September 10 (cont'd)
Puppeteer
Think you've had a traumatic childhood? Try being decapitated by an evil Moon Bear King and thrown out with the castle garbage. Such is the fate that befalls Kutaro, star of SCE Japan's Puppeteer, who finds himself reborn as a wooden puppet and forced to collect strange heads to find his way home and exact revenge. Luckily for Kutaro, he also has a set of magical scissors and a ghost cat to even the odds, but still, not a great way to spend your wonder years.
Swapping heads will form the bulk of the Puppeteer's gameplay, with each noggin allowing players to perform new abilities, suss out secrets, or face specific enemies. The environments will also adopt a 'puppet theater' vibe with levels transforming on the fly. Combined, The Puppeteer's dark tones and unique visuals make it one of the more innovative platformers we've seen, even if it cribs some of the style from LittleBigPlanet (not that it's a bad thing). Watch us stick our own necks out in our Puppeteer preview.
The Sims 3: Movie Stuff
Platforms: PC, Mac
EU: September 12
Get it from Amazon: PC (Physical)
Live the Hollywood dream in this add-on pack for the Sims 3. Movie Stuff will let players play make-believe with a host of new costumes, sets, and decor items. Features of the expansion include the ability to dress up as a superhero or supervillain and create your very own hideout, dabble in classic horror tropes, or pull on some chaps and recreate a a cliche Tinseltown westerns. Tons of items, furniture, and costumes will be available to play out both fantasies in full, along with loads of other creepy, heroic, and daring personalized items.
Movie Stuff is the ninth and final expansion for Sims 3. Prepare to do it all again in Sims 4, coming to PC and Mac in 2014.
September 11
DuckTales: Remastered
Platform: Xbox 360
WayForward Technologies' DuckTales remake is charting a course for the Xbox Live Marketplace this month. Already out for PS3 and PC, Ducktales Remastered sees Scrooge McDuck pogo-jumping his way through exotic locales in search of rare treasure. Fans of the 1990 NES original will find plenty to love in this upgraded version, including new levels and animated cinematics, as well as gameplay tweaks and challenge modes that will appeal to players of all ages.
We found DuckTales to be a retro revival done right. Read why we're smitten with Scrooge's return in our DuckTales: Remastered review.
September 12
ArmA 3
Platform: Xbox 360
Get it from Steam: PC (Download)
Wade into your own military sandbox with the return of the ArmA franchise. Taking place in the not-so-distant future, Bohemia Interactive's open-world tactical shooter will drop players into the middle of the Aegean islands, where they will be forced to go 'lone wolf' after a botched NATO operation.
ArmA III has been available to players in demo forms since March 2013. As of August 2013, the studio claims it will launch this month with, “the large open terrains of 'Altis' (270 km) and 'Stratis' (20 km), 12 singleplayer showcases, 3 faction showcases, 9 multiplayer scenarios, 10 firing drill challenges, more than 20 vehicles and 40 weapons, 5 factions, the scenario editor and modding support”.
Empire: Total War Gold Edition
Platform: Mac
Get it from Amazon: Mac (Download)
The extra shiny edition of Empire: Total War makes its way to Mac this September. Like the 2009 original, Empire: Total War gives strategist the chance to lead one of twelve nations into glory through real-time battles, high seas conflicts, and backroom politicking.
The Mac edition of Empire Total War: Gold Edition will storm the Apple shores with all available game updates and DLC, including the Warpath Campaign and its four unit packs, the Elite Units of the East, West, and America; and the Special Forces Units. Are you prepared for total war? Find out in our Empire: Total War review for PC.
September 13
The King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition
Platform: PC
Fight for honor, freedom, and just for the hell of it in this steamy re-release of SNK Playmore's 2D fighter. Arriving for PCs via Valve's digital distribution service, The King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition brings the entire console experience back for another round of animated mayhem, along with extras like new background stories, DLC characters, and other goodies.
The King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition will introduce an enhanced online features, as well as three modes of online versus play: Ranked Match, Player Match, and Friend Match. The download will also include new profile customization options to take The King of Fighters XIII to the next level.
