January 7 – January 11

Section: 

I am swiftly closing in on finishing my 3rd consecutive game as I round the clubhouse turn on XCOM's single player campaign. This is probably less a reflection of some new found gaming focus and commitment on my end and more a reflection of how few games are coming out right now. I am, however, happy that I'm not doing what I've done the past couple of years during these down times and turning to World of WarCraft, not because I now begrudge WoW -- I don't -- but just because it's nice to be investing in a little diversity this year.

I'll return to WoW for another round soon enough. I have no doubt on that note.

This week continues the most recent quiet trend for gaming, and for the most part that's likely to be the larger story of January. However, this week does bring some potential with it. Anarchy Reigns for the 360 and PS3 comes to us from PlatinumGames, the makers of the under-appreciated Bayonetta and Vanquish, and seems like the kind of game that those in the know will ultimately be heartbroken to discover that no one else played. A frenetic, online beat 'em up with the kind of bombast and violence you might expect from the company responsible for 2009's stylish MadWorld, Anarchy Reigns will if nothing else almost certainly have its own unique, distinct flavor.

Whether it'll be something for a larger audience remains to be seen, but at a time where almost nothing else is coming out, maybe Anarchy Reigns can make a name for itself. It is our Game of the Week, after all, and if that's not a king maker I don't know what is.

PC
- Dawnstar (download)
- Fieldrunners 2 (download)

Xbox 360
- Anarchy Reigns

PS3
- Anarchy Reigns
- Dance Magic (PSN)

Vita
- Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable (PSN)

DS
- Biorhythm (DSiWare)

Comments

It's 2013! Why isn't Anarchy Reigns available as day-1 digital?

I'll probably give Anarchy Reigns a try in the future, though I'm still uncertain what sort of game it is. Just a 3D fighting game? Or is it a game similar-ish to MadWorld? I know it has characters from MadWorld (which is also under-appreciated by the way) but not much more than that.

Either way, it is probably going to be a "wait until it costs less", which could also mean "I'll probably never get around to it".

It's about thirty dollars. It's a multiplayer brawler. It sounds fun from listening to red sun gamer. I love plantimum but it will probably die soon with no community.

psoplayer wrote:

It's 2013! Why isn't Anarchy Reigns available as day-1 digital? :?

That would give too much order to the release schedule.

Also, glad TWA is back after the break last week, even if it would have just been Sean saying there's nothing new.

JohnKillo wrote:

It's about thirty dollars. It's a multiplayer brawler. It sounds fun from listening to red sun gamer. I love plantimum but it will probably die soon with no community.

$30? May be something worth grabbing once I've moved then. At the moment multiplayer games are kind of pointless for me.

EDF on Vita is out tomorrow?!? Yes!

What kind of game is EDF? I'm considering it even without knowing too much about it.

kazriko wrote:

What kind of game is EDF? I'm considering it even without knowing too much about it.

EDF is a crazy stupid game about shooting a ton of giant bugs.

Hah. It does look like an entertaining distraction at least. Of course, the graphics look like they could be done on a PSP. I suppose I should support it though, Vita needs more developers to bring silly things over like this.

And it wouldn't be the worst shooter on the system. (It'd be really, really hard to do that.)

BTW, Demon's Souls is also being re-released this week on PSN.

Nice to see the Madworld cast returning, although sadly without the commentators.

However, if Anarchy becomes a sales success, I'll eat my hat.

kazriko wrote:

Hah. It does look like an entertaining distraction at least. Of course, the graphics look like they could be done on a PSP. I suppose I should support it though, Vita needs more developers to bring silly things over like this.

And it wouldn't be the worst shooter on the system. (It'd be really, really hard to do that.)

The game was ugly as hell on the 360 and it was released near launch, so it would've made for an ugly PS2 game even. I think it has to do with the amount of enemies that are on screen.

kazriko wrote:

And it wouldn't be the worst shooter on the system. (It'd be really, really hard to do that.)

I dunno. I don't think the Black Ops: Declassified developers tried THAT hard.

Since somebody has to disagree with the Game of The Week pick, I say EDF was robbed!
(Currently thinking really hard about dl'ing it, it really depends on how much I have in my psn wallet and how much the game costs-both unknowns at the moment).

Hmm. EDF is $40. I was expecting something in the $15-20 range... It looks interesting, but I'll wait for the discount on it. I already have mountains of games to play on the Vita.