January

[Joshua]

so which game(s) are you looking forward to in January and why?




I'm looking forward to Skate 2 and Afro Samurai. Based on the previews both titles look promising. I haven't played a great skateboarding game since back in the day when the THPS series reigned supreme, so if this series can pull me back into the genre then I'm all for that.

I didn't have much faith in Afro as a game. At first I simply dismissed it as yet another marketing ploy gone terribly wrong, but the only saving grace was that Namco would be behind it, so I kept one eye on it. It actually looks like it can be a great game and that the developers put some real thought and effort into it, so I'm really hoping the final product builds upon what was shown in the previews. I especially like the part where Ninja Ninja will start talking smack to Afro just like in the movie; that was pretty funny, and the comic-inspired sequences looked pretty sharp as well.

[EIN]

Actually, I'm a little wary of Afro samurai... the gameplay looks VERY generic, and similar to any other 3d hack/slash that tries to be a semi-fighter... the ONLY thing I see going for it's uniqueness is it's decapitiation mode where everything goes colorless and you slice people up. But even that is getting a little cliche (overdrive/devil trigger/gow mode much?). And if you follow afro samurai in any way, you'll find that the season only lasted about 5 episodes... so there isn't alot of backstory to work with either (unless the comic book is more extensive than i've seen)...
All in all, i'd rent the game before making any further judgements.

Personally, I think february is the month to be picking up games!!!

[Dustin S.]

January doesn't really have anything, you got Skate 2 and thats about it really, at least for me. I heard Ubi might be porting over World at War this month but i guess not? Would be sweet.

For Feb though, oh my! Killzone 2, nuff said but ill go on lol, 50 Cent game looks legit, FEAR 2 (looks extremely good), Godfather 2, Shellshock (GG made the first one, they gave up rights to it though), and it just gets better every month is seems like. All i want for 09 is Killzone 2 lol everything else is a bonus, cant wait!

[Nick]

I think I'll pass on January. Might end up picking out Noby Noby Boy if it does end up hitting.

[Joshua]

I'm wary of Afro as well, but I'll probably be renting it also before I write it off as a POS. Sometimes generic looking games can be great when they don't pretend to be something they are not and stick to a solid formula and do what they aim to do, and do it well. By no means am I expecting it to be a revolutionary game.

No doubt February will be huge, but I'd like to see some discussions for each month regardless of whether or not a month will be huge or not.


yo Dustin, you forgot SF4 for February ;)

[EIN]

I'm wary of Afro as well, but I'll probably be renting it also before I write it off as a POS. Sometimes generic looking games can be great when they don't pretend to be something they are not and stick to a solid formula and do what they aim to do, and do it well. By no means am I expecting it to be a revolutionary game.

No doubt February will be huge, but I'd like to see some discussions for each month regardless of whether or not a month will be huge or not.


yo Dustin, you forgot SF4 for February ;)

Youre right on both counts Joshua, each month we should have something we look forward to, and I actually am waiting to rent Afro. I watched the cartoons after I saw the trailer and was suitably impressed... they spent about a million per epidsode!

And good lord Dustin... how could you forget STREET FIGHTER!!!

SHORYUKEN!!!

[Joshua]

I'll be honest and say that I've already reserved my limited edition tournament stick for SF4. I saw the demo and was thoroughly impressed. You can swap out the buttons and the stick itself with relative ease, so that brings even more value since you can customize it and repair it without much hassle. Not to mention that it's made with the exact same parts that they use in the actual arcade machine.

[Nick]

Actually, I just remembered - Fear 2 demo in January. I think I might toss down the $3 dollars for Qore just to get it.

[Joshua]

I played the Skate 2 demo and it plays well. I never played the first one, but the controls are completely different than THPS. Skate 2 is closer to a true simulation of skating, making it a bit more difficult to land tricks, but that sorta lends to the charm of the game, since it makes landing tricks that much more gratifying.

[Joshua]

I actually just played the Fear 2 demo and it seems very promising. It's clear they're going mostly for atmosphere since at the beginning they have you adjust the lighting of the game, which I thought was pretty cool.

Obviously they're not going for Killzone 2 graphics, but the game plays well and it was a cool enough experience. I was pretty spooked out in a few spots, which is what you want in a game right? You should want to feel like you're in the environment the game has provided.

I'll definitely be checking this one out in the future. Chalk this up to a demo impressing me enough to invest my time in this game in the future.

[SaintAvi]

Cant say there is anything in January that perks my interest