Videogame Releases: Week of February 2nd, 2014

See you in hell, January doldrums. February arrives with an eight-platform release, a free PS4 title, a thickening ‘Fables’ plot and more. Come check out this week’s packed slate of videogame releases.

The Lego Movie Videogame (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, Wii U, Vita, 3DS, PC)

Those who know the ‘Lego’ videogame series are familiar with its trademark humor, which usually involves a lot of slapstick and parody. That was true before the games used any kind of voice acting, and it’s true now that they have loads of VO. The movie looks to be funny, and there’s every reason to believe that ‘The Lego Movie Videogame‘ will be another fun, family-friendly ‘Lego’ title.

Outlast (PS4)

Who says that the survival horror genre is dead? ‘Outlast‘ was a huge hit on the PC last fall. The game comes to the PS4 with all the heraldry of the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection. You play as a journalist who finds more than he bargained for at Mount Massive Asylum.

The Wolf Among Us: Smoke and Mirrors (360, PS3, PC, Mac, iOS)

In the first episode of ‘The Wolf Among Us’, called ‘Faith‘, all the pieces of a kick-ass noir story (full of darker versions of fairy tale characters) were assembled, setting the stage for what will hopefully be a deep, riveting adventure game story. That means that expectations for the next episode, ‘Smoke & Mirrors‘, are critically high. Here’s hoping that Bigby can bring the noise.

Bravely Default (3DS)

Published by Nintendo, ‘Bravely Default‘ supposedly embodies the best spirit of ‘Final Fantasy’, without the mess of that franchise’s last fifteen years. Legend has it that when the folks at Square Enix realized they had a good game on their hands, they pulled the ‘Final Fantaszy’ name off it, but left in place the names, crystals and other tropes of the series. This should be a must-own for turn-based RPG fans – provided they have a 3DS.

Fable Anniversary (360)

Though the original ‘Fable’ may have been marred by some overzealous hype prior to release, the game has huge fan base. With retouched visual and audio assets, new achievements, ‘The Lost Chapters’ content and Xbox SmartGlass support, ‘Fable Anniversary‘ is a lot more than a simple up-res.

https://youtu.be/EnOKkQSNjW8

Dustforce (XBLA for 360, PSN for PS3 & PS Vita)

Released on the PC two years ago, ‘Dustforce‘ is poised to be a massive success on consoles. The game has the exact kind of slick precession that its forebears ‘N’ and ‘N+’ demanded, but in a more interesting environment.

4 comments

  1. T.J. Kats

    Lego game is probably fun. My kids are still hooked on the Marvel one. I on the other hand can’t wait to play episode 2 of Wolf Amung Us once they go to bed tonight.

  2. William Henley

    POSSIBLE Fable Anniversary for me. I had it preordered, but had to cancel – I had a fire, I haven’t replaced everything yet, and still waiting to see what gets salvaged. If my XBox is salvagable, I will pick it up. If it cannot be salvaged, I am unsure if I will get another game console – may stick to PC gaming as I just do not game that much any more.

    I haven’t seen a Lego game yet that I haven’t liked. However, I like the way they parody movies the best, and not sure how the humor will translate to a game based on a movie about Legos. But as there is a PC release, I may go ahead and pick it up.

    • That’s really terrible about the fire. I have to wonder if ‘Fable Anniversary’ will come to the Xbox One or even GASP, the PC.

      Lego City Undercover was funny without being a specific licensed game. It still poked fun at all kinds of cops and robbers and Shawshank stuff.

      • William Henley

        Yeah, I would play Fable, but one game is not really enough to rebuy a 360. My gaming on consoles has gone down to maybe a few hours a month before the fire. Since the fire, I picked up a used Wii like a month ago, and finally got it hooked up last night (Partly because I had to debate on how I was going to hook up analogue video signals to the new television / receiver – took some planing).

        So, if my electronics are still salvagable, I will clean up my XBox and PS3 and pick up this game (and I think they are rereleasing Skies of Arcadia or something again here at the end of the month). If my electronics are not salvagable, I don’t see spending teh money right now on the last gen game consoles (the Wii was only $60, so that was justifiable), and the new gen are not backwards compatable. So that was pretty much the nail in the coffin as far as I was concerned with console gaming.

        The funny thing is, I used to LOVE RPGs and Adventure games, but now I like games that I can pick up for about 15-30 minutes. I had gotten quite far in Windwaker before the fire thanks to Dolphin and save-states. The ironic thing is that my save-states should have been backed up on Carbonite. I bet that I can probably reinstall Dolphin and get back to playing Windwaker.

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