It’s almost over. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I won’t have to drown myself in these avalanches of releases anymore! At least not until next year anyways. My only condolence lies in the fact that one of my favorite franchises’ returns triumphantly this week, and that’s enough to distract me from another franchise that I’m not all that hyped up about.

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

Assassin’s Creed Revelations (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday November 15, 2011
Another year, another Assassin’s Creed. If it wasn’t for the recent revelation that Ubisoft will slow down its releases of Assassin’s Creed games past 2012, Assassin’s Creed would surely join the ranks of reviled games that have fallen victim to the Mega Man effect. But until then, we’ll still be getting more Assassin’s Creed, and this year, the guys at Ubisoft have seen Inception and clearly fell in love with it.

We continue Desmond’s/Ezio’s campaign against the Templars. How Revelations resolves the ending in AC Brotherhood, which I hear involves some kind of a cliffhanger, remains a mystery. What we do know is that Desmond will be reliving Ezio’s later years as evident by the graying beard adorning Ezio’s face. At this point in his life, Ezio started tracing the Assassin’s history by going to Constantinople. There, Ezio stumbles upon some kind of technology that allows him to relive Altair’s, you know the original assassin from Assassin’s Creed 1, memories. Good luck wrapping your head around that.

Because the Assassin’s Creed universe just can’t be covered fully in a measly single player campaign, the multiplayer mode promises to flesh out even more of it through the eyes of your enemies, the Templars themselves. As you know, the Templars/Abstergo have the animus as well, and as it turns out, they use it to train new Templar recruits. As a Templar recruit, you will undergo this training by stabbing fools in a virtual recreation of Renaissance era locales. Why they figure training people in the ancient art of warfare as opposed to more modern combat… well, perhaps it would be best if you just go with it. As you progress through this “training,” cutscenes and documents showing the Templar’s side of the story as well as their viewpoints become available to you.

Sadly, this class reunion did not end well

Oddly enough, the Templars train their recruits much the same way an Assassin trains. The whole cat and mouse gamplay hasn’t changed where you hunt down your target while evading your hunter. Yes, you level up your multiplayer character like before, and Revelations have taken several pages out of the Modern Warfare playbook. First of, you have perks that grants passive bonuses like a speed boost. Second, you have abilities which ranges from equipments like tripwire bombs to something as insane as teleportation. Perhaps the most Modern Warfare-esque change involves the ability to continue to gain level well past the level 50 cap. Whereas Modern Warfare has you resetting your entire experience, Revelations lets you keep everything but keeps track of the number of times you managed to gain enough experience points to get you back to level 50 again. You will be rewarded with rewards and bonuses everytime you pull off this monumental task, which can be done a whopping 99 times.

Assassin’s Creed’s compelling universe continues to draw in its fans, and thanks to Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood’s newly introduced, and fairly innovative, multiplayer mode, its fans have grown even more rabid to see the series continuation. With the promise of telling the story of not only Ezio and Desmond but Altair as well and the expanded multiplayer mode, Revelations looks to make satisfy every Assassin’s Creed fans out there.

 

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)

Sunday November 20, 2011
Spanning two decades and 16 titles, 19 if you count the CD-I games but who actually would, under its belt, The Legend of Zelda series could theoretically be considered as “played out” by now. Try and say that to the millions of Nintendo fanboy out there, and you can expect a thorough trashing to ensue, or at the very least a shouting match. For all the rhetoric we have about a franchise’s expiration date, Zelda belongs in that small list of franchises that somehow manages to buck the trend and continue to stay relevant to not only its fans but to newcomers as well. That should explain the fervor behind The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Zelda fans who obsess over the Zelda timeline can rest easy in figuring out where Skyward Sword belongs on that timeline. Billed as the prequel to the Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword covers the events that lead up to the creation of the Master Sword, a series regular since A Link to The Past. Here, Link and Zelda inhabits the sky borne city of Skyloft where its inhabitants live and fly the unfriendly skies on the backs of giant birds. Lo and behold, a giant snake in the clouds eats Zelda, and Link steps up to rescue her, who recently came into the possession of the Skyward Sword. The Skyward Sword acts as both Link’s primary weapon and his guide. The sword turns into a female figure when it conveys information to Link. Later in the game, it will become the Master Sword.

A lot of the elements of Skyward Sword should be familiar to anyone who has played any Zelda games. Link explores dungeons, finds items that helps him overcome obstacles in said dungeons and in the overworld in general, fights several building sized bosses, and will somehow save the world from overwhelming evil eventually, but the guys over at Nintendo has promised that Skyward Sword will shake up some of its formulas. The most noticeable right up front will be the swordplay itself. Unlike Twilight Princess, which was originally a Gamecube game before it was ported over to the Wii, Skyward Sword was made for the Wii and based itself around the Wii Motion Plus, a mandatory peripheral for Skyward Sword. Utilizing Wii Motion Plus peripheral, Skyward Sword will differentiate between how you swing the Wii Remote. Swinging vertically makes Link slash vertically. Horizontal swings nets horizontal slashes, and anything in between will register as such. Most of Link’s enemies will require you to attack it in a very specific way. For example a spider with a very tough armor has to be flipped onto its back before you can actually kill it. You have to swing your remote upwards for the vertical attack to flip the spider. After that, killing it should be a breeze. Other enemies will be cognizant of this fact and will adjust their stance to counteract your attacks leaving open a new avenue of attack.

Early previews and reviews for Skyward Sword have been positively gleaming, and gamers remain just as devoted as ever to the Zelda franchise. Only an act of God could derail its inevitable success right now.

 

Saints Row: The Third (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday November 15, 2011
A little bit after the seminal Grand Theft Auto 3 got released, the series could have easily gone in one of two different directions. As evident by the later releases, the GTA series took the high road telling mature stories from perspectives we rarely get in video games. The Saints Row, on the other hand, filled the void that is the low road.

The Third Street Saints have gained the celebrity status they’ve worked for in the past games, and enjoying their stay on the top until an international crime syndicate, conveniently called the Syndicate, decided to topple them. Forced to flee to a new city and start over, the Third Street Saints will have to work their way up to the top again, one dildo sword slapping mission at a time.

Yes, Saints Row takes the open world formula and added a giant bucket of wackiness on top of it with out there characters like one that only speaks in auto-tune to Insurance Fraud missions where the entire point of the mission is to hurt yourself by getting hit by speeding cars. And then there’s the mind controlling octopi, which you shoot out of a bazooka onto people’s heads. Did I mention it explodes too? Add that along with being able to dress up your character with absolutely nothing but pixilated privates, and Saints Row will undoubtedly go down as the world’s only game that could offend… uhm… groups of people that aren’t easily offended.Maybe Saints Row won’t win game of the year awards, but if the prerequisite for winning game of the year involves the quantity of dildo swords in the game, we have a winner.

Honorable Mention

Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest (PS3 Move)

Tuesday November 15, 2011
Do you have a PS3 Move at home just gathering dust? Need something to play with it that doesn’t involve dancing your ass off? Perhaps Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest might be for you.

Think of Medieval Moves as an on-rails slasher not too dissimilar from Dragon Quest: Swords that came out for the Wii three years ago. Deadmund moves around the environment automatically while waves of enemies come at him with swords, bows, and the occasional bite. Your Move Wand controls Deadmund’s sword, so making slashing motions with the wand makes Deadmund slash his sword in a similar fashion. Deadmund does have a bow and arrow, and by pretending to reach behind your back with the wand, as if you were pulling out an arrow out of your quiver, and aiming it on the screen, Deadmund readies his bow and fires wherever you aim your wand. You can also swing your wand like you were throwing a Frisbee to have Deadmund throw out shurikens. The motions should feel similar to anyone who has played Sports Champion because Medieval Moves was developed by the same guys. They just built a game around the library of motions they created for Sports Champion

The Wii has Wii Sports. The Kinect has… something, maybe Dance Central. The PS Move has yet to have anything that would counts as its killer app, although some might argue that Sports Champion fills that role. From the looks of the various previews, Medieval Moves could potentially be that killer app that the Move has been waiting for.

 

Rayman Origins (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

Tuesday November 15, 2011
Poor Rayman. Ever since the guy got nudged out of his own games by a bunch of lunatic rabbits, he hasn’t starred in his own game in a long while now. Ubisoft feels his pain and has seen fit to give this old mascot another chance at the limelight in Rayman Origins.

This decidedly old school, fully 2D platformer has Rayman and his best friend, Globox, jumping and running to stop an evil old lady from destroying their home. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii style, Origins supports up to four players in co-op mode. Hopefully Origins will be a little bit forgiving in terms how the four players interact with each other because early reports has shown Origins to be fairly difficult.

I would write more about Rayman Origins, but Origins doesn’t have much more to it other than it being a 2D platformer with 4 player co-op. Don’t let that fool you into thinking that Origins is a bad game. Previews for this game has compared it to Mario as equals. Such high praise don’t come all that easily. The real threat to Origins success comes from its timing. Frankly, November may not be the best choice for an old school 2D Platformer retail game.

 

Shinobi (3DS)

Tuesday November 15, 2011
Speaking of old school 2D platformers, ever heard of Shinobi? I can’t blame you if you haven’t. Shinobi’s last game came out well over nine years ago for the PS2, and from what I’ve played at PAX, this Shinobi continues its fine tradition of being balls hard.

Going back to Shinobi’s 2D roots, Shinobi plays out in classic 2D platformer complete with all of his tricks of the trade including throwing knives, grappling hooks, ninja magic, and his trusty sword. Although the common enemy will be easily dispatched, the enemies get tougher pretty early on requiring reflexes to parry just at the right time and some platforming skills as an early level actually forces you to wall jump through an area of nothing but spikes on the floor and ceiling.

All in all, Shinobi promises to uphold the video gaming ninja code of testing your skills to some extent. Now if it can only get some attention somehow in this sea of triple-A releases, we’ll be all set.

Coming This Week

Tuesday November 15, 2011

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked (Xbox 360 Kinect, Wii, DS)

When a peripheral becomes a gateway for an old annoying franchise to come back and annoy me some more, that peripheral has crossed the line. Damn you Kinect. Damn you for letting Alvin and the Chipmunks infect my gaming ways with their dance games.

Dreamworks Super Star Kartz (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, DS)

If you’re a fan of Dreamworks’s brand of Pixar wannabe movies, then Activision has made a game just for you, and probably only you. Take the wheel as the various stars of Dreamworks animated films as you race around familiar locales in various modes including multiplayer modes. Are you salivating at the thought? Delay no longer, and head to your local gaming store now.

Get Up and Dance (PS3 Move, Wii)

After viewing the trailer for this dance game, I really only have one joke to say about this. Just Dance just called. They want their graphics back.

Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat (Xbox 360 uDraw, PS3 uDraw, Wii uDraw)

Either someone at THQ decided at the last minute Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat should be a uDraw game instead of a DS game, or it was actually planned as a uDraw game. I’m sure it’s the latter of the two but still. Controlling Marvel heroes with a stylus in an overhead brawler as opposed to a regular controller reeks of last minute platform switching more so than a possible killer app for the uDraw.

Need For Speed: The Run (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS)

Does your arcadey racing game feel like something’s missing? Try injecting it with a story like a desperate cross country race for money while evading the cops and the mob. If that’s not enough, liberally dash in a couple of on-foot chase sequences to spice up that racing game of yours. Either that or just get Need for Speed: The Run, which comes packaged with all of the aforementioned features.

Price is Right: Decades (Xbox 360, Wii)

You know what could be more fun than playing virtual game shows for virtual prizes? Playing virtual game shows for virtual prizes from the 80’s! As the name implies, Price is Right includes classic pricing games dating back all the way back to the 70’s version of the game show and the prizes that might have been offered back then. One of these prizes could very well be a brand new cordless phone, which must have been quite a luxury item back in the 80’s or something.

uDraw Studio: Instant Artist (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

Originally a Wii exclusive peripheral, the magic of the uDraw GameTablet can finally be experienced on the other two consoles, or re-experienced on the Wii if you feel like buying a black version of the tablet. Like before, this peripheral comes packaged with a drawing program that can be shared online. I’m guessing THQ had to broaden the market to other consoles given how the WiiU controller IS a uDraw GameTablet.

Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Xbox 360, PS3)

Wait, didn’t this game come out like February or something? Yes, but this one is more Ultimate as evident by the Ultimate moniker. To be fair though, this repackaging of MVC3 does have new characters like Hawkeye, Ghost Rider, Strider, and probably the most fan requested character of them all, Phoenix Wright. Based off the video of what Phoenix Wright can do in UMVC3, I’d buy it just to bust out his Finger of Doom move.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (Xbox 360)

As far as first person shooters on the console goes, none has had more influence than Halo did. You can actually make a case for an FPS video game timeline that goes something like “GoldenEye 007 came out in 4 BH (Before Halo)” or “Call of Duty 2 came out in 5 AH (After Halo).” Many of the mechanics introduced in Halo can still be found fully intact in today’s games, which makes playing this remake almost feel like paying tribute to your ancestors.

Jurassic Park: The Game (Xbox 360)

Does anyone remember the 18-year-old movie that is Jurassic Park? Let’s pretend for a second that you do remember so I don’t have to go into too much depth here. This here game tells the story of that lost can of Barbasol that contained the embryos that Dennis Nedry was trying to sneak out of Jurassic Park as told through a couple of new characters never seen in the movies. Don’t expect a point and click adventure just because Telltale Games (The Adventures of Sam & Max, Back to the Future: The Game) made it. Instead it plays a hell of whole lot like Heavy Rain complete with button prompts overlaid in the environment. How’s that for a curve ball?

Kinect Disneyland Adventures (Xbox 360 Kinect)

Who needs to go to a theme park when you’ve got video games? I believe it was this notion that necessitated a video game version of theme parks, and Disneyland have taken the first shot at it. In the pantheon of mini-game collection games with a theme park as its overarching theme, a well known name like Disneyland might actually help make this one be a little bit more relevant to younger crowds out there as well as their parents.

Kung Fu High Impact (Xbox 360 Kinect)

Now we’re talking. In place of any kind of virtual character in this 2D beat’em up, Kung Fu High Impact has a moving picture of you doing punches and kicks to either side. Depending on which side you do said punching and kicking, your digitized character, which is shrunk down to size to match the enemies, zooms over to the enemies to deliver said punch or kick. Strike a special pose and you can unleash special attacks like a ground slam or lightning that electrocutes anyone in its path. Just keep your pets at nice safe distance lest you want to sleep with your eyes open for the rest of your life.

Victorious: Time to Shine (Xbox 360 Kinect)

I suppose it’s only natural that a Nickelodeon TV show about a bunch of kids desperately trying to be famous gets its own dancing/singing video game. I just don’t have to be happy about it.

Yoostar on MTV (Xbox 360 Kinect)

Name your favorite show on MTV. Now you too can star in that show you just mentioned thanks to the magic of the Kinect and Yoostar. Imagine yourself winning that popcorn trophy from the Movie Awards. Now if only they included the punch from Jersey Shore…

Carnival Island (PS3 Move)

Remember that uber popular mini-game collection on the Wii not named Wii Sports? Something involving Carnivals I think? Well don’t think of that. This one has absolutely nothing to do with that. I mean come on. This one takes place on an island. That-other-game-we-won’t-be-mentioning doesn’t involve islands at all.

Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends (PS3)

Because three new playable characters and a couple of new modes somehow constitutes as enough change in the eyes of KOEI, we get this stand alone expansion to what already feels like a franchise filled with nothing but a string of stand alone expansions.

EyePet & Friends (PS3 Move)

Ever heard of that riddle about what is louder than a pig caught in barbed wire with the answer being two pigs caught in barbed wire? Well, what’s more awesome than playing with just one EyePet like you did last year?

ABBA You Can Dance (Wii)

This doesn’t bode well. No, I’m not worried about the fact that we’re getting a full on ABBA dance game. I’ve made my peace with that. The similarities between the dance genre timeline with that of the guitar game genre timeline worry me. The way the music genre started with compilations of songs before going more band specific that eventually led to that genre’s meteoric demise seems to be repeating itself here. Oh, who am I kidding. I don’t really care if the dance genre flames out.

Fossil Fighters: Champions (DS)

I almost forgotten about this Spectrobes clone. Hell, I practically forgotten about Spectrobes itself. Oh right, Spectrobes, along with a slew of other games, tried to capitalize on the pokemon collecting craze with its own share of monsters to collect, except in Spectrobes case, you had to dig them out and revive them before they fight for you. Fossil Fighters, also tried to be pokemon clone but ended up being a Spectrobes clone instead. I’m sort of surprise to see a Fossil Fighters sequel. I thought the days of pokemon clones have long gone.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics (Wii)

The dynamic duo returns for another round of Olympic games despite the fact that the 2012 Olympics won’t start for at least seven months. Of course the unholy union of two juggernaut mascots did equate to a buttload of sales back when the two went to the other two Olympics before it. Seriously though, shouldn’t they wait until the Olympics is at least sort of on people’s minds?

Zumba Fitness 2 (Wii)

The UK sales juggernaut returns with a vengence. New songs, new routines, this dancercise video game has it. Wait a minute, why didn’t MS Word put squiggly red lines underneath “dancercise”?  Are you serious? It’s a word! I thought I just made it up.

Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy (3DS)

If Pilotwings Resort have taught me anything, the 3DS really does make for a great platform for airplane games, so Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy could theoretically be pretty good on the 3DS, unless of course the game itself sucks.

Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic (3DS)

The originator of all things cooking games returns in this fourth iteration and in glorious 3-D. On top of using the stylus to play a bunch of cooking mini-games, the 3DS’s gyroscope will also play a role in some of the mini-games. The only magic mama needs though will be making people forget that the cooking game craze has come and gone. Good luck, Mama.

Imagine: Fashion Designer (3DS)

This does not bode well. The Imagine series have come and gone long ago on the DS with the last released dating almost a year ago to this day. Fashion Designer practically heralded the onslaught of Imagine games on the DS. Could this be the harbinger of more Imagine games being ported over to the 3DS? I shudder to think of the sleepless nights this would cause me.

Bejeweled 3 (DS)

The ultimate match 3 game returns with a third instalment. What’s new? Did they add earth shattering game mechanics that will revolutionize the match 3 genre forever? Did they add a new gem colors? Is it cheap? No, no, and depends. Would you call 20 bucks cheap?

Beyblade: Metal Masters (DS)

I gotta hand it to the marketing geniuses behind Beyblade. They took the incredibly non-interactive spinning top and somehow created an entire universe around it. Not only that, they got kids to buy said spinning tops for way more than a regular top. Then they made video games out of it. Genius. Simply genius.

Ultimate Card Games (DS)

Think of a card game. Chances are, this compilation of card games has it packed. Back when this game came out for the Game Boy Advance, that could be considered revolutionary and exciting. In the day and age of the iPhone, that has been demoted to run-of-the-mill

Victorious: Hollywood Arts Debut (DS)

Just about every kind of these games based off a kids TV show uses the mini-game collection in disguise. Victorious here does the same with the conceit of you being a new student in Hollywood Arts High School hanging out with the Victorious gang. As you can tell, I know way too much about this stuff. As such, I’ll be looking for the tallest building now.

 

Late to the Party

• Pictionary: Ultimate Edition (Xbox 360 uDraw, PS3 uDraw) 11/15/2011
• Heavy Fire: Afghanistan (PS3) 1/15/2011
• Plants Vs. Zombies (PS3) 1/15/2011
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 (Wii) 11/15/2011
• uDraw Disney Princess: Enchanting Storybooks (Wii) 11/1/2011

 

I think that’s it. This is the last week of the giant avalanche of games. Thank god! I don’t know if I could handle another week like that.

 

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