Advance Look - March 2007

By: Eric M. Martin

Monday February 26, 2007

Games are warmin up.
As the snow melts, the developing engines will warm up accordingly. Spring and Summer of 2007 will hopefully boost title sales for all systems. Some of the initial January releases ended up delayed until this month, such as The Red Star for the PlayStation 2. In truth, everyone seems to still be in hibernation. Everyone that is, except Nintendo. Mario Party 8 tops the list of many Wii owners that can't wait to see how the Wii enhances this edition of the already addictive Mario Party library. But, if you decide to take a break from collecting Stars and play fun party games, here are four other titles to keep your eyes engaged and your wallets empty.



Wario: Master of Disguise
March 5, 2007 (Nintendo DS)


This is the kind of game that gamers will talk about for years to come. Wario: Master of Disguise is a textbook example of the kind of innovation that people look for in a Nintendo release. Hot off of the blazing success of Wario Ware: Smooth Moves comes the first Wario-centric side scroller to hit shelves in a dog's age. This title will have players using the D-pad to run, jump and duck while accomplishing standard Wario moves such as the Dash Attack by tapping slightly in front of Wario with the stylus. On top of that, players will activate a total of eight costumes by drawing around Wario with the stylus. For example, drawing a circle around Wario's head gives him the Astronaut suit, which outfits him with a jetpack for slow descent and a multi-directional ray gun, which is aimed and fired with the stylus.

Unlike the early Wario titles for the original Game Boy, Master of Disguise offers a lot more puzzle-solving action and a few minigames, though there is the occasional enemy to trounce as well as bosses to best. The primary focus of the game seems to revolve around finding random treasure chests. The contents of which will both sate Wario's bottomless greed and unlock new disguises with special powers.


Titan Quest: Immortal Throne
March 5, 2007 (PC)


Titan Quest: Immortal Throne is a one-way ticket to Hell...literally! The main premise behind this expansion to THQ's popular action-RPG released just a year ago revolves around the Greek underworld and the major players therein, but not before a trip to the demolished city of Rhodes. Much like Lord of Destruction in form, players are given new areas to explore along with stronger monsters and shinier swag.

The addition of the Dream mastery gives characters another set of options to delve into, either at the very beginning or for those high-level characters that have stuck to a pure mastery up to this point. Fortunately, the developing powers that be have not apparently altered much of the initial gaming mechanic inherent in the original release, so there shouldn't be too much to gripe about. In fact, this could be what keeps the franchise strong for a long time.


God of War II
March 13, 2007 (PS2)


This is probably THE most anticipated title for the PS2 to date. After defeating Ares and, unintentionally, taking the place of the God of War, Athena comes to sway Kratos and his fellow Spartans from their new path of destruction. As usual, Kratos does what he wants instead, and personally takes a visit to Earth and partake in the destruction of Rhodes. (Hmmm, perhaps THIS is what led to the events of TitanQuest?)

Athena has a few tricks up her sleeve, however. She responds to Kratos' unflenching destruction by shrinking him back down to human size and activating one of the Seven Wonders of the World…the Colossus of Rhodes! From here, it's back to button-mashing and lackey-slaying. There don't seem to be many changes to the original release and any new features will more than likely keep to the spirit of the first game. Personally, I feel that the first game was nothing more than violence and boobies. The second game will probably be more of the same, except there seems to be some puzzle-solving aspects which may strain the brain of the average God of War consumer.


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie
March 20, 2007 (Multi-console)


Ubisoft Montreal has teamed up with Mirage Group and Imagi Animation studios to create a multi-console title to parallel the upcoming release of the new CGI-movie starring the brainchild of comic legends Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Borrowing a baseline from the Prince of Persia engine and modifying it for fluidity and functionality, this title promises to be a knockdown, drag out platforming experience to beat the band. Each Turtle has their own fighting style that fits their choice of weapon and personality. Furthermore, there are Team Attacks that vary depending on the initiating character. Players will have sixteen levels to blow through and hopefully re-discover the meaning of Turtle Power!

There seems to be a noticeable trend of port games coming to the PS3 in March. The Godfather: Don's Edition promises to take advantage of the Sixaxis controller's motion range and include all of the added content of the Xbox 360 edition as well as offering some new content exclusive to the PS3 release. Ubisoft plans to release a copy of Enchanted Arms, another port from the Xbox 360, which will also implement the Sixaxis scheme in order to improve the existing gameply. Aside from new controls, this version will offer an original Japanese language track and a new English dialogue track. This may seem impressive on the surface, but I can't help but think that Sony is clutching at a huge bed of straws. I'm getting a general consensus from many gamers that many of the next-gen releases for Sony's new console are lackluster at best. At this rate, Sony will lose control and Nintendo will gladly compete with Microsoft for the top spot.