The games of August 2010

AUGUST 17

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Platforms: 360, PS3, PC
EU release: August 20

Yeah, the first one didn't go over so well. But this sequel to 2007's most controversial game has enough fresh and interesting ideas in store that we're willing to give the titular criminals another chance. Switching the main protagonist to Lynch – the crazier, uglier, scarier and more prone to fourth wall-breaking hallucinations of the two – might have been the developers' smartest move, but we're also eager to experience their documentary-style attempt at realism. The game plays out in real-time, the camera shakes and jitters as if held by an amateur filmmaker, image quality occasionally breaks down in a visual manner akin to YouTube and particularly gory violence (like headshots) is censored with blurry, hastily added pixel blocks.

Could be cool, or could grow tiresome… either way, at least we'll be judging the product and not the controversy.

City of Heroes: Going Rogue

Platform: PC
EU release: TBA

This massive expansion of NCSoft’s mega-successful superhero online game grafts on a topsy-turvy mirror universe named Praetoria, in which most of the main characters’ roles are reversed. For example, Praetoria’s version of CoH’s noble Captain America-alike, the Statesman, is a ruthless tyrant known as Emperor Cole. And one of our first jobs for him was to assassinate a rebel leader named Belladonna – known in the normal CoH timeline as undead archvillain, Ghost Widow.

The missions are filled with moral choices (defuse the bomb and let the enemy escape, or run him down and let the bomb wipe out civilians? Join the rebellion, or stay loyal to a corrupt government?) which adds gravitas. Add all that to a wealth of smaller tweaks and additions, such as elementally-themed ammo for your dual pistols and neutral NPCs who won’t attack unless you do, make this the most intriguing CoH add-on since 2005’s City of Villains.

Ys Seven

Platform: PSP
EU release: TBA

Ys has never really had a moment in the spotlight in the US. If it were ever popular, it was back in the early ‘90s, and on the Turbo Duo. So yeah, not the biggest draw. 2005’s Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim was a competent throwback to simpler times (and had a bitchin’ opening song) and kept the action-RPG series alive for a bit longer, leading us to Ys Seven, a fairly similar sequel that enables you to switch between characters and set attack parameters for your AI buddies.

To be straight, Ys is a dead-simple series, but it’s almost like Dragon Quest in a way, refusing to grow up while managing to hang on to the old-school charm that other series lose as they adjust to the 21st century. Hey, at the very least it’s gonna have a bad ass soundtrack.

Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar

Platform: DS
EU release: TBA

OK, so, this is more or less the same “build an adorable farm” game you’ve either played or avoided for years. Till the soil, milk the cows, mingle with your neighbors, generally live a wholesome frontier life – that’s the goal. But now there’s a big ol’ place to share and sell your wares (the Grand Bazaar, naturally) and that’s warranted an entirely new release. That’d bring the total to FIVE Harvest Moons for the DS, by the way.

AUGUST 18

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Platform: XBLA
EU release: TBA

Conspicuously (and intentionally) lacking the Tomb Raider moniker, Lara Croft’s new adventure won’t play anything like previous entries. It’s an isometric, almost Diablo-esque co-op puzzler/shooter. There’s a huge emphasis on working with your partner – Lara’s buddy being Totec, an Aztec/Maya-looking warrior. It’s played twin-stick style, with the action being fast and arcadey but punctuated with quiet puzzle moments.

While the game will function as casual, pick-up-and-shoot fun, it will also cater to the hardcore with tons of Achievements/Trophies to chase, as well as multiple solutions and pathways that can be taken to complete levels. Choices of paths are designed to reward creative or observant play – you’ll get nice goodies for finding the lesser-known route through an area. The Guardian of Light has quite the appealing look to it, with wonderfully detailed tombs that look absolutely ripe for raiding.

This Xbox Live Arcade version is the first to arrive; expect PSN and PC to follow in September.