Barren landscape

>> Slim but worthy pickings to help you beat Seasonal Affective Disorder to a pulp

FREE-ROAMING ACTION: Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

by ERIK LEIJON

Highly anticipated titles that didn’t make their fourth quarter deadlines. Nondescript games the marketing departments assumed would be slaughtered during the competitive holiday season. Mysterious packages with flashy box art potentially worthy of that Best Buy gift certificate your aunt got you.

That essentially sums up the new games of winter 2008, a time when the industry is typically as barren as the vast frozen tundra.

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (Wii, PS2, PSP/Capcom) From the makers of the hit legal series for the DS, Phoenix Wright, the cartoon that deftly mixes stoner Adult Swim comedy and old Hanna-Barbera characters is entering the video game universe in the proper hands. The original voices and writers were involved in the project as well, so hopefully this is a better Adult Swim crossover than the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie. ETA: Jan. 8

Endless Ocean (Wii/Nintendo) Consider this first-person ocean exploration title to be a major test in determining just how varied the Wii’s clientele really is. Endless Ocean isn’t a game per se, rather an interactive episode of The Nature of Things, minus the doomsday prophesies. A game devoted to discovering aquatic life sounds educational, so it might be a tough sell despite the innovative concept. ETA: Jan. 21

Conflict: Denied Ops (X360, PS3, PC/Eidos) Conflict is a convoluted, less-able cousin to the Sony SOCOM series, and that’s being kind. Admittedly, I had fun playing Conflict: Desert Storm a few years back, despite the sticky and poorly conceived control scheme—at least as much as any of the other cookie-cutter war shooters out there. ETA: Feb. 12

MACABRE SPORT: The Club

Lost Odyssey (X360/Microsoft) Blue Dragon was an overly hyped role-playing adventure game that died on impact when it came out in 2007. It was developed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, so it was sad to see the game exit the landscape with nary a whimper. Lost Odyssey represents his second kick at the can, and if the enthusiasm of the Japanese marketplace is an indicator of success, this 1,000-year tale of magic, epic battles and romance should be a bigger hit. ETA: Feb. 12

The Club (PS3, X360, PC/Sega) This oft-delayed macabre action game about hardened criminals killing each other for sport promises to be much more than your typical blood bath. Developed by the creators of Project Gotham Racing, The Club emphasizes quick-paced levels, unrealistic amounts of violence and the pursuit of high scores. ETA: Feb. 19

God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP/Sony) As the world waits with bated breath for an eventual God of War on the Playstation 3, Chains of Olympus shall be an able stopgap, as well as a reason to dust off the PSP (I recommend a single wipe from a micro-fibre cloth) and unleash our inner chauvinistic immortal killing machine. A completely new storyline and not a rehash of the two previous GoW games. ETA: March 4

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (X360, PS3, PC, PS2/Electronic Arts) The original Mercenaries was aptly titled Playground of Destruction, since this free-roaming action game left no piece of Korean real estate left standing. Developed again by Pandemic and taking place in Venezuela, this time the goal is to capture the sweet crude in addition to turning the country into a burning wasteland. The game has already been condemned by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but I’ll leave the political outrage to our more vigilant readers. ETA: Apr. 8

Devil May Cry 4 (PS3, X360/Capcom) and Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii/Nintendo) will be hitting the streets on Feb. 5 and Feb. 10, respectively. Both are the next-gen debuts for the venerable franchises.