DeathSpank was first promoted as the brainchild of Ron Gilbert of Monkey Island fame. He left before the game was released but stated that he had finished all his contributions to the project. When the second DeathSpank was announced soon afterwards, it was revealed that both games were made in tandem, so it may be safe to assume that Gilbert had his say in the sequel as well. But The Baconing is all Hothead Games, and it shows.

The first game was a parody of fantasy games. You fought “orques,” quested for unicorn poop, and hacked up a kindly talking tree, all so you could defeat an evil king in a castle. The second game introduced more modern weapons, but it at least justified them in this fantasy world as the weapons of a grand humans/orque war. The third game, however, opens with DeathSpank overlooking a sci-fi cityscape as it gets destroyed, then suddenly he’s running around a semi-fantasy world again, albeit one with supercomputers and clone machines.

This free form approach to genre allows DeathsSpank to go to some interesting places, like inside the mind of a supercomputer that’s not all that super, but it also feels slightly wrong for the character. The first game had a consistent creative vision. Its monsters, quests, and characters were always meant to be satirical of fantasy, and even the hack-and-slash RPG controls evoked memories of other hack-and-slash fantasy RPGs. The Baconing has lost that consistency, which isn’t a bad thing per se, especially if Hothead wants to move out of Ron Gilbert’s shadow, but it does make the game feel awkward at times, as if the character isn’t supposed to be here. (That said, I do love the cyborques, i.e. cyborg orques, which is easily my favorite pun in the game.)

It doesn’t help that your path through the world is very linear compared to the first two games. You only explore a small swath of land at a time, and once you find the Bacon Fire for one area (the game’s MacGuffin), you move on to a completely separate area. Even all the side-quests are confined to their individual sections of the world, which means there’s very little reason to ever revisit old locations. This isn’t one big world, just a series of smaller maps connected end to end, which makes the game feel much smaller than its predecessors.

Mechanically, this is pretty much the exact same game that you’ve played twice before (assuming you’ve played the previous DeathSpank games). Weapons are equipped to each of the face buttons, and you get an attack multiplier for varying your attacks. When you fill a meter, you can hold down one of the buttons for a super attack. Some quests require you to combine items from your inventory like a classic adventure game, but such quests are a jarring change of pace, since they’re so few and far between.

One of the few changes is blocking. Your ability to block attacks no longer runs out. You can hold up a shield for as long as you want. Previously, when your blocking meter ran out, DeathSpank would bash any enemy nearby, knocking them back. Now you can do this move by simply letting go of the block button, so it can be used more strategically in battles as a form of crowd management.

The new co-op character, Bob from Marketing, is quite fun. He’s a hammerhead shark that shoots lasers from his eyes, can swim underground to escape danger, and can gain health by eating corpses. However, it’s sad that there’s no online co-op, so unless you’ve got someone to play with on the couch next to you, you won’t ever see Bob or Steve the Ninja or Sparkles the Wizard or Tankko the Warrior. It’s a shame to waster such fun characters.

While DeathSpank has never been laugh out loud funny, there’s enough clever wordplay and quests in The Baconing to keep you smiling throughout. The corrupt mayor who gives you a quest to stuff ballot boxes, the mind-controlling barnacle who gives you a quest to spread his spores across the ocean, the leprechaun mob boss who asks you to blow up some protestors’ bus, all of these characters are fun to talk to, even if their settings feel out of place in a DeathSpank game. Perhaps that’s why his name is missing from the title.

While DeathSpank himself is still entertaining, his gameplay is growing monotonous, and the “un-open” world doesn’t help. The second game at least introduced a sailing aspect, which didn’t change anything fundamental about the game, but it was a nice change of pace. The Baconing has nothing new like that. Sure, you can sail some more, but we’ve already seen that. Maybe next time Hothead should change more than just the setting.

It’s been over ten years since the release of the original Deus Ex game launched for the PC and ever since then its fans have been craving a sequel deserving of carrying the brand name. A piss poor attempt was made with the follow up game titled Invisible War. Now here we are and its 2011 with a new developer taking on its very first project with Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The boys at Eidos Montreal had a lot to live up to as far as fan expectations go and making a transition to consoles has proven to hinder some pc developers in the past. Let’s find out if they can deliver on the hype leading up to the games release and come full circle with an engaging multi-platform sequel to the epic Deus Ex franchise.

For those that aren’t familiar with the franchise, Deus Ex is a cyber punk RPG/FPS set in a future where technology has taken over and perhaps gone too far. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is set 20 year prior to the events of the original game in the year 2027. The player controls Adam Jensen, head of security at Sarif Industries. After an attack on the labs of Sarif, Jensen’s tale begins as he investigates the reasons behind the attacks. We quickly learn that there is a division between those that believe augmentations are a crime against man and those like Sarif Industries who make there billions on selling augmentations to the masses.

Deus Ex: HR takes place in a large open world. Interacting with different people and exploring is what makes Human Revolutions worth your time. Chiming in at around 25-40 hours for a single play through, this game definitely offers a large variety of missions and side quests to keep you busy. The games story and the way it forces you to make decisions has the game practically begging for multiple play throughs. The player can also chose to not only affect the story but also how the game is played. You can go at it stealthy, guns blazing, and even use your ability to speak to negotiate your way through certain situations. Upgrades and augmentations help to aid you in what ever play style you choose. So if you want to play the game stealthy you can choose to do so and apply your upgrade points to the different stealth augmentations like an invisibility cloak to aid in sneaking past bad guys.

As far as the games overall presentation goes, I have to say that I was impressed. The games art style is impressive and despite being almost exclusively set at night time, the game manages to deliver a colorful and vibrant world. The voice acting for Deus is also top notch and the soundtrack provides a nice background for the game.

Overall I am completely enjoying my experience so far with Human Revolution. I am looking forward to a second and possibly third play through. With its stunning graphics, addictive gameplay, and fantastic RPG elements I have no problem giving this game a near perfect score. Everyone at Eidos Montreal deserves some kudos for a job well done on their first game. You can pick up Deus Ex: Human Revolution today in North America and on Friday, the 26^th in Europe and Japan.

Ever wanted to play a modern iteration of Spy Hunter but with a futuristic twist? Then you’ve come to the right place. Haiku Interactive have done just the thing but at a scintilating 80 microsoft points.

RC Heliocopter sim games are a few and far between, to be honest the last one we played was back on the Playstation One. Cranking in at only 80 Microsoft Points, PixelBit’s Helicopter Challenge brings excellent value for a game that contains a couple of hours of entertainment, but is it any good? Watch the video review!

Last year Toy Solders came onto the Xbox Live Arcade scene with its unique blend of tower defense and third person shooter gameplay. The first game took place during World War I against the evil German army. This time around in Toy Soldiers: Cold War we are given a “what if” scenario. As in what if the Cold War had escalated further and Russia decided to advance its military might throughout Europe. Let’s find out together if the boys in Bothell, Washington from Signal Studios can capture gold again.

Toy Soldiers: Cold War takes place in a large variety of settings. You will do battle against the Vietcong resistance in Vietnam and also face the mighty reds all over Europe in a variety of different gameplay scenarios, and finally in the later stages of the game you find yourself defending Mount Rushmore and Washingtion, D.C. The games campaign mode sees you battling your way through eleven different stages, increasing in difficulty and ferocity as you move along.

The core gameplay element of both Toy Soldiers games is tower defense. And what you are defending is your Toy Box from advancing troops. The way you do this is your decision. You will have a variety of different locations where you can place heavy weapons like machine gun nests, anti-tank, anti-air, artillery, mortar teams, and even a cannon that fires a poisonous gas to kill advancing soldiers. Placing these different weapons at strategic places is the key to victory. All of these weapons will work passively, but you can also take control of a particular unit at anytime and destroy your foes. Taking control of your defensive units is the bread and butter of the Toy Soldiers series and is what really sets this franchise apart from other games of the genre. The game also offers the ability to upgrade, repair, and sell your units at anytime so you can adjust strategy based on the given wave of enemies you are about to face.

Outside of building and maintaining your heavy weapon units you can also control some battery powered vehicles. These vehicles range from APC’s, Tanks, Helicopters, and you can even take to the sky in a fighter jet and do battle against Russian MiG’s! Your battery power on the vehicles is limited though, and in order to keep going you will have to search around the map for batteries, otherwise you risk blowing up and having to wait for your vehicle to recharge. Another amazing gameplay element was the barrage’s. Once in a while you will see an enemy with a star over it, and if you kill or destroy that target you will earn a random kill streak of sorts. Most of them are a wide range of air strikes, but the one that stands out the most is the Commando! When you earn the commando and decide to call him in you take control of a Rambo looking soldier with an M-60 in one hand and an RPG in the other. And for the next 30 seconds you get to go fucking nuts and blow some shit up. The Commando is unstoppable and doesn’t need to reload, he has one mission and one mission only…KILL!

A much needed addition the franchise was cooperative mode throughout the campaign. I’m happy to say that Signal Studios has heard the fans and added the desired option to jump in with a friend and defend against the bloody communist bastards. Versus mode also returns so you can go to war with a buddy or a complete stranger with the quick match option. Also making a return is the much loved and challenging Survival mode where much like the campaign you take on wave after wave of enemies. The only difference in Survival mode is that there is no end, and you must see how long you can last. The last mode rounding out the play list is a fun set of mini games that pit’s the player in a variety of shooting challenges.

The overall presentation of Toy Soldiers: Cold War is much like the first game. The colors are vibrant and each location in the game is unique and amazing in its own way. The sounds of the battlefield can be heard long after the smoke has settled, and the cries of your soldiers during battle can be entertaining. And who can forget the 80’s inspired soundtrack that sounds like something you would hear while watching Red Dawn.

Overall I have to say this game is shaping up to be another hit from Signal Studios. If you were a fan of the first you will likely love the second game. I for one enjoyed every moment of the campaign and can’t wait to revisit the game again with a friend when it launches. As an added incentive there are some kick ass avatar awards you can simply earn, such as a sweet mullet with a red bandana so you can look like Rambo. Toy Soldiers: Cold War will be available for download via the Xbox Live Marketplace starting on August 17^th for 1200 msp.

As part of the Summer of Arcade tradition, Microsoft typically waits for this time to push out their best Arcade games for the year. So far this year they have delivered upon that tradition with Bastion and From Dust. Releasing this week is a game I have been excited to play since the first time I saw it back at PAX. Of course I am speaking of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (ITSP), from Gagne International and Fuelcell Games. I could tell from the first trailer this was going to be a big hit and now that I got my hands on it I can confirm that this is a hell of a fucking game.

In ITSP you control a tiny space ship in a side scrolling adventure style game with fantastic puzzle elements and lots of gameplay hours for the completionist. You basically buzz around and engage in combat, solve puzzles and unlock new abilities that will grant you access to new areas that beg you to go back to earlier areas of the game for things like collectibles. The core gameplay is something very simple, but the experience of exploring and finding new things is so addicting that you won’t be able to put the controller down. I found it best to compare this game to Solar Jetman for the original NES. It is essentially the same type of game with enhanced graphics and abilities.

The addition of cooperative play has also been brought into the Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet universe. In the games fun and exciting Lanter Run mode, up to three friends and yourself can play together in a variety of gameplay scenarios. The mode is especially fun if you can communitcate with everyone, so make sure you can find some friends to play with.

The visuals in ITSP are vibrant and play a role in helping you navigate between different areas. The boss battles are particularly good looking and always helped to reinforce the fact that you are controlling a tiny space ship in this huge world. The audio is also extremely good, thanks mostly in part to the soundtrack which was done by the Norwegian black metal band, Dimmu Borgir. The amazing music does a good job of immersing you in this world that begs you to keep playing.

Overall I have to say that Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is a must purchase. It is this years Limbo or Shadow Complex. I would look for this to be an early contender for Arcade Game of the Year. If you play this game and don’t enjoy yourself you should seriously check for a pulse. You can purchase ITSP on the Xbox Live games marketplace starting August 3^rd for 1200 msp.

A simulator game that is worth buying? For the first time since German Truck Simulator, a simulator game has come out with distinguished build quality and is actually allot of fun to play. Astragon’s Demolition Company: Gold Edition does that very well indeed. Check out our comprehensive 16 minute video review that will no doubt have you walking down to the local Gamestation and picking up your most unusual game purchase yet!

The latest condenser microphone from Blue. The yeti is tall as a yeti and strong as a yeti too. This beautiful microphone packs one hell of a punch and is great value. Watch our video review below.

By now we all know that the majority of movie tie-in games are mostly laden with crappy over used game mechanics, lack of development time and a distinct lack of imagination which causes gamers to want to blow their brains out that they’ve just spent upwards of £35.00 on a brand new title. Hollywood has already given them the sandbox of possibilities yet the crunch period often ruins the results. High Moon Studios are back again but this time with Dark of the Moon. War for Cybertron was an admirable effort from the development studio but is their latest title?

The game’s basic premise is to go around killing decepticons within various locations of the world. Each level on the single player involves you using a different robot and with that you’ll have different abilities, whether that be grenade launchers, armor piercing rounds, laser projectiles etc etc. The most fun part though is transforming into your disguised machine, this can be anything from a jet aircraft, suped up hot rod car or for those that enjoy simulators a big rig. It’s the transforming element of the game that yields it’s funnest moments, even if the car handling is a little sketchy keeping the driving locked in to the right analogue stick. Bizarrely though it’s in the transformed mode where arguably you are at your most dangerous. The weaponry feels ridiculously powerful considering this is the method you are using to become mobile and agile against enemy fire. It is then that an element of strategy is taken away from the game when one was added from giving us this ability. High Moon should have left the most powerful tech to the auto-bot pose, the mightiest weaponry when you are least mobile, in a risk/reward style play. Unfortunately the only real strategical element you will get from the game on the single player at least is by hiding behind cover to avoid enemy fire. Easy is too easy and medium is actually on the difficult side at times when you factor in some of the random enemy spawning, especially in locked out arena areas. Whilst the game serves up some nice moments it’s all too linear and all too repeatative. It’s quite surprising when you factor in the different robots you get to play with but fighting wave after wave of decipticon for pretty much every level in the game, within locked out areas just becomes rather frustrating and when you throw in respawning after dying several times (due to totally bullshit enemy spawning), it’s enough to drive you crazy.

The game itself is pretty short, though it’ll feel like a lifetime with the repetition going on. Graphically the game is average and the sound passes you by with some poor robot dialogue and just the audiables of the reminicent iconic theme tune from the films filtering through throughout the game. None of the music actually adds to the atmosphere of the experience. If credit is due anywhere it’s with the games multiplayer and the single player FMV’s. These are nicely rendered and engage you enough to keep you playing and was for me the only thing that kept me playing the game past the second hour mark. The boss fights within Transformers aren’t anything special but they serve up a nice inter-change from defeating the decepticons the same way, one mission involved squashing a huge decipticon boss with the foundations of a building, nice.

So that’s the single player, what about the multiplayer? I was quite surprised by the multiplayer if I am honest. The lobbies are very similar to that of COD and the ability to veto certain maps for a movie tie-in game I thought was a nice added gesture. You can customise your character by it’s liveries and weaponry and as you raise up through the ranks, new abilities and upgrades will become available to you. There several robot classes which included the transformer vehicles of rigs, jet aicraft, cars and tanks. This helped spicen the gameplay up and each vehicle you use has an individual rank attached to it. These can be switched each re-spawn should you want too as well. The ability to transform adds a half decent layer of strategy, but kills do not feel satisfying at all. It’s the spongy bullet impact that once again detracts you from fully becoming involved in the multiplayer experience. You are at times left wondering how the hell you died, even though you had a round of bullets in your opponent prior to them actually killing you. The maps themselves are pretty decent, from high rise buildings, to mountain tops, each map will give you the opportunity to cover, perch and stealthily move around undetected. There are only three multiplayer modes but anymore than that and it would be difficult to get a game. Standard DM and TDM applies and Conquest also makes an appearance. I actually liked this multiplayer experience more than Section 8: Prejudice and that deserves some praise.

Overall you could tell that High Moon Studios were pushed for time. There was never any big enough moments in the game to feel like you were really kicking ass and the moments you did spend with over robots in the single player never felt utilised properly. Destroying wave after wave of enemies works for games like Earth Defence Force but in this environment more invention wouldn’t have gone a miss. Especially considering we are looking at a movie license which has unlimited scope to what it could achieve.

Ever wanted to play god with the planetary system? Now you have the chance to do that with Solar 2. Solar 2 is the latest development from Murudai software and the game is not only weird, wacky but also pretty good to play too. Will it grab your attention, not massively but it’s a great time killer and finds a nice place between filling short spaces of time. A mobile version would be very worthwhile!

After sending this game to the United States only for customs and excise to grab hold of it like it was some anthrax package, needless to say this review is somewhat overdue. A game never intended directly to be reviewed by myself but Craig our U.S correspondent. As days crept by I had the distinct notion that the game wasn’t going to show up, so intervention was required – rental!

Alice: Madness Returns is the latest game by Spicy Horse and is a return to the series that has been left pondering whether it would see the light of day again. American McGee’s Alice (the original) only found itself on the PC at the time but the sequel fortunately is multi-platform. If the game deserves credit off the bat, it’s that any new purchase of this game comes with a digital download of the first game and as it stands you can only get this via the code as it is unavailable to buy via Xbox Live or Playstation Network. So already you are getting some bang for your buck. It is this free gift so to speak then that props the score of this game up, because the actual gameplay in Alice is very rudimentary. Fortunately the combat system is smooth and varying use of combat is required to dispose of certain enemies. Long range attacks will be required for airborne enemies and dodge and commit style of attack is required for goblins whom are protected with teapots on their heads. The range of weaponry – whilst sounds inventive are basic platformer based weapons we see time and time again but with just a re-branding of them. You’ll get to smash people with a hobby horse which works in the same way as a sledgehammer, the vorpal blade works much like any sword would. Alice also has access to a timed bomb device and of course a gun which shoots out…well…see for yourselves.

Whilst the combat is fluid and makes up the best part of the game, it’s the generic platforming sections in this game that really makes it difficult to become truly engaged. Throughout the different worlds and theming you encounter you are essentially doing the same thing over and over again, negotiating floating platforms and shooting up vaccums to take yourself higher up a level. The boss encounters are pretty fun but they lack the grandeur seen in some games such as Shadows of the Collosus or God of War. The storyline also felt a little lost on me too. It’s fair to say that Alice: Madness Returns has a story that is about as plausable as Shadows of the Damned except at least Shadows of the Damned actually had a decent level of humour about it. Visually this game ticks pretty much all of the boxes, throughout your progress in the game you’ll be astounded just how many different colour cycles the Unreal engine is pushed through, it’s a beautiful game with a considerable amount of time invested in the character and location design to step along with the odd world that Alice is experiencing. The game does have collectables which gives it some replay value, the ability to shrink alice down to walk over invisible platforms and through keyholes will help you negotiate hidden areas within the game that fortunately are not always remotely obvious. Alice can collect a variety of items but the most important of these items is teeth. Once Alice collects enough teeth she can upgrade her weapon at any time she feels necessary, none of this weight till i reach a shop or vending machine crap. I liked that upgrade ability and it proved to be very helpful as the game came to it’s end as I felt upgrading particular weapons were a strategy of sorts.

Alice is a sluggish romp (the game that is) it doesn’t grip you enough with the storyline to forgive it’s mundane platforming and the enemy variety isn’t frequent enough to really appreciate the combat to it’s core. It is then, a average game with an insanely twist – delve deeper into the rabbit hole if you dare! P.S don’t be fooled by the wonderland exterior, this game is very gruesome at times!

Another point and click release by Telltale Games, the masters of the genre. This time they delve a little into the more out of step area with logic puzzles taking presidence and frequently too. How does this game fare? Watch our video review.

James Joell-Ireland from wedogames.net brings up the latest and best puzzle game out on Xbox Indie Games. Made by Ishisoft the lone developer behind some great scoring games such as Johnny Platformer’s Biscuit Romp and Saves Xmas. How does the same developer fare in the puzzle arena? Watch the video and find out!

This week I will be looking at FEAR 3, the latest installment of the franchise from Day 1 Studios and published again by WB Games. I’ve never been the biggest fan of the franchise, but I’m coming into this game with an open mind. I never played the original on PC or its later port to consoles, but I did mildly enjoy FEAR 2: Project Origins on the 360. For me it just felt too much like a PC shooter that should have stayed there. But lets jump in and see what Day 1 has brought forward this time around with a much more console friendly version of the game.

For those not too familiar with the story behind the FEAR franchise, myself included, I decided to do some research and here is a summary of what I have come up with. Nine months ago, the F.E.A.R. Point Man and his squad were tapped to stop an unknown man who had commandeered a battalion of Replica super soldiers at the Armacham research facility in the Northwestern US city of Fairport. During the mission, the Point Man learned that the man was not working alone – in fact, the very person the Point Man was ordered to subdue was his telepathic, cannibalistic brother, Paxton Fettel, and his tortured and powerful psychic mother, Alma Wade— products of Armacham Technology Corporation’s perverse paranormal experiments. Despite this revelation, the Point Man moved forward with standing F.E.A.R. team orders to stop the targets at any cost. In a last-ditch attempt to end the pair’s homicidal rampage, the F.E.A.R. team set in motion an explosive series of events that seemingly accomplished their goal, but at the cost of ravaging the city, its inhabitants and almost all of the Point Man’s squad mates.

Four months following the blast, events in Fairport have made it clear that Alma’s psychic influence survived — and worse, her paranormal power is growing and spilling into reality. Now her supernatural agony repeatedly rocks the city as she attempts to secure the survival of her bloodline and reunite her family. Armacham’s security force remains violently focused on eliminating all evidence of the events in the city, and the remaining F.E.A.R squad carries on the mission to stop Alma.

The gameplay side of things is dead on for this title, at least from a console players point of view. Fear 2 felt kind of stiff and the controls clunky to say the least. That is all gone now, swapping it out for a more “traditional” fps control scheme. And when I say “traditional”, I mean its like fucking Call of Duty. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when it comes strictly to control schemes, at least COD did one thing right. Gun play is fast and heavy. Slow mo is back in this title like all previous Fear games, and it works devilishly good. It never really gets old watching a random soldier liquefied in slow motion by a point blank shotgun blast. A new cover system works seamlessly as you can shoot out of cover. You also retain the ability to slide and mantle your self over or under objects.

Multiplayer returns in Fear 3 and it has not only received a face lift, but a total fucking overhaul. There are four game modes that are included in the multiplayer. The four game modes are Fucking Run, Contractions, Soul Survivor, and Soul King. Fucking Run features 4 players running through waves of enemies, all the while running from Alma’s massive Wall of Death. The players start off in a safe room and proceed through levels, killing enemies within a certain amount of time. There are several safe rooms throughout the mode, and if a player is downed, one of the co-op players can revive them. If one player is killed the game is over. Contractions is a survival round-based game mode where you must barricade and stock up weapons against 20 waves of enemies from the Fear 3 single player, similar to Call of Duty’s “Nazi Zombies,” although the farther you increase through the waves the tougher it gets by adding a fog effect that creeps closer and closer making the map much more dangerous. Soul Survivor has four players pitted against each other with one player playing as a Spectre in which he or she has to possess enemies to kill the other three players and turn them into Spectres before the time runs out. Soul King is similar to Soul Survivor but with the exception that all the players play as Spectres and must possess enemies to kill each other and collect dropped souls. Teamwork and cooperation is definitely the key to winning in all of the game modes.

The visual presentation in Fear 3 is certainly not the best out there, but that shouldn’t scare anyone away. The graphics are good and the gory blood effect look particularly good. Don’t look for this one to win any awards for graphics, but it can certainly hold its own. The audio on the other hand is phenomenal. Weapon sounds are great and unique to each individual gun. The accompany music sound track is eerie and atmospheric. There also the sometimes overdone screeches from Alma to send a chill up your spine. Audio needs to be done right with survival horror games, an Day 1 really hit a home run with this game.

At the end of the day I found Fear 3 to be a great early summer release title. There aren’t too many games coming out this summer, so Fear 3 should definitely be on your list. A revamped control scheme that runs smooth and a much better story narrative than previous titles makes this one a must own. Plus there is a kick ass co-op/multiplayer attached to the game.

Hello again, I’m back with another review and since it’s a slow time for games, as is typical every summer. I am going into my back log of video games for a review and today I will be tackling Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, developed by Namco. I bought this game last October on its launch date along with the latest Castlevania title. But because of the busy month with Medal of Honor releasing a week after and a slew of other games, I pushed Enslaved to the back burner. But now here it is 8 months later and since I just hit 1,000 gamerscore on Duke Nukem Forever, I don’t have much to play so I decided to get back into Enslaved and I am glad that I did.

Enslaved is set in a post-apocalyptic future where the planet has been over run by Mechs, and the few humans that remain mostly reside in make shift cities and scavenge around for whatever they can find in regards to food and other resources. You play as Monkey. Not much is known about the games main character except that he can climb like a mother fucker and his hair looks like ice cream coming out of the cone. Your side kick and slaver is Trip. This sexy little red headed number is escaping eminent death from the Mechs and while doing so slaps a headband on Monkey that more or less turns him into her little bitch. If Trip dies, so does Monkey and if you stray too far away…are you getting the picture? Besides these main elements not much of the story is explained until the third act which builds up into an epic finale.

Later in the game you encounter a character by the name of Pigsy. He is one of my new favorite video game characters. You come into contact with him around chapter 9 and he stays with you all he way until the end. However, since launch Pigsy has gotten his own mini campaign in the form of DLC. Pigsy’s Perfect Ten launched a few months ago on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN. And I’m telling you right now, as soon as I get a chance I will be purchasing this and reviewing it. You can pick it up now for 800 msp or $10 at the Playstation Store.

The best way to describe the gameplay of Enslaved would be to say it is like the Uncharted series if your guns were taken away and in its place you had a bad ass retractable staff that has the ability to fire plasma blasts. Ammo is fairly scarce though and most of your combat will be melee. Fighting with the Mechs is hectic and difficult, but before you long you will learn the weaknesses of the well varied enemy types. Another key element to the gameplay is the platforming. You more less bounce between stretches of combat and platforming. The only gripe I have with said platforming is that it is far too easy. It is literally impossible to fall. You can try, but you can not do it. The game is designed so that you can only jump when it wants you to. But that’s not to say it can’t be fun. In the later stages of the game you actually encounter some environmental hazards that add slightly to the difficulty, while still being fun.

I really can’t say enough about the beautiful presentation of this game. The art style is fantastic, colors are vibrant, and the character models are quite remarkable. Every aspect of this game has its own unique look from the level design to the characters. I really loved the overall visual styling’s presented here in Enslaved. The audio is top notch as well. There isn’t a lot of music, but the songs that you do hear are great. Voice acting in un-fucking-believable. I loved the voice acting throughout the entire game and when the credits rolled I loved it even more. I learned that the voice of our main protagonist Monkey is done by none other than the legendary voice actor Andy Serkis. Mr. Serkis in case you didn’t know was responsible for the voice work of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. His work as Gollum to this day is considered a bench mark for voice acting, and I absolutely love everything he is in.

Overall in case you have guessed this game is a must own for fans of the Action-Adventure genre. With its diverse combat, fantastic story, and beautifully done presentation, there are few issues if any to take with Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. And now that the game has been out for nearly a year, I am certain you can find used at your nearest game retailer for a real value. If memory serves, I believe I saw at Gamestop for $17.99 the last time I shopped there, a real bargain for this one. Really make a point to get out and pick this one up guys, you won’t be let down. And I really think we should be on the lookout for Namco, because they may be back on the rise.

With the Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises dominating the First Person Shooter market due to their accessible and arcade style gameplay, developers Codemasters made the bold decision of resurrecting the famous Operation Flashpoint series back in 2009 with their title Dragon Rising which received a very respectable 77 out of 100 on Metacritic.com. Gamers responded well to the change of pace, but unfortunately for Codemasters, Dragon Rising failed to knock the big two off their perch. Fast forward two years and Operation Flashpoint is back for another bite of the cherry with Red River. Could another installment with some added features be enough to mount a serious challenge for the First Person Shooter crown or will the serious come up short once again?

The series’ motto “It’s not the soldier with the most expensive gun or the biggest heart who wins on the battlefield.  It’s the smartest.” rears its beautiful head once more as you make your way through the bloody battlefields of Tajikistan in the games Campaign mode playing as part of the United States Marine Corp. If like myself, you’re used to running into combat like a headless chicken, spraying a machine gun and hoping for the best, you’re going to get a huge shock to the system when you play Red River. The enemy A.I is absolutely brutal and relentless in their task of taking you out. If you don’t scout every corner before bravely traversing around it or planning your route across the map, expect to be punished by a sneakily well positioned enemy; all which seem to have an unbelievably accurate and deadly shot.

To aid your quest you are in charge of a team of 3 soldiers which can be used to flank the opposition, suppress fire whilst you move to a better position or simply try and do all the work for you whilst you sit back and sip a cup of tea. You control your team mates via the Right Bumper on your Xbox 360 controller, where you are able to select from 16 different options such as “Follow me” or “Move there” when you’re looking at a desired location. The mechanic may take a few tries to get used to but is easy enough to promptly carry out your orders; well, this is when you’re A.I team mates actually pay attention to you. I lost count of how many times I would order my squad to move to a certain position on the map or to follow me, only for them to sit there like a lemon and completely ignore my orders. Trying to lead a bunch of school kids who won’t listen into battle against the relentless A.I isn’t much fun.

Fortunately Codemasters have jumped on the extremely popular co-operative bandwagon and have included 4 player online co-op for the campaign, and this is where the game really shines. Take out the stumbling A.I and replace it with 3 of your friends who can actually listen to orders and you have the potential to have some real fun taking out the enemy with a well oiled unit. The use of good communication is essential as you venture throughout the campaign as flanking and working as a team is the only way to succeed. There are 4 different classes of Soldier to play as and these are Grenadier, Scout, Rifleman and Automatic Rifleman. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses and therefore must be used in the correct situation; running into a gunfight with a long range sniper rifle won’t be a good idea.

The layout of the missions throughout the 10-12 hour campaign will likely cause a few arguments throughout your squad over who gets to choose the longer range classes due to the maps being expansive and often perfect for long range combat. Whilst this can be fun for players who enjoy sniping, you then have to traverse the environment on foot which can result in you holding down the left stick in for minutes at a time; not a fun experience and one that often slows the games pace down to a halt and discourages you from continuing. Checkpoints are found few and far between throughout the long campaign missions and these can cause for some serious frustration if you die as you may have to replay a large chunk of the game. On a plus side however, this makes the combat more intense and will really encourage you to work as a team so you get it right at the first attempt.

Another major annoyance of mine throughout the campaign was the briefing you seem to get before every mission from a captain who needs to learn when to shut up. You’ll find yourself sitting in a jeep for 10 minutes at a time (that’s being kind rather than exaggerating) listening to a foul-mouthed bloke trying to be funny and poorly explain the story when all you really want to be doing is taking down the Taliban and having fun online with your mates.

Receiving credits after every mission so you can upgrade your soldiers abilities to run faster, reload quicker etc and also unlock and purchase new weapons is a nice addition to the game and can provide some much needed motivation to complete the missions. Another nice addition to the game and one which helps re-iterate Red River’s realism is that you have to physically heal yourself every time you get shot or otherwise bleed to death. This is a nice change to the normal wait and sit behind a rock for the red blood to disappear off the screen. If you’re in a particularly bad way, your team mates can patch you up, but if you’re unfortunate or even stupid enough to allow the enemy a headshot on you, have fun restarting the game at what could be a far away checkpoint.

In addition to the campaign mode, you are also able to play through a number of Fireteam missions which are more shorter, sharper encounters; these include storming a village and taking out all the enemy occupants or protecting a convey as it makes its way towards a location. These Fireteam missions takes away the tedious traveling and waiting around that the campaign provides and offers a different, more action approach, and in my opinion more enjoyable experience.

Red River will fail to impress you from a graphical perspective. There’s certainly worse looking games out there but Triple A titles such as Call of Duty and Battlefield undoubtedly have the graphical edge. Sparse and lightly detailed environments fail to make those long and tedious runs you’ll be made to make throughout the campaign less entertaining. Aside from the ramblings of your leader, the audio is well done in Red River and does its job adequately.

On the achievement side of things, you shouldn’t have too much trouble gaining the full 1000 Gamerpoints in Red River. The majority of the points are awarded to you for just completing the campaign and the Fireteam missions, along with playing as each of the four classes of soldier and ranking up your soldier’s skills. The list is pretty uninspired from Codemasters but that won’t deter you from the game if you’re after some fairly easy achievement points.

Operation Flashpoint: Red River certainly isn’t a game for everyone. The game’s realistic take on modern warfare can be extremely punishing and requires good teamwork, with most of the fun coming from playing co-operatively over Xbox Live or the PSN with upto 3 other players or the more action-based Fireteam missions. If you’re bored of the Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises and are looking for a more realistic approach or just want a new shooter to play around with, give Operation Flashpoint: Red River a try.

Hello kiddies, it’s your good old pal Joker back with another review. Today we will be looking at none other than the Dukester himself. That’s right, after over a decade of development and dozens of delays we finally get our hands on Duke Nukem Forever. DNF promises to be bigger and badder than any Duke title before it. I mean I am 27 years old now, and I have fond memories of my father teaching a far to young Joker how to tip the strippers on our old IBM 386 in Brooklyn.

Before I begin, one thing needs to be gotten out of the way. I will be looking at Duke as if it was a standalone game. Reviewing a game like this can be very tough because you want to compare it to previous titles. As a reviewer I feel this is a bumpy path that many other people in the business fall prey to, and quickly judge the game based not on its own merit, but the merits of the previous blockbuster hit in comparison. Now that we have that little business out of the way, lets jump into Duke Nukem Forever with both feet!

Duke Nukem Forever kicks off on familiar ground. In a football stadium, battling a gigantic monster with rocket launchers. A nice way of reintroducing old fans of the series to the new control scheme by having us repeat the final boss battle from Duke 3D. The game at first feels familiar and is really fun. I Halo-jumped around the big bastard aiming for the eye and running to pick up ammo as I dodged his attacks. Finally big boy fell and I stood victorious after kicking said eye through the uprights with the power and accuracy of Sebastian Janikowski (Oakland Raiders Kicker).

From there you are slowly introduced to all the games mechanics. I will say that DNF wasn’t 100% what I expected, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. As I previously stated I am judging this game on its own merit. And on its own, its pretty fucking kick ass. Combat is smooth and satisfying. The executions are fun at first but can grow tedious. Enemies are well varied and almost every stage ends in some over the top huge boss battle which makes the game feel like a real throwback to old school shooters. Too many games now feel super linear and there is a lot of hand holding. Duke isn’t like that. There aren’t that many hints as to how to complete any given area. It usually requires you to look around and use your brain a little. I know this is new for the younger generation of gamers, but don’t worry it won’t hurt you.

Graphically DNF isn’t going to win any awards. There is a definite grainy texture going on, that may or may have not been intentional. We may never know. There a few more bugs that need mentioning like the stuttering frame rate that you may get from time to time. It doesn’t occur when there is a lot of stuff going on, it just seems to happen randomly, like when your walking down a hallway or something. One more thing that really got my panties in a wad were the obscenely long load screens. Whenever you die you have to wait a solid 30-45 seconds before respawning. This can become increasingly bothersome on harder difficulties as your chances of dying become more frequent.

As far as the audio goes, you don’t get much better than fucking John St. John, the voice of the Dukester. Duke’s catch phrases have filled the air waves of Xbox live parties and game chat since its inception, and this time it is no different. The accompanying metal soundtrack is great too.

I need to mention that I was unfortunately unable to try out the multiplayer side of the game, because as of right now my internet access is extremely limited. But I have to say from the few videos I have seen it didn’t even look worth mentioning. The other Duke character models on screen looked flat and texture less. The movement of the player also seemed very stiff and just didn’t look very fun. But like I said I haven’t played it, but I watched a lot of videos on it, and my judgment is usually pretty good when it comes to games, if I have only watched gameplay videos.

In the end is Duke Nukem Forever worth your sixty clams? I would say…maybe. For long time fans of the series who just want to play anything with Duke attached, than this is a must own. For newcomers, it’s a tough sell because like I stated there are some graphical bugs in the game and some people might not be able to look past it. As a purely standalone product I would rate this game at slightly above average, but still an ass kicking, titty squeezing, ball punching, huge ass mother fucking explosion of a good time.

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