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Valkyria Chronicles (November 11)

The Scoop: Valkyria Chronicles; Genre: tactical role-playing; By: WOW Entertainment; From: Sega; For: PlayStation 3; Rating Pending

Info: Repel an imperial invasion by chaperoning a group of glamorously cel-shaded characters between tank and infantry dustups, in a turn-based combat engine that splits the battlefield into zoomed-out overhead mode and zoomed-in "action" mode.

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Matt: Despite the triumphs of games like Advance Wars and Final Fantasy Tactics, it's a crying shame how few tactical role-playing games come to market. Valkyria Chronicles aims to remedy that, wrapped in a look that resembles Pixar's work enhanced by a bucket of colored pencils. It sounds reasonably sophisticated, too. Plant snipers on rooftops, engineers to knock down walls, tanks to flank enemy positions, or assault infantry to slink up to the rear of a tank and trash its weak spot. Sign me up.

Darren: I've enjoyed every X-Com-like game that has come along, but turn-based strategy usually involves a couple of mad geniuses who chin-stroke for hours plotting every...single...move. The reason I've been championing Valkyria Chronicles is that it kicks the humdrum turn-based strategy of the past in the kiester. You have a limited amount of action points that dwindle as you run around the map. Since you can move only so far or pull off only so many moves in a single turn, you're suddenly forced to choose between diving for cover or going out in a blaze of glory.