu Wall Graphix. Not to be outdone, both Best Buy and Wal-Mart are offering ways to decorate your walls with ninjas as well.
Purchase At Amazon $54.99 (Free shipping)
Purchase At Family Video $56.24 (99 cent shipping)
Purchase At Walmart $59.99 (Free Ninja Gaiden II wall scroll)
Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free Ryu Wall Graphix)
Purchase At Best Buy $59.99 (Free Ninja Gaiden II Wall Cling)
On The DL with the Shipwrecks
Protothea Systems: WiiWare MSRP: $10
Apparently, Protothea (yes, I know there's supposed to be an umlaut over that second "o", but that messes with CAG formatting, so deal with it) was originally a PC SHMUP from a couple years back. The only interesting aspect of the game is that while the screen is scrolling traditionally from top to bottom, you are able to use the Wii-mote to aim any place on the screen, which in effect rotates the direction your ship is facing. And that's the interesting part... the rest of the game looks sleep inducing, which is quite an accomplishment for a genre that usually revolves around intense action. - ship
Toki Tori Systems: WiiWare MSRP: $10
A small chick (as in baby chicken) has discovered his brothers and sisters have been egg-napped, and thus begins this GBC game that’s been remade for WiiWare. Toki Tori (the chicken) has a set number of abilities (warping, bridge-building, etc…) that he can use throughout one of more than 70 levels within this platformer/puzzle title. The graphics have been updated for the Wii and now have a great 2.5D style that is similar to claymation, and the Wii-mote is in full use. This title reminds me of a single-player Worms-like title. It looks fun, and for $10 it's definitely a good change of pace. - mrs. ship
Ninja Combat Systems: Wii Virtual Console MSRP: $9
Hooray, yet another mediocre beat-'em-up from yesteryear. Take on the role of a mullet-clad ninja dressed in red and use your flamin' fingers to dispense all manner of flamin' finger justice upon legions of the worst trained ninjas ever. Seriously guys, whoever trained you has no idea about the way of the ninja, get a refund... preferably before you grunt in disdain and flicker out of existence. Also available to play: identical twin blue mullet ninja. - ship
Aces of the Galaxy Systems: XBLA MSRP: $10
Aces of the Galaxy is sort of like Star Fox, without all the furries. Pilot your on-rails spaceship and shoot at stuff that is in your way or trying to harm you. And while there appear to be no talking frogmen, the game does offer co-op play and a few branching options for which level you'd like to play next. Seems to be a nice original title for XBLA although the inability to save or continue coupled with the short game length may cause some to shy away. - ship
Roogoo Systems: XBLA MSRP: $10
"Baby's First Xbox Live Arcade Game"
Novastrike Systems: PSN MSRP: $9.99
Well, how about that, another top-down twin-stick shooter as a downloadable game. Never saw it coming. This one features some nice visuals and the ability to upgrade your weapons. I'm not sure what makes this one stand out from the crowd, but it looks decent enough. - ship
Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 Systems: PSN MSRP: $9.99
Well, how about that, another top-down twin-stick shooter as a downloadable game. Never saw it coming. This one is the follow-up to the classic arcade games and features three-player co-op both locally and online. Much like Assault Heroes, you have the ability to fight on foot or in vehicles as you work through jungle environments that also remind me of Assault Heroes. Just from watching the videos, though, Commando 3 just isn't doing much for me. Maybe once I get some hands-on time with the co-op, I'll change my mind. - ship
Feedback:
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[digg]http://digg.com/podcasts/CAG_Foreplay[/digg]Multi-Platform
GRID Dev. Codemasters Pub. Codemasters Systems: DS, PC, 360, PS3 MSRP: $29.99-$59.99
The racing genre is a crowded field these days with heavy hitters like Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport, Project Gotham Racing and others. Maybe this is the reason Codemasters' "Race Driver" series has never really gained much traction... or maybe it is because they can't come up with a decent name for the series and change the title to something different with every release. No longer will we Americans be confused by such names as "TOCA" or the incredibly difficult to decipher "Pro Race Driver", for Codemasters has given us another easy to remember four-letter name in the vain of last year's Dirt. So we have GRID (I'm not sure what it stands for, but it's all in caps), a racing game that straddles the line between simulation and arcade style racing. It mixes the two well, and what GRID lacks in the way of customization and tuning, it makes up by providing an overall fun driving experience. The cars handle well, if not a little floaty, and the variety of camera views and adjustable driving aids make it easy for you to tune the experience to your liking. Races run the gamut from circuit races to drifting competitions to street races and, from my experience with the demo, offer up some pretty spectacular vehicle damage. Maybe you don't like driving around in the beater that all my race cars become, well, GRID takes a page out of Full Auto's manual for accommodating ill-conceived corners by allowing you to pause and rewind back to before you ran headfirst into that cement butment. Add in a really slick interface that updates you on your overall game (and Achievement) progress and what I can assume will be some entertaining online racing, and you've got a pretty nice little package that should keep you satisfied for the summer. As an added bonus, apparently the DS version doesn't suck either. - ship
Best Deal:
Circuit City seems to have the best deal, offering a free $10 gift card and a code to unlock Drift Tuner Cars with the purchase of GRID. Alternatively, EB/GameStop is enticing you with a free t-shirt and a code to unlock Muscle Cars.
Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping & free code to unlock all of the Drift Tuner Cars) Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock muscle cars) Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card and code to unlock Drift Tuner Cars) Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $28.84 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping & free code to unlock all of the Drift Tuner Cars) Purchase At EB Games $39.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock muscle cars) Purchase At Fry's $32.99 ($5 shipping) Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping & free code to unlock all of the Drift Tuner Cars) Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock muscle cars) Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card and code to unlock Drift Tuner Cars)The Incredible Hulk Dev. Edge of Reality Pub. SEGA Systems: DS, PS2, Wii, 360, PS3 MSRP: $29.99-$59.99
The Incredible Hulk game comes out late this week and, as of me writing this, there is currently not a single review of the game. I attribute this to one of two factors: 1) The "Iron Man game did the same thing and sucked factor" and 2) "People are as disinterested about this game as I am factor". Due to this, I asked someone who actually reads Hulk comics, but apparently Wombat was very busy and could only provide me with a "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" quote. If Wombat can't show interest, who can? - ship
Best Deal:
Circuit City is offering a free $10 gift card with the purchase of The Incredible Hulk.
Purchase At Amazon $59.95 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Amazon $29.95 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $28.84 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Circuit City $29.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Family Video $27.64 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Amazon $29.95 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $28.84 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Circuit City $29.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Amazon $59.95 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $57.68 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Amazon $49.95 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $48.01 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free $10 gift card)Kung Fu Panda Dev. Luxoflux Pub. Activision Systems: PC, DS, PS2, Wii, 360, PS3 MSRP: $19.99-$49.99
Okay, so this game-based-on-a-movie doesn't really excite me that much, but if 13 levels of Kung Fu action and lots of fuzzy animals get your heart racing, then this is your game. Apparently it's right up Ship's alley, as he played the demo. - mrs. ship
Sure, your kids would rather be playing Ninja Gaiden II, but Kung Fu Panda gives them something to play when you happen to be in the room. Featuring the kid-friendly version of Jack Black as a legendary panda who knows kung fu, you must control a kung fu-knowing panda as he embarks on a legendary quest full of stuff that legends are made of. Legendary. You also get to play as a few other characters from the movie including Angelina Jolie's "Jungle Cat Lady" and Dustin Hoffman's "Is That A Kinkaju Guy". The game itself is a pretty standard platformer mixed with an easy to pick up two-button fighting mechanic that allows for players to string together combos really easily. In addition to your standard attacks, you can use super "Chi" attacks as well, so that you don't have to waste as much time pummeling enemies until they
Her Gently" voicing a anthromorphic panda. - shipBest Deal:
EB/GameStop is offering a free $10 gift card with the purchase of Kung Fu Panda. If you'd rather have a stuffed animal, Circuit City is the route to go. Target is also offering what amounts to a free movie ticket as well.
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At EB Games $49.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50) Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free plush toy) Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At EB Games $29.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Target $29.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50) Purchase At Circuit City $29.99 (Free plush toy) Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25) Purchase At EB Games $19.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Target $17.99 Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At EB Games $39.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Target $39.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50) Purchase At Circuit City $39.99 (Free plush toy) Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At EB Games $49.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50) Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free plush toy) Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At EB Games $49.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free Movie Money worth $7.50) Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free plush toy)LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Dev. Traveller's Tales Pub. Lucas Arts Entertainment Systems: DS, PC, PS2, PSP, Wii, 360, PS3 MSRP: $29.99-$49.99
The theme this week seems to be games based on movies, which typically register pretty low on the quality game radar, but the LEGO franchise is definitely the exception. Great movies combined with comical quirkiness and fun in-game "achievements" make for a sure hit. The game play is based around the three original movies, but when compared to the Star Wars titles, this game has more puzzles and searching than the linear play we've seen before. The characters each have their given abilities, and this time around they also have fears that limit their use in certain situations (we all know Indy hates snakes!). The co-op game play is generally unchanged from what we've seen, and the camera angles are (still) annoying at times. Overall, the game has gotten about 7-8/10 review scores, which makes it well worth the price. - mrs. ship
Best Deal:
Circuit City is offering a free t-shirt and a code to unlock the Belloq character with the purchase of LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. Best Buy is giving you the opportunity to buy any of the Indiana Jones movies on DVD for only $5 with the purchase of the game.
Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code) Purchase At Family Video $46.87 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga) Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock Belloq character) Purchase At Best Buy $49.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase) Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $26.44 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code) Purchase At Target $27.99 Purchase At Best Buy $29.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase and save $10 when you pre-order select PC games) Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code) Purchase At Target $39.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga) Purchase At Best Buy $39.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase) Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code) Purchase At Family Video $46.87 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga) Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock Belloq character) Purchase At Best Buy $49.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase) Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code) Purchase At Target $39.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga) Purchase At Amazon $49.99 (Free shipping & free "fast dig" in-game code) Purchase At Family Video $46.87 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Target $49.99 (Free unlockable treasure magnet & $5 off LEGO Star Wars II or LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga) Purchase At Circuit City $49.99 (Free t-shirt and code to unlock Belloq character) Purchase At Best Buy $49.99 (Buy one of three Indiana Jones DVDs for $5 with purchase)Robert Ludlum's: The Bourne Conspiracy Dev. High Moon Studios Pub. Sierra Systems: 360, PS3 MSRP: $59.99
In order to properly convey the The Bourne Conspiracy game experience, I have decided to write this preview in the style of the game. Okay, here we go. So, I'm sure we're all familiar with the Bourne franchise by now and it has all the elements you would think necessary (*Press the "W" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) to make an interesting game. The game is basically broken up into three different parts. First you have the hand-to-hand fighting parts. These consist of a Kung Fu Panda-esque two button (*Press the "D" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) combo system that, while interesting to watch, feels like you are doing exactly that: watching. Sure, you can block, but you can't really counter well out of the (*Press the "A" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) blocking and the best way to take people out is to build up a meter that allows you to do a contextual quick-time button press that instant-kills the enemy. Cool looking, sure, but again... a lot of watching.
After you get done watching that, you might move on to a fire arms section of the game. I can only imagine that the developers were trying to make this like Uncharted: (*Press the "S" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) Drake's Fortune with the use of cover, but the aiming is terrible and you again just end up waiting for your "I can't aim, but if this meter builds up, I can just press this button and kill this person in a cool pre-rendered way" meter to fill up. Well, after that, maybe you're not sure where to go. Have no fear as "not Matt Damon" is equipped with a form of Bourne Spidey-Sense that with the push of the button tells you (*Press the "D" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) where you should go next and what you can interact with. And by interact with, I mean hit a button and see what "not Matt Damon" has queued up for this contextually inviting situation.
Clearly it's time we get behind the wheel of a Mini (*Press the "S" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) Cooper. And the driving mechanic works well enough. Time to outrun these cops until some magic (*Press the "A" key on your keyboard to continue this preview, if you don't think you pressed it fast enough, imagine a cut-scene showing "not Matt Damon" getting arrested, and start back at the beginning of this sentence*) time limit is up and Mr. Contextual Button Meter is ready to come solve the situation for you. Now wasn't that rewarding? - ship
Best Deal:
Fry's is offering Robert Ludlum's: The Bourne Conspiracy for $50. Target is offering a free $10 gift card. EB/GameStop is offering a free mini flashlight that unlocks some sort of bonus game content. Both Best Buy and Circuit City are giving away various flavors of the Bourne movies on DVD.
Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free mini flashlight which unlocks bonus game content) Purchase At Target $59.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free Bourne Identity DVD) Purchase At Best Buy $59.99 (Free Bourne Identity or Bourne Supremecy DVD) Purchase At Fry's $49.99 Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At EB Games $59.99 (Free mini flashlight which unlocks bonus game content) Purchase At Target $59.99 (Free $10 gift card) Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free Bourne Identity DVD) Purchase At Best Buy $59.99 (Free Bourne Identity or Bourne Supremecy DVD) Purchase At Fry's $49.99 Wii
Cabela's Trophy Bucks Dev. Pub. Activision Systems: Wii MSRP: $39.99
Don't sell yourself short there with that title Cabela. Apparently, in addition to eleven species of deer, you can also shoot waterfowl and landfowl and "varmints". Hell, I'd just suggest gunning down everything that moves; I doubt they're will be anyone popping out from behind a tree yelling "Don't Shoot!". - ship
Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Cabela's Trophy Bucks.
Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $38.46 (99 cent shipping)DS
Paws & Claws: Pet Vet - Healing Hands Dev. THQ Pub. THQ Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
Are healing hands at all similar to jazz hands? Or spirit fingers? - mrs. ship
Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Paws & Claws: Pet Vet - Healing Hands.
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $27.94 (99 cent shipping)Summon Night: Twin Age Dev. Flight-Plan Pub. Atlus Systems: DS MSRP: $29.99
Another Atlus published RPG is released this week (man, they've been pumping them out lately) and although it shares the same pre-colon name as the late generation Game Boy Advance RPG's, this Summon Night is not directly linked to those games. In fact, a lot has changed this time around as the game has evolved into a stylus controlled action-RPG with battles taking place in real-time on a three-quarters view overhead map. The game revolves around the conflict between two races: the humans and the summon beasts; and wouldn't you know it, your primary party characters are a female human and a male summon beast that have been raised as siblings. You can switch between these characters on-the-fly and each, of course, has varying abilities. When you aren't directly controlling a character, the computer AI will control your other characters, which is why there is a very important relationship system built into the game that affects how your party members react to one another and the effectiveness of their powers. How well you get along with your teammates also factors into your success rate at conjuring monsters to fight alongside you, as it takes multiple characters to re-create creatures that you have previously defeated in battle. These unique interactions alongside what appears to be very good use of stylus commands to perform spells and special attacks definitely set this game apart from the majority of RPG's that we've seen on the DS. I definitely see a lot of furious scribbling taking place on my DS very soon. - ship
Best Deal:
Family Video is offering Summon Night: Twin Age for around $28.50 shipped.
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $27.64 (99 cent shipping)PlayStation 2
Chaos Wars Dev. Idea Factory Pub. O~3 Entertainment Systems: PS2 MSRP: $39.99
Here's an interesting GameStop exclusive that surpasses the likes of .......hmm, well that Anno 1701 game for the DS was supposed to be okay, so we'll go with that. Originally released in Japan nearly two years ago, Chaos Wars is a tactical RPG amulgamation of several characters from lesser known RPG series like Shadow Hearts, Growlanser, Spectral Force, and Gungrave. To come up with an agreeable aesthetic, all of the characters have been turned into super-deformed anime versions of themselves and the game has a very traditional 2D sprites in a 3D environment look. The plot is pretty much ripped straight out of Secret Wars, so don't be surprised if one of your favorite characters returns from this alternate dimension accompanied by some alien symbiote. Judging by the reception of the Japanese version, the game is fairly decent, but tends to be a little easier than most tactics games (which means I have a chance to succeed, alright!). Maybe the lack of difficulty stems from avoiding the rigidness of a grid based battlefield and instead giving you a large ring in which you have free reign to move about. While this certainly isn't pushing any new boundries, fans of any of the represented series will likely get enough enjoyment to justify spending the $40 on a game that may become difficult to find in the near future. - ship
Best Deal:
There are no deals for Chaos Wars as it is an EB/GameStop exclusive.
Purchase At EB Games $39.99 (EB/GameStop Exclusive)PSP
God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP Bundle Dev. Ready at Dawn Pub. Sony Systems: PSP MSRP: $199.99
Wow, that certainly is a bright red PSP with Kratos' face emblazened on the back. I was shocked to see just how red the thing was when I saw it in person. I mean, it's red, really, really red. And if you haven't guessed, it comes with God of War: Chains of Olympus. But that's not all, as it comes with... man that thing is red... I mean, it also comes with the movie SuperBad on UMD and a free download of Syphon Filter: Combat Ops. Not a bad deal at all for a slim PSP with all the fixins'. - ship
(Deja Preview) Explore Kratos' past in this all new prequel to the original God of War. It's pretty much everything you would expect when you cram the series down into portable form. You've got your gratuitous violence (and sex), easy to perform combos, quick-time finishing moves, and reasonably easy environmental puzzles. All in all, a great game for the PSP, but it only clocks in between five and six hours. That said, I think I'm going to wait for the inevitable PS2 release that will likely come out at a cheaper price and be more to my liking in the controls department. Stupid nub. - ship
Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for the God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP Bundle.
Purchase At Amazon $199.99 (Free shipping)Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 Dev. Clap Hanz Pub. Sony Systems: PSP MSRP: $29.99
The original Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee launched alongside the PSP, and to this day I still think it is one of the best games available for the system. After playing the demos for the follow-up, it seems like Sony felt that way as well as they are releasing nearly the exact same game. There are certainly new courses, characters, and unlockables, but the gameplay itself is nearly identical to the original. You've got the same triple-hit swing mechanic, the same point building system for hitting good shots, and pretty much the same graphics (which have always looked nice on the PSP). The major difference between the two is that the first game was released at $40, while the sequel is being released for $30. But then again, the original game didn't have an identical game already on the market for $20 when it released. It pretty much comes down to this: if you really enjoyed the first game and want some new courses, you'll enjoy Open Tee 2. If you never got around to playing the first game, just go buy that one instead. - ship
Best Deal:
Family Video is offering Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 for around $28.50 shipped.
Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $27.64 (99 cent shipping)Xbox 360
Ninja Gaiden II Dev. Team Ninja Pub. Tecmo Systems: 360 MSRP: $59.99
Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox was my undisputed favorite game of the last generation, so like the buckets worth of blood found in the sequel, expect this preview to be gushing. Actually, I've played the first level of the game now, and it's everything I had hoped for. Fans of the original will most likely eat this up, while fence-sitters won't find anything new to sway them towards the dismembering joy of pure awesomeness. The new methods of catering to the less hardcore crowd like the regenerating health & multiple difficulty settings are nice touches, but this is still the same finely tuned chaos that will cause controllers to be destroyed amidst impossible to see projectiles and newly added suicide bomber dismembered ninja mutants. Really, what's not to love? Whoever made this game should get some kind of a bonus or something. - ship
Best Deal:
Amazon is offering Ninja Gaiden II for $55 shipped. Circuit City is offering a Ryu Wall Graphix. Not to be outdone, both Best Buy and Wal-Mart are offering ways to decorate your walls with ninjas as well.
Purchase At Amazon $54.99 (Free shipping) Purchase At Family Video $56.24 (99 cent shipping) Purchase At Walmart $59.99 (Free Ninja Gaiden II wall scroll) Purchase At Circuit City $59.99 (Free Ryu Wall Graphix) Purchase At Best Buy $59.99 (Free Ninja Gaiden II Wall Cling)On The DL with the Shipwrecks
Protothea Systems: WiiWare MSRP: $10
Apparently, Protothea (yes, I know there's supposed to be an umlaut over that second "o", but that messes with CAG formatting, so deal with it) was originally a PC SHMUP from a couple years back. The only interesting aspect of the game is that while the screen is scrolling traditionally from top to bottom, you are able to use the Wii-mote to aim any place on the screen, which in effect rotates the direction your ship is facing. And that's the interesting part... the rest of the game looks sleep inducing, which is quite an accomplishment for a genre that usually revolves around intense action. - ship
Toki Tori Systems: WiiWare MSRP: $10
A small chick (as in baby chicken) has discovered his brothers and sisters have been egg-napped, and thus begins this GBC game that’s been remade for WiiWare. Toki Tori (the chicken) has a set number of abilities (warping, bridge-building, etc…) that he can use throughout one of more than 70 levels within this platformer/puzzle title. The graphics have been updated for the Wii and now have a great 2.5D style that is similar to claymation, and the Wii-mote is in full use. This title reminds me of a single-player Worms-like title. It looks fun, and for $10 it's definitely a good change of pace. - mrs. ship
Ninja Combat Systems: Wii Virtual Console MSRP: $9
Hooray, yet another mediocre beat-'em-up from yesteryear. Take on the role of a mullet-clad ninja dressed in red and use your flamin' fingers to dispense all manner of flamin' finger justice upon legions of the worst trained ninjas ever. Seriously guys, whoever trained you has no idea about the way of the ninja, get a refund... preferably before you grunt in disdain and flicker out of existence. Also available to play: identical twin blue mullet ninja. - ship
Aces of the Galaxy Systems: XBLA MSRP: $10
Aces of the Galaxy is sort of like Star Fox, without all the furries. Pilot your on-rails spaceship and shoot at stuff that is in your way or trying to harm you. And while there appear to be no talking frogmen, the game does offer co-op play and a few branching options for which level you'd like to play next. Seems to be a nice original title for XBLA although the inability to save or continue coupled with the short game length may cause some to shy away. - ship
Roogoo Systems: XBLA MSRP: $10
"Baby's First Xbox Live Arcade Game"
Novastrike Systems: PSN MSRP: $9.99
Well, how about that, another top-down twin-stick shooter as a downloadable game. Never saw it coming. This one features some nice visuals and the ability to upgrade your weapons. I'm not sure what makes this one stand out from the crowd, but it looks decent enough. - ship
Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 Systems: PSN MSRP: $9.99
Well, how about that, another top-down twin-stick shooter as a downloadable game. Never saw it coming. This one is the follow-up to the classic arcade games and features three-player co-op both locally and online. Much like Assault Heroes, you have the ability to fight on foot or in vehicles as you work through jungle environments that also remind me of Assault Heroes. Just from watching the videos, though, Commando 3 just isn't doing much for me. Maybe once I get some hands-on time with the co-op, I'll change my mind. - ship
Feedback:
Did we miss a good sale on a game? Did we miss previewing a game completely? Well, the only way that everyone can know a better deal is out there is to let us know about it. Post deals you've found or games that we missed in the thread so that CAGs can make sure they are getting the absolute best prices on new releases.
