Is it that time again already? What? It’s been that time more than once over the past couple of months? Whatever. Shut Up.

September is going to be another best month of the year, so you’d better secure lots of overtime at work, or you’re going to have to sacrifice eating on Tuesdays. There are that many great games coming out, I’m sorry but it’s true. I’m going to have to do it… again. That’s correct. This month gets another (much coveted) GoY Seal Of Approval™.

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- Golden Axe: Beast Rider - Xbox 360, PS3 - Sometime in September -

Continuing the tradition of Sega selling their soul, piece by piece, is Golden Axe: Beast Rider - A remake of a much loved series. No, SNES owners, this isn’t a Guitar Hero game set atop moshing Walruses (or should that be Walri?). It is, in fact a modern-gen iteration of a Megadrive game where you went around, showing medieval thugs various dimensions of pain while beating the occasional midget for extra health. Sounds like a classic already right? Correctomundo, this is one game you better not mess up Sega.

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- Assassin’s Creed Platinum/Classic - Xbox 360, PS3 - 5th September -

Funnily enough, the Assassin’s Creed website is malfunctioning at the moment. Just goes to show Ubisoft’s attitude to a game once it’s been released though… just leave it floating in the water. Yes, Assassin’s Creed has sold enough copies to join the elite group of games which get wheeled out of their retirement home only to have £20 pounds knocked off their worth and a horrible border to surround their original box-art. If you never played the original then now is a good time to pick it up… provided you aren’t buying any other games this year. Which I very much doubt. For memory’s sake, let me cast your eye on the original gameplay footage which lulled us into a false state of awe (and i’m not talking about Jade Raymond’s cleavage… or am I?).

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- Facebreaker - Xbox 360, PS3, Wii - 5th September -

Facebreaker is EA’s homage to Mike Tyson’s Punch Out… apparently. I never played Tyson’s Punch Out, though everyone who played it seems to think only good things about it. Nostalgia? Probably. Facebreaker does look like a lot of fun though, even if it is a bit repetitive. each punch connects very satisfyingly and the frantic, fast paced action just looks like a good laugh.

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- Infinite Undiscovery - Xbox 360 - 5th September -

Another month, another 360 exclusive JRPG (Japanese Role Playing Game). This one bears the easily recognisable signs of Microsoft “Small in Japan” desperation to monopolise the world’s (gaming) market. That sign of course is “from the minds of Square-Enix”. Often used in different forms, such as with Blue Dragon - “from the minds of one of the original Final Fantasy games”. Anyway, Infinite Undiscovery is a Squeenix published new franchise which one can only imagine involves hitting yourself over the head with a very large mallet, aiming for critical damage. It is developed by tri-Ace, the brains behind Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile which are, from what I’ve heard: Games. Oh, and the combat is real-time (and without transitioning to a combat screen after enemies have appeared form nowhere) which should prove interesting.

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- Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 - 5th September -

After defeating the North Koreans in the first Mercenaries game, the heroic Mercenaries got bored. “What Now” said the big, brutish archetype, “I’m bored of shooting pheasant”. “What Now?” replied the stealthy female archetype, “We have to wait”. “But Why” asked the brutish archetype. “Because America aren’t involved in any wars we can get involved in due to controversy and possible backlash” replies the female archetype, with a hint of desperation in her voice. “I have an Idea” said the cool, badass archetype who most people choose to play as, “How about… We start a war?”. “What?” said female archetype, “against who?”. “Isn’t it obvious?” said the badass, “Against Venezuela!”. That’s right folks, Mercenaries - the sandbox “Playground of Destruction” is back, and this time you’re fighting against an enemy who hasn’t actually done anything wrong. Delayed for unknown reasons from a previous August release date, Mercenaries is back -and very much multiplatform. Looks good.

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- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky - PC - 5th September -

Parts 2 and 3 of the Interview

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky is the sequel to the great 2006 game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl; well known for the fact that it was in development for about 7 years, and that there are a lot of full stops in it’s name. Fortunately for us gamers, we don’t have to wait another 7 years for the sequel to come around as it is, in fact coming out very soon. Clear Sky is a prequel to the events of the original game and will allow you to join one of many factions and help them succeed in their individual goals.

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- Spore - PC, Mac OS X - 5th September -

Part 2 of the Interview

I don’t think there’s anything I can say about Spore which you don’t know, or hasn’t been said already. It’s from Will Wright, the genius behind The Sims (hey, don’t hold him responsible for the expansion packs) and other Sim games (such as Sim-Earth, Sim-City and a load of oldies nobody remembers). You create a new creature race and guide them through life: from being a tiny cell, to interplanetary exploration - creating everything yourself along the way.

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- Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise - Xbox 360 - 5th September -

Essentially more of the same from those who bought you the original Viva Pinata… and Goldeneye. Did you know that in America there is an animated Kids TV show based on the original game, featuring talking Pinatas. Neither did I, and now I try to forget.

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- TNA Impact! - Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, Wii - 12th September -

TNA Impact! is a new wrestling game from publisher Midway and the Developers who created Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and Backyard Wrestling (dubious honours, no doubt). The game looks surprisingly good however, with impressive graphics and motion captured moves which make the animation look like the real thing. We’re looking forward to this one and we hope it’s a true contender to the WWE games. It would definitely make them work harder than they currently do (re-releasing the same game each year with minor differences each time).

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- Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning - PC - 18th September -

When developers talk about their game with this much excitement (and madness) you can’t help but feel excited too. I’m not usually one for MMORPGs (or Warhammer for that matter) but this is one game that I want to try out. It overall looks like your average MMORPG fare, except with a lot more polish than many games have from day one and also: You can Jump! That’s something you can’t do Mr “I’m so Cheap” Guild Wars.

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- Multiwinia - PC - 19th September -

Your PC’s getting quite a bit of love recently isn’t it? Many exclusives this month, plus quite a few console games which are making their way to the PC (and might not be horribly shoddy ports. Multiwinia is a not-quite sequel to Darwinia. It’s essentially the same game, yes… but multiplayer. Hence the name. Darwinia was a great game and a multiplayer element is something which, if done right (which I suspect would be a hard process) would result in a great, simple multiplayer experience.

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- Samba De Amigo - PC - 19th September -

One of the few games coming out on the Wii this year is the hotly anticipated follow up to Dreamcast classic: Samba De Amigo which will, predictably, use the Wii-motes as maracas. You will meet up with old characters and meet some new ones too… including guest characters such as Ulala from Space Channel 5. The graphical style stays true to the original, while bringing next-gen technology in to prettify it somewhat.

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- Rise of the Argonauts - PC, Xbox 360, PS3 - 19th September -

Rise of the Argonauts pits you, as Jason - The Greek Legend, in search of the golden fleece his Grandma knitted him last Christmas (which was promptly stolen by bullies). PR haven’t done a good job on this one as I hadn’t heard of it till a few days ago. This is an RPG with very pretty graphics and a great combat system which gives the game a Spartan: Total Warrior or God of War feel to it while still retaining the key features of an RPG.

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- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Xbox 360, PS3, DS, PS2, PSP, Wii, N-Gage - 19th September -

Force Unleashed casts you as Darth Vader’s pet dog ‘Force’, who runs away while on a routine trip to the park. You must evade Vader at all costs while also attempting to collect all of 100 different snacks scattered across the universe. If only. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed sadly differs to the idea I pitched to George Lucas originally but It does (amazingly) still look fantastic. Force Unleashed appears to have similar gameplay to the Jedi Knight series, albeit with a few differences. For example in Unleashed you don’t play as a goody two-shoes Jedi . Instead, you fill the boots of Darth Vader’s secret cocker-spaniel apprentice, slaying all who are foolish enough to tread one step in your destructive path. On the topic of destruction, Force Unleashed introduces some exiting new technology which may revolutionise gaming as we know it, or fall flat and be laughed at. One of these exiting new technologies is Digital Molecular Matter (DMM), a technology which replicates physics of destructible objects - doors break like doors, metal bends like metal and James Woods breaks like wood, in a different way each time due to real time physics. The other technology is Euphoria (also featured in GTA IV) which allows for AI reaction to physics, meaning that people will dive out of the way of an approaching object for example, and will dive in a different way and direction every time, depending on the situation. Very Exiting.

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- Yakuza 2 - PS2 - 19th September -

I didn’t expect this… a good exclusive for the PS2 (It got 38/40 in Famitsu). Sure it came out in Japan in 2006 but that’s not the point. This is the sequel to under-noticed Action-Adventurer Yakuza. I know little about it but I know that it is supposed to be good. If you are unfamiliar with it and own a Playstation 2 then you should pick up the original, which can be found cheap second hand now.

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- Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway - PC, Xbox 360, PS3 - 26th September -

The heavily anticipated next installment to the WWII FPS is finally upon us, after much delay. It brings the Brothers in Arms series to the next gen and has a heavy emphasis on squad management/combat and storytelling. It also features bullet penetration, a la Call of Duty 4 and a cover system copy/pasted from Rainbow Six Vegas. The new features look like they’ll bring the series back into the limelight in full force.

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- Civilisation IV: Colonisation - PC - 26th September -

A game with so many Zs in the title it makes us sleepy (we’ve kindly censored the Zs for the sake of the Oxford Dictionary). Civilisation: Colonisation stars you as a European where the main objective is to become American (when you’re not beating seven shades of shit out of the natives). Honestly, that’s the whole game. Thanks Sid Meier, you patriotic arse for allowing us to stick it to ourselves in 3D.

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- Crysis: Warhead - PC - 12th September -

The not-quite-a-sequel to Crysis, detailing the actions of Psycho on the other side of the island (set during the events of the original game) doesn’t only look great, but it’ll be more likely to run on your PC this time around, due to optimisations made to the engine. It’ll also be cheaper. Hopefully it’ll also tide us over till Crysis 2 gets released and we get some answers.

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