This Week’s New Releases: Old Favorites Return, a New Gangland Sandbox, and American McGee’s Latest

The summer slump is over this week as a number of high profile titles get released across all the major platforms. Star Fox Command for the Nintendo DS ships tomorrow and is a solid return to form for the franchise according to reviews. Last year’s Star Fox Assault for the Nintendo Gamecube, developed by Namco, was a good seller but a pretty shoddy entry in the series due to loose controls and fairly bland mission structures so it’s good to hear that Fox McCloud and company are back on top.

Another classic franchise is resurrected at stores this week in Ultimate Ghosts ‘N Goblins for the PSP. Fifteen years since the release of Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts on the SNES, UGNG is a brand new 2D adventure starring everyone’s favorite boxer’s clad knight Arthur as he again tries to save the princess from Lucifer. The game is said to be every bit as masochistically difficult as the original games so let the buyer beware that this one isn’t for the faint of heart or thumb as it were.

PC gamers get another taste of American McGee’s surrealist mind with his latest game, Bad Day LA. Bad Day is a decidedly drastic shift in tone from McGee’s previous games like the gothic Alice and sci-fi epic Scrapland as player’s take on the roll of a homeless man and ex-Hollywood producer as he attempts to escape Los Angeles on a day that sees almost every imaginable disaster hit the city. Everything from zombie attacks to erupting volcanoes is featured in the adventure. Bad Day LA looks like it is going to be a hilarious send up of the fear and media obsessed climate in the Western world.

Saint’s Row, a flagship game for the Xbox 360, is also released this week. Saint’s Row is a Grand Theft Auto clone offering the same open ended play, wonton violence, and ridiculous gangsta, thug-life posturing that made 2005’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas one of the best selling games of the last fiscal year. The major difference between the two however is Saint’s Row’s next-gen graphics, multi-player options, and character customization options. Here’s hoping it tanks at retail so this idiotic genre goes the way of the dodo.