Players also get to control their own units, with the goal of destroying the enemy castles. Picking units and sending them in waves against the rival castles is easily done, though it takes some getting used to. Once it is learned, it is easy. Each class of unit, for example soldier, will slowly level up the more it is used. With this, its stats are improved, its character model becomes fancier, and of course, its price increases. If the unit levels up to the maximum, a “Hero” unit of that type becomes available - expensive but very strong. This adds an aspect of strategy to the game, as sending the wrong units into the enemy towers will definitely lead to defeat.

The first few missions of the game centre around this, Sir Foxwalde and finding out why he has attacked you. These missions also teach you how things work. It is possible to play without the grid seen in the screenshots, though for the placing of towers it is very helpful. Along the way various spells, units, towers and economy upgrades become available. The story is explained in loading screen monologues and conversations at the beginning of each mission, and is filled with quirky humor. It manages to draw players into the world, and keep them interested until the end. Players of the Majesty series should be interested here, too.

As this is only a preview build, balancing needs to be done, as some of the bosses are a little too strong, and some levels are a little to easy, but with a good while until release, this will likely be fixed. Regardless of bugs and balancing, the game is good fun, casual but not overly so. The multiplayer allows players to play as any of the three races on a variety of maps in free for all and team modes, which adds replay-ability to the game. As the actual missions are where the enjoyment is, multiplayer should be great fun with friends. Getting a chance to play with the units and towers of other races makes things interesting, too.

Overall, Defenders of Ardania is shaping up to be a fun and innovative tower defense game. While not of great length, the multiplayer should sustain those who need more of the action. With variety in environments, towers, units and enemies, it is quite addictive. We here at Gamercide look forward to seeing how it improves by the time it is ready for release.

Zoomed in view of the water, and the variation in land height.

While it may seem that playing as the clan leader is the best choice, there is actually a lot more to worry about. Revolts, Daimyos wanting to separate from your leadership and the general struggle of power make things difficult.

For the purposes of this preview, let’s choose Hosokawa, the easiest clan. We start of at war with many clans, which can make things difficult. It is best to make peace with at least some of them. When opening up the diplomacy menu, it becomes evident that Sengoku has a very good looking interface. The gold, maroon and parchment themed menus are very easy on the eye. With a game so centered around the use of the interface, this can only be a good thing. In this preview it was found that all of the warring nations would accept white peace. Keep in mind this is a preview copy, and balancing issues may still be around.

By raising my levies from each province, I was able to create a sizable army. This is a gamble, as, if not raised, a levy will help defend it’s home province in the event of a siege. When the war is over, it is easy to return them all home. I moved my army to the border of one of the clans I was still at war with, the Hatakeyama clan. They are at war with multiple neighbours, so their power is split. It is easy to March into their lands, and begin seizing their settlements. The counters for armies look good as well, especially from a strategic distance.

After fighting off their attempts at resistance, we now control their entire country, aside from a few provinces seized by their rival neighbours. The population of our home provinces are getting rowdy - in all this excitement they have been forgotten. The men of the court, hired to control specific areas of business (Diplomacy, War, Intrigue) Can be used to deal with this by reducing revolt risk, building castles or buildings and improving relations with a province leader, among other things.

What comes next is up to you. Will you make the Hatakeyama your vassal, or annex them into your clan completely? Will you start a plot against a powerful rival, recruiting other clans to join you when you carry out the attack? Or will you build up your economy and become a power house, while you are at peace? The possibilities seem almost endless in this promising grand strategy title.

What they may have provided, though, is perhaps the "ultimate spoiler". For those of you who haven't survived the outbreak of Willamette, Colorado, be warned, there be spoilers ahead.

So "Johnny Pipes", one of the bloggers and founders, blogs about a recent outing yesterday where he took some photos of new hero Chuck Greene. During the ordeal, his camera was damaged slightly, and the next photo he took, featured below, was less than spectacular...but it still delivers one hell of a revelation.

From Johnny Pipe's blog:

Looks like everyone's favorite photo journalist (he's covered wars, y'know) may still be alive and kicking zombie ass in Dead Rising 2. Of course, this shouldn't be confirmed as offical.  It could just be an avatar customized to look like Frank West.  Still, considering Frank survived long enough to appear in Lost Planet and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, we think there's still life left in the photojournalist. More info as it appears.

Dead Rising 2 releases on XBox 360, PS3, and Microsoft Windows on Sept. 24 (EU), Sept. 28 (US), and Sept. 30 (JPN)

Well, Capcom Unity has revealed the nature of Mega Man Universe.  The people behind the new stages and characters won't be the Capcom designers but the Mega Man Universe players.

Taking cues from Little Big Planet, Mega Man Universe will allow players to not only customize and create their own unique robotic hero from various parts of classic, new, and guest characters, but also the very stages that they will traverse to take down the Robot Masters.  The customizeable heroes will have unique powers depending upon their build, thus making multiple "Mega Men" a gameplay advantage.  Players will be able to determine not only the stage design but also enemy and item placement and will be able to share their stages with other players.  More of Mega Man Universe and these gameplay features are set to be featured at the Tokyo Gaming Show.

Telltale Games has dropped a few details about the Back to the Future game that was announced in June.  Very little is known about the game currently but below are a few tidbits from the press release and other sources:

• The game will include the likenesses of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as the characters Marty McFly and Doc Brown (Seen in the concept art above).
• Christopher Lloyd will also provide his voice for the games.
• Other characters from the series will make appearances, although who knows if the actors will provide their likenesses or voices.
• Back to the Future series screenwriter Bob Gale is working on the story.
• 5 Episodes are planned.
• It will be set in the fictional California setting of Hill Valley, and will explore 1985 and additional time periods.

Hopefully we'll hear more from Telltale soon on a tentative release and more details.  For those that are wondering who Telltale is, they are responsible for the stellar versions of the latest Monkey Island and Sam and Max revival.  Be sure to check out the entire press release after the break and stay tuned for more information as it comes in.

While Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will most likely not reach the 50+ characters of the previous game, that's hardly something to be upset about, as most of the fighters were palette swaps and clones, many of which were ported sprites from games as far back as 1994.  The trailer shown in spawn's post shows a completely new fighting and graphics engine, so a bit of scaling back will not only ensure that every single fighter, both new and old, will get the special treatment, but also a tighter focus, and most assuredly a finer product.

While the image below are still just speculation from Kotaku, educated guesses are more than welcome.

While Assassins-in-Training maybe mourning the lack of achievements/trophies in the Battle of Forli DLC (out Jan. 28), the trailer highlights some of the story potential that the Memory Segment 12 offers.  And while this might not be "Episodes of Renaissance" like GTAIV's DLC, the potential for such expansive DLC is there.

Via Kotaku

Per Kotaku:

It comes in a fancy gatefold cover, treated to make the textured raindrops appear "real", includes a promo code for the game's DLC, some cute (and bloody) little origami and a big fold-out covered in notes, which in the best case will be helpful solving the game's mysteries, worst case will look nice on the wall of a Heavy Rain fan.

The Sixth Axis also mentions that this edition will release in the UK, but exclusive to retailer HMV.

Were this to come out in America, I'd preorder it on the packaging alone, hoping that other companies would take notice and follow suit. Extras like this not only remind me of the classic adventure games, they also truly define "special" and "limited" editions. Let's hope that the gameplay, or at the very least the story, manages to live up to the packaging.

Heavy Rain releases in the US on February 23, in Europe on February 24, and in the UK and Japan on February 26.