GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Shippin' Out 4/24-4/28: FIFA, Belkan War, Advent Children

Soccer, Air Combat, and Square Enix's RPG-inspired movie join Black & White 2 and Guild Wars expansions on this week's release roster.

61 Comments

Three thousand one hundred and ninety years ago, you wouldn't want to have been a Trojan. Because April 24, according to legend, is when the Greeks left a giant wooden horse outside the gates of the city of Troy on the coast of the Agean Sea. Thinking it was a token of surrender, the Trojans took the horse inside their city gates as a prize--and unwittingly set the stage for one of the earliest recorded commando raids. The horse was full of Greek warriors, who enthusiastically slaughtered the Trojans as they slept before burning Troy to the ground. (Whoops!)

If mythic war is your thing, this week's game releases have something to offer. Lionhead Studios' Black & White 2 gets its first expansion, Battle of the Gods. If you have a PC-gaming rig but hate Peter Molyneux, you've got plenty of alternatives. NCsoft is shipping Guild Wars Factions, the first expansion to its popular--and free--massively multiplayer online role-playing game. If you're into offline role-playing games, Aspyr is shipping SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars. Or, if you missed the boat before, Capcom is shipping the PC port of GameSpot's 2005 Game of the Year, Resident Evil 4, and Valve Software is releasing the Platinum Edition of Half-Life 2.

This week, the only game shipping on PCs, consoles, and handhelds is Sega's driving game OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast. It joins a variety of console-only releases, including Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (PlayStation 2), Painkiller: Hell Wars (Xbox), Rampage: Total Destruction (PS2, GameCube), and 2006 FIFA World Cup (PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PS2, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Xbox).

Ironically, one item generating a massive amount of interest among gamers this week isn't a game at all. After months of anticipation, Square Enix's game-inspired, computer-generated movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is finally coming to America. It will be available on both DVD and UMD, the proprietary format of the PSP, tomorrow.

A complete list of this week's releases is viewable below.

APRIL 24, 2006
Black & White 2 - Battle of the Gods (PC)
Half-Life 2: Platinum (PC)
Major League Baseball 2K6 (GameCube)
Neverend (PC)
Rampage: Total Destruction (PS2, GameCube)
2006 FIFA World Cup (PSP, DS, Xbox 360, PS2, GBA, GameCube, Xbox)

APRIL 25, 2006
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (PS2)
Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny (PS2)
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (PSP)
Guilty Gear Dust Strikers (DS)
The Hustle: Detroit Streets (Xbox, PS2, PSP)
Metal Saga (PS2)
Out of the Park Baseball Manager 2006 (PC)
OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (PSP, PC, PS2 Xbox)
Paradise (PC)
Shadowgrounds (PC)
Winback 2: Project Poseidon (PS2, Xbox)

APRIL 26, 2006
Dr. Sudoku (GBA)
Top Gun (DS)

APRIL 28, 2006
Guild Wars Factions (PC)
Painkiller: Hell Wars (Xbox)
Resident Evil 4 (PC)
SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars (PC)

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Join the conversation
There are 61 comments about this story