New PAL Releases Roundup
Summer Athletics, Hellboy, Baroque.
Those of you who have been following the Olympics have probably, er, seen more of it than any of us, since the only conversations on the subject around here have been the CG fireworks display and the little girl who didn't sing.
Judging by the Olympic spin-off games - the official one from SEGA and the unofficial Summer Athletics released tomorrow - though, the Chinese could teach game developers a thing or two about sporting pageantry, as both are forgettable mini-game compilations by any measure. This one involves whirling your arms, eh? Let's use the analogue sticks. Rubbishly.
Speaking of spin-offs, tomorrow also marks the release of Hellboy: The Science of Evil, another tired collection of burnt-out mechanics dressed up with occasionally witty cut-scenes, but we suspect there's more fun to be had marvelling at City Interactive's latest naming decision ("Code of Honour 2: Conspiracy Island" - fantastic) than siding with Krome Studios' latest analogue for Mike Mignola's Paranormal Research and Defense poster-boy.
And then there's Madden NFL 09 - a mystery to most of us, but a satisfying 20th take on the sport from EA's evergreen US sports series, at least according to uniform positivity across the pond. At least it'll be better than the impressively awful NFL Tour.
All in all, then, a pretty dull and dreary week. Again. Will things brighten up in seven days' time? No. But they might do in 14, when appropriately named S.T.A.L.K.E.R. prequel Clear Sky pitches up to complete the metaphor, along with Too Human, a review of which you'll be able to read early next week.
This week: