New Releases for The Week of Beatles and Time Travelers

CB Droege 8 Sep, 2009 at 3:56pm ET Article published in Gaming

Darkest of Days

In the cross platform release Darkest of Days, the player will jump around in time, mostly in the front lines of World War I and The American Civil War, fighting for each side with period weapons and uniforms. Expect beautiful scenery and authentic tactics in this Historical FPS. Check out Icrontic’s review of the game here.

Mini Ninjas

For most platforms this week, we’re getting Mini Ninjas, a third-person fighting game with some great cel-shaded visuals. Master the ninja skills of Hiro, and his mini ninja friends, as they fight the evil samurai, freeing cuddly animals from their armor Sonic-style. The main feature here seems to be the vast number of skill options, from time manipulation to Kuji magic. There is a simultaneous DS release by the same title which will, as usual, feature slightly different gameplay, as adapted to the smaller screen, and stylus controls.

Imagine: Detective

The newest in the Imagine series on the DS is Imagine: Detective. In this puzzle/strategy game, a high school girl must search for clues, run through dialog with others at the school, solve case-oriented puzzles, then post all about her findings on her blog. This departure from the usual Imagine series formula puts the player into a coherent storyline, rather than a rote simulator. Colorful, comic-book style cutscenes round-out one of the most interesting titles to come out of this series for young girls.

The Beatles: Rock Band

The major cross-platform release this week is The Beatles: Rock Band. As with past special editions of Rock Band, this game features the songs of a single band, and allows you to play the game as the members of that troupe, in the locations they made famous. This one, however, introduces some cool new features to the Rock Band experience. The big deal is the addition of three-part harmony, allowing a band of players to either add a couple of singers to their group, or give microphones to a couple of the instrument players. Each singer gets a separate line on the pitch chart, to represent the melodious tones of The Fab Four. On top of that, this edition will introduce a ‘no fail’ toggle which can be turned on at any difficulty (rather than only on easy, as past editions allow). Unfortunately, players will not be able to import the songs into their database for use in Rock Band or Rock Band 2.

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Ebberon Unlimited

Our Spotlight this week falls on Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited. “Dungeons & Dragons Online has been out for awhile”, you say? Yes, that’s true, but this re-release is pretty significant. The entire game is being revamped for micropayments. They aren’t ditching their current subscribers; one may still pay monthly for the game, if one so desires, but new subscribers are going to see a “free” MMO. Players will get access to all but one of the base classes, a few adventures, and other core features, but will have to purchase access to additional features. Rather than subscribing, players will be able to make one-time payments for greater access, buying more adventures, gold storage, and character slots as needed. In addition to the new payment model, the level cap is being increased, and new areas, adventures, and classes are being introduced.

A list of announced releases for North America follows:

PC

Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures (2009)
Darkest of Days
DiRT 2
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Ebberon
Heroes Over Europe
Fallen Earth
Majesty 2 – The Fantasy Kingdom Sim
Mini Ninjas
Time of Shadows
Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss
War Leaders: Clash of Nations
Women’s Murder Club: Twice in a Blue Moon

PS3

Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures (2009)
DiRT 2
Guitar Hero 5
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
LittleBigPlanet Game of the Year
Mini Ninjas
The Beatles: Rock Band
Trine

PSP

DiRT 2
Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days

Wii

Arcade Zone
Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures
ColorZ
DiRT 2
Guitar Hero 5
Jump Start Pet Rescue
Mini Ninjas
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
The Beatles: Rock Band

DS

Ant Nation
Amazing Adventures: The Forgotten Ruins
DiRT 2
Imagine: Detective
Mini Ninjas
My Virtual Tutor: Reading First to Second Grade
My Virtual Tutor: Reading Kindergarten to First
My Virtual Tutor: Reading Pre-K to Kindergarten

XBox360

Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures
Qubed
Darkest of Days
DiRT 2
Guitar Hero 5
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
The Beatles: Rock Band
Platinum Hits Triple Pack
Raiden IV

Comments

9 Sep 2009 ~ 1:18am CB Update: Majesty 2 has been pushed to next week.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 9:45am kryyst Muramasa for the win this week, great game, I'm not sure if it's going to have lasting power but the initial presentation is fantastic.

While DDO Unlimited is actually a lot of fun, I've been playing it since last week because I was in the beta. I've been saying all along that this is the pricing model DDO should have gone after from the beginning. This is a very instantced game similar to Guild Wars. Allow players to access a good chunk of the game but temp them with small purchases to tweak things out along the way. Of course for those that want the full VIP treatment you can still pay the monthly. Aside from the graphical improvements and new areas the game hasn't changed significantly beyond tweaks. What keeps me interested in DDO is that it's the only MMO game so far that really plays like an Action Game. The whole point-click-kill approach is gone and it's refreshing to skulk around, tumbling, jumping and actually fighting from advantaged positions. This is about as close to actually playing D&D as you can get. It's biggest problems before were that it didn't feel like enough game for $15 a month and I agree. For free though it allows pick up and play and for that it's fantastic.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 11:51am Cliff_Forster If you are a race game fan Dirt 2 is an absolute must. On every platform and just all around awesome. It dances on the line right between arcade and sim perfectly, enough simulation to add depth without becoming a chore to play, its the perfect balance and every race fan should add it to their library. With Race Driver GRID and the Dirt series, there is not a better race developer than Codemasters.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 11:59am Obsidian

Cliff_Forster wrote:

With Race Driver GRID and the Dirt series, there is not a better race developer than Codemasters.

*cough* Polyphony *cough* I liked DiRT and GRID and will definitely check out DiRT 2 but I still think Gran Turismo 5 and Forza 3 are going to be better.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 12:00pm Thrax There is only one God, and His name is Gran Turismo.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 12:18pm Snarkasm Gran Turismo became played out when they charged you $40 to play the fucking demo.

Forza.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 12:37pm kryyst I prefer Forza for my racing sim action.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 12:43pm Cliff_Forster I don't like the heavy sim racing games, never have. I like a little sim balanced into an experience that is a little more pick up and play. All of the games mentioned are quality, but not really my cup of tea.

For real, if you did not play the original Dirt there is a great playable PC demo online for free, you owe it to yourself to check the series out. Codemasters has really steeped up their game in the past few years to produce some extremely high quality racing titles.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 12:55pm BuddyJ GRID is good as an evolution from TOCA Race Driver 3, but I prefer Gran Turismo/Tourist Trophy. Polyphony Digital's drive for accuracy is well-documented among the automotive community.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 1:24pm Cliff_Forster

Buddy J wrote:

GRID is good as an evolution from TOCA Race Driver 3, but I prefer Gran Turismo/Tourist Trophy. Polyphony Digital's drive for accuracy is well-documented among the automotive community.

Not knocking Polyphony at all, I respect the attention to detail, but for me, accuracy does not necessarily equal fun.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 2:46pm kryyst Personally I couldn't get into Dirt and I thought Grid was nearly unplayable, at least the Demo I had of it. The controls were ridiculously touchy and I just couldn't get a feel for the sense of speed.

What I like about Forza is that with all the safeties turned on it's rather forgiving. I mean follow the line mode is extremely newb friendly. The new Forza looks amazing.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 2:52pm Obsidian It takes a little while to get into it but GRID is an amazing game once you play it for a few hours. The rewind system encourages you to push your car to its limits at all times which makes it a lot more fun and the controls make it easy to do so.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 4:06pm kryyst Ugg the rewind system. I want to race, I don't want to redo the same exact corner over and over and over again. It's fine as a practice mechanic but not in the bulk of the game. To me it felt more like an admission of a design flaw. Our game is hard to drive, the controls are as jumpy as a greased squirrel. Not to worry let them rewind it a bit and try, try again.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 4:54pm Gate28 Beatles, FYI.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 5:00pm _k huh, someone actually bothers to use the rewind function in GRiD.....I thought everyone just turns that off. Also how are the controls jumpy, I have seen pro racers play Forza and GT only to complain about the grip physics not being correct.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 5:05pm Obsidian I often slaughter my friends who refused to use the rewind feature because they were never willing to take the same risks that I've already figured out long ago.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 5:09pm _k Um its called practice. I challenge you to a duel sir. /slaps obsidian in the face with a cold trout.

DiRT 2 LAUNCHES TOMORROW ON 36 and PS3! PC has to wait until the end of the year.
9 Sep 2009 ~ 5:22pm Obsidian You've got to be shitting me. GameSpot had them all listed at a September 8th release date. I don't want to wait until December :banghead:
12 Sep 2009 ~ 11:19am drasnor New Raiden game! Hell yes!

-drasnor
16 Sep 2009 ~ 9:39am Idiot_Slayer The failure to mention Scribblenauts is criminal.
That game makes me want to go out an buy a DS today.
16 Sep 2009 ~ 11:26am CB

Idiot_Slayer wrote:

The failure to mention Scribblenauts is criminal.
That game makes me want to go out an buy a DS today.

Scribblenaughts came out this week according to my press release.
16 Sep 2009 ~ 12:06pm Koreish Scribblenaughts is awesome. I'll leave it at that.
16 Sep 2009 ~ 12:22pm kryyst Scribblenaughts is most excellent. I wouldn't say it's a compelling reason to buy a DS. But as far as puzzle/platformers go it's going to be hard to top. It's similar to the creativity presented in Drawn To Life only with the dial turned to 11. The only annoyance is small, in that the early levels are to easy and that the get you up to speed portion takes to long. Once the game comes into form properly though it's truly a sandbox experience. Interestingly enough it then becomes more fun to go back through earlier levels to try and force yourself to think of even more creative and less obvious ways to come up with a solution.