On the Download: July 29-August 4

It is sad to see things to slow down this much on the downloadable front.  I can expect it from the retail side of things, but there has been a relentless slew of new quality downloadable games all competing for our hard earned cash as of late.  It is rather sad to see things slow down this much.  There was not even any new games released for the 3DS Virtual Console as part of their 8-Bit Summer initiative or a Game of Weekend deal on the eShop as well.  I am still hoping either Pushmo and/or Dillion's Rolling Western to get discounted a few dollars one of these weekends.  Even with the lack of noteworthy downloadable games being released at this very moment, there are a couple noteworthy ones that people should consider pre-purchasing.  You can pre-purchase Symphony, a very interesting musical shooter that I have actually picked up, on Steam for 8 dollars (20% off the regular price) or Sound Shapes, a platformer where the actions make the music, on PSN for 15 dollars (12 dollars if you have PlayStation Plus) both of which come out next week.  Also the first piece of Skyrim DLC, Dawnguard has been released for PC for those PC Elder Scrolls fanatics that have been waiting what to them must seems like ages for this big add-on.  This week there might not be a lot of games releasing on the downloadable side of things, but next week looks to shaping up to be one big week for downloadable games.  Might be big enough to warrant another two part edition of On the Download.  We will have to wait and see.  Before we can get to next week, we still got to take a look at the lone downloadable offering from this week, Deadlight.

Microsoft's Summer of Arcade continues with the release of Deadlight.  Deadlight is a puzzle platformer much like Limbo and Shadow Complex, which both debuted in one of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade promotions from years past.  Set in 1986, the world has been ravaged by a zombie plague.  Deadlight casts you as Randall Wayne, a survivor of this perilous plague.  After his wife and daughter go missing during the beginning of the outbreak, Randall sets out for Seattle to possibly find refuge and hopefully, if they are still alive, find his family.  Each enemy encounter in the game plays out like a puzzle.  You have to expertly use the environment to your advantage in order to get by zombies and other obstacles.  While you are given access to weapons such as an axe and guns to combat the zombie horde, the best solution is to avoid combat unless it is absolutely necessary.  It seems like every other game that releases nowadays has zombies in them in some shape or form and it is getting very tiresome.  While Deadlight is yet another game set in a zombie apocalypse, it looks to be an unique enough experience to make it standout among the horde of zombie games.  If you are interested in Deadlight, you can download from XBLA for 1200 Microsoft Points.

On the Download: February 19-25

We are only two months into 2012 and the games are just coming at both retail and in the downloadable space.  It is truly incredible and there are more coming very soon.  As I eagerly wait for more 3DS Virtual Console games and Mass Effect: Infiltrator, more downloadable games have just been announced.  Nintendo just announced that Game Gear games are coming to the 3DS Virtual Console in the coming months, Sega just released the first gameplay trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II and also announced Dreamcast classic Jet Set Radio for XBLA and PSN.  While last week's edition of On the Download was full, not so much this week, but there are two big games to talk about.  So let us get going.

As the second game in Microsoft's XBLA House Party, Alan Wake's American Nightmare looks to bring in fans of the original 2010 Xbox 360 release.  Before you start thinking that American Nightmare is basically Alan Wake 2, it is not.  American Nightmare is it's own independent story set in the Alan Wake universe.  Our titular character, Alan Wake is trapped in an episode of Night Springs that he wrote.  Alan must figure out what in this world is reality and what is fiction while fighting against the forces of the dark and searching for his evil doppelganger, Mr. Scratch.  Other than the story, not much has been changed with the gameplay for American Nightmare.  American Nightmare also includes a multiplayer mode called Fight Till Dawn, which is a wave defense mode much like Gears of War's Horde mode where you have to survive 10 minutes fighting off waves of enemies.  For those interested in Alan Wake's American Nightmare, you can pick it up for 1200 Microsoft Points.

After the critical success of Pushmo and Sakura Samurai, many are looking to Dillion's Rolling Western, Nintendo's newest 3DS download, to keep the Big N on a roll.  Part action-adventure, part tower defense, you play as the Dillion, a mysterious armadillo ranger, who must defend frontier villages from ferocious rock monsters known as Grocks, who look to feed on the livestock of each village.  Dillion can attack the Grocks by rolling into them, but sometimes the Grocks widely outnumber this one armadillo.  So to even the odds, the villagers have made towers to help Dillion out.  To stop stronger Grocks, Dillion must collect materials by exploring the land and defeating Grocks in order to upgrade the towers. From the sound of things, Dillion's Rolling Western looks to be another unique game from Nintendo available only on the Nintendo eShop for 10 dollars.