New release slate championed by Crytek’s multiplatform shooter, TT Games’ latest block game, and Square Enix’s fighting game; The Sims Medieval, Ghostbusters: SOS, Tomb Raider, Splinter Cell Trilogies, and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood PC also out.
Next Sunday Nintendo will release its new portable, the 3DS. But this week’s focus is placed on aliens, building blocks, and fighting.
Leading the week is Crytek’s Crysis 2 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the platform that birthed the series, the PC. The shooter sees players fend off an alien threat once again, aided by a nanosuit that grants the user superhuman abilities ranging from speed boosts to active camouflage.
The sequel features two major distinctions from its predecessor. The original Crysis featured lush tropical environments, but Crysis 2 takes place in the urban jungle of New York City. And, as said, the game will see release on consoles in addition to the PC.
Gamers looking to grab the latest Traveller’s Tales Lego game this week can pick up Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. The game will introduce new battle modes, including close-encounter combat techniques and the ability to build customized bases and fortresses. Gamers can take the side of either a Jedi or a Separatist, each of which comes with its own special abilities.
On-the-go gamers looking for a new title to play can pick up Square Enix’s Dissidia 012 Duodecim this week for the PSP. The game features multiple roster additions, including Final Fantasy IV’s lance-wielding dragoon Kain. A number of familiar faces will also be returning, including Sephiroth, Tifa, Onion Knight, Cecil, Golbez, Zidane, and Terra.
While the action is still primarily one-on-one, Square Enix is implementing a new assist feature that will let players summon backup allies in battle. Dissidia 012 Duodecim will also include new game modes, items, and costumes, as well as the ability to play through a storyline focused on the character Chaos.
The Sims franchise continues to grow this week. The Sims Studio unleashes The Sims Medieval on Tuesday for the PC/Mac. Announced in early August, The Sims Medieval is a stand-alone Sims spin-off from the creators of The Sims 3 and other series entries.
The title, the first in a series, will have players create heroes, venture on quests, build and control a kingdom, and play every “hero sim” character in the game. Additionally, The Sims Medieval gives players the chance to control people from all walks of life, including kings, queens, knights, wizards, blacksmiths, and bards.
On the download front, Atari will release Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime this week on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. The top-down game set in New York City will be a cooperative adventure title playable online or offline with up to four players. It will drop players into the boots of the Ghostbuster team’s newest recruit and task them with working cooperatively to take down “gigantic bosses.” Also, gamers will have a range of weaponry at their disposal, including the proton stream, the plasma inductor, and the fermion shock.
Inception, The Dark Knight, and Modern Warfare 2 composer lending hand to soundtrack for Crytek shooter due out next week.
Next week, Crytek and Electronic Arts will launch the much hyped Crysis 2. The sequel will land on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as the PC, but going multiplatform won’t be the game’s only distinguishing characteristic.
EA has announced that noted Hollywood and video game composer Hans Zimmer collaborated with Borislav Slavov and Tilman Sillescu in creating the soundtrack for Crysis 2, which is due out next week.
Zimmer’s previous composing credits include Hollywood hits Inception and The Dark Knight, as well as Activision’s blockbuster first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Zimmer’s game work will continue, as the composer has been attached to Activision’s upcoming Skylanders Spyro Adventures.
Crysis 2 sees players fend off an alien threat once again, aided by a nanosuit that grants the user superhuman abilities ranging from speed boosts to active camouflage.
While the original Crysis featured lush tropical environments, Crysis 2 takes place in the urban jungle of New York City.
THQ responds to investor concern by announcing “robust” North American sales tally; online multiplayer server capacity increased.
Yesterday, the reviews came in for THQ’s newest first-person shooter Homefront, and while the game’s Metacritic average was technically positive, it wasn’t positive enough to appease investors. Fearing the lukewarm critical response presaged a commercial failure, investors were bearish on THQ, resulting in a 21 percent crash in the publisher’s stock price yesterday, slipping an additional 1.28 percent today to $4.63 a share.
After market close today, THQ moved to assuage investors’ panic, making a rare announcement of first-day sales for Homefront. According to the publisher, Homefront sold approximately 375,000 units in North America within 24 hours of release. European and Asia Pacific sales figures were not included in the tally, as the game has not yet seen full release worldwide.
Calling this sales figure “robust,” THQ also said that it would be increasing server capacity to accommodate demand for Homefront’s multiplayer. As with a handful of other THQ titles, those who purchase new copies of Homefront gain full access to the game’s online multiplayer component.
Secondhand users have access to every map and can spend as much time as they wish in Homefront’s multiplayer modes. However, they won’t be able to advance their characters any further than level five–out of a possible 75–unless they purchase an online pass for $10.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ubisoft will unleash Rocksmith for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii this September.
The game will come with 45 songs from bands like the Rolling Stones, the Animals, David Bowie, and Nirvana. According to the report, Rocksmith will sport songs not available in Rock Band or Guitar Hero games.
Rocksmith was developed with realism in mind, according to The Reporter. In the game, players will strum along on actual strings. Ubisoft is betting that the game can avoid the fate of Guitar Hero because its players won’t soon grow tired of learning how to play an actual guitar.
The game will come with an input jack that is compatible with “most electric guitars” for play on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but not the Wii.
