Upcoming XBLA titles: Fez, Madballs, Vandal Hearts

I've been covering Wednesday updates for XBLA for past few weeks. Well, today I wanted to mention upcoming titles. Some of them are queuing up for release pretty soon while others have a rather distant,' maybe it will happen' sort of date set for it.

On the list I have:

madballsMadballs in Babo Invastion

I came across this review for Madballs In Babo Invasion and have been looking forward to this one. It still seems a bit too intense for me; I personally prefer the sneaking up behind a pillar to shoot the zombie sort of action. Not that that ever works out. However, for those who love multiplayer games where you get to mash up each other's bases and roll around shooting through their defenses, this is the game for you. That description hardly does it justice though. There are plenty of factors that seem to carve out this game as a formidable competitor for everyone's attention; the graphics look awesome, the gameplay is hectic and appears to require quite a bit of strategic planning.

Release date: Summer 2009

Ion Blaster

A lot of folks are also getting excited about Ion Blaster, the arcade shooter game. Developed by Coreplay, this game is of the 'blast the aliens out of the sky' variety. I have to agree with a lot of reviews; it has stunning graphics, complete with sleek ships and fancy shields. If you are into the arcade shooter style games, this will probably be hours of fun for you. On the note, it is claimed your ships get better as you dive further into the game. This in turn got me interested in a picture in one reviewer's gallery. It depicts a strange ship that is cocooned in this enormous shield with tentacle-like energy off-shoots. Ouch, is that one of the big bosses? Tell me he's on our side.

Release date: Summer 2009

FezFez

There is Fez, the weird little 'mess with your mind' game. Actually this game looks interesting; you get cute and cuddly sort of character which you use to explore and solve puzzles. Yes, he may look all flat and 2D but the gameplay actually lets you twist and turn your view, giving you  a funky 3D perspective. Nothing too funky about it, I am just pretty bad at trying to piece together 3D objects in my head. So there.

Release date: 2010

Vandal Hearts:Flames of Judgment.

For those who love RPG, you'll be happy to hear about Vandal Hearts:Flames of Judgment. I remember playing it way back on my PS and loving every minute of it. Is it just me or does the main character die really easily at the beginning? As far as story goes, it's the usual 'one man to save us from war' routine. Yes, there is a lot of fighting going on, especially between two kingdoms. And there is one man/ man led by group who can help sort out this problem. Incidentally, no matter how cliché it sounds, this actually does not get old for RPG games. Ask a Dungeon Master who's just starting out, I'm sure they will agree.  Well, the heroic group will be giving you glances of indignation from your TV screen, at least when the game is released for XBLA.

Release date: In development. No date.