Upcoming releases

It’s a bit of a slow time for gaming, so let’s take a look at whats coming out in the next few months that catches my eye (and potentially buy).

Batman: Arkham Asylum
It wasn’t about a week ago until this game popped up onto my radar, after watching the video from GDC of Batman taking on the challenge room. The game is touted as a ‘predator’ game, because apparently using the word stealth implies some kind of weakness. In the video Batman takes out an entire room of 6 or so badguys by setting explosive traps, hiding, hit batarang and swinging around from the ceiling. All this of course without being spotted.

After watching this video, the game has gone from unknown to highly anticipated. Finally a superhero game that doesn’t suck? But there are a few things that could go wrong. More after jump.

Is the gameplay varied enough? Assassins Creed had this problem, the game looked awesome from the preview videos, but in the end the game got a bit too repetitive. Not to mention that at the end the original concept of assassination was forgotten and there was just way too much fighting. Does Batman have enough gimmicks and ways to take care of his opponents? After all, 8 hours of grapple then hiding would get kinda boring. Can the developers nail the balance between action, stealth while keeping the gameplay interesting?

There will also apparently be investigation segments where Batman will have to use his gadgets to solve puzzles, but there’s been no footage of that yet.

X-men Origins: Wolverine
Another superhero game? Made from the same guys who did Marvel Ultimate Alliance, these guys are already trying to ward off the “movie to game” syndrome by claiming that they’ve already had this in development way before the movie was announced. One of the features they’ve announced is how the Wolverine model takes damage and how it visibly heals. Haven’t heard or seen much else about this game, but Kotaku have given it a favourable opinion so far. Hopefully it delivers a fun experience like God of War.

Velvet Assassin
Another stealth game, more akin to Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid. The game looks promising so far. Hopefully the emphasis is on stealth and the game doesn’t turn into a shooter fest halfway through. The challenge for the developer will be how they differentiate this game from MGS.

Tales of Vesperia
1. I am a sucker for JRPGs.
2. Any RPG which I can play co-op with the missus gets a plus
3. Judging from reviews I can look forward to this game.

RPG localization takes too damn long especially in PAL regions because they’ve got to translate to French, German etc. Reminds me of the Dreamcast days when you have to wait 5 months for a new release to come out in PAL countries.