Christ on a moped – it’s a right old busy week for new releases. The Darkness, Harry Potter and the Girl with the Visible Bra Strap, Overlord, Resident Evil 4 and Driver: Parallel Lines on Wii, Hour of Victory, Puzzle League and More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima are just the highlights, with some belated PSP conversions and rubbish Japanese 360 games making up the rest. What’s the betting that in a few weeks there will be absolutely nothing out? Publishers are idiots.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is likely to chart the highest, and going by early reviews it isn’t too bad, offering plenty of freedom and the chance to use the Wii remote as a magic wand. We’ve played a bit of the WWII-based Hour of Victory and Overlord and can say they’re worth a look. The latter borrows a lot of ideas from Pikmin and Dungeon Keeper while the former is a solid shooter although short on innovation. A lot of people have been waiting patiently for The Darkness, from Chronicles of Riddick creators Starbreeze, and it looks like the wait has been worth it.
It’s a purse pleasing week for Wii owners, with Resident Evil 4, G1 Jockey Wii and Rise of the Silver Surfer all available for less than £30 each. We know which one we’d go for. As per usual for the Driver series, Parallel Lines has slipped out without review copies being sent to press. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions were alright, so unless Ubisoft have messed up the controls or removed half the game then it should be a decent enough addition to the Wii’s gaming library. PlayStation 2 owners on a budget should check out Global Defence Force which we swear on our lives is finally out today.
And Call of Juarez? A first person shooter with cowboys, apparently. Eurogamer quite liked it.
