Purple Picks

Purple Picks - Week Of 10/13/08

Week Of 10/13/08

by Mike Smith

Are you fed up watching your retirement bounce up and down according to the whims of Wall Street? We have the perfect solution to all your financial stresses: cash it all in and spend it on games, because there are enough hitting shelves this week to consume even the most bulging of portfolios. Uh, assuming your retirement portfolio amounts to a few hundred bucks, which after the last couple of weeks is much more likely than it was a month ago. Anyway, games!

Saints Row 2

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During a recession, paradoxically, spending on luxury items can often increase. And some of those luxury items, let's say, aren't commonly available at your local Megalomart. Enter Saints Row 2, an unashamed Grand Theft Auto clone, featuring more weapons, more gangland felonies, and more opportunities for boosting your under-the-table income. Look at it as practice for the long, dark years to come. Or just fire it up, cause some mayhem, and have a good time.



SOCOM: Confrontation

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If a life of crime doesn't suit you, why not enlist? Special Forces-themed shooter SOCOM: Confrontation is the first SOCOM game for the PS3, and if you're a fan of this long-running series, that's probably enough to convince you to go out and buy it right there. Much as you'd expect, it's prettier, packed with maps new and old, and supports up to 32 players online. Plus, it has all the modern community features you've come to expect from your online shooters.



Dead Space

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Maybe you're in the mood for some escapism. Dead Space is just what you need, then, because it perfectly demonstrates that no matter how bad things might be, you could always have it worse. For instance, you could be in the shoes of Isaac Clarke, an engineer stranded aboard a starship infested with deadly aliens, and have to fight your way to safety using whatever weapons you can improvise. Dead Space is already inviting comparisons to classics like Resident Evil and Bioshock, so if you're looking for something a little grown-up, and love mature sci-fi themes, you can't go wrong with it.


Little Shop Road Trip

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But if all that fails, and you're still dejected about your economic woes, why not take your example from dustbowl-hit farmers in the 30s, and pack up and hit the road? Little Shop: Road Trip features 16 continent-spanning voyages for you to take, while you hunt a huge assortment of locations for items to take back and sell in your stores.



FIFA 2009

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EA boasts they've added over 250 enhancements to this perennial soccer favorite. Among the big-ticket additions are new Custom Team Tactics feature, live updates of player data, and more intelligent goalkeeper intelligence. So, that means they won't blow their paychecks on booze and girls and end up playthings for the tabloids instead of for the fans? Could be an improvement over the real thing, after all.



Best of the Rest

  • Blitz: The League II:
    Find Madden too wussy? This intense gridiron experience doles out realistic injuries, a full story mode, and Hall of Fame tough guy Lawrence Taylor.
  • Rock Revolution:
    Once upon a time, Konami was the king of music games. Can they recapture their former glory?
  • UNO Undercover:
    Classic UNO gameplay plus a secret-agent plot equals happy fun times.
  • Sam & Max Season 1:
    Hitting the Wii for the first time, this engaging series of comic detective capers are low-stress gems.

Posted: 14 Oct 2008