Ones to Watch: PC Games for September 2008

By Joe Haygood | September 2, 2008

Here we are, already into September, wondering where the hell the year went.  Well, those of us who are parents are cheering at the return of school, but that is a whole different thing.

We have passed the doledrum months of Summer, including a mindnumbingly boring August, and are entering the beginning of the annual onslaught that is Christmas season game releases.  From here on out until December, we will have more game releases that the rest of the year combined.

So sit back, relax and check out some of our picks for the month of September on the PC gaming platform.  Word of advice, save your money as it is going to get expensive.

Spore has been on the radar for a lot of years, and was rumored to be cancelled at one point during development, which should bode well for it, considering The Sims was almost cancelled as well.  Spore so far, looks to take up the mantle that was started in The Sims, and expand the building blocks from a household of people, into the development of creatures, ecosystems and other global items.  Just to summize the endless gaming opportunity that Spore holds for the player, the Creature Creator compoonent of the game was released, and in mere weeks, more unique creatures were created with these tools than populated the known creature database on Earth.  About the only downside on Spore at this point is the possibility of trying to create something so huge, that the pieces do not mesh well.  Beyond that, it looks to be another solid hit for the Maxis arm at Electronic Arts.  Look for Spore on September 9th.

I have been rather skeptical about Warhammer Online.  It has looked and played like a World of Warcraft clone for some time.  It did not seem to bring anything new to the table.  Well, what a difference a year makes, as the game is looking rather fresh and offers a lot of new PvP combat scenarios, while stitching in a lot of Warhammer lore.  Recently, George took a look at Warhammer Online while on his PAX adventure, and had nothing but good words to say about the game in its current state.  While clearing the World of Warcraft comparisons, Warhammer Online still has the monthly subscription fee hurdle to clear, coming into an already crowded field of players, and more on their way through the fall season.  Look for Warhammer Online on shelves September 18th.

The first S.T.A.L.K.E.R., was released after years of development, and was an amazing experience…months later when it was finally patched up several times over.  The game was an amazing experience of action, scariness, and adventure, while being set in an environment that was new to gamers.  Working on all of its faults, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky fixes all the bugs that were present in the first game, while telling a new story from a year before the events in the original game.  Your character this time around is Scar, who seems to be immune to the zone that surrounds Chernobyl.  You can follow the main story, or take off and harvest artifacts, it is all about whatever you want to do.  One thing that still worries me about this title, is that GSC says the game is going to ship stable, I have my reservations to this fact, being burned the first time around.  Look for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky on September 15th.

Crysis released with high expectations, and huge graphical promise, but only for the few that had supercomputers at their houses.  Crytek seems to have realized the err of their ways, buy developing for the future instead of looking at the specs of now, and is releasing Crysis Warhead, which is an expansion of the first game’s story.  This time around, you play Psycho, who was a squadmate of the character from the first game.  You cross paths at times, but for the most part, you get to play through all the stuff that you hear Psycho comment about over the radio in the game.  System specs still seem a bit stiff, but less than we had last November for Crysis.  Warhead also delivers new multiplayer modes and improved AI.  Look for Crysis: Warhead on September 16th.

Not sure if Pure will be the last game that comes from the Sierra nameplate before it is melded into the Actiblizzard conglomerate, but if it is, Pure is a pretty good way to go out.  Pure is an off-road racer using very realistic looking environments.  In Pure, you play through the races, while performing edge of your seat tricks.  So far, Pure is getting high marks out of E3 and PAX, with people commenting on its solid controls and great looking graphics.  Of course, while you do not need a gamepad, if you do not have one, Pure will be absolutely difficult to control without one.  Also, racing games in general that are not dialed in with a sim angle, tend to perform poorly when it comes to sales.  Look for Pure coming on September 16th.

Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway follows a familiar route in this franchise.  Take real events from certain squads in World War II and map them to the game world.  While you are at it, mix in some bonified squad tactics and you have a solid hit.  Hell’s Highway takes place over 10 days in Europe.  Along the way, important battles will be fought using the familiar cover, support system that has worked to perfection in past Brothers In Arms games.  While the game looks awesome, including some amazing weather effects, it is another World War II game.  It is not a bad thing on the game, but just that the WWII genre is getting long in the tooth, and change for the series might have helped grab more attention to the series.  Look for Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway on September 23rd.

Civilization IV is taking a walk down memory lane with its latest expansion pack, looking at a title from its past, Colonization.  Colonization focuses the Civilization brand on the point of colonizing the new world.  All the Civilization conventions and strategies are present, but with sharper focus on the timeline.  Games will focus on 300 turns at most, with the goal being to declare independence from your European oppressors.  A full toolset also ships with the game allowing players to mod the game to their own desires.  Also, the game is a stand-alone expansion, so you won’t need the original game to play.  While Civilization games are always enjoyable, Colonization just seems to be too focused to use the Civilization name.  Look for Civilization: Colonization on September 22nd.

Legos have fought in space, and generic “were not Nazis” enemies of World War II, and now, they will join forces with the greatest detective on the planet in Lego Batman.  For the first time, the Lego brand will not be attached to a formed script, like Indiana Jones or Star Wars, which should allow for some interesting freedom.  Also, for a change, you get to see the action from the other side of the fence as you play as the bad guys as well.  The formula is still the same here as it has been in all the other Lego games, and while it is cute and funny at times, it is starting to get a little stale around the edges.  It also does not help that some of Batman’s foes have been a bit campy at times, when you consider the DC Universe as a whole.  Look for Lego Batman on shelves September 23rd.

And with that we have the end of the month.  One other game that is looking like it will be a lot of fun for those itching for a Diablo fix before Diablo III comes out is Sacred.  It is suppose to release in the month of September, but we do not have an exact date as of this story.  We will also have a preview up for the game by the end of the week, so keep your eyes peeled for that.  Enjoy and keep on left clicking your way to gaming Nirvana.