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On the fifth day of Christmas, Electronic Theatre
brings to you the fifth installment of The Twelve Games of
Christmas. A new feature series aiming to highlight the greatest
achievers of
 2008
– by month of release – The Twelve Games of Christmas is a
great way to decide which of those bargains you should be picking-up
in the January sales!
May 2008 saw the European release schedule becoming
thinner as summer approached. This year, however, there were enough
big titles to carry us through, and May held enough releases on each
and every format to satisfy even the most demanding gamer. Rock
Band launched exclusively on Xbox360, and Haze on the
PLAYSTATION3. Wii hosted its own variety of party once again in
TV Show King, and PC gamers got to strut-their-stuff in a brand
new land – thanks to Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.
Almost every system got its fair dose of speed thrills also, with
Race Driver: GRID and SBK-08 Superbike World Championship
lining-up on the starting grid.
Honourable Mention:
SBK-08 Superbike World Championship
(PlayStation2, PlayStation Portable)
Haze (PLAYSTATION3)
Runners-Up:
` Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice (NintendoDS)
Europe has developed a taste for the Phoenix Wright
series, and so it’s only right that Ace Attorney: Apollo
Justice should make its way to European stores, however delayed
it may be. Players star as rookie defense attorney Apollo Justice as
he visits crime scenes, questions key witnesses and collects vital
evidence before stepping into the courtroom to prove his clients’
innocence. Facing Apollo across the courtroom is the highly talented
and flamboyant prosecutor Klavier Gavin who, in addition to being a
legal genius, is also lead singer with Gavinners, a highly
successful rock band with a string of hits to their name.
Thankfully, Apollo is not alone and is aided both in and out of the
courtroom by his assistant Trucy, a mysterious female magician.
Apollo also receives invaluable advice from his mentor the
ultra-cool Kristoph Gavin, elder brother of Klavier, whose perfect
logic and natural instincts have won him numerous cases and the
respect of his colleagues.
Filled to the brim with eccentricity, Ace Attorney:
Apollo Justice has enough charm to entertain for hours on-end,
and just enough original ideas to keep the fans onside.
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (PC)
Troubled as it may be, Age of Conan: Hyborian
Adventures remains an entertaining experience. As an alternative
to the, quite frankly, insanely popular World of Warcraft,
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures checks many of the right boxes
for the Hardcore Gamer. Whether this will be enough to see Funcom
deliver on the promised Xbox360 conversion remains to be seen, but
in the mean time PC gamers are welcomed into a heavily supported
community for only 15 Euros (approx. £14.6279).
Race Driver: GRID (Xbox360, PLAYSTATION3, PC, NintendoDS)
Race Driver: GRID is an unusual presentation. At
once looking the part of a traditional – yet highly polished –
mainstream Racing game in the
same vein as the Project Gotham Racing or Need for Speed
series, yet demanding the same amount of discipline as the
Forza or Gran Turismo series. While it may feel like a
brother to Colin McRae DiRT in-spirit, thanks mostly to
Codemasters’ Ego Engine, Race Driver: GRID handles as a very
different beast.
The recently released 8 Ball Track Pack shows a
commitment to the online community that only the best Racing titles
can offer these days, and as an alternative to the needlessly
popular open-world format Race Driver: GRID presents one of
the most enjoyable packages on the Current-Generation.
Best of May 2008
Rock Band (Xbox360)
Unquestionably, Rock Band’s exclusive Xbox360
launch was the most momentous occasion of May 2008 for European
gamers. Perhaps in itself signifying the console’s dominance in the
territory – and especially that of the UK – one of the most
highly-anticipated
games for both the Hardcore and Causal Gamers officially became a
“timed exclusive” for the Xbox360 only six weeks before launch.
Huge retail expense, equal awkwardness and storage
demands did little to obstruct a game crafted to deliver an
experience that almost everyone demanded – whether they knew it
before playing or not. A launch that at once signified the hand
holding the cards and asserted the Xbox360’s continued lead for the
forthcoming months, Rock Band was a title all about creating
waves, and perhaps the biggest were the ones that came before you
actually put the disc in the drive. |
