January will likely be a month for many gamers to either catch up on backlogs or play the games they got as presents over the holidays. Here at Warp Zoned, it’s a mix of the two. There is one game that seems to appeal to most of us, though, and that’s the new Studio Ghibli/Level-5 game finally coming to our shores, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Read on to see how we’ll be spending the next few weeks!
John Scalzo
Editor-In-Chief
The January release calendar is pretty bare, but there’s a surprising number of games that look interesting, starting with today’s Xbox Live Arcade addition, Retro City Rampage. Deranged rage seems to be the theme for this month’s new releases, like Anarchy Reigns from Sega and Platinum Games. It’s not quite MadWorld 2 (even though both games star the badass Jack), but it looks appropriately bent.
Finally, the PS3/Xbox 360 version of Painkiller: Hell & Damnation is expected to be released this month. I’ve never dug into the Painkiller series before, but I always wanted to. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to unleash some fire and brimstone on a demonic horde before the calendar turns over to February.
Nicole Kline
Senior Editor
January is all about one game for me: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. I played and loved the demo back in December, and I’m really hoping to spend a lot of time with it come January 22. Other than that, I am going to try to pick up the Adventure Time game, Hey Ice King, Why’d You Steal Our Garbage? for the 3DS with my GameStop gift card I got for Christmas. Hopefully that will hold me over!
Andrew Rainnie
UK Correspondent
January is always a scant month for game releases, probably because everyone rushes to get them for Christmas. Out of the slim pickings, the one I would most likely pick up (if I didn’t have Sleeping Dogs and Hitman: Absolution piled up next to me) would be Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. I am a total Ghibli geek, so even the mere thought of playing a game that they have a hand in gives me goosebumps.
I could be persuaded to try DMC: Devil May Cry, due to the fact that Ninja Theory, who developed the underrated Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, are involved. However, it is ultimately a Capcom game, so I’d hold off until I hear some word of mouth, given how poor some of their recent games and decisions (i.e. downloadable content on disc) have been.
Mike Ryan
Contributor
Everything old is new again. I, for one, am excited to play the Hitman HD Trilogy, as I have such fond memories of the originals. Other than that, January for me is primarily a backlog month, filled with Dead Space 2, Uncharted, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.
Continue on to the next page for a complete look at the January release schedule.
