Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Uber Entertainment
Genre: Action Shooter
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Only in my wildest imaginings could I chase around a mascot, blasting him with as many bullets as I can load, while he spurts money like blood. Uber Entertainment has brought that dream a little closer to life in Monday Night Combat, a new downloadable title on XBLA.

( read more… )

Publisher: Bulkypix
Developer: Moving Player
Genre: MMORPG
iTunes Rating: 9+
Release date: Available now
Review by: Matthew Booth

Yslandia isn’t your typical iPhone game. Sure, it features plenty of cutesy characters, comical dialogue, and the graphics pay homage to almost every fantasy based game before it, but the sheer amount of options and quests are almost too much for my 3G iPhone to handle (if I only had a dollar for every time Yslandia crashed my phone). But minor technical glitches and outdated hardware aside, it’s one of those rare mobile games where the passion of the developer is apparent throughout the gameplay experience. Featuring 6 character races with 3 classes each, 70 different magic spells, 400 usable items, and a world that is large enough to fatigue your tapping finger, Yslandia earns its five dollar sticker price.

( read more… )

Publisher: Team17
Developer: Team17
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

If you often reminisce about hours of misspent youth playing the Space Hulk boardgame, then Alien Breed 2: Assault may well appeal to you. If you like dark, derelict space hulks crammed with murderously intent bug-like aliens you’ll like this game. While I am not really a fan of top down perspective games, there is something quite appealing to Team17’s sequel to Alien Breed: Evolution. The rich graphics and crisp sound effects combine nicely, and compliment the simplistic gameplay to create an enjoyable experience. I would say that if you played the previous title, then you already know what to expect, but you don’t. There are new weapons, significantly improved graphics and new co-op gameplay in the sequel.

( read more… )

Publisher: Valve Software
Developer: Turtle Rock Studios
Genre: First-Person Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Just in time for Halloween, the Left 4 Dead series is back again offering its players a brand new campaign to try out – The Sacrifice. For the sake of new players, let’s quickly summarize the gist of the previous L4D games: four people kill as many zombies as humanly possible while traversing over various landscapes. The Sacrifice offers more of the same (in a positive way), by letting players experience the events after the ending of the first Left 4 Dead game, but before the episode The Passing, which was released earlier this year and crossed over the characters from the first game into the sequel.

( read more… )

Publisher: Frictional Games
Developer: Frictional Games
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Linux/Mac, 1.5 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent CPU, 2 GB RAM, 128 MB Graphics Card, 3 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Survival horror/adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated at press time
Release date: Available now

Going all the way back to the classic Alone in the Dark, PC game developers have made many attempts to capture and re-create a sense of chilling fear to cause players to jump from their seats and scream in terror. Most of these efforts have fallen flat, resulting in laughably clumsy scenes that have no emotional impact or—even worse—backfire. Now Frictional Games, the creators of the well-regarded Penumbra franchise, have released a new first-person foray into this challenging niche—Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Can this game succeed where others have failed?

( read more… )

Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts series has inspired a kind of rabid, cult-like fan base that few games acquire. The Internet is crawling with cosplayers, fandom, fan art and fevered debates about the nature of the fabled Kingdom Hearts itself. All of this means that the series has a lot to live up to as fans doggedly tear apart anything they don’t feel lives up to their expectations. Birth By Sleep is the first PSP entry in the series and the first that features neither Sora nor Roxas as the main character.

( read more… )

Publisher: THQ
Developer: Relic Entertainment
Minimum Requirements: Windows XP SP2, Vista SP1, or Windows 7; Pentium 4 single-core 3.2 GHz; 1.0 GB RAM (XP) or 1.5 GB (Vista); 5.5 GB of free hard drive space; 128 MB NVidia GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon X1600 or better (must have Shader Model 3.0 support); DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Genre: Real-time strategy
ESRB Rating: Mature
Release Date: Available now

Welcome back to the world of Warhammer 40,000, and the sequel to the popular Dawn of War. Boy, the Blood Ravens can’t catch a break, can they? In the first game, we discovered that the Inquisition had to perform Exterminatus on Cyrene, one of their recruiting worlds, as one of their Librarians had to be executed for heresy, and they inadvertently released a powerful daemon from its imprisonment. Now a threat from beyond our galaxy threatens their other two recruiting worlds. The Blood Ravens must undertake a quest to destroy one of the Tyranid Hive Fleets; if they fail, it will mean the end of their Chapter.

( read more… )

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Bungie
Genre: First Person Shooter
Rating: Mature
Release Date: Available now

It’s pretty safe to say that without the support of Master Chief, Microsoft never would have soldiered this deep into the console wars. Bungie’s much-lauded launch title, Halo, arguably did as much to evolve the console-based first person shooter as Goldeneye did for the prior generation, and it helped put the Xbox in a nice strategic footing. While Microsoft wouldn’t win the last round, Bungie’s expert blend of run-and-gun shooting with cinematic narrative beats had many gamers looking at the beloved PS2s and for the first time, giving serious thought to defecting to the other side. Two sequels, a side story, and an entire cottage industry later – Bungie has returned to send their beloved property off with a fitting swan song. Halo will continue but under new guardianship. As these forerunners take their show on the road, pointing their eyes towards multi-platform development, the talent at Bungie offers one final take on the mythos – plunging headfirst into the Reach.

( read more… )

Publisher: P2 Games
Developer: Doublesix
Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, or 7; Intel Pentium 4 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2000 or better; NVidia GeForce 6600 or ATI Radeon X1300 or better; 1 GB of RAM; 2 GB of hard drive space; DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Genre: Action shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release Date: Available now

“Welcome to the char-grilled world of Burn Zombie Burn, where the best type of undead is barbequed. The goals are simple: keep Bruce alive while he tries to keep Daisy alive, and get the highest score possible. Standing in your way is a never-ending horde of the rotting, stinking and stupid undead.”

( read more… )

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Bioware
Genre: RPG
ESRB Rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

If you haven’t played Dragon Age: Origins, stop reading now. There are no spoilers below for Witch Hunt itself, but given the premise of the DLC and how it’s all about the story, there’s no way to discuss it without spoiling Origins. Head on over to the Origins review, decide if it’s worth a play, then come back when you’re ready. For the rest of you…

( read more… )

Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Blue Castle Games
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

To look at him, you’d think Chuck Greene was a formally trained, zombie-killing badass. Unlike Dead Rising’s shutterbug hero, Frank West, and his doughy features, Chuck looks more than comfortable clutching a baseball bat porcupined with ten-penny nails. It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest, either, because unlike Frank’s selfish need to get the best coverage possible, Chuck has something far more valuable at stake if he fails: his daughter. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is the beginning of their story, a downloadable Xbox Live lead-up to the forthcoming Dead Rising 2.

( read more… )

Publisher: Turbine
Developer: Turbine
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1.8 GHz Pentium IV or equivalent CPU, 512 MB RAM, 64 MB GeForce 3/Radeon 8500 or better graphics card, 11 GB hard-drive space, DirectX 9.0c or higher, Internet connection
Genre: Free-to-Play MMO
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date (FTP version): September 10, 2010

After three years as a subscription-model MMO, Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online is moving to a free-to-play structure, almost one year to the day after their other hit MMO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, went FTP. I hadn’t played LOTRO since participating in the game’s original beta test in 2007, so I decided to return to Middle Earth and see what’s new in Tolkien’s universe. Turns out, things are pretty much the same, only prettier.

( read more… )

Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: 2K Czech
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Vito Scaletta is just the right kind of tool for the mafia. He makes himself available at all hours, he’s a snappy dresser, and he can handle a gun when the situation calls for it, thanks to his war experience. He’s a man who anyone with a wad of cash in their hand can trust to do whatever it takes to get the job done. So when the big guy slurping pasta at the end of the table says, “I got dis job for ya….” or “See dat guy? Whack ‘im” in between chews, Vito calmly nods, says “Alright,” and heads out the door, no questions asked. He’s the perfect tool for the job, and in Mafia II, you play as that tool.

( read more… )

Publisher: Wadjet Eye Games
Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
System requirements: 1.5 GHz Pentium 4/Athlon XP 1500+ or better CPU, 64 MB GeForce 2 MX 400/Radeon X300 series or better graphics card, 256 MB RAM, 512 MB hard-drive space, DirectX 9-compatible sound card, DirectX 9
Genre: Puzzle adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

“There’s a big secret at Dr. Hugo’s Factory for Making Robots. When the inventors aren’t looking, their tiny robots go on big adventures! It all starts when Zander – possibly the world’s most absent-minded inventor – trips over a metal box buried outside the factory. When nobody can figure out how to open it, the robots sneak out and try it for themselves.” Actually, this info from the Puzzle Bots home page pretty much sums up this point-and-click adventure game. Dr. Hugo has hired five top-notch inventors to design robots to sell that do nothing but chores. Not only are they tiny, but they’re also self-aware, so when they’re put in the “robot habitat,” they decide it would be fun to escape and explore their surroundings.

( read more… )

Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Paradox Interactive
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, Pentium IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+ or better CPU, 2GB RAM, 2 GB hard-drive space, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon X1900 or better graphics card, Direct X-compatible sound card, DirectX 9, Internet connection for multiplayer
Genre: RTS
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

It has been almost seven years since Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun was released, and I have to agree with Avault’s Jim Richmond in his description of its enormous depth and complexity. Victoria, a strategy game of imperialism, politics and economics in the 19th century, was the kind of game that could overwhelm even the most hardcore gamers, and yet its minutia was part of its appeal. It was a game that made sure every single person in the game world, from farmers in Manchuria to factory workers in London, had an economic impact. It rewarded smart, patient players instead of mindless violence and button-mashing. It even provoked online discussions that demanded a minimal understanding of economics to follow what some players were saying. It’s no surprise, then, that some of the staff at Paradox Interactive were reluctant to make a sequel. So reluctant, in fact, that Paradox CEO Frederick Wester promised to shave his head if the sequel turns a profit (high pre-order sales have since triggered Wester’s promised trip to the barbershop). But the real question facing strategy gamers is whether Victoria II can live up to its promise of complicated, nuanced gameplay, while at the same time being a game that you can learn to play without dual PhDs in 19th-century political science and economics. The short answer is that Victoria II achieves these goals and gives strategy gamers a game that can keep them occupied for hours on end, with a few reservations as to how some mechanics currently work. The long answer is about as complicated as the game itself.

( read more… )