Out This Week - 16/09/11
Trackmania! Gunstringer! God of War! Splinter Cell!
With the season's initial surge of big hitters - the likes of Deus Ex, Driver and Space Marine - already nestled in the charts, it's time to take a breather.
In a week that was originally set to see id shooter Rage finally unleashed upon the world comes a curious collection of software sheltering between launches of meatier titles.
Ambitious online racer Trackmania 2 goes live on Wednesday: part gravity-defying speedster, part intricate level creator. The first instalment, Canyon, is set amongst dusty mesas and windswept gorges. Later releases will add more environments - the next is to be named Valley.
After last week's shaky Rise of Nightmares, Kinect owners get The Gunstringer. Players must direct a skeletal cowboy puppet across the game's stage in one hand, aiming his bandit-shooting pistol with another.
Xbox 360 owners get to pull the strings of PC dictator sim Tropico 4 while PlayStation 3 gamers can relive HD versions of the PSP's God of War games and the PS2's Splinter Cell Trilogy.
For download this week? Treasure's bullet hell arcade title Radiant Silvergun fires onto XBLA with co-op play, snazzier visuals and achievements, while Just Cause dev Avalanche Studios releases Renegade Ops for PC, PSN and XBLA - it's a top-down vehicular shooter. PSN also gets Eric Chahi's wonderful god game From Dust. Even the Wii gets a look in with pricy downloadable racer MotoHeroz from Trials outfit RedLynx.
This Week in Shops!
Trackmania 2: Canyon
- Developer: Nadeo
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Formats: PC
What is it? The first slice of dizzying online racing and track creation sequel Trackmania 2. What does Eurogamer think? Stand by for the Eurogamer verdict after servers go live on Wednesday.
The Gunstringer
- Developer: Twisted Pixel Games
- Publisher: Microsoft
- Formats: Xbox 360 (requires Kinect)
What is it? Kinect cowboy shooter starring the 'Splosion Man dev's new motion-controlled marionette. The deal is sweetened with vouchers for free day-one DLC Wavy Tube Man Chronicles and a copy of Kinect XBLA title Fruit Ninja Kinect. What does Eurogamer think? A Eurogamer review is in the works.
God of War Collection Vol. 2
- Developer: Ready At Dawn
- Publisher: Sony
- Formats: PS3
What is it? An HD remake of PSP God of War titles Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta for PS3. What does Eurogamer think? Dan Whitehead dished out an 8/10 in Eurogamer's God of War Collection Vol. 2 review, deciding it was "a worthwhile, if never quite spectacular, update to the Kratos canon."
Splinter Cell Trilogy
- Developer: Ubisoft
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Formats: PS3
What is it? PS2 versions of Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory packaged together for PS3. What does Eurogamer think? "They're still great games, but they're not great ports," Chris Donlan concluded, scoring Splinter Cell Trilogy 7/10.
What Else?
- Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad (PC)
- Tropico 4 (Xbox 360)
- Radiant Silvergun (XBLA)
- Bleach: Soul Resurrección (PS3)
- Renegade Ops (PC, PSN, XBLA)
- Men of War: Vietnam (PC)
- MotoHeroz (WiiWare)
- From Dust (PSN)
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 16th September (to be reported on Monday 19th September).
Robert Purchese, Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net
"How did Dead Island get to the top? Was it those naughty Feminist Whore headlines? They do say that no press is bad press... And I audaciously predict that Dead Island will be top again next week. But that's because there's not really anything to challenge it. None of the newcomers will disturb the very top of the pile, although they'll perform admirably in their own rights. That leaves a reshuffle of what's already there. Oh and keep an eye out for Rugby World Cup 2011, which will gain momentum as the now under way real-life Rugby World Cup captures imaginations."
- Dead Island
- W40K: Space Marine
- Driver: San Francisco
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Rugby World Cup 2011
Last week, Eurogamer's reviews editor Oli Welsh attempted to glimpse the future. How well didn't he do? Our fancy table below holds the results:
| Position | The Truth | The Prediction | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dead Island | Resistance 3 | NO! |
| 2 | W40K: Space Marine | Deus Ex: Human Revolution | NO! |
| 3 | Driver: San Francisco | W40K: Space Marine | NO! |
| 4 | Resistance 3 | Dead Island | NO! |
| 5 | Deus Ex: Human Revolution | Starfox 64 3D | NOT AT ALL! |
Your Chart Predictions
Seven days ago we polled your preference for this week's chart top spot. 47 per cent of you agreed with our own Oli that PS3 exclusive Resistance 3 would waltz home the winner! Alas, this was not the case, and the 26 per cent of you who deemed Dead Island fit for the top spot were indeed proven correct.
Next week, it's the turn of Kinect title The Gunstringer - where will the skeletal shooter land?