Swarm, Rush'N Attack hit XBLA this month

While Microsoft's Xbox Live House Party draws to a close this week with the debut of Full House Poker, the flow of Xbox 360 downloadable game launches isn't letting up at all. Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb today laid out the service's release schedule for the rest of March, showing five Xbox Live Arcade games and four Games on Demand titles scheduled to debut in the next two weeks.

The Xbox Live Arcade gets increasingly busy this month, with two titles set for release on March 23 and three more on March 30. Next week will see the launch of Atari's top-down action adventure Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, as well as Hothead Games' action-platformer Swarm, which lets players explore dangerous environments with a host of endearingly expendable creatures. Sanctum of Slime will sell for 800 Microsoft points ($10), while Swarm will run gamers a total of 1,200 Microsoft points ($15).

The following week sees three new Live Arcade releases, anchored by Konami's arcade action game revival Rush'N Attack Ex-Patriot. In the game, players will control a lone soldier sent into Russia to find a missing ally, equipped with nothing more than a knife. As in the original, different weapons can be picked up from dispatched enemies, but the game will also include a stealth mechanic to mix up the old formula.

The other two games slated for launch at the end of the month are Ankama's genre-blending fantasy game Islands of Wakfu and G.Rev's latest top-down shoot-'em-up Seisou Kouki Strania. All three of the March 30 Xbox Live Arcade games will sell for 800 Microsoft points ($10).

Microsoft is also adding four titles to the Games on Demand catalog by month's end. On March 22, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Call of Juarez and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs through Xbox Live, while March 29 will see the debut of Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 and Split Second on the service.