New Releases: May 16th-22nd

When volunteering to bring back our New Releases feature last week, I thought I’d gotten myself a cushy little number. My sense of smug satisfaction soon faded when I found out that games are released every single week meaning a tangible amount of effort is needed. This week the games companies have excelled themselves in again releasing something for everyone, whether you’re into your RPGs, fighters or adventurers. If they don’t get your juices flowing then you can run around 1940’s LA shooting people in the face interrogating suspects as you eradicate the criminal underworld to work your way up the police force, or you can even live out your fantasies of becoming a dustbin man, yes really.

Dead or Alive: Dimensions

Platforms: 3DS
Publisher: Tecmo Koei
Developer: Team Ninja

Synopsis: Dead or Alive Dimensions features some of the best content from the series spanning all of the titles from the original DOA up to DOA 4. Fans will be able to relive some of the classic rivalries, storylines and white-knuckle action from the best points in the DOA history. There’s also a ton of new content, so even the most seasoned DOA fan will enjoy fresh material. Players will be able to fight through several modes including classic Arcade and Survival modes as well as new modes like Tag Challenge, Throwdown and more. The fight is back on!

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie

Platforms: DS
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Heartbeat

Following on from the Japanese release last year and the US release earlier this year, European Dragon Quest fans finally get their chance in the remake of the SNES turn-based RPG. You play a hero sent to defeat Murdaw, the Demon lord of Darkness, and will pit your battle across large mystical worlds. Whilst travelling across the lands, explore new towns and wander through dungeons, but look out for the many enemies which will attack you without warning. Whether you attack, defend, cast a spell, use an item or flee, you will need to keep your wits about you and, if successful, you’ll be awarded with valuable experience points. These battles are essential to help you acquire skills, strength and collectable items, including money with which you can buy better equipment.

Fable III

Platforms: PC
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Lionhead

Fable III, following on from last year’s Xbox 360 release it’s now the PCs turn for the latest instalment to the action-packed and critically acclaimed six million selling franchise. Five decades have passed since the events of Fable II, and Albion has matured into an industrial revolution, but the fate of the kingdom is at peril. In Fable III, you will be called upon to rally and fight alongside your people, ascend to the seat of power, and experience the true meaning of love and loss while defending your throne. In your quest to seize power and defend your kingdom, the choices you make will change the world around you, for the greater good or your own personal gain. Who will you become? A rebel without a cause, the tyrant you rebelled against, or the greatest ruler to ever live?

Garbage Truck Simulator

Platforms: PC
Publisher: Excalibur Publishing
Developer: Astragon/Contendo Media

Synopsis: Get behind the steering wheel of one of the many different garbage truck models (incl. Rotopress, Variopress and construction waste trucks) and also on your feet to collect and empty garbage bins on one of the countless tracks in the fictional Urban City. But keep the time schedule.

Your task is not only to collect trash bins, but also to solve special tasks like waste glass containers, contruction waste, toxic waste and more. And you have, of course, to manage your waste utilization company. Not only can you choose the corporate look (color, name, logo etc.), but also you can literally see your company growing. Who’d have thought not shooting people in the face, could be so much fun.

LA Noire

Platforms: PS3, 360
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Team Bondi

Synopsis: Amid the post-war boom of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Cole Phelps is an LAPD detective thrown headfirst into a city drowning in its own success. Corruption is rampant, the drug trade is exploding, and murder rates are at an all-time high. In his fight to climb the ranks and do what’s right, Phelps must unravel the truth behind a string of arson attacks, racketeering conspiracies and brutal murders, battling the L.A. underworld and even members of his own department to uncover a secret that could shake the city to its rotten core.

LA Noire has been on people’s minds for a long time, initially as a PS3 exclusive but during one of the title’s many ‘delays’ ended up being announced as a multi-platform console game. Beyond the gameplay, LA Noire is becoming famous for its motion-capture technology, dubbed MotionScan where in addition to the actors wearing the normal skin-tight suits with glowing balls, their faces are also captured with a rig made up of several HD cameras. This captures the actor’s performance from every angle, which is then combined with the body capture to create a realistic performance in-game. It’s a massive step-up from the sort of character animation and even motion capture seen in videogames prior to this and shows the emotion of characters like never before, this in itself is integral to your investigations and the gameplay.

Nintendo Selects

Platforms: Wii
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo/Next Level Games

The PS3 has its Platinum range and the Xbox 360 has its Classics range, now Nintendo is getting on the back catalogue bandwagon with Nintendo Select. Finally, the three Wii owners in the world who haven’t got Wii Sports will be able to grab a copy at the knock-down price and joining it on the shelves are a smattering of other top selling titles looking to get a second bite of the cherry. Keep your eye out for more in the coming weeks and months ahead.

• Wii Sports
• Warioware: Smooth Moves
• Mario Strikers Charged Football
• Animal Crossing: Lets Go To The City

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

Platforms: PC
Publisher: CD Projekt/Atari (US)
Developer: CD Projekt RED STUDIO

Taking on the role of Geralt, a professional monster slayer who became embroiled in the political turmoil in the Kingdom of Temeria by helping to squash the rebellion undertaken by the Order of the Flaming Rose, and who saved the King’s life by protecting him from a witcher-like assassin. Geralt begins his quest to reveal the identity of a group of assassins responsible for the slaying of rulers across the Northern Kingdoms, to find their connection to witchers, and to discover their motives. His investigation will lead him up the river Pontar into the turbulent borderland between Temeria, Kaedwen and Aedrin, where he will be entangled in a conflict between the most powerful forces of this world.

The second instalment in the RPG saga about the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, features a thoroughly engrossing, mature storyline defining new standards for thought-provoking, non-linear game narration. In addition to an epic story, the game features an original, brutal combat system that uniquely combines tactical elements with dynamic action in a whole new game engine.

Also released this week is Clones, Comet Professional, A New Beginning and Alter Ego for the PC, with the Nintendo DS receiving some love in the form of The Lost Treasures of Alexandria, Junior Mystery Stories and PlayMobil Agents. All of this leads me to ask the obvious question, what will you be camping outside your local gaming emporium to be first in-line to grab this week?

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 and platforms are the official from our sources. Actual release dates in your country may vary to the dates shown above.