Welcome to Getting Some Play – the spiritual successor to Sarah Warn‘s excellent Good Game column – where we’ll take a look at the latest releases, news and developments in the world of video games.
Spelunking The Cave
No, it’s not the infamous Double Fine Kickstarter game that blew the doors wide open on game-related Kickstarter projects, but The Cave is a newly announced adventure game from the studio. Designed by Ron Gilbert (who, alongside Double Fine’s main man Tim Schafer is an adventure game god, having a hand in landmark titles like the original Secret of Monkey Island), the new game is slated for release in early 2013 on the major downloadable platforms (PSN, XBLA, and the usual suspects for PC downloads).
In The Cave, players will take command of a number of colorful characters, each of which has a special ability. From Game Informer:
…characters including a monk, knight, hillbilly, scientist, and more flip switches, solve puzzles, and battle monsters. Players will be able to swap between each character at will (after choosing three from the seven), which is critical considering each of them has a unique ability. The hillbilly is able to hold his breath indefinitely, which makes him a great candidate for underwater exploration, while the knight can heroically protect his teammates from harm. Characters are able to unlock specific areas unique to themselves, which certainly makes it seem as though there’s a nice amount of replay value, too.
A new Double Fine game is a reason to get excited (at least it is for me and a whole slew of fans), and this looks to have all the charm, personality and humor typical of the studio’s work. Stay tuned for more details!
Incoming
Everyone is still playing Diablo 3 right now (as they should), and I’m still tracking down the very last secrets of Fez (hey, some people like their puzzles ridiculously obscure), but there are still a few new toys to play with slated for late May and early June releases.
Batman: Arkham City – Harley Quinn’s Revenge is hotly anticipated DLC for one of last year’s best games. It’s out tomorrow (May 29) for PC, PS3 and 360, and it claims to extend the game by about two hours, with a playable (and now raven-haired) Harley Quinn being the main draw.
Racing fans have Dirt Showdown on PS3 and PC, the latest in Codemasters’ excellent line of rally and off road based car porn. It’s launching on May 29.
On June 12, Lollipop Chainsaw debuts on the PS3 and 360, offering Suda 51’s latest exercise in pop culture mash-up insanity. This one involves cheerleaders, decapitated boyfriends, chainsaws and the undead — and we’re very much looking forward to it.
Vita players have two big titles out in the upcoming weeks: Resistance: Burning Skies on the May 29 and Gravity Rush on June 12.
For those of you who are still hanging on to the Wii, the excellent Pikmin 2 is coming to the system (with Wii controls) on June 10. This may be one of the last “big” releases until it’s Wii U time, so keep that in mind if you enjoy strategy and/or cute, anthropomorphized plants.
Until next time!
