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
The Duke is back with confirmed release date and new trailer
Oh Duke, it turns out we missed you plenty after all
We’ve covered Duke Nuke Forever quite a few times in this section but suffice to say, if the name ‘Duke Nukem‘ rings a bell and you’re wondering why he hasn’t been seen since the 90s, blame the protracted development of Duke Nukem Forever, now slated for release on May 6. First intended for a 1997 release, Forever bankrupted its studio, switched game engines from console generation to generation and faced numerous publisher lawsuits. To think, it’s original release date would have had Forever released months after the Nintendo 64 console launch!
After several months of polishing from Gearbox Software, hopes are high that Duke can reclaim his title as the most in-your-face, politically incorrect video game protagonist around. The news of Forever’s final (hopefully final) release was greeted by a new trailer, embedded below, which features some cracking lines, ‘I’d still hit it…’ being a personal favourite.
Leaked LA Noire trailer reveals May 17 release date
What a scoop!
With Red Dead Redemption‘s success proving that Rockstar Games no longer have to rely on the mega-hit Grand Theft Auto franchise, we have high hopes for LA Noire, whose leaked and subsequently shelved trailer has pointed towards a May 17 release. With Noire and Duke Nukem Forever, May 2011 just got a whole lot bigger.
“L.A. Noire breaks new ground for us,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games recently. “Its intense blend of action and real detective work defies genre conventions to create a unique and captivating thriller.” The open-world thriller centres around Cole Phelps, an LAPD officer played by Mad Men‘s Aaron Staton (the show’s Ken Cosgrove), solving crimes in post-WW2 Hollywood.
Purchase/Download of the Week
Ghost Mania (Wii Ware, 500 Wii Pts)
We’ll admit it – Dead Space 2 is probably scarier than Ghost Mania
Legend Entertainment are best know for the hard-as-nails flight title Pearl Harbor Trilogy yet the Swedes have taken a sharp left turn with their latest WiiWare offering, Ghost Mania. A paranormal puzzler that tasks players with ‘catching’ ghosts, Ghost Mania feature falling block gameplay and over 70 levels and four game modes. Players are tasked with quickly swapping colours that are set to fall in a set of blocks, while hoping to build up combos below by matching the colours wherever possible. While failure is sometimes more the cause of an unforgiving randomised block generator, Mania remains a diverting and colourful title and well worth the mere 500 point asking price.
Friday Releases 28/01/11
Isaac evidently needs a Panadol
Which year has the biggest January – 2010 with Bayonetta and Mass Effect 2 or 2011 with last week’s LittleBigPlanet 2 and Friday’s Dead Space 2? We won’t know for sure until this weekend but we’re all set for a mammoth weekend of all-nighters with EA’s series that has re-invented survival horror. Much like our experience with the original Dead Space in 2008, we plan to only play past 10pm, alone, with the curtains drawn and the volume turned up full blast through our headphones. We really couldn’t be anymore excited for Dead Space 2, especially since this Smashing Pumpkins-infused trailer really hit the interwebs.
Xbox 360
Breach (XBLA)
Dead Space 2
Playstation 3
Dead Space 2
Wii
Yogi Bear: The Videogame
Nintendo DS
Yogi Bear: The Videogame
PSP
None
PC
Dead Space 2
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