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Call of Duty: Black Ops II. That's basically all you need to know about this week. The only games brave enough to go toe-to-toe with the yearly sales juggernaut are a couple of MMOs and titles like The Sims and LEGO Lord of the Rings, which likely don't have the same playerbase as the military shooter. Your wallet shouldn't face any tough decisions this week as your stance on these franchises is probably well-established at this point.
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This week's crop of new releases is looking incredibly thin, probably due to the fact that the rest of the world will be playing Halo 4 on Tuesday. Consequently, it might be a good opportunity to play through a couple of games from your backlog.
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This week's post comes a day late courtesy of the "Frankenstorm" that took a dump on the East Coast yesterday. Hopefully you've still got power, dear reader, as PC gaming tends to rely heavily on access to electricity.
While the console world is busy enjoying Assassin's Creed 3 this week, we're stuck waiting another 3 weeks for the PC release. Thankfully we've got some other decent-looking titles to distract us until then.
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This week is sort of an unofficial beginning to the holiday release season. We'll see another AAA title (most of them sequels) just about every week from now until Christmas. Need For Speed, Medal of Honor, Assassin's Creed, Hitman, Far Cry - they're all on the way.
Better fasten your seatbelts, 'cuz it's going to be a wild ride from here on out.
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The third week of October looks pretty quiet, being mainly comprised of re-releases, new-to-PC console re-releases, and indie titles. Think of it as the calm before the storm: from here on out we've got a major AAA title releasing just about every week until Christmas.
At first glance Rocksmith looks like another Guitar Hero clone, but you'd be wrong for assuming so. Ubisoft's take on the genre lets you use an actual guitar, meaning the game is part entertainment and part teaching tool. I can see this being a lot more useful and fun than pushing colored buttons on a plastic peripheral.
Rocksmith has been out for a year on the X360 and PS3, and we're only now seeing a PC release. Both Gamespot and IGN gave the game an 8.0 out of 10, and in both cases the "user scores" at each site (as well as on Metacritic) were higher than the scores given by critics.
One caveat: Rocksmith will be available on Steam for $50, but that doesn't include any of the peripherals required to hook your guitar up to your PC. Amazon's listing includes the game and the 1/4"-to-USB cable for $80. Obviously you'll need a guitar as well, meaning this could be an expensive investment. Better hit up Craigslist.
From the website: "You are the once-trusted bodyguard of the Empress. Framed for her murder and driven by revenge, you must become an infamous assassin, known only by the disturbing mask that has become your calling card."
Dishonored is a first-person action/stealth hybrid set in the bleak, industrial city of Dunwall. The player seeks to uncover the truth behind his betrayal by carrying out several assassination missions. That sounds kind of Assassin's Creed-ish on the surface, but you can approach each mission from multiple angles. Apparently it's possible to complete the game without killing anyone, so it seems like there could be a lot of replay value here. In addition, Dishonored's gameplay includes supernatural elements that range from teleportation to possession of other people and animals.
Even though the game releases tomorrow, there are a bunch of reviews floating around already (Joystiq, Polygon). Looks pretty solid.
If you're balking at the idea of paying $60 for this one, don't worry. According to reddit, GreenManGaming's 25% off code works for pre-orders of Dishonored, and it should continue to work through Friday. Pick up the game here, and apply promo code GMG25-EVFWS-4Z4ZN to bring the price down to $45.
The first week of October looks a little uneventful in comparison to what we've seen recently. September ended with a bang with Borderlands 2, Torchlight II, and Mists of Pandaria being released during the last fortnight, three highly-anticipated titles that bring a ton of content to the table. While the end of October promises to be exciting as the pre-holiday release season starts to ramp up, your wallet might be able to take it easy during the next couple of weeks.
Some of this week's releases include warriors, wrathful rabbits, and an RTS compilation. We'll also get to play with wizards and magic, either as sorcerers in a dungeon crawler or as the Wizards and Magic of the NBA.
War of the Roses is a third-person action game set in 15th century England. More specifically, the game takes place during - you guessed it - the War of the Roses, a real-life struggle for the throne of England which took place from 1455 to 1485. You'll get to participate in 64-player online battles as an armor-clad warrior on the front lines.
The guys behind War of the Roses apparently want to emphasize the fact that player skill is the driving force behind success in the game. Case in point, the trailer below ends with the narrator saying "Skill rules the battle." Just to make sure everyone is on the same page, clarifying text appears below the game's logo stating that "Skill is Not an Unlock."
I've seen this game pop up a few times but I honestly haven't heard all that much about it. Judging by the trailer, some of the animations look a little stiff and clunky. I might skip this one unless the reviews are glowing or the price is right. There's actually another medieval combat game coming this month, so it might be worth waiting a couple of weeks before making a decision one way or another.
This week features soccer, shooting, Sherlock, pandas, and planetary warfare.
A small, unproven franchise from an upstart indie company, Blizzard's Mists of Pandaria might be this year's biggest surprise.
This one shouldn't have crept up on anyone since they've been airing commercials everywhere for weeks. The WoW website has a comprehensive list of changes and updates here, and I previously reviewed the 5.0.4 patch and gave a preview of the expansion a couple of weeks ago.
MoP goes live tonight at 12am PST/3am EST. I wonder how many students and employees will be missing in action tomorrow?
The other day I had the idea to start a regular column that highlights PC game releases each week. I'll be working mostly from the IGN and Gamespy release date listings and Steam's "Coming Soon" tab on the Store page. This won't be a comprehensive list--you could probably spend all week scouring the 'net for small indie releases and foreign imports--but I'll try to cover most of the major stuff.
This week gives us new installments from several popular franchises. The games feature loot-mongering action in addition to planes, trains, and automobiles.
Gearbox releases the sequel to 2009's Borderlands on Tuesday. The game is a mash-up of a bunch of different genres: the combat of an FPS, the questing and character advancement of an RPG, and the randomly-generated loot of a Diablo-esque action game. Borderlands 2 supports four-player co-op gameplay, and from what I've heard this is where the first game really excelled. The game includes four new player characters and promises improved AI and weapon customization.
