Ones to Watch: PC Games for July 2008

By Joe Haygood | July 2, 2008

Like our 48 windowed friend to the left, we are having a slow month for PC gaming.  I had planned to put together a huge article, and then I realized it was July, and the drought of good, quality releases is in full effect.  Unfortunately, conservation does not seem to help those of us looking for something new to play on the PC this month. 

There are a few companies that have bucked the trend and are giving us a few things to play, but the overall outlook for the month seems to be a lot of suck with the occasional gem.

By the way, the case mod to the left is a custom case available from Cooler Master, which has had a custom paint job applied to it.  The case was shown at CES this past January, and was cooler in person than it is in the photo.  48 window power, unite and bring on the game list for July!

Devil May Cry 4 came to the 360 and PS3 over four months ago, and is only now showing up on PCs but the wait seems to be worth it, as long as you have a gamepad.  The graphics are looking extremely sharp at super high resolutions, and the action is surprising fast and responsive, from experiences with the demo.  Capcom is really starting to learn after its past releases, and is putting a lot more time into the gameplay and controls that make it a lot easier to play their console ports on the PC.  About the only thing that makes this a less than stellar release is the lack of Games for Windows Live support, which was in Lost Planet Colonies Edition.  That would have really make this an absolute buy, but it is still a buy nevertheless.  Just make sure to pick up a gamepad if you do not have one yet.  Look for it on July 8th.

While not a totally new game, Aspyr is releasing 1701 A.D. again, but this time, they are giving it the gold treatment, with the original game along with the expansion pack and all patches in one nice box.  This will be the first time that North American residents will be able to play the expansion pack for 1701, as it was only released in Europe.  1701 A.D. offers up a solid strategy engine with an engaging AI.  Some will be troubled by the hardcore nature of the game, but the endless replay value, makes this a great buy at a value price.  Look for it on July 15th.

Finally, Gametap will have their new Grimm series launch on July 31st.  American McGee’s Grimm will take a new look at the Grimm Fairy Tales that we have all heard as little kids, but bring back more of the eerieness that came in the original writings.  For those unaware, if you read a true version of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, they are not pleasant, and have a lot more violence than you may remember.  The Grimm series will be episodic in nature, and new episodes will be released every week to two weeks.  A paid subscription will be necessary to play, and little has been seen about these games, so the curiousity factor is high on these.  Again, look for the first episode on July 31st.

One game that was not mentioned, but should be coming out for the PC is Telltale’s Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People, which is schedule for a July release, but we do not have an exact date of release yet.  Also, while not mentioned, I have a feeling that you can be safe in skipping the Deadliest Catch and Nancy Drew games can be skipped without the fear of missing something good.  Unfortunately, I expect to see Deadliest Catch at the top of NPD PC Game List for July.