This week looks like another great one in game releases with inFamous and Damnation both hitting stores, along with the Up, the game based on the Pixar movie. Hit the jump for the full list of games coming out this week and my pick of the week.

Pick of the Week: inFamous

Xbox 360:

• Damnation
• Fallout 3 Game Add-On Pack – The Pitt and Operation Anchorage
• Up

PS3:

• Cross Edge
• Damnation
• inFamous
• Up

Wii:

• Rolling Stone: Drum King
• Space Camp
• Speed Zone
• The Munchables
• Up

PC:

• Damnation
• Delta Force: Xtreme 2
• Fallout 3 Game Add-On Pack – The Pitt and Operation Anchorage
• Up

PS2:

• Secret Agent Clank
• Up

DS:

• Imagine: Makeup Artist
• Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past
• Personal Trainer: Walking
• Puffins: Island Adventure
• Space Camp
• Up

PSP:

• Crimson Gem Saga
• Up

• New Game Releases: 10/24 – 10/30
• New Game Releases: 10/17 – 10/23
• New Game Releases: 10/10 – 10/16
• New Game Releases: 10/3 – 10/9
• New Game Releases: 9/26 – 10/2
• New Game Releases: 9/12 – 9/18

Thursday night Blue Omega showed off their vertically bent steampunk shooter, Damnation, to the press at Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco. After loitering a bit in a pseudo-secret side room (the venue is prohibition-era themed) we settled in to the Xbox 360 system-link set-up in a semi-adjoining back room, where the fuse promptly blew…

But we eventually did get to play the game, and I quite enjoyed it! My first round was King of the Hill in a warehouse-y sort of environment. You notice the height immediately, and notice it head-on if you take the stairs a bit quickly and rely on a railing that doesn’t exist.

You have to sort of suspend your belief a bit when it comes to the utility of the structure—why would anyone build a tower that requires dive rolls over pits of doom to scale? But aside from falling to your doom, it’s pretty fun to wall jump over to a ladder hanging from a platform and clamber up, climb your way to the glowing blue “hill,” and blast away the King and posers alike.

Controls were pretty standard for a third-person shooter, but the gameplay depends a lot more on platforming skills than most. The sprint button was really handy, especially for escaping those horrible HORRIBLE PEOPLE (which, yes, included me from time to time) taking advantage of the (probably) overpowered melee punch.

Actually, there were quite a few unintentionally hilarious fist fights during the evening—people chasing each other like a dog after its tail, four man clusterfreak. However, the level designs are conducive to awesome sniping opportunities as well, and the range of weaponry will allow for both running in with a Tommy-gun styled automatic or hiding out for longer range tactics.

After taking a death match spin through a more outdoor environment, I ended up sampling the evening’s titular cocktail (which was rather a bit like spiked apple cider, and pretty damned—hurr–delicious) with producer Richard Gilbert. He caught me up on details like how the story mode is co-op from start to end, with the second player controlling various supporting characters as they weave through the plot, and how Blue Omega is aiming to create an American epic in the same way that Lord of the Rings could be considered a European epic. I’m totally into the idea of an Americana-marinated, steam-powered, alternate history tale (and I really liked that cowboy I was running around with), so I’ll have my eye on Damnation when it releases this winter.

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French PS3 fansite Play3-Live, has uploaded scans from the March issue of the French Playstation Magazine that take the veil off the previously unannounced game Damnation, and gives us a deeper look at Recoil: Retrograd.

With Ripten’s ranks not including a Frenchman, what you are about to read is in large part comprised of Babelfish and Google translations. Scans and information to follow.

Damnation is an action game developed by Blue Omega and published by Codemasters. According to Play3-Live, we should expect some unusually large levels, in addition, it is being reported that we may be able to get our hands on this this title around winter time of this year.

The main character is super-athlete of sorts, with ‘Spirit Vision’, an ability that allows him to see the will of his foes – it’ll essentially help players strategize before fights.

Recoil: Retrograde, originally a PC exclusive, is a third-person action-adventure game, created by Morten Iversen. In addition to being the CEO of ZeitGuyz (the development studio working on the game) Morten is also known for his work as the scribe behind the popular Hitman series.

In a war-torn world where humans have managed to manipulate time, David Artman, the games protagonist and resident ‘chrono-assassin’, must travel to the past to fix the present.

While the concept looks promising, many of the games specifics are still under wraps. What we do know though, is that developer ZeitGuyz has their sites on the PS3, and is aiming for a 2010/2011 release.

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Source: Play3-Live

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