Out This Week - Rayman! LOTR! Kirby! Layton!

By Tom Phillips Published 21 November, 2011

Eurogamer's guide to this week's releases, from Angry Birds to Zumba 2.

Five weeks until Christmas, and the majority of the season's release schedule has now been emptied upon us.

The Skyrims, Zeldas and Modern Warfares have been carefully shepherded from the workshops of video game developers into the safe pens of your local game shop or Jersey-based Amazon.co.uk warehouse. And the less fortunate have been thrown lemming-like into the bargain bins at Asda.

But there are still a few stragglers left to round up, even after this week, with Mario Kart 7 set to debut on 2nd December and 22nd December seeing hotly anticipated MMO The Old Republic arrive, a true Star Wars holiday special.

The highlights this week include Rayman Origins, a lovingly crafted cel-shaded romp from the mind of Michel Ancel. It's a return to form for Ubisoft's limbless platforming hero, with none of the studio's scene-stealing Rabbids anywhere in sight. Still not convinced? Ubi has said buying it may even help the plight of Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Lord of the Rings: War in the North, meanwhile, is Snowblind's dark and bloodied take on Tolkien's Middle Earth. Devoid of the green, pastoral lands of the Shire, Hobbitses and potato soup, the action is instead relocated to areas not seen in the films, although Gandalf, Frodo and co. apparently make appearances. You can even play co-operatively and form a mighty Dwarf, Elf and Human trio to stomp around and smash orcs skulls in.

Then there's Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call, another puzzler in the popular handheld series and the last for the ageing DS. Spectre's Call (named Last Specter outside Europe) is not the full package however - it's missing the 100-hour Professor Layton's London Life RPG by Mother creators Brownie Brown, playable in the game's Japanese, US and Australian versions - Nintendo cut it here to get the game out by Christmas. Don't need it on your doorstep this Friday? It's worth remembering that Last Specter, like all DS games, is region-free and well worth importing instead.

For fighting fans, 2D SNK brawler King of Fighters 13 punches onto PS3 and Xbox 360, while WWE '12 (the latest Smackdown vs. Raw) arrives for PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

Elsewhere, Nintendo's new handheld gets plenty of loving. After Super Mario 3D Land last week, this Friday sees the re-release of PS2 classic Tales of the Abyss, with literally eye-popping 3D graphics, touch controls and some lovely looking anime cut-scenes. This year's F1 2011 and last year's caricatured WWE-All Stars also get 3DS versions, while Sonic Generations speeds onto 3DS and PC.

PC gamers can finally play Batman: Arkham City, or needlessly pay £10 for a no-frills boxed port of Angry Birds. Hello Asda bargain bins.

Lastly, to the Wii, where goodness-knows-how-many-years-in-the-making Kirby's Adventure Wii launches (again changed by Nintendo of Europe from its worldwide name, Return to Dreamland). It's a return to the series' traditional enemy-swallowing roots after last year's enjoyable distraction Epic Yarn. Iterations of the game have been around since the GameCube. And last of all, Zumba Fitness 2 - to be seen in every chart top ten for the next year.

This Week in Shops!

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

  • Developer: Snowblind Studios
  • Publisher: Warner Bros.
  • Format: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

What is it? Bloody co-operative role-player set in Tolkien's Middle Earth for up to three players. What does Eurogamer think? Eurogamer will publish its verdict soon.

Dwarf stars.

Rayman Origins

  • Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
  • Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Format: PS3, Wii, Xbox 360

What is it? Beautiful and plucky platformer from Ubisoft mastermind Michel Ancel. What does Eurogamer think? 8/10, said Simon Parkin in our Rayman Origins review: "Ubisoft Montpellier has indisputably crafted a delightful, playful, occasionally exhilarating platformer. But while this is a game whose visuals point to a bright, alternative future, its systems too often rely on the dusty past."

You and whose armies?

Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call

  • Developer: Level 5
  • Publisher: Nintendo
  • Format: DS

What is it? The fourth Layton puzzle adventure for DS. What does Eurogamer think? John Teti doled out an 8/10 to the US version, which contains the 100 hour extra game us Europeans are denied. For more details, read his Professor Layton and the Last Specter Review.

Spectre the unexpected.

What else?

  • Angry Birds (PC)
  • Batman: Arkham City (PC)
  • F1 2011 (3DS)
  • James Noir's Hollywood Crimes (3DS)
  • King of Fighters 13 (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Kirby's Adventure Wii (Wii)
  • Metroid 2: Return of Samus (3DS Virtual Console)
  • Serious Sam 3: BFE (PC)
  • Sonic Generations (3DS, PC)
  • Tales of the Abyss (3DS)
  • WWE '12 (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
  • WWE All-Stars (3DS)
  • Zumba Fitness 2 (Wii)

Chart Predictions!

Your Chart Predictions!

With last week's releases swamping the UK top 40 chart, how will this week's lot fare? This time we're asking you to predict where Lord of the Rings: War in the North will land:

Each week one of the Eurogamer's finest attempts to foresee the future - or rather, what next week's top five games will be in the UK all-formats chart. The following predictions are for the week beginning Friday 18th November, to be reported next Monday.

Tom Phillips, Eurogamer web admin, Eurogamer.net

"While Lord of the Rings: War in the North ties-in to a big budget franchise, is the public ready for another? Personally I'd rather wait a year or so and play the inevitable Hobbit tie-in so I can smite the Benedict Cumberbatch-voiced Smaug back to Baker Street where he belongs. Modern Warfare 3 will be top, because it's Modern Warfare 3. Assassin's should still keep selling, as will Skyrim. Rayman in fourth is perhaps optimistic, but it's pretty and multi-platform and will make a good stocking filler."

  1. Modern Warfare 3
  2. Assassin's Creed: Revelations
  3. Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
  4. Rayman Origins
  5. FIFA 12

Last week, Eurogamer's US News Editor Fred Dutton gave us his predictions. How did he do?

Position The Truth The Prediction Result
1 Modern Warfare 3 Modern Warfare 3 YES!
2 Assassin's Creed: Revelations Assassin's Creed: Revelations YES!
3 Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword NO!
4 Saints Row: The Third Need for Speed: The Run NO!
5 FIFA 12 Halo: Combat Evolved - Anniversary NO!
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Phillips

Tom joined Eurogamer in 2010 and has quickly made his mark writing news and columns and coming up with puntastic straplines. Questionable beard.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 1d ago

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  • captainCandy #1 2d ago

    I thought that Angry Birds was out like over a year ago. Two years ago?

  • Rogueywon #2 2d ago

    Isn't Serious Sam 3 also out this week? Tomorrow, if I remember.

    I didn't much like Serious Sam 2, but I do remember many happy hours of co-op in the original back in my student days. Plus there's something refreshing about an fps that doesn't limit you to two weapons and isn't all about crouching in cover and popping up for headshots.

  • CrunchinJelly #3 2d ago

    Rayman will bomb hard at £40.

  • Triggerhappytel #4 2d ago

    I'm sure everyone's aware already, but for anyone thinking if buying Angry Birds, it's completely bloody free through Google Plus.

    I am quite interested in Rayman but it will have to wait as I've far too much to play at the moment - maybe in 5 or 6 months, when it'll probably be about 15 pounds anyway. Also, Ubi's attempts at blackmail for BG&E; fans actually makes me think "fuck you" and feel less inclined to buy it.

  • Centrifugal #5 2d ago

    London Life's pretty dull anyway; they say it's 100 hours long, but after the few hour or two tedium begins to set in. I'd much rather have UK voice actors than a little mini-game.

  • TrevHead #6 2d ago

    Like others ive spent way too much on gaming this past 3 months. Ill wait until Rayman, Sonic, SSam3 drop to the £15-£20 mark

    Im also thinking about King of Fighters since im looking for a fighter to break myself back into the genre and I wanna support Rising Star since they bring all those CAVE shmups to PAL.

    However Ive got a funny feeling KOF probably isnt the wisest choice for a scrub

  • cerebralbored #7 2d ago

    Does the Australian version of Professor Layton have UK or US voice actors? There are PAL games over there, just like the UK I think.

  • MattEdWithCheese #8 2d ago

    Tales for me! :D

  • Yeoung #9 2d ago

    I really hope Rayman Origins does better than Ubisoft's projections, regardless of what they are. I need them to know that 2D platformers are still worth doing in this day and age.

    Going by how the title was marketed, Ubisoft is expecting big numbers so I really hope it becomes a hit, but it's hard to tell with these games. There's brand recognition, family fun, amazing art direction and 4 player single-screen coop, but for some reason I'm still a bit apprehensive about how it will perform sales-wise.

    Picking this up next friday, along with SR:TT

  • DrKong #10 2d ago

    Kirby :)

  • Cadence #11 1d ago

    Finally Batman is out on PC. I hope it worth the wait.

  • Osahi #12 1d ago

    Will you publish a Tales of the Abyss review? I'm in doubt, it's the first RPG for 3DS (my DS was truly a RPG system) but not sure if it'll be good as I thought the PS2 version had mixed reactions

  • Toothball #13 1d ago

    In a remarkable show of self restraint (for me anyway), I'm holding off on buying Layton until I've finished with Mario 3D. It's going to be difficult as I really like solving puzzles.

    I'm sticking with the Euro version. This London Life business is a shame to lose, but I've got many other games to get through. Not having another 100 hour RPG on my plate will be something of a relief. Probably better off getting Tales for that anyway.

  • wizlon #14 1d ago

    I thought Mario Kart 7 was out later in the month. Not complaining mind, I can't wait!

  • AceGrace #15 1d ago

    Tekken Hybrid is also out this week.