New PAL Releases Roundup - 13/03/2009

Did you know that Chris Redfield is a gay icon? Apparently so. Outnumbered by gay friends in the pub last night, I was expressing my belief that Sheva's unlockable leopard-print bikini outfit is perhaps a step too far, only to be told that at least one of them is trying to coax a downloadable Redfield Speedo out of Capcom. What a thought.

What a game, too. It might be awkward to play on your own, and the lack of puzzles is saddening, but there's nothing quite like fighting your way through hordes of very dangerous (albeit stupid) enemies with limited weapons and ammo, upgrading and restocking weapons between levels and griefing Kristan in co-op (why break the habit of a lifetime). It may only be worth 7/10 in our eyes, but Resident Evil 5 can still be wonderful. It's certainly the most exciting thing on the shelves this week.

Possibly, anyway. Because if you've been following Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series than your feet may be carrying you to a completely different bit of the shop - in search of Persona 4 on PS2. Yep, 2! A bonkers blend of role-playing game and dating simulation, complete with its own openly gay character now I come to think of it, it's massive, replayable and reviewed next week once we've battled far enough through it.

Finally, also worth mentioning this week is SOCOM Confrontation from Sony, not least because it's a bit of an unknown quantity. The US release late last year was savaged, but largely on account of its many, many bugs. The European version enjoys the benefit of multiple patches, including a big one from around the start of the year. Will it make a difference? We're making sure to test it out on the European servers this week and over the weekend to find out, so check in on Monday for a verdict.

This week:

• Bleach: Dark Souls (DS)
• BrainTraining for Dummies (PC)
• Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force (DS)
• Codename Panzers: Cold War (PC)
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising (PC - digital download)
• Crystal Defenders (Xbox Live Arcade)
• Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry (DS)
• EVE Online (PC - boxed release)
• Family Table Tennis (WiiWare)
• Job Island: Hard Working People (Wii)
• Jungle Speed (WiiWare)
• Millennium Series Championship Paintball 2009 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii)
• Monster Jam Urban Assault (Wii, PSP, DS, PS2)
• MySims Party (Wii, DS)
• Peggle (Xbox Live Arcade)
• Poker for Dummies (PC)
• Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (DS)
• Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Secret Service (Xbox 360, PS2, PC)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PS2)
• SOCOM Confrontation (PS3)
• Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii)
• Suikoden - Tierkreis (DS)
• Travel Games for Dummies (DS)
• Trivial Pursuit (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2)
• World in Conflict: Complete Edition (PC)