Mid-Range Missiles

The early half of any year is usually the time for publishers to put out all the games they were far too terrified to put up against the big hitters of the holiday period and so it has been this last few and upcoming months, but I’ve been wondering whether the strength of last year’s late games has pushed more quality into early 2009. The mid-range games we’re seeing right now are actually throwing us some real gems. Sure, they’re incredibly niche and will only appeal to fractions of gamers, but someone, somewhere is going to enjoy at least one of them immensely.

Games like Ninja Blade being published by Microsoft and made by Tenchu developer From Software is a prime example, focusing in on pure fun and instant gratification rather than any longer term ambition. Some could also argue that Halo Wars was something of a mid-range game given its genre and low-key release.

Movie and celebrity related games are also classic mid-range fodder, but this year we’ve actually had some decent examples. Wanted: Weapons Of Fate, Chronicles Of Riddick, The Wheelman, Afro Samurai and 50 Cent all have something to offer (some more than others), but all would struggle with the hardcore crowd any other time of year precisely because of their links outside gaming. Riddick in particular is still well worth checking out.

Franchise experimentation is also frequent around this time of year with sporting titles in particular and WWE Legends Of Wrestlemania fits the bill in 2009, actually surpassing Smackdown Vs Raw in the process much as EA’s Euro 2008 game was actually better than FIFA 08 and lead seemingly to the superb FIFA 09.

Of course we’ve had our big hitters too like Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter, but compared to the later months of any year the triple-A hits are few and far between. That’s given these smaller, less lauded, perhaps simpler games the chance the shine and that’s just fine by me.