PS3 Holiday Buyer's Guide for 2009 - News

by Karl Koebke , posted on 29 September 2009 / 11,889 Views

The holiday season commonly brings the busiest time in the gaming release schedule. While Modern Warfare 2 may have scared off a contendor for your dollars here or there this holiday season is still looking to be quite a strain on the average gamer's budget. Here are some titles that you should keep in mind.

PS3 gamer's guide for titles releasing in the holiday season

Brutal Legend

Those who love Tim Schaefer’s games such as Psychonauts and Grim Fandango will need no introduction to this title. For the uninitiated, imagine every Metal album you have ever seen being personified in a game. In essence, this is Brutal Legend. Even if you don’t like Metal you can appreciate a game made with such love for the source material exemplified in the 100 long soundtrack list that has been released for the game. With songs ranging from Ozzy and Dethklok to Skid Row and Ratt you can be certain that Tim Schaefer is making a game from his inherent love of the music.

Demon’s Souls

Ever had a friend who thinks he/she is God’s gift to gaming and always complains about how games have gotten far too easy as of late? Finally you have a game that might shut them up for a while. Demon’s Souls is a brutal Action RPG made by From Software where death is just another part of the game and most of the time you will be a pitiful soul trying to gain your body back. There is also an interesting online functionality that lets players leave each other hints to passively help each other or jump into another player’s game to actively help them. It’s not all friendly cooperation in Demon’s Souls, though, since players can force their way into your world as an enemy in order to kill you and get their body back. Many have imported the title, and this October Atlus will be bringing the game officially to North America. Click here to read our review.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The sequel to the blockbuster CoD4: Modern Warfare that has scared off a good number of titles from appearing on this list. Developers have decided to steer clear of Modern Warfare 2’s release date and they have good reason to. With a new coop mode in Special Ops and one of the most loved online systems of this generation this game will keep you playing for months if not years to come. Modern Warfare 2’s release date is easy to spot, just look for the week of November 10th where no other game dare show its face.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune has instantly made Nathan Drake one of the more loved characters on the PS3. His well placed one liners, sarcastic attitude, and well toned buns (or so I’m told) has made him a winner. Uncharted 2 takes what the original did and just adds on as much as possible. You still get your fun, story-driven single player, but now that’s not all. Uncharted 2 comes with an online competitive as well as cooperative multiplayer that I can tell you from personal experience are a lot of fun. Naughty Dog has taken the weakness of the first game and made it one of the greatest strengths of the second. So circle October 13th on your calendars and maybe I will see you online.

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

After the cliff hanger ending that came with Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction it is finally time to bring this duo back together. The latest iteration in the series promises a much more puzzle driven experience with Clank’s time bending obstacles as well as even newer and crazier weaponry for Ratchet. In a first for the series you will also be able to customize some weapons to get the look as well as the performance that you want out of them. You can make your grenades shoot flames high into the air, have a wide area of effect on the ground, or break up into tons of mini grenades. Fans of the series or of platformers in general should keep their eye on this title when it releases on October 27th.

Dragon Age: Origins

Having been called the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate by Bioware gives more than enough reason to be looking forward to this game already. Bioware has decided to shy away from the usual moral decision compass of tracking how good or evil you are and instead simply set up consequences that will change the world around you based on your decisions. Hopefully this means a lot less decisions that involve either helping an old lady across the street or punting puppies and a lot more decisions with moral grey grounds. Each class also has its own origin story which may help give this game a lot more replay value than it would otherwise have and make your characters more personal. WRPG fans should definitely keep this game in mind come November.

Tekken 6

Finally the latest Tekken is making its way to consoles bringing new stages and characters to the arcade version. There are a few new gameplay features such as a “rage” system and “bound” system, as well as a new mode for the console version called “Scenario Campaign” which allows two players to play cooperatively. If you’re a Tekken fan, though, you already knew you were getting this game so keep Late October marked on your calendars.

Assassin's Creed 2

The first may have disappointed some, but the second is looking to atleast try and solve these issues. Sure the side missions appear to be similar to the first, but the combat has been changed up to allow your assassin to take weapons from his assailants and use them against them. Also he can swim, which is always appreciated and buy equipment with money that he can pickpocket off of locals. Hopefully this game steps up from its predecessor and makes a game that we can all agree on its greatness. One way or another, we’ll know the answer on November 17th.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Finally Playstation 3 fans get a chance to play one of the most well loved Action-Adventure games of the current generation. This redefined version of Ninja Gaiden 2 comes with additional characters, enemies, and an online cooperative multiplayer mode. So whether you’re a single console owner who never got a chance to play Ninja Gaiden 2, a multiple console owner who wants a chance to play as Ayane and Momiji or a fan of ninjas in general you should definitely give this title a look.

PSN Titles

Pixeljunk Shooter

How can you say no to Pixeljunk? Sure their first game on the PSN wasn’t the greatest, but they have more than redeemed themselves by releasing Monsters as well as Eden. The aptly named Pixeljunk Shooter lets you control an aircraft as you try to navigate caverns in order to save those stranded inside. A big pull for Shooter has been its fluid dynamics which make the lava and water you deal with feel incredibly realistic. There is also confirmed coop for 2 players. All of these make Shooter my most wanted unreleased PSN game.

Critter Crunch

A game where you play as an adorable little creature that pukes rainbows into its son’s mouth to feed it? Sign me up! This cute puzzle game has you manipulating the food chain to increase your score and feed your offspring and was originally released for the Iphone. The PSN version promises to include a cooperative mode as well as other additions to the story mode. Look for this crazy puzzler on PSN October 8th.

PS3/PSN games released prior to the holiday season that people should take a look at.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 9.1

Fat Princess - 8.4

Shatter - 8.4

Bomberman Ultra - 8.2

inFamous - 8.2

Killzone 2 - 9.1

MLB 09: The Show - 8.5

Flower - 8.6

Other Holiday Guides:

VGC Special: Sony PSP Holiday Buyers Guide 2009

PS3 Holiday Buyer's Guide for 2009

VGC Special: Holiday Buyers Guide PC Software 2009

33 Comments

fuzzykitten3769 (on 24 November 2009)

For me its Uncharted 2 and Mario and Luigi inside Bowser Story.

jankazimierz (on 30 September 2009)

GOD OF WAR COLLECTION?

Tbone (on 30 September 2009)

Great work. Sigma 2, Tekken 6, Uncharted 2 and Modern warfare 2 for me. Maybe Ratchet and Assassin´s creed 2 later.

Skeeuk (on 30 September 2009)

wheres god of war collection?

rexwong (on 30 September 2009)

I am Chinese, I MUST BUY FINAL FANTASY XIII. THIS IS WHY PS3 or NOTHING

Torillian (on 30 September 2009)

At the time I wrote this I thought Borderlands would have been released by now and Alpha Protocol is delayed to 2010 isn't it?

Tailgunner (on 30 September 2009)

Tekken 6 and Ninja Gaiden 2 are the only full games I don't plan on getting. I'll probably download PixelJunk Shooter at some point as well. But you've left out Alpha Protocol and Borderlands. What the heck?