May 2, 2011: wallet threat level yellow

Assuming you’re not in it for the multiplayer, I suspect the Playstation 3 exclusive, Motorstorm: Apocalypse, is the game to get this week. The previous Motorstorms have had great arcade driving physics and even greater graphics. This latest version’s disaster theme — the idea is that you’re racing through ruined city environments — has probably had a lot of its thunder stolen by the excellent Split/Second, but you can never have too many cutting edge driving games.

If you missed Bangai-O on the Nintendo DS and the Dreamcast before that, you missed one of Treasure’s unique treasures. The Bangai-O games are a cross between a puzzle game, a platformer, a bullet hell shooter, and a giant robot game. And now they’re in high-definition and on Xbox Live with Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury.

If you aren’t interested in playing Section 8: Prejudice on the Xbox 360, you’ll be able to get it on the PC this week. And if you want another overpriced Call of Duty map pack, this time it comes with a new zombie level featuring horror movie celebrities instead of Cold War politicians. Personally, I think it’s hard to top Robert McNamara fighting hordes of faceless zombies, but politically canny metaphors can only get you so far in videogames. At some point, it’s time to resort to the more obvious choices like Sarah Michelle Geller and Robert Englund.