Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! If you own a console … or a DS … or a PSP … prepare to be exhausted this week, as we are really starting to gear up towards the fall with some bigger releases, this week getting the hotly anticipated Batman: Arkham Asylum from developer RockSteady on the PS3 & XBOX360. The reviews so fair are nothing short of stellar, with some already declaring this a clear entry in the race for ‘Game of the Year’ for 2009!
Two other biggies this week. The first, Dissidia: Final Fantasy for the PSP, would command top-line status any other week. The demo was strong and fun, and I personally can’t wait for my pre-order to arrive from Amazon! The other is a sequel to a lesser known game that came out of nowhere last year to be one of the better puzzle games in recent years – Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is certain to keep DS gamers busy for hours with his clever and tricky mind-teasers and engaging style!
Other than that, there are a few cool new releases, such as the next entry in the Warriors Orochi fighting game franchise for the PSP. Raven Squad is listed once again … it will be interesting to see how long this plays out. And finally, there are a load of Harvest Moon games coming out, but sadly that franchise has been turned from a charming farm simulator to yet another series of mediocre shovelware, so my expectations are low! Anyway, check out the list!
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger
- NBA 2K10: Draft Combine
- Fallout 3 Game Add-On Pack: Broken Steel and Point Lookout
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Wizards of Waverly Place
- Harvest Moon: Magical Melody
- Reel Fishing: Angler’s Dream
- Cursed Mountain
- Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy
- Dissidia: Final Fantasy
- Warriors Orochi 2
- Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
- Wizards of Waverly Place
- Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming
- Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger
- Time of Shadows
- CrimeCraft
- Fallout 3 Game Add-On Pack: Broken Steel and Point Lookout
Some notes from last week:
- Wolfenstein
- Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay
- Spectrobes: Origins
- The reviews in general are pretty solid, praising many of the cool features, but criticizing many hold-overs that could have been updated.
- The first episode was great (review coming soon!) and the second one is every bit as good!
- This Pokemon-alike has gotten solid reviews in the jump from DS to Wii, and remains a cool way to share some fun with your kids!
What games am I playing now?:
- PC: Wolfenstein – I have been a Wolfenstein fan since I bought Castle Wolfenstein for my Apple ][+ back in 1981, so I admit to bias. This is clearly a console shooter, but the PC game is still fun, but going by too quickly.
- PC: Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay – each of these episodes is only a few hours long, but they are a joy to experience! I’m well into this one, and already feeling like I will soon be missing these great characters.
- PC: Jedi Knight II – I’m close to the end, and I was concerned how the jungles of Yavin would play on my Lenovo s10 since they brought my ($4000 at the time) Dell Inspiron 8100 to its knees when it was released. So far so good … !
- PC: Return to Castle Wolfenstein – OK, so I’d be done with JKII if I didn’t need to take a trip back to this 2001 classic.
- Mac & PC: Neverwinter Nights – Just like JKII, I’m going back to 2002 to replay some of this classic and all of the expansions. I’m playing the ‘Official Campaign’ on the Mac and the first expansion ‘Shadows of Undrentide’ on the netbook.
- Mac: “unnamed beta” – My time-sink beta continues at a crazy pace and is an amazing game I can’t wait to see finished!
- iPhone: Wolfenstein RPG – yeah, I’m on a Wolfenstein kick.
So what are you playing? Chime in below!
Enjoy gaming!
