Microsoft announces House Party; four XBLA games arriving soon

By BatRastered — January 10, 2012
Tags: ces-2012 ea house-party microsoft-game-studios news thq ubisoft xbla

Beginning Feb. 15, Xbox LIVE will deliver four back-to-back releases of the best downloadable games, with one new title a week.

Microsoft always has a great lineup of Xbox Live Arcade titles every E3 for their "Summer of Arcade". It looks like they're trying to do the same thing with CES and "House Party". There are some interesting titles here; an Alan Wake sequel delivered as a XBLA game instead of a full retail product. I liked the original despite poking fun at it's oft-delayed status. There's also Ubisoft's "I Am Alive" which originally was to be a full retail product from what I can tell. They seemed to have reduced the scope to allow it to actualy get released. GoukiJones got to play Warp at PAX, he probably doesn't remember, but it's a clever title that allows your character to warp from place to place, including inside people to make them... uh... explode. Nexuiz is the lone newcommer here, so I'm interested to see what that is about.

Here's the lineup from Major Nelson:

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (Microsoft Studios): In this brand-new stand-alone experience, Alan Wake fights the herald of darkness, the evil Mr. Scratch. A thrilling new storyline, hordes of creepy enemies, serious firepower and beautiful Arizona locations, combined with a fun and challenging new game mode, make this a must for Alan Wake veterans, and the perfect jumping-on point for new players. Can you survive until sunrise?

I Am Alive (Ubisoft): One year after a worldwide cataclysmic event has wiped out most of human civilization, a man struggles for survival. Faced with an insecure, decaying and hazardous world, he scours a desolated city, searching for his long-lost wife and daughter. Survive the suffocating, murky streets covered in dust. Climb the teetering remains of last-standing skyscrapers to reach breathable air and find untouched resources. Explore the crumbling ruins of a once-thriving metropolis. Discover a changed human condition, punctuated by distrustful survivors, dangerous armed gangs and victims in need.

Nexuiz (THQ): For centuries, the Kavussari and the Forsellians have waged war. They have a fragile truce but, because of their seething disgust of each other, still pit warriors against each other in arenas rather than on the fields of war. These episodes of lethal combat are broadcast throughout the galaxy as entertainment — a spectacle known as The Nexuiz Competition — an arena-based first-person shooter where you can alter the rules of the match and the laws of physics while dominating opponents in ever-changing hostile environments.

Warp (EA): “Warp” is a puzzle-based stealth action game where you play as Zero, a lovable-yet-lethal orange alien with a big score to settle! Captured by the villainous Commander and imprisoned in his underwater facility, Zero must plan his ultimate escape using his arsenal of alien abilities — warp, frag, echo, swap and launch.