New Releases 15th – 21st March

We hope you’re sitting down, because this shit is about to get real. After three weeks of monumental releases that have probably sent your wallet weeping uncontrollably into the corner (Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy XIII and Battlefield Bad Company 2), this week sees the hammer blow finally fall. In fact, we’re fairly confident that this week’s megaton will not only complete your journey into gaming nirvana, but likely send you spirally into a coma until gaming’s next lucrative season – the end of year holiday period. Kratos is back, and he’d like to have a word.

Enjoy it, as after God of War III there’s only one really big title left due for release in March. We’ll let you debate what it is in the comments below, but we’ll help a little by giving you a hint: it’s not Deadly Premonition.

Wednesday:

Perfect Dark

Release date: March 17th
Platforms: 360
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: 4J Studios (port) / Rare (original)

Synopsis: Lauded as one of the best FPSs of its time, Perfect Dark has earned its place in the annals of gaming history. A sci-fi tale of two warring alien factions, main protagonist Joanna Dark featured once again in the 360 launch title Perfect Dark Zero. Unfortunately, Zero failed to receive its precursor’s vaulted reception, though it was still viewed as a very strong game in its own right. Back to the original, and ten years after Perfect Dark’s N64 debut, 4J Studios are rejuvenating the classic as an XBL title. Expect upgrades to graphics and frame-rate along with some awesome local multiplayer and an eight-player online mode.

Thursday:

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening

Release date: March 18th
Platforms: PS3 / 360
Publisher: EA
Developer: BioWare

Synopsis: In the first official expansion pack for BioWare’s popular Dragon Age: Origins, players can choose to import their original character or start afresh as a Warden from Orlais with a whole new back-story. New spells, new content, and all set in Amaranthine featuring a story that focuses on the origins (see what I did there?) of the darkspawn.

Awakening is also interesting in that it is only available via DLC on the PS3 in Europe (there’s a disc based version for the PS3 in NA, and all options are available to 360 fans no matter where they are in the world). This caused some confusion among the PS3 throng when it was announced, so I looked into it a little and, apparently, SCEE will only allow expansion packs to be disc-based or DLC, but not both. Yeah, we have no idea either.

Friday:

Metro 2033

Release date:  March 19th
Platforms: 360
Publisher: THQ
Developer: 4A Games

Synopsis: Once also planned for the PS3, 4A Games have since come out and explained that, despite building the game first on Sony’s platform in an effort to get their heads around the tech, Dmitry Glukhovsky‘s bleak post-apocalyptic tale of life under the streets of Moscow will only be released on PC and 360.

Expect no HUD and a slower pace than most FPSs, mostly due to the source of the material which lends to a more gradual experience. Players will be able to venture “up top” as long as gas masks are worn, though most of the action takes place in the titular underground system.

Something you shouldn’t expect to see is multiplayer, with 4A Games stating that they wanted to focus on a strong single-player story rather than fragment their resources and try to pin on some online action. Graphically the game is a treat, with its lighting and particle effects in particular rivaling the likes of Killzone 2.

Moto GP 09/10

Release date: March 19th
Platforms: PS3 / 360
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Monumental Games

Synopsis: One for the petrol-heads, Moto GP 09/10 features all the usual thrills and spills of the fast and dangerous two-wheeled racing sport. Players can race in 125cc, 250cc and the MotoGP championships as they showboat and slipstream their way to bigger Reputation Points. The more points you have, the more attractive you are to the best engineers, managers and sponsors etc. As long as you get a few hundred points for misjudging a chicane and then flying over the handlebars into full-body traction and/or the grandstands, we’ll be happy.

Supreme Commander 2

Release date: March 19th
Platforms: 360
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Gas Powered Games

Synopsis: An RTS follow-up to the popular original Supreme Commander, expect the usual resource gathering, monstrous building construction and prodigious army commissioning before tackling an opponent who has been busily doing the same. The game has been out on the PC for a few weeks now and has gotten some favourable reviews (79% on Metacritic). Fans, however, are apparently a little displeased that the difficulty of the sequel has been reined in a little, a practice the developer may have introduced as a way of making the game appear more amenable to newcomers. When will they learn? They whole idea of an RTS is that you need a degree in quantum physics to be any good at them. That and the patience of a saint.

God of War III

Release date: March 19th
Platforms: PS3
Publisher: SCE
Developer: Santa Monica Studio

Synopsis: God of War III needs no introduction. In fact, God of War III doesn’t even need to be on this list considering you’re all going to buy it, love it, and then lament the fact that there’ll be no more Kratos for the foreseeable future. One of Sony’s vanguard titles this year in the perpetual Everything You Can Do We Can Do With Flames Coming Out Of Our Eyes contest with Microsoft, our review should give you a good understanding of just how epic this game is. Kratos has now taken his place as a legendary gaming icon; a symbol of hope that what we’re seeing now from Santa Monica Studios is just the start of what other developers will soon be leveraging from the PS3. In many ways God of War III is not just a game to be enjoyed, it also represents an ideal – a paragon even – a shiny new benchmark other creative people in the industry, artists and designers who pride themselves on pushing themselves and the hardware they work on, to new and greater things. Look at what they have created. And tremble.

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Finally, and for reasons best known only to wizened sages and the higher echelons of the Illuminati, getting accurate game release information these days is like predicting the weather a year from now – on Mars. Whether it’s the fragmented nature of the gaming industry or simply because, unlike the film industry, its gaming comparison has physical product that needs to be shipped to stores, dates are constantly shrouded in mystery and obfuscation. Case in point: you may see some stores say BlazBlue Calamity Trigger is out this Friday. It might be. We, however, are going on this, the publisher’s own website which clearly states the 26th of March as its release date. So, expect it to appear in next week’s New Releases entry. Or, if we’re wrong, to magically (and quite sneakily) get retrofitted into this one.

You can buy all these games and help TSA by visiting our TSA Store.

Please note: while every attempt is made to get both the dates accurate and every applicable game included, we are not infallible and mistakes will be made. Feel free to mention any omissions or corrections in the comments below. We’ll endeavour to correct the above and even thank you personally. We’re good like that. Finally, all dates are the official EU dates. Actual release dates in your country may vary to the dates shown above.