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New release slate championed by third entry in racing series, latest volley of $ 15 content for Treyarch’s shooter; Thor: God of Thunder, Section 8: Prejudice for PC also out.

It’s not a busy week for new releases, but the week’s two leading offerings pack heavy punches.

Leading the pack this week is the warmly received MotorStorm: Apocalypse for the PlayStation 3. The game includes a single-player story mode that lets gamers experience a plotline unfolding through the eyes of three characters who represent the game’s different difficulty levels. The game also sports five new vehicle classes, 40 distinct races, and a four-player split-screen mode that’s compatible with online modes for up to 16 players. Finally, Apocalypse will feature customizable vehicles and a game mode creator so players can put their own stamp on the action.

The apocalypse is nigh.

The other prominent new release out this week is the $ 15 Escalation downloadable content for Call of Duty: Black Ops. Due out on Tuesday, the DLC will include four multiplayer maps: Hotel, set “on the roof of a Cuban luxury hotel and casino against the vivid backdrop of old Havana”; Convoy, which offers up “intense, close-quarters combat at the scene of an ambushed US military convoy”; Zoo, set in a derelict Soviet-era animal park; and Stockpile, which is set in a small Russian town that contains secret facilities housing weapons of mass destruction.

Also included in the Escalation pack is a new level for Black Ops’ zombie mode, called Call of the Dead. It will feature a storyline inspired by famed horror director George A. Romero and will feature the voices of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Danny Trejo, and Romero himself. The zombie-slaughtering co-op level features a ’70s movie aesthetic that sees the four action stars fending off hordes of zombies on and around a ghost ship.

Like other Call of Duty map packs, the Escalation add-on will debut on Xbox Live, arriving for Microsoft’s platform on May 3. Activision has not yet announced when the DLC will be released for other platforms.

Black Ops gets its second batch of postrelease DLC Tuesday.

PC gamers can get in on the sci-fi shooter action this week in Section 8: Prejudice. The game features online multiplayer modes with up to 32 players, as well as a four-player cooperative mode called Swarm. The game also makes concessions to offline gamers with a five-hour single-player campaign and full bot support, ensuring all the game modes can be experienced without going online.

Debuting just ahead of the May 6 premiere of the film Thor will be Thor: God of Thunder. Sega will be crafting custom experiences for Thor’s various platforms. On the Xbox 360 and PS3, the Norse god’s first stand-alone adventure will be told from a third-person perspective, where he battles to save Asgard from marauding mythological beasts, as well as iconic comic foes such as Ulik, Ymir, and Surtur. The game will pull heavily from the Norse mythos, and Thor will journey from the fire world of Muspellheim to the frozen tundra of Niflheim.

The Wii version of Thor will largely share the high-definition consoles’ storyline. However, Sega has swapped out the graphics for a more stylized look, as well as different cinematic sequences, plot developments, dialogue, and locations. Meanwhile, the DS version will be a 2D side-scrolling adventure, complete with its own plot and gameplay.

For further details on the week’s games, visit GameSpot’s New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.

TUESDAY, MAY 3

Back to the Future: The Game – Episode III: Citizen Brown–PS3–Telltale Games

Call of Duty: Black Ops: Escalation–X360–Activision

Dead Meets Lead–PC–Keldyn Interactive

The History Channel: Great Battles: Medieval–X360, PC, PS3–Slitherine Software

MotorStorm: Apocalypse–PS3–SCEA

Thor: God of Thunder–X360, PS3, Wii, DS, 3DS–Sega

Under Siege–PS3–Seed Studios, Lda

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4

Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury–X360–D3Publisher

Moon Diver–X360–Square Enix

Section 8: Prejudice–PC–Timegate Studios

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