The month of March is shaping up to be pretty damn awesome as far as gaming goes. In fact, we’re getting quite a few highly anticipated releases this month in the form of Kingdom Hearts 2, Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter (or GRAW), and Elder Scrolls IV. We’ve also got the special re-release of Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid 3, dubbed Subsistence, the oh so cute remake of Mega Man for the PSP, and the long awaited multiplayer frag-fest that is Metroid Hunters on the Nintendo DS. So let’s hop in for a slightly closer look at these titles and see why they’re all worth your attention.
Kingdom Hearts II: If you’ve been living under a rock for the past, eh, five years, then it’s quite possible you’ve not heard of this unique venture from Square Enix and Disney. Kingdom Hearts was a huge surprise when it hit, mixing the world of Final Fantasy with the beloved Disney cast to create a stellar RPG with beautiful visuals on the PS2. Now, a few years later, we’re finally seeing the sequel hit, and it doesn’t look to disappoint. The visuals are much improved over the original, and the camera/controls all look to be a bit tighter than the first, which was a major complaint for most gamers. Disney and Square Enix have gone all out on this title, packing in two discs worth of contents, with worlds and characters spanning Final Fantasy 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and X-2, along with worlds based on Disney films like Mulan, Tron, Nightmare Before Christmas, Pirates of the Caribbean and many more. Square Enix has even tossed in a much improved Gummi Ship mode (Thank God), some beautiful music, incredible FMV and an engaging storyline that picks up where Chain of Memories (GBA) left off. It’s easily in my top three most anticipated titles of the year, and it’s due to ship out on March 28th.
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: I never got into Elder Scrolls III like quite a few people did, but I’m not going to let that stop me from checking out the newest sequel on the 360. Oblivion looks incredible, massively lush visuals, stunning effects, and a world that’s about one-and-a-half times the size of Morrowind (which, by the way, was apparently huge). The game is packed with quests, cities where you can purchase houses, guilds to join, NPC’s with random AI that help present the idea of a living, thriving world, and tons of other features. I can’t imagine how long it would take to make it thru this entire game, but this is definitely shaping up to be one of those games that will be worth every cent you pay for it. You’ll be able to kiss your social life goodbye in March, and you won’t even miss it.
Metroid Prime: Hunters: Do you recall a little demo that was bundled into your Nintendo DS back when it launched? A little something called Metroid Prime: Hunters? That’s right folks, the long, long wait is finally over, and it looks like the wait was worth it. Hunters is a multiplayer FPS Metroid title that promises to make full use of the recently launched Wi-Fi network from Nintendo to pit you in deathmatch after deathmatch with people around the world. Up until now, there hasn’t been much in the way of portable FPS goodness outside of the PSP’s Socom title, and Hunters looks to fill that void quite nicely. This will also be the first DS title to introduce voice chat via the DS built in microphone, so get ready to cover those virgin ears, or mount your best obscenity assault when Metroid Prime: Hunters hits this March.
Mega Man Powered Up: From Capcom this month we have yet another port/remake of one of their classic franchises, Mega Man. This is a remake of the original NES game, often overlooked in favor of Mega Man 2. This time out, Capcom has completely retooled the design for something so cutesy it might actually make you puke. However, I’ve been assured that all cuteness aside, the game is incredibly well done. It’s packing quite a few extra features and a very unique look for the Blue Bomber. Being a fan of both this series and the X series, I’ll definitely be trying this out. You might want to do the same.
Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence: Next up we have the latest re-release of the newest Metal Gear Solid. Just like last time, all sorts of extra goodies have been tossed into the mix, the most important being the addition of online play. You can battle it out Solid Snake style against friends and other opponents, using characters from MGS and Konami’s bouncy wrestler Rumble Roses. Also tossed into the mix is a re-imagining of certain cut scenes, edited for comedy. If you missed the boat on MGS3 the first time around, be sure to check out the definitive version of the title this March.
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter: Known to the kiddies simply as GRAW (say it like it sounds folks), it’s the first of the Ghost Recon series to make its way over the Xbox 360. The game looks absolutely beautiful, with some of the best graphics we’ve seen on the console to date. Combat is what you’d expect from a Ghost Recon game, and the multiplayer modes are apparently shaping up to replace Perfect Dark Zero as the online shooter of choice for the system. If you’ve been itching for a new fragfest for on the Xbox (and let’s face it, who hasn’t?) then this will be just what you’re looking for.
- Dustin Chadwell currently resides in Ohio, USA. He's been playing video games since the Atari 2600, and believes he can whoop anyone's ass in Joust, and Galaga. Probably not Halo 2 though. New technology tends to confuse him.