New PAL Releases Roundup

It's not the end of the year.

News by Tom Bramwell Former Editor-in-Chief

Updated on 27 Nov 2009

And so the slow, painful death of 2009 continues, although once again there are a couple of passable death throes for desperate gamers to investigate should the last two months' worth of releases have done nothing for them.

Aptly topping the death-throe list, given its content, is the largely enjoyable Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, another example of Capcom putting the Wii to good use and refreshing some of its best Resident Evil stories in the process. There are some "Capcom bits" in it, but as long as you can cope with shouting at the game occasionally, you'll come out on top.

Wii owners also might want to consider Muramasa: The Demon Blade. We were ultimately down on it, but it remains a very pretty curiosity, and one from which it's not impossible to draw a good bit of fun, providing it doesn't draw too much money from you for the privilege.

Elsewhere, there's the decidedly family-friendly and multiformat LEGO Rock Band, which did the unlikely earlier this week and won plaudits despite being, for all intents and purposes, a slightly neutered track pack for Rock Band. Lovely, warm-hearted presentation belies the cynicism evident some areas, and there's also the amusing possibility that it will outsell the monstrously hyped The Beatles: Rock Band when all is said and done.

Otherwise, it's buyer-beware territory, with a special caution for the no-doubt excellent Rogue Warrior, a game that's so amazing we weren't sent a review copy despite asking for one. We would make the same point about Wheelspin - known as Speed Zone in the US - but Metacritic has beaten us to it.

This week in shops: