Summer has been hot for anime, but in Gamer Land, it’s been much colder. If you’re like me, this seems like a good time to go back and check out some previously released games, or get back to finishing already owned games like L.A. Noire and Mortal Kombat.
Bleach kicks off August, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is surely the month’s highlight, and it’ll be interesting to see what Madden 12 does in sales with the new 10-year CBA the NFL has signed with the Players Association.
Bleach: Soul Resurreccion (2nd on PS3)
Please excuse my lazy writing to start things off, but I’ve been anti-Bleach for quite a while. The video above is an IGN review by the Podcast Beyond co-host Ryan Clements who talks about the action in the game. Hearing Hitsugaya voiced by someone other than Paku Romi is pretty painful…
Do listen to IGN’s Podcast Beyond. Amuro and I are huge fans of the podcast hosted by Greg Miller, Colin Moriarty and Ryan Clements.
No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise (16th on 360 & PS3)
A playable demo is now available on the PSN with you fighting against #10 on the Assassin List. The demo shows off the nicely upgraded visuals from the Wii version of the game, with some screen-tearing being the only noticeable issue I saw. In addition to improved graphics, NMH: HP will allow for some quick traveling to avoid what I thought was the worst part of NMH 1, the open-world aspect. Move Support for PS3 has been added along with standard controls; I personally preferred the Move controls in my time with the demo. Also, a “Very Sweet” mode will be available to view all of the ladies in even more revealing clothing. Mmmm… Bad Girl…
I enjoyed NMH 1 when I owned it on Wii. It’s fun, it’s bloody and it has that toilet humor we love, in some cases literal toilet humor. More people can be exposed now to what a great character Travis Touchdown is to control.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (16th on 360 and PS3)
I tried the demo for this on the 360, and it’s a fairly interesting game. El Shaddai looks like a simplistic action hack/slash game (one attack button with timing-based combos) that’s likely inviting to heavy repetition. You can use a couple weapons in the demo for close/long-range combat. The dark, abstract visuals are much nicer looking then what you’ll see in the above video, although the character designs are kinda dull. Ignition Entertainment has done some alright stuff previously (Muramasa, Deadly Premonition and Blacklight: Tango Down), but those are more-or-less cult hits before high-quality games. Hardcore anime/gamer otaku might be interested in it, but I think I’ll let this one pass on by.
Deus Ex Human Revolution (23rd on 360, PS3 and PC)
Human Revolution is a prequel to the original Deus Ex game. The game follows a “pillars of gameplay” theme with Combat, Stealth, Hacking, Exploration and Social being methods to get around in the world. The video above shows off 3 different ways of getting thru the same area. I do dig how the gameplay shows off Call of Duty-esque FPS controls, a Rainbow Six cover system, and a similar stealth approach to Splinter Cell. “Augmentations” in Human Revolution are the way to level up the Pillars, so you can either go Guns Wild or be as quiet as a mouse and improve your skills along the way. I’ve only played Machina in the Deus Ex series before, but with potentially cool action/stealth gameplay here, I might be giving this one a look-see.
Bodycount (23rd on 360, PS3 & PC)
Black was a fairly well-received FPS on Xbox and PS2 back in the day. After plans to develop Black 2 fell thru, Stuart Black (co-creator/lead designer) brought over a lot of Black’s dev team to Codemasters to make this game, a so-called “spiritual successor”. What gameplay mechanic is at the core of Bodycount? Like Black and several others before it, destructibility. I do like the potential Alias-like story, which has soldier Jackson working for “The Network”, and perhaps maybe discovering some secrets about them along the way. Bodycount just lacks a truly distinguishable feature that can make it a title worth purchasing.
Madden NFL 12 (30th on most systems)
The NFL and NFLPA signing the CBA is a big deal for this game, or else the lack of an NFL season would have been devastating for Madden sales. In terms of gameplay enhancements, there’s not a single item significant enough to address. Peyton Hillis is a surprise cover athlete, and while deserving in some sense, the Browns don’t have immediate plans to take the NFL by storm. As a fan of Madden and the NFL, I wish I could say more; hell, my excitement level of buying a new Madden game is at an all-time low. EA’s contract needs to hurry up and expire so some competition can come in and at least keep Madden on its toes.
Other August Releases:
- Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (3rd on XBLA)
- Fruit Ninja Kinect (10th on XBLA)
- Toy Soldiers: Cold War (17th on XBLA)