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New Releases for The Week of Space Heroes and Safe-crackers

New Releases for The Week of Space Heroes and Safe-crackers


windows steamDon’t Starve takes the survival aspects of Minecraft, and turns them into a whole game, but with more interestingly stylized graphics and a wider variety of possible actions and creations. Players begin with nothing, and use their wits to discover recipes to build the tools, weapons, and structures they need to survive. A major element of the game is the need to regularly feed the player’s character—thus the title—and this will require the creation, management, and defense of a small base. As the recipes get more complex, resources become more dangerous to procure and further away. Many of you have likely already played Don’t Starve, as it has been available for ‘early access’ on Steam since last year.


windows steam xbox ps3Traditionally, video games that try to tie-in to film franchises have been rather lacking, but studios are starting to learn what makes a good tie-in game. Specifically, the game needs to have engaging mechanics and a story which is independent from the film itself. Adapting a non-interactive film into an interactive medium—no matter the mechanics—is problematic, and has nearly always failed. Thus, it is fortunate that Star Trek the video game tries to do no such thing.

The plot of the new game takes place between the films Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness. The Gorn have invaded the new Vulcan colony, and Kirk and Spock are on-hand to drive the reptilian invaders away. Also, there is some kind of super-weapon or something on the planet which needs protecting before it kills everyone in the galaxy—typical space-hero stuff.

Mechanically, the title is a third-person tactical shooter. Players take on either Spock or Kirk, and work together to take down the enemies by utilizing their weapons and the environment. There are cover mechanics and various attack types, though the weapon selection seems to be limited to phasers, the staple ‘gun’ of the Star Trek world. The exciting part is that the game is designed for co-operative play. Two players can join up, each taking on one of the main characters, and the co-op mode is not a tacked on afterthought; it’s, according to the designers, how the game is meant to be played. If there is one sure-fire way to get me to want to try a game out, that’s it.


windows steam xboxSo, like I just mentioned approximately one sentence ago—though you probably knew it already if you read this feature with any regularity—co-op games are pretty exciting for me. That’s one of the reasons that I’ve been following Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine. This is a four-player stealth action game, described as a cross between the original Gauntlet and the Hitman franchise. Players choose from among eight classes, each with their own special abilities based on heist movie archetypes—and work together to pull off various high-risk burglaries. With a tiled, top-down view and simple graphics, the game looks fairly basic, but the complexities run deep and the variety of the missions and classes should provide plenty of satisfying infiltrations.


windows steamThe Icrontic Spotlight this week reflects off the distant moons of StarDrive. The combination 4X/RTS has players exploring, researching, and settling like Civilization in space, but includes a lot more customization of one’s forces than a traditional 4X. Players can choose the advantages and disadvantages of their own faction, terraform planets to their liking, and even design the individual ships in their fleet. When these fleets meet in conflict, however, the game switches to real-time tactical combat, allowing the player to give orders from the top or take direct control of one of their ships to help out on the front lines. Unfortunately the game doesn’t ship with any multi-player modes, so the real value of the experience is going to be heavily dependent on the AI.

stardrive logo

Following is a full list of this week’s announced North American releases:

Windows

  • Don’t Starve
  • Poker Night 2
  • Star Trek
  • Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine
  • StarDrive

Xbox 360

  • Star Trek
  • Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine

PS3

  • God Mode
  • SoulCalibur V
  • Star Trek

Comments

  1. Thrax
    Thrax WHAT'S IN THE SAFE?
  2. CB
    CB I was wrong about the release date for StarDrive. It will be out next week.

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