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Summer Games: 2007 Most Anticipated May 18, 2007 John JCal Callaham |
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Summary: Summer is supposedly a slow time of year for gaming, yet it always has a few hidden games. JCal takes out the "few" and shows us the gems.
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 4 ) |
However for the summer of 2007 an interesting thing has happened. The summer months actually have a number of new major game titles that are scheduled to ship to stores. Perhaps it's because there are so many major games scheduled for release this fall, from Halo 3 to Grand Theft Auto 4 to Super Mario Galaxy to Call of Duty 4 among others. Perhaps publishers are seeing that the competition for shelf space will be extremely tight this fall and as a result games that might normally wait for the fall/holiday shopping season are being released a tad early this year. Or maybe its possible publishers have figured out finally that some people like to stay at home and play games and are frustrated when they go to their local retailer and find nothing new to buy over the summer.
Regardless of the reasons, this summer definitely looks like it will be a bit brighter for gamers when it comes to new releases than in the past. Here at FiringSquad we decided to look at our most anticipated games of the summer (more accurately from between Memorial Day and Labor Day) and came away with a surprisingly lengthy list of over 20 new titles that we want to buy for our long hot season. Before we get to it, we have to remind you that release dates are always subject to change so don't hold us to the ship dates for these titles. This list is made based on our best and most current info on when these games will be released.
Forza Motorsport 2 (late May) Xbox 360 owners get to thumb their noses once again at the Gran Turismo series with this second game in the Microsoft developed and published racing sim series. There lots of cars, lots of customization, cool graphics and a robust multiplayer feature set planned for this Xbox 360 exclusive title. Players will even be able to buy and sell items in the in-game auction feature.
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Shadowrun (late May) Microsoft and developer FASA Studio have generated a lot of chatter (some good, some not) about this controversial multiplayer shooter based on the classic "cyberpunk" pen-and-paper RPG series. However, this game might prove some of the naysayers wrong with its unique take on player classes, weapons and abilities in a mix of tech and magic. Oh, and did we mention it will be the first game that will allow PC and Xbox 360 owners to play each other online? Yep, that's the game.
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| Continued | Page:: ( 2 / 4 ) |
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Hour of Victory (June) Publisher Midway gets into the WWII shooter genre with this Xbox 360 exclusive title that's being developed by nFusion Interactive. This Unreal Engine 3 based title will give players a way to control three very different characters, each with different skills and abilities, as they battle on the front lines to take out the seemingly endless Nazi horde.
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The Darkness (June) 2K Games brings this PS3-Xbox 360 first person horror title to stores this June which was developed by Starbreeze Studios, who previously created the acclaimed action game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. Based on the Top Cow comic book series about a Mafia hit man who can turn into a supernatural beast, this title has already wowed members of the media who have previewed the game's impressive graphics and gameplay.
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Ninja Gaiden Sigma (June) PS3 owners finally get a chance to play with Tecmo's classic ninja action game series this summer but this isn't just a graphical remake of the original Xbox title. PS3 owners also get an new mini-campaign with the player controlling Rachel as well. The game also added support for the PS3 SIXAXIS motion sensing features as well. If you like super tough and challenging games and own a PS3 console this might be worth looking at even if you played the original Xbox version.
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Lost Planet PC (June) While there will be games that will require Windows Vista to be installed on your PC (Halo 2, Shadowrun), Capcom has taken the lead with their upcoming PC port of their Xbox 360 sci-fi action game Lost Planet to bring DirectX10 features to games for the first time. While the game will also run on Windows XP and DirectX9, Lost Planet PC will be the first commercially released title to have support for DirectX10 graphical features out of the box.
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FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage: (June) Bugbear's first two games in their arcade racing series looked great on current gen consoles and had tons of physics interaction. Now Bugbear finally heads to the next-gen consoles with this Xbox 360 version. Expect better graphics, even more crashes and interactions with other cars and the tracks and yes, the ragdoll driver mini-games will be back in force.
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Tomb Raider: Anniversary (June) Lara Croft has been around for over 10 years now and this year its publisher Eidos decided to look back at the game's first edition and give it a graphical remake along with some new stuff. This PC-PS2 title uses the same graphics engine that was used for last year's Tomb Raider Legend so expect some impressive visuals in this title
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Call of Juarez (June) Europeans have had this game for the PC for several months now but developer Techland and publisher UbiSoft finally bring this Wild West shooter to both the PC and Xbox 360 for US gamers this June. Will this game make us forget the great LucasArts title Outlaws? Maybe. Like Lost Planet, this game is scheduled to have a DirectX10 version for the PC although its unclear if the game will have this feature out of the box.
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| More games | Page:: ( 3 / 4 ) |
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Manhunt 2 (July) Rockstar Games has never been driven away from ranting British lawmakers or Florida lawyers and this sequel to their M rated 2004 stealth action game looks like it will once again attack the usual suspects who seem to believe civilization will end if this game heads to stores. This game is being released for the PS2, PSP and oddly enough the Wii and will once again put the player against a world that is actively trying to kill him unless he kills his enemies first with brutal melee kills and sneaking around in the shadows.
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Lair: (July) Sony's PlayStation 3 has taken a beating in both reviews and in sales but Sony hopes to boost PS3 acceptance this summer with the release of Lair, their long awaited third person action game from developer Factor 5 (best known for their work on the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron action game series). This fantasy action game gives the player control of a fire breathing dragon and previews have shown a lot of graphical goodness with detailed dragon models and impressive effects. Will this game make us forget that crappy movie and game Eragon? We hope so.
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Warhawk (August) Here's a game that impressed us a lot when it debuted during Sony's PS3 press conference E3 2005. Since then the concept of this remake of the PS1 futuristic flying game from developer Incog has changed somewhat; it's now a multiplayer only title that will be available both in stores and via download from the PS3 story. It still looks like it will be a fun game, though so we will see if this once major PS3 title will deliver on its promise (an open beta is scheduled to begin this month).
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Stranglehold (August) Midway brings this third person action game to PS3 and Xbox 360 game owners. In essance a sequel to the acclaimed Hong Kong action movie Hard Boiled, this title got input from that movie's director John Woo and features an ton of Woo's signature action themes (slow motion, twin guns blazing, acrobatic moves) into a hard hitting action game with lots of destructible environments.
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Stuntman: Ignition (August) THQ brings the Stuntman franchise to the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles for the first time (along with the PS2) in the latest game in the unique driving action game series. Not only are you racing against the clock in this game you are also trying to impress the unseen movie director with spectacular stunts and events as you go along.
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Gods And Heroes: Rome Rising (August) Perpetual Games has been working on this Greek-Roman mythology based game for some time and it looks like it will finally be released to stores late this summer. This PC MMO title brings some more action based combat to the genre along with god powers (lava flows, lightening and the like) and the ability to control NPC minions in tactical combat.
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| Finality | Page:: ( 4 / 4 ) |
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Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms (August) The Creative Assembly and Sega release this new expansion pack to 2006's best selling historical RTS PC game. This new expansion brings the series to the New World with campaigns in the Americas (both North and South) along with more campaigns set during the The Crusades, the Teutonic Wars and more. Also look for a whopping 150 new units, new multiplayer modes and 20 new maps and lots of other new content.
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BioShock (August) It's possible that the best game of 2007 is being released in late August. Developer Irrational Studios and publisher 2K Games are finally bringing this PC-Xbox 360 first person action-RPG to stores late in the summer as they tell the unusual tale of the player finding an underwater city created by people who wanted to make a utopia but didn't quite do the job. Combining first person action with RPG elements to boost your player's abilities combined with some memorable art design and graphics and BioShock looks like a winner.
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Medal of Honor: Airborne (August) With Call of Duty 4 moving away from their WWII settings, Electronic Arts aims to give players a new take on the WWII shooter genre with this Xbox 360-PS3-PC title. As one might expect from the title, the game puts you in the hands of a parachute task force. Using Unreal Engine 3, the game aims to give the player a non-linear experience; instead of typical levels you will float down onto one large map and begin the game wherever you land.
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Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Summer) While a definitive release date for this game is still up in the air, we are still hopeful that this long awaited sci-fi multiplayer shooter will still be released sometime this summer for the PC. Developers Splash Damage and id Software and publisher Activision have expanded on id's Quake 2 and 4 universe to tell the tale of Earth's first fight with the alien Strogg in this multiplayer oriented fight of weapons, classes, vehicles and other features.
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Guitar Hero: Rocks The 80s: (Summer) While Neversoft is working on the upcoming Guitar Hero III, the game series original developer Harmonix lowers the curtains on their original music game series with this new PS2 entry that will concentrate on the rock and hair bands of the 1980s. Considering that Guitar Hero II for the PS2 and Xbox 360 were massive best sellers for the game's publisher Activision it stands to reason that this new last minute entry will also be flying off store shelves.
June)
So is summer 2007 going to be filled with new games for you or are you waiting for the fall to get your hands on titles like Halo 3, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, GTA IV, Super Mario Galaxy? We will soon see if this rash of major summer games continues to be a trend.