Summer Hits: Disc-Based Edition

Ah, the summer.  The months most looked forward to by students, teachers, swimmers, beach goers, gamers...

This is normal summer gaming, right?
Oh you mean I actually should go outside?
Nahhhh.

Well, not necessarily gamers.  While it'll be nice to be able to play games with my windows open again, the summer always brings with it a drought of quality games.  What should you be waiting for anxiously?  I'm going to break it down for you, and show you just what you have to look forward to, as all hope should not be lost!


April 17th:  Witcher 2: Assassination of Kings (X360)

Oh, did I mention that the game is absolutely gorgeous? 

Finally console gamers are starting to get some love on the Witcher 2 front.  The game released on pc in May of 2011 to excellent reviews across the board, and is being ported to the Xbox360 April 17th.  With a massive story such as this based on the best selling book series of the same name, this should keep your controller hands happy for a decent chunk of this game-dry summer!

April 27th:  Prototype 2 (PS3, X360)
The first one was fun for a little while, offering grueling and violent action in a sandbox world with some very cool and creative powers.  I loved turning on the game, dropping into a random zone, and just mashing my powers against every person who crossed me.  Come April 27th, we get to do it again, but with a much bigger goal in mind: Kill Alex Mercer, the man you played as in Prototype 1.  High order.  Hopefully with some even cooler moves and a hopefully better story than the first one... we'll be able to accomplish that!

May 15th: Diablo III (PC)
To those who say that the summer gaming drought will leave you without any games, you must not have a PC.  With Diablo III coming out this summer, you won't even NEED any more games.  I partly think that the reason why it took so long for the third entry in the series to come out is because Blizzard was waiting for people to stop playing Diablo II, and it took so long that they said, "eh screw it" and finally started development on three.  With five classes, PvP added further down the line, and even an auction house to get real money for the items you find, I might be upgrading my PC before this is released.  Loot away!

From left to right, we have the Wizard, the Witch Doctor, the Demon Hunter, the Barbarian,
and my personal favorite, the Monk.

 May 15th: Max Payne 3 (PS3, X360)
Every summer there's a Rockstar game announced, my hands twitch with excitement.  Known for making blockbuster games that have a great deal of thought and effort put behind them with an excellent (if controversial) development team, Max Payne 3 should be on everyone's radar.  Granted, its the next game in a series that almost defines cult following, but the game is shaping up to what looks like an excellent product. Using the Euphoria physics engine on a Bullet-time riddled game, with solid diving and shooting mechanics, plus it looks this pretty...

Shut up and take my money!

May 22nd: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (PS3, X360)

How do you reinvigorate a slowing genre like the military shooter?  Simple.  Innovate in what the player has available to them.  With active camo, magnetic see-through-walls imaging, drones, target-locking bullets, sensor grenades and more, GR:FS looks to be gunning for the top shooter spot (groan).  Regardless of the bad puns, this shooter has my attention with it's focus on tech and the attention to detail the Ubisoft team has when doing their research.  We'll see if it translates well into the finished product.







June 1st: Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes (Pretty much every system out now)
I will not hide anything:  I love the Lego games.  They are accessible enough that any little kid that I am entertaining for can play them, everyone and their mothers (literally) knows what legos are, and Batman is awesome.  How can this game be even more awesome than the first?
How about adding all of the Justice League in there?  If you were a child within the last twenty years and had legos, how crazy would you go to have lego superheroes? Yeah.  At the very least rent this game, but I see many replays ahead with each character!




June 5th: Inversion (PS3, X360)
Even I'll admit, I'm a bit skeptical about this one, as I've been dissapointed by interesting-sounding shooters before (*cough*FRACTURE*cough*), but one where gravity is a weapon?  Hiding behind cover, blasting your enemies sounding boring?  Flip the battlefield with a grenade, so you're now fighting on the side of a building. Inside?  I hope you're checking the ceiling for enemies! It sounds interesting enough for me to put this on the list.  Not convinced yet?  Check out the trailer.  Its an old look at it, but nonetheless interesting.






June 12th: Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, X360)
Its no secret that I like Suda51.  While I talked highly about  Shadows of the Damned in a previous article, I'm hoping Lollipop Chainsaw will garner a bit more attention from fans.  With a killer soundtrack (get it? Groan again) at your back, you play a high school cheerleader named Juliet whose school has just been overrun by zombies. So using your cheerleading moves while wielding a chainsaw and throwing your decapitated boyfriend's head around sounds like the next move. Right?  ...Right?  Anyone?





June 22nd: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor (X360)

MECH GAMES.  I wish that statement could be more exciting.  What doesn't sound awesome about a mech game?  It really hasn't been done right in a while.  I'm hoping that the new Steel Battalion changes that trend.  It does give kinect owners reason to be happy though, it's one of the few newer games that will be using the technology that everyone bought... and got bored of with.  Regardless... MECH GAME!  The video on the left shows how those Kinect controls will be implemented. With motion controls to change aspects about your tank like your speed, loading and so forth, it could offer that level of immersion that they are missing?  Lets hope!

June 26th: Darksiders II (PS3, X360)
It's Death's turn to have his time in the spotlight!  The series that focuses on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse returns to have Death exact his vengeance on those who falsely accused his brother War of starting the apocalypse early, with no mercy in sight.  Using the same tactics that they employed when making the original, Virgil studios are making this one even more brutal with death's signature scythe and resurrection moves while still retaining the over the top gore and combos of the first.  I can't wait to embody death's crazy almost faceless form this June.

June 26th: Spec Ops: The Line (PS3, X360)
Alright, yes. Its yet another shooter.  And it might be the ninth game in the rather paint-by-numbers Spec Ops series.  But here's why you should pay attention:  Its been ten years since the last game was released back in 2002. The game has a brand new story that requires no previous knowledge of the other games.  And, for the first time in the series, the game is taking place a little further into the future, in Dubai.  For those who are not geography majors, Dubai is an almost untouched location in gaming, where the rich and famous go on vacation.  The United Arab Emirates locale, in the game, has just undergone a series of natural disasters that leave the whole city, once beautiful and bountiful, a wasteland, being picked apart by scavengers stupid enough to brave the constantly collapsing wreckage. Using your environment as a weapon is key here, with sandstorms and dilapidated buildings to order your squad to kill outlaws and save a fellow commander stationed there.  Check out why I'm excited:

And you know what's even BETTER!?
Hearing about all of these games on +10 Damage Gaming!  Like our Facebook, subscribe, and leave us some comments!  What are you looking forward to this summer?