We are almost to the ridiculous holiday gaming season. As for now, we have some fun distractions to keep us at bay until the craziness of amazing releases roll around. Check out some more of the "Best Upcoming Games of 2011" below that I think are worth your time and money. Don't worry PS3, we have some exclusives for you just around the bend. (Continued from our ongoing list of the Best Upcoming Games of 2011 series.)
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Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - XBLA, PC
Genre: Shooter / Metroidvania
Publisher: Fuelcell Games
Developer: Fuelcell Games
Release Date: August 3
The Summer of Arcade via XBLA kicked off with Bastion this week and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet will be sweeping your Xbox 360 and PC shortly. And what is this game exactly about you might ask? It's a side scrolling shooter that pits you in a flying saucer, hovering and adventuring through planets with beautifully silhouetted martian landscapes and even more "martian" inhabitants. You have an assorted variety of weapons at your disposal, huge bosses to defeat, puzzles to solve and plenty to explore a la Metroidvania-esque design. Did I mention the color and animations look exquisite and the music is grandiose? This upcoming game is MARVELOUSLY DELICIOUS LOOKING!
Publisher: Fuelcell Games
Developer: Fuelcell Games
Release Date: August 3
The Summer of Arcade via XBLA kicked off with Bastion this week and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet will be sweeping your Xbox 360 and PC shortly. And what is this game exactly about you might ask? It's a side scrolling shooter that pits you in a flying saucer, hovering and adventuring through planets with beautifully silhouetted martian landscapes and even more "martian" inhabitants. You have an assorted variety of weapons at your disposal, huge bosses to defeat, puzzles to solve and plenty to explore a la Metroidvania-esque design. Did I mention the color and animations look exquisite and the music is grandiose? This upcoming game is MARVELOUSLY DELICIOUS LOOKING!
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Torchlight 2 - PC, Mac
Genre: Action RPG
Publisher: Runic Games
Developer: Runic Games
Release: Rumored July 2011 for PC / TBD for Mac
I loved Torchlight. It itches that fix of obsessive compulsive loot hoarding while keeping things fresh with randomized dungeons and detailed talent trees to customize all whilst looking bright and beautiful. Just a super fun game. I only really had one problem: the lack of multiplayer. This time around, Runic has added drop-in-and-out multiplayer, allowing for you to take or search for a buddy, join in for some hackin' and slashin' and continue on your merry way with what ever loot and experience you picked up. Wow, that sounds amazing, doesn't it Dungeon Siege III? With four new classes, plenty of new skills and loot, updated weather and world effects, this is a must have for me. The Mac version street date (or should I say Steam date) is currently being determined. There is also talk of a port to Xbox 360 and maybe even a mobile version. That would be cool.
Publisher: Runic Games
Developer: Runic Games
Release: Rumored July 2011 for PC / TBD for Mac
I loved Torchlight. It itches that fix of obsessive compulsive loot hoarding while keeping things fresh with randomized dungeons and detailed talent trees to customize all whilst looking bright and beautiful. Just a super fun game. I only really had one problem: the lack of multiplayer. This time around, Runic has added drop-in-and-out multiplayer, allowing for you to take or search for a buddy, join in for some hackin' and slashin' and continue on your merry way with what ever loot and experience you picked up. Wow, that sounds amazing, doesn't it Dungeon Siege III? With four new classes, plenty of new skills and loot, updated weather and world effects, this is a must have for me. The Mac version street date (or should I say Steam date) is currently being determined. There is also talk of a port to Xbox 360 and maybe even a mobile version. That would be cool.
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BloodRayne: Betrayal - XBLA, PSN
Genre: Side-scrolling Action Adventure
Publisher: Majesco
Developer: Way Forward Technologies
Release: August 31
Vampires, blood, blades and one kick-ass vixen named Rayne. Having played both BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2 and loving them, I have to admit, I was pretty stoked to hear about a new game from this franchise! Our favorite red-headed dhampir returns with her twin arm blades, deadlier than ever, yet with a slightly different approach. Still staying in the action category, Majesco has decided to change up the scene by making this entry a 2-D, hand-drawn, side-scrolling adventure action game. And when I say hand-drawn, I mean painstakingly. An approximate 4,000 frames are given to Rayne alone, crisply and beautifully rendering on your HD TV in all her glory. The game has a very anime / manga artistic direction. It looks kind of like the newer Castlevanias as far as the level layouts. Combat looks super fluid and over-the-top as Rayne gracefully arches her body into a sweet dismount after decapitating a foe. She has use of a gun too, which you can pull out at whim to blast a freshly stabbed baddie. I am interested to see what the implementation of customizing combos and skills will do to the gameplay. Hopefully the depth is there for expanse and re playability. I am not too concerned, because there is a big emphasis on points based off of skill, so we should be seeing some fun ways to dispose of our enemies in the midst of presenting a challenge. In the meantime, we are promised mega boss battles and a solid story, so coupled with the aforementioned features, it's going to be a bloody good time. After following this series with much attachment, a day one purchase only makes sense for me.
Publisher: Majesco
Developer: Way Forward Technologies
Release: August 31
Vampires, blood, blades and one kick-ass vixen named Rayne. Having played both BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2 and loving them, I have to admit, I was pretty stoked to hear about a new game from this franchise! Our favorite red-headed dhampir returns with her twin arm blades, deadlier than ever, yet with a slightly different approach. Still staying in the action category, Majesco has decided to change up the scene by making this entry a 2-D, hand-drawn, side-scrolling adventure action game. And when I say hand-drawn, I mean painstakingly. An approximate 4,000 frames are given to Rayne alone, crisply and beautifully rendering on your HD TV in all her glory. The game has a very anime / manga artistic direction. It looks kind of like the newer Castlevanias as far as the level layouts. Combat looks super fluid and over-the-top as Rayne gracefully arches her body into a sweet dismount after decapitating a foe. She has use of a gun too, which you can pull out at whim to blast a freshly stabbed baddie. I am interested to see what the implementation of customizing combos and skills will do to the gameplay. Hopefully the depth is there for expanse and re playability. I am not too concerned, because there is a big emphasis on points based off of skill, so we should be seeing some fun ways to dispose of our enemies in the midst of presenting a challenge. In the meantime, we are promised mega boss battles and a solid story, so coupled with the aforementioned features, it's going to be a bloody good time. After following this series with much attachment, a day one purchase only makes sense for me.
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Toy Soldiers: Cold War - XBLA
Genre: Shooter / Tower Defense
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Signal Studios
Release: August 17
Remember playing with your G.I.Joe's? Remember demolishing those cheap, plastic army men when dropping an imaginary fly-by napalm bomb from your stealth bomber? Remember making explosions with your mouth? I still do all of these things. Or at least, I'd like to. Last year's Toy Soldiers hit with great success and fulfilled our childhood toy wars to a great degree. It only gets better. There are some pretty nifty tweaks getting thrown into the mix and now the game takes place years ahead of the last, opening up some fresh new armies and their units. Blast enough of the opposing force and you could be rewarded with a Commando. This is where the camera shifts to third-person and gives you a bazooka in one hand and an assault rifle in the other to wreak utter havoc upon those who stand in your way. There's just nothing like watching those little plastic saps twist as they fall to the ground. Don't you strategy fans worry either, this is still a tower defense game, so managing your units and upgrading your defenses is supremely necessary. Also, there's a rewind feature to back up and counter mistakes made. Oh and need someone to play with? This game is loaded with online capabilities, co-op and split screen. It's going to be explosive, so check it!
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Signal Studios
Release: August 17
Remember playing with your G.I.Joe's? Remember demolishing those cheap, plastic army men when dropping an imaginary fly-by napalm bomb from your stealth bomber? Remember making explosions with your mouth? I still do all of these things. Or at least, I'd like to. Last year's Toy Soldiers hit with great success and fulfilled our childhood toy wars to a great degree. It only gets better. There are some pretty nifty tweaks getting thrown into the mix and now the game takes place years ahead of the last, opening up some fresh new armies and their units. Blast enough of the opposing force and you could be rewarded with a Commando. This is where the camera shifts to third-person and gives you a bazooka in one hand and an assault rifle in the other to wreak utter havoc upon those who stand in your way. There's just nothing like watching those little plastic saps twist as they fall to the ground. Don't you strategy fans worry either, this is still a tower defense game, so managing your units and upgrading your defenses is supremely necessary. Also, there's a rewind feature to back up and counter mistakes made. Oh and need someone to play with? This game is loaded with online capabilities, co-op and split screen. It's going to be explosive, so check it!
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The Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Genre: Action RPG
Publisher: Warner Brothers Interactive
Developer: Snowblind Studios
Release: August 24
The Lord of the Rings. What an awesome universe. However, when it comes to games, they have been pretty meh. At least in my opinion. I was a bit skeptical when first hearing of War in the North. You see, with such a large property such as LOTR, there seems to be certain limits that always seem to hamper the quality of the experience for me. A big limit is the art style. While being amazing as a whole, looking at War in the North, I felt a bit uninspired. It didn't really jump out at me. Much criticism took me further and I began to think about how limited your race choices are and then your skill tree choices, etc. All because you are confined within an already defined universe. Let me guess, you can only be an elf, dwarf and human? Bah. But then I watched the demo. My mind has changed. First, the graphics are brilliant. Everything is so detailed. Character models look surprisingly lovely. I love that this game is rated Mature too. Loads of blood and dismemberment of orcs? Check. Finishing moves? Check. This is Lord of the Rings, right? In watching the E3 demo, Snowblind promises tons of loot and reiterates that it is loot based. I love that idea. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that they come up with a plethora of armor and weapons. Even though the races are kinda ho-hum, the co-operative gameplay is definitely emphasized through the utilization of their diversified strengths for each problematic circumstance. And when the going gets too tough, call in Beleram, one of the Great Eagles to turn the tables. Notice I said co-op, because it completely supports online co-op. Now, it is limited to 3 players because of the amount of playable races. Nonetheless, it's in third person, so that is awesome! Full control of the camera instead of a fixed isometric mess? I'll take that any day! (Ahem, Dungeon Siege III.) Give the videos a look and I think you'll see why I changed my mind. Looking forward to this!
Publisher: Warner Brothers Interactive
Developer: Snowblind Studios
Release: August 24
The Lord of the Rings. What an awesome universe. However, when it comes to games, they have been pretty meh. At least in my opinion. I was a bit skeptical when first hearing of War in the North. You see, with such a large property such as LOTR, there seems to be certain limits that always seem to hamper the quality of the experience for me. A big limit is the art style. While being amazing as a whole, looking at War in the North, I felt a bit uninspired. It didn't really jump out at me. Much criticism took me further and I began to think about how limited your race choices are and then your skill tree choices, etc. All because you are confined within an already defined universe. Let me guess, you can only be an elf, dwarf and human? Bah. But then I watched the demo. My mind has changed. First, the graphics are brilliant. Everything is so detailed. Character models look surprisingly lovely. I love that this game is rated Mature too. Loads of blood and dismemberment of orcs? Check. Finishing moves? Check. This is Lord of the Rings, right? In watching the E3 demo, Snowblind promises tons of loot and reiterates that it is loot based. I love that idea. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that they come up with a plethora of armor and weapons. Even though the races are kinda ho-hum, the co-operative gameplay is definitely emphasized through the utilization of their diversified strengths for each problematic circumstance. And when the going gets too tough, call in Beleram, one of the Great Eagles to turn the tables. Notice I said co-op, because it completely supports online co-op. Now, it is limited to 3 players because of the amount of playable races. Nonetheless, it's in third person, so that is awesome! Full control of the camera instead of a fixed isometric mess? I'll take that any day! (Ahem, Dungeon Siege III.) Give the videos a look and I think you'll see why I changed my mind. Looking forward to this!
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By the way, here's what I'm currently playing through:
- Bastion - XBLA
- Dungeon Siege III - Xbox 360
- L.A. Noire - Xbox 360
- Trine - Xbox 360
- Mortal Kombat - Xbox 360
- Gears 2 - Xbox 360
