Not Going to Comic Con? Buy Bastion Instead

Xbox LIVE Arcade's Summer of Xbox is a nice little seasonal shindig where the service promotes the hell out of some the year's best Arcade games. Last year's line up housed some pretty impressive names such as Hard Corps: Uprising, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Limbo, and Monday Night Combat. This year is shaping up to be no different. The lineup includes a few hotly anticipated titles, namely Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and From Dust. Oh yeah, and Bastion.

I know, I haven't mentioned Bastion since I got some hands on time at PAX East 2011, but that all changes right about, wait for it.. Now! As the first title to kick off this year's Summer of Arcade, Bastion will surely be setting the standard high for the downloadable titles to follow. A silky smooth narrative of The Kid and the world that springs up below his feet seems as compelling as the environments are beautiful. 1200 Microsoft points is a small price to pay for throwback action-RPG three-quarter view deliciousness; something that is always welcome in my console. What better way to deflect the sorrow of not being at one of geek cultures premiere events?

Good news for the PC loyalists out there: Bastion will be available on your platform later this year. In the mean time, Xbox-heads can hack, slash, shoot, and yuck it up next Wednesday.