How does one compete with the ultimate superhero video game ever? Well, the general consensus looks to be to drown the damn thing with so many titles coming from almost every genre under the sun, it’ll make your head spin. Thankfully, I have a neck brace handy.

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

Where’s a good taco stand when you need one?

Batman: Arkham City (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday October 18, 2011
Spider-man may have made some inroads in proving that comic book superheroes can indeed make good video games, but Batman: Arkham Asylum takes it all the way home. Who can blame them? Arkham Asylum’s take on the Metroid formula along with intense brawls against a room full of thugs, a deeply satisfying stealth mechanic, and some of the best voice acting done by the right voice actors equals a serious Game of the Year contender for 2009. Now let’s take all of that and stuff it into everyone’s favorite structure, the open world structure.

As big as Arkham Asylum was, it might as well be a studio apartment compared to the massive Arkham City, a portion of Gotham City cordoned off to be the new Arkham Asylum. All of Arkham City will be open to Batman. As such, he has the ability to glide, Super Mario World style, everywhere. Although there are buildings everywhere, only some will have interiors. Batman will also come across various side quests in the city like rescuing some hapless civilians who somehow got stuck inside the city or interrogating thugs for more info about the city.

Of course, you can’t call a sequel a sequel unless it’s can fulfill the “bigger, better” quota. Obviously the locale has become bigger in every way possible, but Batman’s combat has also received the bigger treatment as well. Now thugs come in even larger numbers for Batman to beat the living daylights out of, and many of Batman’s repertoire has been enhanced to deal with larger quantities of foes such as the ability to counter multiple enemy attacks at the same time.

By the sound of all the positive previews being thrown about, Batman seem poised to take the gaming world by storm once again, and unless you have some deep-seated distaste against people dressed up as animals, you might like Arkham City as well.

 

Professor Layton and the Last Specter (DS)

Monday October 17, 2011
Very interesting counter-programming move there, Nintendo. The HD systems get the “World’s Greatest Detective,” and Nintendo counters with their own iconic detective with headgear that is just as silly.

Professor Layton and the Last Specter actually takes place before the last three Professor Layton titles. In fact, Last Specter starts off without Luke, Layton’s perennial apprentice in the last three games, at Layton’s side. That changes fairly quickly as Layton is summoned by an old colleague, whose son just happens to be Luke, to investigate a local mystery.

By all accounts, Last Specter won’t be changing the Layton formula of walking about the environment one screen at a time and solving random puzzles, but Last Specter comes with a new side mode called London Life. In this mode, you create an avatar to explore Little London where you get to interact with various characters from the Layton Series of the past. You can expect to do a variety of side quest and missions for the denizens of Little London. Whether or not Little London has a goblin problem that needs solving remains unknown.

Funny. This marks the fourth game in the series, and from the looks of it, little has changed since its last iteration. Yet, I’m okay with that. The Layton series’ inherent charm may very well be a bottomless well that Layton games can draw from to keep people hooked.

 

Honorable Mention

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (PS3)

Tuesday October 18, 2011
Sometimes long running franchises need to take a break from the usual and take small side trips like Mario did in all of his spin offs. Looks like Ratchet and Clank felt the same way.

Instead of a third person action platformer that we’ve come to love and expect out of Ratchet and Clank, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One plays more like the 2D brawler of the olden days with guns. All 4 One supports up to 4 players either locally or online with each player playing as either Ratchet, Clank, Captain Qwark, and Dr. Nefarious. The Camera stays fixed above the characters while players run around shooting enemies and generally working together to overcome obstacles. Normally, Dr. Nefarious plays the villain in the Ratchet and Clank series, but given how he’s caught in his own scheme and has to rely on the other three to stay alive, Nefarious really doesn’t have much of a choice.

Changing up the format for a long running series carries some risk of losing the interest of the fans of said series, and given gamers general distaste for games going “casual,” All 4 One could be Ratchet and Clank’s riskiest move since… ever. At the same time, this could bring in new fans who were wary of the Ratchet and Clank series. How anyone could be turned off by the series escapes me, but you never know really.

 

Rocksmith (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday October 11, 2011
I can’t figure out how I feel about Ubisoft making a guitar game within spitting distance of the rhythm genre’s crash. On the one hand, I can’t see players from seeing past the genre’s recent crash and giving a shot, but on the other hand, Rocksmith looks to be far more than any guitar game that came before it.

First up, the game absolutely requires you to have a real electric guitar, which some bundles do come with. All copies of the game come with a special quarter inch jack to USB cable to connect your electric guitar to the console. Second, You’re not triggering sound samples like every music game before it. Every guitar sound coming out of the TV directly corresponds to your plucking of the strings on your guitar. Basically, Rocksmith turns your TV into a fancy amp. Finally, mastery of any one of the 50 songs does actually mean you can take that electric guitar, plug it into a real amp, and play the guitar part of the mastered song for real.

In addition to playing the included 50 songs, Rocksmith also has a variety of mini-games. These will train you in a specific guitar technique like scales, shifting, and sliding. Also, maybe a couple of years from now of Rocksmith playing and mastery, you should then check out the Amp Mode and Tone Designer. Did you know that the sound of an electric guitar is based on your amp’s setup? In Amp Mode, Rocksmith gives you almost dizzying amounts of control to a virtual amp including pedals and cabinets allowing you to make your own unique sound to your electric guitar. Tone Designer gives you control over the controls on the amp, which cabinets your amp is in, what pedals are placed and where. Just for fun, you can unlock specific setups from any of the songs allowing you to just goof around with a sound used by actual guitarists.

Guitar Hero and its ilk basically took the concept of air guitar and gave it form. In essence, those games set out to become a shortcut for rock star wannabes. Rocksmith goes in the other direction entirely by grounding the entire thing in reality. Your fingers will bleed, and your guitar will sound like a tortured cat for the first god knows how many hours. But maybe, just maybe, Rocksmith could be your ticket to actual rock stardom, or at least admiration by your friends and potential mate.

Coming This Week

Tuesday October 18, 2011

Ben 10 Galactic Racing (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS)

Think Mario Kart. Now think Ben 10, the popular Nickelodeon cartoon about a kid who transforms into 10 different aliens to fight evil and stuff. Now very carefully and without hurting yourself, think of both at the same time. Did you do it? Good. My job is done.

Grease Dance (Xbox 360 Kinect, PS3 Move)

Admittedly, people do like Grease, and making a dancing game out of this musical probably makes a modicum of sense. That won’t stop your neighbors from laughing their ass off from watching you play a dancing game though. Unless of course they’re also Grease fans.

Jane’s Advance Strike Fighters (Xbox 360, PS3)

Who is this Jane, and why does she have an advanced strike fighter? Was she the inventor of jet fighters making them superior to other jet fighters? Whatever the reason, this flight combat sim doesn’t look like it will be doing anything out of the ordinary. You’re in a jet fighter. You shoot missiles at enemy jets and targets of interest in a fictional oil rich country somewhere. I guess if you desperately need another flight sim in your library, you can’t go wrong with this one.

The Sims 3: Pets (Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS)

Have you ever wished you could play The Sims through the eyes of the pet? Well, you got your wish. In The Sims 3: Pets, you get to play as a pet in The Sims world. Taking direct control of said pets, you have to help your hapless sims on their road to self fulfillment. If the game doesn’t let you pee on your owner’s legs, I can’t in good conscience consider this as anything more than a failure.

Minute to Win It (Xbox 360 Kinect)

Physical game shows usually involve some kind of grand setups involving platforms, wires, some goo, and kooky contestants, but in Minute to Win It’s credit, their challenges tend to be small but intense. Will that translate over to a Kinect game though? Beats the hell out of me.

PowerUp Heroes (Xbox 360 Kinect)

Now we’re talking! Ever since the Wii introduced the concept of a virtual avatar in your console, we’ve been asking to see our digital selves kick some butt. In PowerUp Heroes, you control your Avatar – bedecked in generic, futuristic superhero costume – via punching, kicking, doing the wave, and other gestures via the Kinect. Each gesture makes your Avatar do superheroic things like kicking, punching, and even summon lightning strikes against your opponent. Now that violence has been checked off the list, next up, hardcore sexual activities!

Tropico 4 (Xbox 360)

In the simulation game Tropico 3, you just got elected as El Presidente of the island of Tropico, but in Tropico 4, the world has changed and with it the demands on your Island. With the ability to appoint political positions and even change the political system of your island paradise, Tropico 4 looks to up the ante from its previous outing by giving you even more control than before and more opportunities to be a benign leader or a sadistic dictator. All I care about is how do I get a pet giraffe in the game?

Everybody Dance (PS3 Move)

What is up with dancing games that absolutely must put the word dance in the title? Do they think us stupid that we can’t look at a box art and realize that this is indeed a dancing game? At any rate, Everybody Dance comes packed with 40 songs and is developed by the same guys who make the SingStar series. If you’re looking for a Dance Central style experience where the game tracks your entire body, you’d best look elsewhere. The Playstation Eye only tracks the Move in your right hand making this much more analogous to the Just Dance series on the Wii. Hope you’re not too disappointed.

Family Feud 2012 (Wii)

Personally, I’m glad these game show games dropped any notion that they’re not serializing the series every year. With the year straight up mentioned in the title, now we know which version to buy when we’re desperate some Family Feud in our lives. Wouldn’t want to be caught playing with last year’s version. What will the neighbors think?

Moxie Girlz (DS)

The self esteem of little girls must really, really be in dire straits if game developers actually feel compelled to make a game all about letting girls explore who they are and also teaches self expression and social situations. A toast everyone! To the game developers who selflessly create games not for monetary reasons but to make little girls feel better. Cheers.

Petz Puppyz & Kittenz (DS)

Haven’t we done puppies and kittens somewhere in the long line of Petz games? As it turns out, in my time at the helm of Coming Soon, Petz has never done puppies and kittens. How is it possible that the Petz series haven’t done a puppies and kittens pet sim game yet? What were they waiting for the series to wane before they break out their ultimate weapon, their ace in the hole? I think so. In fact, they’re so desperate that they actually combined both puppies and kittens into one game, which is sort of like stuffing a nuclear bomb with another nuclear bomb. A nunuclearclear bomb if you will.

Pillow Pets (DS)

Oh Dear God! Pillows being anthropomorphized into various animals already stretch the limits of good taste, but now they want to invade the holy lands of 2D platforming? What are we out of mini-game collection themes that we have to resort to pillows unnaturally shaped like animals to fill in some kind of video gaming quota? Are we that desperate for more video games that we’ll settle for anything? Wake up my fellow gamers. Our hobby has been invaded by the money hungry seeking only to fatten their wallets with your sloth. The line must be drawn here and no further!

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Impact (PSP)

Congratulations Naruto. Your insistence to keep coming out with more games has finally led you to this unenviable path of the Dynasty Warriors clone. Occasionally Naruto will fight another ninja one on one, but most of the time he’ll be busting out combos to take on seas of identical enemies that just stands there waiting for you to hit them. I almost prefer these guys were zombies. At least zombies has a reason for acting like zombies.

 

Wednesday October 19, 2011

Ram Racing (Wii, DS)

If you’re so enamored by the Dodge Ram you just bought and desperately want to virtually race it, boy have I got a game for you.

 

Late to the Party

• Bigfoot: King of Crush (Wii) 10/18/2011
• Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt – Trophy Showdown (Wii) 10/18/2011
• Bass Pro Shops: The Strike – Tournament Edition (Wii) 10/18/2011

 

I almost forgot what this felt like, this torrent of game releases that threatens my very sanity. From games you’d have to pay people to even deign to look at all the way to games whose existence either foretells doomsday or the resurrection of an evil deity. Thank God we have Professor Layton and ironically the Dark Knight to shine light onto this week. Both shall be necessary to rebalance my chi.

 

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