We think it’s far to say that due to digital distribution we won’t ever face another notorious ‘summer game drought’. There may only be two retail releases arriving this week, but there’s more than triple that out on the download services.
Those two retail releases are Project X Zone on 3DS and the budget-priced stealth adventure DARK on Xbox 360 and PC.
Project X Zone could be seen as a budget-priced title too, we suppose – Amazon, amongst others, are offering it for just over £20. Reviews have been pretty good, so don’t let that price-tag put you off.
The Official Nintendo Magazine gave this strategic 2D RPG 80%, noting that while it’s a little easy and the plot for bringing characters from various franchises together is “flimsy at best†it’s still a highly entertaining experience – “a series of violent, interactive laser-light shows,†as they put it.
IGN agreed that the story is a bit pump and gave it the same score. Well, an 8.0. “Project X Zone is often funny and consistently frantic – two traits not necessarily associated with tactical RPGs,†was their verdict.
Still not convinced? It features Bruno Delinger, the chap from Sega’s Dynamite Cop – a series that can be linked back to 1996’s excellent Die Hard Arcade.
At the time of typing there are no reviews of DARK, although we will say that the footage released at E3 looked far from amazing.
Imagine a sort of low-budget Deus Ex, only with supernatural powers instead of an assortment of high-tech toys. It does look better than some of the low-budget tat shoved out recently though, with Ride to Hell springing to mind instantly. ShopTo are selling it for just under £27 with pre-order DLC of some kind.
Downloads now. The Walking Dead: 400 Days is the most noteworthy release, seemingly coming out of nowhere. European PlayStation 3 owners will have to wait a week yet again, even though it’s already out on the US PSN store. The Xbox 360 version arrives Friday for 400 MSP, with the PC version available now. 400 Days bridges the gap between season one and the upcoming season two, featuring 5 fifteen-minute long stories. In other words, it lasts as long as one of the season one episodes.
Eurogamer handed out a 7: “More ambitious, but less focused than Season One, 400 Days feels like its setting: a serviceable pit-stop on the way to a (hopefully) brighter future.â€
PlayStation 3 owners do have something new to get stuck into – a surprise demo of Gran Turismo 6 went up earlier this week.
There’s also Pinball Heroes: Complete on PS Vita, which features tables based on WipEout, Uncharted, Fat Princess and more. The trailer can be viewed here.
Incidentally, PS Vita owners may be interested in the 10 Game Mega Pack that’s being released this week on an 8GB memory card. For the price it’s very good value for money. We understand that the games aren’t on the card, but instead included as PSN download codes.
Third-person shooter Scourge: Outbreak should be hitting both XBLA and PSN. This one piques our interest somewhat, due to the four-player co-op mode. That’s being joined by something called Capsized on Friday – a 2D platform adventure starring a tiny chap with a jetpack. 800 MSP, to you.
Then on the Nintendo eShop(s) there’s the SNES classic Pilotwings on Wii U for £5.49, the six-sport strong California Super Sports on DSiWare for £4.49, and the retro-chic 99Moves for £1.79, also on DSiWare.
They’re joined by another dose of Game Gear titles – Sonic Drift 2, Vampire: Master of Darkness and G-Loc: Air Battle. Out of these three we’d recommend Vampire: Master of Darkness. It was the system’s answer to Castlevania and was well received back when it was released in 1992.
Next week: Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Bros. (3DS) and The Serious Sam Collection (360).