Welcome to another week of JOE’s videogame round-up. As always, we’re looking to provide you with up-to-the-minute news, download reviews, weekly charts and forthcoming release dates on a weekly basis. So if there’s anything you think we’re leaving out, or would like us to shine a spotlight on, feel free to leave a comment below.
News
London is under attack in Mass Effect 3 debut trailer
This trailer still from Bioware kept fans guessing for over a week until Mass Effect 3 was officially revealed
Well this was certainly a surprise. Perhaps the biggest reveal of the videogame industry’s biggest night US channel Spike TV’s Videogame Awards (VGA’s) was also the biggest shocker – Mass Effect 3 is coming sooner than expected and it’s set in Earth. Yes, Earth.
Coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in ‘Holiday 2011’, the final title in the Mass Effect trilogy will again feature Commander Shepard as he/she (some of you play as female Shep, right?) battles an invasion of Earth by the Reapers. Although it’s all CGI-based, the above trailer is tremendously evocative, with a startling pan-out revealing a ravaged future-London, with skyscraper-high machines destroying everything in their path.
Hugo Strange knows Bruce Wayne’s secret in Batman: Arkham City first look
Despite the slightly hokey name, Hugo Strange makes for a formidable prescence
Rocksteady Studios stunned the gaming world in late 2009 with Batman: Arkham Asylum, generally considered to be the finest videogame based on a comic book property ever released. Our first look at it’s 2011 sequel, Arkham City, arrived this weekend, focusing on the title’s next villain, Hugo Strange.
In an excellent (surely coincidental?) twist of fate, The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan has recently announced that Hugo Strange will be the antagonist in his next project, the 2012 release The Dark Knight Rises. So without further ado, let’s take a look at our first introduction to the professor that knows a lot more about Bruce Wayne’s secrets than any other Gotham supervillain.
Nathan Drake explores the desert in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception trailer
Hmm, hopefully Naughty Dog aren’t expecting us to watch that entire desert
2009’s PS3 game of the year returns on the 1/11/11 with developers Naughty Dog promising to send protagonist Nathan Drake to the Arabian Peninsula and the vast wasteland of the Rub’ al Khali Desert, aka the Empty Quarter in search of a legendary lost city. In comparison to Arkham City and Mass Effect 3, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception has a slightly low-key, less action-packed debut trailer, yet we’d bite your hands off without hesitation for a chance to get to grips with our favourite wise-cracking Nolan North-voiced hero.
Well then we have good news, as the most buggy game of 2010 is about to – finally – get fixed, after its developers have said that their Steam, Xbox 360 and PS3 patch has been completed and is awaiting approval. The patch is apparently expecting in the next few days so we can all look forward to bug-free landscape wandering this coming weekend.
Friday Releases 17/12/10
It’s easy to forget just how ridiculous some of the earlier incarnations of the X-Men look
As it’s our final Gaming Round-Up of the year, we thought we’d go out with a bang, so here’s…. an incredibly palty release list, whoops. Our apologies but don’t act as if you’re surprised. In any case, our pick of the week would have to be the downloadable release of X-Men Arcade, a remake of the classic side-scrolling 1992 release. Though this is our final Gaming Round-Up until January, here at JOE we’ll be profiling our top ten games of 2010, the biggest gaming developments of the year, our top twenty picks for 2011 and our gaming predictions for the year aheads, so be sure to check in very soon.
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Xbox 360
Quake Arena Arcade (XBLA)
X-Men Arcade (XBLA)
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Playstation 3
Quake Arena Arcade (PSN)
X-Men Arcade (PSN)
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Wii
Speed
The Ultimate Battles of the Sexes
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Nintendo DS
None
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PSP
Patapon 3
PC
None
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