Ship Simulator Extremes
First up, Ship Simulator Extremes is a hyper-realistic boating simulator set in the modern world. Realistically manage cutting-edge tankers, warships, and fishing vessels in various types of weather and through a variety of scenarios—like searching for seal poachers in the North Atlantic, or saving workers from an oil rig in the Mediterranean. The focus of the game is realism, and everything from the graphical fidelity to the controls reflects that focus, making it a great game for those who love boating.
Ivy the Kiwi?
Ivy the Kiwi? is a new puzzle platformer game, in which the player must save Ivy, a small red flightless bird, from the dangers of the forest by drawing vines across the screen with the WiiMote pointer or DS stylus. The interesting thing here is that the game was designed by a team led by Yuji Naka, the original designer behind Sonic the Hedgehog. It will be worth watching to see if this designer can pull off a fun and accessible game in a genre which has been mostly dominated by gimmicky, low-budget titles.
And Yet It Moves
Another puzzle platformer with WiiMote controls comes out this week. And Yet It Moves is an indie game in which the protagonist is escaping from a world made of torn scraps of paper. The player uses the WiiMote to rotate the levels in an effort to safely reach the exit. Unlike other similar games, this game world does not always turn 90 degrees. A more granular rotation mechanic allows deeper puzzles and multiple solutions to each level.
Mafia II
This week’s Icrontic Spotlight glimmers across the machine gun barrel of Mafia II. This sequel is an open ended GTA-esque adventure game, set in Empire Bay—an amalgam of New York City and San Fransisco—around 1950. As in the first Mafia game, players will explore the world of organized crime, while resolving a mission-based plot-line. The game map will be fully accessible from the start of the game, and will cover approximately 10 square miles, giving the player lots of locations to explore and plenty of space to spread out. A few new features include a new cover mechanic, similar to GTA 4, and a context sensitive interaction system which allows the player to choose between interacting with items in a sneaky way or a violent one. Such open-ended adventure has become very popular in the last few years, and while it would be nice to see plots which do not center around criminals once in awhile, advancing technology makes each of these games more impressive than the last.
Following is a list of this week’s announced North American releases:
Windows
- ColorCube
- Elemental: War of Magic
- IGT Slots: Wolf Run
- Jade Dynasty: Vengeance
- Mafia II
- Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill (Re-Mastered)
- Ship Simulator Extremes
- Worms Reloaded
Wii
- And Yet It Moves
- Disney Guilty Party
- Grease: The Game
- Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns Arcade Hits Pack
- Ivy the Kiwi?
- Martian Panic
- NHL 2K11
- The Bachelor
- U-four-ia: The Saga (VC – NES)
DS
- Absolute Reversi
- Crazy Pig
- G.G Series: Ninja Karakuri Den
- Grease: The Game
- Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar
- Ivy the Kiwi?
- My Farm
- The Bachelor
- The Treasures of Montezuma
Xbox360
- Guilty Gear 2: Overture
- Mafia II
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
- Shank
PS3
- Mafia II
- Shank
PSP
- Fish Tank
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