Dark, unforgiving and addictive, Demon's Souls was one of the best Playstation 3 games of 2009, even receiving Gamespot's prestigious Game of the Year 2009 award.
Released in Japan on 5 February 2009, and in North America in October of the same year, talk of a Demon's Souls release in Europe and Asia had been quiet.
Namco Bandai Announces Release Date
On 16 April 2010, Namco Bandai announced that they would be partnering with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., developers of Demon's Souls, to bring the game to Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.
The game, which Namco Bandai spokesperson Olivier Comte described as a "quality experience", will be release on 25 June 2010, with players getting the opportunity to purchase the limited Black Phantom Edition, complete with a CD of the soundtrack, artbook, and official strategy guide.
How Does Demon's Souls Stack Up?
It might seem as though consumers should be wary of a game that had its European release eight months after the North American release. However, Demon's Souls is sure to not only entertain, but stun, even the most critical gamers.
The game received over 15 awards following its American release, including a Game of the Year 2009, three best RPG awards and a smattering of best PS3 game of the year awards. Reviews were resoundingly positive, with review aggregator GameRankings giving the game an overall score of 89.4% as of May 2010.
Gameplay - Good, Bad or Ugly?
Much of the positive acclaim as been to do with the game's innovative online features. Players are able to play online while keeping their play experiences relatively unaltered.
There are a number of ways of interaction between players. When a player dies within their own game, a blood trail is left in other players' games, allowing them to view the last steps of other players in order to avoid death. Players can also leave scrolls for others to read with hints.
Players can also intrude on the world of other players. This can both be positive and negative. Players are able to both aid each other to defeat bosses and difficult enemies, allowing the intruder to regain their body within their own game world. However, players can also choose to intrude as Black Phantoms, in order to kill the player in their own game world, and take their souls.
Most of the criticism levelled at the game has been due to its seemingly insane difficulty, where players will numerous times be killed without warning. This means that quite often players will learn the most by simply dying - what to do or not to do in certain situations.
However, death is not the end of the game for the player - and in fact the player must die following the introduction to the game for the story to progress. They lose their corporeal body, and must fight and gather souls, the game's currency, to regain their body.
Roundup
Demon's Souls is a quality game. Finally European players will have the opportunity to play it.
The Demon's Souls European release date is 25 June 2010.
Lachlan Stevens - Lachlan Stevens is a Journalism student. The Entertainment Editor at Newcastle's Yak Magazine, Lachlan has written for numerous ...
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