TWiG 2008-05-26: What’s in a Name?

Ahh yes, quite a choice we have this week.

I must admit, there are a couple of releases this week that I’m tempted to highlight simply based on name value alone.  The Nintendo DS has a couple of them: LOL, perhaps not the first game to be named after instant message parlance (remember WTF for the PSP?), but it is the first to use that parlance in a way that would seem to be related to its origins; it’s an entirely social product with no one-player mode, which could be interesting at least.  Super Dodgeball Brawlers sounds like one of those things that’s pure awesome in theory, and utter bunk in practice.  Needless to say, I don’t know a damn thing about it.

There’s also something called Stronghold Crusader Extreme, which must be good of course, because it has the word Extreme in the title.  When you say it, actually, I’m sure you’re supposed to add a few exclamation points to the word Extreme.  You know, like Extreme!!!, or EXTREME!!!!!.  Yeah, that’s probably it, caps lock and five exclamation points.

Ditch the shovelware parade headed to the Wii, and what are we left with?

The sole release this week for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 is a little something called Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, which is finally making its way to the console scene after having eaten PC gamers’ lives since last October.  Assuming that Activision hasn’t toned down the brutal difficulty nor the map intricacy of the PC version, console gamers are in for a treat as they embark on one of the most immersive team-based FPS experiences out there.  It’s difficult to quantify, exactly, what makes Enemy Territory: Quake Wars a fantastic game, as it’s certainly not the most imaginative team-based experience out there, and the graphics fall in that all-too-familiar mix of brown, gray, and brownish-gray, but something about it is simply addicting, and you just can’t help but keep coming back until you are the team MVP (or, in my case, anything except “least accurate").

Xbox and PS3 owners tired of Team Fortress 2 might just want to give it a look.  The full release list (and a trailer for Quake Wars) is after the jump.

DS:

Super Dodgeball Brawlers (27 May)
USA Today Crossword Challenge (29 May)
LOL (30 May)

Xbox 360:

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (27 May)

PC:

Blokus (26 May)
Bus Driver (26 May)
Dracula: Origin (27 May)
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate
Mass Effect (28 May)
Stronghold Crusader Extreme (28 May)

PSP:

World Championship Cards (27 May)

PS3:

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (27 May)

Wii:

Death Jr.: Root of Evil (27 May)
Emergency Heroes (27 May)
Kawasaki Snowmobiles (27 May)
The Monkey King (27 May)

PS2:

Nothin’!

—Mike Schiller