Six Games That May Be Overlooked This Holiday Season (Yet Deserve Your Attention)

We are creeping up on November and have already seen the release of the first wave of big games released this holiday season with Rage, Dark Souls, and Batman Arkham City. As all gamers have been aware, the end of 2011 is going to be big. Really big. I have trouble remembering a year that had so many AAA titles being released all around the same time; it is going to be hell on our wallets. There are some other games creeping out during this time that deserve some attention, and attention I shall give them. Games that are going to be innocent bystanders in the FPS turf war between Call of Duty and Battlefield. Titles that may find themselves lost within the wilderness of Elder Scroll’s Tamriel and Zelda’s Hyrule. It’s interesting to me that there are so many smaller games that publishers are pushing out during a time when they are going to have to stand up against Batman’s rogues gallery and the witty action packed life of Nathan Drake. I feel that many of these titles would perform well on their own merit, but I fear that they will be overlooked standing aside these giants. It’s time to shed some light on these titles, and give them a small dose of the attention that they deserve.

SONIC GENERATIONS

Release Date: November 1st, 2011

Platform: 360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sonic Team

Releasing In The Same Week As: Uncharted 3

Sonic has had a rough couple of years since his career took a dive in the new generation. Sonic Team released dud after dud for Sega’s big blue mascot which made those who supported the genesis back in the day weep, at least a little. Recently, things have been kind for our hedgehog friend with the release of the solid Sonic Colors for the Wii in November of 2010. A game that reminded those who gave it a shot why the blue hedgehog with attitude was once competition for Nintendo’s galaxy traversing plumber. There was also the arcade hit Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode 1 which, while not great, was good enough to feel promising in the hands of someone who wanted to relive a special time when Sonic wasn’t a joke.

Sonic Generations had a short playable demo available back in June that got a good amount of people to sit up and pay attention. Sega released a second demo in October that is currently available for download but will soon be gone. For anyone who missed their first chance I strongly recommend giving it a download. Allow me to assure you, this looks promising. Sonic might be back, and by back I mean fun again. If Sonic Generations fulfills the promise shown in the demos and if Sonic Team gets a third hit in a row, the hedgehog may just start to race his way back into our hearts. I hope it does, because I have missed that blue bastard. I really have.

GOLDENEYE 007: RELOADED

Release Date: November 1st, 2011

Platform: 360, PS3, Wii, NDS

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Eurocom

Releasing In The Same Week As: Uncharted 3

A remake of a remake? While this may seem a bit odd and groan-worthy, let us all take a moment and look back on Rare’s original Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64…. okay, all done? Anybody who actually took a moment will remember how amazing it was. There is nostalgia here, and while owners of the Wii got a chance to play through this remake last year, those who don’t care about Nintendo’s system didn’t. The release was solid, receiving positive reviews for its recreation of all the classic levels and updating the old multiplayer that had at one time showed us that consoles could compete with PCs in the FPS genre.  Reloaded is going a bit further than just adding some HD flare to a year old Wii title. The graphics have been completely redone, and are very well done. While early reports indicate that the multiplayer is buggy, the possibilities on stage here are quite enticing.

This release will see a brand new campaign that acts as something of a challenge mode as well as some new multiplayer game modes. I have high hopes for this release, as I was a huge fan of the original and don’t much care for the Wii’s multiplayer layout. Goldeneye holds a special place in many a gamer’s hearts, and while Eurocom does not have the best of track records, last years remake was good and this one shows even more promise for us 360 and PS3 fans.

METAL GEAR SOLID: HD COLLECTION

Release Date: November 8th, 2011

Platform: 360, PS3

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Kojima Productions

Releasing In The Same Week As: Call of Duty: MW3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Recently we have seen a lot of classic games from the olden days come back with HD reboots, many have been the same games with updated graphics and maybe a few new additions thrown in to entice old players into reliving a game long since beaten. God of War, Sly Cooper, Resident Evil Code Veronica, Resident Evil 4, and Team ICO have ventured into that territory with some success. Others have completely overhauled the game and given us something fresh; Goldeneye, as mentioned before and Telltale’s Monkey Island games went that route. Metal Gear Solid HD disappointingly takes the former approach. However the collection includes Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Again leaving me a bit disappointed that the first MGS isn’t here, but I imagine it would take a lot more work to re-do than the other three, and since MGS HD Collection is a bit of a reskin, the budget must not have allowed for a complete overhaul of a PSx game.

Let us remember though, that not many MGS fans got a chance to play Peace Walker since it was a PSP only title. The game was a great entry into the confusing mythology of the world, and will now be playable for the mainstream audience. Any fan of the original series needs to give this a look, these are classics that I imagine will translate perfectly fine for modern gamers.

JURASSIC PARK: THE GAME

Release Date: November 15th, 2011

Platform: 360, PS3, iPad, PC

Publisher: Telltale Games

Developer: Telltale Games

Releasing In The Same Week As: Assassins Creed: Relevations, Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and Saints Row: The Third

Telltale Games is a company that many have come to trust with bringing back the classic adventure games that stay true to their source material. They have given life to Strongbad, re-introduced us to the awesomeness that is Sam & Max, made many look back on Lucasart’s classic Tales of Monkey Island, brought Back to the Future to the world of gaming the only way it could be done right, and will soon deliver upon us The Walking Dead game.

Jurassic Park is the next franchise they are tackling before The Walking Dead, and so far it looks rather promising. Telltale knows what they are doing, and bringing a Heavy Rain control scheme to the dangerous world created by Michael Crichton and brought to the big screen by Steven Spielberg makes for a game worthy of some attention. While some early reports out of July’s Comic-Con lead to some concerns with the slower mechanics during the dino attacks and the general character design, it appears the developers addressed these issues and fared better with its appearance at PAX in August.

Let us also mention that it will be released at a lower price point for a full title, and at $39.99 it may be worth a look.

RAYMAN ORIGINS

Release Date: November 15th, 2011

Platform: 360, PS3, Wii, NDS,  PC (Vita in 2012)

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier

Releasing In The Same Week As: Assassins Creed: Relevations, Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and Saints Row: The Third

THIS GAME NEEDS SOME LOVE! Out of anything on this list, and over quite a few of the AAA titles, this game is on my personal must have list. Some gamers may remember that Rayman and Rayman 2 where some of the most solid and beautiful platforming games ever created. This is a series that made Ubisoft and made it possible for them to make games like Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia and Assassins Creed. The current market has been spoiled by some stellar 2D platformers on Live and PSN with games like Super Meatboy and ‘Splosion Man, but let’s also consider that the Wii has recently seen the release of Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country that were both released as full retail 2D platformer titles that did rather well.

Everything I have seen of Rayman Origins points to a beautifully animated and difficult game that shows nothing short of a developers love for what they are doing. With new characters being introduced to the series that all look fun to play, a co-op element that is bound to be chaotic, and a beautiful world to explore, this is a game that deserves attention. It deserves to be a hit, and I have a feeling that this will be a critical darling that will sadly be overlooked by the general market. I personally am just as excited for this as I am for Skyrim.

SERIOUS SAM 3: BFE

Release Date: November 22nd, 2011

Platform: 360, PS3, PC

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Developer: Croteam

Releasing In The Same Week As: WWE ’12

Serious Sam promises to be a return to the old school shooter style that Duke Nukem: Forever should have been. Anyone familiar with Serious Sam knows that it is a chaotic experience where enemies are thrown at you from every direction. It is a frag-fest full of some of the weirdest enemies ever imagined. (For example, a rhinoceros velociraptor skeleton.) Serious Sam 3 offers a bloody experience and some cool looking melee attacks. You can rip out a one-eyed crawly creatures eye and then throw it at another enemy or rip open a guys chest and remove his heart that you can then…. throw at another enemy.

Serious Sam 3 will offer 16 player co-op and a bevy of multiplayer modes that, at this stage, competes with the number of and creativity of the game modes offered in Halo: Reach. (For you haters out there, Halo has got one hell of multiplayer game mode line up that is untouched by any other series.)  Here’s hoping Serious Sam turns out as fun as its predecessors, and finds an audience within the mainstream. I’m hoping it is going to have that classic feel that Duke Nukem: Forever missed out on mixed with the fun insanity we saw from Bulletstorm earlier this year.

There we are, a spotlight has been put upon some games that will likely be overlooked this holiday season. I hope they all turn out as great as they are looking, and make a splash to compete with the behemoths they will be going up against. They will all need a lot of luck in order to survive, but I’ll be looking at them, and I hope many other gamers will be too.