Every year, Epic Games and Intel hold a contest called “Make Something Unreal” which let’s designers create mods for the Unreal engine and compete for a chance to have their mod become a licensed, commercial game. Publisher Tripwire Interactive brought one of that contest’s winners to the market last year; the Zombie shooter Killing Floor. Now they’re back with The Ball, another Make Something Unreal winner.
For the past few years, the big question that’s come up with the new Call of Duty game has been, “Who’s making it?” Infinity Ward, the original creators of the series, have been known to revolutionize the series, and make it the top-dollar franchise it is today. Treyarch is more known for making pale imitation of those great games, which were good, but could never reach the same level of quality and respect from the gaming community. Now with the Infinity Ward lawsuits, and the general uncertainty of the Modern Warfare series’ future, Treyarch is making a huge comeback with Call of Duty: Black Ops. In many ways, it’s the most ambitious game in the series, but in many other ways, it’s one of the most safe sequels from Activision yet. To be short, if you like Call of Duty, you’ll like Black Ops. A more detailed explanation will take longer, though.
James Bond 007: Blood Stone takes on many action game styles, and while it does each of them fairly well, the overriding concern of the game is impressing a sense of dramatic flair and urgency upon the player. Developer Bizarre Creations has had a solid resume in driving titles, including such popular hits like the Project Gotham series, but also has shown itself to be a capable shooter developer in this title. The game consists of two gameplay modes: on-foot sequences that combine exploration, 3rd-person shooter combat with stealth elements and driving sequences that involve chasing a fleeing villain through city streets, hills and construction sites, narrowly avoiding hazards and dodging traffic.
Krabbitworld Origins is a game that I wanted to like. It’s an independent title developed by two people, it has wonderful music, distinctive character design, and a long history behind it dating back to a 2D MMO from ten years ago which proves that Krabbitworld is a labor love rather than a quick app intended to cash in on the latest commercial trends. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy my stay in Krabbitworld as much as I had hoped.
Casual games have a tendency to focus on mundane real-word activities, like running a business, shopping, or harvesting vegetables. That’s why I my interests were piqued by a horror title from a game company whose roster includes “Farm Frenzy”, “Hotel Mogul” and “Tropical Farm”. The horror game Twisted Lands: Shadow Town by Alawar Games is a point-an-click adventure game which avoids the stereotypes of casual games by using a heavy dose of Lovecraftian terror.
The sun rises on another new day in the fertile land that I have christened ‘Elandonia’. I emerge from the door of the log cabin I had built the night before to the sound of burning zombies and the innocent oinks of the many pigs that can be seen across the landscape, jumping over hills and swimming in the vast sea that stretches out to meet the horizon. This is Minecraft…
It’s important to mention when reviewing any Left 4 Dead DLC about what platform it’s on. Valve has been releasing free content for the Left 4 Dead series on PC ever since announcement, but everything that’s been free on the PC has been $7 on Xbox Live. That’s the same case here with the latest DLC for Left 4 Dead 2, The Sacrifice. It’s a piece of DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 that includes both a new 3-segment, 40 minute campaign called The Sacrifice, and including the Left 4 Dead campaign No Mercy in the package as well. That makes this one of the more fully featured DLCs, making it a great deal on the PC. However, if you’re intending to get this on the Xbox 360, it’s best to hold off on the DLC unless you are a hardcore Left 4 Dead fan.
I hadn’t played the original Lost Planet so when I started up Lost Planet 2 I didn’t know what to expect. As I explored this game I found that it holds a series of pros and cons that make it an above-average action game at best. The plot is fairly simplistic, with nameless soldiers from several armies (NEVEC, Snow Pirates, Jungle Pirates, Mercenaries, Waysiders and Carpetbaggers) fighting each other or the resident aliens(Akrid) on a planet named E.D.N. III for Thermal Energy, an energy source that is used for a variety of purposes, from powering Vital Suits (resident mechs) to healing. This Thermal Energy constantly drains and must be collected to prevent the ticker from hitting zero, where the player will begin to suffer damage. This apparently made sense in a frozen wasteland that was the setting in the first game, but the same conventions are maintained in Lost Planet 2 despite the fact that most of the missions are in hot or temperate climates.
Medal of Honor is a game that garnered skepticism from the start, with a trailer in the Spike VGAs that looked unnervingly like Modern Warfare 2; a trend in games that was appearing at the time. Things got worse for the fledgling remake when the multiplayer beta came out, where critics and players alike bashed the game for the apparent lack of quality and originality, myself included. Being an optimist, I tried to look at the possibility of the positive things that could come out of Medal of Honor. Very few details on single player had been released, meaning that the single player could be good, or alternatively go the other way, with my hopes resting on the former outcome. Now that it’s finally come out though, Medal of Honor is exactly what the beta made it out to be: a poorly constructed, unoriginal, and thoroughly boring game.
When I played Singularity, I didn’t expect much. I expected another one-shot fps with forgettable characters, barren gameplay and worse plot. While some predictions were true, many were not, as this game really maintains a vibrant and engaging atmosphere as soon as you begin. Singularity provides us with a smattering of genre conventions and gimmicks, but manages to present each one with perfect timing and execution. The enemies are varied and force you to adopt new tactics, from teleporting phase zombies to Russian soldiers to E99 ticks that attempt to swarm you with sheer number. It’s actually a pretty good game and ends right around it begins to get monotonous (thanks to that kickass minigun).
