Games of October - Part 2

Looking at the latter half of the month and one game stands tall amongst the rest. But perhaps you don't care for randomly generated guns and lawless wastlelands. Maybe exotic cars are more your speed. Christ knows why, but anyway...

BORDERLANDS (Xbox 360, PC, Ps3)

This is the one for October as far as I'm concerned. Mixing Mad Max style with Diablo gameplay, the desolate planet of Pandora is somewhere I want to be right now. Taking on quests, fighting skags and designing guns are all elements I can't wait to sink my teeth into. New information describes a high-class army called the Crimson Lance who, if defeated, carry some of the best weapons in the game. Looks like they'll be my first targets then.

Release date: October 23

FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 (Xbox 360)

I just played the demo recently. Why, you ask? It's a racing game innit? Yes, that's true but I've heard that it's the racing game for people who hate Gran Turismo. And I fucking hate Gran Turismo. I picked a red Audi and drove around a track a couple of times. Nothing too amazing I'm afraid. The cars certainly look incredible and the mountain ranges look real but a small part of me was falling asleep. Some people swear by this franchise but I wasn't blown away. That said, all three Forza games have been released in between Gran Turismo 4 and 5. Hmm...another reason to hate Gran Turismo. 

Release date: October 27

DJ HERO (Xbox 360, Ps3, Wii)

When you first see the turntable controller for this game, it appears to be the dumbest thing on the planet. And not much has convinced me otherwise. True, the trailers featuring the inclusion of Daft Punk do indeed look good and the beats would probably get the kids pumping. But seriously, it's going to be a long time before I'm convinced to pay over $100 for a DJ game. Considering music is dead to me, I'm obviously not the target audience for this release but I just can't help imagine how sad a dude will appear playing this game late at night in his living room dressed only in his underwear. And that dude ain't gonna be me.

Release date: October 30

Borderlands...oh my.

The more layers that are peeled off of Gearbox Software's new RPG/shooter Borderlands, the more  incredible it seems to appear.

Inspired by Mad Max and Diablo, this sci-fi opus features four main characters (all of which you can take online in co-op play) taking quests on the planet Pandora. A desolate wastleland, most parts of Pandora have devolved into lawlessness after anyone with half a brain and a little money abandoned it. In addition to this, after the planet's seven year orbit ends, a veritable fuckload of horrible creatures emerge from hibernation.

One of the most prominent marketing angles that Gearbox has used is Borderlands' amount of firearms. Thanks to the game's randomly generating systems, there are approximately 3 million different types of guns (or a 'bazillion', as Gearbox put it). The landscapes, towns and creatures are all also randomly generated giving a fresh perspective to every player's journey. And Gearbox have said that once you load the game up, you'll never see another load screen.

The four characters you can choose from are as follows:

MORDECAI

ROLAND

LILITH

BRICK

Gearbox have brought them all together in this 'Character' trailer...and the game is out late October. If the finished game is even half as good as it looks, put some money aside now.

Here's your Borderlands box art.

Gearbox Software are one of the few developers still willing to stick to their 2009 release date and not be scared off by Modern Warfare 2. Borderlands, their 'role-playing shooter', is looking really exciting and I personally can't wait to check it out.

For those of you who don't know, the planet on which Borderlands is set is too far away from the sun to provide any sort of daylight. So the planet's population had a solution which was to SET FIRE TO HALF OF OF THE MOON. 

If that doesn't get you interested in the game, this is what you'll be looking for on October 23rd...

2009 becomes slightly less awesome.

Initially, the games release schedule for 2009 was rather lean. Around April or May though, rumblings started to become evident that things were about to change and game after game would drop on our unsuspecting wallets and Q4 of this year would blow our minds out our arses. 

But that has unfortunately been scaled back a bit. A whole bunch of amazing-looking games have all been delayed until 2010: The Year We Make Contact. The list of games is as follows, along with my reaction to each delay.

Mafia 2 - meh

Bioshock 2 - meh

Max Payne 3 - Fuck!

Bayonetta - meh

Red Dead Redemption - Fuck!

Splinter Cell: Conviction - Fuck!

Red Steel 2 - meh

So as a result, the first quarter of 2010 is now shaping up to be MINDBLOWING. In addition to the above games, the below games are also coming out around that time...

Mass Effect 2

Alan Wake

Final Fantasy 13

Heavy Rain

But there's still a few nuggets of gold to be had in 2009 folks. Namely these...