Remember all the awesome games that hit the XBox Live Arcade this summer? This week you’ll probably want to just keep on playing them, unless you have a particular hankering for some dominoes or to gobble up fish in a game other than Spore. Here’s what’s newly downloadable today on the Marketplace:
Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown - 800 MS Points ($10)
It’s the sequel to the fish-chomping game from a while back, and once again you’ll be eating smaller stuff to get bigger. But wait… this time your fish can jump out of water and eat BUGS! Be still, my heart. There also are some party games, as well as a co-op mode here, to provide a little variety.
Domino Master - 800 MS Points ($10)
If the fish weren’t enough for you, here come the dominoes! In all serious, dominoes is a great game, and this looks to be a good presentation. I just don’t know whether I’d feel good about spending ten bucks on this one. Whatever happened to the $5 games on the XBL Arcade?
Ticket To Ride 1910 - 400 MS Points ($5)
As a bonus this week, there’s a new expansion for the excellent Ticket To Ride train strategy game. Based on the board game expansion of the same name, 1910 provides a new, period-specific US map and new destination cards, along with a new Globetrotter card that awards the person who completes the most destination cards in the round.
Rock Band 2 launched this past weekend, and I’m sure a large number of you are now rocking out to your 84 new songs. If you’ve already gotten through all of them, or if you’re still playing the original Rock Band, there are a bunch of new songs up for download this week. Downloadable today on the XBox 360 and on Thursday on the Playstation 3 are the following:
Megadeth full album: Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? - 880 Microsoft Points ($11)
You also can buy each track from the album individually for 160 MS Points ($2) a piece:
Wake Up Dead
The Conjuring
Devil’s Island
Good Mourning / Black Friday
Bad Omen
I Ain’t Superstitious
My Last Words
But wait, there’s more! There’s also a pack of four songs from bands that will be on this year’s Rock Band Tour that starts in October. The Rock Band Tour 4-Pack is downloadable for 320 MS Points ($4), and each song is available individually for 80 MS Points ($1) a piece:
One of Those Nights by The Cab
Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional
She’s a Handsome Woman by Panic! at the Disco
Natural Disaster by Plain White T’s
The week of October 14, this tour pack will increase to 560 MS Points ($7), and the individual tracks will go up to 160 MS Points ($2).
Rock Band 2 is releasing next weekend, so this week’s downloadable content for Rock Band will be the last new songs to hit before we all start playing the new disc. All of these songs, as well as anything else you’ve downloaded for your original Rock Band game will be playable for Rock Band 2 when it hits, though, just as any songs released for download after RB2 releases will be playable both in Rock Band 1 and 2. So without further ado, here’s what’s on tap today on the XBox 360 and on Thursday for the Playstation 3:
80 Microsoft Points ($1) each:
“This Calling” by All That Remains
“Chiron” by All That Remains
“Two Weeks” by All That Remains
These songs also are available as a set in the All That Remains 3-Pack for 240 Microsoft Points ($3).
Harmonix is releasing Rock Band 2 for the XBox 360 in just over a week, so it seems like a good time to learn how to export your Rock Band 1 songs into the new game. The songs you’ve purchased and downloaded through the XBox Live Marketplace already are good to go. You won’t have to do anything additional to get them to work in Rock Band 2. Getting the songs from the original Rock Band disc to work in Rock Band 2 takes just a few steps, about ten minutes, and 400 Microsoft points ($5). XBox360Fanboy has put together a video showing the exact process you’ll go through to get it working.
This week brings not one, not two, but three new games to the XBox Live Arcade for download. And you thought they’d used up all their content with the Summer of Arcade! Oh ye of little faith. Available for download today are the following:
Pirates Vs Ninjas Dodgeball - 800 Microsoft Points ($10)
This one has been hyped for quite a while and puts players into a combat enhanced game of dodgeball. And if you’re not a fan of pirates and ninjas, fret not because you’ll also be able to play as robots and zombies. And really, when’s the last time you had a rousing game of zombie dodgeball?
Shred Nebula - 800 Microsoft Points ($10)
This one’s another top down space shooter.
Gin Rummy - 400 Microsoft Points ($5)
A XBLA game for 400 points?! What is this, 2007? Gin Rummy. You know the drill.
The XBox 360’s Summer of Arcade comes to a close this week with the release of the long-awaiting hack and slash game, Castle Crashers. Developed by The Behemoth, the same company that made the cult hit game Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers has a similarly cartoonish style that follows your knight characters as they ransack castles in the name of glory and loot. Castle Crashers clocks in at 1200 Microsoft Points, or $15, and is now available for download on the XBox Live Arcade.
The next full downloadable album is available for Rock Band on the XBox 360 today and will be downloadable on the Playstation 3 on Thursday. It’s Moving Pictures by Rush and will set you back 880 Microsoft Points (or $11) for the full download. If you just want a few individual songs, here’s the track list, with each song available for 160 MS Points (or about $2):
Tom Sawyer (Original)
Red Barchetta
YYZ
Limelight (Original)
The Camera Eye
With Hunt
Vital Signs
After checking out the tracks on YouTube, I know I’ll definitely be picking up “YYZ.” Rock instrumentals are few and far between in this game, and this is one of the greats.
Edit: Due to “technical difficulties” the Rush album has been delayed to a later date. Boo!
The demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed hit the XBox Marketplace this week, and it just might be the most fun demo ever released for the platform. In The Force Unleashed, you play as Darth Vader’s secret Sith apprentice between episodes 3 and 4 of the Star Wars saga. As a Sith, you’ll have free reign to wreak havoc on Rebels and Imperials alike as you carry out clandestine missions for Vader. The demo drops you into an abbreviated level where you have to fight your way through a lot of Stormtroopers and other Imperial baddies in hallways and a hangar bay. Available to you in the demo are several abilities, including a Force push, Sith lightning, super speed, super jumping, the ability to lift and throw pretty much anything (or anybody), and of course your trusty lightsaber. All of those powers and abilities sound daunting, but it’s all very manageable after a few minutes of play to get you coordinated.
I’d seen a lot of gameplay videos and even videos of people playing the game, but nothing had prepared me for the feel of actually ripping through a level myself. If you haven’t checked out the demo yet, I strongly urge you to do so. I was sold after the first time I hurled a screaming Stormtrooper against the ceiling, then the floor, then the wall, ala Mr. Eko versus the smoke monster.
My only complaint from the demo is that the soundalike they got for Darth Vader rather decidedly does not sound like James Earl Jones. That aside, the overall presentation, gameplay, graphics, and sound are fantastic and have me itching to play the full version. It’s one of those demos that ends at a high point with you having just done something super cool.
The game will be released on September 16 for the XBox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PS2, PSP, and Nintendo DS. (but the PS3, 360, and possibly Wii versions are the ones with the real magic).
