New PAL Releases Roundup

By Tom Bramwell Published 25 February, 2010

Heavy Rain! Silent Hill! WKC! Napoleon!

Another week, another enormous pile of games, glittering with potential this Friday. Some of them really are out this Friday, too, which is an improvement on last week's is-it-isn't-it White Knight Chronicles debacle, for which the New PAL Releases Roundup entity apologises. We are certain it's out this week. Probably.

It's been reviewed on the site and got 7/10. That much we can definitely confirm.

With the greatest of respect to Level-5's long-overdue PS3-exclusive RPG though, there's only one PS3 exclusive most people are looking out for this week, and that's Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mystery of the Concealing Flame.

Okay, it's not that (but do give that a look - it's free if you bought episode one). It's Quantic Dream's heavily hyped, super-ambitious Heavy Rain.

It's going to be divisive. We - me, in actual fact - have pinned our colours to the 9/10 mast, but others will struggle to fall for its charms and it's foolish to pretend otherwise.

What we think will be true for everyone, however, is that once they get to the end and ponder the outcome and everything they have experienced, they will feel that it was worth experiencing. (God, I sound like David Cage. Especially now he's admitted he would kill people.)

It's a rare game where you may finish it and not like it, but still be happy you bought and played it. There.

No such division for Clash of Heroes on DS, hopefully, making another long-overdue European debut following its release last year.

It's beginning to sound strange in this crazy new world of simultaneous worldwide releases (progress, woo), but the excellent Silent Hill: Shattered Memories has also been out in the US for a while. It's out here this week, and is the best thing we've seen on the Wii in some time.

(Well, that would have been true if we hadn't been off to play Super Mario Galaxy 2 today. Er, but it's definitely the best thing we've seen released on the Wii in some time!)

It's not alone in the "promising" camp on the shelves either. Napoleon: Total War is also available this week, giving Creative Assembly a chance to build on the successes of Empire and atone for some of its minor quirks.

You'll be able to read a review of that later tonight, and of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, while we're also beavering away on write-ups for Echoshift on PSP, FIFA 10: Ultimate Team and Way of the Samurai 3. Happy days! Lots of things to play. Enjoy them.

This week in shops:

  • Anno 1404: Venice (PC)
  • Dante's Inferno (PSP)
  • Echoshift (PSP)
  • Puzzle Chronicles (DS, PSP)
  • Heavy Rain (PS3)
  • Lips: Party Classics (Xbox 360)
  • Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (DS)
  • Napoleon: Total War (PC)
  • Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (PS2, PSP, Wii)
  • SafarWii (Wii)
  • Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
  • Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces (Wii)
  • Superstars V8 Racing: The Next Challenge (PC, PS3)
  • Way of the Samurai 3 (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • White Knight Chronicles: International Edition (PS3)

This week online:

  • Age of Zombies (PSP/PS3 minis)
  • Blue Toad Murder Files: Episode 3 - The Mystery of the Concealing Flame (PSN)
  • Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (PSN, Xbox Live)
  • Castlevania ReBirth (WiiWare)
  • Dracula: Undead Awakening (WiiWare)
  • FIFA 10: Ultimate Team (PSN, Xbox Live)
  • Fret Nice (PSN, Xbox Live Arcade)
  • Greed Corps (PSN, Xbox Live Arcade)
  • Lazy Raiders (Xbox Live Arcade)
  • Reel Fishing Challenge (WiiWare)
  • Valkyria Chronicles: Challenge of the Edy Detachment (PSN)
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #1 2 years ago

    I'm going to try and get this done on Thursdays from now on. I know it's been late recently. Also, sorry when it turns out everything in it is wrong.

  • cyacomini #2 2 years ago

    I got very bored of Heavy Raid within about 15mins - sure it looks sublime, but gaming has moved on since 'D' on the 3DO

  • ron_aldo #3 2 years ago

    Downloading FIFA UT, VC and Borderlands DLC tonight. Quite intersted in Sonic Kart but Heavy Rain can wait until the bargain bins

  • Machetazo #4 2 years ago

    "Superstars V8 Racing: The Next Challenge"
    Cheeky subtitling - Is it purposely intending to catch out ones that might think its related to the other Challenge racer series?

    Looking forward to seeing the Sonic & Sega Racing review.

  • HermitArcader #5 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Bigglesworth #6 2 years ago

    Still rubbish! When Tom! Does them!

    ;)

  • chrisno21 #7 2 years ago

    Didn't know Way of the Samurai 3 was out, quite enjoyed parts of the first 2 games, what's the third like?

    Though I'm installing Heavy rain now and have WKC on the side so can't justify a third game!
    Edited by 1 at 25/02/10 @ 17:40

  • Murton #8 2 years ago

    Just as a word of warning to anyone who doesn't know about the Heavy Rain special edition soundtrack issue, the download for the soundtrack was pulled at the very last minute due to a technical problem. You can either redeem your code now and get the theme and DLC pack and then have to contact Sony to get a new code for the soundtrack when it is fixed or keep your code until after they fix it and then redeem to to get everything in one go.

    The date that Sony has given for the download to be available is March 5th. Your call from there.

  • KingOfMyCastle #9 2 years ago

    Valkyria Chronicles DLC, yay!!!

    Oh, and I got the UK version of Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes two weeks ago from Amazon butthey may have released it early. Bloody good but over in a week.

  • Gurgeh #10 2 years ago

    @Murton
    It seems more than a few people are having issues with Heavy Rain:

    "Despite having to download a rather substantial patch on launch day, or perhaps because of it, players in North America and Europe are experiencing glitches with Heavy Rain. Some, like me, are lucky, only experiencing odd moments of stuttering where the audio and video don't quite sync.

    Others are experiencing more severe issues. Reports of the game locking up at various points are common, and an issue with auto-saves not loading and players having to go back hours in the game to find a working restart point."

    [link url=http://kotaku.com/54802 02/heavy-rain-explores-player-depression-with-freezes-and-gl itches
    ]http://ko taku.com/5480202/heavy-rain-exp...[/link]

  • MattyD #11 2 years ago

    Silent Hill's only just out here? I played the import yonks ago.

    It's rilly gud by the way.

  • George-Roper #12 2 years ago

    It seems more than a few people are having issues with Heavy Rain:

    "Despite having to download a rather substantial patch on launch day, or perhaps because of it, players in North America and Europe are experiencing glitches with Heavy Rain. Some, like me, are lucky, only experiencing odd moments of stuttering where the audio and video don't quite sync.

    Others are experiencing more severe issues. Reports of the game locking up at various points are common, and an issue with auto-saves not loading and players having to go back hours in the game to find a working restart point."

    To be fair, there's so many combinations of hardware, operating systems, drivers, etc that it must have been very difficult for them to get everything properly tested in time.

    Oh, wait....

  • RobotRocker #13 2 years ago

    Isn't there a 300MB patch waiting for players too once they buy the game?

    We have Uh-Oh, I repeat, we have Uh-Oh.

  • Murton #14 2 years ago

    I've only played the first chapter and haven't hit upon any issues so far, though many people report to have only noticed the issue after a few hours play.

  • makeamazing #15 2 years ago

    Played it for about 1.5 hours yesterday, and to be honest, i am loving it. If you dont like adventure games, if you dont like story driven games, this isnt for you. It reminds me of how cool Bladerunner was on the PC all those years ago :D

  • xentar #16 2 years ago

    heavy rain is extremely satisfying experience. I doubted there could be anything more immersive than UC2 but I was proven wrong

  • Branoic #17 2 years ago

    Empire's "minor glitches"? What, like the game being a complete and utter fucking disastrous crippling bugfest on launch which the entirity of the game review industry somehow failed to point out in their reviews? Yeah, that was a pretty minor glitch.

  • makeamazing #18 2 years ago

    @wile_coyote hehe i kinda know what you mean, i didnt mean it like that. I just think its been a while since there has been a involving, and interesting adventure type game.

    As for bugs, ive had one or two little stutters, but nothing major. As for downloading a patch on day of release, dont know why some people are making a fuss, thats better than waiting three weeks (or in some games never) for a patch. as the previous poster said Total War never seems to be in the right state from launch :(.. oh my the patch took all of 5 minutes to download... really some people need to get a new perspective on life...lol
    Edited by 1 at 25/02/10 @ 19:39

  • JohnnyWashnGo #19 2 years ago

    Not bad.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #20 2 years ago

    Not bad. Some good stuff.

  • KDR_11k #21 2 years ago

    Silent Hill seems to be only 30€ on the mainland so I guess its length is less of a reason not to get it.

  • hilts #22 2 years ago

    I am really torn about heavy rain... Despite the heavy promoting I can't see it being a big seller so maybe cheap soon ... Played the demo loved the the first section but found the detective section irritating .. Could see the controls getting very irritating

  • Shadzter #23 2 years ago

    "Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)"

    Not to nit-pick but you forgot the PC version -
    http://www.s ega.co.uk/games/sonicracing/
    Edited by 1 at 25/02/10 @ 20:30

  • TruSmiles #24 2 years ago

    Really looking forward to Sonic & Sega All-stars Racing. My friend already has it and has commented that the frame rate issues have mostly been fixed and it is a really good game, overall. Heavy Rain would be on my list if I had the money, but as it stands, I'll be waiting till it is cheaper.

  • penhalion #25 2 years ago

    @Branoic

    I pointed it out after playing my mates review copy and I think I finished at something like -40 on the ratings. People here simply didn't want to hear anything bad about heavy rain and the reviewers have long since been ignoring major issues with games they review. Seriously! How many idiots still trust what they say or their ratings anymore?

    The only reason to read a review these days is to find out the general gist of a game and then play a demo and make up your own mind or ask a mate who bought the game. Any other use for a review is on your own head and I can't take anyone seriously who still buys games based on review scores and then complains when they find they've bought a 60 quid lemon.

  • RobotRocker #26 2 years ago

    How many idiots still trust what they say or their ratings anymore?

    A lot of idiots. Go to any Edge ratings thread at NeoGAF, Rllmuk or wherever. There is always a shitstorm every month over the number at the bottom of the review. Unfortunately, this is how fanboys have been conditioned over the years and a lot of people tend to get swallowed up into the hype. GamesCentral put out an extremely damning 4/10 review for Heavy Rain with a lot of legitimate criticisms but I know that people are going to see just the number there and start hammering that neg rep button on my post. Why? I insinuated that Heavy Rain may be the emperors new clothes by directing them to a negative review.

    Tom did a decent review and pointed out why he felt it was good, but no one cares about that other than the PR heads. The fanboys only care about that single number so they can go crow on their message boards.
    Edited by 1 at 25/02/10 @ 22:12

  • Vanmunt #27 2 years ago

    agggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhh, had a ps3 for years.... gets knicked and its heavy rain, hurry up insurance company my ass is knittting buttons to play heavy rain.. and WKC, the gaming gods are really punishing me.

  • Paulie_P #28 2 years ago

    Are you sure Silent Hill is out for the Wii this week? - I preordered it from Game and haven't even received a dispatch e-mail yet.

    Had a quick play of Heavy Rain last night (by quick I mean a hour or so), liked it very much but could see a lot of people hating it. It reminds me a lot of Shenmue.

  • swissorc #29 2 years ago

    Shattered memories could not have been released at a worse time for me. If only they had released in November now it's going to be late June until I can squeeze it in. Sorry Konami you dropped to ball. The real vicitims are the guy's who worked so hard to develop the game for it to be shunned in their homeland.

  • comradetony #30 2 years ago

    Just went into my local blockbusters to pick up Silent Hill pre-order on the Wii, and they say its been delayed a week. The Wikipedia Article reflects this, however play and Amazon both say 'In Stock'. Gonna send the missus into town at dinner to check Game/HMV, waited far too long for this to wait another week!

    Heavy Rain seems good on the other hand, noticed a bit of audio stuttering occasionally, but otherwise im enjoying it!

    UPDATE: HMV said its officially released next Friday... but they are breaking release date if people ask!
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/10 @ 11:21

  • YoshiMcTaggis #31 2 years ago

    Silent Hill IS out, I have it clenched between my sweaty little buttocks as I type. I got it from ASDA, Gamestation said it's out but they had none.
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/10 @ 13:35

  • Paulie_P #32 2 years ago

    Damn, wonder why Game haven't sent me it!

  • Incarta #33 2 years ago

    Is Megaman 10 out tomorrow too? I coulda sworn I saw the Wii version get a 1st March date. Was that just in Americaland or something?

    EDIT: It was. It's out here on the 5th March. PANIC OVER!
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/10 @ 17:13