Fairytale Fights
First up this week, Fairytale Fights has arrived for Xbox 360 and PS3. This third-person hack-and-slash has a deceptive storybook style, but it’s anything but nice and happy. Play the part of a fairytale character who has fallen out of the limelight, and can only regain his/her former glory by going on a murderous rampage through fairytale land. Slice and blast your way through lumberjacks, gingerbread men, pointy-hatted gnomes, and many other classic characters. The sweet gimmick here is in the control scheme. Instead of using button combinations to execute different attacks, the player controls the movement of the character’s weapon directly with the right control-stick, meaning that there are as many different attacks as there are ways to move the stick. Another feature is a dynamic slicing system, which goes along with the innumerable attacks. The thing here is that each character figure in the game is fully rendered, inside and outside, so that slicing the characters into different shaped pieces, and in different directions will expose their insides correctly along the cut that you make.
Tekken 6
The cross-platform release Tekken 6 may look on the surface like just another Tekken game, but this newest entry to the franchise is full of new features. In addition to having 40 different fighters to choose from–a new high for the series–players will be able to customize the look of their fighters beyond the three or four costumes that are usually available per fighter. Mixing and matching parts of the costumes, and then customizing the style and color of the fighter’s hair means that it’s unlikely that any two players will have exactly the same fighter, which is important because this edition is introducing Global Online play, over the internet. The game also features dynamic stages that change as you punch and kick your opponents through the walls floors and ceilings, and a campaign mode that plays like a side-scrolling brawler, so that you can take your Tekken character up against hordes of foot soldiers.
Painkiller: Resurrection
For the PC this week, we’re getting Painkiller: Resurrection. This Painkiller Sequel will put players into the role of William Sherman, a CIA operative who dies in the line of duty, and due to a mistake on his part, takes out lots of civilians with him–despite his heroism he is sent to hell. However, heaven’s warriors spot him, and decide that they can use his skills. They rescue him from hell, and send him into the fray on their side. The new FPS campaign features graphic-novel-style cutscenes, 4-player co-op play, and all the strange weapons of the original with some still stranger additions. The revamped Painkiller Engine has added weather effects and more robust physics simulation in addition to the expected improvements in visual fidelity.
Torchlight
The Icrontic Spotlight Release for this week is Torchlight for the PC. This dungeon crawl with a unique, crystal-steam-punk visual style, and a magic system based around alchemy, looks like it has a lot of promise. Many of the folks who worked on this game also worked on the original Diablo 14 years ago, and many of the basic workings of the game seem very similar to that franchise progenitor. The main feature here for me is randomized levels, which if you’ve been paying attention, you know is a sure-fire way to grab my attention, but that’s not all it’s about. The game also features an intuitive interface, in-game fishing, customizable pets, and a retirement system, which allows players to deactivate their high-level characters in exchange for a bonus to a newly created character. Further, the developers decided to embrace a possible modder community by releasing an editor that will allow fans to make their own adventures. Just how much editing can be done in a game with randomized levels is yet to be seen, but it’s certainly an interesting decision. Despite all this, it is a relatively small game, with no multi-player modes, and only about 25 hours of gameplay per run-through. However, the cost will also be pretty low compared to other games of this development quality.
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Following is a list of announced releases for North America this week:
PC
- Alganon
- Barbie: 3 Musketeers
- Borderlands
- Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life
- FIFA Manager 10
- FIFA Soccer 10
- Football Manager 2010
- Fort Zombie
Hidden Mysteries: Titanic- Kate’s Fix it Up Adventure
- King’s Bounty: Armored Princess
- League of Legends: Clash of Fates
- Ninja Blade
- Painkiller: Resurrection
- Press Your Luck 2010 Edition
- Saw
- STATIC: Investigator Training
- The Stronghold Collection
- Torchlight
PS3
- DJ Hero
- Fairytale Fights
- Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
- Tekken 6
- Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment
PSP
- Adventures to Go
- BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE Vilgax Attacks
- Ghostbusters The Video Game
- Mytran Wars
- Petz Dogz Family
- Petz Hamsterz Bunch
- Petz: Saddle Club
- SpongeBob’s Truth or Square
Wii
- All Star Cheer Squad 2
- Arcade Shooter: Illvelo
- Arcade Shooting Gallery
- Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Game Time
- Barbie and the Three Musketeers
- BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE Vilgax Attacks
- Big League Sports: Winter Sports
- Cocoto Surprise
- CSI: Deadly Intent
- DanceDanceRevolution
- DanceDanceRevolution Hottest Party 3
- DJ Hero
- Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter
- Dreamworks Madagascar Kartz
- Geon Cube
- Ghost Mansion Party
- Hasbro Family Game Night 2
- Hidden Mysteries: Titanic
- iCarly
- Jewel Quest Mysteries
- Monster 4×4: Stunt Racer
- Mountain Sports
- Nerf 2: N-Strike Elite
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Game Day
- Press Your Luck 2010 Edition
- Safari Adventures Africa
- SimAnimals Africa
- SpongeBob’s Truth or Square
- Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan
- Vegas Party
- Water Sports
- Wii Play For Fun
- World of Zoo
- Golden Axe (VC – Arcade)
- Zombies Ate My Neighbors (VC – Arcade)
DS
- 100 All-Time Favorites
- Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Game Time
- Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island
- Barbie and the Three Musketeers
- BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE Vilgax Attacks
- Chronicles of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple
- CSI: Deadly Intent – The Hidden Cases
- Diner Dash: Flo on the Go
- Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter
- Dream Salon
- Hasbro Family Game Night
- Hidden Mysteries: Titanic
- Petz Dolphinz Encounter
- PictureBook Games: The Royal Bluff
- Press Your Luck 2010 Edition
- Safari Adventures Africa
- SimAnimals Africa
- SpongeBob’s Truth or Square
- Sudoku(DSiWare)
- Sushi Academy
- System: Flaw
- The Backyardigans
- Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure
Xbox360
- Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Game Time
- BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE Vilgax Attacks
- CSI: Deadly Intent
- DJ Hero
- Fairytale Fights
- Forza Motorsport 3
- Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
- Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
- Painkiller: Resurrection
- SpongeBob’s Truth or Square
- Tekken 6
- Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment
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