Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Xbox 360 l PS3 l PC
DEVELOPER: Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games
PUBLISHER: Activision
WRITER: Paul Haggis
STARRING: Kevin McKidd, Billy Murray, William Fichtner, Idris Elba, Timothy Olyphant
RELEASE DATE: November 8, 2011

The Call of Duty franchise has become a juggernaut in the video game industry—with titles like World at War, Black Ops, and, biggest of all, the Modern Warfare series contributing to what has become a more profitable franchise than both Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, to name a couple. [...]

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine
XBOX 360 | PS3 | PC
THQ Games
Release Date: September 6, 2011
Price: $49.99

A few weeks back I wrote this article when the demo of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine was released. Well, now that I’ve finally gotten myself waist-deep in the full version of the game, consider this to be the ‘Extended Edition’ of that article.

Everything I said before still stands true so I won’t waste our time here re-telling you how visceral the gaming experience felt to me then. I also won’t flood you with adjectives and verbs about how bad-ass it felt to slay millions of Orks using your ChainSword, Bolter Rilfe, and more.

It still does. It still is [...]

RAGE
Xbox 360 I PS3 I PC
DEVELOPER: id Software
PUBLISHER: Bethesda Softworks
RELEASE DATE: October 4, 2011

Another of the many exciting game titles being released in this fall season, RAGE hopes to stand out as one of the top shooters gamers can get their hands on. Developed by id Software, inventor of the first–person shooter with titles like Wolfenstein, DOOM, and Quake, and published by Bethesda Softworks, the company behind all–time greats The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3, as well as the upcoming Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, you could say that the game has a whole lot to live up to.

RAGE starts off after an asteroid (a very real asteroid named Apophis, which in 2004 was thought to have a less than 3% chance of striking Earth in the year 2029) hit our planet on August 23, 2029. You awake from a cryogenic sleep 109 years later, one of the few who were selected for The Eden Project, a program that would put twelve people with special abilities or traits in each of hundreds of Arks that would one day awake and begin to rebuild society. [...]

Dead Island
Xbox 360 I PS3 I PC
DEVELOPER: Techland
PUBLISHER: Deep Silver
RELEASE DATE: September 06, 2011

Ever since the release of that incredible first cinematic trailer, fans of horror video games and the zombie sub–genre have been frothing at the mouth to get their hands on the latest title from developer Techland (Call of Juarez and its two sequels, Bound in Blood and The Cartel) and publisher Deep Silver, Dead Island.

The game takes place on the island of Banoi at a beautiful vacation resort. Unfortunately, the beauty is quickly diluted by pure hell when a plague breaks out, turning most of the tourists on the island into bloodthirsty zombies and leaving you to fight to survive and try and escape the many horrors you’ll encounter.

But does the game live up to all the hype created by that first trailer, or does it fall a little short?

First of all let me just say I never allow my anticipation levels for a game to elevate over a cinematic trailer (apart from Skyrim, perhaps). [...]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Xbox 360 I PS3 I PC
DEVELOPER: Eidos Montreal
PUBLISHER: Square Enix
RELEASE DATE: August 23, 2011

The Deus Ex franchise has been a favorite of gamers everywhere since the first title arrived in the year 2000. Its sequel, Invisible War, wasn’t quite as well–received as the original, but an impact was surely made with the two games. So, as you might have imagined, when a third game in the series was announced fans were elated.

The new game, titled Deus Ex: Human Revolution, is the first since 2003 and is a prequel set in 2027, 25 years before the events of the original game occurred. It follows Adam Jensen, the head of security for Sarif Industries headquarters in Detroit. The company specializes in the booming human augmentation field, replacing lost or damaged human limbs and organs with powerful new robotic replacements.

The game opens with a couple of cinematic sequences before picking up with Jensen and his ex–girlfriend, Dr. Megan Reed, who are preparing to set off on a trip to Washington D.C. to show off their research. [...]

Duke Nukem Forever
Xbox 360 | PS3 | PC
2K Games
Release Date: June 14, 2011

Duke Nukem Forever has had a wild ride. This game had been in development since 1996, herald at many an E3 convention as being the next “groundbreaking” game. The problem was, it never came out.

Developer 3D Realms would occasionally release some pictures or game play footage, but always staved off finishing the game by trying to put whatever was new and popular into it. Imagine someone you know is writing a book. For 14 years they would change it around adding whatever was hot at the moment: zombies, vampires, robots, the book would be a mess, right? This is the situation I imagine Gearbox Software was in when they inherited the unfinished game after 3D Realms was sued by its publisher. The very fact that this game was able to be pieced together into something releasable is a miracle. And that’s exactly what we got, something that feels 14 years old and pieced together. If you think about the game’s history, why would you expect anything less? [...]

L.A. Noire
Xbox 360 I PS3
DEVELOPER: Team Bondi
PUBLISHER: Rockstar Games
RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2011

Of all the many exciting titles being released in the year 2011, L.A. Noire has easily developed one of the biggest buzzes of them all. With game-changing (literally) performance capture technology being used and some intriguing new crime-solving gameplay, folks have been lining up to get their hands and eyes on this one for some time now.

As far as whether or not the game lives up to all the hype, we’ll get right into the down and dirty truth: yes, L.A. Noire is an impressive accomplishment with many elements worthy of praise. The world is huge and detailed, the performances from an awesome cast of recognizable character actors is phenomenal, the music is fitting and sets the tone wonderfully, and the cases are complex and often times brutally realistic. In this game you get to be a detective more so than you ever have before, and that, my friends, is pretty damn cool. [...]

Gears of War 3
Beta
Platform: Xbox
Developer: Epic Games, Inc.
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release date: September 20, 2011 (full product)

The Gears of War series has been one where I have loved the single-player campaign; it’s got lots of action and is just really fun to play. I have always felt the multiplayer lagged behind other games, especially Halo and Call of Duty. With this said, I was very anxious to try out the final game in the series, Gears of War 3, and see if they had brought their multiplayer up to snuff. Several of my gripes have been dealt with, others not so much. Hopefully they can be fixed before the final build; this is after all only the beta. Here are my long-standing complaints with Gears multiplayer and how they have been addressed [...]

DC Universe Online
Sony Online Entertainment
PlayStation 3/PC
Price: $59.99 with a $14.99 monthly subscription
Released January 11th, 2011

DC Universe Online is not the first superhero Massively Multiplayer Online RPG to be released, but it is the first to have a major license behind it and it has been widely anticipated by its audience. Thanks to this game, players have the chance to fight alongside some of their favorite characters as well as interact with other fans. The game doesn’t stray too far from the formula perfected by World of Warcraft, which is a good thing, because the setting is really the selling point of the game. Never before have players been able to explore a living, breathing DC universe in this way. However, the game is not without its flaws, and those looking to check it out may want to wait a few weeks while the inevitable bugs are worked out of the system.

The story sets up the flavor of the DC universe right from the start. Lex Luthor has traveled from a future in which he has defeated Superman, but met defeat at the hands of Brainiac. [...]

Call of Duty: Black Ops
PLATFORMS: PS3/Xbox 360/Wii/PC
DEVELOPER: Treyarch
PUBLISHER: Activision
RELEASE DATE: November 9, 2010

When reviewing a game like Call of Duty: Black Ops, one would assume the reviewer has probably played other Call of Duty games into the ground, but this is not the case at all.

I entered Black Ops as a complete noob, really. I’ve toyed around with previous installments — mostly playing with family in co-op modes — and even have Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare waiting for me to finally try it out. But technically, I’ve never really taken one of these games head-on.

This, I would have to say, was a good thing. I entered the game knowing what to expect but not exactly how well I would do or progress — especially when it comes to online multiplayer matches, which I’ve always been undeniably bad at and wanted to see if with enough practice and virtual death, this humble gamer could eventually hang with the big boys.

We’ll start with the game itself, which is a decent campaign, spanning about 7-8 hours long if you’re not playing on the easiest difficulty setting. [...]

The Boondock Saints Mobile Game
Platform: iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch App
Developer: Boondock Saints, LLC
Price: $2.99
iTunes

The brothers McManus have come to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch in the form of a duel stick shooter game, complete with its own story that lives up to the characters from the cult film The Boondock Saints.

Let me first say that I like the idea of this game, which was probably overly ambitious given the platform. Players can choose either Connor or Murphy to charge into each level to do some mindless shooting with a range of weapons. The 14 total levels also feature gameplay by Noah and Romeo at certain points. After accomplishing each mission, you get a tattoo to show your experience.

The mobile game nails most characterization of the Boondock Saints movie, but the basic mechanics make the gameplay painfully slow as well as the response time to movement. And while I chose to play this game on a handheld device, the controls may be better with the larger screen on an iPad.

Still, like many of the very first arcade games in the ’80s, someone with skillful hand-eye coordination and lots of practice can definitely succeed [...]

R.U.S.E.
PLATFORMS: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
DEVELOPER: Eugen Systems
PUBLISHER: Ubisoft
RELEASE DATE: September 7, 2010

For fans of real-time strategy games, a new one set in the midst of World War II is waiting for you. The game is called R.U.S.E. and it gives you control as you make the calls while trying to infiltrate the looming German threat.

Now, to be perfectly honest, I’ve never been a fan of the real-time strategy games, personally. Something about them just never did it for me. I much prefer having control of one character, and being able to play their story; to step into their world. With games like this, you have to worry about a lot of different variables while playing from sort of an “eye-in-the-sky” perspective, and though this is something appealing to many, it’s never quite done it for me.

That said, I can still see the appeal in a title like R.U.S.E. for lovers of the genre. This may not be my type of game, but after a few hours of trying very hard to get a feel for this outside of my comfort zone type of gameplay, I can’t deny that I was actually getting into the action. [...]

Hawx 2
PLATFORM: PS3
DEVELOPER: Ubisoft
PUBLISHER: Ubisoft
RELEASE DATE: September 7, 2010

The new installment in the Tom Clancy jet fighter series, Hawx 2 looks to take aerial combat to the next level.

The new game allows you to jump into the cockpit of high-powered flying machine, prepped and ready for warfare. United States, United Kingdom, Russia — you’ll play as them all, facing many different missions as you deal with a major threat and a missing Russian nuclear weapons.

Hawx 2 is one of those games you have to be into to enjoy. The game isn’t really about the story, but flying these military aircrafts and fighting your way out of some pretty intense aerial battles. It would be hard for someone not interested in things such as this to enjoy themselves, but if you were ever a kid playing with your toy planes and pretending to be a top fighter pilot, this is a game that you could find yourself having a lot of fun with. [...]

Halo: Reach
PLATFORM: Xbox 360
DEVELOPED BY: Bungie
PUBLISHED BY: Microsoft
RELEASE DATE: September 14, 2010

And then there was Reach…

After three world-renown games and two spinoff titles, the world of Halo was set to end with not a sequel but a prequel in Halo: Reach. The new game takes place a short time before the events of the very first game, Halo: Combat Evolved, when some lad named Master Chief was not the only remaining Spartan super-soldier.

The first three games were never praised for their story so much as the wondrous worlds, creatures, and futuristic campaigns and technologies they presented. Oh, and let us not forget the fact that they’re basically a godfather to modern day online console multiplayer gaming as it’s popular today. In Halo 3: ODST — which was set just before the start of Halo 3 — story was focused on a little more carefully, and now with Reach, they’ve brought the story full-circle by returning to the start.

The game begins with your character, Noble 6 — who you customize at the beginning as either man or woman and with whichever color scheme you prefer — joining Noble Team. [...]

The latest installment in the highly-popular Prince of Persia franchise comes along with the recently released summer blockbuster movie adaptation, but they are not the same. The best decision that Ubisoft could have been made with this new game is to pass over the opportunity to use the star-power of Jake Gyllenhaal, and stand strong in the world and stories that they’ve created.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands isn’t a prequel or a sequel but an interquel, taking place in between Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. The story follows our nimble prince as he heads to the palace of his brother, Malik. When he arrives, he sees that the palace is under attack by some treasure-seeking enemies. After meeting up with Malik, the prince discovers his brothers intent to unleash the mystical Solomon’s army to help him in defeating his palace’s attackers and save his people. The prince insists this is not a good idea considering the uncertainty of a force such as Solomon’s army, but Malik proceeds with confidence. [...]

Marjorie Liu’s Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box
Written by Marjorie Liu
PassionFruit Games
Platform: PC
Release date: April 28, 2010

Romance writer Marjorie Lui can now add “computer game creator” onto her expanding resume. Along with penning the successful Dirk and Steele books and currently writing the Black Widow comic for Marvel Comics, Lui has teamed up with PassionFruit Games to adapt Tiger Eye into an interactive game for the PC.

Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box follows the story of Dela Resse, a woman who is thrust into danger after purchasing a mysterious riddle box in China. It seems some really bad guys want their hands on the box and to further complicate things, the box also houses Hari, a powerful warrior who was imprisoned in the box 2,000 years prior. With a journey around the world from China to the United States, Dela and Hari struggle to uncover the truth about the box and in the process maybe even find love.

Adapting a popular novel into a video game is hard enough as it is, but to adapt a romance novel into a mostly male oriented market? That is a pretty big mountain to climb but PassionFruit does its best to make the game work for any fan. The player is tasked with finding various hidden objects in each level. By finding all these objects, a puzzle would be unlocked and have to be solved to move the game along. Whether you have played video games all your life or Tiger Eye is your first, this game should be easy to play or understand. The game play is another entirely different story [...]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: EA Digital Illusions CE
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: March 2, 2010

When it comes to console online first person shooters, most people fall into two camps. You have your diehard Call of Duty fans (Modern Warfare in particular) and you have your Battlefield fans (let’s ignore the Halo fanboys for the sake of argument).

Ever since the launch of the Xbox 360 I’ve been in the Call of Duty camp. Call of Duty 2 was a launch title and it ushered me into this current generation of consoles with an engaging experience that made me fall in love with the franchise. With the introduction of modern weapons in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare I fell even deeper in love. COD4 became the measuring stick of quality for all other first person shooters in this generation for me. When the first Battlefield: Bad Company was released I was eager to give it a shot but it ultimately fell short of my Call of Duty standards. So I was curious to see what changes would be made in the sequel and if those changes could get me to put down the Modern Warfare and enter the Battlefield.

The biggest change to the sequel is the implementation of destructible environments. No longer are you safe behind a wall or standing next to a barrier. Grenades, bullets and bombs will shred through the environments like paper rendering any type of cover system useless. This totally changes how you have to approach firefights in both multiplayer and single player campaigns [...]

Final Fantasy XIII Review
Platforms: Playstation 3 | Xbox 360
Publisher: Square Enix
Price: $59.99
Release date: March 9, 2010

I am a pretty big Final Fantasy fan, so of course I was going to pick this game up as quickly as I could get my grubby little hands upon it. As the first Final Fantasy game on the current generation of system, I was excepting to see the next step up in graphics above the last game, which was one of the best looking games on the PS2. More than that though, I just wanted a game that was familiar to me while having enough change so that it didn’t feel exactly like the last game. Like I said, I’m a fan of the series, so I know pretty much what I’m going to get, and this game succeeded in giving me a game I had fun with and that was worth my time. It took a little while to convince me, but once the game had its claws into me, I knew I was in for the next 40 hours of game play.

Story has always been a big element of Final Fantasy games, and this one is no different. The players live in the world of Cocoon, a land that is under siege by fear of creatures from a world below theirs called Pulse. Both worlds are controlled by entities call fal’cie, and these entities give out quests to regular people by turning them into l’cie. The l’cie are charged with a specific goal, and if they reach that goal, they become crystals and gain eternal life of some sort. Those who don’t complete their goals become monsters. Into this world walk six characters who become l’cie, and must then find out what their quest is. (Trust me, if your eyes have glazed over at that last paragraph, I don’t blame you. These are just a few of the concepts that are thrown at the player in the first few hours, and it is not the easiest thing to keep track of.) [...]

Heavy Rain
Developer: Quantic Dream
Platforms: Playstation 3
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
ESRB: M
Release Date: February 23, 2010

Because the mystery is what makes a large portion of the story enjoyable, I will try and keep spoilers from the main portion of the game to a minimum.

The highly anticipated Heavy Rain has finally arrived. After being touted as a revolutionary step forward in video gaming and spending years in development, the finished product does not disappoint.

The story revolves around four main characters and the investigation into a series of murders in a unspecified neighborhood (though contextual clues imply the setting is near Philadelphia). Over the span of three years, 8 boys disappeared, only to be found several days later, drowned in rain water, with an orchid and an origami figure near their bodies. With no real leads to go on, the police are nowhere near catching the “Origami Killer.”

A majority of the time, especially early on, the player controls Ethan Mars (Pascal Langdale), an average man whose happy married life falls apart after the accidental death of one of his two sons (taking place two years prior to the events of main game). Divorced and having a hard time connecting to his living son, Shaun, Mars suffers from blackouts and depression, made worse when Shaun disappears and is feared to be the next victim of the Origami Killer [...]

Bioshock 2
Developer: 2K/Digital Extremes/Arkane Studios
Platforms: Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | PC
Publisher: 2K
ESRB: M
Release Date: February 9, 2010

Welcome back to Rapture, the Objectivist dystopia where one of the best stories in video game history takes place. Every since Bioshock changed the way people viewed FPS games, fans have anxiously awaited the sequel. The wait is over, and patience has paid off for those who wanted more.

Bioshock 2 takes place 8 years after the events of the first game. Industrialist Andrew Ryan, the founder of Rapture, is dead, as is his arch-nemesis Frank Fontaine, whose scheming brings about a civil war that caused the city’s infrastructure to collapse. In the time since the war ended, the remaining citizens have continued their decent into complete madness, made worse by the complete isolation and continued abuse of the gene-altering drug known as ADAM. ADAM grants users special abilities, but can easily be abused, resulting in a loss of sanity.

The story begins two years prior to the events of the first game, with the player as a “Big Daddy” one of the super-strong brainwashed warriors decked out in a scuba suit/battle armor. As a mindless soldier, the player only watches as they slowly lurch through Rapture guarding a “Little Sister,” a genetically modified and brainwashed child tasked with extracting ADAM from dead bodies throughout the city. While defending the girl from “splicers,” ADAM addicts whose minds have been ravaged by prolonged abuse, you are interrupted by Dr. Sophia Lamb, a psychiatrist causing a stir within Rapture. It turns out your “little sister” is Eleanor Lamb, Sophia’s daughter. Wanting her daughter back, Dr. Lamb uses mind control to force you to kill you yourself [...]