Kevnvek

If you read it carefully, it actually doesn't change anything about how we thought used games will work on Xbox One. Essentially, all Xbox One games will have XBLA DRM now. You can probably buy the game online through the Xbox marketplace, but the discs exist solely to allow quicker installs and consume less bandwidth with their potentially large capacities, so people won't be so limited by their internet connections. No one but the owner of the game (the one the DRM is linked to) and maybe people using the console that owns the DRM (just like XBLA DRM) can play it (and people playing together with the owner while the owner is logged on to their separate console). If you borrow or rent a disc, you're basically just borrowing the ability to install the files of it without using bandwidth, and still have to buy it yourself. Like installing a piece of software when the activation key's already been used and tied in to someone else's account. This still kills the used game market. This also gives Microsoft control over the price of games. No matter how cheaply you buy a used disc, you'll still have to pay Microsoft's activation price for that game. This way, they almost always get a portion of the money for the sale of a game, since unused game resales aren't nearly as common as used.

The used game activation fee is probably why EA ditched the Online Pass program only days before the announcement of the Xbox One. Consumers would be outraged at having to pay two separate fees to fully access their used games, let alone one. Spec wise the system sounds pretty good, 8 cores in the CPU is actually more than the 6 in my PC at the moment (though it doesn't say the power of each core), but I'm due to upgrade a few parts within a year or so anyways which would probably cost about what the console will or less. 8GB of RAM is also the same as my PC (though some people go total overkill and get more), and the 500GB HDD allows the installs to happen without consuming so much space. Though the change to the much much higher capacity Blu-Ray format (smart choice, finally, but hopefully there's still a standard DVD/proprietary HDDVD reader for backwards compatibility) means the discs can be much larger, so maybe the extra space will still run down quickly. I wouldn't get one anytime soon though. I still plan to overhaul my PC. The cheapness and availability of PC games just blows away any supposed value that consoles have over PC.

Good review, Spawn. Sounds about where the first game was, useless story but fun gameplay, especially in co-op.

I definitely hear you there, I feel like I'm about the same way. Any game can have you push some buttons and give you menial stimulation and reward, but great escapism is something that engages your imagination and makes you think. Like a good movie. They don't have to be visceral to be enjoyable, and some of the visceral movies tend to be the ones that have the dumbest plot if you try to break it down.

I've played through the first level and a bit of a ways into the second (of supposedly three) and this DLC is pretty great so far. There's just as much to explore in the levels as in the main game, so they take fairly long to complete. Plus, being a darker character I don't feel so bad trying out a different playstyle, of basically killing everything.

Exactly. The only thing missing is a little caption where he goes the "right way" before checking the other way, then gets locked out of going back and checking the other way by an inane barrier and a forced checkpoint. "Noooooooooooooo!"

This exactly, and its not just those two companies, its the gaming industry in general. I'd rather wait an extra year or so for quality than get a new release forced out each year. There are plenty of other games to play in the meantime. Look at Rockstar, they make fantastic games and (handheld games aside) all of their major releases are about two years apart, not one. It helps to have different substudios developing games for them too. But then you get companies like Ubisoft making a new Assassin's Creed every year (and I still love the series), and its going to keep going down in quality. AC was good, ACII was amazing, and Brotherhood/Revelations felt unnecessary in the overall scheme of things. The reason ACIII turned out great was because it had been under development for a long time already (development started shortly after ACII). There are better examples of quality going downhill though. I've seen so many games ruined by trying to meet deadlines. I loathe it when I hear about how a game turned out poorly in some aspect to meet a deadline. You can't rush creativity.

The thing that's funny to me about all of this is, how such a big deal is being made over the performance level of the system the game is being released on. From the videos I've seen of the game, it doesn't appear to have ultra-realistic, super demanding visuals with all of its antiseptic environments, unless they're trying to run it at 16x or 32x AA for some outlandish reason.

Nothing wrong with an unsuspecting van, that just means the van itself doesn't suspect anything. i.e. "That van did not expect the Spanish Inquisition." Now, if it were a van trying to be labeled as "non-suspicious", then something might be up.

Ah, I didn't know Two Steps From Hell released another album, awesome. Their stuff is great, some of it really sets an epic tone for whatever you're doing, like playing it in the background of a game. EDIT: Or at least an album I don't have. I have all of them up until Archangel, but none of the 2012 albums.

I really liked the last Alien vs. Predator game. And as far as I'm concerned, only the first two Alien movies matter, so changing any plot details introduced in the third or fourth don't bother me. I'd rather them just not exist lol.

CD Projekt RED (developers of The Witcher series) would be one of the other last really big independent developers. I don't like the sound of what Dat said he saw when he booted the game, that it has SHiFT codes and a season pass (though it's most likely just multiplayer content), but I still say it's too early to judge the game before I've actually tried it.

You can never fully trust what others say of something, even critics. There are plenty of games that people and critics hate that I still enjoy. In fact, it's probably better that a game doesn't get the high 9/10 or so scores across the board. Might mean that it tries to appeal to everyone and show off fancy graphics rather than try something truly unique. I prefer how we do (or have done) reviews here, no score, just talk about the good and bad points. It's still too early to just say "I heard it sucks" and ignore it, I'm picking mine up either on the 12th or 13th for PC and will stream it, so we'll see.

Following my review of Inside a Star-filled Sky, I had a chance to talk with the developer, Jason Rohrer about some aspects of the game. He answered some of the questions I had and was able to provide some insights into the game's design. The following are some excerpts of the chat that I had with him, edited into Q&A format. Q: Any survival tips? Q: The game has a very unique concept, but I had some trouble in later levels. Q: I really do like the idea of it, but it is indeed more of an "art game" than something you can just play indefinitely like Geometry Wars or something. Q: Ever consider something like a shield power up, or maybe a bullet effect that makes your bullets block enemies', within reason so you're not using a rapid fire spreadshot of invincibility? While this doesn't change my opinion that the game gets somewhat "imbalanced" towards the higher levels, it's nice to get some insight into what went into developing it. It's not meant to be the next Tetris or whatnot that will keep you hooked forever, but more an interesting idea put into game form by a very creative developer. Click here to view the article

Developed by: Iridium Studios Platforms: PC and Xbox LIVE indie games Players: 1 Puzzle Quest proved that adding RPG elements to a tried and true game design like a match three puzzle can turn a game into absolute crack. But what happens when you add RPG elements to a rhythm game? Sequence is a bit of an odd mix. It's a rhythm game with RPG elements such as item drops, equipment and leveling, but it requires just as much skill progression on the player's end as it does for developing your character's level. In the game you must fight a series of monsters and a boss on each of the seven floors of a tower, with your ultimate goal being to reach the top and escape. Three boxes with incoming notes are presented to you and you must switch between them to perform different tasks. One for defending by blocking enemy attack notes, one for gathering mana by hitting those notes, and one for casting spells by expending that mana. If you miss a note in a spell, it won't be casted but you'll have still lost the mana. It all gets a bit hectic, but once you get the hang of it, it can be quite satisfying. Most of the music you jam to is by Youtube sensation Ronald Jenkees, so you get an array of interesting pop/techno/electronic tracks to play along to. Probably one of my favorite things about the game was the dialog and humor. It has one of the funniest tutorials I have ever seen in a game, breaking the fourth wall and poking fun at things like experience points, and the correct pronunciation of "mana". It has a sarcastic wit about it, with a clear inspiration from Square Enix's The World Ends With You as stated by the developer, Jason Wishnov himself. With every boss encounter you are greeted by a hilariously deranged individual that will have you laughing at their ridiculousness. Their oddities mostly come from their speech mannerisms, ranging from a man who talks as if he is a text based choose your own adventure computer game, one who talks in excessive metaphors like a noir style detective, and others. One of the best things about the game, it's only a $3 Xbox LIVE indie game, or $5 on Steam. The production values in the game easily rival those of indie games at three times the price. The game is fully voice acted and it will take over ten hours to complete the story mode. I myself put in over twenty hours, so there's plenty of value to be had. There is also a demo on the Xbox LIVE marketplace. If you are a gamer and don't laugh at the tutorial at least a little, then there is no hope for you. Sequence is a fantastic game. Hilarious dialog, fun and strategic skill based gameplay, and addictive RPG elements synergize into one very unique and satisfying experience. And at the low price, it is a very easy recommendation to make if you are into rhythm based gameplay. Click here to view the article

Developed by: Straandlooper, Telltale Games Published by: Telltale Games Platforms: PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad Players: 1 Rated M for Mature by the ESRB After the cliffhanger of an ending from the first game, Detective Inspector Hector is back at it again. Going in to confront the terrorist, Hector finds himself staring down the barrel of an automated sniper rifle connected to a laptop, from which the terrorist's voice is coming. The terrorist was never there to begin with. Now Hector has to find a way out of his precarious situation and track him down. Hector: Badge of Carnage - Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice has Hector once again trying to figure out just what's going on in Clapper's Wreake. This time though, instead of following the terrorist's demands, Hector will follow leads on pieces of evidence he found in the industrial building where the terrorist was thought to be holed up and the hostages were supposedly stored. It turns out that there were no hostages to begin with, and now Hector is on the hunt for the real identity and location of the terrorist. All of the crude humor is intact, from church-themed strip clubs, to French restaurants with questionable hygienic practices, putting unidentified objects on your face to emulate having a beard, and many other uncomfortable scenarios. If you enjoyed the first episode, you will most likely enjoy this one. However I couldn't help but feel that the first game was funnier. Episode 2 still has its moments, but it almost felt like it was trying too hard. One important thing to note is that the length of the episode is about twice that of the first. This is good, as it means that the you're not as likely to complete the game in one or two sittings, effectively increasing the value of the game. There are enough locations to explore and people to talk to that the game has a fair length to it this time around. I seldom play many point and click games, but I managed to get through the first game without using the hint button. This time around, some of the ways to advance the investigation seemed a bit more obscure. This is good for fans of the genre who like a good puzzle. I myself had to look at the hint page a few times. It was fun to read since I missed it the first time around. You are greeted by a condescending text that will answer your general questions, or give you a step by step walkthrough if you choose the option. The menu is reached by talking to Lambert to get clues on the case and choosing the option, "I need a proper hint". You can teleport to Lambert by pressing the Hint button in the bottom right corner. In the end, I'd say that Hector Episode 2 was a fairly fun second episode to what looks to be an amusing trilogy. Fans of crude humor and point and click games will likely enjoy it, and at the new season price of $20 for all three episodes, it seems to be a worthy purchase. As of this writing, the pack is on sale on Steam for only $15. The third and final episode will be released sometime this Fall. Click here to view the article

Developed by: Cold Beam Games Published by: Cold Beam Games Platforms: PC, PS3 Players: 1-2, online and offline Rated E for Everyone by the ESRB Beat Hazard in itself was an extremely fun music visualizer slash space shooter often compared to Geometry Wars. Rightly so, as the basic gameplay is much the same, with the onslaughts of enemies coming at your omnidirectionally firing ship, equipped with devastating, screen clearing bombs. The twist is that the gameplay is powered by your music. Your firepower is immediately influenced by the intensity of a song, while enemy and boss spawn patterns are determined by various factors throughout the entire song. Every song generates a different level, but the same song file will always generate the same level. It all comes together in a very slick, flashy, space shooter powered by your own music. Beat Hazard was a very fun game when it was released back in early 2010. Fast forward back to today and now we have a new DLC that adds many new features to an already awesome game. But are the new additions worthwhile? Let me put it this way: I've been playing the original on and off for almost a year and had about 9 hours of in game time in it (time spent actually in a song, so it's more than it sounds like). In just two days I added another 4 hours to that time. Those evil geniuses over at Cold Beam Games knew just what needed to be added to bring an already addictive game to a whole new level of addictiveness. Whereas in the original you would max out after a certain point, and everything after that was just another number added to your rank every 10 million points, Ultra adds more addictive elements like a currency system (via pickups) and perks. Also added were new enemy types, a new mode, and multiplayer. The perk system adds things like new weapons, increased chances for multiplier drops, abilities that enhance the new weapons, and several other enhancements to help you survive and get higher scores. Every time you rank up you get to choose a new perk, then must buy it, as well as any upgrades you want for it, in the main menu. The new weapons you can get can really change up the gameplay. The missiles were my least favorite of the three new weapons, but they had their usefulness. You fire out a barrage of missiles that individually target the biggest threats to you and try to destroy them. The ultra beam essentially emulates the effect of the most intense sections of a song, making your beam intensely powerful for a brief moment. It's perfect for taking out those turrets on a boss that happens to be harassing you, as well as quickly blasting a pair of particularly annoying new enemies that can draw you in or push you away, limiting your movement. My personal favorite new "weapon" however is the shield. For a short while you gain a barrier around you that renders you completely invincible. While in this state, not only do reflected projectiles go back and target enemies, but you can use the shield as a battering ram, clearing out lines of weaker enemies and clusters of asteroids. The difficulty has also been slightly rebalanced in Ultra. A very nice new feature I noticed was that the slow parts of the songs where your firepower is drastically reduced are made significantly less painful by the fact that everything around you, enemies, projectiles, etc., slows down to match your weakened firepower. The new mode added is called Boss Rush. In it you face waves of bosses that come one after another over time. The spawns are time based, so the next boss will come regardless of whether you're still sparring with the last. The time between spawns becomes increasingly shorter, until later on you can have several on screen at once. It can get pretty hectic, but it's a nice change of pace from the standard mode, as most of the time you don't have to worry about that one little asteroid or ship that sneaks up behind you for you to crash into it (the exception being that some bosses can now fire small waves of ships). Last but not least, Beat Hazard Ultra introduces multiplayer to the game. This comes in the form of co-op and head to head modes which can be played online or offline with two controllers, or a controller and a keyboard. Did I mention that the game is much better on a game pad? The controls are good on a keyboard and mouse, but it's actually possible to lose your aiming reticule amongst all of the enemies, projectiles, and general flashiness. With a controller you don't have that problem, and are able to move and aim without worry (though to be fair the mouse is easier to aim more precisely at far off targets). As I was saying, there are two modes that can be played in multiplayer. In co-op mode two players share pretty much everything, score, lives, multiplier, bombs, etc. They work together to get the highest score they can. It's nice to be able to have another player to cover the opposite side of the screen for you, letting you mostly focus on the enemies nearest to you. Head to head I found more entertaining than co-op. Two players play essentially as if they were in single player mode, where nothing is shared (though stealing the pickups that another player drops on death is an option). The nice thing about it is that both players have infinite lives, so neither has to worry about failing or being let down when one of them dies too many times and the song ends abruptly. The players can't do anything to each other directly, so they simply compete to try to get the highest score. Winning Beat Hazard Ultra comes with over 20 new indie songs. These can be played in single player, but their main purpose seems to be to provide some consistency in what can be played in multiplayer. If two players have the exact same song, they can play it together, otherwise the included tracks are the only option. The most I've ever been able to play with anyone from my actual library was Stricken by Disturbed. It's not all that bad though, as the included tracks are mostly cool techno music perfect for generating challenging levels. Beat Hazard in itself was great fun, and the new Ultra DLC adds a lot to it. It feels like a whole new game. So much so that some might even miss the "simplicity" of the original. Fortunately, when launching the game you are given the option to choose between original and Ultra modes. There is a very noticeable difference when you go back and play in "classic" mode. With so much added, this is one very worthwhile DLC for those who already have Beat Hazard. For those who have not played the original, now is the perfect time to try it out. You can purchase the full game bundled with Ultra through Steam, and later on as DLC through the PSN store on the Playstation 3. The gameplay is incredibly smooth, and only made more awesome by the fact that you can play it to your favorite music. I fully recommend this game to anyone with a passing interest in music and simple yet addictive Geometry Wars style gameplay. It's everything you could want from a game short of a moving, cinematic experience. It's just plain damn fun. Click here to view the article

Developed by: Valve Corporation Published by: Valve Corporation Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3 Players: 1-2 Rated E10+ by the ESRB Not only is the cake not a lie, but you can have seconds! Portal 2 is the sequel to the massively successful Portal, which quickly ascended to cult status, with many of its elements becoming memes that can be found on practically any gaming forum today. But does it live up to the charm and originality of the first game? Short answer: YES. Portal 2 is every bit as good as the first, and better in almost every way. From beginning to end, it had a much more cinematic feel to it, with more characters involved and much, MUCH larger set pieces than the first. Whereas the first game was mostly a series of smallish chambers, with some parts where you get to go outside of the testing area towards the end, Portal 2 allows you to explore a great deal more of Aperture Laboratories. Though the game is still linear, there is a lot of detail that can be seen in the environments, from turrets being built and packaged, to the inner workings of the tube based weighted cube transportation system, and much more. 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. Click here to view the article

Developed by: Straandlooper, Telltale Games Published by: Telltale Games Platforms: PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad Players: 1 Rated M for Mature by the ESRB Clapper's Wreake. The town that took the "Great" out of Britain. When a terrorist holes himself up in a building with hostages there and no one seems to be able to reason with him, it's time to call in Hector, the so-called Fat Arse of the Law. Hector: Badge of Carnage is a crude, point and click adventure where you play as Hector, an overweight cop with a sarcastic attitude. Not to say that he's a bad guy, he's a good cop overall, he just lacks hygiene. And pants (initially). Hector isn't overly thrilled about being called upon, but he's the only one left with all of the negotiators killed by the terrorist. Your main goal in the game is to negotiate with the terrorist, fulfilling his demands to ultimately try to bargain with him for the safety of the hostages. His demands seem strangely noble, including fixing the clock tower, shutting down a porn shop, and helping a tour guide on his campaign to improve the town. To solve all of these problems, you have to go through a series of Zelda-esque puzzles (things like "talk to the guy to get the bucket to fill it with milk to..." etc. etc. etc.). What makes these tasks enjoyable is the grumpy monologue-ing of the protagonist, and the disturbing individuals you will have to converse with to further your goals. The game is presented in a crisp, animated style that works rather well. Using such basic gameplay concepts, it almost would have worked just as well as an animated series, though it understandably didn't go in that direction as it may have been more easily overlooked amongst all of the other crude-humored animation around these days. The game is incredibly short, and I managed to beat it in just over three hours without using any of the in-game hints (aside from maybe one or two "subtle" hints from an impatient friend watching me stream the game). I was hoping for more awesome moments like the ones you see in the trailers, with the dialogs between Hector and Lambert (as seen and ), but the most dialog you have with Lambert in-game is when you come to him to ask for advice on where to go next. Most of the game is Hector monologue-ing and having random dialogs with the citizen's of Clapper's Wreake. There aren't really any of the cinematic moments like you see in those trailers, other than maybe the intro and final cutscene. It's still an absolutely hilarious game, but a very short one. $10 is a bit high when it's a very short first part to a planned trilogy. That being said, most point and click adventure games are very short if you don't take too long to figure out all of the puzzles. If you're a fan of the point and click puzzle genre, you will still enjoy Hector: Badge of Carnage. If not, you can find videos of the game being played online if you just want to watch it for the great humor it contains. Click here to view the article

Developed by: Straandlooper, Telltale Games Published by: Telltale Games Platforms: PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad Players: 1 Rated M for Mature by the ESRB It's the final act and once again Detective Inspector Hector finds himself stuck in a small room without any pants. After confronting and subsequently being captured by the terrorist in the finale of the second episode, Hector once again starts out in a perilous situation where one wrong move and he's up a certain creek - though this time quite literally. All the usual gameplay elements are still here and essentially the same. This time around, after escaping from a septic tank out in the countryside and getting back to civilization, you find yourself in a local festival known as Clapfest. You make your way through the festival, talking to people and picking up odd knick-knacks with which to solve the various problems you run into. It was kind of nice to have the game take place in one mostly contiguous area, as opposed to using a map to travel to various locations around the city. The map is still there for convenience, but you can mostly walk from one end of the playable area to the other without using it. The humor seems to be improved a bit compared to the second game, which at times felt a little hit and miss. I never knew that shooting a giant vibrator out of a colossal pair of stretchy underpants could be so satisfying. The story feels a bit more meaningful as well. Whereas you spent most of the second episode trying to find the identity of the terrorist (even though it was kind of obvious from the very first episode), in this installment you must thwart his evil plans to destroy Clapper's Wreake and stop him once and for all. Just when you think you've gotten to the final confrontation and ending cutscene, the game has a bit more to offer as you finish up the case. It's length was on par with the second game. Still short, but not too bad of a length. Hector: Badge of Carnage - Episode 3: Beyond Reasonable Doom (hey, I gotta say the whole name at least once in the review) provides a fairly satisfying conclusion to the Hector trilogy. It's been a long, dark, and filthy journey, but in the end it was worth a few good laughs. The series overall was enjoyable, and this final episode is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the series. Click here to view the article

Developed by: Arrowhead Studios Published by: Paradox Interactive Platforms: PC Players: 1-4 You already know we here at Gamercide love Magicka. But does the new DLC stand up to the greatness and originality of the main game, or will it just leave you with nightmarish Vietnam flashbacks? Magicka: Vietnam is a fairly small DLC. It consists of two new Challenge maps, and adds nothing to adventure mode. However one of the challenge modes is structured similarly to adventure mode, with three screens you must make your way through to complete the level. The other mode is a new arena with just one small area to face waves of the new enemy types just like the other arenas 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. Click here to view the article

Developed by: Jason Rohrer Published by: Jason Rohrer Platforms: PC Players: 1 What happens when you cross Geometry Wars with Inception? You get a space shooter of epic, layered proportions. Inside a Star-Filled Sky is a space shooter unlike any other. I say space shooter for lack of a better term, as you're really in some odd, layered pixel dimension. There isn't really an objective in the game aside from maybe seeing how far you can go. You can play the game normally like any other shooter, flying around the levels, blasting enemies until you find the level exit. If you can't find the exit, you can stand still and a guide line will lead you to it. And when you get to that exit, you move "up" to the next level. Sounds simple enough, but the twist is that you can also go inwards, to find levels within enemy ships, power ups, and even yourself. The point of this is that you can alter the properties of the things you enter. Entering enemies allows you to pick up power ups within them to change their attack patterns. Entering power ups lets you pick up power ups within that power up to change it into a different one. And you can enter yourself to change what power ups you have on the current level, as you cannot use power ups on the level you get them, only on the one above it. Getting killed sends you into yourself automatically, but fortunately the level exit is usually very close by when this happens. What's more, there is no limit to how many things within things you can enter, changing power ups within enemies within yourself etc. etc. etc. Xzibit would be proud. I couldn't resist. The concept behind this game is really cool. The problem however is that the higher the level you get to, the more imbalanced it seems to get. From what I've played (up to about level 118), the power ups I've found never seem to go much higher than level 10, and I never seem to have enough health to survive the barrages of enemy bullets. When you die, your last power up (you can hold three) is replaced by health, and you get more base health based on how far you go (for the most part it seems to go up by one every 10 levels until around level 60 or 70. I'm sure it must go higher, but I seem to be stuck at about 8 health, so maybe it starts going up once every 20 levels at that point). You could also pick up more health increasing power ups, but each time you lose health that power up permanently goes down by one, unlike most other power ups like rate of fire, ricochet, and spread. I got the sense that the risk far outweighed the reward. Going inside of a power up to change it to something to help you defeat some difficult enemies just makes you encounter even more difficult enemies within that you would still need more power to defeat. The last straw was when I entered an enemy and all of the power ups that you can pick up within to change that enemy for better or worse were around level 30, when I'm lucky to find level 10s for myself. You shall not pass! All of this is not to say that it's a bad game, it really has some cool concepts behind it, but it just gets frustrating as you advance farther and farther into it. It's still pretty fun as a "quick fix" kind of game. Balance issues aside, there is fun to be had for the $8 asking price if you are looking for something different. And considering it was created by a single person, most of the issues can be forgiven in light of the more creative aspects of the game. UPDATE: Following this review, I had a chance to speak with the devloper, Jason Rohrer. He was able to provide some good insights into the game's design. You can find the impromptu Q&A here. Click here to view the article

Developed by: Arrowhead Game Studios Published by: Paradox Interactive Platforms: PC Players: 1-4 Magicka has come a long way with all of the new updates and DLCs, but aside from the Magicka: Vietnam DLC, they've only been robes, items, and levels for the arena and versus modes. Now finally a true addition to the Adventure mode has been released. This isn't a quick, challenging little map like Magicka: Vietnam either. There are three full chapters with checkpoints, bosses, and cutscenes. All the signature humor is there, with various areas, new and old, to explore. You start with none of your spellbook spells from the main adventure, but a few new ones await, such as a spell for pulling objects and enemies towards you, and a spell to place portals like those in the eponymous game (guess which). Having not played Magicka in ages, The Stars are Left provided an experience that was both familiar and new. There are new robes and items to find, and many new Lovecraftian enemies to combat. The boss fights in particular are quite well done, requiring quick thinking on the part of all players involved. The final showdown with Cthulhu (not much of a spoiler, who else did you expect to be the final boss in a Lovecraft inspired Magicka DLC?) was one of the most fun and challenging battles I've had in Magicka in a long time. There were some changes that I noticed that I didn't care for, though many of these may have been from previous updates and not this latest DLC. Likely because of a rebalance due to the added player vs. player modes, many spells and effects seem to be much less effective, and last a shorter duration. Self shield (shield with no elements) in particular seems all but useless now, expiring in a few short seconds if you don't stop to boost it, and it can't be renewed with a healing spell anymore either. And this was one of the easier puzzles to navigate in the final dungeon, despite all of the enemies that spawn on you as you try to walk along the invisible path These are only small complaints, and some of the updates are rather nice. It is now possible to queue up your next spell while casting, so you can ready your next beam attack and use it right after the previous one to keep up the assault on a tough enemy. In single player you can now find a faerie at checkpoints that will revive you once before you get a game over. And perhaps best of all, chapter select and the ability to resume from checkpoints have been added. You can choose the chapter you want to play when starting single player or hosting an online match. And now when you exit the game, you will restart at the last checkpoint you reached, rather than having to redo the whole level. Changes aside, and back to the Stars are Left DLC, there is enough content-wise to make this a very worthy purchase. I've been waiting for a new adventure mode since I first beat Magicka, and am glad to see the new content, and also cannot wait to see what else Arrowhead Game Studios have in store for the game. If you are on the fence about purchasing the new adventure, you can join any player that owns the game in co-op without having to own it yourself. All the co-operative fun of griefing each other repeatedly until you eventually work together to overcome the next tricky area or boss is back in full force in this new DLC, making it a great addition to Magicka that any fan of the game should check out. Click here to view the article

As we all know, Ezio Auditore da Firenze is the biggest badass to come out of Italy in the past six hundred years. But how would you like to play as him against some of the whackier characters to come out of a Japanese fighting game? It is rumored that Ezio will be a playable character in Soulcalibur V. It's doubtful that you will be able to jump down from a rooftop and instantly assassinate your opponent, however Ezio is a master of many weapons and would make a great addition to the weapon based fighting in Soulcalibur. Soulcalibur is no stranger to cameo appearances, so this awesome rumor could very well be true. Source: Official XBOX Magazine Click here to view the article