Videogame Releases: Week of October 14th, 2012

Videogame Releases: Week of October 14th, 2012

In the wake of last week’s deluge of videogames, this week brings us a legend involving that guy whose name you may know.

007 Legends (360, PS3)

Speak of the devil (or in this case, James Bond) and he will appear. ‘007 Legends‘ is brought to us by veteran Bond game developers Eurocom and Activision. With a focus on six of the James Bond films, the game puts players in the role of the (Daniel Craig-faced) James Bond as he goes through some legendary (or at least memorable) 007 moments across the eras. The five Bond films highlighted are ‘Licence to Kill’, ‘Moonraker’, ‘Die Another Day’, ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ and ‘Goldfinger’. Presumably the sixth is ‘Skyfall’. While I’m skeptical of the title in light of the history of Bond games, I must say as a Bond fan that the fan service is pretty appealing. Taking a series low moment like ‘Licence to Kill’ and making it look like fun gameplay is no easy task. A Wii U version is expected later this winter. A PC port may even possibly exist at some point.

Here are the opening credits:

Here’s the ‘Goldfinger’ reveal trailer:

And here’s the Gamescom 2012 Trailer:

Doom 3 BFG Edition (360, PS3, PC)

Mere moments after Bethesda impressed everyone with ‘Dishonored’ comes ‘Doom 3 BFG Edition‘. It has been eight years since ‘Doom 3’, the last ‘Doom’ title to make it to the public, was released, and I have a hard time talking about the game without comparing it to its superior contemporary, ‘Half-Life 2’. Likewise, ‘Doom 3’ was supposed to herald the ascension of idtech 4, an ambition later placed on ‘Rage’ for idtech 5, and now abandoned by Bethesda and id.

Back to this new release of an old game: ‘Doom 3 BFG’ includes ‘Doom 3’, the ‘Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil’ expansion, and some new content in the form of ‘The Lost Mission’. One nice feature is the inclusion of ‘Doom’ and ‘Doom 2’. One notable change made for this version of ‘Doom 3’ is the ability to use a gun and flashlight simultaneously. ‘Doom 3’ is well known for its dark corridors and monster closets, in part designed to illustrate the engine’s ability to handle light fall-off. The removal of the flashlight dynamic is undoubtedly a concession to a broader audience than the PC crowd of eight years ago.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories (PS Vita)

The release of ‘Silent Hill: Book of Memories’ gives me an excuse to point out how completely abysmal the new ‘Silent Hill’ movie looks. (I think it’s called ‘Silent Hill 3D Crapfest’.) An apparent spin-off of the main ‘Silent Hill’ series, ‘Book of Memories’ was developed by American studio Wayforward Technologies.

This ‘Silent Hill’ is actually meant to played in multiplayer. So, whenever the opportunity presents itself, you can host a play session with your PS Vita and your copy of the game, and wait as your three friends load up their PS Vitas and copies of the game to join you. Now, unless your life turns into that episode of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ where aliens tried to take over by making Wesley Crusher and everyone else play a readily available eye-worm headset game, I’m not sure that many of these ‘Silent Hill’ multiplayer sessions will sweep the States anytime soon.

https://youtu.be/nqb4-dOD6aY

Serious Sam 3: BFE (XBLA)

This ‘Serious Sam’ prequel came out on PC last year and was well received by fans. If you like shooters but would prefer a break from having to get in and out of cover, or just prefer a simple “Kill the bad creatures” story using old-school health packs, then be ready to like ‘Serious Sam 3: BFE’. I expect a PS3 version in a few months.

Zombie Driver HD (XBLA)

‘Zombie Driver’ was a big hit on PC years ago, and has been expanded into ‘Zombie Driver HD’ for the 360. The bird’s-eye vehicle view can give the player a fresh perspective on killing zombies. The expanded game now has giant bosses to fight as well. Again, a PS3 version has been rumored, but is not scheduled at the moment.

Alien Spidy (XBLA)

‘Alien Spidy’ is independently developed platformer that’s not specifically targeted at hardcore gamers. The player controls the title character, a spider-like alien who has crashed and is trying to find his friend and repair his spaceship. More importantly, he can swing on self-produced bits of spider web. As a platformer, the environments in this game hide almost as much as they reveal. Combine that element with the game’s style, and it seems nicely similar to the Wii title ‘Donkey King Country Returns’. I thought that this would be out on the PC or Vita first, but as it is , I look forward to seeing if the gameplay can live up to the title’s special platforming promise.

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