Publisher: Valve
Developer: Black Cat Games
Genre: Action
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, Pentium IV 3.0 GHz or better CPU, 1 GB RAM (2 GB for Vista), 128 MB DirectX 9-compatible graphics card with Shader Model 2.0 support (ATI X800, NVidia 6600 or better), 2.5 GB hard-drive space, DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

For some reason, when we think of a swarm of something we automatically think it’s coming after us. It’s always, “I was attacked by a swarm of bees” or “My family’s farm was decimated by a swarm of locusts!” Well, in Alien Swarm’s case, this association holds especially true, because before you’re done playing, you’ll say, “My entire squad of marines was attacked, eviscerated and scattered about the corridors like piñata innards by a swarm of aliens!” Or something like that.

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Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Wargaming.net
System requirements: Windows XP SP2/Vista SP1/Win 7, 3.0 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, 256 MB Nvidia GeForce 7600/Radeon HD2400 or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c, 10 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Strategy
Release date: Available now

I gave in a long time ago to the fact that WWII and strategy are inseparably bonded for a reason, so I’ve accepted it as just another genre instead of an interchangeable setting. First-person shooters don’t enjoy this same luxury under my laws, but then again, Order of War: Challenge is not an FPS, so it’s already got one thing going for it right out of the gate. Let’s enlist then, shall we?

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Publisher: Cadenza Interactive
Developer: Cadenza Interactive
Minimum requirements: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or 7; 2.0 GHz CPU; 1 GB RAM; Geforce 6800 Series/Radeon 9800 Series (Shader Model 2.0 compliant video card with 128 MB Ram); 430 MB hard drive space; broadband Internet connection; DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Genre: Tower Defense
Release Date: Available now

I’ll be honest; tower defense games have always given me anxiety attacks. Actually, anything with a continual stream of opposition that leaves victory conditions solely in the hands of the player has gnawed away at my obsessive side. This is because to me, everything must be perfect; absolutely flawless, in fact. One chink in the armor could spell immediate doom to my ego, even if I managed to save things somehow and survive the level. Sol Survivor appeared to be just that type of game, so I approached with extreme apprehension. I’ve played my fair share of TD games on Flash sites all over the Intertubes, so I feel like I know what to expect already, but let’s see if I can stow my idiosyncrasies and just try to have a good time.

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Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Gearbox Software
System: Xbox 360
Genre: RPS
Release date: Available now

We’re always going to want more when it comes to downloadable content. Depending on the platform, publisher and game itself, situations can get pretty ugly, too. Anybody who remembers the horse armor debacle in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion knows what I mean. But that was probably the saving grace of DLC, because if gamers hadn’t voiced their price-for-content grievances, where would we be now? Would we be shelling out our MS Points for single items? Would the greedy hands that be see Borderlands as a DLC cash cow because of the limitless amount of weaponry they could sell? And would we still have seen an expansion as meaty as the Secret Armory of General Knoxx? Thank God I’m speaking hypothetically here.

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Publisher: Kalicanthus Entertainment
Developer: Cyberdemons
System Requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win7, 2 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c, Nvidia GeForce 6600 or better graphics card, 10 GB hard-drive space
Genre: MMORPG
Release date: April 2010

I’d imagine that just about any MMO developer you talk to would say that the primary focus of their team is to “build a better mousetrap.” The goal is not only to attract a solid subscriber base, but also to hold onto that base long enough to recoup any investments and, with any luck at all, eventually turn a profit. Sure, there’s something to be said for artistic integrity, but that doesn’t change the bottom line: the goal for an MMO is to make money. If it also happens to be an MMO with a rich backstory and some diversions from the regular formula, then that’s all the better.

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Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Codemasters
System requirements: Core i7-920 Quad 2.67 GHz/Phenom II X4 905e CPU; Geforce 8800 GT/Radeon HD 4770 graphics card; 3 GB RAM; 10 GB hard disk space
Genre: Racing
Release date: Available now

I can still remember it; even though it happened way back at the beginning of my Dirt 2 play through. I was in Baja, and right after the start of the race there’s this big jump. I take it along with the rest of the pack, but as I’m cresting I notice a fellow racer turn in on his landing. Everything froze for a moment, like in an 80′s sitcom where the lead character’s narration takes over and tells you what’s “really goin’ on”. Well, in my case I’m screwed – that’s what’s “really goin’ on”. When time resumes again I’m already rounding my fourteenth barrel roll and I’ve taken the rest of the pack with me. Ah, sweet, sweet mechanical carnage. Where have you been?

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Publisher: Meridian4
Developer: Headup Games
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7; 3.4 GHz Pentium IV or Athlon 64 3600+ or better CPU; 1 GB RAM (2 GB for multiplayer); DirectX 9.0c; 128 GB Nvidia GeForce 7600 or Radeon X-series graphics card or better, supporting Pixel Shader 2.0; DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card; 2 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG
Release date: Available now

As the release date of Diablo III slipped neatly through the fingers of the hungry action-RPG crowd and settled somewhere in 2011, a collective sigh of relief could be heard emanating from the rest of the RPG developers that aren’t Blizzard. This means they have one more year to safely release their games without fear of being eaten alive by the biggest PC game this side of a World of Warcraft/Sims/Duke Nukem crossover. Greed: Black Border wants to be yet another one of those games meant to satiate your appetite, so if this review sounds a little like others I’ve written before, it’s because I’m basically playing the same game.

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Publisher: Atlus
Developer: FromSoftware
Genre: RPG
Release date: Available now

Game makers put a lot of effort into getting an emotional reaction out of players. Devices such as a trusted animal companion biting the dust or your in-game girlfriend getting impaled are all there in an effort to make you “feel” something, to establish a direct connection to your heartstrings and play an adagio until tears are pooling at your feet. That’s the kind of immersion tool that seems to be popular these days; if they can get you to cry, they can get you to do anything. What about anger, though? Not anger at a virtual thing, but old-school 8- and 16-bit anger. The kind of anger you get from playing Ghosts n’ Goblins. The kind you get from the Quickman stage in Mega Man 2. Or the kind you get from Demon’s Souls, the most painfully rewarding game I’ve played this generation.

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Publisher: Mystery Studio
Developer: Mystery Studio
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista, 800 MHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 7.0, 44 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Hidden Object
Release date: Available now

Up until I received Fashion Assistant, I wasn’t aware that there was an underground fan base for hidden-object games. Heck, I didn’t even know that “hidden object” was considered a genre in the first place. Yet after an hour or so with Mystery Studios’ casual offering, I began to see that there could be a market. And while this game in particular is geared more towards the junior-high, female, “The Devil Wears Prada” crowd (which I also didn’t know existed), I found myself compelled to play until the end by choice and not by assignment. Maybe this casual-game thing isn’t so bad after all.

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Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Gearbox Software
Genre: RPS
Release date: Available Now

Mad Madame Moxxi is like a praying mantis. The oddly sexy ringmaster of the Underdome loves nothing more than to watch potential suitors get devoured in her brutal arena spectacles. It’s an idea similar to that of Auntie Entity, the principal antagonist in the film “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome,” only instead of the phrase “Two men enter, one man leaves,” it’s a little more like “Bring friends, you’ll need ‘em!” Read on to see if Borderlands: Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot is worth a spin of the wheel.

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Remember games like Dragon’s Lair, Mad Dog McCree and Sewer Shark? Well, apparently Google thinks it’s time for a revival. A patent application, originally filed in February, has been released to the public and it details Google’s plans to build games on top of digital videos using an interactive annotation system. The new system allows select users to add annotations that trigger interactive events, a la the games mentioned above as well link to other videos to allow for multi-perspective storylines.

Wow, what’ll they re-think of next?

Unfortunately, those of you out there pining for a movie based on the Half Life series will have to wait. Still, have you ever mused about who should be in the cast of a film adaptation of the quintessential FPS? I know I have at some point or another, but that was only until I saw this. Take a look for yourself and tell us who you think would play a part better. For me, you can’t get any better than Christopher Walken as the G-man!

Along with the new year come new screenshots for Fumito Ueda’s much anticipated follow-up to ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian. The PS3 exclusive, due for release sometime this year, combines elements from Team ICO’s previous games, although it is currently unknown if they are related in any way.

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Publisher: Aspyr
Developer: LucasArts
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista SP2/Win7; Core2Duo 2.4 GHz or Athlon X2 5200+ or better CPU; 256 MB DirectX 9.0c-compatible video card with Shader Model 3 support; DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card; 2 GB RAM; 24.8 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now

Back when the original Force Unleashed game came out on consoles, I pounced on it as any rabid “Star Wars” fan would. Yes, I am one of those guys; I even played Star Wars: Galaxies for quite a bit there, too, so cast all the stones you want. I love this stuff, so naturally I picked up a copy the day it came out and rushed home to play, expecting to be wowed by saber-swinging, Euphoria-laced Digital Molecular Matter in my most favorite sci-fi setting of all time. I came away impressed with the graphics and environments, but was bothered by the unbalanced combat, load screens and sketchy targeting system. Now I’ve got another chance to trek a bit deeper into the universe and explore the additional content of the Ultimate Sith Edition. Let’s kill some Jawas, shall we?

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On the latest edition of the Major Nelson podcast, Aaron Greenberg confirmed that Xbox 360 exclusives Mass Effect 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction and the oft-delayed Alan Wake will be joining Crackdown 2 as part of Microsoft’s triple-A line-up for the first half of the year. He then went on to say that the latter half of 2010 will see Halo: Reach and Fable 3 hit the shelves as well.

Barring any unseen delays, it would appear 2010 is looking quite up for the 360, but only time will tell if we actually get these games in the timeframe promised.