With Darksiders II and Sleeping Dogs releasing to relative acclaim, both riding high at about 86% on GameRankings, hopefully this is an omen that every big game until the end of the year (and beyond!) will continue to be awesome! Somehow I doubt that’ll be the case, but as long as we get a few good games out of the proceedings, we here at OWNT will be pretty happy.
As for this week, we’ve got a couple of big games on the way and…not much else. We’re generally tight for releases now but with major-league sports titles showing up over the next month and the first wave of the fall line-up following hot on their heels, there’s not much use in complaining now. Just start marking your calendar. Or setting alerts on your phones. Or, you know, keep paying attention, just be ready!
Coming out this week:
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - August 21st for Mac, PC, PSN, XBLA
You know, I’ve read about a lot of people supposedly playing Counter-Strike, but I don’t think I’ve ever met one who is distinctly passionate about it. That doesn’t really mean much, I’ve never surrounded myself with PC gamers but that doesn’t seem to matter now with CS coming to consoles. I do think it’s a shame that the plans for cross-platform play between Mac, PC and PS3 fell through, but Mac and PC players can still shoot the hell out of each other which is cool.
“Yep, it’s definitely on fire! It’s really hot over here!”
Retro/Grade – August 21st for PSN
This one came out of the blue for me. I might have heard about, I don’t know, back when it was still scheduled for release two years ago, but any memory has since been long banished from my mind. You would hope with four years of development, R/G would break some new ground on the indie scene, ala Fez, but the concept (an ace pilot must undergo his final battle in reverse) sounds like it’s riffing on Braid a little too much to take seriously.
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - August 21st for PC, PS3, X360
It can’t be worse than that last Transformers movie, right? No, I kid. War for Cybertron was a legitimately fun game and our very own Tony seemed to really enjoy the demo for this follow-up. It’s probably a tie between Transformers and Counter-Strike for biggest game of the week, but I’m expecting the robots in disguise to take this one due to simple broad appeal. I was surprised to hear about this sequel, so hey, I guess someone other than Tony and I was playing the original.
What the hell is that supposed to transform into? An ocean liner?!
Way of the Samurai 4 – August 21st for PSN
You guys should really check out the Wikipedia page for WS4 as it is utterly enlightening. “The game offers a mix of story, combat and event scenes”, huh? Sold! For all I know, this could be a tremendous leap forward for the Samurai saga, because I’ve never played them. I probably won’t play this one, either. The moment I read something about ‘exploring caves’ I started to realize I’m still not over my Skyrim fatigue and have no intention of exploring any caves anytime soon.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure HD – August 22nd for PSN, XBLA
Originally released for Arcades, PSOne and Dreamcast, JoJo’s is a fighting game based on a manga and suddenly I don’t want anybody out there to try and justify that title. No, it’s okay. Seriously, I believe you…it is likely to be very bizarre, indeed. For anybody out there with fond memories of the original, Capcom’s got your back with a HD remastering and now that you know that, my obligation to keep talking about this game has come to a close.
Dark Souls (Prepare to Die Edition) – August 24th for PC
If you’re a masochist, or someone who doesn’t own one of the two power-consoles (like I said, a masochist), then your wait is over: Dark Souls is here to deliver that rough lovin’ you just can’t quit. I sunk about seven hours into Dark Souls last year, and upon realizing that I was still trudging through the first level, inch by inch, I quit the game off entirely. There’s certainly a quality to Dark Souls, but dammit, I just don’t have the time or patience to spend any more time on that game. If you’re more liberally inclined, though, feel free to die, many times. Just don’t bitch to me that you didn’t have a warning (look at the title, for God’s sakes!)
I can’t really make out anything in this screenshot, but I can confirm that is a Dark Soul.
In light of my utter wrongness last week, I’m pulling a full 180 on my Walking Dead: Episode 3 prediction; I don’t think we’ll see it until next week. If it turns out I’m wrong (again) I’ll be the first to cop to it and stop making any sort of predictions ever again. Maybe.
Are any of these titles of any interest to you guys? If so drop us a line in the comments and remember to keep checking in to OWNT for frequent news updates and more throughout the week.
Billy is 21 years old, enjoys dumb stuff and has a tendency to write when he isn’t busy welcoming our inevitable zombie/robot/alien overlords.
