This entry is part 5 of 23 in the series GearGames Weekly

GearGames Weekly

Copy of Secrets_of_monkey_island

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! If you are not a long-time computer/video game follower you might think this is a rerun … didn’t I talk about Monkey Island LAST week? You’re not wrong – last week I highlighted TellTale Games’ new addition to the franchise ‘Tales of Monkey Island‘, whereas this week we see a ‘Special Edition’ release of the original ‘Secrets of Monkey Island‘ from LucasArts. They claim to have completely updated the game with voiceovers, a new interface and full HD visuals. We shall see soon enough!

The other big release is the multi-platform NCAA Football 10, which begins the narch towards next month’s Madden release which in turn gets us ready for the actual football season. Sort of like seeing ‘Back to School’ stuff in stores before the kids even started their summer vacation, but anyway. Cool title award goes to Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This?, a PSP game that had a fun demo and is the latest game to get the ‘PSN download-only’ treatment. The rest is pretty much filler, as I have not heard good things about the Wii/DS Sherlock Holmes game releasing this week, so you might want to look for reviews if you are interested in that one. Anyway, check out the list!

360

  • NCAA Football 10
  • Madballs in Babo: Invasion

ps3

  • NCAA Football 10

wii

  • Birthday Party Bash
  • Ant Nation
  • Science Papa
  • Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy

ps2

  • NCAA Football 10

psp

  • NCAA Football 10
  • Unbound Saga
  • Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This?

ds

  • Science Papa
  • Fritz Chess
  • Fifi and the Flowertots
  • Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy

pc

  • The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
  • Officers
  • WarpForce
  • Nancy Drew: The Ransom of the Seven Ships

Some notes from last week:

  • Battlefield 1943 (X360, PS3)

    • - Solid shooter and a great value. A return to the roots of Battlefield 1942 (though not for the original PC platform), this is a stripped down release that offers loads of fun at a budget price.

  • The Bigs 2 (X360, PS3)

    • - In terms of quality it is just like the original – good but flawed and unspectacular. Whether or not it becomes a hit remains to be seen – but there is not much original pulling for this one.

  • Trine (PC, PSN not released yet)

    • - This interesting side-scrolling fantasy platformer is getting solid reviews, though the PSN release has been delayed by Sony to some unknown later date. At $30 not a ‘must buy’, but worth checking out!

  • Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal (PC, Wii)

    • - Telltale has done it again … capturing the fun and humor of the original in a thoroughly modern implementation. LucasArts has their work cut out for them matching this one! Note that this is ‘chapter one’ of a 5-part episodic release that will come out over the next several months.

What I’m Currently Playing:
I was on vacation last week so I read a bunch but didn’t do much gaming … here is what I DID play!

  • PC: (Anno 1404) Dawn of Discovery -I know it is called ‘Dawn of Discovery’ here but in the rest of the world it is ‘Anno 1404′ as the Anno franchise carries weight there. Classic world-building strategy adventure game.
  • PC: Red Faction 1 & 2 – was pleased to find that these are both ‘netbook friendly’, but it is a reminder that the first one was only an average shooter with a gimmick (you could blow up parts of the world), whereas the second one is just lousy.
  • PC: Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines – one of my favorite sayings – there is never a bad time to replay a great game, and it is free to replay games as well!
  • PC: Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal – probably took me 4-5 hours to run through, with loads of laughs and plenty of great classic fun.
  • PC: Trine – solid game with plenty of fun, but I like their earlier ‘Shadowgrounds’ games better.
  • DS: (Anno 1404) Dawn of Discovery – the same basic game but with a very different presentation … much lighter and more friendly, but not as deep.

So what are you playing? Chime in below!

Enjoy gaming!

Related posts:

  1. GearGames: July 19 – 25
  2. GearGames Weekly: July 26 – August 1
  3. GearGames: July 5 – 11
  4. GearGames: June 28 – July 4th
  5. GearGames Weekly: August 16 – 22