New PAL Releases Roundup - 27/03/09

Don't go outside! There's no need, because if mighty ex-editor Kristan's reaction to Fallout 3: The Pitt is anything to go by, it's the best thing out this week, and it's available on the internet. Let's gloss over the fact it struggled with that part and welcome it.

That said, Nintendo fans have been well served this week, and not just at GDC (where, you have to say, complaints about a relative lack of announcements look a bit harsh - there's that SD card update everyone wanted, and a new Zelda game, and what did Sony and Microsoft do?). Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time may have an unwieldy name, but it's one of the better examples of the kind of cross-platform play that the Crystal Chronicles originally span off to champion. Wii owners may need to bite their lips, however, as the game appears to have been designed primarily for DS, with awkward implications. Our review will be up tomorrow morning.

Then there's Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 for Wii. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions weren't much cop next to the mighty FIFA 09, but the refined attacking play of the waggle-and-thrust edition is distinct and interesting enough to overcome that impediment, and thanks to a tardy data update Liverpool fans (no I won't shut up) can dare to dream what it would have been like if Robbie Keane could hit a barn door/had been used more effectively.

Elsewhere, PC owners might want to put down their Auto Axes to give BattleForge a look. Our review has been held up by technical issues involving various codes and two entire continents, but our colleagues in the paper press are torn, and some comfortably in its favour. Likewise with the Wheelman, although we're pretty confident it's bobbins, as much as we wish every game had Vin Diesel in it.

Oh, and there's good, albeit late news for the PS3 brigade, with Rock Band 2 and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 arriving. We'll tie those down in a future face-off.

This week:

• Afro Samurai (PS3, Xbox 360)
• BattleForge (PC)
• Buzz! Brain of the UK (PS3, PS2, PSP)
• Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles (DS)
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Ultimate Edition (PS3)
• Drakensang (PC)
• Fallout 3: The Pitt (PC, Xbox 360)
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Wii, DS)
• Gaplus (Wii Virtual Console - Arcade)
• The King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga (Wii, PSP)
• Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
• Imagine Doctor (DS)
• Imagine My Restaurant (DS)
• Mappy (Wii Virtual Console - Arcade)
• Monsters vs. Aliens (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, DS, PC)
• Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi (DS)
• Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars (Wii)
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Wii)
• Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (PC)
• Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (DS)
• Rock Band 2 (PS3, PS2)
• Samurai Shodown Anthology (Wii, PS2, PSP)
• SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 (Wii, PSP)
• Star Force (Wii Virtual Console - Arcade)
• Stormrise (PS3, Xbox 360)
• The Tower of Druaga (Wii Virtual Console - Arcade)
• Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures: Fright of the Bumblebees (PC)
• Wheelman (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)