Making room for yet another gargantuan time blackhole RPG(?) that is Diablo 3 this week, our releases have trickled down to one brave/foolhardy soul. Whether or not it can get anybody’s attention in Diablo 3’s wake depends entirely on whether or not Battle.net mysteriously goes down and doesn’t come back up for weeks relievingrobbing people of the opportunity to play it and forcing them to play something else. But what are the chances of that happening.

Remember. Release dates are quite literally made at the whims of the publisher.  The following are subject to change without any warning.

 

Honorable Mention

Starhawk (PS3)

Tuesday May 8, 2012
I still want an actual sequel to the PS1 Warhawk. I’m sure that game wasn’t actually all that good, which is why I want an updated version that builds on it. Instead we got a multiplayer only sequel and this, which barely counts given the only similarity between this and the two Warhawk titles before it is the word “hawk” in the title. At least this time around, it has a single player component.

In Starhawk humanity has colonized space and discovered a new form of energy simply called Rift. Like any good McGuffin energy source, it has certain undesirable qualities like turning people into raving mutants that want to tear out the throats of non-raving mutants (strange how groups of crazy mutant people always turn out that way). These hapless colonist and miners must defend themselves from these mutants, and Emmet Graves, a partially mutated colonist, may be able to help them out with that.

Like the PS3 Warhawk, Starhawk plays like your usual third person shooter, but it distinguishes itself in two ways. First it emphasizes the vehicles like the eponymous Starhawk, which by the way can transform into a mech in addition to being a badass starship. That one may have been carried over from the predecessor, but it certainly helps Starhawk stand out from most shooters. The most important difference lies in the elements it derives from the Real Time Strategy genre.

Emmit can build structures. Sort of. To be more exact, he makes a call for a structure request, and that structure falls from outer space to where ever you wanted it to fall (Space Santa Claus is awesome!). These structures range from garages that come with vehicles to automated turrets to help you defend your newly made base. Unlike most RTS games though, the very act of creating/calling-in a structure can be used offensively by calling in a structure right on the heads of an enemy unit.

What game with RTS elements wouldn’t have a multiplayer component? The main focus will be team based with each side creating their bases around a source of Rift energy, but players can actually call down structures anywhere on the field. How often do you come across an RTS game where getting a turret inside an enemy base is a viable strategy?

The last Warhawk eschewed any kind of a single player component, which in general raises the bar of entry simply because the veteran players makes it nigh impossible for most newcomers to get good. Although many who have played it generally lauded it, it ultimately could not gain traction in a landscape that has Call of Duty in it. Perhaps Starhawk’s single player component will help this spiritual successor soar. That is if Battle.net “accidentally” go offline long enough for gamers to notice this game.

 

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