Welcome back to The Forecast, your weekly look at what’s ahead on Xbox 360. This week’s kind of a slow one, but a couple of new releases will keep things interesting.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (Ignition Entertainment, August 16)- The creator of the Devil May Cry series returns with a quirky, yet visually stunning adventure that deals with otherworldly themes, inventive combat, and the kind of weird stuff that you don’t see every day in action games. You play a demigod of sorts, battling spiritual creatures and other forces while trying to retain a little balance in the world. The plot’s a little head-scratching at times, and we’re still trying to figure out what’s with the man in black (not Johnny Cash), but there’s no question that the graphics are an absolute knock-out and the gameplay definitely has some promise. Look for a review of this one this week.
Toy Soldiers: Cold War (Signal Studios, August 17)- The final entry in Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade program brings it to a thunderous close with the long-awaited Toy Soldiers sequel. In it, you’ll take on several new war-style campaigns, setting up your turrets and other soldiers for battle against incoming enemies. With full leaderboard support, a number of modes to choose from, various new tools of the trade (including a Rambo-style mercenary that kills everything in sight) and some slick new graphics, this one looks like a lot of fun. We’ll review it next week.
And that’s it for now, but the following week should pick up with even bigger games, including Deus Ex and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition. See you then!
