Publisher: Alawar Entertainment
Developer: Alawar Entertainment
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1.7 GHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0-compatible graphics card, DirectX 9.0-compatible sound
Genre: Horror Adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated at press time
Release date: Available now

I’ve never been a huge fan of point-and-click adventures, preferring a more active style of game, but I know they’re extremely popular as mystery or horror games. Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story is a new horror puzzle adventure from Alawar, and I found myself a lot more engaged by it than I expected to be.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: 1C Publishing
System requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista, 2 GHz dual-core CPU, 1 GB RAM, 4 GB hard-drive space, 512 MB GeForce 6800GTX or better graphics card with Shader Model 2.0 support, DirectX-compatible sound card, DirectX 9.0c, Majesty 2 version 1.4.356 or newer
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Taking a game genre and making it unique is something that is difficult to do. Now take the one that is best served on a PC, also known as strategy games. Making it unique is something Majesty 2: Battles of Ardania, an expansion from Paradox Interactive, does.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Colossal Order
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2 GHz dual-core or better CPU, NVidia GeForce 8800/Radeon HD 3850 or better graphics card, 2 GB RAM, 2 GB hard-drive space, OpenGL 3.0
Genre: Simulation
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

Attention to detail, one could say, is one of the more pronounced bullet points in the neverending argument between console and PC gamers. It just seems (at least to me) that the PC has more opportunities to show off the little complexities possible in gaming, whether by way of controls and interface, or just by sheer numbers. Cities in Motion is a perfect example of this, and while it certainly puts a good effort in to remind PC gamers where their home is, it also deepens an already defined line in the sand that has urged their console kin to stay the hell out.

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Publisher: Gilligames
Developer: Gilligames
Genre: RPG
iTunes rating: 9+
Release date: Available now

There seems to be two approaches to game development. The first is to tackle it with a “because I can” mentality, while the second is to fulfill a desire to create, which is rooted in an appreciation of games as an art form. So far, iOS games seem to be split down the middle, with very little intermingling of the two approaches. On one hand, you have mobile games with no purpose outside of high scores and cutesy graphics. On the other, you have items such as The Pantheon Cycle: Shrouded Aspect, in which the focus is on a quality game with an artistic foundation. In-depth mobile games aren’t always to be preferred, but if you enjoy RPGs, this might be a good choice.

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Publisher: E. McNeill
Developer: E. McNeill
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, .NET 4 Framework, XNA 4 Redistributable, Windows Media Player, 1024×768 or higher monitor resolution
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Not rated at press time
Release date: Available now

The problem with large publishers and some of the more prominent development studios is that, despite having the know-how and the resources to make great games, they often prove themselves to have lost touch with the common man. When forced to choose between the reasonable and the unreasonable (but popular with the ignorant shareholders), they tend to reliably go for the latter. The result is a slew of otherwise easily avoidable problems for the end users, which in turn pushes people towards unsavory acts such as piracy. All of this is yet another good reason to look closely at the indie scene, which, while having smaller budgets, is arguably more creative and certainly friendlier to the consumer.

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Publisher: Paramount Digital Interactive
Developer: Behaviour Interactive
Genre: Action-Adventure
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

Who would’ve thought that a movie was going to have a video game based on it? Today it just seems like the norm that a game will be developed because a film is made. Problems seem to spawn because the film industry and the video-game industry use two different media to entertain. Sometimes you get a great movie and a terrible game that follows. Let us take a look at a video game based on the animated film Rango, and see if it falls in the category of forgettable.

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Publisher: Trion Worlds
Developer: Trion Worlds
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7; 2.0 GHz Dual Core or better CPU; 2 GB RAM; 15 GB hard-drive space; Nvidia GeForce FX 5900, ATI/AMD Radeon X300, Intel GMA X4500 or better graphics card; DirectX 8.1-compatible sound card; DirectX 9.0c with June 2010 update; broadband Internet connection
Genre: MMORPG
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

I have a long-time love of the MMO genre as a whole. When I get the opportunity to review an MMO, I often find myself wondering if the game I’m looking at is going to be the one that ends up sapping all my willpower to engage in a social life. Often times I get pretty lucky and I get a nice time sink for a week or two; other times I find myself immersed in the world set before me. I can count on one hand how many times the latter has ever happened to me, and now I’m proud to say I can no longer use that reference in my gaming career. While following Rift during its development, I found myself intrigued by the art and the idea behind it all. After 10 days of playing, I found myself wondering if maybe this game was just a shiny new change from my usual haunts, but with every login I find some new quirk I enjoy that keeps me interested. For 19 days I’ve been wrapped up in Rift, the new MMORPG from developer Trion Worlds, exploring the world before me as a spoony Bard, finding something exciting every day.

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Manufacturer: Sony Computer Entertainment America
MSRP: $39.99

When we were young, the only way to play a video game was with a controller and your two thumbs. You held a gamepad and you let your brain fill in the rest of the fantasy. Motion controls, whether on the Wii, Playstation 3, or on Xbox’s Kinect, further the experience by making you get more involved. Instead of pushing buttons, you now have to swing, sway, and step your way to victory. While these motion controls help make your gaming experience feel more realistic, there are accessories that can take that experience to the next level. The Sharp Shooter, developed for the PS3’s Move controllers, is one of those accessories.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Life isn’t easy in Ferelden. Civil war, the Blight, and Landsmeet politics have nearly torn it apart, and while we were formerly privy to the palace drama and inner workings of the highest echelons of the country’s seats of power, there are other stories to be told. In Dragon Age: Origins there was a small village that players passed through during their first steps on the road to becoming the Hero. The village itself was little more than a rest stop on the road, but there were people there, the everyday kind that could care less about whose butt warmed the throne. After the would-be Hero left the village, the people there were all but forgotten, and mentioned only briefly later on as a footnote, when it was announced that the village of Lothering had been razed by the Darkspawn. It is toward these people that the BioWare writers have turned their attention when crafting their story for Dragon Age II.

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Publisher: Activision
Developer: Beenox
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ or better CPU, GeForce 7800 or Radeon X1800 (w/256 MB of video RAM) or better graphics card, 1 GB of RAM, 14 GB of uncompressed hard-drive space
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

“Four parallel worlds, one unparalleled adventure.” The blurb on a box cover has never been so accurate. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is one of the best, if not the best, Spider-Man games ever. Of course, for those who’ve read my other reviews, “Beenox strikes again” is equally apt; these are the same developers responsible for Transformers: War for Cybertron. This time, however, they’re bringing us a tale involving not one, but four different versions of an iconic character that recently celebrated his 50th anniversary.

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Manufacturer: SteelSeries
MSRP: $149.99

Last time I reviewed a set of headphones, I didn’t get to hang onto them for long. About a month after publication, they were stolen from me by the marauding employees of Iberia Airlines. I was furious and almost declared war on Spain, but then decided it wasn’t worth it. Those were some good headphones, and I got them for free, and well…easy come, easy go. The true problem was that I was left without a decent set of phones. Since I am very particular about my requirements, it took me 11 months to find something that I felt was reasonably close to what I wanted. Sadly, there wasn’t a way to play with the headset before buying it, but after talking to some people I decided to place my trust in the words of Bones, an Avault forums regular who speaks very highly of SteelSeries. Although he recommended the Siberia V2, I decided that I might as well go for top of the line, so I bought the 7H USB instead.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Eugen Systems
Genre: RTS
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

The world war RTS genre is a crowded one in the PC community, but not so for consoles. The PC’s keyboard and mouse combination make for an ideal control scheme for this type of game, but sometimes the console versions get it right, too. R.U.S.E., developed by Eugen Systems, is the rare console RTS that actually controls really well.

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Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

In a year when seemingly every new release is a sequel, it’s tough to get excited about some upcoming games. Some sequels fail to capture the magic of their predecessors, while others outshine them. Killzone 3, by Guerrilla Games, is a first-person shooter sequel to the smash 2009 hit Killzone 2. Does it rise to meet the challenge? Or does it belong on the bottom of your already towering sequel pile?

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Arrowhead Game Studios
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2.4 GHz Pentium IV or AMD 3500+ or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 8800/ATI Radeon X1900 or better graphics card, DirectX-compatible sound card, DirectX 9, 2 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Every once in awhile, a game comes along that combines creative mechanics with solid storytelling and excellent programming (Morrowind comes to mind). They are games that we, as gamers, take seriously. However, occasionally a game gives us creative gameplay and uses it as a platform for humor. Dungeon Keeper and its sequel are the best examples of this. It is in this tradition of good gaming and humor that Arrowhead Game Studios has created Magicka, a game that incorporates numerous pop-culture references. Magicka strives to provide an absurd, and yet heroic, RPG-lite narrative, and couples it with a detailed system for using magic.

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Publisher: Zen Studios
Developer: Zen Studios

Originally published in June 2010, reprinted for additional content

Those of you who love mini-golf, but suffer from some condition that prevents you from actually playing the game, rejoice! Zen Studios has brought Planet MiniGolf to the Playstation Network.  For only $9.99 (plus tax), you too can avoid enduring summer weather and even the mildest form of exercise.

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