Welcome to the Loadout. Our philosophy is that the working week is a recurring boss battle that you’ll need the proper weapons to take down. The supplies at hand won’t always be pretty but you might just be able to hold out until the weekend. Green means add it to your arsenal, yellow leaves it up to your discretion and red means back away slowly. With that, let’s see what we’ve got this week:
We’re not gonna lie to you, soldier: Pickings are very slim this week. Maybe all the publishers figured wallets would be light after iPad-mania. Still, this is as about as decrepit a release week as we can remember.
The Game: Borderlands Add-On Pack
Specifications: For all you packaged-goods lovers out there, this disc collects the first two downloadable content packs–The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned and Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot–that Gearbox rolled out for their hit “role-playing shooter” Borderlands.
Ideal Usage Scenario: You hate the Internet. Yet you still want the new weapons and scenarios that these add-ons delivered to Borderlands addicts. That’s the only reason we can think of that you wouldn’t have this stuff already. If that’s you, carry on.
The Game: Squishy Tank
Specifications: Natsume, publisher of the too-cute Harvest Moon games, rolls out an odd multiplayer match-three game for the Nintendo DS.
Ideal Usage Scenario: Bejeweled Blitz and its ilk just ain’t doing it for you anymore. Or, maybe you’re just curious what a love child of Rhythm Heaven and a match-three game would look like. There just might be enough quirkiness here to deserve a whirl so we can’t totally wave you off.
Mind you, there’s a few other things out this week but we’re trying to give you reasons not to frag yourself. Dig in that stack of games you haven’t finished or borrow Red Steel 2 from a friend. Do what you need to survive another week. Not every Loadout’s a winner but they can’t all be this bad either.