FEATURES

Come out and plaaaay…
From The Warriors to Xbox 360
BY MITCH KRPATA

Don't trash your aging hardware just yet. Even though this fall could mark the last hurrah for the current generation of video-game systems, some of the freshest titles yet are due to be released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. (As for the Nintendo GameCube, well, let's just say you're not seeing a new Zelda game any time this year.) Over the next few months, we'll be blessed with a movie-to-game translation more than 25 years in the making, a colossal PS2 exclusive, and more. Oh and there's a new Xbox coming too.

THE WARRIORS | Rockstar Games | PlayStation 2 + Xbox | October 18 | For those unfamiliar with the plot of Walter Hill's flick: The Warriors depicts a band of leather-vest-wearing toughs making their way across New York City, stopping in every neighborhood to rumble with some out-of-touch old guy's idea of fearsome street gangs. With foes like the Orphans and the Baseball Furies, and settings from Central Park to Coney Island, the movie was practically a prototype of the video-game beat-'em-up. Now, it's only fitting that Rockstar Games applies the side-scrolling style to this cult classic.

Developer Rockstar Toronto pledges to employ a simplified, mostly two-button control scheme - which calls to mind arcade classics like Double Dragon and Streets of Rage. The Warriors brings the formula into the 21st century by adding a fully interactive environment, reversal maneuvers, and even squad-based orders. Traveling with as many as eight other Warriors, you'll be able to dole out real-time commands, as in more-highbrow war games. Of course, this being a Rockstar release, you can also expect a mature presentation - black eyes, split lips, tight leather pants.

The Warriors sounds better than awesome, but questions remain. Will Video Swan's pursed lips express the full depth of actor Michael Beck's stoic yet confused countenance? If there's a "Hot Coffee"-style crack for this game, will it feature what happens behind-the-scenes at the Lizzies' clubhouse? And the biggest question of all: can you dig it, suckas?

STUBBS THE ZOMBIE IN "REBEL WITHOUT A PULSE" | Aspyr | Xbox | October 18 | Games like Resident Evil and House of the Dead let us dismantle those damned, dirty undead limb by bloated limb, but Stubbs the Zombie turns the formula on its brains by putting you in the role of the zombie and setting you loose to feast on as many juicy brains as you can get your rotting hands on. We saw this sort of genre inversion earlier in the year with THQ's Destroy All Humans!, which was not a good game. But Stubbs the Zombie is based on the Halo engine, which means that in addition to solid graphics it will offer fluid, intuitive play control. Not only can you to detach his body parts and control them remotely, but all the people you kill become zombies themselves, so you can rule them like the God you are.

BULLY | Rockstar Games | PlayStation 2 + Xbox | October 25 | The premise alone ought to have the litigious types salivating. In Bully, you step inside the patent-leather shoes of a young ne'er-do-well attending a reform school called Bullworth Academy. You'll pick fights, woo girls, and uncover corruption so rampant that the Bush administration would blush. (Well, let's not go too far.) Bully oozes with potential not only to offend but to set itself apart in a world of clones. The release date is only a month away, however, and we still know precious little about the actual gameplay mechanics. Rockstar describes it as an "action game." Thanks.

SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS | Sony Computer Entertainment | PlayStation 2 | October 18 | From the team that brought us ICO, a first-wave PlayStation 2 game that's almost impossible to find today, Shadow of the Colossus is a fresh take on classic action-adventure gameplay. Rather than consisting of levels followed by boss battles, each level in this game is a boss battle.

As a lone adventurer on horseback, expect to spend a half-hour minimum jousting with each of the 16 title colossuses. Sony is pitching Shadow as more of a puzzle and strategy game than a straight-up action game. Which means you'll need to probe your enemies for weaknesses, explore your environments, and use your head at least as much as your reflexes.

I'll withhold final judgment until I play a release version, but if Shadow of the Colossus doesn't show up on my best-of-the-year list, I'll have to consider it a disappointment.

XBOX 360 | Microsoft | November 2005 | Has there ever been a must-own system with so little to show for itself at launch? Even the Sega Saturn, a colossal failure if ever there were one, launched with two Triple A titles, Virtua Fighter 2 and Panzer Dragoon. Xbox 360 is launching with a slew of sequels: Quake 4, Call of Duty 2, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Dead or Alive 4, to name just a few. Some of these games may be good, but where's the groundbreaking killer app? Remember, if Halo hadn't launched with the original Xbox, we wouldn't even be talking about another Microsoft game console right now.

You can get an Xbox 360 for $299 - the key price point for launching a new system. But that will fetch you only the "core" system. For $399, you can get the "premium" Xbox 360, which includes a hard drive, ethernet cable, and wireless controller. And right now, the on-line storefronts for Electronics Boutique and Gamestop are pre-selling Xbox 360 bundles, which include various games and peripherals. They range in price from $599.93 (EB's "Core Bundle") to $1999.69 (Gamestop's "Omega"). If you're able to take advantage of the Xbox 360's built-in high-definition capabilities, maybe these prices won't make you throw up. But given that Halo 3 isn't going to be out until next spring at the earliest, is it worth dropping several hundred dollars on the Xbox 360 now?

Well, yeah. Don't be an idiot.

Note: All release dates are subject to ridiculous change without notice. Don't get pissed at the Phoenix when one of these games is delayed until Q3 2007. Our guess is Bully.