The Week In Games

From sublime hardcore dungeoneering to ridiculous waggle-fests, this week’s roster of new releases runs the full gamut of video game experiences.

UPDATE: Distributor AFA Interactive has just advised that Black Mirror 2, Tropico 3: Absolute Power and The Whispered World have all been delayed and will not release this week.

Demon’s Souls is comfortably my pick of the week. As one of our three games of the year finalists and my own personal #3 pick for 2009, it’s the only title that is indisputably worth your money.

To make up for the fact that it’s been out in Japan for yonks and in North America since late last year, Namco Bandai is only releasing the special Black Phantom Edition in Australia, pictured right with its bonus soundtrack, artbook and strategy guide.

Many of you will have already imported it, however, so are you picking up anything this week?

New releases for the w/c June 21:

Big Beach Sports 2 (Wii)
What Is It? Yet another sports-themed minigame collection for the Wii.
Should You Care? Perfect for the Aussie winter…

Black Mirror 2 (PC)
What Is It? Spooky, supernatural point-and-click adventure.
Should You Care? Solid enough that fans of old-school adventuring won’t complain.

Dance on Broadway (Wii)
What Is It? Waggle-tastic music game featuring tunes from Cabaret, Rocky Horror and Mary Poppins.
Should You Care? Shame Mothers Day has been and gone already.

Demon’s Souls (PS3)
What Is It? Grim, atmospheric action-RPG that rewards like few others if you can face up to its daunting challenge.
Should You Care? As long as you haven’t already imported, that is.

Naughty Bear (360, PS3)
What Is It? Curious free-roaming action-adventure that covers its wickedly violent core in a veneer of fluffy cute.
Should You Care? It’s from the developer of WET and seems to have the same imbalance of style over substance.

Transformers: War for Cybertron (360, PS3, Wii, DS)
What Is It? Third-person shooter starring colourful robots.
Should You Care? Probably the best Transformers game to date, but nothing especially amazing.

Tropico 3: Absolute Power (PC)
What Is It? Expansion pack for the really-quite-good comedy dictator sim.
Should You Care? You can now build garbage dumps on your tropical island.

U-Sing Girls Night (Wii)
What Is It? Karaoke game that earns its name thanks to a tracklist without any male singers whatsoever.
Should You Care? You’ll have to put up with Lady Gaga.

The Whispered World (PC)
What Is It? Melancholic fantasy point-and-click adventure.
Should You Care? Only of interest to genre stalwarts.

Look out for LEGO Harry Potter, Singularity, StarCraft II and Super Mario Galaxy 2 in the coming weeks.

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