XCOM Enemy Unknown | Review


By: Ryan Seiler
Posted: October 4, 2012

  
Turn-based strategy games are a rarity these days, and on consoles doubly so. Not that they’re antiquated or their audience has fallen out of favor for them mind you; publishers would simply rather fund a first-person shooter instead. One notable turn-based strategy title known as XCOM UFO Defense managed to create lasting appeal back in the ‘90s, most notably through a series of agonizing defeats, tragic loss and self loathing. It was the kind of game that pushed you down every time you got up until you eventually cracked, punched it in the balls, stole its girlfriend and burned down its house. Sweet victory! For those of you not in the loop, XCOM UFO Defense is notoriously difficult, allowing characters to be built up and upgraded by the player only to have a lucky shot nullify all that hard work. That’s right characters could die for good -- nothing special back in the ‘90s -- but relatively unheard of these days.  Keeping your squad alive became a series of careful placement and management, i.e. strategy, you know, the thing that’s ever so rare these days. Anyone interested in playing this relic should know that through careful investigation and research on our part, we have determined that the game was played on something primitive humans called “DOS”, which we can only discern to be a follow-up from cave paintings and idol crafting.

Over the years the franchise has moved from developer to developer with mixed results, eventually fading into obscurity in the early noughts. Recently the series fell into the hands of 2K Games and Firaxis Games, famous for their strategy series Civilization; a promising turn of events for the franchise. What was the first title announced? XCOM… a first-person shooter. Oh, and a second title, a strategy game set to revitalize and nostalgize long-time fans and newcomers, bringing back the classic formula to PC and consoles. XCOM Enemy Unknown delivers just that. And it’s a shining example of how to modernize using a classic formula.

Ride Dragons in New Skyrim DLC Dragonborn


Bethesda has announced a new DLC add-on for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Dragonborn will be unleashed on the Xbox 360 first while a PS3 version will follow whenever Bethesda feels that SONY fans have suffered enough. Residents of Skyrim can slay the first Dragonborn December 4th for 1600 MS Points, ($20).

The announcement trailer showcases the main story mission along with a few new enemies, landscapes and what we've all been waiting for, dragon riding!

Watch all 5 Episodes of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn


With Halo 4 right around the corner 343 Industries and Microsoft Studios, known for their massive ad campaigns, launched Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, a 5-part miniseries following the early military training of Thomas Lasky and his first encounter with John-117. 

In 2525, as mankind has begun to colonize space, a group of cadets are training to fight against human insurrectionists. One of these cadets, Lasky, has doubts about his abilities as a soldier and his convictions for this war. Whilst he struggles with himself, the planet is invaded by an unknown alien race. Reeling under the assault, Lasky and his squad mates are rescued by John-117, one of the UNSC's legendary SPARTAN-II super-soldiers. John must inspire Lasky to fulfill his potential as a soldier and a leader to fight against an enemy deadlier than any that humanity has faced before.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (Halloween Teaser)


Remember Amnesia: The Dark Descent? It’s understandable if you don’t. Most of us blocked that memory years ago. Frictional Games’ survival horror cult hit just so happens to be getting an indirect sequel in Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs.  While the game’s development has been known of for quite some time now, all fans could shiver over was a teaser trailer. Appropriately, on Halloween, Frictional Games released a second, longer, teaser for the sure-to-be pants dampener. Aside from the plot and setting, A Machine for Pigs seems to play out much the same as The Dark Descent: wander around, hide from monster, solve puzzle, go insane, rinse and repeat. The trailer shows off the game’s eerie industrial setting as well as the ominous sounds this round’s monstrosity creates and leaves us with the melancholy perspective that, “This world is a machine. A machine for pigs. Fit only for the slaughtering of pigs…”

Borderlands 2 | Review


By: Ryan Seiler
Posted: October 4, 2012


Video games – the art of interactivity. Since the days of olde they’ve tested our wits and reflexes, teaching us through experience lessons we could never have hoped to live. Titles like Missile Command taught previous generations of gamers the duality in nations control of nuclear armaments, allowing players to experience the losing battle most Americans believed was inevitable during the Cold War. In more recent times, Limbo placed players in the shoes of a child trying to survive a dark world of death and despair, asking those who play what they would do in similar situations, evoking a sense of loss and desperation.

But every now and then games like Borderlands 2 come along to give those games a swirly; allowing players to shoot at creatures called ‘bonerfarts’ and indiscriminately blow up just about everybody in sight. Borderlands 2 brings the most basic of game mechanics, that 30-second feeling of total ‘bad-assedness’, to the surface, parodying modern videogames and lovingly mocking any attempt they make at masking what they really are: games.

The original Borderlands hit the scene in 2009 and became a sort of insta-cult-classic due to its first-person shoot-kill-loot style of gameplay lifted from PC dungeon crawlers like Diablo and Torchlight. Set on the danger-ridden planet of Pandora, the game followed four ‘Vaulthunters’ on a mission to find and plunder ‘the Vault’, an alien ruin of untold riches. The menial storyline only served to set-up gameplay, largely being passed over in lieu of constant shootin’ . Although it received high praise and positive reviews from critics, most agreed Gearbox’s shooter could use plenty of improvement, primarily stemming from its visually and mechanically repetitive nature,  and having an identity crisis to whether it was a serious or comedic game overall. With a successor promising everything the original fell short on, does Borderlands 2 pay up? Or does it get left in the Pandoran dust?

Torchlight 2 | Review


By: Christopher Brimmer
Posted: September 29, 2012

Torchlight II takes you back to the quirky, fast-paced world of bloodthirsty monsters, bountiful treasures, and sinister secrets - stepping up to give fans of the action RPG genre what they've been longing for!

It’s been a good second half of 2012 for the action RPG genre. We've slain El Diablo for a third time, ventured through the wastelands in search of a second Vault, and now it's time to come back to the lands of Torchlight. Instead of comparing Torchlight II to these other offerings, I'll spend my time here telling you what the developers at Runic really got right and the reasons why you should check this game out.

Watch Dishonored's Tales from Dunwall Webseries

 

Arkane Studios has created a three-part webseries, called Tales from Dunwall, prequeling its upcomming title Deshonored. The vignettes detail the backstory behind Dishonored's characters, technology and setting -- an alternate universe similar to industrial revolution London, known as Dunwall. Click "Read More" to watch all three!

Flood in New Halo 4 Screenshot


A new screenshot of three Flood infected Spartan 4’s has been spreading through the interwebs lately. According to computerandvideogames.com and 343 Industries, the image is of the new multiplayer gametype ‘Flood’ rather than the campaign, which 343 has stated will not contain the parasitic aliens.

The gametype ‘Flood’, will be very similar to previous Halo’s ‘Infection’, where two infected players face off against eight normal Spartans; each kill turns the defeated player into the infected until either all players are zombified or the timer runs out. Other than the cosmetic changes in appearance, the only real change in the two game variations may be in the form of weaponry – seeing as how the Flood in the screenshot do not appear to be carrying the titular Halo Energy Sword.

Kirby's Dream Collection | Review



By: Ryan Seiler
Posted: September 25, 2012


Twenty years ago, Masahiro Sakurai and HAL Laboratory released Kirby’s Dreamland for the original GameBoy. Meant for first-time players of action games, Kirby was designed to be easily accessible, not to mention likable, for gamers of all ages. You can’t get much more approachable than a pink squishy ball with a face. With its unique, simple, fast paced gameplay and stellar platforming, the little goo-ball sparked a franchise still thriving to this very day.

Snapshot | Review


By: Ryan Seiler
Posted: September 19, 2012

Hipsters – those scarf wearing, acoustic guitar playing, Polaroid toting snobs – have had a long history of taking pointless photographs. (No one cares what your Alice Springs Chicken looks like, no matter how many filters you put over it!) Strangely, for all their non-conformist, look-how-unique-I-am attitude, they’re carbon-based mammals, save the thick rimmed glasses. Luckily, Snapshot allows them to live out their wildest fantasies of being a robot with equally terrible taste in photography.  Ironically, though, as of now, Snapshot is only available on PC; which is a little like putting someone’s diabetes medication at the opposite end of an obstacle course. Better luck next time hipsters!