XBL Summer of Arcade dated

By Robert Purchese Published 7 July, 2010

Limbo! Lara! Castlevania!

Microsoft has dated this year's Xbox Live Summer of Arcade flock.

The first game to arrive will be Limbo on 21st July. This is the black and white, film noir-style "snooty platform puzzler" that Eurogamer tested back in March.

Rocket-powered speedboat game Hydro Thunder Hurricane will be second on 28th July. The obvious lures here are local races for four people and online tussles for eight.

Third will be Castlevania: Harmony of Despair on 4th August. Married here are classic 2D platforming with six-player online co-op. And if working together gets boring, you can murder each other to the death.

Penultimate arrival will be Monday Night Combat on 11th August. This game is what might happen should American Football no longer use a football, but guns, and no longer bother with rules. Cash rules, literally.

Co-operative action adventure Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will round off the Summer of Arcade on 18th August. We've covered this one in depth.

Buy three or more of the Summer of Arcade games and Microsoft will refund 400 of your Microsoft Points.

The Xbox Live Summer of Arcade site offers a glimpse of each.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (34) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Xardan #1 2 years ago

    Limbo might be good but im doubtful about the others.

  • ShapeThrower #2 2 years ago

    Looking forwards to getting my hands on Castlevania: Harmony of Despair and intrigued to try out Limbo but to be honest that's about it from this crop of releases ...

  • lennon #3 2 years ago

    Were we not supposed to get a points rebate if we purchased perfect dark, that car game and toy solidiers? Not sure I trust these deals.

  • Dizzy #4 2 years ago

    Wow one of the best summers of Arcade ever IMHO. Looking forward to quite a few of those especially hydro thunder.
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/10 @ 10:55

  • kiroquai #5 2 years ago

    Limbo looks really beautiful, so that's a purchase. Castlevania sounds interesting... the rest not so much.

  • speedjack #6 2 years ago

    Was hoping Shank would be included.

  • ZuluHero #7 2 years ago

    Tomb Raider, Castlevania and Limbo for me! Great line up for summer gaming :)

  • sport #8 2 years ago

    I think Limbo, Castlevania, and Tomb Raider should sort my gaming needs till years end.

    @Zulu - spooky...
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/10 @ 11:13

  • TruWari3r #9 2 years ago

    Don't forget, today is Monkey Island 2 SE and Black Tango, next week is DeathSpank.

    so that's a couple of good title s before the official summer of arcade, right after the summer of arcade you get

    Comic Jumper (from the makers of the Maw and 'Splosion Man), Hydrophobia and that Super Meat Boy game.


    DeathSpank, Limbo, Lara Croft, Comic Jumper and Hydrophobia is a very likely sale for me.


    And yes, really waiting for Shank as well.

  • speedjack #10 2 years ago

    Yes - Comic Jumper looks awesome.

  • SomaticSense #11 2 years ago

    Seems like they've done the opposite of the last two Summer of Arcade events. That is, bundle together the least appealing of the upcoming big XBLA releases, as opposed to the best.

    Deathspank, Sonic 4, Hydrophobia, Shank, and Monkey Island 2 for example, are all infinitely more appealing than anything in this year's SoA list.

    Disappointing.

  • Eraysor #12 2 years ago

    Definitely getting Hydro Thunder, I like the look of MNC too.

  • schnide #13 2 years ago

    Murder each other to the death?

    As opposed to only murdering each other to.. the, er..

  • lockload #14 2 years ago

    Yet again one hell of a roundup

    XBLA get more good games in the summer of arcade than PSN gets all year

  • KDR_11k #15 2 years ago

    Monday Night Combat looked nice last I saw it but since I'm not a Gold subscriber its appeal is probably limited. I'll definitely look into Castlevania and unless it has some major screwups will get it.

  • Hobo #16 2 years ago

    "Were we not supposed to get a points rebate if we purchased perfect dark, that car game and toy solidiers? Not sure I trust these deals."

    Yes, if you downloaded the Game Room as well.

    I did, and was rebated 400pts and given a month of Live for free recently.

  • cyacomini #17 2 years ago

    Still no fucking Daytona.

  • TruWari3r #18 2 years ago

    Bad News KDR_11k , Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is supposed to be some 6 player mp/co-op game. It's the reason why I'm not too sure whether this Castlevania game is something for me.

  • muscleblade #19 2 years ago

    I have high hopes for all of them and will probably buy them all.

    Shank will be good too.
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/10 @ 12:37

  • PeauntButterJelly91 #20 2 years ago

    I know where my hard earned MS points are going!...Straight on Hydrophobia!. Seems like a good line up for the summer but nothing else is tickling my fancy anywhere near as much as that is!!!.

  • Monkey_Puncher #21 2 years ago

    Wake me up when Super Meat Boy and Comic Jumper come out.

  • Darren #22 2 years ago

    Hydro Thunder... YEAH... really looking forward to that as it way a personal favourite of mine on the Dreamcast. :)

  • Vyggo #23 2 years ago

    I hope Castlevania is a solid 1p game as well....

  • muscleblade #24 2 years ago

    @Darren

    Yeah. Among all the promising games in this line up Hydro Thunder is my 1. choise.
    Edited by 2 at 07/07/10 @ 14:15

  • Brummieman100 #25 2 years ago

    I wish I was buying three to get that nice little rebate, But isn't rebate an American term...I live in the Uk...so do I still get the points back or is this another US only deal where we miss out again!.Since I only have enough points for one, it's going to be Hydrophobia Looks far more promising than any other title on the list!.

  • Ryze #26 2 years ago

    Get Super Off Road on XBLA.

    And Model 2 Daytona USA

  • evild_edd #27 2 years ago

    Also feeling enthusiastic about XBLA upcoming releases.

    Limbo looks a definite. Lara and Hydro Thunder will base on reviews.

    Outside of summer of arcade: Deathspank looks good, as do Hydrophobia and Shank - though all will need solid reviews.

    To add to this, I've recently acquired Trials HD and After Burner on deals of the week reduced prices, so been well happy with XBLA of late.

    Just could do with some more time toactually play the games now......

  • PaleFridge #28 2 years ago

    The quality of digital releases is fantastic! Summer of Arcade and the Summer of Hydrophobia for me!!!. Tombraider looks interesting but I'm not sold on it yet!....bit bored of the IP atm.

  • Retroid #29 2 years ago

    Can't say I'm anywhere near as tempted as last year's lineup. And *all* of the games are 1200msp? No thanks.

  • Champion360 #30 2 years ago

    Given the choice between full retail release and DL games...i was always a full retail kinda guy!. But that the difference between them seem to be smaller and smaller....especially with games like this bridging the gap fro what downloadable games can achieve!.

    @Retroid, agreed if *all* are 1200 MS points- some do seem a bit steep!

  • Brummieman100 #31 2 years ago

    I get what you mean...1200 Points does seem high some of the titles listed. But i think games like Tombraider and even Hydrophobia could justify the price!. It's just a shame there are no final prices for some of the ones i'm actually interested in!

  • Shrike #32 2 years ago

    New Castlevania on my birthday \o/

  • wyldkard #33 2 years ago

    Ahh schnide you beat me too it;

    Murdering some one to Death sounds a bit harsh... I think that I'll just murder them to a runny nose instead !?

    Who writes this stuff??

  • RedPanda #34 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012