Publisher: Ignition
Developer: Zombie Studios
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Looking for a good, engaging, story-based game? Then keep looking, because Blacklight: Tango Down isn’t one of them. From the first moment I delved into the game, I got the immediate impression that its developers put all the big bucks into the action and a few dollars into the story. It didn’t take me long to see that the game lacks an engaging plot and gives me no real sense of identity in the big scheme of the gameplay. I’m just a person with a gun who needs to shoot enemies – who they are and who I am seem irrelevant. Yet I find this to be the case with nearly all FPS games, so we shouldn’t judge the developers so harshly in this respect. For some of you this will be a bonus; you certainly don’t have to sit through hours of cut scenes, you just plough on straight ahead, guns blazing. Blacklight does have its merits, enough to keep the FPS lover happy.

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Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Vector Unit
Genre: Racing
Release date: Available now

Back in 1999 (I can’t believe that was 11 years ago), Hydro Thunder hit local arcades. A relatively simple game, it quickly became popular as one of the most exciting boat racing games on the market. As a result, the title soon found itself gracing all of the current generation platforms and consoles, from the Dreamcast to the PC. Now after nearly a decade-long hiatus, Hydro Thunder has been revamped and repackaged for the Xbox Live Arcade.

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Publisher: Aksys Games
Developer: Cave
Genre: 2D Side-scrolling Shooter
Release Date: Available now

You know gaming has aged nicely when a large subset of enthusiasts wax rhapsodically for the return to yesteryear. In this age of digital distribution channels, we find we can take that trip to the good old days with more frequency as developers mine the past to give niche gamers their continued fix. The last two years alone have been a boon to fans of 2D platformers and top down shoot ‘em ups; the hallmarks of the 80s arcade scene. With the return of titles like Bionic Commando Rearmed or Sin & Punishment, old school gets a new gloss and finds a hungry appetite in those gamers who value gameplay over pretty visuals – which is exactly the market that Cave looks to tap with the recent release of their shooter, Deathsmiles.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare
Genre: RPG DLC
Release date: Available now

“I know these men. They look like they’ve been ripped apart! Ancestors, what happened here?”

I’d gotten to the point where I’d actually stepped away from Dragon Age for a while. I’d done all there was to do, and after learning that my characters wouldn’t be continuing on to the sequel, I no longer felt the need to perfect them. That changed for me a few days ago, however, as I began to prepare for this latest dose of DLC. I knew that I’d soon be venturing back into the Deep Roads, so I began sharpening my sword and readying my pack. I’d been warned that this would not be a quest for the faint of heart and that I should have my best possible character at the ready. BioWare had boasted that Golems of Amgarrak would pose quite the challenge, and I aimed to best anything they chose to throw in my path.

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Publisher: D3Publisher
Developer: Infinite Interactive
Genre: Puzzle/RPG
Release date: Available now

With the release of 2007′s Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, developer Infinite Interactive showed that you could successfully mash together two wildly disparate game genres. After stumbling a bit with their first sequel, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, the Aussie developer has stepped back up to the plate with Puzzle Quest 2, delivering an addictive and surprisingly cerebral game that skirts the boundary between casual and hardcore.

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Publisher: Activision
Developer: Now Production
Genre: Baseball
Release date: Available now

We’ve just passed the halfway point of the Major League Baseball season, and while I love going to the ballgame to take in nine innings, it’s just too darn hot out to do that. So a nice backup option is to plop down and try your luck at the game from the comfort of your own couch. Little League World Series Baseball 2010 is a bit different than your typical national pastime titles in that, as you may have guessed from its name, it focuses on the younger players of the sport.

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Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: Artificial Mind and Movement
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now

You’ve had a long, hard day at work. You’re tired. You’re frustrated. Your boss is a tool. Your lunch exploded in the office cafeteria’s microwave. And after fighting your way home through the traffic jam caused by some idiot who couldn’t stay in the same lane more than two minutes, you find cat poop in your favorite gaming chair. You know you can’t go postal on your employer (or on Fluffy, for that matter), but you’ve still got one way to achieve balance: you can hack up cartoon teddy bears with a samurai sword. This blessed release is thoughtfully provided by publisher 505 Games’ new actioner, Naughty Bear.

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Publisher: Playdead Games
Developer: Playdead Games
Genre: Side-scrolling puzzler
Release date: July 21, 2010

Every now and again, I yearn for the good, old days. A time when you could walk into an arcade, drop one quarter into a machine and have fun with a game that only required two buttons and a joystick to control. Like millions of others, I spent way too much time and money in those places. Now, Denmark developer Playdead Games is bringing that feeling back with Limbo, a stark, minimalist side-scroller that gives you more enjoyment than you thought possible with just two controller buttons and an analog stick.

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Publisher: Activision
Developer: Raven Software
Genre: FPS
Release date: Available now

A few weeks back, I reviewed Alpha Protocol, which marked developer Obsidian’s venture into new IP after a successful career of stepping into other RPG franchises to deliver sophomore efforts. There seems to be a few developers out there who have mined that niche, and while Obsidian might be the go-to developer for RPG sequels, the offspring of popular first-person shooters have found suitable childcare in Raven Software, the developer that previously shepherded Quake 4 and Wolfenstein, among others. Once again I’m presented with the opportunity to pass judgment when one of these “cover bands” aims to go solo as Raven unleashes their stab at a new franchise with Singularity.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Visceral Games
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now

Before I start this review, I must clarify that I will not be comparing Dante’s Inferno to the God of War series. With that said, Dante’s Inferno is loosely based on the classic poem The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. EA’s new franchise hopes to raise a few eyebrows with this interpretation, but most importantly, does it raise a couple of thumbs up?

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Stainless Games
Genre: Strategy
Release date: Available now

As a child of the Eighties, one who saw the world move on from tabletop entertainment to games we could play on our big screens, I feel I have a decent enough vantage point to declare: Board Games Are Dead! Well, maybe not buried, but certainly a niche product pulled out purely for parties and holiday get-togethers. I know some of you Dungeons & Dragons nerds will argue about it, but these games certainly don’t own the market share they once did when they were the only game in town. And with people progressively finding themselves running on a longer leash thanks to the wonders of modern technology, we’ve discovered that we can take our musty enchantments on the go and get in a quick game or two of Parcheesi while paging through iPad apps. It’s this digital distribution stream which the developers of Risk: Factions look to attack.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Genre: Action Platformer
Release date: Available now

Pity the poor Prince of Persia. No matter what he does to save his kingdom of sand, he always manages to mess things up again. Fortunately for him, he can turn back time, and that’s just what he does to get himself out of another fine mess he’s made. Fortunately for me, this adrenaline-fueled take on the dungeon exploration that spelunking classics like Tomb Raider made famous is a fast ball right down the middle. I love a good puzzle platformer and the Prince of Persia titles have entertained me greatly ever since Jordan Mechner churned out that initial 2D dazzler way back in the early 90s.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Tiburon
Genre: Golf
Release date: Available now

I feel as though one of the most grueling jobs in the world is that of a franchise sports game developer. Essentially as soon you finishing up the latest and greatest title in the series, you’re instantly back at work with the knowledge that you need to think up something entirely new for the nth installment due out like clockwork 365 days in your future. And so it is that every year we get entirely “new” sports games which attempt to justify why we should pay full price to play the improvement over last year’s entry. With that, let’s talk golfing games and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.

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Publisher: Sega
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Genre: RPG
Release Date: Available now

Over the last several years, veteran game developer Obsidian has built a strange niche for itself – becoming the go-to developer for the sequels to popular role playing games. In the past, they’ve pinch hit in the Dungeons & Dragons realm with Neverwinter Nights II, picked up BioWare’s baton for the Knights of the Old Republic follow-up, and are currently working hard to prep the Fallout return, New Vegas. Which makes their latest release, the new IP Alpha Protocol, stand out. While the developer has proven adept at playing in other’s universes, do they have what it takes to craft their own?

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Publisher: Slick Entertainment
Developer: Slick Entertainment
Genre: Combat racer
Release date: Available now

Now don’t get me wrong. I am as testosterone-fuelled as the next man. The lack of hair on my head is testimony to that. Yet I don’t quite share the same fascination with cars as might be typical of the male of the species. Cars get me from A to B, which I know is sacrilegious talk for many of you. Before you light the pyre to burn me as a heretic, I’ll point out quickly in my defence that I do love explosions, military history and football (sorry, I still can’t bear the thought of saying “soccer”). So it was with a deflated sense of excitement that Scrap Metal landed in my in-tray. The excitement of trying this racing game was somewhat heightened by the fact that it promised customizable weapons – which suggested lots of explosions.

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