September 23 - September 29

Section: 

Closing in on October and November, it's time to start expecting longer and longer release lists, though, as is the case this week, of that volume there's a fairly limited number of releases to get genuinely excited about. Between titles like Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures and Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Rise of the Owlverlord we are clearly entering the time of year where anything and everything gets released.

This week's Game of the Week, however, is FIFA 14. FIFA is one of the best selling games for Electronic Arts. In May of this year, EA announced that FIFA 13 sold more than 14 million copies and generated around $350 million dollars for the year as a brand. Admittedly, Madden is still the king of EA, but FIFA has become more and more central to the company's fall release schedule.

Also this week, Rise of Venice is the latest from Kalypso Media, makers of the Port Royale series. A trading simulation game at its heart, Rise of Venice puts you into the world as a trader of common and exotic goods in the Renaissance Mediterranean. It's an interesting take on where the company has taken previous games, and the setting adds a lot of room for a more dynamic single-player story campaign. If I can ever manage to tear myself away from Europa Universalis IV, it's the game I'd be most likely to play this week.

PC
- Alien Rage (download)
- Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (download - $15)
- Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations (download)
- Day One: Garry's Incident (download - $20)
- Fall Weiss (download - $25)
- FIFA 14 (download)
- Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Rise of the Owlverlord (download - $5)
- Meadowland (download)
- Nihilumbra (download - $10)
- Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ (download - $10)
- Rise of Venice (download - $40)
- Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure
- Shadow Warrior (download - $40)
- TimeLines: Assault On America (download - $15)
- Train Simulator 2014 (download)

Xbox 360
- Alien Rage (XBLA)
- Armored Core: Verdict Day
- FIFA 14
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2014

PS3
- Alien Rage (PSN)
- Armored Core: Verdict Day
- FIFA 14
- Lone Survivor: Director's Cut (PSN)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2014
- The Mark of Kri (PS2 Classic)
- Tokobot Plus: Mysteries of the Karakuri (PS2 Classic)

Wii U
- Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure

Vita
- FIFA 14
- Lone Survivor: Director's Cut (PSN)

3DS
- Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi
- Mystery Murders: The Sleeping Palace (eShop)
- Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure

Comments

Whew - that's a whole lot o' nuthin for this week, then.

Unless Shadow Warrior turns out to be REALLY good and free of the rank Misogyny and crude humour of the origi...ahaha no. Can't finish that sentence with a straight face.

Has anyone played Nihilumbra on iOS? Is it an interesting puzzle game? It looks neat, but I'm curious to know how fun it is.

The only thing I might buy this week is Lone Survivor. A good thing, given that I'm still tied up in FFXIV.

Stories all over the net about FIFA 14 for 3DS being subtitled "Legacy Edition". Apparently it's the FIFA 13 game exactly, with roster updates. Still a full price 3DS game at $39.99 too. Also, only available in the eshop, no retail sales planned. So good luck finding it at a discounted price.

EA gonna EA...

I hope " Lone Survivor: Director's Cut" does well. The original on PC was damn good. Hopefully the new stuff comes to pc sometime as well.

DC Scribblenauts is going to be so hard to resist.

Huh. I thought EA had stopped releasing sports games on PC.

Nevin73 wrote:

Huh. I thought EA had stopped releasing sports games on PC.

FIFA has been the only one for several years.

Stele wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:

Huh. I thought EA had stopped releasing sports games on PC.

FIFA has been the only one for several years.

That's most likely due to PC being a more popular platform in Europe than in the US.

Assassin's Creed: Black Flag has got me interested in Port Royale 3—a game where I can actually be a pirate, and not an anachronistic Brooding Video Game Hero wrapped in bs sci-fi of a Bluetooth-earpiece-wearing douchewaffle. So that established: any opinions if, having not played Port Royale, jumping directly into the Pirate DLC of PR3 is tenable?

Train Simulator 2014 suckas!

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is really good, but just a bit too hard for its own good, imo. The final boss left me frothing at the mouth back in July and I just haven't been able to muster the willpower to go back for another beating.

Had no idea that an expansion was coming out.

That's a good theme wordsmythe, but this is the one that all of Europe remembers:

Gravey wrote:

Assassin's Creed [...] an anachronistic Brooding Video Game Hero wrapped in bs sci-fi of a Bluetooth-earpiece-wearing douchewaffle.

This is my new capsule review of every single AssCreed game, ever; past, present and future. You have distilled my heretofore-unspoken thoughts perfectly. Thank you sir.

Port Royale 3 comes with pirate/privateer-friendly Adventure Mode already in the base game. The Dawn of Pirates expansion is just an additional (piratey) campaign.

I still haven't found a game to top Sid Meier's Pirates (2004), though, which is criminal.

Archangel wrote:
Gravey wrote:

Assassin's Creed [...] an anachronistic Brooding Video Game Hero wrapped in bs sci-fi of a Bluetooth-earpiece-wearing douchewaffle.

This is my new capsule review of every single AssCreed game, ever; past, present and future. You have distilled my heretofore-unspoken thoughts perfectly. Thank you sir.

Port Royale 3 comes with pirate/privateer-friendly Adventure Mode already in the base game. Dawn of Pirates is just an additional (piratey) campaign.

I still haven't found a game to top Sid Meier's Pirates (2005), though.

Thank you kindly for, in order, the compliment, the answer, and the additional information ($10 on XBLM, $5 on iOS).

Wow, nothing at all. I mean, I already own Mark of Kri on PS2, so there's really nothing to see here. Good!

I'd really love to get Hakuoki since I'm in the mood for a good visual novel, but in the dust up for my gaming money this fall it lost out to bigger games. I'll probably get it in February or so.

Armored Core, f*ck yeah! I'm going to go out and buy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2G2...
..
some gasoline so I can burn every copy, dammit Japan.

I'm curious about Shadow Warrior, having played the original, so that's the only one on the list that might tempt me, really. But it won't be a day one purchase, that's for sure.

RolandofGilead wrote:

Armored Core, f*ck yeah! I'm going to go out and buy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2G2...
..
some gasoline so I can burn every copy, dammit Japan.

WTF did I just watch... I'll pick up some road flares to help start the fire.

TRAIN SIMULATOR TOOT TOOT

AUs_TBirD wrote:

That's a good theme wordsmythe, but this is the one that all of Europe remembers:

I guess that one's alright, but seriously. This is one of the better songs of that entire era:

wordsmythe wrote:

So apparently if you were a kickstarter backer of Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, you get the expansion for free...according to a kickstarter update I just got.

PES all the way this year.
Screw EA and their pre-order DLC

Onikaze wrote:

PES all the way this year.
Screw EA and their pre-order DLC

I thought about it for a few minutes there, but proper Footy games take up too much time and, well, the pile, it only grows while I become the champion of every freakin' league... Can't do it, can't justify it :p.

LightBender wrote:
RolandofGilead wrote:

Armored Core, f*ck yeah! I'm going to go out and buy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2G2...
..
some gasoline so I can burn every copy, dammit Japan.

WTF did I just watch... I'll pick up some road flares to help start the fire.

:) thank you for making my day

Saw title Alien Rage and promptly dismissed it but according to the videos on its steam page it turns out to be very very pretty.
Haven't read the reviews but I'm assuming its goal is to be mostly mindless, shooty fun and it looks like it may achieve this.

Eleima wrote:

I'm curious about Shadow Warrior, having played the original, so that's the only one on the list that might tempt me, really. But it won't be a day one purchase, that's for sure.

I've a level and a bit in - it's a pretty solid (and pretty pretty) shooter/slash-em-up. They seem to have toned down a lot of the worst of the "'ism's" that were present in the first game as well. It's stupid as hell, but in a Saints Row "everyone's in on the joke" sort of a way. So far as I've played at least.

RolandofGilead wrote:

Saw title Alien Rage and promptly dismissed it but according to the videos on its steam page it turns out to be very very pretty.
Haven't read the reviews but I'm assuming its goal is to be mostly mindless, shooty fun and it looks like it may achieve this.

By some accounts it's a boring, buggy mess - approach with caution.

Thanks for the feedback, Stevenmack! Probably won't buy it just yet because of, well... the pile... but I'll keep an eye out for it!!

Scibblenauts Unmasked is quite fun. I took a flier on it and haven't been disappointed by the DC fan service alone. Something cool about bringing in the Anti-Monitor and Ultraman and saying "fight". Testing how deep the DC knowledge goes.