Out This Week: 18/11/2011

This week, thankfully, marks the almost complete stop of brand new games hitting the high streets.  It’s been an incredible couple of months for gaming, what with the likes of Battlefield 3, Skyrim and Modern Warfare 3 pushing out all the stops, not to mention the new Batman and a little something called Uncharted 3.

But here we are, with seven high profile titles hitting the shelves for one last rush.

First up today is EA’s The Run, the latest in the Need For Speed series that takes the game in a completely new direction.  I reviewed this, awarding the game an ‘above average’ 6/10 and suggesting that it’s really a decent rental but probably not worth splashing £40 on.  There’re too many issues, the handling’s weak and the story never really pays off.

[drop2]Fairing much better over on the Wii is Zelda: Skyward Sword which Dan scored a fantastic 9/10.  It sounds like it’s easily one of the best Zelda adventures for some time, with just the ending section dragging out a little bit.  There were similar complaints about Wind Waker, mind, something that I thought was mostly flawless.

First person shooter fans will eat up Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary – another 9/10 and an equally brilliant title.  If you loved the original Xbox game then Anniversary is the same game with a fresh coat of paint; it plays fantastic, looks great (especially with the new skin) and the multiplayer will keep you going for months.

Blair took on the gauntlet of Assassin’s Creed Revelations, which joins the scoring with another 9, saying “Revelations is a brilliant entry into the series and brings so much to the table that it beats not only the other games in the series, but many other games that have released this year or last.”  I’m not really a fan of the series, but apparently this one’s something special.

Finally in terms of reviews, over to our tame fighting game fanatic Isaac with his Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 with his ridiculously comprehensive review.  Scoring an 8, it sounds like a nice upgrade to the first MvC3 title and – whilst hardly a game that interests me particularly – looks great for genre fans.  That’s what it’s all about, right?

Elsewhere THQ’s Saints Row 3 is released.  TheSixthAxis didn’t get review code for this from the publisher (for whatever reason) so we’ve no idea what it’s like.  We did get LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 though, and we’ll get a review of that up as soon as possible.

Finally, you absolutely need to get Super Mario 3D Land from Nintendo.  I’ve been playing this non-stop since Monday and only The Run got in the way of a full review.  If you don’t have a 3DS, now’s the time to get one, it’s utterly brilliant and potentially the best game released this year.  Hyperbole?  Sure, but it really is that good.

Until next week…