Sony have kindly let us know the release dates of three major PSN titles for PAL gamers, and although they’re only rough ‘month’ dates at least we now have some kind of idea when to expect them. Firstly, Pain is due this month, and the additional characters will also start catapulting our way during March. Apparently fast-food restaurant mascot Ed ‘T-Bone’ Haulstein and extreme sports jock Jarvis come with the game – but, once you’re done firing them, you can download latex-gloved nurse Ginger, one-legged pirate Scurv Dogg or his ninja nemesis Hung Lo, surgically-augmented Cookie, air-headed cheerleader Muffy – and a down-and-out Santa.
Then there’s Elefunk, in which you use your construction skills to save elephants from a dangerous fall in this game due in April. Your elephants must traverse 20 levels of ravines, rivers, fire pits and swamps – and they’ll only get across if you build the right structures of metal, wood and rope. It’s real construction with realistic physics and three different game modes: Time Attack – against the clock, Puzzle – with a limited amount of materials and Deconstruction – a multiplayer mode where players have to remove pieces from the structure without causing it to fall.
Finally, expect EchoChrome in May. The concept is simple but revolutionary: manoeuvre a small walking mannequin through a monochrome 3-D maze by revolving the maze to explore different perspectives. Treacherous gaps from one angle can be turned into uninterrupted walkways that allow the character to walk across; sheer drops can be turned into gentle slopes with a twist of your viewpoint. Once you’ve mastered the game’s mind-bending layouts, you can create your own and upload them to PSN for other puzzle-solvers to tackle.