New Game Releases: Rayman Legends, Total War: Rome II And More

Monday is a holiday here in the United States, meaning those folks who don’t have to work on Labor Day can kick back with some video games. Hooray!

Unfortunately, a recent study suggests that nearly half the population (myself included) has to work on Labor Day. Boo!

Even if we don’t get to look forward to an extra day off this week, at least we can take comfort in the fact that new video games are coming our way, same as always. We’ve got platformers, strategy games, and the return of an old friend (or not, depending on how you feel about its infamous launch) that is new to consoles. Let’s check out what we’ll be able to buy with the fruits of our labor this week:

“Rayman Legends” (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U, Vita) – September 3

It’s more fun to play with friends, right? Just like in “Rayman Origins,” the hook in “Rayman Legends” is four-player simultaneous play, leading to all kinds of craziness. A new female character named Barbara joins Rayman, Globox and the Teensies this time out.

Also, the main characters have apparently been asleep for a century when the game begins. Even when I sleep through my alarm I’m not out that long.

“Total War: Rome II” (PC) – September 3

Don’t be fooled by the title. This game isn’t about combat in a fictional successor to Rome, it’s a sequel to the original “Total War: Rome.” Those Roman numerals can get confusing, I know.

For this one, expect mixed land and naval battles and the ability to focus in on individual soldiers even in the middle of clashes between thousands of troops on each side. A total of 117 different factions will be vying for power, so it’s a good thing you’ll have expanded political options available to you. Have fun conquering the ancient world!

“Diablo III” (PS3, Xbox 360) – September 3

Few games inspired such mixed emotions from gamers as this one when it released for PC last year. People mostly loved the game itself, but absolutely hated the always-on internet requirement, one that led to a painful launch for most players.

Fortunately the even more dreadful release of “SimCity” meant that all was forgotten. Or a lot of it anyway. Now console gamers should be able to hopefully experience the dungeon-crawling good without the bad, and that’s something we all can agree is a positive thing.

“Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate” (PS3, Xbox 360) – September 3

Look, I’m going to level with all of you: with the exception of “Injustice,” I haven’t been much of a fighting game player since “Mortal Kombat 2.” So I get a little bewildered with all of the expanded and upgraded releases of these types of titles.

As I understand it, this is an even bigger and badder version of “DoA5” that has more fighters and some gameplay additions to boot. Plus it’s getting an arcade release, and as an old head who misses the arcade days, I can certainly get behind that.

Also out this week: “Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons” (PS3, PC) – September 3; KickBeat (PS3, Vita) – September 3; “Disney Castle of Illlusion HD” (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) – September 4