11/12/2007

Plumbers, Assassins & Rabbits, oh my!

There may be weeks with bigger single titles, but this upcoming week is arguably the biggest in gaming history in terms of sheer volume of high profile stuff. So much so that some not quite AAA titles may get left in the dust. The Wii arguably has the biggest lineup which may hugely bolster it supposedly thin library. You've got two huge shooters in Medal of Honor Heroes 2, which proves that the Wii can be a serious online contender with a whopping 32-player online capability. If I wasn't so massively sick of WWII titles, I'd pick this one up immediately. The other big shooter is the first of what may be a wave of light gun-esque Wii titles in Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. This emerging trend excites me in some ways, as I had lots of fun with Saturn Light Gun titles such as Virtua Cop (and of course the legendary NES classic Duck Hunt). But there's a reason why not too many of these games have been released in the past decade, and I think it's because nowadays FPS games provide a much more immersive experience, and this resurrection of the practically dead genre may be short lived with lots of terrible quickly developed clones like all the minigame collections we are swamped with now.

Speaking of minigame collections, our crazy rabbit friends are back in Raving Rabbids 2. But honestly, this genre has pretty much quickly worn out its welcome, so I have little to no interest in yet another waggle-fest of which the point seems to make me look like a jackass (not that I mind looking like a jackass, but there are already a plethora of games we can do that with). Rabbids will have the edge on humor, but really nothing else new to see here.

Saving the best for last, easily the Wii's most important game to date will be in stores Monday morning in Super Mario Galaxy. Adding to the importance was the not so hot reception given to Mario's last platforming effort, Sunshine. But the reviews are already in, and they thankfully say that this is arguably his best adventure yet, thus proving that Nintendo knows what they are doing. I plan to be spending all my free time this week traveling the galaxy with everyone's favorite plumber, and so should everyone who has a Wii.

But 360 & PS3 owners have a hugely anticipated title to check out this week as well in the mysterious Assassins' Creed. Not only mysterious in what it's really about, as futuristic elements have been hinted at even though it seems to take place during the Crusades; but also if it will turn out to be the year's biggest flop, as hands-on previews haven't been all that reassuring. But I saw this live at PAX awhile back, and it looked fairly impressive, and when it comes to huge titles like this, Ubisoft knows how to deliver, so I'm willing to bet we'll all be enjoying learning to live by the Assassins' Creed.

There are a few more titles coming out this week worth discussing, but I'll hold off on those for tomorrow. In the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: The Mind Bender

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