Another week filled with slim pickings, unless you’re into the Just Dance series, or the Smurfs. But at least one much anticipated indie release and a “wtf” sequel should keep you nice and busy regardless…
The much heralded indie title (it was nominated for numerous Independent Games Festival Awards, plus nabbed the Game Critics Award for Best Downloadable title at this year’s E3) is finally here. Gameplay wise, it’s essentially an action RPG where one must battle assorted monsters to level up his attributes and also earn cash. Which is then spent on rebuilding his world which mysteriously tore it asunder. If you want a specific ability or trait, fine, but figure you have to create the means to allow it in the first place, i.e. to get armor you first need to build an armory. Oh, and the whole thing is narrated along the way, even as you play. Do something cool and the storyteller will make comment, and that sounds pretty cool if you ask me. Xbox Live Arcade
The Call of Juarez series is in a weird place; it was the first to introduce the idea of combining GTA-style sandbox gameplay with the old west. Then along came Red Dead Redemption to make everyone forget all that. So what are the makers of Juarez to do? Go back and draw even more from the source material by making it even MORE Grand Theft Auto-ed out. San Andreas to be exact. The latest installment features the same basic gameplay and stars a man in a cowboy hat dispensing the kind of justice that kept the wild west in check. But this time, the game takes place in modern day LA, with all the firepower and machinery that inhabits the 21st Century. Weird, huh? Hopefully it’ll be the kick in the pants the audience needs in order to know this series is still a serious contender. Even if being original these days means being extra unoriginal, if that makes any sense. Xbox 360, PS3, PC
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