Happy Halloween everybody! And what better way to celebrate Halloween than with a romp through the desert? Better yet, how about a blast from the past? Hell, make it two if you want to count one with an HD facelift. It might just make you forget the fact that you just contracted diabetes after Monday’s candy fest.

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

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3)

Tuesday November 1, 2011
Every rabid Uncharted fan has already gobbled up every piece of information imaginable concerning this sequel, so for those guys, you can just skip this whole segment and scroll on down. As for those who have no idea who the hell Nathan Drake is, stick around.

Continuing every gamer’s favorite Indiana Jones wannabe, Nathan Drake continues his quest for ancient riches and wealth. This time he and his motley crew are searching for Ubar, which is better known by its nickname as the “Atlantis of the Sands.” As usual, he won’t be alone in his search as a shadowy organization also has Ubar in their sights as well.

Gameplay wise, nothing has changed since the last two. Drake still has to take cover and shoot at enemies as they do the same themselves. If he gets close enough, he can bust out a melee, which takes them down while saving you bullets. The road to Ubar won’t be a straight one. Most of the time you have to look for the path that’s hidden in the environment or solve the occasional ancient puzzle.

If all of this sounds a bit dry to you, don’t blame Uncharted 3 for it. That would be my slight distaste for this series surfacing its rather ugly head on this matter, but millions upon millions of gamers have found the game to be among the best of the best in the realm of video games with very valid reasons. Come this Tuesday, those millions will be flocking to the game store with only this game in their minds. I’ll be at home enjoying Professor Layton, which I’ve yet to get to.

 

Honorable Mention

Sonic Generations (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday November 1, 2011
Sega just can’t win. Every attempt they have ever undertaken with making Sonic relevant again has ended in showing just how dated Sonic’s concept of ‘tude can be. That hasn’t stopped them from trying to scratch people’s itch for Sonic nostalgia, and can you think of any better way to do that other than to make an entire game about Sonic’s history?

In Sonic Generations, a time sucking monster has destroyed history, which thankfully includes sucking in almost all of Sonic’s friends. This gives Sega enough justification to make modern Sonic cross paths with his older, stubbier version. In order to repair history, they have to run through classic Sonic levles twice. The first time around, classic Sonic takes a crack at it in classic 2D side scrolling mode. Then, modern Sonic runs the course but in 3D platforming mode. You even go up against classic Sonic bosses like Perfect Chaos out of Sonic Adventure from Dreamcast and Metal Sonic right out of Sonic CD.

Every Sonic fan will tell you that Sonic’s heyday lies in the past and will probably stay that way, so a game that is all about reliving those great moments of the past kinda makes perfect sense for actually making a Sonic game that doesn’t suck. Here’s to hoping that this time around, Sonic gets his due with his incredibly picky fans.

 

Coming This Week

Tuesday November 1, 2011

Cabela’s Adventure Camp (Xbox 360 Kinect, Wii)

What the hell? A mini-game collection that doesn’t involve shooting game? Well actually, the Bear Hunter Ninja mini-game does involve shooting bears with, I’m guessing, shurikens, and Archery Arcade has you shooting arrows at cutouts of animals that you normally shoot in Cabela hunting games. The other six activities like Thrill Hill Biking and Wild River Kayaking all sounds like summer camp activities. Oh Cabela. Your attempts at introducing hunting to a younger crowd will fail just like Camel’s attempt to entice a younger crowd to smoke did.

Cabela’s Survival: Shadows of Katmai (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

Another Non-hunting game by Cabela? Cabela got a taste for narrative driven video games out of Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2011 and will go as far as making a third person survival game to get their fix. As Logan James, a bush pilot who just recently survived crashing into the middle of Alaska, you must survive the Alaskan terrain and all the wild animals that inhabit it like wolves and bears. Thankfuly you have a hunting rifle. It just won’t be a Cabela game without one.

Generator Rex: Agent of Providence (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, DS)

Based off of the Cartoon Network cartoon about a kid infected with nanites that would normally turn him into a monster, Generator Rex instead controls the nanites which he use to transform his limbs into weapons. Yup, sounds like another perfect setup for a 3D brawler video game.

GoldenEye Reloaded (Xbox 360, PS3)

You know that GoldenEye remake of the beloved First Person Shooter that came out almost 14 years ago on the N64 that came out for the Wii almost exactly one year ago to this day? Guess what. They took that game, change the graphics to HD along with the appropriate textures, added some new modes and multiplayer features, and added Reloaded to the title. Congratulations GoldenEye! You have officially become the first game to have ever had a remake that is being remade. No doubt other remakes will gain that honor as well, but you, GoldenEye Reloaded, will probably forever retain the honor of having your second-generation remake come out the fastest.

Hasbro Family Game Night Fun Pack (Xbox 360, Wii)

If you just can’t get enough of virtual Hasbro board games, this fun pack comes with the Hasbro Family Game Night 2 and 3, meaning you get Jenga, Connect 4X4, The Game of Life, Clue, and other Hasbro games all in one neat little package. Now you can make room in your closet for your other hobbies like stamp collecting.

Hasbro Family Game Night 4 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

Take Hasbro’s well known games like Yahtzee, Sorry, Connect 4, Scrabble, and Bop-it. Now add a weird twist to it like having to bowl for the numbers you want in Yahtzee or sinking shots in a basketball hoop to make your Connect 4 connect, and you got an idea of the bastardization going on to these classic games in Hasbro Family Game Night 4.

Jimmy Johnson Anything with an Engine (Xbox 360, PS3)

Who says kart racing has to be done with proper karts? According to NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson, you can strap an engine to a dumpster and call it a kart, which is exactly what happens in this kart racer. Like every respectable kart racer in existence, you get to pick up power-ups in the form of attachable equipment to your rag-tag kart. Personally, I’d make mine out of a coffin. Saves the undertaker a step or two in my eventual crash.

MotionSports Adrenaline (Xbox 360 Kinect, PS3)

Kinect and Move really have picked up the mantle of mini-game collection haven’t they? This one has you playing a bunch of extreme sports like mountain biking, BASE-jumping, kitesurfing, and other extreme sports in extreme locations like the Himalayas and the Amazon, the forest not the online store. Just try not to pretend skydive straight into your TV or something. If you do, be sure to have a friend video record it all and post it to YouTube for my laughing pleasure.

NASCAR Unleashed (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS)

If NASCAR racing games of late has been way too sim-y for you, than NASCAR Unleashed might be your cup of tea. Unleashed takes NASCAR racing in a far more arcadey direction of the spectrum. You still have stuff like drafting and slingshotting, but then again, it also has boost powerups. Where’s the blue shell?

NCIS: The Game (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii), NCIS 3D: The Game (3DS)

NCIS’s general popularity still baffles the hell out of me. It does explain the existence of an adventure game based around the show starring some very, very stiff, digital version of the show’s cast. If you don’t feel like playing it on your TV, you could always play the PC version.

Oregon Trail (Wii, 3DS)

I don’t know how true to the original Oregon Trail PC games this Oregon Trail will be, but if this pioneer sim doesn’t have death by dysentery, they can count one loss of sale already.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (Xbox 360, PS3)

Did you know that while Frodo and his merry band of do gooders was trying to destroy the One Ring, stuff was going on up north in Middle Earth? They got a quick one liner mention in the voluminous The Lord of the Rings books, but we never quite know what really happened up there. As it turns out a similar band of do gooders also consisting of the three primary race, that is a dwarf, a human, and an elf, also fought the forces of Sauron and Saruman in a 3D brawler fest with each of the three having distinct strengths and weaknesses in combat. And also they have a giant bird acting like the medieval version of a smart bomb.

Twister Mania (Xbox 360 Kinect)

If you’ve ever wished you could play Twister with the map taped to a wall, Twister Mania maybe just the game for you. Instead of getting your hands and feet to a corresponding color circles on a virtual mat onscreen, you simply mimic the poses on screen because, you know, dancing games just don’t make us look stupid enough to our peeping tom neighbors.

Air Conflicts: Secret Wars (PS3)

Haven’t heard this one in a while. Set during WWI and WWII, choose from a number of different planes to take on the 48 missions varying from bombing runs, escort missions, patrols, and hit and runs. All of which presented in glorious 3-D for the rich folks dying to see WWI and II in 3-D.

Monopoly Collection (Wii)

Can’t get enough Monopoly? Why not get a game that doesn’t just come with one Monopoly game but two? Monopoly Collection comes with Monopoly and Monopoly Streets. The only difference between two involves the UI. Namely, Streets makes it less abstract doing away with the board and putting in a virtual city instead. Cute.

Trivial Pursuit – Bet You Know It (Wii)

I’m surprised it took them this long to release another Trivial Pursuit video game. The last one came out over two years ago. This one comes with the Bet You Know It mode where every player gets to play during every turn. Now, if we can only find people who actually play Trivial Pursuit…

James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes (3DS)

Bucking the current trend of making your adventure game be nothing but hidden object puzzles, James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes looks to fill my adventure gaming lust with real puzzles that require logical thinking and deduction to solve the puzzles. The game may have a slightly contrived way of delivering these puzzles via the in-game TV show revolving around puzzles, but that didn’t stop Professor Layton from being a smash hit. And also live action cinematics! Now that’s a throwback to the heyday of adventure games.

Disney Princess: Enchanting Storybooks (DS)

Oh No! The worlds of various Disney Princesses have lost color. Thankfully, you play as Opal, a fairy with the ability color worlds. How convenient.

Dora & Kai-Lan’s Pet Shelter (DS)

Fans of both Dora and Kai-Lan have been asking the Gods of crossovers for this very moment, and now it has arrived. Dora and Kai-Lan have finally showed up in one game together. With their combined powers they will care for orphaned pets in pet shelter in hopes of finding them a home. Can you possibly resist the power of Dora and Kai-Lan that emanates from this almost unholy union?

Loving Life with Hello Kitty & Friends (DS)

Join Hello Kitty and her (His? I never did figure out what gender it is) friends as they shop, decorate, and just explore the impossibly adorable world of Hello Kitty. Barf bags not included.

Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo (DS)

Because one pet raising sim for made up animals just can’t possibly fill the consumer demand for it, we’re also getting Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo this week. This one has a slight Pokemon twist to it where you have to out and “convince” other Moshlings to join your Moshling zoo. Who knew games teach children to become kidnappers?

Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (DS)

I kid you not when I say the mini-game collection will never, EVER run out of themes. Meet the Christmas theme complete with penguins and the jolly fat guy himself in 20 minigames. Ho ho ho, my head hurts.

Team Umizoomi (DS)

In video game land, math does wondrous things like take kids on adventures and help a Power-Puff Girls reject and her brother rescue seahorses. What did you expect from a gamed rated EC?

Zoobles! Spring to Life! (DS)

What do you do when you run out of cute cuddly animals to turn into pet sims? Start making up your own cute cuddly animals complete with nonsensical names like Zoobles. Play one of eighteen Zoobles and care for them like you would for a real pet. If only they could figure out how actually make the screen feel soft and fuzzy to the touch to simulate an actual pet. Alas, such tech will not feasible until… probably never.

Fate/Extra (PSP)

Oh Japanese Role Playing Games. How I’ve missed you guys. Having woken up in a virtual world with no memories, you’ll have to battle for your survival in this strange virtual arena against others for the ultimate prize: getting your wish granted. Oddly enough the combat looks fairly reminiscent to Skies of Arcadia’s ship battles. You have to pick out a string of six commands every turn, and thankfully, sometimes, you know what commands your enemy will pick in the fight. Interesting.

 

Sunday November 6, 2011

Lalaloopsy (DS)

Some dolls are born bad, but fortunately for us, most are born adorable. Case in point, the Lalaloopsy dolls. Start by creating your own Lalaloopsy doll whose personality depends on the fabric used. Once created your new doll will interact with other Lalaloopsy dolls in the game world. Your little sisters/daughters will absolutely scream for their own copy. Everyone else will need an injection of testosterone as soon as possible to make up for the loss masculinity from just thinking about this game.

 

Late to the Party

• Otomedius Excellent (Xbox 360) 11/1/2011
• Cars 2 (3DS)
• Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns (3DS) 11/1/2011

 

Well that was painful. An avalance of games for girls. Cabela striking out from the hunting genre with one foot still firmly planted in the hunting genre. Yet another Sonic game that may or may not suck. And to top it all off, I have to listen to people heap praise onto Uncharted again. Maybe this drinking thing isn’t such a bad idea afterall.

If you enjoy this article, please visit our website at www.rrbgames.com.  This feature is released every Monday.