Survival horror is a genre I hold dear to my heart. Starting with the first time I booted up Alone in the Dark back in my youth I have been hooked. Through good (Resident Evil) and bad (Illbleed), I have tried most titles in the genre. Sadly Amy falls into the bad category.

Story- You play as Lana who is somehow connected to a mute girl named Amy. You both have seemingly escaped a place called plainly “The Center”, while on the run from “The Professor”. Why were you there? What are you running from? Well good luck cause the plot in Amy is about as deep as a puddle. A little later in the game you find out Amy has psychic powers that she can use, but even that is left in the dark as far as the plot is concerned .

Gameplay- Well where should I begin? Terrible, almost tank like controls ala Resident Evil plague you from the start. Partner that with laughably bad and glitchy melee combat and you pretty much have summed up the gameplay. The mingame for hacking is also incredibly broken. For instance on the first hacking puzzle I thought I had the solution, but upon inputting it I was told it was incorrect. A couple tries later I retried the original answer I had and voila it worked. The game feels almost unfinished and untested.

Graphics/Audio-visual- Lana and Amy’s character models are very well done, as a matter of fact all of the character models are pretty nice. Is framerate important to you? If you answered yes just stop right here. Amy runs at a solid and steady 20-30 fps. Infected (ha pun) with choppy framerates is an immediate turnoff for me and it lasts throughout the whole game. Some textures seem ripped directly from PS1 games. Overall graphically it is an insult to players to produce a game with textures and visuals this bad this late in a consoles life. The sound in Amy is well, like the rest of the game bad. Music adds nothing to the atmosphere and you never feel immersed. The voice acting is also terrible, how terrible you may ask. I would rank it #1 all time above Resident Evil and at least the voice acting in RE is quote worthy.

Overall- Amy is just plain bad. The game feels very undone and I am ashamed to admit I spent $10 of my own money on it. I cannot in my right mind recommend this game to anyone, unless you are incredibly masochistic and love suffering through the worst of the worst. The worst part is the trailers for this game make it look really promising but it fails to deliver.

Pros-
-Character models

Cons-
-Terrible plot
-Bad controls
-Glitchy combat

3 out of 10

Breach is a brand new first person shooter that just released onto the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. It comes packed with a bunch a unique features such as a destruction system, active cover and plenty of customization. It is probably one of the most unique shooters on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Breach is probably one of the most unique games on the Xbox LIVE Arcade. It is the only first person shooter that has a complete destruction engine. In some ways, the engine is similar to Battlefield Bad Company, but it is taken one level higher. Every building, support, sandbag can be blown apart in a unique way every time. For example, each stone of a building can be shot out or you can blow a huge hole in the wall.

The destruction engine in Breach is probably its most notable feature, but there are plenty of other features in the game as-well. Breach also features an active cover system. The active cover system allows players to simply take cover where ever you normally would in a real combat situation. This makes sure that you are in cover without your head, arms, legs, etc hanging out and able to be shot. While this is a great idea in concept, sometimes it does fail when your leg is barely hanging out and you can get shot. The feature is also hard to use sometimes since it is mapped to the right thumbstick and like most gamers, I am used to it being melee or knife.

The final feature that is important in this game is the customization. When you play through the game, you unlock XP to spend in the in-game store. There are 3 stores in the game, weapons, perks and equipment. In the weapons store, you are able to buy weapons for each of your classes. You unlock better weapons to buy by ranking up. The perks and equipment store work the same way.

Other than those 3 features, the game plays pretty much like any other first person shooter. There are the usual game modes you usually find in a first person shooter such as Team Deathmatch while including some brand new game modes such as Convoy.

The new game mode, Convoy is the most interesting game mode in the game. In it, you and your team must escort of a convoy of two hummers to checkpoints on the map, blow up the checkpoint barricade and repeat. The game mode is a lot of fun and keeps you and your team moving across the map. Each hummer also has a gun attached to it. The lead car always has a machine gun while the one in the back has a rocket launcher. Although at points it could seem that the rocket launcher is overpowered, with proper teamwork you can easily take down the person mounting the rocket.

Although the game at this point may sound perfect, there are still some problems with it. I have had a few freeze ups, a little lag, etc. Along with that, some of the graphics just don’t seem right. There are also time where you can see bullets flying at you, but you cannot see the enemy because he is too far away and the game won’t render him. Sometimes the game feels like it wasn’t tested enough and needs to be optimized a bit more for consoles. I am sure this will come in a title update soon after release though.

Overall, Breach is a decent game. I will say it is one of the best first person shooter on the Xbox LIVE Arcade because of its amazing destruction engine and customization. Like I said above, it does have a few drawbacks such as lag, but sometimes you can completely ignore them and still have a blast playing Breach.

Pros:
-Amazing destruction engine
-Interesting new game modes
-Customization is always great
-High replayability

Cons:
-No splitscreen
-Only online
-Lag, framerate drop, some freeze ups.
-Sometimes enemies don’t render properly

Overall score: 7/10

An XBLA copy of this game was provided from the publisher for reviewing purposes.

Dark Energy Digital, makers of Hydrophobia, have announced a massive title update dubbed Hydrophobia Pure. This unprecedented update is hitting Xbox Live Dec. 21st along with a 33% price drop, making the game doubly tempting for anyone that hasn’t already taken the plunge into the depths of The Queen of the World. Hydrophobia was released on September 29th 2010 and led-off the Xbox Live Arcade Game Feast promotion which included other high-profile titles like Super Meat Boy and Comic Jumper.

Dark Energy Digital is delighted to announce Hydrophobia Pure – a comprehensive title update which overhauls many of the games systems and introduces a number of enhancments, according to the feedback we received from critics and the community. Hydrophobia Pure will launch on Tuesday 21st December as a free update for existing Hydrophobia owners and coincides with a price drop to just 800 Microsoft points.

We’d like to thank everybody for their valuable feedback and hope you will enjoy the results in Hydrophobia Pure. A full list of updates can be found below, along with a trailer highlighting some of them.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyPBZG9e8wE

Hydrophobia Pure Features:

Improved Graphics

Character dynamic self-shadowing
Enhanced lighting
Improved textures
Better water spray effects
Improved water reflection and refraction
Enhanced electricity effects
Environmental geometry tweaks
Additional video texture work
Physics Enhancements

Increased number of dynamic objects

More realistic character water resistance
Explosive forces re-balanced
Overhauled Camera System

Camera positioned closer to character

Improved tracking of the action
Enhanced collision detection
Better FOV for framing the action
Improved Movement and Animations

More fluid and precise character control
Improved character animations add realism
Enhanced animation transitions make the character more ‘weighty’

New Climbing System

Continuous hand-over-hand climbing system added
All new, more realistic animations
More fluid climbing controls and movement

Platforming

Automatic ledge grab functionality
Improved swing mechanic
Improved jump-from-balance mechanic

Control Layout

Switch to a more traditional control layout
A to jump
LT to aim
RB to detonate enhanced Gel and Energy Rounds

Dialogue Re-Edit

Dialogue has been pruned
Irritating or extraneous lines cut

Cutscenes Re-edit

Cutscenes reviewed and edited
Overly long cutscenes shortened

Collectables

Emails and E-Books no longer interrupt gameplay when collected
Collectables re-positioned throughout levels
Points awarded for collectables tweaked

New Waypoint System

Waypoints for every objective and sub objective
Choose permanent on-screen waypoints or new MAVI only mode
Waypoints added for Ciphers and Frequency Keys with colour coding
Corpses with Frequency Keys glow orange for easy identification

Map Improved

Improved controls and button layout
Default view of Kate’s position
Toggle Kate’s position / objective location manually
Easier to navigate

Prompts

Prompts re-worked for better clarity
Prompt triggering reviewed and improved

Tutorials

Video tutorials cut back
Improved in game tutorials
New tutorial puzzles

Wading Improved

Enhanced physical character feedback from water forces
Improved transitions between wade states

Swimming Improved

Improved swimming controls, more finely balanced
180 degree swim turn removed
Improved camera behaviour when swimming
Underwater combat system streamlined

Puzzles

Improved feedback for Cipher and Frequency Keys
Ciphers re-positioned for greater accessibility
New mission orders related to Ciphers add to the backstory
Existing puzzles refined where possible
New electric puzzle elements added

Damage System Improved

Kate no longer unfairly damaged/killed by unseen elements
Fire/electrical damage reduced
Combat damage re-balanced
Overhauled Damage Feedback

Monochrome health feedback system implemented

Enhanced directional damage indication
Heartbeat force feedback and SFX added
Audio ducking system improves health feedback

All New Oxygen Feedback System

Oxygen bar added
Heartbeat force feedback and SFX added
Phobia effect for oxygen feedback enhanced
Phobia audio hallucinations added
FOV pulse added for drowning feedback
Phobia warping effect removed from non-submerged sections

Overhauled Combat System

Automatic weapon holster/unholster system
Seamless integration of combat / non-combat systems
Improved aim reticule
Aim remapped to LT
Destructible objects highlighted more clearly
Destructible objects easier to hit
A greater supply of ammo throughout the levels
AI improved and enemies rebalanced
More enemies and more engaging combat design

Weapons Improved

Sonic Rounds overheat removed
Sonic Rounds charge time halved
Sonic Rounds do more damage to NPCs and are lethal
Multiple Gel and Energy Rounds can be deployed simultaneously
Deployed Gel/Energy rounds can be detonated as a group

All New Cover System

Smoother transitions in and out of cover
Easier and more intuitive to get in and out of cover
Toggle cover whether armed or unarmed
All new animations make cover system more realistic

Checkpoints and Reloading

Checkpoint positions reviewed and improved
More checkpoints
Automated and faster reload after death

Levels and Game Balance

Vent behaviour improved
General level design tweaks
AI numbers and positioning improved
Ammo amount and placement improved
Collectable placement improved
Gameplay balance improved throughout

Value

Price dropped to just 800 Microsoft points
Trial extended to allow players to sample more of the game for free

Surprisingly, yesterday’s news IS yesterday’s news…Borderlands and Bioshock 2 DLC on sale yet again (I mean come on!), obsolete Red Dead Redemption DLC, Super Meat Boy launch discount, a fresh coat for Hydro Thunder Hurricane and more…

By some strange coincidence, there have and only will have been two XBLA games on sale during the entire month of October (Toy Soldiers, and Super Meat Boy), and most of the other sales are multiple-time repeats or content for soon to be obsolete titles (MW2 map packs, Battlefield Bad Company 2 game modes). I’m sure it has nothing to do with the October Shopping Spree Rebate (full details in the press release below). Did I mention that there will be no less than three XBLA titles on sale on November 1st, one day after the Shopping Spree Rebate promotion ends?

XBOX LIVE NEWSBEAT: VOL. 17, October 19, 2010

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Get your Game Feast on while you still can!
“Super Meat Boy” (Team Meat/Microsoft Game Studios) arrives tomorrow, October 20 and “Pinball FX 2” (ZEN Studios/Microsoft Game Studios), available exclusively on Xbox LIVE Arcade, will launch on October 27. Leap from walls, jump over seas of buzz saws, and run through crumbling caves and pools of old needles as an animated cube of meat who’s trying to save his girlfriend in “Super Meat Boy,” or enjoy a host of new “Pinball FX” features like automatic in-game challenges against your friends, split-screen local multiplayer mode (a first in video pinball history), and more in “Pinball FX 2.” Hurry and get an exclusive “Super Meat Boy” offer from Xbox LIVE Arcade, from October 20 until November 21 “Super Meat Boy” will be available for only 800 Microsoft Points. That’s a whopping 400 Microsoft Points discount off the originally announced price!

Shocktober on Xbox LIVE is fright done right…
Xbox LIVE is getting in the Halloween spirit with featured thrilling and chilling games, videos, and entertainment! Play mind-bending games like “Alan Wake” (Microsoft Game Studios), watch frightful movies from Zune video like “28 Weeks Later,” or show off your Halloween spirit and dress your Avatar as a fireman, ballerina, police officer and many more outfits from one of the costume collections. Xbox LIVE Gold members even have a chance to win great prizes when they download the Shocktober gamer picture and log on to Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm or download any game or movie.*

Xbox LIVE Shopping Spree on Xbox LIVE Marketplace is still here too! Purchase at least 2400 Microsoft Points worth of ANY Xbox LIVE Arcade or Game add-on content between now and October 31, 2010 11:59 pm EST, and receive 800 Microsoft Points – FREE!**

“Silver Screen Special” arrives on Xbox LIVE Marketplace
Movie night just got a whole lot sweeter. Silver Screen Special will feature discounted Zune movies available to Xbox LIVE members where Zune is available. Starting today, watch “Predator” for 50 percent off (only 400 Microsoft Points). Next week, instill some fear into your quiet night by getting “Daybreakers” on October 26 for 25 percent off (900 Microsoft Points)! This is only the beginning… stay tuned for more Silver Screen Specials.***

Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack delivers more value and family fun
Starting November 1, the new Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack will offer up to four individual Xbox LIVE Gold memberships for only US$99.99 – the price of two regular Xbox LIVE Gold subscriptions. Now as you prepare for the launch of Kinect for Xbox 360, which makes YOU the controller, consider giving your family premium Gold experience and access to the biggest names in entertainment.

Perfect for families, the Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack will also offer access to additional conveniences and services including the new Family Center, accessible on the Xbox dashboard and Xbox.com for easier family management, access to activity monitoring reports, and the ability to purchase and give Microsoft Points to other Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack members. For more information, visit: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/familypack

AVATAR MARKETPLACE
October 21: Iconic job costumes for Halloween
October 21: “DJ Hero® 2” (Activision)
October 25: “Star Wars® The Force Unleashed ™ II” (LucasArts)
October 25: “Red Dead Redemption™” Update (Rockstar Games)

XBOX LIVE ARCADE
October 20: “Super Meat Boy” (Team Meat/Microsoft Game Studios) – 800 Microsoft Points; November 21: 1200 Microsoft Points and available worldwide
October 20: “Costume Quest™” (THQ) – 1200 Microsoft Points and available worldwide (except Japan and Korea)
October 27: “Pinball FX 2” (ZEN Studios/Microsoft Game Studios) – Free game download and available worldwide. Tables purchased individually with free import from original “Pinball FX”

DEAL OF THE WEEK
You had the chance to vote for the feature “Deal of the Week” release for this week. The winners: “Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2” Onslaught (Electronic Arts) and “Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2” SPECACT Upgrade (Electronic Arts) Add-ons!

Week of October 18 – Xbox LIVE Member’s Choice
“Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2” Onslaught (Electronic Arts) – 400 Microsoft Points (50 percent off) and available worldwide (except India)
“Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2” SPECACT Upgrade (Electronic Arts) – 320 Microsoft Points (33 percent off) and available worldwide (except India)

Week of October 25:
“BioShock® 2” Rapture Metro (2K Games) – 400 Microsoft Points (50 percent off) and available worldwide (except Japan and Korea)
“BioShock® 2” Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack (2K Games) – 240 Microsoft Points (40 percent off) and available worldwide (except Japan and Korea)
“BioShock® 2” Protector Trials (2K Games) – 240 Microsoft Points (40 percent off) and available worldwide (except Japan and Korea)
“BioShock® 2” Big Sister Outfit (2K Games) – 240 Microsoft Points (25 percent off) and available worldwide
“BioShock® 2” Watchface Big Daddy Doll (2K Games) – 160 Microsoft Points (33 percent off) and available worldwide

Week of November 1:
“Snoopy Flying Ace” (Microsoft Game Studios) – 400 Microsoft Points (50 percent off) and available worldwide (except Korea and Taiwan)
“Risk: Factions” (Electronic Arts) – 400 Microsoft Points (50 percent off) and available worldwide
“Blade Kitten” (Atari) – 600 Microsoft Points (50 percent off) and available worldwide, now including India, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore (except Taiwan)
“Pug Dog” Avatar Marketplace Pets (Microsoft) – 160 Microsoft Points (33 percent off) and available worldwide
“Black Cat” Avatar Marketplace Pets (Microsoft) – 160 Microsoft Points (33 percent off) and available worldwide

GAME ADD-ONS
To celebrate the release of “Borderlands™” through Games on Demand, stock up on the Add-ons for half the price!
October 19-25: “Borderlands™” Secret Armory (2K Games) – 400 Microsoft Points and available worldwide (except Japan)
October 19-25: “Borderlands™” Zombie Island (2K Games) – 400 Microsoft Points and available worldwide (except Japan)
October 19-25: “Borderlands™” The Underdome (2K Games) – 400 Microsoft Points and available worldwide (except Japan)
October 25: “Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Pack” (Rockstar Games) – 800 Microsoft Points and available worldwide (except Japan)
October 27: “Hydro Thunder Hurricane™” Tempest Pack (Microsoft Game Studios) – 400 Microsoft Points and available worldwide

GAMES ON DEMAND
October 19: “Borderlands™” (2K Games) – Available worldwide (except Japan)
October 19: “F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin” (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) – Available worldwide (except Japan)
October 19: “Virtua Fighter 5” (SEGA) – Available in US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand
October 19: “Cabela’s® Big Game Hunter™” (Activision) – Available in US, Canada and Australia
October 26: “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction™” (Ubisoft) – Available worldwide
October 26: “The BIGS 2” (2K Sports) – Available worldwide (except Japan)
October 26: “Cabela’s® Alaskan Adventures™” (Activision) – Available in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia
October 26: “LOST™: Via Domus” (Ubisoft Montreal) – Available worldwide (except Japan and India)

* The Shocktober sweepstakes is available in the US, UK, and Canada

** Limit one (1) gift per person. To qualify for your gift, you must purchase the games and/or game add-on content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace using your Xbox LIVE account, by October 31, 2010 11:59 pm EST. The free Points will be deposited automatically into your Xbox LIVE account after the end of the promotion period. Please allow 4 weeks for delivery – on or around November 30, 2010. Offer available Worldwide in all Xbox LIVE countries, excluding Italy, and Japan, while supplies last, is non-transferable, not redeemable for cash, and cannot be combined with any other rebate or offer. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient. Download charges may apply as set by your ISP. In New Zealand, only adult accounts (18+) can download or stream content over Xbox LIVE Marketplace. For Xbox LIVE Terms of Use and system requirements, see www.xbox.com/live. Offer provided by: Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052.

*** Silver Screen Special discounts available in the US in October, expanding worldwide in November

Are there zombies on your lawn? You don’t want zombies on your lawn!

Kill the Zombies on your lawn!

Story: Plants vs. Zombies pretty much sums up the story of the game. You must protect your house (and your brains) from the zombies using a variety of different plants that have offensive or defensive characteristics. Through it all, your crazy neighbor, “Crazy Dave” will help you by selling you tools, plants and other equipment to help you turn away the zombie tide. You will also receive humourous correspondence from the zombies throughout Adventure mode, as they try to intimidate and trick you out of house and brain.

Gameplay: Plants vs. Zombies is billed as a Tower Defense game, and in a casual sense, it is. That’s because PvZ is a casual game. Instead of having various different paths for enemies approach, PvZ uses your lawn as a simple grid, with your base being your house/brains, and zombies coming at you from right to left. In order to grow plants to defend your base, you will need sunshine, which acts as the primary resource in the game. Sunshine falls naturally during the day, but will not provide enough currency to mount a proper defense. That’s where the Sunflower comes in. The Sunflower plant acts as your factory/mining operation, producing sunshine to fuel your “undustrial” war machine.

The mouse controls of the PC version have been replaced with a magnetic cursor, requiring you only to get within a couple squares of the item (like sunshine) that you want to pick up. To start, Adventure Mode will be one of the only game options available to you, with very few plants available for use. As you move through Adventure Mode, zombies will occasionally drop money, or gift boxes that unlock the other game modes (VS. & Co-Op, Mini Games, Survival, and Puzzle), and the last zombie in a level will drop a new plant seed for your arsenal, or a letter to taunt you. The Zombie types are almost as numerous as the plants, with a new zombie being introduced every few levels. This keeps your strategy constantly changing from round to round as you adjust to the strengths and weaknesses of the newest enemy.

Overall Adventure mode is fairly easy, I only had to retry a few levels throughout, despite the increasing difficulty as the game progresses from frontyard to backyard, from day to night, fog, and even the roof of your house. Through all this, you are earning money from defeated zombies, which can be used to purchase “twiddydinkies” from the trunk of your crazy neighbor’s hatchback. Twiddydinkies range from tools, to plant upgrades, to extras like the Tree of Wisdom. Once you get the Zen Garden, zombies will start dropping gift boxes with plants for your garden, which can be sold for huge money when they are fully grown (you’ll need the mushroom garden and aqua garden to grow those types to full size). I actually enjoy the Zen Garden’s pet/collection aspect, even felling asleep a couple times as I tended the plants.

The concepts behind the Mini Games and Puzzles are first seen in occasional levels spread throughout adventure mode. Unfortunately you only get a small taste of these unlockable game modes until you complete Adventure mode for the first time. Upon starting a second play-through, I discovered that Crazy Dave picks three random plants for you each level, requiring you to adopt slightly different strategies than your ideal formation. Once you have had your fill of Adventure Mode, the mini games, puzzle, and survivor modes add a significant amount of playtime to the game, especially once you unlock endless mode for “Survival” and “I, Zombie”.

“I, Zombie” is one of my favorite (and also most hated) features of the game, flipping the game around and pitting you against the plants with a selection of zombies at your disposal. Other mini-games take on the form of Pop Cap’s other games, like one level called Heavy Weapon, and another called Beghouled, which mimics the gameplay mechanics of popular puzzle gameBejeweled.

Graphics/Presentation: The presentation is top-notch, with everything tying together nicely. The menu system works well, splitting all the game modes and extras into three separate screens that span a single landscape. The main screen even features your house in the background, which levels up as you play through the game (house upgrades can also be purchased), making the game feel custom made just for you. Each achievement you recieve will be reflected as a lawn decoration for your leaderboard page, for all your friends (that also have PvZ) to see. This is a great way to expand the significance of achievements, by creating actual in-game rewards. The graphics are simple, but have a humor and cohesion about them. Art wise, many of the plants and zombies could easily fit right into a game like Castle Crashers.

Multiplayer: The multiplayer component of PvZ consists of the new Co-Op and Vs. Modes. Co-op has two players working together in Adventure mode, while Vs. pits one player as plants and another as zombies, with brainpower producing gravestones serving in place of sunflowers for the zombie team. In a continuing trend, Plants vs. Zombies doesn’t feature multiplayer over Xbox Live, instead offering only local Co-Op and Vs. matches.

Overall: Plants vs. Zombies is a good game. The developer has done a great job of translating the point-and-click PC original into a comfortably playable console/gamepad title. The game has been out for close to a year on other platforms, and the core experience is available for less. If you have already played PvZ on a different platform, or are leery of the “Microsoft Tax” (pushing most games from $10 up to $15), then wait for the game to go on sale and you will have a great value. Even at $15, I think Plants vs. Zombies is a fair gaming value, at least for newcomers.

The achievements are fairly easy, and are handled nicely, making them more than just a number or icon on your Gamertag. However, PvZ is yet another XBLA game that doesn’t offer Avatar Awards, a disappointing trend since this year’s Summer of Arcade ended. I really found that I only liked to play for a couple hours at a time, but this isn’t such a bad thing. Those couple hours could be a break from a game you play all the time, and are burned out on. I found myself going back to such games with renewed interest after a couple hours of PvZ.

Pros:
+Polished Product
+New MP modes
+I, Zombie
+Zen Garden

Cons:
-No online MP
-Core experience is available on other platforms for less money

Overall score: 8.25/10

A Copy of this game was provided to the reviewer for reviewing purposes from the publisher

One month ago I predicted that Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light would round out Xbox 360′s Summer of Arcade 2010. Today, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix Europe confirm my prophecy…

Unlike Nostradamus, whose prophetic quatrains were steeped in mystic prose, my prediction was based on a Press Release and the official Summer of Arcade calendar. Coming in at just over 2GB, Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light is set to be one of the largest Xbox Live Arcade games to date.

But wait, there’s more! In a move surely inspired by the late great Billy Mays, Crystal Dynamics will be offering the first Guardian of Light DLC pack for FREE on Xbox Live for the first 30 days after (edit: the DLC’s)launch!

LARA CROFT AND THE GUARDIAN OF LIGHT
RELEASES THIS WEDNESDAY ON XBOX LIVE ARCADE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – August 16, 2010 – Crystal Dynamics®, a part of Square Enix Europe, is pleased to announce that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light™ will be available this Wednesday, August 18th, on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft as a part of Microsoft’s third annual Summer of Arcade program.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is the first fully downloadable title from developer Crystal Dynamics as well as Lara’s first downloadable Arcade adventure which introduces a franchise first isometric camera and two player cooperative adventure.

“We put everything we could into our first downloadable adventure and we’re very proud of what we have created,” said Darrell Gallagher, General Manager of Crystal Dynamics. “We designed a game that can be played in three ways; as a compelling single-player adventure, as a fun local co-op game and as a wider online co-op experience and we’re pleased that gamers will have the chance to play both single player and local co-op modes on their living room couches at launch, with online co-op allowing gamers to play across multiple couches arriving shortly afterwards.”

There is also a full slate of DLC coming throughout the rest of the year; which includes three gameplay packs focusing on combat, exploration and puzzles and two character packs which allow the player a chance to experience the adventure with other well-known videogame characters. A free update will come soon after launch on Xbox 360 offering online cooperative play (offline cooperative play will be available on August 18) and full leaderboards.

”We believe we have delivered a game which opens up new types of gameplay that will excite not only Tomb Raider fans, but all fans of digital gaming. The launch of Guardian of Light is just the beginning, we have a lot of additional content planned and we will be offering the first DLC pack for free for the first 30 days, exclusively on the Xbox 360, so that gamers can get a taste of some of the exciting extras we have in store,” continued Gallagher.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light begins with Lara searching for an ancient artifact called the Mirror of Smoke. Upon reaching the mirror, she is ambushed by a mercenary army who steals the mirror and releases an ancient evil named Xolotl. Xolotl proceeds to wipe out the armed force and escape with the artifact. Luckily, the disturbance also awakens the Guardian of Light, Totec. In order to track down and stop Xolotl, Lara must join forces with Totec and ensure the world doesn’t plunge into an age of never-ending darkness.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be available this Wednesday, August 18th on Xbox LIVE Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points and will be available for the PlayStation®3 PlayStation®Network and PC (via Steam) on September 28th, 2010 for $14.99. The game is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

For more information, please visit www.laracroftandtheguardianoflight.com or follow on Twitter and Facebook – @Crystaldynamics – Facebook.com/LaraCroft

Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light is the first console-based digital-distribution-only game to be born from the Tomb Raider franchise, and will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade starting August 18th for 1200 MSP ($15.00) as the last title of Summer of Arcade 2010.

Launching as a timed exclusive, Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light for Xbox 360 will have a one-month head-start over the Playstation 3 and PC versions. While Tomb Raider has always used a third-person camera, Guardian of Light changes up the formula with a 3/4 isometric angle above the action and will focus on cooperative combat and puzzle solving.

If you’ve worn out the free avatar hot-pants and can’t wait for the game, Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light Avatar items will be available in the Avatar Marketplace starting on July 29th 2010, with prices ranging from 40 to 240 Microsoft Points.

Hanging with Mr. Co-oper

LARA CROFT AND THE GUARDIAN OF LIGHT

ON XBOX LIVE® – NEWPREMIUM THEME AND AVATAR APPAREL

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – July 23rd, 2010 – Crystal Dynamics®, a part of Square Enix Europe, is pleased to announce that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light™ Premium Theme and Avatar items are now available on Xbox LIVE ® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

In Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Lara Croft joins forces with Totec, The Guardian of Light, in order to fight off an ancient evil threatening to engulf the world in never-ending darkness. Players will journey through the game in a franchise first isometric cooperative adventure that aims to deliver intense action and bite-sized puzzles.

You don’t have to wait until Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is released to get started! Head over to the Xbox LIVE Avatar Marketplace from July 29th, 2010 for your first chance to get Lara Croft gear for your Xbox LIVE Avatar in one of the many themed outfits and accessories from the game. Whether it’s Lara’s iconic shorts or Totec’s battledress, you can experience part of the brand new adventure early by equipping your Avatar with plenty of colorful and intricate new outfits and accessories! Items range from 40 Microsoft Points to 240 Microsoft Points.

A Premium Theme is also available now on Xbox LIVE. Deck your console out with The Lava Tomb as Xolotl and his minions take over your system in this haunting theme for your Xbox. The Lava Tomb is available for download now on Xbox LIVE for 240 Microsoft Points.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will launch on August 18th, 2010 as part of Xbox LIVE Arcade’s Summer of Arcade, delivering this season’s biggest and best downloadable games. Available for 1200 Microsoft Points, the game is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

For more information, please visit www.laracroftandtheguardianoflight.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook – @Crystaldynamics – Facebook.com/LaraCroft

About Square Enix Ltd.

Square Enix Ltd., a part of the Square Enix Europe business unit, is a London-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd., a holding company leading the Square Enix Group. Square Enix Ltd. publishes and distributes entertainment content under the Square Enix Group’s internationally renowned brands such as Square Enix, Eidos and Taito in Europe and other PAL territories. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as IO Interactive™, Crystal Dynamics® and Eidos Montréal. The Square Enix Group boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 97 million units worldwide, DRAGON QUEST® which has sold over 54 million units worldwide and TOMB RAIDER® which has sold over 35 million units worldwide, together with other well established products and services.

More information on Square Enix Ltd. can be found on the Internet at http://www.square-enix.com

DRAGON QUEST, FINAL FANTASY, SQUARE ENIX and the SQUARE ENIX logo are registered trademarks of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. in the United States and/or other countries. TAITO is a registered trademark of Taito Corporation. LARA CROFT, EIDOS, TOMB RAIDER, CRYSTAL DYNAMICS, the CRYSTAL DYNAMICS logo and LARA CROFT AND THE GUARDIAN OF LIGHT are registered trademarks or trademarks of Square Enix Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Square Enix Limited is a company registered in England & Wales under the number 1804186 whose registered office is Wimbledon Bridge House, 1 Hartfield Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 3RU

Spike TV and Pipeworks Software bring the Deadliest Warrior show from your TV to your…TV!

Story: Deadliest Warrior does not have an over-arching narrative like some fighting games. Instead you are treated with game-play tips and historical information about your warrior during loading screens.

Gameplay: Deadliest Warrior is a fast paced fighting game that focuses on the realities of blade-based combat. Arms and legs can become injured and useless or even dismembered, causing your life bar to drain away as you bleed to death. Before you get to thinking that you’ll be hopping around like the Black Knight in Monty Python’s The Holy Grail, losing a leg causes instant death, as does losing your right arm or your head (this one should be obvious). Each round could potentially last only seconds should a projectile attack catch you in the head. These take-downs are very satisfying, as long you’re not the one falling to the ground in slow-motion.

Eight historical warrior types are represented in the game, ranging from the heavily armored European knight to the threadbare Apache who’s only “armor” options consist of different types of war paint. The remaining antagonists in this quest to answer the question of “who is the deadliest warrior?” are the Centurion (an ancient Roman soldier that led 100 men in battle), a Spartan (a warrior from the ancient Greek state of Sparta, you might have heard of them…), the quick and deadly Ninja and Samurai from Japanese antiquity, a Viking warrior, and the dreaded Pirate.

Each fighter comes equipped with three different weapons designed for different ranges of combat. Your primary weapon is for close range fighting. This will vary from the Pirate’s dagger to the Knight’s broadsword. Medium range weapons go from the Apache’s relatively modest twin tomahawk axes all the way up to the Samurai’s Naginata. Each warrior also features a long range weapon with varying quantities of ammunition based on how much damage each projectile does. By playing through Arcade mode for each fighter, you can unlock alternate weapons and armor that have advantages and trade-offs compared to the default equipment. Two of these upgrades are acquired by beating bonus rounds that channel the spirit of the car demolition bonus round in Street Fighter II.

Fighting is fast paced (sometimes too fast) and fairly well balanced, although the pirate tends to dominate more than other classes due to his powerful and hard to dodge pistols. While the combat system is nowhere near as intricate as the Bushido Blade games that Deadliest Warrior pays tribute to, each fighters’ move lists are somewhat unique, with different combos for close and medium range weapons. Due to the speed of the combat, and the inherent delay and inconsistency of internet transmission, Deadliest Warrior is a bit difficult to play online. Deadliest Warrior is great if you have friends that can come over to play. You could easily recreate the atmosphere from the famous NHL ’93 on Sega Genesis scene from “Swingers”, as there will be plenty of boastful cheers and jeers, especially during the slow-mo dismemberment and decapitations.

Once you beat Arcade Mode with all eight fighters, you will unlock the Challenge Mode, which features the bonus round challenges, as well as Survival Mode and Survival Slice Mode. Survival mode is just what you would expect. You choose your warrior and your equipment, then face an unending stream of random opponents while you try to stay alive without health regeneration or any resupplies for your projectile weapons. Survival Slice mixes this up a bit by combining Survival mode with the Slice challenge, where almost every hit will take off a limb. These two modes remind me a bit of the mode in the original Bushido Blade which challenged you to fight through 100 enemies, although Deadliest Warrior only features one-on-one combat.

Graphics/Audio: Pipeworks Software focused on the warriors when it comes to graphics. The character models are detailed and each fighter’s animations give them a unique identity. The slow motion effects for dismemberments and special attacks add a bit of drama to the fast paced game-play, highlighting moments of intense violence and gore. Weapons leave (usually) subtle trails which helps with keeping an eye on the lighting fast action. This attention to detail in the fighters may have caused the levels to suffer a bit graphically. The levels themselves look well enough, but I feel like the ground textures feel a little flat, at least the levels that have grassy areas.

Overall: I’m impressed with Deadliest Warrior, and I think it came in at the right price (800 MSP / $10.00 US). I found myself wishing that the game had come in at the next-higher price-point and offered a more in-depth experience with a deeper fighting system, more alternate weapons and armor to change up the way each character plays, along with more challenges, levels, and fighters. Hopefully we’ll see some DLC from Pipeworks with some generous content that will take this already fun game over the top

-Taste of the classic Bushido Blade recipe
-Good variety of warriors
-Pick up and play fun
-Blood

Pros:

Cons:
-Less filling than the classic Bushido Blade recipe
-Only four different stages (each stage is shared by two different fighters)

Score: 8 out of 10

A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purpose

Like a real black light, turning on Blacklight: Tango Down reveals things you really don’t want to see… at least not in a $15 game that you can’t return or trade in toward something better.

Story: THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. SERIOUSLY.

Gameplay: Blacklight Tango Down almost completely forgoes any attempt at a single-player experience (with not even 1 achievement reserved for offline play), only offering four “Black Ops” missions which can be played solo or cooperatively over Xbox Live. I put “Black Ops” in quotes because there isn’t much “black” to the missions. Your enemies always know you are coming and always know where you are. Even though health packs and medical-stations are frequent, and you automatically heal up to 50% health level, Black Ops can still be annoying. Damage adds up fast (especially when the enemies spawn around or behind you), and you could quickly find yourself dying before you realize you need to run back to the last medical station. Which wouldn’t be a problem, if the “checkpoints” throughout the missions were actually checkpoints. If you die, you have to restart the entire mission. The only exception to this is in co-op, where you will re-spawn if your partner makes it to the next checkpoint.

The mission objectives are pretty disappointing as well. You are frequently tasked with “hacking” terminals and other equipment. The hacking is far from leet however. Bet you never thought you would be playing Simon (the flashing light memory game) in a futuristic FPS, did you? Yeah, Blacklight uses Simon as it’s method for unlocking doors and disabling high-grade military equipment. Some terminals aren’t even that advanced, tasking you with sliding some triangles to the middle line using left or right on the d-pad. The one good thing about Black Ops mode is that you earn experience points which go toward raising your rank, thus helping you unlock attachments for customizing your weapons for multi-player. There is only one gun body per class (SMG, Assault, Sniper, etc.), which is then customized by changing sights, barrel, stock, etc.

Of course, the only thing worse than Black Ops is the multi-player game modes. The basics are all represented here, including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Retrieval (CTF), Domination, Detonation (Search & Destroy), Last Man Standing (elimination free-for-all), and Last Team Standing (elimination team deathmatch). In a total backwards move, Zombie Studios decided that you should always spawn in the same spot. In an effort to address “Spawn Camping”, Zombie Studios placed auto-turret guns in each teams’ spawn base, but that just pushes spawn camping back a ways, so spawn exits are camped, instead of the spawn point itself. Brilliant. Combine this with the fact that death comes even cheaper than in Call of Duty’s Hardcore mode, and you will see just what a wonderful experience Blacklight: Tango Down isn’t.

All the “high-tech” gear like the EMP and Digi grenades are just digital versions of flash-bangs and flares. The HRV (Hyper Reality Visor), which lets you see where enemies are regardless of walls, is more of a hindrance than a help. If you are too close to your cover, you can’t turn the visor on without backing up to make room for your hand to come up and flip the switch, and it takes way too long to turn off. You will frequently get caught using your visor and not be able to get back to reality in time to get your gun sighted in on an enemy that is about to come around the corner.

Searching for games to join can take several minutes sometimes, and you will frequently wait even longer once you get into a lobby.

Graphics/Audio: Blacklight is using Unreal Engine 3, which makes the poor gameplay all the more disappointing (since they had time to work on gameplay mechanics and level design, instead of programming a game engine from scratch). The graphics are decent, but not anywhere near as good as they could be (think Batman: Arkham Asylum). Sounds work, although the frag grenades sound more like a high caliber pistol shot than a grenade blast. During Black Ops, your mission liaison has a heavy Russian accent, and sometimes I couldn’t tell what she was saying if I didn’t have the volume up high.

Overall: Blacklight: Tango Down is a pass. The multiplayer only achievement list lets you know that the game-play is mediocre and that they have to prop it up by forcing you to keep playing online. There are barely any players in the playlists now, and things will only get worse each week as more and more XBLA games are released, especially with the Summer of Arcade looming on the horizon. Your money would be better spent on a map pack for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (which I have said before (very vehemently I might add) is not worth the points).

Pros:
-It was kind of funny when I got hit by a train in the subway
-Shooting the crazies/mutants/infected in Black Ops (not exactly sure what they are)

Cons:
-Spawn points
-Not enough crazies/mutants/infected to shoot in Black Ops

Score: 6 out of 10

A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purpose

Look Down Dere!

J Kenworthy Entertainment (of Cloning Clyde fame) and NinjaBee (umm, also of Cloning Clyde fame) launched their latest project, “Ancients of Ooga” on Xbox Live Arcade today…

Considered to be a “spiritual successor” to the now Xbox Live Arcade Hit, Cloning Clyde, Ancients of Ooga is a quirky-charactered action-platformer and is available now exclusively on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points.

Ancients of Ooga was develeped by J Kenworthy Enterainment and joins NinjaBee’s growing library of published games, which includes popular titles such as Band of Bugs, A Kingdom for Keflings, and Outpost Kaloki X.

Get a glimpse of the action in the trailers below, or download the free trial on your Xbox 360 or at xbox.com

Debut Trailer:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7mVl2Bz6N0

Launch Trailer:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g6Q-ImRVgzU