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It’s Tuesday, 30th December 2008 – the sixth
day of Christmas. And that, of course, means it’s time for the sixth
instalment in The Twelve Games of Christmas. A feature series
running on each of the twelve days of Christmas here at
Electronic Theatre, The Twelve Games of Christmas aims to
highlight some of the industry’s top achievers of 2008, running
through one month’s worth of disc-based releases everyday. Today, we
look at June 2008, and give you the top-picks for those January sale
bargains!
June is typically a very slow month in the videogames
industry. However, in 2008, you wouldn’t have guessed. Possibly the
busiest month of the year so far, it’s quite clear the marketplace
was changing. Immediately distinguishable are two factors: the
increase in confidence for the viability of the PLAYSTATION3 as a
leading format, and that not only Wii could be host to the
mid-budget releases that the PlayStation2 championed in it’s later
years – Xbox360 now had an impressive installed userbase.
A host of multi-format titles graced almost every system
(many of which were in-fact released on every major format),
with Kung-Fu Panda and LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original
Adventures offering gameplay palatable to all, Guitar Hero:
Aerosmith providing some much needed attention for the Guitar
Hero series (in light of the previous month’s Rock Band
launch), and The Incredible Hulk: The Official Videogame
arriving alongside the release of the motion picture.
Exclusives weren’t too hard to come by either, with some
of the biggest names of the year so far launching in June; and some
not so big. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and
Ninja Gaiden II led the charge for the Hardcore Gamer, while
Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?
expanded the possibilities of the
NintendoDS yet further, and Sins of a Solar Empire
launched to positive reviews on PC.
Codemasters’ Overlord made
its way to PLAYSTATION3 under the guise of Overlord: Raising
Hell and Alone in the Dark
finally arrived on every home
format but. Electronic Arts also graced the scene with an incredibly
mixed response to Battlefield: Bad Company
– a game that too many had a lot to prove, and is still yet to
deliver.
Honourable Mentions:
Overlord:
Raising Hell (PLAYSTATION3)
Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox360, PLAYSTATION3, PC)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition COLONIES (Xbox360,
PLAYSTATION3)
Runners-Up:
Alone in the Dark (Xbox360, Wii, PC)
Alone in the Dark is perhaps the biggest game to
have yet been misinterpreted on the Current-Generation. Comparisons
to Resident Evil and Silent Hill are only truly
appropriate when
considering the aspect of horror involved; Alone in the Dark
is an entirely different beast with respect to gameplay. Presenting
a more traditional and cohesive experience than such stern Survival
Horror franchises, Alone in the Dark is immediately
accessible and provides enough intrigue – despite the ham-fisted
nature of much of it’s dialogue – to entertain most exactly as was
intended; for an hour or two an evening. Agreeably clumsy at times,
Alone in the Dark presented a format for the future of
mainstream videogame appeal – a scene setter for accessible
videogame convention – the problem is that it will only have
significance if others take notice.
Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox360)
June 2008 was always going to be controversial, and the
decision to place Ninja Gaiden II as a “Runner-Up” may well
suggest exactly which game has been crowned “Best of June 2008” a
little too early.
Ninja Gaiden II is the smoothest most
exhilarating modern Scrolling Beat-‘Em-Up yet on the
Current-Generation, but it’s not too smart. Entirely avoiding any
puzzle-remit that many of it’s peers consider essential, Ninja
Gaiden II’s cerebral challenge comes in that of how to defend
against, attack and counter each different adversary, then how to do
it with them all attacking you at once. It’s a game that requires a
quick and deep analysis of your environment and the enemies
positioned within, and equally quick responses. Launching in such
close proximity to Devil May Cry 4, followed by being plagued
with issues with it’s dubiously close-to-release Downloadable
Content (which added an entirely new gameplay) clearly took the
sheen of Ninja Gaiden II, which fell in price rather harshly
soon after release. It’s reported some gamers are still having
issues either accessing their Downloaded Content, or with their
online Leaderboard after play; resulting in a flawed package that
simply couldn’t be considered the best release of a month with so
many potential gems.
Sid Meier’s Civilisation Revolution (Xbox360,
PLAYSTATION3)
Sid Meier’s Civilisation adapted for a console
audience? Never has there been such a misnomer. However, some how,
they managed to pull-if-off.
Sid Meier’s Civilisation
Revolution is an engrossing experience from start to finish,
compelling Xbox360 players to strive for the full 1,000 GamerScore.
An addictive yet simple turn-based Strategy Game in which players
rapidly advance through the ages, competing for the technology is
brings, Sid Meier’s Civilisation Revolution is perhaps the
home console answer to Advance Wars. An extremely competitive
online game and one in which backhanders happen far more often than
not, Sid Meier’s Civilisation Revolution brings out the worst
in everybody as they venture for global domination.
Best of June 2008
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
(PLAYSTATION3)
Despite a long list of hopefuls, few could truly compare
to Hideo Kojima’s aggressive PLAYSTATION3 support. Rumours persist
of an Xbox360
 conversion,
but as of now, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
remains solely on the PLAYSTATION3.
And in this staunch support of the system, Konami have
crafted a title so knowing of its hardware that only SONY’s
LittleBigPlanet could attempt to compete. The game graces the
platform with a host of superfluous extras that will inevitably be
of little interest to all except those upon whose curriculum vitae
such marketing miracles sit, yet in itself created one of widest
catalogues of knowledge for it’s fanbase since The Matrix.
The game itself is both heavily locked into gaming
convention whilst trying to remove itself from what it believes has
become clichéd. Some may compare the commentary to little more than
the questionably presented “Cliché Moments” in Electronic Arts
The Simpsons Game (in that telling the player a cliché exists
does not excuse it’s inclusion), to others, the ideal of a game
willing to look itself in the face and identify it’s own flaws can
only be hailed as progress - and to these people, Electronic
Theatre wholly recommends Suda51’s Flower, Sun and
Rain on the NintendoDS.
In spite of the irritatingly long Cut-Scenes, impractical game
mechanics and obtuse handling of players new to the series, or maybe
because of them, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
remains one of the finest gameplay experiences on the PLAYSTATION3,
and the most complete package released in June 2008. |
