Videogame Releases: Week of October 2nd, 2011

October starts off strong with a couple of solid videogame releases, including the spiritual successor to the cult hit ‘Demon’s Souls’ and the latest creation from id Software.

Rage (360, PC, PS3)

The folks at id Software take us into a post apocalyptic future, as so many others are wont to do. The publisher, Bethesda, is no stranger to the setting, and the look of ‘Rage’ will be familiar to ‘Fallout’ fans. In fact, the game seems like a mash-up between ‘Fallout’ and ‘Borderlands’, but that’s not a bad thing.

id Software is well known for games with strong mechanics like ‘Doom’ and ‘Quake’ – games that may not have a lot of story, but play better than anything else out there. The big talking point for ‘Rage’ is vehicular combat that isn’t awful. That’s a big promise, but if anyone can do it, id can.

Dark Souls (360, PS3)

From Software (that’s right, the company is named From Software) has had a pretty successful run on the PS3. In 2010, the developer had a sleeper hit in the SNES-inspired ‘3D Dot Game Heroes’, and in 2009 it released a cult classic called ‘Demon’s Souls’.

‘Dark Souls’ is the follow-up to the latter, and promises some interesting changes over the previous title. For starters, you won’t have to restart a level if you die. Instead, you can light bonfires that restore your health and a few items to boot. Don’t worry about the game getting too easy, though. From says that the game will be significantly harder than ‘Demon’s Souls’, which was praised for its difficulty.

NBA 2K12 (360, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii)

You know, a lot of hardcore gamers don’t give sports games enough credit. Sure, they’re iterative and they don’t exactly do much to advance the medium, but there’s something to be said for the continued support for the PS2. Other genres don’t do that, but a lot of sports games do.

‘NBA 2K12’ takes from the previous game and gives you some more freedom. The mode where you could play out Michael Jordan’s career now allows you to take over as any player. “My Player” mode has been improved as well, and allows you to get through a season without making it a slog.

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