Speaking of controls, this may be the only problem I have with the game. You control The Gunstringer’s movements with one of your hands (Depending on whether you’re left or right handed.) and with the other you control the guns, sword, or fist. Each level starts with you picking up The Gunstringer and getting started with the level. With your free hand you aim your “gun” as if you were a child playing cops and robbers. As you select up to six targets with the reticule, you jerk your hand back as if the gun has been fired and you are dealing with the recoil. Simple enough controls for the weapons and this work outstandingly well. I never had a problem with the gun controls in a standing or sitting position. Controlling The Gunstringer on the other hand can be a little tougher. Some of the finer movements can be bothersome and aren’t as precise as they should be for dodging and jumping sections in the game. There are also sections that have The Gunstringer behind cover, peeking out to get off a few rounds to take out enemies. Again, this can be bothersome due to the controls, but isn’t game breaking. I put this problem more on the Kinect than the game itself. Honestly, a patch may be able to help some. As it stands, the controls work quite well for the most part.

Graphically, the game is done really well. The overall look and variety of locations and enemies is very well done. Also, as with most Twisted Pixel games, everything has enough variety and seems to be so lovingly crafted that you want to see more and more of each level. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t an on rails version of Red Dead Redemption, but everything looks great. Sound is also on par with the other Twisted Pixel releases. The narrator brings a lot to the game. Constantly giving commentary on what is going on with The Gunstringer or his surroundings. This isn’t commentary at the level of Bastion, but it is extremely close. Also, the soundtrack really is amazing here. As with the other XBLA releases, each tune for each level is catchy and you will seek out the soundtrack, if for nothing more than the ending song.

The Gunstringer truly shapes up to be a top notch Kinect game. There is technically nothing here that couldn’t have been accomplished on the Wii or Playstation Move, but the character really does lend himself to being on Kinect. Twisted Pixel’s humor, wit, and presentation all add up to create one of the most unique and fun experiences I’ve had with Kinect. Before The Gunstringer, the Kinect really had become a fancy Netflix, video, and music controller. The Gunstringer really should be in any Kinect owner’s game library. Also, being Twisted Pixel’s first DVD based game, the full package is jam packed with extras. You get the first DLC, The Wavy Tubeman Chronicles (Which I will review soon), and a copy of another great Kinect title, Fruit Ninja Kinect (Which I reviewed here). So, to answer my previous questions: Will their first disc based game live up to the standards of their previous endeavors? This is a yes. Will The Gunstringer be the first “Must Buy” game for the Xbox Kinect add-on? Oh heck yes! If all this hasn’t convinced you to buy this game, then you should probably sell your Xbox and go buy a book.

All the usual gameplay elements are still here and essentially the same. This time around, after escaping from a septic tank out in the countryside and getting back to civilization, you find yourself in a local festival known as Clapfest. You make your way through the festival, talking to people and picking up odd knick-knacks with which to solve the various problems you run into. It was kind of nice to have the game take place in one mostly contiguous area, as opposed to using a map to travel to various locations around the city. The map is still there for convenience, but you can mostly walk from one end of the playable area to the other without using it.

The humor seems to be improved a bit compared to the second game, which at times felt a little hit and miss. I never knew that shooting a giant vibrator out of a colossal pair of stretchy underpants could be so satisfying. The story feels a bit more meaningful as well. Whereas you spent most of the second episode trying to find the identity of the terrorist (even though it was kind of obvious from the very first episode), in this installment you must thwart his evil plans to destroy Clapper's Wreake and stop him once and for all. Just when you think you've gotten to the final confrontation and ending cutscene, the game has a bit more to offer as you finish up the case. It's length was on par with the second game. Still short, but not too bad of a length.

Hector: Badge of Carnage - Episode 3: Beyond Reasonable Doom (hey, I gotta say the whole name at least once in the review) provides a fairly satisfying conclusion to the Hector trilogy. It's been a long, dark, and filthy journey, but in the end it was worth a few good laughs. The series overall was enjoyable, and this final episode is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the series.

There are plenty of zombie games, and even more RPGs, but surprisingly few hybrids of the two, not counting RPGs that happen to include zombies somewhere in them. Dead Island essentially plays like Borderlands, as many have aptly pointed out. The game mostly focuses on melee weapons. There are two categories of melee weapons: sharp and blunt, which are good at severing and breaking limbs respectively. The weapons wear down and have to be repaired, but it is possible to upgrade and mod your weapons. Later on you can stick batteries on your weapons with mods to make them cause electric damage, or coat them in poison. You can also throw your weapons at the infected to deal some damage without wearing your weapon down, but I found the idea unappealing later on in the game when all my weapons were very valuable and you can die so easily, regardless of the fact that your thrown weapons should stay where they landed and can't be picked up by co-op partners.

All the usual RPG elements are there. Leveling up and putting points into your skill trees to get more powerful, collecting and selling loot, and so on. Even most of the zombie game tropes are intact, such as the presence of different types of infected, ranging from massive, charging, straight-jacket wearing zombies, to the usual protuberant growth-covered exploding zombies. One thing that was missing that I wish the game did have was armor, or at least some skills to increase your damage resistance. I understand that it's supposed to be a survival game, being about zombies, but dying in two or three hits even at high levels can be very annoying. Fortunately the only penalty for dying is a loss of ten percent of your money. It is also possible to revive co-op partners with med kits to prevent this loss.

Sadly, in terms of story, Dead Island fails as an RPG. The lyric from a song in the game, "Who do you voodoo, bitch?" pretty much sums up the vast emotional depth of the game. Characters are forgettable. Every survivor you meet is a whiny, helpless person who wants you to do something meaningless like retrieve their precious teddy bear (yes, there is actually a quest to get someone's teddy bear, and it's a grown damn woman...) Not all of the sidequests are that ridiculous, but they can be very tedious when you have to walk back and forth through the same areas of the game over and over. You never really feel connected to the story with it's lack of proper depth and presentation. Even the promise of somewhat interesting main characters that you get from the intro and bios during character selection, goes unfulfilled. During the few cutscenes where the playable characters actually have something to say none of their supposed personality shows through. Instead you get gems like "If we don't stick together, we f***ed."

Fortunately, the story, presentation, and inane sidequests are my only major gripe about the game. The game had some major launch issues, such as the wrong version coming out and there being many bugs, but the game has been patched extensively as of this writing, and more patches are certainly on their way. I played the PC version, but I gave the game a whole week before starting to play it properly. This gave it plenty of time to get patched up, and time for me to organize co-op with a friend, making the game much more enjoyable than solo.

Graphically, the game looks pretty good. There are some slight issues such as a very noticeable change from high to low resolution textures at a short distance away that cannot be increased with any PC options, and the face models of any NPC aside from the main characters are utterly atrocious with the way the lighting system casts lines on their faces that make everyone appear over fifty regardless of their age, but the environments often look very beautiful. The nice thing is, the game has a surprisingly varied amount of locales. After every few main quest mission you go to a new area, from the beach, to the city, and even deeper into the island in the jungles. After a while you may not even recognize the game from where you started out on the beach, it feels entirely different as you advance to new areas.

Useless story and some technical issues aside, Dead Island can be a very fun game. I personally didn't have any major issues with how the game worked or a need to use them, but others will attest that the many user mods and tweaks have improved their experience greatly. If you have some friends looking to have a good time in co-op, Dead Island is the perfect game to mess around in. Just don't expect any kind of amazing plot development. With some work on the story though, I think the concept of a zombie RPG has great potential, and Dead Island sets a good example for what kind of cool things can come from crossing genres.

The map, with clans shown. From here you can choose who to play as.

The visual aspects of Sengoku are beautiful. Being a grand strategy, interface design is very important, and this game does not fail to deliver. Menus are neat and tidy, buttons look great and are nice to look at. However, in some areas buttons or menus can be hard to navigate if you do not already know what you are doing. There is a learning curve, but it is not as steep as some games in this category. A big step forward in this game is the 3-Dimensional map. The rolling hills dotted with trees, the rivers flowing through them and the snow-topped peaks make the game look great. Players will find themselves zooming in just to look at the scenery. This also helps draw the player into the game, and keeps the game from looking like a “map”. This is a model.

Sengoku is definitely centred around war. Through the course of a campaign there will be little time for peace, although war is not the only aspect of the game. Players can upgrade settlements with various buildings through their Master of Ceremonies, whom they can elect to their court. Along with the Master of Arms and Master of the Guard, the people of the court enable the player to keep their lands in check. These people can collect taxes, expand guilds, restore order to settlements and perform many other actions. The court menu makes it easy to control all these options.

An example of the terrain.

In war time, soldiers can be levied from their home provinces and combined into stronger armies. Players can also recruit retinues for characters or wandering ronin to fight for them. The levied troops can be disbanded and returned to their home province when the player wishes, and may be raised again if needed. Battles are fought on the campaign map. They involve standing an army in the same province as a enemy, and letting them do their business. Sieges are also handled this way: the player can either storm the castles or wait for the enemy to surrender. This game is not one for those who want to see battles up close; it is the strategy that makes Sengoku.

Diplomacy is also present, although players can only handle it directly if they are the leader of a clan. There are many options available, aside from the arbitrary “Declare War” and “Offer Peace”. Players can also secure alliances through the exchange of hostages, offer marriages between clans, and many other actions. Players can also start plots against other clans, in which multiple characters conspire to attack at once. This really makes things interesting.

Some of the terrain and interface.

Sengoku is a very polished game. Unlike in the preview version, no bugs have been experienced this time. There are no serious defects to note. It all seems to just “work”. Sengoku looks great and is a joy to play. While the historical setting and limitations (the only playable area is Japan), along with decreased re-playability may lead to the game feeling less grand than others in the genre, it is evident that it was made with care, and this makes it stand out.

Graphically this is a stunning 2D sidescroller. The look of the game is very reminiscent of the latest Castlevania games. Backgrounds move independently from the foreground and enemies jump in and out from all directions. The game animations flow seamlessly between each other, much like Bayonetta. Enemies are extremely varied and are all just as well designed as Bloodrayne herself.

The soundtrack is also another strong point for Bloodrayne Betrayal. From the title screen you get piano ballads worthy of being in any game music aficionado's collection. A mix of gothic rock and those same piano ballads are played throughout. Later they do become a little repetitive but overall it's a great soundtrack. There's even a hidden version of it that will make any 8-bit gamer smile.

With one melee attack button and one shooting attack, there is a huge variety of moves to be done, which was surprising. By moving the analog stick you can change the variations. There is also a bite attack that you can suck the blood of your enemies to gain energy or infect your opponents and later detonate them like bombs. A little more exposition in the moves would have been nice, but discovering what Rayne can do is part of the charm. The main stumble here is in the platforming. Like most 2D action games it relies on platforming sections and platform puzzles for a large portion of the game play. However, Rayne doesn't control well enough to make these sections fun. Also, the game is pure old school NES era difficult. Lightweights need not apply here. Even some experienced gamers will fall prey to the occasional cheap death.

All said and done, Bloodrayne Betrayal has a great old school feel with impressive new school graphics. From the start you will be drawn in by those graphics and the music will keep you around for a while. If you stick with the game you'll be rewarded with a deep fighting experience that gaming veterans will find enjoyable. If you're easily frustrated by harder games, I'd say give the demo a try and see if it's worth your money.

As Sisyphus, you will roll your boulder through five different time periods. Each new level, you are given a castle and tasked with protecting your gate with towers, cows, dynamite barrels, and catapults. Here in lies the big problem with the game, the tower defense mechanic. While not completely bad, it truly is the weakest link in this chain of events. You are given a rather large play area to build your units that are used to protect your castle. As with most tower defense, you pay money for each unit. The bigger the unit the more it costs to build. While this sounds good in theory, the cursor for placing units is a little tough to control. Also, the AI is sometimes overpowering. Easily placing its units on the field with lightning speed while you are dealing with the unwieldy cursor. The mechanic gets some better as you get used to it, but never quite feels right.

The Marble Madness portions of the game are where the real fun begins. Once your minions have constructed your boulder you are given the option to add armaments to it such as spikes, flames, etc. These will make it not only more powerful when it hits the enemy gate, but also more resilient to the enemies defenses. As you roll down the hill you will be smashing and jumping the defenses that your enemy has set up. Smashing enemy units will net you more cash to spend towards setting up your next round of units after you hit the enemy gate. When you are near the enemy gate you want to try and gain as much momentum as possible and hit that gate as hard as you can. If you are able to smash through the enemy gate before he gets through yours, he or she will scream in terror. Upon smashing the enemy leader you will continue to the next round.

There are 2 modes of Split Screen or Xbox Live multiplayer. War is the exact same as the main story mode. SkeeBoulder has each player rolling down a hill smashing different items littered around to increase the score and then aiming at a target to gain multipliers. It is fun for the first few rounds but becomes extremely repetitive as it never changes. More options for SkeeBoulder really would extend the life of multiplayer. Instead we get a couple of modes that are good to goof around with but never fully develops in to something with staying power.

Overall Rock of Ages is a fun game. The Monty Python visuals are a big draw for me and the Marble Madness-esque sections are a blast. Tower Defense and Multiplayer are lacking in polish but don't drag the game down all that much. ACE Team has come out very strong with their second game. With a little more time spent; I think this could have easily been a sleeper hit. I'd recommend giving the demo a try. I’m willing to bet you laugh more than once.

"Slicing" may be a bit generous here. While the mechanic works great, it becomes more of a flailing of your arms than precise ninja like skills. It's not as easy to pick up and play as the mobile version, but overall it works much better than anticipated.

There are multiple game modes to keep you entertained. Classic Mode asks you to slice as many pieces of fruit as possible without slicing a bomb or missing 3 pieces of fruit. Arcade Mode adds in bonus bananas that can double your points, freeze the timer, or put everything in slow motion. Zen Mode is pretty straightforward. You get 90 seconds to slice as much fruit as possible. No bombs.

Halfbrick has also added in multiplayer. Competitive 2 player mode highlights fruit red or blue and slicing your opponent’s fruit reduces your points. There is also team based multiplayer where you are out to get more points than the opposing team. It really was the most fun I have had in any Kinect multiplayer game to date.

Last, but not least is Challenge Mode. When you go to this mode, your Fruit Master gives you different goals to achieve. They will range from generic "Score 250 in Classic Mode" or it will pull directly from your friends list and tell you to beat the highest score. It became addictive trying to beat the others on my friends list and gloating to them over messages when I finally did.

The only drawback to the game is the menu interface. The hands-free control just feels clunky and will cause frustration when you select something you didn't mean to select. It is a small problem, but really did frustrate me at some points. Especially in the unlockable screen. Speaking of unlockable, there is a lengthy list of new blades, backgrounds, and shadow textures to unlock. As with the main menu though, selecting these is an exercise in frustration.

Halfbrick really did a great job of taking a dead simple mobile game and translating it to the Kinect. Menu problems aside, the game is addicting and chock full of fun, especially with friends. There's nothing more satisfying than getting that 9 hit combo at the last second to beat your friend's high score. I highly recommend this to any fan of the mobile versions of the game. Now, go my pupil and slice some fruit.

Big Science labs is the setting for this latest entry and much like the 2 games in the series, none of the experiments are going quite as planned. With Splosion Man captured, she will have to utilize all the gadgets in the lab to save him from the Mighty Eternal. Much like the full non-pinball game, the main goal of the table is to 'splode' as much as possible to save him.

The aesthetic of the table really does a great job of conveying the feel of the Splosion Man universe. Bright colored explosions, the now classic Ms. Splosion Man voiceovers, even the alternating colored light gates all make their way to the table.

As with the Marvel tables, Ms. Splosion Man is another hit for Pinball FX 2. Any fan of the game or the Splosion Man series would be doing themselves a disservice by skipping this table. Graphically the table is great and gives you tons to look at. The sound is, as with the Splosion series, top notch. In short, go get it.

Some of the great details on units.

Before a battle is played, however, the game shows one of its most interesting points. After selecting a character on the campaign map and moving to a mission, the player is presented with a written story, accompanied by sketched images. This helps advance the plot and really draws players into the world. It is almost a choose-your-own-adventure style story, allowing players to actually decide what their character will do. This helps players relate to the characters. The choices made in the story often affect the coming battle - what sort of battle it will be, how many units on each side and of what type. It is a nice feature.

Battles are handled on real time 3-Dimensional maps, and really allow the graphics engine to shine. Units are very detailed, and environments are lifelike. The game is great to look at. A variety of unique environments are present during the game, adding a lot of variety. Maps are usually quite large and detailed, providing various ways to meet objectives, and allowing for different play styles. The game can be strategically paused at any time, which allows players to stop and assess the situation.

Battles are generally quite long with a specific objective rather than just “kill enemy”. They are well set out and fun to play. One particular battle, for example, takes place on another plane of existence, with an fast day/night cycle. During the night, players can move their troops around and advance towards the goal, fighting some enemies, while slowly summoning spectres to join their army. During the day, players would have to hide under giant clouds, and other, stronger enemy raiding parties would attack. This sort of diversity and construction in the battles is great and provides a lot of diversity.

Players control various units depending on their chosen character, though they are basically in the stereotypical groups (archer, cavalry, foot soldier etc.) Units sometimes have abilities they can use for specific purposes, like turning invisible for a short time. Hero characters have several abilities that can be bought and leveled up. These provide tactical avenues, which can be worked into a strategy. For example, when faced with lots of enemy archers, you can cast Fog of Avalon to create a fog to weaken the accuracy of the archers, then charge to meet them head on.

At this point, the game is quite polished, aside from some balance issues (for example, a group of archers took out a group of cavalry) which should be fixed by release. Most issues can be found with the controls and interface. The controls are a little unintuitive, for example scroll out to zoom in, scroll in to zoom out. The camera is also a little hard to control at times, though this does get better as players get used to it. The interface can be, at times, cluttered, as abilities, stats, a moving model of the unit selected, and a map, all reside next to each other. This is mostly a problem only in the heat of battle.

Overall, Fallen Champions is a good mix of role playing and strategy. Structured battles provide good fun and diversity when playing. The role-playing aspects are handled well, the story will likely draw players in, and the stories before each battle are a great interactive way of setting the scene. Balance and control issues hamper the experience but these could be patched or fixed by release.

All of the crude humor is intact, from church-themed strip clubs, to French restaurants with questionable hygienic practices, putting unidentified objects on your face to emulate having a beard, and many other uncomfortable scenarios. If you enjoyed the first episode, you will most likely enjoy this one. However I couldn't help but feel that the first game was funnier. Episode 2 still has its moments, but it almost felt like it was trying too hard.

One important thing to note is that the length of the episode is about twice that of the first. This is good, as it means that the you're not as likely to complete the game in one or two sittings, effectively increasing the value of the game. There are enough locations to explore and people to talk to that the game has a fair length to it this time around.

I seldom play many point and click games, but I managed to get through the first game without using the hint button. This time around, some of the ways to advance the investigation seemed a bit more obscure. This is good for fans of the genre who like a good puzzle. I myself had to look at the hint page a few times. It was fun to read since I missed it the first time around. You are greeted by a condescending text that will answer your general questions, or give you a step by step walkthrough if you choose the option. The menu is reached by talking to Lambert to get clues on the case and choosing the option, "I need a proper hint". You can teleport to Lambert by pressing the Hint button in the bottom right corner.

In the end, I'd say that Hector Episode 2 was a fairly fun second episode to what looks to be an amusing trilogy. Fans of crude humor and point and click games will likely enjoy it, and at the new season price of $20 for all three episodes, it seems to be a worthy purchase. As of this writing, the pack is on sale on Steam for only $15. The third and final episode will be released sometime this Fall.

The Pirate Stronghold, the first available, and some units.

Missions range from collectable missions, assault missions (going in on land to destroy buildings, kidnap people), chasing down boats and waging war on the seas. The world is alive, with boats from various other factions such as the Netherlands, Britain, Spain and France always sailing around. Missions earn money, which can be spent hiring units, building strongholds, buying a new boat and even upgrading the boats you own.

Naval warfare is handled well, with simple controls that are easy to use. Clicking on either side of your boat fires the cannons on that side. Different boats each have their own stats, and even small boats can take down a large one, with the use of good tactics. Items gathered from travels can be used to transport you around the map, or give you special buffs or abilities. The naval battles are the shining aspect of the game, as it should be in a pirate game.

Along the way, the player character will be able to become Champion of each of the Pirate factions. Among other bonuses, the leader of each faction will join you, becoming another controllable Hero unit on land. They level up as well, and can even command 3 units each, in addition to every other hero under your command. By the end of the tale, it is possible to amass quite the crew. Each faction has various units that can be hired if the required building is built. These range from lowly pirates or musketeers, to men with thundering cannons or massive hammers.

The land battles are not often as good as the naval ones, prompting a feeling of “get in, get out” when attempting a mission on land. Often the best strategy is to select everything and throw it at the enemy, which is a shame. Land maps are hard to navigate, the addition of a zoom - both in and further out - would greatly benefit navigation. Weaving through city streets, bag of gold in tow, trying to get to your boat before the inhabitants of the town get you may sound good, but it is difficult when you cannot tell which lane to take.

The game is fun, and intriguing enough to pull you into the story. Sometimes it is just as fun to go and be a pirate - start a war with one of the other factions and steal their gold. One of the main drawbacks of the game is bugs. In this review session, a particularly nasty one raised its head, preventing the acquisition of missions and thus the progressing of the story. Also a serious bug that corrupted saves, one after the other. Nothing can be done about this other than starting anew. Other spelling mistakes and frequent crashes (frequent is not overstating it) mar the overall shine of the game. While there is little doubt that these will be fixed quickly, it is a shame that they exist at all.

Pirates of Black Cove is a good game, not very “hardcore”, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It is a breath of fresh air to just sit down with it and have some good fun, without impending doom looming around the corner. Well made, the game is held back by serious and not so serious bugs. Spelling errors, crashes and game breakers all need to be addressed. With the fixing of these, and the addition of some features such as zoom in land scenarios, the game could be just that little bit better.

Update: Since this review was published, Nitro Games have released a few patches for Pirates of Black Cove. One of them totals around a whopping 908Mb. As evident by that size, many of the bugs mentioned in the review have been fixed, along with other tweaks and fixes, small new features and the like. Crashes are much less frequent. The bug mentioned that halted progress has been addressed and removed. Saves are no longer corrupting (in this reviewers experience) though saves that were previously corrupted have not been fixed (that is to be expected). Essentially, the major bugs in the game have been removed, and this is a great thing. While there are some new bugs brought with the patches, or not yet addressed, those that seriously impair gameplay have been removed. With any luck, the game with continue to be patched and these smaller issues will be dealt with.

The theatres interface.

Another development is the Air Mapmode. This allows players to view each airbase across their nation, and the range of the planes stationed there. This shows how far a plane can go before coming back to refuel. It is great for planning bombing runs or sending in fighter planes to battle it out, as you can quickly see where each plane needs to be based. Having bombers based just behind the front line allows them to easily travel into enemy territory.

The new partisan system adds a new level of warfare. This allows you to be a bit sneaky and turn the enemies people against them. By slipping in some of your men, you can begin to create turmoil without actually marching in your armies. This is great to regain lost territory, via supporting rebels, and even to just distract the enemy. You can destroy or support various ideas, in your country or another, in order to twist the people into the place you want them. Coups have also been added, further increasing the ways by which the player can take the war to the enemy.

When entering a war, each member of the alliance or faction (Allies, Axis, Comintern) can now set their own War Goals. This allows players to define their reasons and goals for the war, and also helps in keeping the war under control. One can state that he is entering the War for a specific reason, for example, to recapture territories X, Y and Z from the enemy. Once he or she has these territories, they can respectfully withdraw from the war without having to fight a battle that is not in their interest.

Also present are a lot of little changes and improvements that add to the overall flow of the game. Previously, when playing, in-game time moved by at a speed of 1 real second to the hour in game. While this speed was often fine when managing forces during a war, it was painfully slow in peacetime, when your country is doing fine. The expansion introduces many more speed settings that can get up to the very fast, which fixes this problem.

One of the major points added, for previous Hearts of Iron 3 players, is that of multi-core support. This means that the game now uses more than one CPU core, if more than one is available. This has a drastic effect of gameplay and everything now runs fluidly for those with multi-core machines. This is a feature that should have been in the original, but it is welcome now nonetheless.

Also added by the expansion are smaller battle scenarios, such as Operation Desert Fox, the Southern Conquests, Fall Blau, and a couple of others. These are limited, historical scenarios that can test a player’s abilities or even act as a sort of tutorial to get a new player going. They have have a limited map, so gameplay can only take place in the area that it historically did. These are fun little chunks of gameplay, and a nice side track from the grand campaign.

For the Motherland is a great addition to the already good Hearts of Iron 3 repertoire. It brings in a lot of new features and is a solid package. All of the new features added, be they war goals, map modes, theatre management or the partisan system build on the original and really make the game seem full and finished. While there are still some issues from the original that are present - it is not perfect - it does not bring many new problems to light. Still sporting a steep learning curve and heavy, historic, grand strategic, For the Motherland will be enjoyed by all those who liked the original. If you are interested in the time period, or like good grand strategy, this game may be for you.

Be sure to check out our review of the original Hearts of Iron 3 and the expansion Semper Fi here.

Menu navigation has been simplified with a world hub a la Super Mario 3 after the first level is completed. Each successful level completion expands the pathways of the world and level labels indicate special features. For instance, red levels are harder and levels with a flashing question mark have hidden exists. Gameplay remains virtually unchanged (Step 1: Run, Step 2: Splode, Rinse and Repeat), though ziplines and bouncing trampolines have given new aspects to the stages, which do occassionally step out of the lab for a glimpse at the Jetson-like world that Ms. Splosion Man disrupts.

While the core game play hasn’t changed, what sets the Ms. apart from the Mr. is the fabulous personality and feminization. Unlike Pac-Man, who only needed a bow and make-up to become a Ms., Ms. Splosion Man’s personality is a spastic female; animations both idle and active reflect the stereotypical ditzy female obsessions like gossip, make-up and boys. Instead of hidden cakes, Ms. Splosion Man has her own collectable: shoes. She even “splodes” in graceful ballet poses and quotes popular song lyrics and lines from romantic comedies.

Ms. Splosion Man has three modes of play: single player and multi-player (same as the original) and a new mode; “2 Girls, 1 Controller,” which is playable once unlocked from “The Mall” (more on that later) As before, Single player and multi-player have completely different levels and multi-player can be played locally or online with up to four players. “2 Girls, 1 Controller” allows a single player to attempt the multi-player levels by themselves. This mode is for lone wolf players and those hardcore achievement hounds.

In-game content is offered through “The Mall”, a gallery where tokens earned from completing levels can be used to purchase items such as avatar collectables, premium themes, and humorous video and audio snippets. Players can opt to speed race their own ghosts or ghosts downloaded from top players via the Leaderboards. Both of these features add much to the replay value of Ms. SplosionMan.

Fans of the original will not be disappointed with this clever sequel. And while the gameplay and puzzles will be familiar, Ms. Splosion Man is stylish, clever and most importantly fun. Multi-player mode could become a tool in the marriage counselor’s arsenal with communication being key to solving the more devious puzzles.*

Ms. Splosion Man is available on XBLA for 800 points. It is rated “T” for Teen due to cartoon violence, drug reference, mild lyrics, and suggestive themes.

*WARNING: Twisted Pixel not responsible for broken friendships or divorce proceedings due to frequent failures in multiplayer.

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The ability tree is where all your leveling is handled in The Witcher 2. I really like this system because you can tell early on the potential for multiple play styles. There are four main branches of the ability tree, Witcher Training, Swordsmanship, Magic, and Alchemy . With the 3 'class' branches locked until you put a certain amount of ability points into the Witcher Training branch. Once unlocked you have a hard decision to make. The ability points are limited and can't be changed once used. So, you have to decide early on which path you want to take. Taking multiple paths is certainly possible, but the better abilities are found at the end of the trees. I found by the end of the game I had only enough ability points to max out one of the ability paths. What I like so much about this system is how much more powerful you can feel from a simple skill upgrade. Take the swordsmanship tree for example. With one skill point you can start damaging all the enemies around you. This has a dramatic effect on dealing with multiple enemies. I never explored the Magic or Alchemy paths, but they look like they have the potential to greatly effect the way you play the game.

Along with the usual sword, magic, and alchemy method of fighting, The Witcher 2 includes several quick time events scattered throughout the game. Although there is an option to turn on or off 'difficult QTE's' I never found any of them to be difficult with the option on. QTE use ranges from the fist fighting mini-game to parts of the epic boss battles. I enjoy the subtle use of quick time events in The Witcher 2. They add enough interaction to the cinematic events without being too frustrating or intrusive.

Graphically the game is beautiful, as the screenshots below will show. The Witcher 2 features some very detailed environments and superbly crafted creatures. I spent a lot of time just gazing at the environment and getting too close to some of the creatures just for a better look. Everything seems to scale well enough that it should be playable on a large range of computers, and even at the lowest settings, The Witcher 2 offers graphics that are good enough to not distract from the joy of the game.

Although The Witcher 2 is fantastic it is not without its flaws. I noticed a few bugs while playing worth noting. On a couple of occasions I found I had to reload because I either became stuck in an animation sequence or an npc or item that should be there wasn't. I also had a handful of Crash to Desktops that were completely unexplainable near the end of the game. One that forced me to reload to an earlier save to continue. The only other noticeable bug was occasionally my quest marker would outright lie to me. Instead of taking me to the quest location it would lead me to the wrong place then change when I got there. None of the bugs felt game stopping to me because I have so many saves, but they could be frustrating if I didn't save so often. So, I suggest saving often. Both for the bugs and the fact that sometimes death awaits around the corner.

UPDATE:

As of Patch 1.3 many of the above bugs have been fixed.

With the upcoming release to XBOX 360 it is important to add that the game plays fantastically well with the XBOX 360 controller for Windows. I simply changed the control scheme to controller and the game picked right up with it. Menus, dialogue, and quick time events reflected controller buttons and the entire transition was smooth. Judging by my few hours with a controller I have every reason to believe the game will be just as great on the XBOX 360 as PC.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is a superb game that I would recommend to anyone. It boasts an epic story with paths, love interests, and consequences on par with any rpg including those from Bioware. The game is fun and exciting throughout without the feeling of repetition, and every chapter leaves you wanting more. The Witcher 2 is beautifully crafted with details that leave you in awe and epic boss battles that make you feel like the Witcher you are suppose to be. Very few RPG games have pulled off the cinematic feel that The Witcher 2 has, and even fewer have a story with so many branches that replaying is almost a must. I was on the edge of my chair from the beginning, and I am left hoping there is more to come soon.

With the release of another Marvel character themed table for Pinball FX 2, Zen Studios has brought us another amazing table to their pinball simulator. This time Captain America gets the royal treatment with a World War II themed table that doesn't disappoint. Every detail of the table is well done and screams Captain America. Bright colors and array of different lights, bumpers, and spinners all animate to bring the table alive.

You'll see Cap standing guard over the table and the villains coming and going as necessary. Voice work and animations are solid and the missions available are extremely varied. Whether you are searching for Bucky and the Howling Commandoes or facing off against Red Skull and Baron Zemo, the missions are well thought out and just challenging enough not to frustrate.

If you've been waiting for a great Marvel themed table to get in to Pinball FX 2, this one is the best of the bunch thus far. Impressive graphics, varied missions, and more than enough is offered to keep you coming back for more. At a very reasonable 240 Microsoft Points or $2.49 on PS3 ($9.99 for Pinball FX 2 is required as well); this table is more than worth it.

Military Map Mode showing the unit cards that represents armies. These cards stack upon each other.

When creating buildings or units, applying decisions, and moving troops around the map the game uses a drag and drop system. By picking up a building card, for example a railway, you can drag that card onto a region to begin construction. When you pick up a unit or building or construction, the map becomes colour coded so you can see where it is possible to put said building/unit. Green means it is possible, Red means it is not. This is helpful as it isn’t immediately apparent if you have a building of the same type in the area.

Pride of Nations suffers from the same disease that many grand strategy games suffer: that of a steep learning curve. While the all text tutorial goes a long way to help, when entering your first campaign it is easy to get struck by the depth of it all. It is a good idea to try one of the smaller scenarios first, before jumping into a grand campaign. The scenarios offer plain historical objectives to be achieved, and have a definitive win/loss/draw. They are great for getting into the roll of the game. When trying a grand campaign, remember it lasts for a very long time, so don’t expect to cripple your enemies with a few quick moves. If you are looking for a casual game, this may not be right for you.

The map that you play on looks great from a distance (see screenshot) but when zoomed in is not so pretty. While this is a minor issue if you really are into the game, it doesn’t do much for encouraging new players dig in and learn. This combined with the steep learning curve may well be enough to repel the more casual strategy enthusiast. The games runs on the AGE Engine, which does a noble job, though at some times it can be found to struggle and slow down quite noticeably when moving the camera long distances, for example from a colony back up to the British Isles. Load times are short, and everything fits quite well.

Pride of Nations is a solid historic grand strategy game that offers a long and involved grand campaign. It comes loaded with varied shorter historical scenarios, great for learning the game and getting a taste of different pieces of history. While marred by a very steep learning curve and some technical and graphical issues, it does what it has set out to do. Historical strategy enthusiasts interested in the period may well find something they like here, this game is made for them. Little features like historically accurate unit portraits show that Pride of Nations was made for history enthusiasts by history enthusiasts. Just be sure you are up to the challenge.

Let me put it this way: I've been playing the original on and off for almost a year and had about 9 hours of in game time in it (time spent actually in a song, so it's more than it sounds like). In just two days I added another 4 hours to that time. Those evil geniuses over at Cold Beam Games knew just what needed to be added to bring an already addictive game to a whole new level of addictiveness. Whereas in the original you would max out after a certain point, and everything after that was just another number added to your rank every 10 million points, Ultra adds more addictive elements like a currency system (via pickups) and perks. Also added were new enemy types, a new mode, and multiplayer.

The perk system adds things like new weapons, increased chances for multiplier drops, abilities that enhance the new weapons, and several other enhancements to help you survive and get higher scores. Every time you rank up you get to choose a new perk, then must buy it, as well as any upgrades you want for it, in the main menu. The new weapons you can get can really change up the gameplay. The missiles were my least favorite of the three new weapons, but they had their usefulness. You fire out a barrage of missiles that individually target the biggest threats to you and try to destroy them. The ultra beam essentially emulates the effect of the most intense sections of a song, making your beam intensely powerful for a brief moment. It's perfect for taking out those turrets on a boss that happens to be harassing you, as well as quickly blasting a pair of particularly annoying new enemies that can draw you in or push you away, limiting your movement. My personal favorite new "weapon" however is the shield. For a short while you gain a barrier around you that renders you completely invincible. While in this state, not only do reflected projectiles go back and target enemies, but you can use the shield as a battering ram, clearing out lines of weaker enemies and clusters of asteroids.

The difficulty has also been slightly rebalanced in Ultra. A very nice new feature I noticed was that the slow parts of the songs where your firepower is drastically reduced are made significantly less painful by the fact that everything around you, enemies, projectiles, etc., slows down to match your weakened firepower.

The new mode added is called Boss Rush. In it you face waves of bosses that come one after another over time. The spawns are time based, so the next boss will come regardless of whether you're still sparring with the last. The time between spawns becomes increasingly shorter, until later on you can have several on screen at once. It can get pretty hectic, but it's a nice change of pace from the standard mode, as most of the time you don't have to worry about that one little asteroid or ship that sneaks up behind you for you to crash into it (the exception being that some bosses can now fire small waves of ships).

Last but not least, Beat Hazard Ultra introduces multiplayer to the game. This comes in the form of co-op and head to head modes which can be played online or offline with two controllers, or a controller and a keyboard. Did I mention that the game is much better on a game pad? The controls are good on a keyboard and mouse, but it's actually possible to lose your aiming reticule amongst all of the enemies, projectiles, and general flashiness. With a controller you don't have that problem, and are able to move and aim without worry (though to be fair the mouse is easier to aim more precisely at far off targets).

As I was saying, there are two modes that can be played in multiplayer. In co-op mode two players share pretty much everything, score, lives, multiplier, bombs, etc. They work together to get the highest score they can. It's nice to be able to have another player to cover the opposite side of the screen for you, letting you mostly focus on the enemies nearest to you. Head to head I found more entertaining than co-op. Two players play essentially as if they were in single player mode, where nothing is shared (though stealing the pickups that another player drops on death is an option). The nice thing about it is that both players have infinite lives, so neither has to worry about failing or being let down when one of them dies too many times and the song ends abruptly. The players can't do anything to each other directly, so they simply compete to try to get the highest score.

Winning

Beat Hazard Ultra comes with over 20 new indie songs. These can be played in single player, but their main purpose seems to be to provide some consistency in what can be played in multiplayer. If two players have the exact same song, they can play it together, otherwise the included tracks are the only option. The most I've ever been able to play with anyone from my actual library was Stricken by Disturbed. It's not all that bad though, as the included tracks are mostly cool techno music perfect for generating challenging levels.

Beat Hazard in itself was great fun, and the new Ultra DLC adds a lot to it. It feels like a whole new game. So much so that some might even miss the "simplicity" of the original. Fortunately, when launching the game you are given the option to choose between original and Ultra modes. There is a very noticeable difference when you go back and play in "classic" mode.

With so much added, this is one very worthwhile DLC for those who already have Beat Hazard. For those who have not played the original, now is the perfect time to try it out. You can purchase the full game bundled with Ultra through Steam, and later on as DLC through the PSN store on the Playstation 3. The gameplay is incredibly smooth, and only made more awesome by the fact that you can play it to your favorite music. I fully recommend this game to anyone with a passing interest in music and simple yet addictive Geometry Wars style gameplay. It's everything you could want from a game short of a moving, cinematic experience. It's just plain damn fun.

Visuals aside, the game is incredibly fun to play, though a bit steep on the learning curve. I found myself dying regularly during the early stages of the game. Though, there is a patch out now that is suppose to address balance issues in the Prologue. Once you start to get the hang of battles the fighting becomes more enjoyable. You have to know when to run, and be prepared with the right potions and equipment. Still, save often, and be prepared to die from time to time. You can save just about anywhere when not in battle, so dying isn't as frustrating as it could be if we were relying solely on checkpoints. The other advice I can give is to read the manual. It comes in PDF form with the digital copies and is much more extensive than most games release with nowadays. So, do yourself a favor and at least look it over. The in game tutorials are there, but they aren't as in depth as the manual is.

From a story standpoint I'm loving it. Things continue at a steady enough pace to keep me interested, and though I never saw the end of The Witcher I'm not lost with the story thus far. So, if you've never played the first one you could easily pick this one up and have fun with it. Though I highly suggest playing The Witcher, especially for the low price it's offered at today. The side quests have had enough depth to make them worth looking into, but some are the regular 'kill this or that and get paid' type.

Though I have a lot more to go, I'm fully expecting enjoyment out of the rest of the game. It's a beautiful, challenging, and well crafted game that has me glued to my computer chair. If you are thinking of buying it, but are still on the fence, drop by our live page sometime and check out the gameplay live. I should be playing it all live as I continue my journey. You can watch it at http://gmcd.me/gcl . If you don't catch the live stream then check out some of the videos at http://en.thewitcher.com/the-witcher/2/videos/gameplay/ .

That's all for now, but be sure to check out the full review once I've completed the game!

The surface can be a dangerous place at night.

Building is done via small blocks of various materials. These can be mined, cut from trees or simply dug out of the ground. With these materials it is relatively easy to create vast castles and living areas to live in. In the game exists a complex crafting system to create virtually anything the player needs or wants. Doors, tables, swords, armor, candles and countless other items, not counting the basic and complex building materials.

As the player creates rooms in their abode, NPC characters will move in, offering various services and purposes. This really makes the world seem alive, that what the player is doing really matters. It is necessary to protect these NPCs from monsters through thoughtful building of defenses such as sand traps which, when triggered, release sand to bock pathways and entrances.

As well as the smaller, “regular” monsters, it is possible to summon large boss monsters to fight, that drop rare and special materials. The playing experience is driven by an addictive need to craft something better, build something cooler, and be as grand as possible.

However, there are small issues that can take away from this great game. Starting a multiplayer game may be a tad overcomplicated for some, with it being necessary to have two instances of Terraria open, one to run a server and the other to play, as well as some less-than easy port forwarding, unless using a third party hosting tool, such as Hamachi.

Once one figures out how to get multiplayer working, it opens a great deal of fun. A multiplayer game can be played on any world, including those created in single player. Changes to the world cross over into single player, so friends can drop in and help out with fighting a particular boss, or cooperate to create something great. Players can trade items between one another, useful for helping out a new guy. With the scope of the game, possibilities for fun in multiplayer are vast.

The lack of a pause feature can also be annoying, though the game does pause if another window is selected, such as alt-tabbing to Steam. This is easy enough, as the game has to run in a small window to keep a good resolution. While this could be a big issue, one gets used to the window, and it comes with the graphical style. For the game to have other resolutions, the sprites - basically the games graphics - would have to be individually sized for each resolution. Keep in mind this is a indie game, and this would take a lot of time for such a small developer to do.

Overall, Terraria is a great game, one that you could loose countless hours to easily. It is very well made, aside from some small issues mentioned above. For the price this game is well worth it to anyone interested in world builder games and creating their own kingdoms from scratch.

Zen Studios has maybe the best pinball simulation game on the market today with Pinball FX2. In my previous review I mentioned that the upcoming Fantastic Four table. With its release, do we get another great addition to the already stellar table lineup? Keep on reading comic fans and let's find out in Gamercide's first "Quick Review"

As with all the other tables, Zen Studios has done a great job capturing the feel of the Fantastic Four comics. Artwork for the table is colorful and quite impressive for a pinball game. Each character is represented in great detail and put their powers to good use as you play through the missions. Voice work is very well done, as is the case with all the Marvel tables.

Game play is where the table takes a slight hit. Sure, just hitting the bumpers and pins is a blast, but when it comes to getting the missions down, the learning curve ramps up quite a bit. Getting the necessary angle to the Baxter Building can be a little frustrating. However, once you get things down you will be ruling the table with a Galactus like fist.

Impressive graphics and sound really make you feel like you're playing around in the Marvel universe. Hearing the voices of the characters being so well done, as well as seeing things like Reed Richards stretching around the board bring a lot to the table. The slight frustration in learning curve can be easily overcome by spending a little time getting used to the angles and where/when to shoot the ball. Overall, this is another great addition to Pinball FX2. The new table is available now and I highly recommend it to any fan of the Fantastic Four or pinball. I can't wait to see what Zen comes up with next for a newly converted pinball fan.

Part of the Campaign map

Aside from the action-RTS style gameplay, there is a heavy RPG element. The player character levels up and can distribute points into various attributes, skills and weapon proficiencies. Companions and armies level up as well. Characters and companions can be outfitted with many different armours and weapons. Towns and castles live and breathe, their economic situations changing and reflecting the goods that they produce. Armies get hungry and have to eat. Factions send their troops across the map, winning and losing at every moment. Quests also make an appearance, and there is a loose main quest to follow, if you so choose.

When fighting a battle, players and their armies take to the field in real time, controlling their characters like a western RPG. Whether fighting on foot or horseback, on land or on castle walls, with a sword, spear, axe, musket, pistol, bow or throwing weapon, the battles can be quite spectacular. Horse riding is handled well, with options to control weapon direction, based on enemy position, making it easy to ride around and slice at people on the ground. It is a pity then that the graphics aren’t up to scratch. While the game is enjoyable none-the-less, they could certainly be much better.

Another aspect where the game is lacking is in the interface department. The user interface works, though it is clunky and does not look very pleasing. Loading screen hints are placed simply on rectangles of a lighter colour. Text is sometimes too large for the button it is placed on. Points like these really hold the game back from going that extra step higher.

The game needs to learn what it does well and stick to it. Too much dialogue, unexplained hints and generally not preparing players well enough makes the game very hard to get into, and risks turning players away before they can get their foot in the door.

Multiplayer and custom battles also make an appearance, though only as a side track to the main game. There is nothing new to see here in the multiplayer. Players choose a server and a side, then outfit their character with various weapons and armours by spending the money earned in the game. There are various modes, and the classic deathmatch and capture the flag of course make an appearance. There are some new ideas here, such as a mode where players take control of a squad of npc’s and lead them against other human players and their squads or the siege mode, where one team defends as the other climbs the walls and attempts to capture the castle via a flag in the middle.

Overall, Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword is a game for those interested in forging their own history and managing their own army as they go about their business raiding towns, sieging settlements and fighting wars on horseback and on foot. Aesthetic issues with the interface and graphics combined with a slow start and poor tutorials for the campaign map can hold players back from really enjoying this title. Multiplayer is a enjoyable sidetrack, but multiplayer enthusiasts won’t find much here. With Fire and Sword is good game if you can get past the smaller issues.

Update:

Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword has recently received quite a large update. With it come many bug fixes, rebalanced and even some new features. Check here for the full changelog at Paradox. While none of the deeper issues with the game have been fixed, this update certainly adds features that make the game more enjoyable. The update tightens up the game well. The re-balancing of various aspects of the game (both single and multiplayer) is a welcome addition. In short, if you didn't like the With Fire and Sword before, it is unlikely that this will convince you. If you enjoyed the game before, this patch is a good one.

There isn't really an objective in the game aside from maybe seeing how far you can go. You can play the game normally like any other shooter, flying around the levels, blasting enemies until you find the level exit. If you can't find the exit, you can stand still and a guide line will lead you to it. And when you get to that exit, you move "up" to the next level. Sounds simple enough, but the twist is that you can also go inwards, to find levels within enemy ships, power ups, and even yourself. The point of this is that you can alter the properties of the things you enter. Entering enemies allows you to pick up power ups within them to change their attack patterns. Entering power ups lets you pick up power ups within that power up to change it into a different one. And you can enter yourself to change what power ups you have on the current level, as you cannot use power ups on the level you get them, only on the one above it. Getting killed sends you into yourself automatically, but fortunately the level exit is usually very close by when this happens. What's more, there is no limit to how many things within things you can enter, changing power ups within enemies within yourself etc. etc. etc. Xzibit would be proud.

I couldn't resist.

I got the sense that the risk far outweighed the reward. Going inside of a power up to change it to something to help you defeat some difficult enemies just makes you encounter even more difficult enemies within that you would still need more power to defeat. The last straw was when I entered an enemy and all of the power ups that you can pick up within to change that enemy for better or worse were around level 30, when I'm lucky to find level 10s for myself.

You shall not pass!

All of this is not to say that it's a bad game, it really has some cool concepts behind it, but it just gets frustrating as you advance farther and farther into it. It's still pretty fun as a "quick fix" kind of game. Balance issues aside, there is fun to be had for the $8 asking price if you are looking for something different. And considering it was created by a single person, most of the issues can be forgiven in light of the more creative aspects of the game.

UPDATE: Following this review, I had a chance to speak with the devloper, Jason Rohrer. He was able to provide some good insights into the game's design. You can find the impromptu Q&A here.

Your main goal in the game is to negotiate with the terrorist, fulfilling his demands to ultimately try to bargain with him for the safety of the hostages. His demands seem strangely noble, including fixing the clock tower, shutting down a porn shop, and helping a tour guide on his campaign to improve the town. To solve all of these problems, you have to go through a series of Zelda-esque puzzles (things like "talk to the guy to get the bucket to fill it with milk to..." etc. etc. etc.). What makes these tasks enjoyable is the grumpy monologue-ing of the protagonist, and the disturbing individuals you will have to converse with to further your goals.

The game is presented in a crisp, animated style that works rather well. Using such basic gameplay concepts, it almost would have worked just as well as an animated series, though it understandably didn't go in that direction as it may have been more easily overlooked amongst all of the other crude-humored animation around these days.

The game is incredibly short, and I managed to beat it in just over three hours without using any of the in-game hints (aside from maybe one or two "subtle" hints from an impatient friend watching me stream the game). I was hoping for more awesome moments like the ones you see in the trailers, with the dialogs between Hector and Lambert (as seen

It's still an absolutely hilarious game, but a very short one. $10 is a bit high when it's a very short first part to a planned trilogy. That being said, most point and click adventure games are very short if you don't take too long to figure out all of the puzzles. If you're a fan of the point and click puzzle genre, you will still enjoy Hector: Badge of Carnage. If not, you can find videos of the game being played online if you just want to watch it for the great humor it contains.

Pinball FX 2 really isn't a game unto itself. It is a free base of the game that allows you to try each table before you buy them. This sounds weird, but in this case it really does work. If you test out a table and decide you like it, go buy it. Also, if you have the first Pinball FX your tables import over in to the new shell and they get a graphical and physics upgrades.

Tweaks are found throughout the multiplayer and the competitiveness of the leader boards really does make the game shine. While playing, you get updates on who is the best among your friends on each table. If you're getting close to beating a friends score, you get a countdown as to how many more points you need to beat them. Along with the ever growing amount of achievements (Which, if you're like me, you compare these just like a scoreboard.) there are a couple of other types of scores to try and outdo your buddies. Superscore is your cumulative score across all the tables. Pinball Wizard is a combination of your Superscore along with your friends' Superscores. There's also hot seat multiplayer and split-screen multiplayer. This game is literally jam packed with features.

Game play in Pinball FX 2 is flawless. Each table has its own feel and the licensed tables are very well done. Tables ranging from Street Fighter II, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Marvel superheroes all capture the aesthetic of the characters. The Marvel tables include a table each for Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, and Blade (With an all new Fantastic Four table coming soon). All of which are extremely fun and really are what sold me on the game. The original tables are really fun as well. Ranging from a Roman theme to super secret spies and a ton more, they are all varied enough that if you get tired of one, it is easy to exit out and go to a different table and start the fun all over again. With new tables releasing frequently, they all do very well to keep you coming back for more. The recently released Mars table is one of the best yet. Plenty of "missions" to complete and new achievements to try and get, the Mars table feels like none of the others offered to date.

As I'm sure you can tell from everything you've read, I really enjoyed Pinball FX 2. As a gamer who has never really enjoyed pinball, this game does a great job of selling you and making you feel like you're really standing at a machine pumping quarters in to get a higher score than your friends. Graphics are amazing for each table and do well to keep things interesting. Going in I was hesitant to get in to the game, but once I started playing, I had numerous late nights trying to beat my friends’ scores. Good job Pinball FX 2 and Zen Studios for turning this non-pinball fan in to a pinball junkie.

Head over to the Xbox Live Marketplace and try out Pinball FX 2.

Gathering Fun by taking buddies for a ride.

Those are the basic principles of how the game is played. As you collect more fun and build better vehicles you can gather fun much faster and also reach places that were unreachable before. Once you have obtained enough fun you can use it to add gravity to the objects orbiting earth and bring them down. Some items just add more buddies to the world, but many of them are plot points that must be removed from orbit in order to progress the game.

I was amused from the first moment I was thrown into this world and in fits of laughter the first time I kicked a buddy and it made a strange comment. The construction of vehicles is a fun but often times a difficult affair. You can create almost anything, but they rarely work out as well as you think they will. Luckily, the game has a steady supply of blueprints you can find to build the basics for you. More often than not I found myself using the blueprints as a basis then upgrading and tweaking them into a crazy contraption of my own making. However, I did manage to build the oddball flying rig or two from scratch.

Once you build a decent vehicle the game progresses fairly quickly from that point. You find yourself moving from one odd objective to the next with some very minor puzzle elements. Mostly involving gathering buddies and orientating an object correctly. The game's objectives can be a little bit vague, and there was one part underwater that particularly had me lost. Though, if you just focus on finding buddies and bringing objects out of the sky it's fairly straightforward. The entire game is rinse and repeat of the above with a few objectives for each of the four seasons of the game. Just enough time to get comfortable with one vehicle type and have to move on to another. I do need to point out a problem that they don't make apparent until it happens. The game will progress to the next season when certain conditions are met, and often it takes you to a different location. If you haven't dismantled your vehicle before that you will lose it and the parts associated with it. This was frustrating at first, but I learned to dismantle my rides when I thought something major was going to happen. Not a big deal at all since you can save your own blueprints.

A Heli-Blimp built to haul massive amounts of buddies.

Before I wrap this up I would like to touch on a feature that I didn't use much but found interesting. You can collect fun and bring spare parts down from orbit by gathering buddies and having them dance around a musical symbol. The default tune is included in game, but there is also an editor that allows you to piece together your own music and dance routine for the buddies. So, you can have them jam out and dance to about a minute's worth of whatever tune you like. It's a small but amusing feature that many may find interesting.

Cargo! entertained me for a good 8 hours and though repetitive in places had enough material to keep me playing and wondering what's next. The story is a quirky adventure with a bit of a twist ending that is sure to amuse, and if not, leave you scratching your head thinking "What is going on in this crazy world?" . On top of a crazy story mode it has four Sandbox modes ( one for each season ) that start you with a large number of each of the parts. This gives you a quick way to jump in, build any vehicle you can think of, kick a few buddies around, save, and come back another day. I already found myself going back to add to and experiment with one of my vehicles and see just how many buddies I could fit on it. The game did what I believe it was intended to do and dealt me a healthy dose of FUN. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys building physics based vehicles and roaming an insane and colorful world.

The game just looks great.