Videogame Releases: Week of November 3, 2013

Videogame Releases: Week of November 3rd, 2013

Even though Halloween may be over, the ghosts of ‘Call of Duty’ haunt gaming consoles new and old this week. On top of that, we also get a nice assortment of other videogame releases to enjoy.

Call of Duty: Ghosts (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)

It’s that time of year again. This year’s ‘Call of Duty’, called ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts‘, is perhaps the most promising since the first ‘Modern Warfare’. Among the highlights are the new apocalypse storyline, the playable ‘CoD’ dog, the return of the “lean” ability, dynamic multiplayer maps, cross-platform Clans, and an all-new squad-based multiplayer mode that creates A.I. soldiers based on player behavior that can then be battled online. Plus, the new “Extinction” mode looks like a worthy standalone game all its own.

The Guided Fate Paradox (PS3)

From NIS America comes ‘The Guided Fate Paradox‘, a fusion of the JRPG and roguelike genres with a zany premise, deep gameplay and a lengthy story. As a high school student who won the local shopping mall lottery, your job is to guide the fate of fabled characters like Cinderella to new destinies. This ultimately means descending into dungeons beset by creatures who don’t wish for those fabled characters’ fates to be changed. I simply cannot imagine a more apt antithesis to ‘Call of Duty’, and I love that the JRPG satire has made its way West. Check out the High-Def Digest Review.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Collection (360, PS3)

The ‘Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Collection‘ bundles a game that I frankly loathe (the very un-Castlevania ‘Lords of Shadow’) and its DLC with its much more promising HD remake ‘Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate HD’, as well as a demo for ‘Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2’. The whole package looks like a nice value, and it’s hard to deny the production value and tremendous voice talent combo of Robert Carlyle and Patrick Stewart.

https://youtu.be/14inmGMHkx4

CastleStorm (PSN – PS3 and Vita cross-buy)

Zen Studios brings its addictive take on tower defense with a huge splash of physics-based flinging to the PS3 and PS Vita as a cross-buy title. The game is already out for the 360 and PC, but it’s unlikely that any offer can beat this latest version of ‘CastleStorm‘. Check out the High-Def Digest Review.

5 comments

  1. New term added to my lexicon this week: “roguelike.” When Brian submitted this post, I thought that was a typo until I looked it up.

    So, here’s a question: Why would anyone buy Call of Duty: Ghosts on the current generation of consoles when the Xbox One and PS4 are right around the corner? I think I read somewhere that the game will run at 1080p on those consoles, but only 720p on the PS3 and 360.

    • More like 720p on the Xbox One and 1080p and the PS4, but both at 60fps. (I’ve got all 40GBs of the PC version, but plan to check out the other versions)

      http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Infinity_Ward/Xbox_One/Activision/Call_of_Duty/Infinity_Ward_Executive_Producer_Confirms_Call_of_Duty_Ghosts_PS4Xbox_One_Resolution_Discrepancy/12981

      But ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ is one of a handful of titles that is being offered with an upgrade path. Essentially buy the the PS3 or 360 version and upgrade to the next-gen version for $10, plus carry over all multiplayer stats/progress.

      All PS3 versions can be upgraded to digital PS4 versions if done before the end of May.

      The upgrade offer is a little more complicated on Xbox side depending on retailer, but you can even buy a digital 360/Xbox One version from MS for $70.

      Not only will a bazillion matches happen between now and the PS4 and Xbox One releases, but people want to play online with their friends and the last-gen community is going to be much larger for the time being. Since these games don’t drop in price really and stay ultra popular for 1-2 years, having both versions is a good deal.

    • If I get it, I will get it for the PC – I HATE FPS on consoles.

      I am not getting any of the next-gen consoles.

      BTW, my first impression when the COD trailer started was “Wow, they sure turned Gravity into a video game really quickly”

  2. JM

    ‘Call Of Duty: Ghosts’ will sell 24 million copies by march, whereas there will only be 10 million next-gen systems by then, and I’m guessing most early adopters don’t play ‘Call Of Duty.’ Maybe only 4M next-gen sales.

    ‘CastleStorm’ I might PS+, but I’m finding that I only like 2% of indies.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *