Out This Week - 26/08/11
Deus Ex! Tropico! Inazuma! Rugby!
Credit to plucky Xenoblade Chronicles for managing to foist its niche fantasy fun into the charts, marking the end of a largely stagnant summer.
This week, Deus Ex: Human Revolution arrives to finally see off the annual games drought for good.
Away from the amber-tinted future and into the rose-tinted past, PC gamers get Tropico 4, the latest sim set in the Communist-era Caribbean dictatorship.
Players can pull the puppet strings of their own palm tree-filled paradise, balancing internal politics and sweat shop populations. New features include additional world superpowers and enhanced natural disasters. An Xbox 360 version arrives mid-September.
Also this week? Celebrate the World Cup - the one we actually have a shot at winning - with Rugby World Cup 2011. It's helmed by Rugby '08 creator HB Studios.
Footy fans - there's no need to despair. DS anime RPG oddity Inazuma Football finally arrives in Europe - it's a cross between PES and Pokémon. The 3DS gets Namco compilation Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions, with new versions of each for the console's third dimension.
Available to download? Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike arrives on XBLA and PSN - it's a beefed up version of the 1997 Arcade hit. It's also the first game in Sony's PlayStation Network Play promotion - buy it from Sony's store and you'll get a code to unlock Gill without having to complete the game.
Xbox 360 owners get Black Ops: Rezurrection, the latest Call of Duty expansion pack, which is entirely zombie mode maps. Hardened and Prestige edition owners get the add-on free, although PS3 and PC players must wait a month.
This Week in Shops!
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Developer: Eidos Montreal
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Formats: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
What is it? Futuristic action exploring the moral consequences and conspiracies surrounding new human augmentation technology. What does Eurogamer think? "It just wants to be played with and enjoyed - and when you finish, you just want to play with it again," wrote an impressed Tom Bramwell in Eurogamer's Deus Ex: Human Revolution review, awarding a hearty 9/10.
Tropico 4
- Developer: Haemimont Games
- Publisher: Kalypso Media
- Formats: PC
What is it? Build your own banana republic! Will you be a cheery Chavez or glowering Gaddafi? It's your call. What does Eurogamer think? Eurogamer's review will be published Friday, 9am.
What Else?
- Inazuma Eleven (DS)
- Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions (3DS)
- Rugby World Cup 2011 (PS3, Xbox 360)
- Hole in The Wall (XBLA)
- Street Fighter III 3rd Strike (XBLA, PSN)
- Crazy Machines Elements (XBLA)
- Agarest: Generations Of War (PS3)
- Super Meat Boy Ultra Edition (PC)
- 1001 Touch Games (DS)
- Gargoyle's Quest (3DS)
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).
Oli Welsh, Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net
"Zumba's reign is certain to come to an end this week - and this time, it'll probably stay down, as Deus Ex: Human Revolution fires the starter's gun on high season. It's games, games, games right the way through to mid-November now. That said, I don't think there's this week much to trouble the rest of the top five - Tropico 4 has its fans, but they'll download it, while Inazuma Eleven and Agarest are the definition of niche. I think Ocarina of Time will be getting comfortable in the top 10 now the 3DS price has been cut."
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Zumba Fitness
- Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
- Cars 2
- Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Last week, Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer Robert Purchese attempted to peer through the fog of the future. How well did he do?
| Position | The Truth | The Prediction | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zumba Fitness | Zumba Fitness | YES! |
| 2 | Lego Pirates | FIFA 11 | NO! |
| 3 | Cars 2 | Lego Pirates | NO! |
| 4 | Zelda: OOT 3D | Cars 2 | NO! |
| 5 | FIFA 11 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two | MUST TRY HARDER. |
Your Chart Predictions
Last week we asked where Wii role-player Xenoblade Chronicles would sit in the chart this week. A hopeful/naive 10 per cent of you guessed in the top spot. Crazy! The majority - 58 per cent - thought it wouldn't muster a top 10 placing. Happily you were wrong! It managed seventh place - meaning 24 per cent of you were correct. Pat yourselves on the back.
This week it's the turn of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and your chance to win our text-based praise right here in seven days. Where will it place in next week's chart? Will Zumba finally be seen off? You decide.