I can't say much of the story other than what's shown in trailers and comprises about the first third to one half of the game, or I'd spoil some great plot twists. After the events of the first game you awaken once more as a test subject for Aperture Science. You are quickly greeted by a new character, an AI core with a British accent, who is going to help you along your way with some vague escape plan. This new character begins to establish some of the clever humor written into the game with his inane dialog and more-often-than-not poor suggestions. The dialog is a huge part of what makes Portal 2 great. There is a seemingly endless amount of witty dialog and funny comments to be heard. I often found myself refusing to advance to the next area until I had heard all of the dialog.

As you probably saw in the trailers, GLaDoS is back, and she isn't too happy about what you did to her in the first game. She will test you once again, and this time she won't be so friendly about it. She really brings the claws out this time around, finding every opportunity to insult you in a hilarious fashion as you progress through the test chambers. But as I mentioned earlier, some huge plot twists occur, and the game seemingly changes entirely after the first half, which is more like the first game than the latter half is. It is during the second part where things really start to get interesting with some of the new mechanics introduced in the game.

Though some of the new mechanics, such as lasers and cubes that can redirect them, are introduced early on, some of the even more interesting ones come later. Eventually you will be testing in new ways with gels, paint-like fluids that can cover surfaces and modify the way you interact with the environment. They are dispensed through tubes like the weighted cubes but flow fluidly, dripping or pouring out of them. Anything the gels touch becomes coated with it and take on new properties. There's orange Propulsion Gel, which allows you to run faster while on it; blue Repulsion Gel which makes everything bouncy; and white Conversion Gel, which makes most flat surfaces accept portals when covered by it. There are also tractor beams called Excursion Funnels which can convey objects, gels, and the player through the air, as well as Hard Light Bridges, bridges that can pass through portals to help you get to new areas. You use these new elements to accelerate, bounce, and portal your way through new obstacles in new areas of Aperture Laboratories. It's a refreshing change of pace and reinvigorates the game partway through.

The original Portal could be beaten in roughly two hours if you were quick and knew all of the solutions to the puzzles. Though this isn't so bad when you consider that the first playthrough will take around 4-5 hours as you figure out all of the solutions for yourself, which is half of the fun. Portal 2 took me roughly 7 hours to complete, and it felt like a much bigger game than the first, with all of the dialog and detailed areas you pass through. Surely there will be people boasting 3 or 4 hour completion times, but rushing through the game like that would take out all of the fun of exploring all of the content that Valve squeezed into the game.

A great new addition to Portal is co-operative gameplay. From the menu you can access a separate set of levels from the main story, designed to be completed by two players. Both players take control of the new Cooperative Testing Bots, Atlas and P-Body. These new test chambers provide another level of difficulty to the challenges, where you have to work with another player to solve them. The new challenges will require both players to use their separate pairs of portals together to find a way to the exit There are plenty of great griefing opportunities to be had along the way, such as cutting out the bridge from under a player crossing over a deadly grinder by placing your portal somewhere else, or making an excursion funnel push them into a crusher.

Overall Portal 2 is a really fun game that has a great value to it. Awesome humor, great puzzles, and fun co-op make this yet another stellar title in Valve's already legendary line up. Don't let the misguided claims of short length and overpriced DLC fool you. The "DLC" is essentially just an item store akin to the one seen in Team Fortress 2, with items solely for aesthetics, most of which seem to be unlockable at random through normal gameplay. I fully recommend Portal 2 to anyone who has even the slightest interest in platforming or puzzle based gameplay. Valve has put a lot of work into creating something truly epic that will remind fans of the original Portal why they loved it so much.

The biggest change of course is that guns are much more prevalent. All of the enemies now wield guns ranging from AK-47s to RPGs, will attack you from a distance, and have humorously been renamed to the Goblincong. There is fitting new music that blasts as you make your way through the jungle, and now you have the mildly useful ability to crouch behind cover. You can still use all of your normal spells, but in the Vietnam Rescue Mission challenge you don't get most of your spellbook spells aside from the obligatory revive, haste and time warp which must be found throughout the level, and a new spell you can use to call in an airstrike. You probably won't have much time for anything fancy anyways with all the incoming gunfire.

The rescue mission solo can be pretty challenging, as there are no checkpoints. I found myself using rock shields much more often, as opposed to only really using them to wall off dangerous ledges behind me. A useful strategy was to create a makeshift pillbox by surrounding myself with a rock shield and shooting powerful beam attacks out of it. I could manage to make it all the way to the final part of the mission in about 20 to 30 minutes, then get completely overwhelmed at the final part where you must hold out until the chopper arrives, with dozens of enemies focusing fire on my position. Co-op is a different story though. With three other players who somewhat knew what they were doing I was able to complete the mission, including all objectives (which mainly consists of blowing up buildings and towers, and rescuing soldiers), in around 15 minutes.

It is a very short DLC and definitely left me wanting more. As I completed it, having played Magicka for the first time in a couple months, it made me think of how great it would be for something more substantial to be added, such as a new adventure mode with a full story and more than the handful of lines of dialog that Vietnam had. All of the humor was in the setting, with very little dialog. There is value in the replayability of the DLC, though, especially in the new arena challenge.

I honestly found the new arena more entertaining than the rescue mission. It is structured the same as all of the other arenas, where you hold off against 20 waves of enemies and get random spellbook spells, weapons, and staffs from chests, but set in the new Vietnam setting with the new types of ranged enemies. It essentially changes the way you have to play in order to survive, when the enemies don't have to reach you to damage you. I found myself not using my favorite icicle shotgun or cannon spells from the main campaign much, although a strong beam attack is still one of the most effective ways of taking down enemies assuming you are properly shielded from gunfire.

When I ended up in the arena with one other player, and we were both summoning hordes of lighting elementals, then protecting ourselves with rock barriers while setting off lightning storms that not only blasted apart the enemies, but healed the elementals at the same time, I was reminded of just how much fun Magicka could be. Magicka: Vietnam was short and entertaining, but seriously left me wanting more. I hope in the future an actual expansion pack is released which possibly adds a whole new adventure mode to the game. But for the low price of five dollars, this DLC adds a decent amount of new content to the game in the form of new challenges, particularly in the arena with the new types of enemies to face.

Overall story is nonexistent here. You are a ship that is set loose in a puzzle with fairly straightfoward tasks. Light the stars, collect the items, or cross the line before the time runs out. It sounds simple, but once you get going in the level, controls are limited to attaching to posts around the level and using momentum as your control. Zero gravity also play a big roll here. Once you get going, you can't stop without attaching to the posts. There is a map of the level that shows a top down view of the map to see where your missing pieces of the puzzle. Also, you can freely view the map to further explore missing pieces.

Over 50 levels of play, concepts for each one are introduced throughout and then thrown together in later levels. There are also upgradees for your ship, such as shields or weapons that will come in handy as tougher enemies are introduced. The main key to the game is it's target times for each level. The game is strangely addicting and you'll find yourself going back to earlier levels to try and beat your own time. Eventually you'll be hooked enough to try and beat the par time for each level, which in most cases are really diabolical. They will keep you wondering how in the world you are supposed to get through the level in those short times.

StarDrone is a fun game. For some it may not be your cup of tea, but you can easily see the charm for those that get truly hooked. Playstation Move controls really bring a new aspect to the game that PC gamers didn't get to experience. With over 50 levels, tight controls, and a huge amount of replay value this is a really good value for a fairly inexpensive game.

This would initially seem like a negative, however after the palette swapping and redundant move sets that was rampant in part 2, this time around each character has their own play style and move sets. This translates to a ton of play variety and no two characters play the same. Almost anyone can find a character that will just "feel right" to play and almost every character is well balanced.

Speaking of move sets, the controls in the game are extremely well balanced. There are 2 control schemes available. One is the "Simple" controls. This limits your move set but makes them extremely easy to pull off with just the press of a button. Also, Hyper Combos can be achieved with multiple button presses. This truly does simplify the game to the point of being cheap as hell. This scheme would be great if it was limited to local only play, but you can take it online and literally watch your win/loss percentage skyrocket. Hopefully Capcom will realize this and put in some limitations on this scheme being used online.

The "Standard" controls have been re-tooled to work better with a standard console controller. There are 4 main attack buttons, down from the usual 6. Light, Medium, Heavy, and the new "Launcher" buttons are all mapped to the face buttons on the controller. The right and left bumpers and triggers are used for calling in partners and pulling off Hyper Combos. This redesign really takes some time to get used to for MvC fans, but after a few matches you realize it truly is a better console design. My favorite change is the air combo starter is the same for all characters, which is truly a godsend.

Graphics and sound are truly the most impressive in the series. The Street Fighter IV-esque view really works well to give the game a good depth. Anyone that has seen and loved the almost seizure inducing visuals of the Marvel Vs Capcom series won't be disappointed with this one. Colorful moves and insane Hyper Combos have been a series mainstay, but have been amped up to 11 in this latest edition. Remixed songs from throughout the series are really great and sound amazing through a good surround sound. Also, voice acting is pretty stellar and the option to use the Japanese voices for the Capcom characters is a really nice touch.

Story mode for each character is told with a comic book panel style ending which really works well in my view. Some may be sad that there are no fully voice acted video endings, but I'm okay with this omission as it gives the game a more comic book feel. There are subtle touches throughout the game that you may not even notice at first. Hearing Phoenix scream out for Scott when she is taken down or hearing Magneto say Wolverine is lucky he didn't pull the adamantium out of his body again really go a long way to give a cohesive feel to the game and the Marvel and Capcom universes.

Now, we'll move in to the main issues I have with the game, the online lobby system. I can't say the online play is bad at all. No dropped frames, no lag, etc. However, the 8 person lobby system really needs an overhaul. Basically, 2 players start the match and the winner stays to fight the next person. This is easily trying to mimic the "next quarter up" feel of an arcade. While the concept is great it could really benefit from allowing the waiting players to watch the fight happening. That's right, if you are 8th in line, you sit and wait. This is honestly pretty boring. Why not allow 3 on 3 play as well? Let each player pick their favorite character and start up a huge battle royal? Also, a replay system would be great to watch back your own matches or even the top ranked players' matches.

For fans of the series, this game will be a godsend. Tight controls, great sound, and amazing visuals make everything come together to give us almost everything we wanted. However, a few missteps may turn off some of the more fair-weather fans to the series. Simple controls make the game way too easy and some issues with the online play really should be addressed. Those few quibbles aside, I really recommend this game to fighting game and comic book fans. So, until next time my fellow gaming fans I say this...EXCELSIOR!

The overall story of the game is very engaging. A Matryoshka doll family, the Blackmores, are forced to sell off all of their belongings because of the disapperance of their father. A Master Chimney sweep that gets a new job working for The Baron at his new enterprise. As Charlie Blackmore you are easily dismissed by everyone in the world. You receive a letter that lets you know all your siblings have been sold in to slave labor and need your help. You set out to save them from The Baron with only your heart and courage in tow.

The graphics in the game are really great. Especially for a downloadable game. The miniature world of these stacking dolls is littered with posts made from sewing pins and suitcases made of matchstick boxes. The 1930s silent film aesthetic is used to great effect. Cutscenes are all created in a diorama style, with all the dialogue being spoken by cards. These small touches make for an engaging world that you just don't want to put down.

Gameplay is no less impressive. With Charlie being so small, he can easily "stack" with another Matryoshka doll that is one size larger than him. Each subsequent stacking doll needs to follow suite. You can't just jump from one doll to another without taking this in to account and this is where the puzzle game aspect really starts to shine. You are given a goal and you must find the "special doll" that will help you achieve this goal. Also littered throughout each level are other special dolls to be found, all in the effor to 100% each level. Each special doll also has a unique ability that are used to solve the puzzles or even find alternate solutions. There are also "hi-jinks" that are hidden goals in each level. They are all very inventive and extremely entertaining. Each hi-jink is basically rewarding you for disrupting other doll's lives. Each special doll type, puzzle solution, hi-jink, and more are tracked in a pretty unique way. Charlie meets a hobo named Levi that tracks each and every thing in the game. While this may seem just completely random or just a way to track things, it is very indicitive of Double Fine. The game controls well, but the dolls control like you would expect a doll to control. It takes a bit to get used to, but doesn't hamper the game at all. The camera on the other hand could use a little work.

Stacking really is fun and doesn't lose its charm as you go through it. There are some issues with controls initially and the camera has issues, but there is nothing showstopping. The game is graphically impressive and the small touches are what make you want to keep playing. The silent film setting really does justice to the Matryoshka dolls and makes for a great overall presentation. As a downloadable game, there is a lot to find and do in the game. It is fairly short and I think that helps the fun to not wear off quickly. I'd recommed this to any Double Fine fan and would say that anyone that enjoys puzzle games should at least give the demo a shot.

In terms of gameplay, you have all the standard moves like healing and attack spells, counterattacks, and power attacks. Classes range from basic fighters, to sorcerers and even combat skaters, warriors who fight their enemies with ice skates. All of the characters have a main class and can choose a support class to add abilities to their repertoire.

One of the main highlights of the game is the live action cutscenes. At most major plot points a cutscene will trigger, with all of the characters played by real people in surprisingly good costumes and areas considering the low budget. These are some of the most hilarious moments in the game, and blend seamlessly with actual gameplay. The live action scenes are highly reminiscent of one of Mark Leung's earlier works,

Unfortunately the game suffers from a multitude of technical issues. I found that the anti-aliasing option was completely broken. Attempting to turn it on will either crash the game, or make it not load any textures but the background, leaving only wireframes floating around clouds and water. It is also fairly easy for the game to crash, triggered by loading glitches like encountering enemies while transitioning to a new area, or just at random. The developer's are very aware of the bugs and are hard at work fixing them. In the meantime, the game is still very playable if you save often, which you should do anyways in any RPG you play. And the graphics still look pretty good in their own stylized way, even without antialiasing. For such a small development team with no publisher, the game is still very well made, all things considered.

At around 20 hours long, the game is a full feature length title, despite the impression you may get from it being a spoof RPG. For $13, Mark Leung: Revenge of the Bitch is a pretty good value for all the "lol"s and "wtf"s you will get out of it. And humor aside, it actually plays pretty well as an actual RPG, despite the glitches. You can check out the demo and buy the game at MarkLeung.com.

So, to quote the game's website, "delete some porn and free up your disk space for something way the f*ck better!"

I would be remiss if I did not mention the music in the game. Our good friends at the newly re-branded HyperDuck SoundWorks do one hell of a job with the tunes in the game. When I interviewed the guys a few months back, we got to sample some of the tracks from the game and I have to say, the remainder of the music did not disappoint. I can not wait to see what these guys have up next for us and hope to nail them down for another interview soon. **Just a subtle hint there for the guys** I seriously urge everyone to go to the Duck's page and take a listen to their stuff, it's amazing.

The controls are fairly well balanced. Keyboard and mouse controls are available, but in all honesty, a gamepad or Xbox 360 controller really is a must for this one. Heck, even the explanation of the controls shows an Xbox controller for reference. Each weapon has a good "feel" to it and allowing the player to use the right analog stick to fine tune their firing was a great decision. If I had to pick something to complain about in the game, I would say the jumps feel too heavy. There were a couple of very frustrating areas that took multiple tries to get through because of the jumping issues. I did eventually get used to this, but a little more tweaking in this would really have helped a good bit.

Overall, this is a great side-scrolling shooter that fans of the Mega Man X series will love. Great music and suprisingly good graphics round out a pretty solid package. The few jumping issues really don't detract all that much from the experience and could easily be addressed in a later patch, if the developers so desire. I'd highly recommend this one to anyone that wants an old school gaming experience with new school graphical polish and some really bumping music. Go out and drop the $10 on this one now.

Links to buy:

Steam

Direct 2 Drive

X10 Studios

In Magicka you play as a mage from the Order of Magic and are sent by a man named Vlad, who is by no means a vampire, on an ever cliche quest to save the world of Midgard from the evil wizard Grimnir. Things get crazy as you progress through the story, chock full of awesome references ranging from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, to Castlevania, and even Ski Free of all things. The game is fully voice acted, if you can consider Simlish proper voice acting. This just adds more to the wacky humor of the game. From beginning to end the story is just hilarious and awesome.

There are 8 different spell effects which are mapped to the Q, W, E, R, A, S, D, and F keys. You can make a spell with up to 5 effects in it, and some of the effects can be combined into one (such as fire and water becoming steam), while others don't combine at all (like water and lightning). This leads to an insane amount of spell possibilities, not all of them beneficial. In addition, every possible spell combination can be cast four different ways: outwards (this can be a projectile/beam/barrier/etc.), casted on self, casted as an area of effect spell (radial damage or barriers/mines to surround you), or used to enchant your weapon for a single spell infused swing. In addition to the normal spell combinations you can find spell books that produce much more specific effects when you cast the elements in the right order.

There is just a ridiculous amount of possible spell combinations in the game. What's really nice about it is that you get all of the elements by completing the tutorial, so you have access to every spell combination apart from the unique spell book ones from the very beginning. There is no leveling system aside from finding spell books and weapons or staffs with different enchantments. It's all about trial and error, learning what combinations are effective in each situation, and finding out the hard way what to avoid so as not to die horrifically.

In addition to the standard Adventure mode, there is a Challenge mode where you enter an arena and face waves of oncoming enemies. This is a great way to test the effectiveness of different spells you've devised. You don't keep any of your spell book magics or your weapon/staff, but can find them as you play through it.

The game features 4 player co-op in both Adventure and Challenge modes, which can be very fun - when it works right. At launch the multiplayer was practically unplayable with all of the lag, synchronization errors, and general inability for players to connect to each other. As of this writing several patches have been released which improve the functionality of multiplayer greatly, but it's still not perfect as there are still occasional disconnections and off-synced matches. The game is a great experience in single player alone though, and Paradox and Arrowhead are hard at work rolling out patches to get the multiplayer working right. From what I've played, co-op mode can be a blast, especially in the arena. Hopefully in the coming weeks it will be much more stable. LAN and local co-op don't really have any of the connection issues though, only online multiplayer. Aside from the multiplayer issues, if there was one thing I would want added to the game it would be some sort of level select.

In summation, Magicka is a very innovative, very fun game that is simply a joy to play. Though the multiplayer may be buggy at the moment, the single player campaign is a great experience. Even during the most difficult parts of the game it never really gets frustrating. Rather it gets you to stop and think of new ways you could counter your enemies and get through difficult areas with all of the potential spells at your disposal.

Magicka is an excellent game that is held back by a few bugs. But with patches released for it almost daily, it won't be long before the game is almost perfect for what it is: a fun, innovative, and hilarious experience that can be played with friends and should not be missed.

Easy to Navigate Menus

New developer Bit Barons is making their PC and Mac debut game with Astroslugs. This cute, vivid, and vibrant puzzle game has what it takes to make Bit Barons a household name, but the question is, can Bit Barons deliver?

In Astroslugs, you play as a small purple slug who is traveling the universe activating slugballs in the form of ancient glyphs in order to fuel the slugs space ship.

The slugballs are found by traveling the universe and putting them together by solving puzzles that are matching the colorful shapes to their examples on the left of the screen. The shapes start off rather simple and grow a bit more complex as each level increases.

To make a shape like a sqaure, you just simply point, click, and drag over the slugballs to form the square. If you make a mistake, there is no need to worry about starting the level over. Bit Barons made deleting your shape easy by just pointing, clicking, and dragging the mouse over the colorful shape to make it disappear or if you messed up your puzzle to the point to where you cannot figure it out, you can click the reset button at the bottom left of the screen.

Once you finish your puzzle you are taken to a screen where your fuel for your space ship collects and then you go back to the main map for that area where you can click on the next slugball that allows you access to the next level.

Overall this game flows so well with no major or minor issues that my four year old son fell in love with this game that also has some educational value for the younger games when it comes to making the shapes and naming colors.

With the colorful imagery and catchy sound effects Bit Barons scored a home run with their puzzle genre entry, Astroslugs. Anybody and everybody from experienced puzzle gamers to new and/or younger gamers can jump in and thoroughly enjoy their time with Bit Baron's Astroslugs.

Meet The Princess. She likes to talk....ALOT.

Set in three different environments in three very different kingdoms, World of Keflings does not disappoint. Ninja Bee which was founded in 2004, tells the story of each kingdom in a World of Keflings through vibrant imagery and easy to follow storylines that not only tell the story of the kingdom, but also individual Keflings that need your help. This can include building buildings or collecting items and putting them in the proper building that they request the items to be placed into.

"I am King Kong...here me ROOOOOAR!!!!"

Each kingdom in World of Keflings has their own unique environment. The Ice Kingdom is where you start your adventure in a frozen block of ice surrounded by Keflings. You break out of the ice block like you are King Kong and agree to help the Keflings. Soon you find yourself gathering resources and making buildings with the help of builder brothers who can make buildings for you and/or bring you your selected pieces of the building you are constucting. There is a whole family of builder brothers so be prepared to meet every single one of these heavy lifting builders along your journey through each of the colorful kingdoms; The Ice Kingdom, The Forest Kingdom, and The Desert Kingdom.

These "builder brothers" are always around to lend a helping hand

Each kingdom has essentially the same goal. Turn your tiny starter town into a huge and prosperous kingdom. From the sound of that, you should be getting bored right? Wrong. Each kingdom has enough of "quests" and bickering between Keflings to keep you entertained for hours. You will also have to travel back and forth between kingdoms through "gates" to build new buildings and advance the story along which is divided into chapters.

You can have fun with your Keflings like launching them in cannons!

Throughout World of Keflings you will never find yourself feeling like you are running "short" of Keflings which was a problem with Kingdom of Keflings. In Kingdom of Keflings, you found yourself wasting your Keflings by needing to have "transporter" Keflings who would transport each resource to the building that you choose. Thankfully Ninja Bee fixed that and now your worker Keflings can transport the materials that they are cutting, chopping, or mining to the building that you want the materials in by picking them up and placing them at the building after you give them their job or else you will end up collecting the piles of resources yourself. This makes managing your Keflings much easier and allows you to not feel like you are always building houses and never have enough of "love" to gain more Keflings like in Kingdom of Keflings.

Make sure to show your Keflings plenty of "love"

One of the new features in World of Keflings is called, "Country Love". It works similar to regular "love", but country love is specifically for cottages which are bigger than your average house in a World of Keflings. After you build a cottage and put country love into it, instead of the standard two Keflings that come trotting out, you wind up with four Keflings which also aids the management of buildings and worker Keflings.

"Should I drink that?"

Another new feature that Ninja Bee added into World of Keflings is the "push" feature that allows you to move buildings around without having to beat them down your fists and start from scratch. One thing that "pushing" lacks is proper aiming. You might find yourself building your buildings and not liking where you place them or place two buildings side by side. When trying to push the building up, down, left, or right it often seems to get "confused" and push the wrong building, because your avatar that you play as does not "lock on" to the building. This can get frustrating at times especially as you advance one of your kingdoms and you need to make more room.

Ninja Bee has a surprise for you if you purchased their other games!

Other new features in World of Keflings includes interacting with your Keflings by using "emotes" which are accessed by the D-Pad, drinking potions made by the witch to level up, leveling up individual worker Keflings by smacking them, and adding special items to your buildings like snowmen, trees, and statues. Also, you now can send your friends on Xbox Live custom items through messages and doing so will net you an achievement!

Ninja Bee took the time to do something really special for their fans in World of Keflings. If you purchased any of their other titles available on Xbox Live, you are notified before you start that you have achievements for that game and gain special things in World of Keflings. Another addition is the crossing over between Raskulls and Ilomilo. If you purchased either of these games or both of them you will be able to have the Kefling version of them in your game. With Raskulls and Ilomilo, you can either play as the characters meant for the game or a Kefling.

I <3 Ninja Bee

Overall, World of Keflings is a major step up from Kingdom of Keflings. Fans of the little Keflings will love the happy go lucky music and prancing Keflings and new players will enjoy the simple tutorial and easy to navigate menu. World of Keflings is one of those rare Xbox Live Arcade titles that is actually worth the price it releases for. Bravo Ninja Bee for making an even more addicting sequel to a game that we all love.

*The online multiplayer of World of Keflings was not reviewed. Each online experience is different when playing with friends and other people.

The combat has been changed up to where Ezio is even more powerful, but the enemies are more aggressive. It is now possible to chain finishing moves. Upon killing an enemy, if you direct your next attack towards another you can perform a finishing move on him, and continue this streak by targeting another enemy after that. This is similar to the other AC games where enemies would suddenly lose heart and run away, lowering their guard for easy kills, but much more stylish. Most of the new weapons are just upgraded versions from the previous games, like faster acting poisons, but there are also some new features like the ability to keep a heavy weapon permanently, though it will replace your medium weapon. In terms of equipment, all of the previous equipment that helped Ezio be a great Assassin, such as smoke bombs and throwing knives, return alongside a few new items like the crossbow, which is essentially a faster, more silent version of the pistol, and the parachute, which allows you to survive falls from any height.

One of the best new features in Brotherhood's single player campaign is the ability to recruit and train Assassin's. You can train them up by sending them out to complete missions that give you gold and occasionally loot through a meta-game found at pigeon coups throughout the city. Your Assassin's can be summoned to either quietly take out guards as you are sneaking around, or to assist you in a fight. The higher the level they are, the more equipment they'll have access to, and the more efficient they'll be at taking down guards. Features like this, and the ability to chain finishing moves, make Brotherhood a fairly easy game compared to previous entries, but it never holds the game back, and is still great fun to play.

The biggest addition in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is undoubtedly the multiplayer. Amidst the dozens of multiplayer shooters out this year, this game has one of the most unique, refreshing multiplayer experiences I've ever played. Most of the game modes essentially play out like a game of cat and mouse. You must find your target amongst a crowd of civilians, all of whom inconveniently decided to dress in the multiplayer costumes, while simultaneously trying remain stealthy so any pursuers won't immediately recognize you and try to assassinate you. Very few multiplayer games have ever actually made me nervous like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. No shooter has even come close. The multiplayer in this game will have you paranoid and on the edge of your seat, wondering where the next attack might come from.

If I have anything bad at all to say about the game, it's that the controls are almost too smooth. It can be a pain when you're running from a pursuer in multiplayer and your character decides to jump into a hay bale that you intend to run past, leaving your enemy to start an inescapable killing animation where they jump into the hay bale after you. Though most of the issues you may have with controls, such as Ezio jumping farther than you wanted, or grabbing the wrong ledge, are much more manageable once you've gotten used to how to work the controls and avoid them. Regardless of the quirks, Assassin's Creed still has arguably the best climbing mechanics out there.

In the end, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is an all around great game that shouldn't be missed. If you consider yourself a core gamer, Brotherhood has everything that you could want in a game, including smooth melee combat, stealth, parkour, and much more.

Graphics aside, the gameplay is very smooth. You can perform light and heavy attacks, use guns, grappling moves, and (thankfully) move around and jump. It has very standard controls, but it's in the way that you combine them that the game gets interesting. Throughout the game you get a variety of weapons, from the default shanks and chainsaw, to machetes, a shotgun, and my personal favorite, a chain that you wrap around your fists to attack your enemies' weak points for massive damage. You can switch between these weapons at any time. By combining your light, heavy, and ranged attacks, you can become a whirlwind of death, shanking, bashing, chopping, and shooting your way through hordes of enemies. Words really don't do it justice. Check out this video courtesy of Machinima:

The story is the usual tale of revenge, but is well formulated. It helps that one of the writers of the God of War series, Marianne Krawczyk, is involved. There's enough emotion in the acting that you feel for Shank (the aptly named titular character) and want to help him brutally murder the ones responsible for killing his loved one. There is also local co-op in Shank, with it's own unique backstory, detailing the events leading up to the beginning of the game. In this mode player two plays as Shank's friend, Falcone. There are more enemies, and they are even tougher, but it can be very fun with two whirlwinds of death flying around the screen. There are even special grappling moves that let the players work together to take down the enemies.

In the end, Shank is every bit as gratuitous as it is inspired. From the beginning to the end, it's essentially a constant series of violent encounters, but the game has enough style that it never really gets old. If you're a fan of brutal beat 'em up games, you don't want to miss Shank. It's an outstanding credit to the genre.

Wren and Reynold both learn that something more sinister is at work in their neighborhood after stopping at a seemingly quiet jack-o-latern decorated house. Unfortunately for your brother or sister, depending on your choice you made at the beginning of the game, this house is anything but quiet. Mistaken for a giant piece of candy corn, the monsters that have invaded your neighborhood kidnap your sibling and it is up to you to get him or her back and stop the monsters from taking over your neighborhood as they search for candy.

Reynold or Wren start off in Costume Quest as a robot. When a battle is triggered after running into a monster, your character is transformed into a real version of their costume that has it's own special attack, along with standard attacks.

The battles are turn based like many RPG's. This allows you enough time to choose what action you wantyour character to do. After choosing an action, you are faced with a quick time event where you have to tap the right button at the right time in order to block or deliver more damage to your enemy. During battles, you can control up to four characters that each have their own special attacks depending on their costume. After the battles you are given XP and candy for your trick or treat bag.

Throughout the beginning of Costume Quest, you will find yourself walking around town finding quests, candy, and costume materials that allow you to upgrade your costume. You gain quests by interacting with the other kids and sometimes bullies in your neighborhood. You can view not only your quests, but your candy, costume patterns, battle stamps, and character's status by accessing your journal that can easily be found by tapping the Y button. As you advance in Costume Quest other areas are unlocked as your search for your kidnapped sibling and of course candy.

Overall, Costume Quest is a delightful blend of light hearted and sarcastic humor and unique features such as comic bubbles instead of talking that make this ghoulish entry from Double Fine and THQ a rare treat in the the growing number of lacking and sometimes overpriced Xbox Live Arcade titles.

Siren Says: "Costume Quest is a joy to play. I had no problems navigating throughout the game and the menu interface is so easy to use that my four year old could navigate through it. At times I found myself laughing at some of the remarks made by the characters. I throughly enjoyed Costume Quest and I believe that if you like turn based RPG's, Halloween, and can appreciate all types of humor, then this might be the arcade game for you."

The world of Fable III is based heavily on your decisions and promises that you make to other leaders throughout the game. The decisions not only effect your moral standing with the people of Albion, but also your relationships with others in the world around you and in some cases it is a matter of life or death. Can you order innocents to die for a supposed "crime" and save the love of your life or should your lover die and have the lives of the civilians spared all in the name of doing the right thing? You are the only that can decide their fate as well as the fate of Albion.

While the outcome of your hero's story in Fable III is mostly decided by your difficult and sometimes heart wrenching decisions, your hero's abilities, interactions with others, and jobs that can be taken on are dependent on the new leveling up system dubbed, Road to Rule. During your long and strenuous path to become the leader of Albion, Theresa the Blind Seer is back to guide you along the Road to Rule which will supply you with an ample amount of chests that contain leveling up abilities along your way.

Much like the Silver Key Chests, each of the chests that you will come across along the Road to Rule will need Seals in order to open. You can earn Seals throughout Fable III by completing quests and some of the seals can be found in certain types of chests that are scattered throughout the world of Albion.

When Theresa allows you to pass through one of the many gates that you will come across in the Road to Rule as you gain more followers, you will find chests on either side of you. The expensive chests to the right are for you to level up your ranged, melee, and magic attacks which you can now combine two different types of magic attacks to use against your foes, while the much cheaper chests on the left are for your hero to gain the ability to do several different types of interactions with the civilians in Albion, leveling up your jobs that you can do throughout the game to earn money, different types of packs that allow you to get married and have children, and you will also find different colored clothing/hair dyes in these chests.

The chests are just one example of leveling up in the game. Your weapons can also be leveled up and when doing so, their appearance will be altered. The tasks that are involved with leveling up each weapon can be quite tedious so if you set out to do this you have been warned.

The leveling up system and combined magic attacks are not the only new thing to be introduced in the Fable series. The health system has completely been revamped. Say goodbye to the health bar and welcome in the red screen that many modern FPS's use. This health system makes fighting enemies much easier, but also takes away from the challenge of battling enemies and being knocked out, because you just simply have to roll out of harm's way for a certain amount of time and your health is replenished.

Along with the disappearance of the health bar is the mana bar. Your magic usage is now determined on your leveling up in the Road to Rule and purchasing of magic gauntlets in the chests that enable the use of different spells.

Another new thing introduced in Fable III, is The Sanctuary. The Sanctuary, which was your father or mother's depending on your general choice in Fable II, is where you will find your complete inventory, promises made to others, treasury, armory, and dressing room along with the option to join a co-op room over XBL. To access The Sanctuary, the player must tap the start button and you will be taken there instantly. You can do this even during the middle of combat to make weapon changes if need be. You can also fast travel to towns and quests by using the world map which you will find in the middle of The Sanctuary. While viewing the world map you are also able to buy properties and repair the houses that have fallen apart over time. Leaving a house in disarray means the tenants will not pay rent, so it is important to check on your houses frequently throughout the game or else suffer the consequences of losing money.

What else you ask? That's about it. Everything else in Fable III is the same as in Fable II minus the gorgeous and bright graphics. The camera does suffer a tiny bit during single player, but it's not enough to rant or waste your time talking about. Other than that, the world of Albion including gameplay and controls are the exact same as the previous games. The only question left to ask about Fable III is in a world where you control every little thing, will this power corrupt and set you on a path to your demise or will you rise and change the lives of everyone around you for the better?

Fable III Tips and Tricks

• As soon as you are able to buy properties start with the businesses and then buy and rent the houses out later. In Fable III you need a lot of money and this is the best way to get it quickly.
  
• Start saving money as soon as you can. Whether this means you spend quite a few hours doing jobs or buying/trading items and selling them, do it. You will thank me in the end.
  
• Your dog is your companion in Fable III. Make sure to buy the books in the stores to level him up so he is well equipped to handle the battles and sniff out dig spots and treasures.
  
• Interact with the people of Albion frequently. You will gain Seals by doing this.
  
• Experiment with the dyes in the dressing room of The Sanctuary. You can now dye just about every little thing on your clothes and include highlights in your hair. You will also get an achievement by doing this as long as everything on you that is dyeable is a different color.
  

After the Final Credits

Fable III left me with a rather sour taste in my mouth. Where the game takes a step forward with the introduction of the leveling up system, it takes quite a few steps back when it comes to everything else. The Sanctuary is an utter disaster. I found myself spending most of time using this awful place to travel back and forth between towns and to accept quests. In fact, The Sanctuary fast travel for quests is often confusing and took a very long time to get use to. Not to mention I know know where I am because I don't have an in-game map. Instead I have to travel to The Sanctuary, choose the map, and pinpoint my location in the town I am in, which makes it a hassle when I am looking for properties I don't own and I am trying to figure out which street I need to go down to find them. Not to mention the fact that when I buy a house, the majority of my playing time is not spent exploring Albion, but repairing the stupid houses, because there isn't a "repair all" feature so I have to choose each one individually to repair. What the fudge is that about?!

Another thing this game falls flat on is when it comes time for you to take over as leader. Lionhead shame on you for putting this in the game. This is the most boring part of the game and is the reason I refuse to advance the story. I do not want to advance it anymore because of the boring and utterly stupid decisions I have to make every day, in-game, in Fable time. This is a complete waste of my time and maybe instead of either just the "good", "bad", or "meh" choices they could have spiced it up by doing something else or just not had this in the game at all.

I chose not to review the online co-op of Fable III, because your experience depends on who you are playing with and that is all I am going to say about that. However I will say that Lionhead did fix the issues with camera in Fable II co-op.

In the end, I seriously hope that Lionhead takes the time to work on Fable IV for quite a few years before it comes out. Where is the luscious and bright scenery of Fable II? Why is the game glitchy as far as stopping for 5 seconds and why in the world does the gold trail keep disappearing when I have it picked to glow the brightest so that I can see where I need to go? Lionhead, you seriously dropped the ball on Fable III and for that reason, I feel that the series should have gone in this order: Fable, Fable III, and Fable II and that is never a good thing in the world of gaming.

Zeno Clash is a hard game to classify because it is so strange, but the closest you could probably get is to call it a first person brawler. You play as Ghat, whose objective is to smash in the faces of every elephantoid, birdman, and wolf-lady that he sees as he makes his way across the outlandish landscape of Zenozoik in his quest to find the truth about the freakish Father-Mother. The story is fairly obscure, but with enough backstory and interesting characters to keep it entertaining. Of special note are the Corwid of the Free, a group of insane individuals, each with their own hilarious quirk.

There is plenty of variety in the combat. There are dozens of ways to punch, kick, and grapple your opponents. While it may seem a bit complex at first, the melee system is fairly easy to get used to, and quite fun once mastered. Additionally, there are a variety of melee and ranged weapons at your disposal. The melee weapons are slow, bludgeoning weapons mainly used to fight the larger enemies in the game. The ranged weapons vary from crossbows, to rifles, to shotguns, and work very well to break up the melee. They never seem too overpowered, as you will always be more vulnerable when using them.

The music does a good job of setting up the creepy atmosphere, and setting the tone for imminent brawls. The voice acting is fairly good, despite the quirky dialog, adding to Zeno Clash's creepy charm. As for the sound effects, there are plenty of realistic grunts, whacks, and thuds, in addition to the bizarre screeches and combat banter of your foes.

The levels are fairly short, and segmented. This is probably my only real complaint about the game, as it felt like I was just going from point A to point B punching the hell out of anything in my way. Though this can be fairly amusing, the game would have benefited from more open level design.

Zeno Clash includes arcade style challenges which can be done in co-op, in which you fight through several rooms full of enemies until you have cleared the level. While this was quite fun, I had completed all of the levels in under 2 hours with a co-op partner. On the bright side, it was a quick and easy way to get most of the achievements in the game.

Tips and Tricks

- If an enemy is charging you while you are holding a ranged weapon, your best bet is to just throw it at them then engage them in melee, unless you are quick on the draw and can stun them with your gunfire.

- Fight dirty! Sometimes you have to kick an enemy when they're down to help you defeat them, especially some of the larger, tougher enemies.

- Ranged weapons have unlimited ammo. If you are able to avoid having them knocked out of your hands (usually by sprinting away from charging opponents), they can be very useful for taking down the enemies' health without getting hit.

Overall, I enjoyed Zeno Clash because it was unlike anything I had ever played before. The gameplay was unique, as was the bizarre art style and character design. There seems to be no consistency or reasoning between just what kind of mutant animal hybrid each character is, but there doesn't need to be. Zeno Clash has a strange sense of humor that is made funnier by the very straight faced seriousness with which it is delivered. All of the characters take all of the events of the game totally seriously, and don't seem to find anything out of the ordinary.

Though the game could have been a bit longer and much more open, it offers an experience that you won't find anywhere else. Fortunately, ACE Team has plans to make a more open, RPG-esque sequel, as well as another very unique looking title called Rock of Ages. Keep an eye out for this team of creative minded indie developers. If you are looking for an experience unlike anything else, Zeno Clash is the game for you.

The controls are simple and perfect. You jump with the “A” button and you sprint with the “X” or “RT” button. It’s really that simple and they work flawlessly. You can never use them as an excuse for a bad run through a level. If you die, it is your own fault.

The music and sound effects are in a word, AMAZING. dBsoundworks does an awesome job yet again. You may not know these guys, but I can almost guarantee that you’ve heard their work previously. Their growth from games like Canabalt, Gravity Hook, and Steambirds is astounding and their passion for the indie games scene really shines in Super Meat Boy. I think we’ll be hearing more from these guys in the future for sure.

Level designs are flawless. Some may seem near impossible as you progress through the game, but that is part of the games overall charm. Once you die for the 30 or 40th time on a level you will want to give up, but once you finally make your way through to your beloved Bandage Girl, the sense of accomplishment is astounding. After completing each level, a replay of all your tries plays all at once. Showing each death and following through to your final accomplished run. It’s a small touch that is so brilliant you will smile each time you see it. There are over 300 levels in the game consisting of the main game levels, dark versions of each one that up the difficulty, warp zone levels, and free DLC from “Teh Internets”. All in all there are 300+ levels.

As you progress, new game mechanics open up, as well as, new characters from other great indie games. Tim from Braid, Gish, characters from Castle Crashers, Alien Hominid, N+ and more all make appearances in the game. Each character has their own special abilities in addition to being able to perform all of Meat Boy’s acrobatic moves.

If I had to make any criticism at all about the game, it’s the fact that you can’t share your level replays. Honestly, this isn’t a huge knock but would have been a very welcome feature so you can show off your skills without having to use any kind of capture card setup to do so. This little caveat doesn’t make a bit of difference in this being a perfect game.

All in all, this game is pure perfection. It is great to see all the press it’s getting and it has become one of the best Xbox Live Arcade games of all time. The difficulty may turn some gamers off and Team Meat says they won’t pay for a new TV if you get frustrated and throw you controller through the screen. They will however Retweet pictures if you send them. I can easily say this is the best and most fun XBLA title I have purchased, ever. You owe it to yourself to spend the introductory $10 (Going up to $15 sometime in November) and pick this game up. What are you waiting for? Bandage Girl needs saving. GET TO IT!!

The graphics in Red Dead Redemption are very crisp, even standing up to the age old sniper scope texture examination (you know you do it too). Everything is very detailed, from the foliage, to the wildlife, to the rolling landscape visible for dozens of miles in every direction. The sound is great, with all of the sound effects sounding realistic and highly immersive in surround sound. The music is very fitting and ambient, with piano and guitar music that are staples of the Western theme, and changes dynamically based on what's happening. One minute you could be riding across a barren landscape with a slow, mysterious piano song playing, the next you could encounter some bandits and the music will increase in intensity.

There are many sidequests and activities that can be done in Red Dead Redemption, including, but not limited to, poker, blackjack, five finger fillet, arm wrestling, horseshoes, nightwatchman, and performing random tasks for strangers you meet. One of the most lucrative activities you can partake in is hunting and skinning animals. The materials you get, such as skins, antlers, and meat, can be sold in bulk for a good profit, and the price you can get depends on the region where you sell them. There are also dynamic events that can happen around you at any time, such as finding people being chased by wolves, or people having their horses stolen. You can help these people and you will be rewarded with a small sum of money and gain or lose honor and fame based on how you deal with the situation. With the fame and honor systems, you can play Red Dead Redemption as an outlaw if you so choose, but you will have to deal with law enforcement fairly often if you choose that path. There's almost too much to do in Red Dead Redemption, to the point where it's almost staggering how much you can do. Many of the sidequests can become tedious as well, such as following a slow dog around on night patrol, or herding cattle. But, to be fair, all of the side-quests are optional, and most of them can be very fun, such as bounty hunting.

Red Dead Redemption is a fairly easy game, and most certainly not one of the harder third person shooters, but it doesn't need to be. The game focuses more on the freedom to do what you want in the Wild West, not the challenge of trying to survive frequent firefights like other shooters. Most, if not all firefights can be survived by taking cover and popping out to place a few auto-aimed shots at a time. There are several types of weapons at your disposal, including pistols, rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, and thrown weapons including dynamite and throwing knives. There is also a lasso that can be used to subdue your opponents, opening up more honorable ways of dealing with criminals. Sadly, however, the lasso is not available in multiplayer.

While the single player in the game is excellent, the game really shines in multiplayer, where you and 15 other people can roam the entire game world and work together, forming posses and taking down gang hideouts for experience points to level up and get new characters, titles, and mounts. Conversely (and unfortunately much more common in public games) you can be completely xenophobic and kill anyone you come into contact with, or anyone that isn't in your posse. There are several objective based competitive game types that can be played, including the usual game types like deathmatch and capture the flag, but, personally, I had more fun just roaming the landscape with a group of friends in Free Roam.

If there's one thing I don't like about the game, it's the save system. You are only given three slots to save to, and if you die, you lose all progress since your last save. While it makes sense that you can't be brought back to health at a hospital every time you are mortally wounded like in GTA IV, since medical knowledge was far less advanced in the early 1900s, it would have been nice if there wasn't such a heavy penalty for dying. I found myself avoiding duels if they were suggested at any point other than right after I had saved, for fear of losing progress. By the time I save and come back out to accept the challenge, several hours have passed and the would be duelist has long since lost his desire to do battle. There is an autosave and checkpoint system, but only in missions, so it won't help you when you are doing dangerous activities such as hunting. There are some very irritating things about this system in the final act of the game, but none of which can be mentioned without massive spoilers.

Tips and Tricks

- If you have trouble aiming, try changing the aiming mode to casual or normal. There's really no reason to use expert targeting (no auto-aim) if you don't have to. In Free Roam you'll almost certainly be killed if you don't use auto-aiming, because others surely will.

- Save often! If you die, which can happen very easily in the wilderness, you lose all of your progress since the last save. So set up camp or visit a safe house often and save your game to avoid losing progress.

-Cowboys have glass legs. Do not attempt to fall from any height greater than 10 feet unless there is a slope you can slide down, or you will most likely die a horrible, shattering death.

Reaction

I was blown away by the level of detail in Red Dead Redemption. Every little thing in the game, from the tinctures on store shelves, to the foliage littering the landscape, and to NPCs' interactions with each other in towns, was done with painstaking detail. It really feels like you are in the Wild West. Unfortunately, with all the excitement of the western setting also comes the tedium of long horse rides and miscellaneous side jobs like herding cattle. That's not to say that Red Dead isn't a fun game, but it has it's share of filler.

Overall, Red Dead Redemption is an amazing game with plenty to keep you busy, including a hefty multiplayer mode. For the amount of content you get, the game is worth every penny. Do not miss Rockstar's latest masterpiece.

AudaciousKevin gives this game an outstanding 9.5 out of 10!

Unfortunately, great water effects and an engaging story can only do so much to mask the unresponsive and sluggish and unnecessarily complicated controls. Jumping over a fiery pit to a balcony should not be a complicated affair. Furthermore, it really shouldn’t send you careening in the wrong direction if you do get the button combination right.

There are also issues with story and cut scene pacing, which seems to be a trend in gaming in general. I shouldn’t get a cut scene every 10 to 15 steps my character takes. The game really takes you out of the action with this tactic. It will also show you things in the cut scenes that your character should be able to do, that look really awesome, but sadly they don’t allow it.

Reaction

Overall Hydrophobia isn’t a bad game and really does show flashes of being a top notch Xbox Live Arcade Game, but unfortunately falls short in some very important areas. With great arcade games like Limbo and Splosion Man, lackluster controls that take you out of the action really are a no-no in today’s gaming market. Also, going overboard with the cut scenes has to stop. Hopefully if we complain enough, developers will hear us and cut back some. As the first in a planned trilogy, I think Dark Energy Digital should be able to tighten up on a few areas and put the HydroEngine to good use in the inevitable sequel and give us something really spectacular. As it stands however, I can’t really recommend spending the Microsoft Points on this first installment.

Now, what truly separates Harmony of Despair from other Castlevania titles is that it is completely multiplayer focused. It can be played single player, but you will have a hard time beating any levels solo until you get some exceptional equipment. The game can be played with up to 5 other players online. The game can be very hard, especially some of the bosses, but with a well rounded group that knows what they're doing, it becomes a lot easier. The characters have enough variety to round out the team very well, with attackers, spell casters, and healers. Though sadly, most of the time you'll end up with teams comprised entirely of Alucard and Soma, as they are the best attackers and can use the most weapons, and hence, get the best loot.

Playing with big groups isn't as competitive as you'd think, either. You get random loot from every chest that is opened, regardless of your proximity to it. If you die in multiplayer you run around in a weak skeleton form until someone uses a Water of Life to revive you. Unfortunately, you don't receive any loot while in this form, which often prevents some players from getting loot from boss chests on hard mode when there aren't enough Waters of Life. Each level has a 30 minute time limit (which is more than enough, even on hard), but every time a player in skeleton form dies, a few minutes are taken off of the clock.

The graphics from Harmony of Despair are almost entirely reused from previous Castlevania games. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as Konami was pretty creative with the way they laid out the textures. There are 6 levels in the game, and in each one you can see the entire map all at once, with the ability to zoom in and out by clicking in the right analog stick. This allows you to map out your path to the boss while searching for treasure chests and healing items along the way, as well as zoom out and get an idea of what the other players are doing.

There is no story whatsoever in Harmony of Despair, but it isn't really necessary. The game works well as an arcade style dungeon crawler. Any cutscenes would just slow down the action.

Tips and Tricks

- The first thing you should do is beat all 6 chapters on normal so you can unlock hard mode where loot is actually worthwhile. This is much easier done with a group, if you can find anyone willing to play on normal.

- Chests are color coded. Purple chests hold the best loot aside from boss chests, blue chests hold Waters of Life (used to revive allies in multiplayer), and red chests always hold money.

- If you happen to find a sword called the Yasutsuna while playing as Alucard or Soma on Chapter 5 Hard, equip it on Alucard to become an absolute grinding machine. With two it's twice as fast by alternating X and Y. There are better weapons that do this (such as the Valmanway, Soma's superior equivalent), but the Yasutsuna is relatively easy to get with a bit of luck (I have about 4 of them).

- If you level up Charlotte's heal spell to the point where it heals 40 or more points of damage (the cost to cast), you can equip the Astral Ring (makes you use HP instead of MP) for "infinite mana". While this may not be quite that effective as an infinite health spell until you have extremely high magic power, you can constantly heal your allies without using any mana.

Reaction

I haven't really played any Castlevania games apart from Symphony of the Night on XBLA, and Curse of Darkness on the original Xbox, but Harmony of Despair appears to be a very unique title in the series. While it may not appeal to veterans looking for another castle-exploring adventure full of hidden items and secrets, the game more than makes up for it with it's fun multiplayer. The game is incredibly fun to play with 6 players running amok slaying demons, and there are many ways to play the game with 5 unique characters with their own sets of abilities.

While the price may be a bit steep at $15, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair has enough replay value to justify the price for anyone who enjoys looting and grinding with a group of friends. The only real downside is that it doesn't have any offline co-op, meaning that someday there will eventually be very few people left to play the game with, as with most XBLA titles.

If there's one negative thing that I have to say about the game, it's that there isn't quite enough content. For a game as grinding and loot focused as Harmony of Despair, it would have been nice if there were more levels, and some more characters so that there aren't only two of them that are all around powerful (Alucard and Soma). Fortunately, DLC that will add a new playable character and level has been announced, which should increase the replay value for a (hopefully) small fee.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair slays 8 vampires out of 10!

The first thing you'll notice is that the environment feels much more open than the first Dead Rising. Sure Willamette Mall was huge, but it just feels different to be able to actually walk around in an outside environment, in the streets of Still Creek. Though most of them are boarded up for obvious reasons, you can explore many of the houses and shops to find items of varying usefulness.

One awesome new feature is the ability to combine items to make special weapons. To make a special weapon you simply place two items that can be combined together on a work bench. For instance, if you use nails and a baseball bat, you can get a spiked bat. Kills with these weapons earn you PP, the oddly named experience points that originated from the first game. Holding the attack button to perform a special attack is much slower but earns you a large PP bonus. Some of the other special weapons include the Paddlesaw (chainsaws duct taped to a boat paddle), an Improvised Explosive Device (a nail covered propane tank), and the Boomstick (a shotgun attached to a pitchfork). Combo cards, which can be discovered in the story and earned by leveling up, allow you to do the special attacks with your crafted weapons, while Scratch Cards, earned by simply making the corresponding weapon, are nothing more than reminders of how to make that weapon.

One thing that bothered me was Chuck's movement speed. For a guy trying desperately to find a cure for his daughter, he sure has a leisurely gait. Fortunately, a quick look at the Stats screen reveals that you will be able to increase your speed, among other things like inventory slots, just like you could in the first game. You increase these stats by gaining enough PP to level up. You can only get to level 5 in Case Zero, but your levels, experience and combo cards can be transferred into Dead Rising 2 when it is released. Sadly, your speed doesn't get upgraded by level 5, but you will certainly be able to move faster in the full Dead Rising 2.

You no longer have a camera to take pictures and gain PP with, but the combo weapons earn the points just as well. Basically all of the gameplay features of the first game apart from that are in tact, and improved. There are still survivors to rescue, but rather than having to answer an annoying old man on a walkie talkie, you just have to climb up to a safe rooftop and talk to a guy with an assault rifle, who points out any survivors he's seen. While I was playing I even found a blender and was able to make the old Spitfire drink that makes you, well, spit fire, reminding me of some of the wackier things in Dead Rising.

The graphics are decent, but some of the textures are a bit weak if you look at them too closely. Most of the time you are trying to avoid zombies, and the third person camera doesn't usually get too close for you to notice, so you can only really tell in cutscenes. The music sets the mood well, and the game features an awesome ending credits song, similar to the first game.

Tips and Tricks

- If you need money, you can smash up the slot machines and ATMs at the casino. They respawn when you enter and leave the safe house. You can also get a hefty sum of money by rescuing Gemini from the bar and finding her jewelry for her.

- Unless you are trying for the zombie killing achievements, it is best to avoid them. You get much more PP for completing objectives and rescuing survivors. And since all of your objectives have a time limit, you don't want to waste too much time fighting zombies.

- Combo weapons are almost always more effective than regular items you find lying around (with notable exceptions like the Air Horn and Beerhat), and always earn you PP for kills. It is advisable to keep a spiked bat in your inventory at all times. The materials to make it respawn next to the work bench in the safe house.

- Always carry at least one healing item (preferably orange juice, since it heals you fully). At first this may be a pain with only a few inventory slots, but by the time you level up to 5 you will have plenty of slots to hold them.

Reaction

Though it only lasts a few short hours, I had loads of fun playing Case Zero. The story is good, and very emotional. The little bit that it let me play left me wanting more. Though it can be considered to be a teaser for the full Dead Rising 2, Case Zero has enough content and replay value to stand alone as a proper Xbox LIVE Arcade title. It's simply too big to be considered a demo, and with the tiny $5 entry fee, you'd be hard pressed to find a reason not to get this game if you consider yourself a fan of zombie games.

Other developer's should take note of what Capcom has done. This XBLA title is a great way to build interest in Dead Rising 2, and make some profit at the same time. While I certainly don't think they should be rid of normal, free demos altogether (the Case Zero demo was literally a cutscene and a quick walk across the town for me), standalone prequel adventures like Case Zero are a great idea if the developer's can provide enough content in them so that they are more than just demos, and keep the price low so that consumers don't feel ripped off.

AudaciousKevin gives Dead Rising 2: Case Zero a 9 out of 10!

Overall, the game play remains largely unchanged from previous versions, which isn’t a bad thing at all. You’re still defending your front yard, back yard, and roof from the oncoming zombie onslaught. All the mini games from the other versions are intact as well. A new mini game that is roughly based on one of Popcap’s other XBLA titles (Heavy Weapon) brings you a super powered pea shooter to face the zombies.

The addition of multiplayer and co-op is very welcome. In co-op, each player plants their own plants in the same yard. You have to work together and have a game plan or your brains will belong to the zombies. There are some really great co-op mini games as well. In the competitive multiplayer mode, one player takes control of the plants and one takes control of the zombies. This really does lead to some amazingly good times.

Tips and Tricks

- Always have a cheap attack plant at your disposal

- Be sure buy Crazy Dave’s slot and plant upgrades as soon as you can

- Use Wall-Nuts and Tall-Nuts to create a buffer for your attacking plants

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As a pretty big fan of almost every version of Plants Versus Zombies seeing an XBLA version come out was really great. I’ve purchased every version of the game that I could (PC and iPhone) and have played it on the iPad. While I really do prefer the controls on the iPhone/iPad, the jump to the console really does work well. Using the controller didn’t feel awkward at all and as I said above, many tower defense games should take a look at what Popcap has done here and take notes.

The mini-games remain a highlight for me. Wall-nut bowling remains my favorite. There’s just something about rolling that big eyed walnut down the lanes and watching it bounce around a horde of oncoming zombies that just makes me smile. The co-op and multiplayer are unexpectedly fun, but do bring up the only negative that I can say about the game and for some this may be a big detriment. No online play, local only. While this isn’t a huge problem for me, for most gamers nowadays, online play is a must. Overall the game is a very good port of an excellent game that brings enough new features to warrant the $15 price tag.

The Important Stuff

Mafia II will suck you in from the very start of the game. The atmosphere in the game is done very well. From the style of the buildings, down to the music and cars. Add in the AI banter and the cutscenes, and it will have the hours ticking by without you even realizing it.

The game uses a chapter system, which you can choose to complete after fulfilling a mission duty. Of course, you don't have to end the chapter. You can use that time to tune up your favorite car, buy some new clothes, grab some food to refill your health meter, or even take some time to hunt for collectibles. By now, most know that the game uses actual vintage Playboy photographs, as an in game collectible. These can be found most anywhere, but beware! Mafia II tracks statistics. That's right, Mafia II knows how long you've been staring at those centerfolds, and proudly displays it in your statistics sheet found in the game's menu. There are also wanted posters found throughout the city, so be sure to check back alleys, if you're collecting those. Nabbing all the Playboy mags and wanted posters, will net you two separate achievements or trophies. There are also other various unlockables in the game. All can be viewed from the main menu, after unlocking or collecting them. I especially liked the posters.

Mafia II does a good job of mixing up the missions. It's not always about go to point A and kill X amount of people. It's not a brainless third person, sandbox style shooter. You can use stealth in Mafia II. Not always, but some missions may turn out better if you do. The choice is yours, though. Another nice touch, were some minor events many might miss. You may see an AI person squabbling, or someone whose car is broken down. If you take your time soaking in this great game world, it may pay off in achievements or trophies. Take time to smell the roses.

The music in Mafia II, is great. There are three radio stations in the game. Each one plays a different style of music. The track list is enormous, but with only three stations, you may hear several songs a bit too often. There are two different decades of music in the game, and the choices for both was done very well.

Full track list

You can't talk about a mafia game, without talking about combat. There are a handful of different weapons, and a fairly impressive melee system. While a similar style game uses a snap on locking mechanism for its shooting, Mafia makes it a bit rougher on you. That's good, though. The cover system works well, so you don't need to lock and pop through the missions. You won't go far in Mafia II, if you try that. Instead, if you're aiming close enough to an enemy and then zoom in, you may get lined up for a shot. Not always, but it makes the gunfights and the use of cover, much more interesting. Hand to hand combat is almost worth it. Whether it's a from behind stealthy neck snap, or a bare knuckle brawl. You can kill with your hands and feet in this game. Remember that, when you're walking around town, and you bump into a stranger on the way to buy some clothes. There are short cutscenes when you pull off certain moves, but the novelty somewhat goes away when you've fought a few times. It is an improvement on what we've seen in the past, but I only brawled when I was forced to.

This is not a Grand Theft Auto clone. While they do share similarities, they are different games. That needs to be said, since people you run across will tell you otherwise.

Tips and Tricks

If you're wanted by the police, check above your compass. If it displays a license plate, buy new ones at an auto repair shop. If it shows a wanted poster, buy or change clothes, so you're not recognizable. If it was a simple hit and run, pull over and pay the small bribe. It's sometimes better than running away. I've ended up dead, just trying to lose the police. Apparently, seat belts weren't always used back then.

Use the A button accordingly while driving! It inhibits the speed of your car and will keep you within the speed laws. Without the speed inhibitor in place, these era cars are pretty difficult to control under great speed. If you're driving without it on, you can still use it for cornering, before you reach your turn. You'll be under greater control. Also, using the hand brake without the speed inhibitor, is a recipe for disaster. You will lose control.

If you find yourself in hand to hand combat, learn the enemies pattern. You can hold down the A button (dodge) for as long as you like, and not take damage. If the pattern is two swings, come out of dodge on that second punch, and light him up with a flurry of short punches.

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I had never played the first Mafia game, and didn't have any sort of reference if this sequel would be to my liking. I had known that it wasn't a typical sandbox, free roam type of game, and that sort of bummed me out. While I do wish this game had a multiplayer component to it, I still enjoyed Mafia II a lot. It sucked me in so badly, that I stayed up until 7:00AM one morning. I could not put it away. One more chapter! The story and the world itself, draws you in quickly, and never lets go. If I had any qualms about free roaming in single player, it was answered with the chapter loading in the main menu. I can revisit any chapter I completed, and do what I wish.

There were a few odd occurences that happened in my playthrough. In one cutscene, my jacket flipped out and stretched about 4 yards in front of me. I looked like a 1950's Stretch Armstrong. Another time, I exited a vehicle wearing a raincoat, and the back was all bunched up like I was still sitting. The worst, however, was when I was going to a cathouse. I pulled up in my car, and was treated to an endless loading screen. I ended up installing the game to my hard drive, and that sorted it out. There are a few that will bring up clipping, or jaggies. You won't notice any of it. Only if you're looking for imperfections.

I am looking forward to the DLC Mafia II has in store for us. I am hoping beyond hope, that 2k Czech considers a multiplayer component to Mafia II. Even if it's just some co-op missions. This game is ripe for it. There are many places in the game world, you don't even visit via missions. With an open multiplayer free roam, all those areas they built would definitely be visited and seen. It's a beautiful game world, too.

If you're into mafia style or even era type games, you already own this and are enjoying it. If you've never played a Mafia game before, like me, I still think you'd enjoy it. As hard as it is for me to say this, though, you may want to rent it. It's a great game, but without any real reason to replay it after your 10-15 hours in it, I wouldn't feel right recommending it for a buy at $60. Not unless the DLC interests you, or a multiplayer element is added down the road. If it had multiplayer, it'd be a definite buy. The game is begging for it. So are the fans of the game, me included.

I don't score games. If you skimmed to the bottom looking for a rating, sorry. What you seek is within the words I wrote.

The shooting and cover mechanics feel smooth, though the actual aiming can be a little clunky at times. Your bullets only seem to hit when the dot in the center of your reticule is directly on the enemies, not any other part of the circle, as if the gun doesn't have enough spray or is a bit too accurate. This doesn't help when all of the robots you fight throughout the game take an ungodly amount of bullets to kill unless you aim carefully for the head (but to be fair, I was playing the game on hardcore difficulty). In close quarters it's actually easier to kill with melee by simply hitting the B button near enemies, which starts a short animation. This will kill most average enemies in one hit, and most of the more heavily armored bots in three.

One of the most innovative features in Dark Void is the vertical cover system. When you stand near certain ledges, you can go to a cover mode where you can jump down or climb up ledges and shoot enemies poking their heads out from above or below you. It can be very fun to move around and take cover in all directions, but I felt that this feature was not quite used often enough in the game.

The game really starts to shine once you get your jetpack. At first it's a glorified glider that allows you to jump higher, but later on in the game you get a fully powered jetpack that essentially turns you into a personal fighter jet. There are two modes of flight. Hover mode let's you hover around and use your normal weapons, of which there is a decent selection of rifles, rockets, and a gravity gun that makes enemies float away helplessly. You have much more control in this mode, but it's not very fast. At the press of a button, however, you take off like a jet and fly around like Ironman. Once in this mode you can fly at high speeds attacking enemy UFOs with your jetpack's built in machine guns. You can fly up to the enemy aircraft and hijack them (with a minigame that, while fun the first couple of times, gets old very quickly) or simply commandeer allied planes. However, I didn't find using the aircraft very useful anymore after upgrading the jetpack and unlocking rockets for it.

The sound quality in the game was very good, and I enjoyed most of the music in the game. There were some epic tracks that did a good job of setting the mood. A track that I particularly enjoyed was the main theme that sounds like it came out of Star Wars, which plays during one of the final aerial battles.

The graphics are decent, and the scenery is very large in scale. Though most of the later flying levels look roughly the same (bottomless sky with rock pillars sticking out of it), there is some pretty grand scenery in some of the earlier jungle levels.

Probably the worst thing about this game is that it doesn't have any multiplayer modes. This is a huge waste of potential as there is a lot of fun that could have been had flying around cooperatively or fighting competitively with jetpacks. It's just a very fun concept that they could have taken advantage of, which could have resulted in fun multiplayer dog fights along the lines of Crimson Skies.

Tips and Tricks

- Try to fully upgrade the jetpack as soon as you can afford it. The rockets you unlock with the final upgrade are incredibly useful, not to mention infinite.

- Some copies seem to have a redeemable code for the golden jetpack, which was supposed to be a preorder bonus, printed on the back of the game manual. Check for this, as it will give you unlimited boost, despite it's tacky appearance.

- Sometimes it's easier and safer to go to hover mode, turn, and boost off in a new direction than it is to try to use an aerial maneuver in flight mode in tight quarters or near obstacles.

- The description on the "Fireworks" achievement is wrong. You need to blow up 10 enemies with grenades exploding above their heads, not blow up 10 flying enemies.

- When hijacking a UFO, move to the side of it, wait until you hear the ship charging its gun to shoot you, then move back to start pulling the panel while it blasts away at nothing. Repeat this two or three times to finish the minigame more quickly.

Reaction

I rather enjoyed Dark Void. There is a massive amount of negativity surrounding the game that I had a hard time comprehending when playing it. Sure the game was short and had some bugs, but they weren't anything game breaking. The worst bugs I've encountered, such as being unable to use my weapon, simply required a restart to the last checkpoint (which aren't too far apart) via death.

Now, one thing I should mention, is that I got this game for $10 new during a sale. For that price it was amazing, and had very easy achievements (I managed to get all 1000 points after playing it for only two days). The game is still very cheap at the moment for a title that only came out January this year, but because the game is so short, doesn't have that much replay value, and has easy gamerscore, you may want to simply rent it. It is a pretty fun game while it lasts.

AudaciousKevin gives this game a respectable 7.5 out of 10!

The Important Stuff

Let me start off by saying one thing that will blow your mind: This game plays like Bushido Blade. If you haven't played Bushido Blade, shame on you. If you have, then that last sentence may have you wondering how I could even compare the two. Allow me to explain. In Bushido Blade, most battles are won by a single, unparried strike. While you may not be able to kill your opponent in one hit in Deadliest Warrior (unless you hit them in the head just right), it only takes one or two combos to end the battle. It has the same essence of fast paced fighting.

Another similarity to Bushido Blade is the damage system. Like Bushido Blade, you can damage your opponents limbs by aiming your strikes at them. For example, if you perform a mid attack and damage your opponents arm, you can stop them from using that pesky shield, two handed weapon, or projectile. But why just injure the offending limb when you can remove it altogether? Deadliest Warrior takes this even further by allowing you to perform amputations and even decapitations. That's right, you can cut your enemies' freaking heads off! While most limb removals will instantly kill a warrior, they can survive the loss of their left arm and continue swinging away with their right. There is even an amusing achievement for ending the battle like this with a finisher, entitled "Flesh Wound".

The controls in the game are very simple. There are five attack buttons. High, mid, and low attacks are mapped to Y, X, and A respectively. B throws or shoots your projectile, and RB performs a character specific attack that stuns your opponent, such as a shield bash or kick. LB lets you switch to your mid range weapon. You can also block with the triggers and dodge with the right analog stick, essential moves for your survival. There are no complicated moves to memorize, as all combos only use the face buttons, and the highest combos are 4 buttons. Brutal fatalities called Finishers are as simple to perform as holding two buttons while your enemy is at critical health.

There are 8 characters in the game, all from very different time periods. They are the Apache, Centurion, Knight, Ninja, Pirate, Samurai, Spartan, and Viking. While a couple of them may play very similarly, such as the Spartan and Centurion, most of the characters have a very distinctive style. Each character has a close, mid range, and long range weapon. You can unlock an alternate weapon in each category, as well as alternate armor, by playing through arcade mode and beating the mini-games therein. You can also change the color of each warrior's armor from the options in the main menu, which is a nice touch.

The graphics are fairly good for an arcade game. There are some minor clipping issues, such as swords going through shields and sheaths, and some instances where having the air in front of your face stabbed is lethal, but nothing too major. On the positive side, the game does a very good job of deciding when to make your enemies limbs and head go flying.

After completing the game with all characters, Challenge modes appears in the main menu. Here you can play Survival, a mode where enemies spawn one after the other in the same level without the load times or health resets in between, making it much more fun when you just want to fight several enemies. There is also a variation of Survival called Survival Slice, a mode essentially the same as Survival but with a twist: limbs fly off incredibly easily, making the mode much messier and even more entertaining.

Tips and Tricks

- Having trouble getting a combo in against an opponent? Get close to them and block until they attack, then unleash your combo as soon as they are done.

- Projectiles can instantly end a battle if they hit the opponent in the head.

- If you don't have a shield, you can't block projectiles. Dodge them to avoid damage.

- You can string together combos if your opponent doesn't block fast enough. Careful, though, as having your attack blocked will stun you.

Reaction

Overall, Deadliest Warrior was a very pleasant surprise for me. Because it was a tie-in game for a TV show (which I have never seen, by the way), I expected a mediocre game, but what I got was something that has the essence of an amazing old PS1 fighting game.

At only 800 Microsoft Points ($10), Deadliest Warrior is a steal. Sure it's no SoulCalibur or Street Fighter, but the game is excellent for the price. What's more, you can unlock Samurai armor and a Samurai helmet as avatar awards in the game, which could cost upwards of 400 Microsoft Points ($5) alone in the avatar marketplace. The game also has some fun achievements, such as Black Knight (remove all limbs from a knight) and That Was Sparta! (kill 300 Spartans).

My only complaints are the small amount of maps to play on and the very annoying lack of a lobby for playing multiplayer with your friends, forcing you to leave the match entirely and start it again to change your settings, level, and character. A lobby would be relatively simple to patch in, and there may be DLC with new maps and even characters in the future, so these complaints are minor.

I highly recommend Deadliest Warrior to anyone who enjoys fighting games. Even if you aren't a hardcore fighting game fan that knows how to do all the ultra combos and whatnot, the game is simple enough to get into for pretty much anyone.

AudaciousKevin gives this game a 9 out of 10!

The controls are fairly typical of the series thus far, but there are enough tweaks to make this installment feel new and different enough. The ability to swap between weapons mid combo is a very welcome addition. Also, this time around, the other weapons you are given actually have a place. You won’t just be using the Blades of Athena throughout the entire game. Each weapon feels different enough and you may even find a favorite other than the standard blades. Upgrading the weapons is the same as before, you collect red orbs and upgrade the weapons as you like. Again, just like the other games in the series, you have no control over the camera, which may cause some rolling around more while trying to adjust the camera. After a little while playing though, you get back in to the swing of things and realize the camera control isn’t really necessary. I never found a place where the camera felt like it was working against me.

Graphically the game is super impressive. I’d go out on a limb and say this is the best looking PS3 game to date. As you play though the graphics seem to get better and better. It’s not just the cut scenes that are truly impressive either, as Kratos kills more and more enemies he will become drenched in blood, in real time. There are also so many subtle details that really impress, such as the scaled skin on the Gorgons. As I said, this truly is one of the more impressive PS3 games to date.

The ending is very satisfying for fans of the series, but may irritate some. The final battles are epic in scale and you get a real adrenaline rush when you realize you are getting close to the end and start going through those last few quick time events. As with the previous games, most of the finales of the fights are played out through quick time events. The subtle change to these is very helpful. Instead of the button presses being randomly distributed on the screen throughout the fights, they coincide with the actual layout of the controller. Meaning, if you have to press the “O” button, it will always be on the right hand side of the screen, “X” is on the left, etc. There is one section of the game that may take you out of the action by incorporating the actual Playstation buttons in to the game. While small, this may bother some players.

Tips and Tricks

- Certain enemies require specific weapons to defeat.

- Learn each weapon’s strengths and weaknesses.

- Be sure to look for upgrades where you see lingering gold dust.

- Use magic wisely. In the right situation it can deal tons of damage.

- Utilize your roll to get out of the way quickly and keep from being cornered.

Reaction

I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of the game. The controls are tight and responsive. There were also enough changes made for everything to feel fresh and new again, while still being a God of War game. The game is a graphical powerhouse and is easily the best looking PS3 game to date. The overall story was very well tied up at the end and is filled with just the right amount of twists and turns that will keep you riveted and wanting more. Kratos’ journey for revenge has been a long time in the making and really is one of the best series in gaming today. While I am sad to see it come to an end, if this is how it was meant to go out from the start, I am glad to see things went out with a very big bang. While most long running series tend to lose something in their sequels, this one stayed the course and got better and better. I would highly recommend not only this game, but the entire series to anyone.

Spawn gives this one 10 out of 10