NCAA Football, 3D Myst Top July Game Releases

July’s the hottest month of the year, and some sizzling game titles will be released this month, as well. So, when filling time between Big Brother airings and the Olympics, pop in one of these new videogame titles for a little R&R.

• NCAA Football 13 – Training camps for the NFL may be a few weeks away, but you can get some updated collegiate gridiron action this month. Robert Griffin III graces the cover, along with Barry Sanders, but what’s in the game is what really counts. As always, EA has tweaked features and performance to give a better gameplay experience. New this year is the removal of supposedly “Psychic DBs” and “Super Linebackers”, long-time plagues of the passing game. Road to Glory has a new feature where your superstar can enter Reaction Time, a brief bit of slo-mo that lets you see where a hole in the defense is developing. Wait, why would Barry Sanders be on the cover? Because an all-new Heisman Challenge has been added, allowing you to pick one of 10 former winners (including Barry, Doug Flutie, and Marcus Allen) and put them on your team, then try to win the Heisman with them. (available July 10 from EA Sports for 360 and PS3 [July 6 for those on Season Ticket]; rated E)
• Rainbow Moon – This $15 PSN downloadable SRPG is similar to many Asian-created titles. Playing as a man named Baldren, you’re cursed and stranded at the title location. With the only way home being a staff that will allow passage through a dimensional gate—and no staff like that around—your quest becomes collecting seven artifacts that will allow you to create one. Battles will be initiated by running into monsters on the field, and will use an isometric layout. Other than that, it’ll be pretty standard fare, with items and money to collect and over 100 skills to upgrade. There likely won’t be any new ground broken with this game, but as a cheap download you may not feel the need for it to provide you with anything other than a new story on top of RPG mechanics we’ve used for decades. (available July 10 from eastasiasoft exclusively for PS3; rated E10+)
• The Last Story – If you’re looking for a meatier entrée in the RPG realm and have a Wii, this should sate your appetite. Already available everywhere else in the world, the game has received great reviews. And while it’s an RPG, it’s also action-heavy, so like more modern hybrid tales like Fallout, there’s a cover system and similarity to third-person shooter gameplay. You’ll be a guy named Zael, leading a mercenary band looking for work. When an island leader hires you—and the potential to have long-term security as knight is a bonus—you set off on your first assignment… but while doing your job you get imbued with a strange power that sends your goals and the story in a whole new direction. And on top of the lengthy quest, there are also a few multiplayer modes for up to six people when you feel like being a little more social. (available July 10 from Xseed Games for Wii; rated T)
• Myst – One of PC gaming’s most celebrated puzzle adventures makes its way to handheld systems yet again. If you’ve never played, it’s very easy to get into; there’s almost no backstory given. You just kind of start the game with no stated goals after having been transported to the titular island. You really can only discover what needs to be done by exploring and gathering clues, which will send you on your way to smaller areas with their own puzzles to be discovered and solved. While critically lauded as a PC title, sadly most ports of the game to consoles and handhelds have received tepid (at best) reviews; however, even if this port suffers that same fate, the budget price point and chance to experience a great story shouldn’t prevent newcomers from diving into this unique world, now enhanced with 3D graphics. (available July 24 from Maximum Family Games exclusively for 3DS; rated E)
• SunFlowers – If you enjoy simple, satisfying puzzlers like Angry Birds or Where’s My Water that start easy and keep getting a bit tougher, this is definitely for you. Here you’ll control the sun and have to figure out how to get flowers on the ground to bloom. Shining sunbeams through the moving clouds will make it rain and make flowers happy; shining directly on flowers will cause them to wither, and shining through a storm cloud will shoot lightning at them. It’ll take advantage of VITA features, like being able to shake the unit to get rid of accumulated leaves in fall stages or needing the actual sun to shine in the camera to be able to see in other stages. SunFlowers touts having 330 flowers to collect, so let’s get growing! (available this month from The Game Atelier exclusively for Vita; rated E)

Jeff is currently playing Where's My Water?; follow him on Twitter at JKLugar.