PS3 Game of the Month: October 2012
- Posted November 4th, 2012 at 10:25 EDT by Michael Harradence
The holiday games marathon is well and truly upon us, and that invariably means things are getting heavy in terms of quality release – not to mention making our wallets considerably lighter to boot. If September was the appetizer, with sumptuous tasters such as Borderlands 2 and Tekken Tag 2 among others, then October is the main course; a banquet of triple-A sequels sprinkled liberally with a fine helping of fresh IP to top things off. Okay, that was pretty corny, but you get the picture: The big boys are here ready to compete for your cash from now until Christmas.
Capcom kicked things off early in the month with the release of Resident Evil 6; the ‘dramatic horror’ sequel packing four meaty campaigns covering a myriad of gameplay ideas. One of the most critically polarizing titles in the series to date, RE6 nonetheless managed to impress yours truly enough to award it a solid 8.5 in our review. Elsewhere, Bethesda’s Dishonored arrived on the scene and turned quite a few heads in the process thanks to its open-ended gameplay, allowing players as a deadly assassin to approach objectives however they see fit. October was also a month of high-definition revamps, with NiGHTS into Dreams, Sonic Adventure 2 and Okami all receiving a fresh coat of paint, Trophy support and various other bits and bobs. XCOM: Enemy Unknown also made quite an impact with critics by reinventing a classic 90s franchise.
Sony’s PlayStation Move also got perhaps its most significant release this year in the form of Sports Champions 2, which adds a host of new games to indulge in, including a tweaked archery system. Continuing the tidal wave we also had Medal of Honor: Warfighter from Dangerclose, plus Criterion Games’ hotly-anticipated Need for Speed Most Wanted, which many have compared to the studio’s own Burnout franchise. Rounding out the month however is one of the most anticipated releases of the year in Assassin’s Creed III from Ubisoft. This latest entry in the historical action-adventure series brings to a conclusion Desmond’s story arch surrounding the end of the world in December 2012, and sees players taking control of a new assassin named Connor in the midst of the American Revolution.
So, all in all a fantastic month for gaming, and that’s not including the PlayStation Vita’s offerings, which we’ll cover in a separate article. For now though, we’re left with the daunting task of slapping our Game of the Month accolade on October’s standout PS3 title. And, after much discussion at PSU Towers, we decided to go with the mighty Assassin’s Creed III. It was a tough choice; Dishonored is highly favoured amongst the staff, as was XCOM: Enemy Unknown, though ultimately Ubisoft’s juggernaut came out on top.
Despite some annoying bugs and glitches, Connor’s American adventure has all the makings of a triple-A sequel, combining lush visuals, satisfying parkour-filled roof hopping and a meaty storyline packed with dozens of quests. Throw in a fantastic multiplayer component and the ability to hunt animals, trade items and build your assassins army, and you’ve got a worthy successor to last year’s Revelations.
Check out a snippet from our review below and then read the full article here.
"Assassin's Creed III builds strongly on the series but fails to take a giant leap of faith into any real new territory. A new plot, the Colonial America setting, and sheer volume of things to do outweigh the disappointing bugs and glitches."
Don’t agree with our choice for Game of the Month: October 2012? Let us know what title you would have given the accolade to in the comments section below.
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