Quality console time

Sequels are your best winter wagers

STILL SCRAPPING: Street Fighter IV

by ERIK LEIJON

Every year, the post-holiday haul of new video games seems to improve ever so incrementally. It likely has something to do with more modest publishers watching their unheralded games pushed aside by the most massive of blockbuster sequels. Amid the frigid cold of winter 2009, though, a weary gaming community just getting over their Christmas bounty have more free time to play and a dearth of new titles compared to the more lucrative holiday season. Except for these potential gems, of course.

The best kinds of games—during a time when the thought of more snow shovelling is enough to keep a cold body affixed to the couch—are the ones that don’t require getting up at all. Provided you already have a copy of 2008 smash hit Grand Theft Auto IV for the Microsoft XBox 360, The Lost and the Damned (Rockstar) will be the first downloadable episode available exclusively from XBox Live. In this new add-on to the game, players can helm Liberty City biker gang member Johnny Klebitz, whose story packs all-new missions and a new flavour into the digital New York City doppelganger.

Take two

Unlike The Lost and the Damned, most of the big releases in the new year are not exclusive to one console. The long awaited sequel to the criminally underrated skateboarding sandbox sim Skate will be manualing and grinding its away onto the XBox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 later this month. Skate 2 (EA) isn’t some unrealistic Tony Hawk Pro Skater-style romp, but rather a simulation-based experience delivered from a unique low-to-the-skater camera perspective. Skate was a tough game to get into, but ultimately one of the most addictive titles from the new, more artsy EA line-up.

Available in demo form during last November’s Arcadia, PC/X360/PS3 title F.E.A.R. 2:

Project Origin (Warner) is the follow-up to the 2005 paranormal and spooky first-person shooter. F.E.A.R. 2 will have more destructible environments, yet will have a parallel story to the first game so it should appease those who still experience nightmares concerning ever-present antagonist Alma.

Since we’re talking about sequels, Godfather II (EA) is the sequel to the game adapted from the classic 1972 film—and as one might expect, the PC/X360/PS3 title is based on the equally famous movie sequel. Let’s just hope they don’t try for a Godfather III video game.

JOHNNY KLEBITZ AT LARGE: The Lost and the Damned

Taking it to the streets

Sequel talk is unavoidable in the gaming world, but it would be criminal to not include Street Fighter IV (Capcom), the latest in the classic coin-op fighting game series. Although graphically making the transition to 3D (we’ll disregard non-canonical projects for a minute) SFIV still plays in two dimensions. And instead of the eclectic lineup featured in SF3, all the most recognizable brawlers will be starring here. The X360 and PS3 versions will have more characters such as Dan, Sakura and Cammy, but there’s no substitute for playing at an arcade cabinet. If only such a thing were possible around these parts.

As for original IP’s, the oft-delayed and secretive 60’s San Francisco action crime tale Hei$t (Codemasters) could provide a fresh take on the oft-emulated GTA sandbox style of gameplay. Hei$t is being developed by the same comedically warped minds that brought us the Bard’s Tale remake. So I might be the only Montrealer who dreams of one day becoming a Major League Baseball general manager, so I’ll gladly take my copy of the highly sim-oriented PC/X360/PS3 title MLB Front Office Manager (2K) and yearn by my lonesome.

As far as interesting adaptations go, Neil Gaiman’s film Coraline (D3P) will be released in game form on the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2 and Nintendo DS systems. Wii owners looking for a more mature experience can try The House of the Dead: Overkill (Sega), an especially gory take on the popular classic rail shooter. Here’s also hoping Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Eidos) finally hits XBox 360 sometime soon. The acclaimed MMO is already available on PC.