On the heels of finishing Devil May Cry 4 tonight, Backlog will return tomorrow with a new game to play. That means its your opportunity to direct the course of the show. As always, I have four games which all follow a common thread. For our twenty-first round, the theme is “Definite Article” because I’m an unbelievable dork.
Check out the list of games and make your selection in the comments. We’ll take the most popular choice and start playing tomorrow on Destructoid’s Twitch.tv channel!
The Getaway
Developed by Team Soho
Released on January 19th, 2003
I’ve always heard great things about The Getaway and simply never took the time to find out if they were true. I’m trying to keep my expectations low, as it’s hard to know what you’re going to get into with a nearly decade-old sandbox. But who wouldn’t want to recklessly drive through the streets of London? And I dig any game that attempts greater immersion by dumping the HUD.
Provided, of course, that dropping the HUD actually works well. I know how we can find out.
The Red Star
Developed by Acclaim Studios / Archangel Studios
Released April 23rd, 2007
Based on the graphic novel series of same name, The Red Star is a game which went through a difficult development as Acclaim Studios shut down shortly after a demo of the game appeared in August of 2004. The final product, a combination of third-person shooting and fighting game mechanics, wouldn’t see release until three years later, it’s development completed by Archangel Studios. Probably too late, and the completed Xbox version was never even put on store shelves.
The game sounds awesome and I’ve always wanted to try it. The copy I picked up on the cheap has been sitting around for an awful long time.
The Mark of Kri
Developed by SCE San Diego Studio
Released July 29, 2002
Lauded at release for its visual style and storyline, The Mark of Kri got a big push from Sony as the first title released by their San Diego Studio. The game featured an interesting combat gimmick in which enemies are mapped to buttons instead of attacks, and pressing the button designated for a specific enemy sends your character off attacking them. This brutal action-adventure game draws inspiration from Polynesian art, a culture often overlooked by entertainment for anything more than beaches.
Sadly, my copy of The Mark of Kri has never been removed from the plastic wrap.
The Saboteur
Developed by Pandemic Studios
Released on December 8, 2009
Pandemic’s sandbox game set in Nazi-occupied France should have been a grand slam. It’s filled with things that are practically fixations in my life. Like breasts and Nazis. And breasts. Yet I wound up being far more interested in its contemporary at time of release, Assassin’s Creed II and quickly abandoned playing The Saboteur to fight another Axis power half a millennium early.
I think that if I can stay focused on accomplishing the actual missions of the game instead of being distracted by shiny blips on my radar, there’s no reason why I can’t finish this one in a timely and entertaining manner. I’ll probably really love it once I get into the meat of things but keeping my eye on the prize will be the real challenge here.
Mystery Game
Finally, we have the Mystery Game. Don’t make the mistake of choosing this for curiosity’s sake, as people have clamored before to know what it was and groaned when they learned. The intent here is to select the Mystery Game if none of the other games appeal to you, so voting for it just because you want to know what it is is kind of a dick move.
If the Mystery Game is not chosen, it’ll roll over into the next series where it will continue to be a mystery.
There you have it. Make your selection in the comments below and get ready for a whole new series of Backlog!
