Weekly quick hits of video game releases for the week of March 5, 2014. Tune in each week for your new releases!
Awesomenauts Assemble! (PS4) – March 4
The year is 3587. Conflict spans the stars as huge robot armies are locked in an enduring stalemate. In their bid for galactic supremacy, they call upon the most powerful group of mercenaries in the universe: the Awesomenauts!
Awesomenauts is a 3-on-3 action platformer capable of online or split screen play. Players can customize each character with attacks, skills, and choose from hundreds of items to use. The surprise of an 80’s arcade art style with a split-screen system makes Awesomenauts a refreshing break from most games in development today.
Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition (PS4) – March 4
Re-release of the PS3 title Dead Nation and the following DLC package Road of Devastation. For those that missed the original, myself included, Dead Nation is a top-down shoot ‘em up developed by Finnish studio Housemarque. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic world, the player creates a character to fight various types of zombies.
The PS4 edition brings full HD (1080p) support, improved controls, a new game mode, and an intriguing live-stream option. This option, if enabled, allows an audience to vote to directly affect the difficulty of the game in real-time.
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F (PS3, Vita) – March 4
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F is a Japanese rhythm game originally released in 2012 by Sega. The game is the fifth entry in the Hatsune Miku: Project Diva series. The set list consists of 44 different songs and was widely popular upon release in Japan. PlayStation LifeStyle’s import review was very favorable, calling the main portion of the rhythm game “as solid as they come”.
Master Reboot (PS3) – March 4
Master Reboot is a psychological horror game from Wales Interactive that initially launched last October on Steam. Players explore the Sul Cloud, a server that stores people’s souls and memories after death, to figure out how they died and who they were. David Banner, managing director at Wales Interactive, stated, “Master Reboot will not only present a new vision of life after death, but also bring fear and disturbing imagery into its digital world.”
Originally slated for a February PS3 release, the delay was announced with no explanation. When paired with its lukewarm Steam reception, the unexplained delay makes Master Reboot a title to approach cautiously. If done well, it could present a unique title in the horror genre.
South Park: The Stick of Truth (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) – March 4
Worthy of a post of its own, South Park: The Stick of Truth has finally launched. Developed by Ubisoft, this RPG is set in the South Park universe. Players control a character, dubbed ‘Sir Douchebag’ by the esteemed Mr. Cartman, and choose one of four classes (Fighter, Mage, Thief, Jew) and can equip a variety of weapons and armor to battle foes in the standard RPG style.
The greatest powers are either special abilities (such as Roshambo, the Rock, Paper, Scissors duel that ends with a kick to the groin) or the power emanating from the characters rear. Being a ‘Dragonborn’ (paging Mr. Bachmann to the comments) the player character can attack foes using a variety of weaponized farts. The writing is exactly what one would expect from a South Park episode and the game feels like being embedded in an extended South Park film.
The Walking Dead Season 2, Episode 2 (PS3, PC, Xbox 360, iOS) – March 4
Eagerly anticipated by none other than our very own Tim Lanning, The Walking Dead: Season Two is an ongoing second set of episodes for Telltale Games’ award-winning The Walking Dead. Choices made in Season 1 and the 400 Days DLC will affect decisions available in Season 2.
The second episode, titled “A House Divided,” is launching this week for a variety of platforms. Episode 1, “All That Remains,” launched December 2013 and Episode 3, “In Harm’s Way,” is set to launch Q2 this year. Nick Breckon returns as a writer from Episode 1.