Ah summer. Swimming pools, cookouts, and baseball games. It’s wonderful isn’t it? Actually no, it’s not at all wonderful. You see, the sun and I couldn’t ever come to an agreement about what was an acceptable level of burning the sh*t out of me whenever we meet so our relationship’s been a little rocky. But hey, while I contemplate how to make amends I can rest well knowing that there are a lot of really great Xbox Live Arcade games coming out this summer. Keeping that in mind, I thought I’d show you the trailers for five that I’m looking forward to in particular. Read on to see which five xbla titles I’m anticipating the most to keep me safe from the summer heat!
1. Limbo
From independent developer PlayDead, I don’t know a whole lot about the game, but the trailer looks spooky and promising. Ditching a vibrant palette like Braid (another favorite of mine), the entire game appears to be done in black, white, and shades of gray. It sounds like a step backward into the Game Boy era, but looking at the trailer I’m finding this creepy platformer to be more than enticing.
2. Hydro Thunder Hurricane
I used to drop so many quarters into the original Hydro Thunder that it bordered on obsession. I was always a big fan of futuristic racers like F-Zero when it first came out and to a lesser extent the Wipeout series. To me, Hydro Thunder was always just the aquatic version of those and I had a blast playing it. To see it revived with better graphics as an arcade racer on XBLA just makes sense and when (if) I tire of Modnation Racers, it’ll be a nice change of pace.
3. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
I flat-out loves me some vampire slaying action. I’ve played and beaten all of the portable incarnations so far since the GBA era and can’t get enough of it. While the series has enjoyed limited success in 3D, it’s always shined brightest when sticking to the side-scrolling action its continually refined over the years. Taking that a step further, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair allows you to team up with up to 5 of your friends online to fight together and take down the things that go bump in the night. Of course, once you tire of slaying the life-draining Nosferatu, you can always try your hand at slaughtering those other shambling horrors of the night in…
4. Dead Rising: Case Zero
In many ways, 2006′s Dead Rising gave many of us zombie enthusiasts something we hadn’t really been provided yet-a huge, open environment with more zombies than we could’ve imagined could be onscreen at once whom we could slaughter with literally anything we could find. It had an interesting story, incredible graphics, and fulfilled those dark desires we’ve always had to shoot a chainsaw-juggling clown in the face. Well, my dark desire anyways.
Dead Rising: Case Zero continues that by whetting our appetites until Dead Rising 2 can come out with this short prologue game that bridges the gap between the original and the sequel.
5. Laura Croft and the Guardian of Light
I’ll admit, I was never a huge fan of the Tomb Raider franchise, but I do have a few fond memories of Lara’s first outing on PC. Unfortunately, I didn’t do much raiding of tombs so much as I did shooting of bears and and jumping around like a crazy person. However, that doesn’t mean that Miss Croft doesn’t enjoy a loyal following. Also unfortunately, however, are the lukewarm reviews her previous outings have earned. Nothing to scoff at, but nothing stellar either. Perhaps that’s why Eidos appears to be taking a safer approach with this next entry by releasing it digitally and trying a revamp of the classic gameplay by giving it a top-down perspective more akin to Diablo than the Tomb Raider we’re familiar with. An impressive presentation and a bold new gameplay direction have definitely piqued my interest with this one.
What about you? What games are you looking forward to this summer?
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