Shippin' Out January 21-25: Burnout Paradise, No More Heroes

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Jan 22, 2008 12:21 pm PT

Headliners join Advance Wars: Days of Ruin and Mario & Sonic's Olympic adventures on the DS, Pirates of the Burning Sea MMOG hoists its sails, and PixelJunk Monsters mauls the PSN.

It may be a light week for game releases quantity-wise, but even a cursory glance at the impending slate should reveal a game for just about anyone. A release that would seem to be better garaged as an end-of-the-year blockbuster, Burnout Paradise squeals onto the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this week as easily the biggest release thus far this year. Developed by EA-owned Criterion Games, Burnout Paradise returns as the fifth installment in the road-rage-fueled racer. Both PS3 and 360 gamers can test drive a demo for Burnout Paradise through their respective online content distribution dealerships.

Wii gamers looking for middle ground will have no such luck this week, as the two most notable releases offer gamers a choice between assassins or marine life. No More Heroes, a hyperstylized action game from Killer7 designer Suda-51 and Grasshoper Manufacture, drops players into the role of a lightsaber-wielding assassin on his journey to ascend the ranks of a group of killers for hire. On the other side of the spectrum, Nintendo and Akira invite meditative gamers to delve into Endless Ocean, a scuba-diving sim that plays heavily to atmospheric gameplay and low-key tunes. On the Wii's Virtual Console, Adventures of Lolo 2 and Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers are available for 500 ($5) and 800 ($8) Wii points, respectively.

On the DS, Intelligent Systems' fourth installment in the Advance Wars turn-based strategy series is out this week. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin diverges from its critically lauded predecessor on the DS, adding in darker, more serious undertones and a more realistic style. DS gamers looking for a little light fun can check out Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. As with its Wii counterpart released last November, Mario & Sonic pits the two iconic characters and their respective entourages off in a series of world-championship gaming events.

Flying Lab Software's long-in-development massively multiplayer online game Pirates of the Burning Sea sets sail on PCs this week. A part of Sony Online Entertainment's ranging stable of MMOGs, POTBS received its christening by those who preordered the game two weeks ago. POTBS features both on-foot exploration and high-sea sailing around the Caribbean Sea circa 1720 and offers both player-versus-environment and player-versus-player combat. POTBS requires a subscription fee, with SOE plundering $14.99 from gamers' wallets monthly.

PixelJunk Monsters, a tower-defense-style real-time strategy game from PixelJunk Racers developer Q-Games, arrives on the PlayStation Network this week costing the equivalent of 1.5 beers, according to studio president and executive producer Dylan Cuthbert. In lieu of its weekly Wednesday release, Microsoft will be giving away Chair Entertainment's aquatic multiplayer action game Undertow in an effort to make amends for the widespread Xbox Live outages during the holidays. Undertow will be free to download from January 23 through January 27, at which point it will return to its regularly scheduled 800 Microsoft points ($10) price.

This week's new releases are listed below (list taken from retailer information--actual dates may vary).

JANUARY 21, 2008
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)
Adventures of Lolo 2 (Wii VC)
Endless Ocean (Wii)
Pacific Storm: Allies (PC)
Pirates of the Burning Sea (PC)
Ship Simulator 2008 (PC)
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (Wii VC)

JANUARY 22, 2008
Burnout Paradise (X360, PS3)
History Channel: Lost Worlds (PC)
Iridium Runners (PS2)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
No More Heroes (Wii)
One Piece: Unlimited Adventure (Wii)

JANUARY 23, 2008
No releases announced.

JANUARY 24, 2008
Rainbow Islands Evolution (PSP)
PixelJunk Monsters (PSN)

JANUARY 25, 2008
No releases announced.

60 Comments

  • nate1222

    Posted Jan 27, 2008 6:59 am PT

    No More Heroes is going to rock. If anyone says, "The Wii is only for kiddies", they've been hiding under a log. Check out Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, MK: Armeggedon, SSBB - all of which will have adult followings.

  • Panman_Dan

    Posted Jan 26, 2008 4:43 pm PT

    Wow, after seeing some screenshots for this, a man getting sliced down the middle blood everywhere and Manhunt 2 originally gets an AO rating, and this (NMH) is on the kid friendly Wii...

  • angelg2

    Posted Jan 25, 2008 3:00 pm PT

    Finally wii Or :Nintendo has a rated M game

  • Homerj

    Posted Jan 24, 2008 11:37 am PT

    "Anyway, Burnout it looking amazing. I may be forced to get that, though I'm gonna go with the PS3 version since it looks and plays better then the 360 version. "

    This statement has no basis in fact. There was an urban legend perpetuated by IGN that BP was being developed with PS3 as lead console and therefore, the PS3 version would be better. The devs have categorically denied this, they started with a "common resource" then handed engine and optimization chores on to SEPARATE TEAMS for each console. The differences between the two versions are very slight, with the PS3 version having a slightly smoother framerate, while the 360 version has a some minor framerate hitches, but has improved texture appearances and better lighting. The differences are tiny. The PS3 version is only "better" if you concentrate on framerate (you can cause noticable hitches in the 360 version by e-braking in a crowded intersection), and completely ignore the visual improvements in the 360 version.

  • UnreaLuigi

    Posted Jan 24, 2008 4:50 am PT

    burnout paradise should be great........... no more heroes also.

  • alberto2045

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 7:40 pm PT

    i didnt like burnout so much

  • dz99ls

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 5:29 pm PT

    I dont care for the open world style of the new burnout

  • cougar63

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 4:48 pm PT

    Not impressed with the New Brurnout, to me it does have the edge of the first, too open for my taste. I'll pass on this and wait for Turok in Feb.

  • snipe2004

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 4:13 pm PT

    ill probably pick up burnout paradise

  • z3r0myst

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 12:17 pm PT

    Picked up Paradise and No More Heroes at lunch today. Can wait to try them when I get off work!!!

  • Sonicplys

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 11:44 am PT

    In for No More Heroes

  • smith447

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 11:06 am PT

    sucky week

  • Chaudzff

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 8:24 am PT

    Wii owners always have a decent week!

  • David_Kniffin

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 2:05 am PT

    Can't wait to get Burnout Paradise! I hear so many people raving about No More Heroes, but I've sadly haven't seen anything for it myself. I'll have to check it out and see what the hype is about.

  • Azwhtknight

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 10:55 pm PT

    Looks like Wii owners will finally have a decent week.

  • Arkk_Angel

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 9:51 pm PT

    I'm picking up No More Heroes on Wednesday!

  • LordSpleach

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 9:09 pm PT

    I'm getting No More Heroes today!

  • PhantomPhoot

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:17 pm PT

    I can't wait to cause mayhem in Burnout >=3

  • Foolz3h

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 6:31 pm PT

    Well, owns Austrlaia's releases that's for sure.

  • NachoPSN

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 6:25 pm PT

    Ign gave No More Heroes a trashing, not even making 8.0 (i know it's still not bad, but i was expecting better). Racing isn't my thing, so n/ for me this week. Waiting on PixelJunk Monsters, Haze, maybe Rez

Rainbow Islands Evolution Quick Links

Summary | Reviews | News | Images | Answers | Forum | Check Prices

Check Prices: $12.34 – 19.99

Amazon.com $12.34 SHOP ›
Circuit City $19.99 SHOP ›
eBay $16.99 SHOP ›
advertisement
Rainbow Islands Evolution Boxshot Enlarge the boxshot
Rainbow Islands Evolution

Game Stats

Full Game Details »Close

Games you may like…

Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

See More Similar Games
advertisement