This Week In Xbox - 4/24

Hot For 'Hero

After they hinted towards its release over a year ago, Kotaku has found some hard evidence that Guitar Hero: Van Halen is definitely in the works. The German ratings board Unterhaltungssoftware Selbkrontrolle gave the game a rating and gave us a first glimpse at the (possible) title: Guitar Hero headlining Van Halen. A few days later, it was pointed out that GameStop had started taking pre-orders on the game (they have since pulled the title from their website). All of this has come without any word from Activision, who have remained tight-lipped on the official announcement of the game.

VERDICT: I realize that Guitar Hero is an enormously successful franchise, but do we really need a new game every three months?

Repairing The Falling-Out

Bethesda has seen fit to announce the official release date for Fallout 3's new DLC, Broken Steel: May 5. Along with raising the level cap to 30 and introducing new quests, armor, and weapons, the content reopens the world to players, even after the previously very final ending. The events of Broken Steel take place two weeks after the original ending, and deal with the newly-enflamed conflict between The Brotherhood of Steel and The Enclave.

Following on the heels of the DLC announcements, Obsidian Entertainment has announced its intentions to add a new game to the Fallout universe under the title Fallout: New Vegas, Joystiq tells us. According to Pete Hines, VP at Bethesda, the game is "definitely an RPG" and will be developed my several people who worked on the original Fallout.

VERDICT: Hmm... Will New Vegas mark a return to the original form of Fallout? I though Fallout 3 was incredible, but I am intrigued as to where Obsidian will take it.

Honestly, We're Out Of Ghostbusters Jokes

In a move towards complete movie authenticity, the official opening sequence of the upcoming Ghostbusters game has been released. The teaser shows us a directly-out of the movie home-made commercial, which is, of course, hilariously awkward, followed by your typical Ghostbusters-style scary walk through a library. Expect to see the game on shelves June 16, and check out the new video right here.

VERDICT: I realize that this doesn't show any of the actual gameplay, but boy does it get me excited.

All's Fair In Halo Wars

According to Team Xbox, Halo Wars will be receiving the DLC treatment fairly soon. The new "Strategic Options" Game Add-On Pack will include three new multiplayer modes, including: Keepaway, a sort of capture-the-flag adapted for the RTS audience in which players battle to control and ever-moving sentinel; Tug-Of-War, in which players battle to have the most units, resources, and buildings at the end of the round; and Reinforcement, in which players are given units in successive waves that they have to use in order to defeat their opponents. No release date has been announced for the pack, but players can expect four more achievements to work their way towards, totalling at 100 Points.

VERDICT: Is it just me, or does Tug-Of-War just sound like a regular game? Don't you always want more stuff than your opponents?

Time To Rock! Oh, And Maybe Some Roll

After many, many long months in wait, Kotaku reports that Tim Schafer's baby Brütal Legend is finally up for release next October. The game, starring Jack Black, was originally slated to be released by Activision, but after the publisher's merger with Vivendi, it fell off the radar only to be later picked up by EA. Tim Shafer had this to say about the impending release: "Wooo! Having an official release date is awesome. And how cool is it that EA threw down the dough to have the name of an entire month changed to Rocktober?"

VERDICT: Well, that was a long time coming. Now here's to hoping the game doesn't suck.