Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Here we are at the beginning of another fine month of gaming. The month is a bit backloaded, as we do not see any great titles hitting store shelves until August 14th. But after the 14th, it is a festivus of gaming proportions as we see much anticipated titles across the spectrum of gaming, from action and suspense, to sports and online RPG play. This is also the start of the landslide of titles that have been held over the last few months so they could be released in the holiday buying season which starts towards the end of this month and into September. So sit back, click on the jump and get ready for a month of serious clicking (or button mashing if you use a gamepad).

Two Worlds

Two Worlds is an untraditional MMORPG as it has a solid single player mode as well as the multiplayer side of the game. The game puts you in the world where dwarfs, orcs, humans and others live together in society. You are asked to asked to join an expedition to a mine that seems to have been a burial ground for a powerful god. Needless to say, the angry god awakes and your sister get kidnapped all in the same day. The first thing you notice is that this game is Oblivion big. Lots of single player quests and people to see and interact with on your journey. The only issue that this game has going against it is the fact that the multiplayer portion of the game has not really been screened to people, so be advised if you are looking at it as an MMORPG replacement for something else.

Madden 08
One of the few remaining sport franchises on the PC makes its annual return with some spiffy new graphics and updated rosters. The release of this game on PC is not that earthshattering, but due to the 3rd party roster add ons and other upgrades, it grows to become a great football game on the PC. The only issue is the normal porting issues, namely optimizing the game for the PC, which will largely be absent as it is most years.

Bioshock

This is probably the biggest release of the month for the PC and possibly the year so far. Stylish noir action with a great story, Bioshock hearalds from the the creators of System Shock 2. The game allows you to attack the missions with creativity and how you feel best suited to finish them. The game is a unique game in that it gives you a visual feast as you play along in the world of Rapture, the underwater city where the game takes play. You will run into all sorts of former citizens that have been changed by plasmids. While the game has a lot of replay value with trying all sorts of ways to take care of bad guys, there is no multiplayer, which may affect some people from purchasing this game. Don’t let that bother you. This game looks great from the hands on I had with it to all the previews.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North

This new add on pack adds a new land of the north to the game. You will have to have a copy of the original game for this game to work, but it looks as the graphics get a little bit of refreshment. The new land is a bit more harsh, covered in snow and ice, it makes for some interesting characters, including the rather angry looking polar bear with sharp icicles coming off his shoulders from the above movie. New quests are abundant, and the two new races are a sharp contrast from one another. One is the Asura, which look like Dobby from the Harry Potter universe. The other is The Charr, the enemy from the first game. The game is stretching the legs of the series as this is the last expansion pack for the game before Guild Wars 2 comes out, so it is kind of a last hurrah for the first game.

Stranglehold

John Woo has been known to direct great Hong Kong action flicks, that have been commonly refered to as a gun ballet. Chow Yun Fat is recognized by his biggest fans as Inspector Tequila from the 1992 masterpiece, Hard Boiled. Now we get both of these superstars together again for the video game sequel to Hard Boiled, called Stranglehold. This game looks amazing with the graphics of the main character looking fantastic, and the gun battles are just a hail of bullets and the slow motion effects now referred to as Tequila Time in this game. While the game plays well, it looks to be geared to a gamepad, so I can’t vouch for how well the mouse/keyboard crowd will do with this game. Also, most of John Woo’s work in America has been a bit watered down, so there is some expectation for this game to return to his past glory.

Sam and Max: Season 1

If you misses the first six episodes of Sam and Max, now is your chance to get caught up. Not only will you get all six of the games that have been released on Gametap and through Telltale’s website, but you will also get a bonus CD and a poster. The CD will contain MP3 samples from the game, exclusive wallpapers, concept artwork, unreleased character bios, trailers for all the games and a making of video. The games are quite good and will play out as a decent diversion for an afternoon or two. The box is definitely worth it if you do not have any of the games. Those of you that have bought the games however, will have to decide if the extra content is worth the price.

Those are just some of the games that look to be purchases for the month. There are several others that might be up there like the expansion pack to Europa Universalis, Loki, the game that gives you god powers or possibly the Hearts of Iron Anthology. I can say that the Miami Ink Temporary Tattoos game is one to make sure you run away from and fast. Well, until next month, we say adieu.