If anything, this week is a premonition. Last week was big since it saw No More Heroes and Burnout Paradise, and a good crop is in store this time to keep you mildly distracted before next week's high-profile titles. Electronic Arts is dishing out another fun expansion in form of The Sims 2: Castaway Stories, and Sony Computer Entertainment America's (SCEA) Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice for the PlayStation Portable is finally heading to North America. For more game releases this week, head over to the full article!

In the midst of Leipzig Games Convention 2007 where more than a few dozen games scrambled for the crowd's attention, The Hunt was among those that could've slipped past your noses. The tandem of Orion Games and Buka Entertainment probably doesn't ring a bell, but this trailer will definitely pick a bone or two.

We haven't heard much about this dark and gritty game, but we do know The Hunt is an FPS set in 2025 where civilians get "marked" by the government; that's not a good thing, because a mark tagged on you means your head is for the taking. Motto here is: "You can run but you can't hide."

The trailer runs for barely a minute, but we get some footage of The Hunt's eerie atmosphere. Various locations are showcased along with enemies we expect to encounter in the game. Check it out yourself by watching the video below.

Buka Entertainment (the same publishing company who brought us Collapse and Aggression: Europe 1914) has just released a whole batch of spanking new screens from their upcoming WWII strategy game Pacific Storm: Allies.

Now for those who are new to Pacific Storm, allow us to put you up to speed. Allies is the first standalone expansion pack for the game, which dons even more weapons, aircraft, as well as all new factions and units. And as we mentioned, the game is set in WWII (1940 - 1948), where you'll get to choose which side to take in the warfare: Imperial Japan or good old Uncle Sam. Either way, you'll have to take on naval and air military missions in a 3D-rendered environment with a plethora of aircraft carriers, battleships, and weapons to choose from.

This game has 86 types of units (all designed after WWII-era aircraft and ships), 100 upgrades for aircraft and warships, 127 different Pacific zones, 40 naval bases, and 20 historical battles. Boy, we wouldn't even need to talk up this game even further, its features speak for itself! (And the fact that it spans three game genres; strategy, tactics, and simulator, well, that definitely says a lot, don't it?) So anyway, we won't be getting our hands on the Allies expansion til Q2 2007, so while we wait for that, here are a buncha screens for you to feast your eyes on.

More screens await in the full article, captain!

 

While a handful of people have voiced out their anticipation over S.T.A.L.K.E.R., another game of similar genre is also in the works. From Buka Entertainment, Collapse is like a hybrid of Tomb Raider, Gears of War, and, umm, Prince of Persia. You've got the acrobatics and lithe movements, the freaky creatures and sudden emergence, and the cloak-and-dagger gameplay.

This game will pit you in the middle of an alternate future: Year 2096AD. At that time, everything you know  has already been destroyed by creatures from another dimension. Sounds a bit too familiar? Post-apocalyptic settings have to start some place, and parallel dimensions are just about a good a start as any other. One surprising factor is that, while total chaos reigns and humans struggle to survive, an elite order called The Lords stands as the only strong arm to prevent total annihilation.

  
  

The upcoming title Aggression: Europe 1914 from Buka Entertainment lives up to its title in this demo gameplay reel which features s***, more s***, and even more s*** being blown to kingdom come. But before we get to that fun part, let us make the observation that gameplay-wise, Aggression bears a resemblance to the Total War series in that there's a strategic, big-world gameplay phase and there's the real-time tactical battle phase.

Okay, now let's get to the fun part. Buka claims their game engine is capable of handling the routines of "hundreds of detailed units in action," and based on this reel, it looks like they might have lived up to that promise (although we could think of ways of proving that claim, it's gotta wait at least until a demo's available). Simply put: Massed infantry = mass casualties.

Oh, and in case you're wondering about your history lesson, no, this isn't another World War II video game. This one is set in the earlier World War I, a change of pace from the rash of WWII games dumped on our laps in recent years. We'd say hallelujah, but then again, war is hell.

Download: [Aggression: Europe 1914 reel]