It’s nearly Halloween and the holiday game season is upon us. Publishers and developers are all fighting for your cash and, in the spirit of the holiday, I say let them fight it out with chainsaws. This week we have some very big games, some HD releases of some games that used to be big, and a game based on a TV show, that was based on a toy which was big in the 1980s.
Multiplatform
Assassin’s Creed III
Ezio’s time has come and gone, like Altair before him, and the animus is focusing on a less-distant ancestor of Desmond Miles, Connor Kenway. Connor is part English and part American Indian and has no trace of an Italian accent. AC3 is set in the Northeastern United States during the Revolutionary War. Dual wielding is introduced in this fifth installment of the series, as well as hatchets, bow and arrow, and slightly better firearms. Ubisoft also revamped character movement, and included running assassinations and human shield utilization, so expect Connor to move more fluidly than his predecessors. Connor strikes from the shadows on October 30th for Xbox 360 and PS3. PC version won’t drop until November 20th.
WWE 13
I didn’t realize that folks were still playing wrestling games...my bad. THQ bumped the roster to 105 playable wrestlers, including some “Attitude Era” personas. Expect fancy intros, some kind of undetectable game enhancements over the previous game, and wrestling so real that it it makes real wrestling look fake. Rasslin fans can get it on starting October 30th on Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3...OH YEAH!
Need For Speed Most Wanted
Criterion teamed up with the evil empire at EA to deliver another open-world racing experience with attitude. Set in the fictional town of Fairhaven, with a disproportionately large police force, players race, jump, and challenge friends and rivals to beat their scores and rule the streets. Sounds like Hot Pursuit without the open roads to me. Maybe this one will have longer legs: I played Hot Pursuit for about three days before it got old. The trailer shows cops in Chargers and racers cutting loose in a Lambo, a new Challenger, a Porsche 911, an Aston Martin, and a Ford truck. Some of the other research material shows a Bentley, a Nissan GT-R, and a Koenigsegg Agera, but no Ferraris. Xbox 360, PS3, and PC players with a need for speed can tear through Fairview starting October 30th.
Zone of the Enders HD Collection
Hideo Kojimi’s space mecha legacy is the 2old2play HD Makeover Game of the Week. Two games are featured in this collection, Zone of Enders and Zone of Enders: 2nd Runner. Konami and Kojimi Productions are responsible for bringing us a couple of old games and charging us for new ones. If you like orbital mechs with blasters and swords, and you own an Xbox 360 or a PS3, then rush out to pick up Zone of Enders HD Collection on October 30th before it’s gone.
Nintendo
Transformers Prime: The Game
Roughly based around the second season of the anime, Transformers Prime: The Game centers around the Autobots and Decepticons fighting over a rock. Expect a lot of melee, a little bit of shooting, and some driving around looking for rocks, or Decepticons. This Nintendo-only release is Published by Activision and developed by Altron Corporation and NOW Production. This one drops on November 30th for the Wii, NDS, N3DS, and on November 18th on the WiiU.
Xbox 360Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth
Ubisoft and Marvel teamed up to bring this comic book-styled brawler to the Xbox 360. The fighter line-up is straight-up comic nerd nirvana: The Hulk, Thor, Captain America, The Human Torch, Wolverine, Spider Man, Doctor Strange, et al. The Marvel bad guys consist of Sinestro, Dr. Doom, Magneto, Venom, Loki, and more. This title could be serious competition for DC’s Injustice: Gods Among Us coming out early next year. The end of the trailer showed what could have been Zombie Captain America, so Ubisoft may be delving into some of the more recent Marvel parallel universe deal. Find out, for certain, on October 30th on Xbox 360.
PS3Okami HD
Yeah, you read that right: Capcom is re-releasing a six year-old game in HD. Okami was one of the highest rated last gen games and is still a fairly recent release in my opinion. This one drops, for about $20, on the PS3 October 30th.
PC
Guns of Icarus
I lost count of how many post-apocalyptic games are out there, but I currently have three in my collection. Developed by Muse, Guns of Icarus features the usual looting, scavenging, and recycling of old-world tech and weapons, and there are pirates. The stand-out element of this game is...airships. When I say airships, I mean blimps, dirigibles, and zeppelins, so don’t expect air combat to be especially fast paced. This downloadable title is available on Steam, starting October 29th.
