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Avalon Code (NDS):

"Avalon Code is an action RPG boasting incredible graphics, a deep and engrossing story, and innovative game play mechanics. Using the main character's 'Book of Prophecy', players can modify the rules of engagement during battle as well as weapon and monster attributes. The player even has control over the story as it changes depending on which gender the player chooses to play as, enhancing the ability to immerse themselves into the story."

**Available in stores Wednesday, March 11th.**

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MadWorld (Wii):

"Madworld is an inventive third-person action game exclusively for Wii. Produced by Atsushi Inaba, MadWorld has a unique black and white style depicting an incredibly sharp backdrop that straddles graphic novels and 3D worlds. As players battle opponents, they must master the use of various weapons and items found within their environment, such as chainsaws and street signs, while entertaining sports commentary adds to the third-person gameplay. With its irreverent humor and over-the-top violence, MadWorld will deliver a unique core gaming experience currently missing on the Wii system."

General Features

• Highly Stylized graphics – black and white graphics based on comic books and graphic novels deliver a stunning and unique looking game
• Exciting, visceral gameplay – fast and instinctive arcade-style gameplay with brutal finishing moves delivered by the Wii Remote and Nunchuk
• Over-the-top violence and irreverent content – exaggerated characters, murderous moves, monstrous bosses & outrageous commentary add to the irreverent and humorous tone
• Multiplayer mini-games – compete in a variety of ultra-violent party-games that can be played hotseat against friends

*Available in stores Wednesday, March 11th.**

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Resident Evil 5 (PS3, 360):

"Produced by series veteran Jun Takeuchi, this next-generation follow-up to the terrifying series introduces the theme of escape as its core survival instinct. As Chris Redfield (former S.T.A.R.S. member and now part of the BSAA unit), your life is in danger as you strive to complete your most dangerous mission yet in a sweltering desert colony where a new breed of evil has been unleashed. Swarms of marauding evil beings will charge at you when your pulse is racing at a heart-shattering pace. Environments will play a bigger factor than ever here, using the power of next-gen systems to create a world where terror might lurk in any alcove or shadow. Powerful lighting effects overwhelm the player with mirage movement and blinding brilliance, and even in the light of day, there is no safe haven in this Resident Evil."

**Available in most stores 12:00AM, Friday, March 13th.**

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Other Notables:

New Play Control! Pikmin (Wii): Available Tuesday, March 10th.

New Play Control! Mario Tennis (Wii): Available Tuesday, March 10th.

Where do you get these descriptions from Leo?

It will another couple of weeks before Madworld and RE5 come out here. I think I will hold off on all of them till I get through the games I bought recentely first.

Dvader said:

Eh, nothing I want.

Leo put the Nintendo Power Reviews up there too.

Ravenprose said:

Nintendo Power Reviews

Avalon Code 8.5

"Avalon Code brings a traditional action-RPG to the top screen of your DS, featuring exceptional 3D graphics and a smooth combat system with a varied arsenal of weapons. But the exploring and monster slaying takes a backseat to what's happening on the lower screen, where you'll find the 1,490-page Book of Prophecy. The book is the source of all your gear, the solution to every puzzle, and the key that unlocks scores of side quests. You'll fill it with information on every area, character, monster, and item you encounter, and then use your stylus to mess with the entries by mixing up the pieces of their DNA-esque "codes."  Carefully snipping and pasting codes can heal sickly townsfolk, cripple powerful monsters, and transform copper blades into flaming swords of legend. The process of archiving your world and tweaking each entry is oddly addictive and unlike anything I've played before.

The Book of Prophecy is a great idea, and it's far from the game's only left-field innovation. But not all of them are so succcessful--I wasn't a big fan of the dungeons full of timed puzzle rooms, nor of the system that forces you to repeatedly juggle enemies to earn badly needed recovery items. The game also flubs some of the basics, combining button functions in annoying ways and sapping the fun from its combat with instantly respawing enemies. But if the price of creative ideas is a lack of refinement, then it's one I'l willing to pay. Avalon Code is sort of a mess, but it's an inspired one."

--Casey L.

Madworld 9.0

"If you've followed any of our coverage of Sega and PlatinumGames's MadWorld, you know it's a Mature-rated, ultraviolent romp that's aimed squarely at the hardcore gamer. It allows you to ram a signpost through a person's head. It has a minigame called Man Darts in which you use a baseball bat to smash your opponents onto a giant dartboard. Even the title screen features a chainsaw splashed with blood. Suffice it to say, MadWorld is definitely not for kids.

Although the game is unquestionably brutal, the violence is so over-the-top that it's more humorous than guesome. Think of it as slapstick comedy taken to the extreme. Everything is so stylized, so far removed from our reality, that the blood becomes essentially splatters of red paint, providing the only real vibrant color (except for the occasional bits of yellow) to the otherwise black-and-white Sin City-style world in which the protagonist Jack resides.

Jack is a bounty hunter who travels to Jefferson Island, which becomes isolated at the beginning of the game due to all the bridges surrounding the island being destroyed, to participate in the Running Man-esque game show Death Watch. Of course, the real reason he's there is revealed as you play (no spoiler's here!). The story is compelling and interestingly presented with comic-book-like panels. To win the game, you have to hack and slash you way through 14 levels. It's a bit like another stylishly violent Wii game, No more Heroes, in that you're eliminating a series of memorable bosses to become the top dog. MadWorld, however, has a lot more going on in terms of the gameplay. Jack can eliminate enemies by using impermanent weapons such as spiked baseball bats, golf clubs, and daggers or by throwing his foes into anything from jet turbines to electrified signs to toilets to . . . well, let's just say that there are some other clever and surprising ways to dispatch baddies as the game progresses. Adding to the festivities, you can rack up more points by dishing out incredible amounts of punishment. A simple example from the tutorial is wrapping a large tire around a guy, and jamming a pole through his head, then picking him up and repeatedly slamming him into a wall of spikes. Overkill? Certainly, but finding new ways to execute enemies helps keep the gameplay fresh. (The level variety--including a couple of motocycle-centric levels--doesn't hurt either.)

Fortunately, the controls are intuitive and the gesture mechanics work pretty well. You can shake the Nunchuk to dodge attacks and swing the Wii Remote horizontally for a spinning back fist or vertically for an uppercut. If you hold B, you'll ready your chainsaw, then you can swing the Remote to slice eitehr vertically or horizontally. At certain context-sensititive instances (such as during boss battles), you'll have to match the onscreen indicators in what are basically motion-controlled quick-time events. Even this doesn't feel unnatural, though; you swing the Remote and/or Nunchuk a certain way when prompted, then Jack matches that motion in the game. Most of the time it doesn't feel like waggling for the sake of waggling., and the game is, thankfully, pretty forgiving in registering your movements.

Despite taking only five to seven real-world hours to beat (don't believe the in-game clock that says it takes half that), MadWorld's only real flaw is not its length--after all, that's a good amount of time for a beat-'em-up, and you can go back to get higher scores as well as unlock new weapons and a higher difficulty level--but rather the running commentary. John Di Maggio (the voice of Bender from Futurama) and Greg Proops (the voice of the English-speaking pod-race announcer in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which unintentionally adds to the humor) do an admirable job overall, but while their dialogue is often funny and risque, it can become annoying when you hear the exact same banter over and over again as you progress.

It say's a lot that repetititve commentary is the only really irritating part of the game, though. Everything else about MadWorld is, while not necessarily perfect, highly entertaining. For any harcore gamer, this one is not to be missed."

--Justin C.