Out This Week - 02/09/11

This week sees the return of a long-running racing series, pitted against the birth of a new shooter IP.

How do you keep an old franchise fresh? Driver: San Francisco's unique Shift feature is a start - it allows players to pop from one car to another, possessing whoever's behind the wheel. It removes the need for any on-foot sections, much maligned in Driver 3.

How do you attract gamers to yet another new first-person shooter? This week UK outfit Codemasters will throw its hat into the ring with Bodycount - wisely launching well clear of the forthcoming Battlefield vs. Call of Duty bloodbath.

Need a quick shooter fix before the big guns launch? Bodycount is full of destructible non-brown environments and a kill-rewarding points structure based on skill - similar to Epic's Bulletstorm.

Meanwhile, 3DS gamers get Driver: Renegade 3D. It's an entirely separate game to San Francisco, although the series' mission-based gameplay and love of yellow vehicles remains.

Available to download this week? Hothead hero DeathSpank gets another airing in new threequel The Baconing. Side-scrolling indie Serious Sam spin-off Double D launches on PC, while the original Mortal Kombat arcade trilogy arrives as an HD "Kollection" with the requisite new leaderboards and achievements.

This Week in Shops!

Driver: San Francisco

• Developer: Ubisoft Reflections
• Publisher: Ubisoft
• Formats: PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360

What is it? A sandbox full of San Francisco streets to explore by car. What does Eurogamer think? "In Reflection's best work since the Driver series began, it's managed to tame the ridiculous and conjure something quite sublime," Martin Robinson wrote in our Driver: San Francisco review, awarding the game an 8/10.

Bodycount

• Developer: Codemasters Guildford
• Publisher: Codemasters
• Formats: PS3, Xbox 360

What is it? Environment-shredding shooter and spiritual successor to Criterion's Black. What does Eurogamer think? Eurogamer's review will be published later this week.

What Else?

• Champion Jockey (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Driver: Renegade (3DS)
• We Dance (Wii)
• Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection (PSN, XBLA)
• The Baconing (PSN, XBLA)
• Rock of Ages (XBLA)
• Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon (XBLA)
• Serious Sam Double D (PC)

Chart Predictions!

Each week one of the team will step up to predict the UK all-formats chart. The following predicts the outcome for the week beginning Friday 26th August (to be reported on Monday 29th August).

Fred Dutton, US News Editor, Eurogamer.net

"Driver: San Francisco should just about see off Deus Ex: Human Revolution this week, as we finally start to see some fresh content appearing in the top five after a long, stagnant summer. And what of Codemaster's Bodycount FPS? The buzz on this one has been pretty quiet but the shooter-hungry UK market should see it scrape a top five finish. Elsewhere, I'm pegging perennial chart-hogs Zumba Fitness and Lego Pirates to make up the numbers."

1. Driver: San Francisco
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
3. Zumba Fitness
4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
5. Bodycount

Last week, Eurogamer's Review Editor Oli Welsh attempted to glimpse the future. How well did he do? Our fancy table below holds the answers:

Your Chart Predictions

Last week we asked you where orange-tinted post-human stealthathon Deus Ex: Human Revolution would sneak into the charts. A resounding majority of 72 per cent guessed in top place - which was absolutely correct. 20 per cent doubted its wiles, thereby expecting Zumba Fitness to prevail - shame on you.

This week it's the turn of Driver: San Francisco, and your chance to win a word-based reward right here in seven days. Where will it place in next week's chart? Will it topple Deus Ex? You decide.