The Games Of Summer

by Matthew Kato on May 30, 2011 at 06:00 AM

Memorial Day represents the official unofficial beginning of summer, but apart from a blistered hot dog wedged in a soggy bun, what else do you have to look forward to? This summer’s crop of games isn’t packed with lots of high-profile titles, but there are more than a few games worth taking a look at.

Note: Release dates subject to change. This is not a complete release list

JUNE

It seems like summer is doing most of its heavy lifting up front, with June housing the season’s high-profile titles Duke Nukem Forever and Infamous 2. The month has a little something for everyone, however, from Child of Eden to Dungeon Siege III to The Legend of Zelda: Ocraina of Time on 3DS. Duke Nukem Forever and Ocarina of Time together again? It’s the late ‘90s all of a sudden.

Infamous 2 (PS3) – June 7
Red Faction: Armageddon (PS3/360/PC) – June 7
Duke Nukem Forever (shown) (PS3/360/PC) – June 14
Child of Eden (Xbox 360) – June 14
Alice: Madness Returns (PS3/360/PC) – June 14
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) – June 19
Dungeon Siege III (PS3/360/PC) – June 21
F.E.A.R. 3 (PS3/360/PC) – June 21
Shadows of the Damned (PS3/360) – June 21
Cars 2: The Video Game (PS3/360/Wii/DS) – June 21
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries (3DS) – June 28

JULY

Will there be anybody in the entire world who picks up both NCAA and Catherine? I put the number of people who do in the single digits, and Phil’s not one of them.

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (shown) (PS3/360) – July 5
NCAA Football 12 (PS3/360) – July 12
Catherine (PS3/360) – July 26
Splinter Cell: Classic Trilogy HD (PS3) – July 26

AUGUST

Summer ends on a low-key note, although it’ll be interesting to see which game is good enough to put its franchise back to prominence – Driver: San Francisco or Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Of course, Deus Ex has a much higher threshold to meet, but then again maybe Driver’s crazy out-of-body-experience jumps the shark even for that franchise.

The August calendar is a little in flux, as it remains to be seen if games like Lord of the Rings: War in the North or Dead Island come out in the month or later in the fall.