Master Chief’s first-person shooting trilogy has come to a close, but the real-time strategy battle for the universe won’t begin until this Xbox 360 exclusive hits the ground. The events of this overhead tactical epic occur over 20 years before John-117’s video game adventures get rolling, but you’ll command lots of familiar UNSC and Covenant assets, including crowds of Warthog-driving Spartans, who haven’t yet had their numbers decimated, and fleets of Banshees and Wraiths. There are also brand new units that you’ve never seen before, like the airborne UNSC Vulture missile fortress, and you can recruit a friend to help you double-team the crafty A.I. crowds.
RTS console games are often viewed with caution, thanks to the lack of a mouse, but Halo War’s entire command system is built from the ground up, with the Xbox 360 controller in mind. Whether you send ground troops to take control of Forerunner outposts, carpet bomb a line of invaders, or blast enemies from orbit, the streamlined handling should make all those hours of living room command as intuitive as possible.
Aliens Colonial Marines
The Aliens gaming franchise has gone down the tube much like Sigourney Weaver’s acting career. There is hope, however, as the upcoming first-person shooter release Aliens: Colonial Marines should give the series the jolt it needs to once again rise to prominence. Here’s why.
4. Marine Tough
The marines that you’ll be using throughout the game aren’t just random, cookie cutter soldiers. They all have their own unique skills and personalities and react to different situations just like a real soldier would. Out of the 12 you can comprise your team of four; some are more likely to panic than others but may wield more powerful guns.
3. Not Your Average FPS
Aliens: Colonial Marines takes a different approach than other first-person shooters in how it plays out. Instead of being one long, continuous story, Aliens is broken down into three different acts with each one containing a certain amount of levels.
2. Blowing off Face-huggers
Sega’s new Aliens game will be bringing back many of the standard weapons from earlier installments in the series as well as adding new guns, too. Players will have flamethrowers, mounted guns, pulse rifles, grenade launchers, and more at their disposal.
1. Allies in Alien-killing
The online version of Colonial Marines will allow people to play through the campaign with their friends in teams of four. What’s cool about this is that players can enter the game or leave it without disrupting anything or forcing the team to go back into some type of lobby.
Alpha Protocol
When Jason Bourne came along, he showed that the world of espionage isn’t all about sipping martinis, sleeping with tons of women, and Judo-chopping your enemies, which rules out three of James Bond’s favorite hobbies. But Sega seems to think there can be a link between the two and has cooked up their own secret agent in Michael Thorton, who is refined enough to attend dinner parties yet brutal enough to take down entire crime syndicates.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Alpha Protocol is that it’s billed as a role-playing game. One might expect this since Obsidian is the developer and they’ve been responsible for such hits as Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights II. The obvious twist in Alpha Protocol is that it’s pretty much the first of its kind as a modern day, espionage RPG. Players will take Thorton from a novice spy to one capable of outsmarting his former CIA employers and uncovering the truth behind why he’s being hunted.
Even though this is an RPG, there will still be plenty of action involved. Players can make Thorton beat on his enemies with close combat moves or they can also blow them away with guns and other cool gadgets. But they’ll want to be careful as different actions will affect the ending of the game. If you’re sick of your dialogue-heavy RPGs always set in space, this game will be well worth the wait.
The Lost and Damned features a new protagonist, Johnny Klebitz, who is a member of Liberty City’s biker gang The Lost, a gang which is featured in several missions throughout the course of Grand Theft Auto IV. Dan Houser, vice president of creative development at Rockstar Games, claims the episode will show “a different side of Liberty City”.Jeronimo Barrera, Vice President of Product Development for Rockstar Games, has said that the episodes are experiments because they are not sure that there are enough users with access to online content on the Xbox 360.Take-Two Interactive’s Chief Financial Officer, Lainie Goldstein revealed that Microsoft was paying a total of $50 million for the first two episodes.
Synopsis
The Lost and Damned follows the story of Johnny Klebitz, a member of the motorcycle gang “The Lost” based in Alderney, a state adjacent to Liberty City. Johnny is the vice-president of the gang and is currently in charge while their leader, Billy Grey, is in rehab. In his time as leader, Johnny has pursued truces and civil relationships with the other motorcycle gangs, believing it most beneficial for the gang and an opportunity to maximise profits in drug deals, but Billy is soon released and resorts to his violent tactics, believing that slaughtering their enemies is the way forward. Johnny and Billy clash over the leadership and direction of the gang, while having to defend themselves from attacks by rival gangs, such as the “Angels of Death.”
At several points throughout the course of the game, the story intertwines with events from Grand Theft Auto IV and are seen and played out from Johnny’s perspective.
Gameplay changes and additions
The Lost and Damned features much of the same gameplay as Grand Theft Auto IV. Additions to the game include new weapons, such as a grenade launcher, pipe bombs and sawn-off and automatic shotguns; new vehicles such as Johnny’s exclusive motorcycle, which cannot be replaced when stolen or destroyed.
Killzone 2 is an upcoming science fiction first-person shooter for the PlayStation 3, currently in development by Guerrilla Games and to be published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the third installment in the Killzone franchise that began on the PlayStation 2 with Killzone and was continued with Killzone: Liberation on the PlayStation Portable. First announced at E3, 2005 in Los Angeles, California, Killzone 2 is set to be released on 25 February 2009 in mainland Europe excluding the UK and Ireland. For the UK, Ireland and the rest of the world the release date is 27 February 2009.
Story
In time line, Killzone 2 follows Killzone: Liberation, and Killzone, and appears to take place entirely on Helghan, the home-world of the Helghast who invaded an Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) colony in previous Killzone installments. Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA is taking the fight to the enemy’s home world of Helghan. The ISA goal is direct: capture the Helghast leader, Emperor Visari, and bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. Assuming the role of Sev, a battle-hardened veteran and a member of the special forces unit known as Legion go on a mission to take out the Helghast threat. For Sev and his squad, the invasion of Helghan is just the beginning. During the invasion of Helghan, Sev’s unit is deployed behind enemy lines to assist the main invasion force. Tasked with securing the enemy capital of Pyrrhus, the team quickly discovers that the Helghast are a more formidable enemy on their home planet. Not only have they adjusted to Helghan’s hostile conditions, they have also harnessed a source of power they can now use against the ISA – the very planet on which they live. A barren, unforgiving world, Helghan provides a ready defense with thick, acidic air, dust clouds, and violent surgical lightning storms. Sev discovers his squad is not just fighting enemy forces – their fiercest opponent may be the planet itself
Saints Row 2 is an upcoming sandbox-style action-adventure video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Saints Row 2 is the second game in the Saints Row franchise. It is being developed by Volition, published by THQ and is due for release on October 14, 2008.
Plot
The game is set 5 years after the end of Saints Row.The protagonist barely survived a boat explosion devised by former 3rd Street Saints members, and was wasted away in a dingy prison hospital, in a trauma-induced coma. Meanwhile, the 3rd Street Saints have fallen apart, Johnny has been captured by police and awaits the electric chair, Troy has become Chief of Police and Julius has abandoned his gang and is determined to live the quiet life. Lin is dead, and Dex is missing and has not been seen by anybody. It is unknown whether he is alive or not. Three new gangs control Stilwater, who have some secret alliance with the Ultor Corporation. After this time, the protagonist wakes up and meets a Hispanic fellow inmate, who recognizes the protagonist and helps him/her escape from prison. In a bloody prison break, the protagonist and the Hispanic friend find a speedboat, and successfully escape from the island. They arrive in Stilwater, only to find that it has been completely revolutionised. As the protagonist settles in, he finds that his old friend Johnny is on death row. The protagonist helps Johnny escape his courtroom precession and the Hispanic inmate introduces them to his friends, who are very willing to work under the protagonist and rebuild the “New” Saints.
The Saints now operate underneath an abandoned hotel, determined to rise against the key factions that have since set out to eliminate them forever.
Location
Over the years, Stilwater has grown rapidly. Ultor Unlimited is a citywide corporation that has supposedly helped clean the streets of Stilwater, and has expanded the city at its own expense. Stilwater, according to Ultor, has been turned into an “urban utopia”, with many dilapidated sections of the city rebuilt. The Saints Row area, for example, was reconstructed and a booming commercial industry now stands there. Six new above-ground, and four new below-ground districts will be seen in the new Stilwater, and some new projects located around the city include a graveyard, trailer park, university, marina and a nuclear power plant. The land also features many underground segments- enormous caves, which attract tourists from all around. A prison island has also surfaced off the coast of Stilwater, completely isolated from the world, very similar to Alcatraz Island. A hidden sex cave has been rumoured to inhabit in Stilwater, and it is stated that the player may find a sex doll there and use it for a weapon. Expansion is seen in the far-west of Stilwater, which includes a trailer park, and an expansion to the Suburbs district. The new Stilwater is said to be 150% of the size it was in Saints Row.
Gameplay
The game will include additional weather effects. Pedestrians will be much more responsive to both environmental stimuli (such as opening umbrellas at the sign of rain) to possibly crowding around someone that has just been shot, allowing the player to use the distraction to get away. Alternatively, the player can attempt to use other characters in the game as human shields, and can either kill the person with a headshot, or throw them away. Saints Row was well-noted for its dark humour, and such has returned in Saints Row 2. It has also been stated that the police force will no longer use spike strips, instead relying on tactics and firepower to subdue the enemy. Car physics have been stated to be majorly improved from those seen in Saints Row. Crashing, braking, turning etc has developed, with use of the rebooted physics engine. Also, it has been revealed that the entire map in Stilwater will be revealed, except for the shops. There are roughly seventy shops to explore, and it has also been revealed that shops may be bought, allowing the player to gain income. Once the player buys an entire chain of shops, billboards around the city will have his face appearing on it.
Gears of War 2 is a tactical third-person shooter video game in development by Epic Games and to be published by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360.It is the sequel to the critically acclaimed best-seller Gears of War, and was announced by lead designer Cliff Bleszinski during the 2008 Game Developers Conference on February 20, 2008. It is currently scheduled for release in November 2008 and will use a heavily upgraded version of the Unreal Engine 3.
Gameplay
The demo at the Game Developers Conference indicated that much of the core gameplay elements that were central to Gears of War (a third-person game that has a heavy emphasis on using protective cover rather than “run and gun” style game play) would be present in the sequel.
John DiMaggio, the voice actor of the game’s main character, Marcus Fenix, confirmed to IGN that players would be able to fight the large Brumaks in Gears of War 2. He also revealed there will be a deeper story with new characters, new weapons, and new enemies.The game will also include the ability for a player to duel with an AI or human opponent when both use the chainsaw attachment of the Lancer rifle, as seen in the 2008 Game Developer’s Conference promotional video, later confirmed in informal interviews with developers and a Game Informer preview.Epic released a gameplay video which revealed the player may now use “downed” enemies as shields. Bleszinski confirmed also that players who have been injured can crawl, as a final desperate attempt at life. Players would tap the ‘A’ Button to crawl faster etc. The level of blood and gore will also be increased, for example, when the player is close to death, wherever he moves there will be trails of blood behind him etc. This is the same for enemies, and the opponents who’ve been used as a meat shield. There will also be more ways to kill an opponent, such as punching them while they are downed, using the the sniper as a sledgehammer, or using the torque bow as an axe.
The cover story in the May 2008 issue of Game Informer revealed several new gameplay features. Players can now play on individual co-op play settings. One player may, for instance, play on Casual while the teammate plays on Hardcore. A “communal combat system” will adapt to give a player at a lower difficulty an equivalently fair challenge at the player at higher difficulty. The player will be able to maintain multiple save files that work with the drop-in/drop-out co-op features. There will also be a fourth difficulty level that is a level below Casual; senior producer Rod Fergusson admitted that — for the first game — “We overshot on [the Casual] difficulty and a game that was a little harder than we intended.” Some of the Xbox Live achievements can be completed through both play in single player and multiplayer mode, such as achieving 1,000 headshots. New enemy creatures are planned on being added, including one described by Cliff Bleszinski as one “that [makes] the Brumak look like a baby panda bear.”In a developer’s video, Cliff Bleszinski stated that Gears of War 2 would feature “drop in and out” co-op in the campaign.
Too Human is a video game currently under development by Canadian developer Silicon Knights for the Xbox 360. It is the first installment in a planned series of three games. Its current release date is set for August 5, 2008.
Story
The player takes on the role of Baldur, one of the Aesir. In the ancient past, the Norse gods truly existed in the form of cybernetically enhanced humans. Baldur, son of Odin, is one of these gods and it is his duty to protect the human race from an onslaught of an advancing machine presence determined to eradicate all human life.
In Too Human, the story chronicles the ongoing struggle between cybernetic Norse gods, the invading machine presence and mortal men. The story features many Norse gods and characters from Norse mythology including Thor, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, Freyja, and Mimir. The story features Yggdrasil, the tree of life, as a gateway to an alternate world known as Cyberspace that is accessed through the advanced technology of the Norse gods.
The machine presence in Too Human has a sinister purpose that is ironic when considered against the actions of the Norse gods. The human gods are using cybernetic implants to supplement their own abilities, thus becoming more machine. Conversely, the advancing machine army is harvesting human blood and limbs in an attempt to become more human.
Silicon Knights is reluctant to reveal the story details due to the game’s high budget and story driven gameplay. Despite this, a message is contained in the runes on the officially released box art for the game, reading ‘Machine Of God Of Man Of Machine’.
One of the major themes of Too Human is the extent of cybernetic upgrades that the gods use. In their battles against the approaching mechanical armies, the gods must continually enhance themselves through upgrading their cybernetics to keep up with their opponents, thus they become increasingly similar to their machine adversaries. Baldur, the title character is viewed by the other Norse gods as being insufficiently enhanced, thus “too human”.
Influences
In addition to Norse Mythology, Too Human is also influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche, who wrote a book by the name of Human, All Too Human. A Nietzsche quotation, “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he doesn’t become one himself,” is shown in the beginning of a teaser trailer for the game. The same quote was also used in the introduction movie of the PC roleplaying game Baldur’s Gate.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is the ninth installment in the Rainbow Six series (not including expansions). It is a tactical first person shooter video game and the sequel to Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas. It was announced by Ubisoft on November 20, 2007. The game was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 18, 2008 in North America and March 20, 2008 in Europe, except in Germany, where the game was delayed.The Microsoft Windows version, however, was delayed until April 15, 2008.It has been released in Japan on April 24, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and on May 29, 2008 for the Playstation 3.
A world-exclusive first-look of the game appeared in the January edition of the Official Xbox Magazine. One of the biggest announcements is that Logan Keller, the lead character from the previous game, has been removed in favor of having the player create his own character to play through the campaign. The player instead assumes the role of “Bishop”, a member of the Rainbow squad with a great deal more experience and who is more deeply involved in the story.
The game, billed as “part sequel, part prequel”, has events that run both before and concurrently to the story of Logan Keller and continue after where the first game concluded.In addition to the ability to customize a character in multiplayer, the player can now customize Bishop, Vegas 2’s new protagonist. In single-player, the developers claim to have vastly improved teammate AI, so that now teammates cover each other as they advance. There are also several new commands, for example, the ability of a teammate to throw a grenade at a specific point.
Gameplay
New features include an enhanced version of the “Persistent Elite Creation” system. Players can now customize their character. Where in the first game, the player could only customize the multiplayer character, in this game there is only 1 character for single player and multiplayer game modes. This further shows itself in the fact that experience points are now achieved through all the game modes, online as well as offline, whereas in the first game, XP was only obtained by playing the online multiplayer game modes. There is a new sprint button that allows players to weave in and out of cover at a quicker pace, the pace and stamina are contingent upon the players armor level.
The campaign focuses on the seedier side of Las Vegas, with more outdoor combat and daytime missions. Also, certain missions see a real-time day/night cycle. Certain kinds of cover can be penetrated by weapons-fire, and parts of the environment are destructible. Rather than two difficulty modes, the game has three.
Patapon(パタポン,Patapon?) is a genre-straddling video game published for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld game console combining gameplay features of music and rhythm games, real-time tactics and God games. The game is presented in a cartoonish, silhouetted two-dimensional environment designed by Rolito, and features the player acting as an immaterial deity who commands an army of caricature tribal miniature creatures by beating traditional talking drums. The game was developed by Pyramid and produced by Japan Studios, the same studio that developed and produced Loco Roco.
Gameplay
The player controls a tribe consisting of infantry, ranged troops and cavalry. Initially, the player’s warband (army) consists of only a few basic spearmen named Yaripon but as the game progresses more units, greater warriors and more powerful weapons can be obtained. The army is commanded by beating rhythm combos on four different talking drums each mapped to one of the PSP’s four control buttons (‘Pata’, ‘Pon’, ‘Chaka’ and ‘Don’ to Square, Circle, Triangle and X respectively). Different combos tells the player’s group of Patapons to do various things such as advance, attack, and defend. Keeping the rhythm going and not missing a beat puts the army in Fever mode, which increases its combat abilities.
The game and story is unfolded through a number of missions of increasing difficulty. As the player progresses, new opponents are introduced and more drum rhythms are unlocked. Between missions, new troops can be spawned by spending currency called ka-ching and various resources obtained during the missions to create stronger Patapon troops. Throughout the game a player can also edit troop formations and acquire new weapons to equip their Patapons.
Story
The Patapon were a flourishing people until they were defeated by the evil Zigoton tribe. The player takes the role of their god and uses sacred war drums to direct the Patapon tribe to take back their land. As the story progresses, the Patapon also embark on a journey to Earthend to look upon “IT,” a sacred object whose appearance and purpose is unknown to the tribe. The enemy of the Patapon tribe is the evil Zigoton Empire, a powerful tribe of circular creatures with red irises (as opposed to the white-irised Patapon) that have oppressed the Patapon since their fall from power. After fighting various battles against the Zigotons, guardian creatures such as dragons, giant worms, golems, and the ultimate evil known as Gorl, the Patapon come to Earthend (the ocean) and see the rising sun, which they assume to be “IT”. However, unfulfilled by the anticlimactic end of their journey, they come to the conclusion that “IT” is, in fact, not the sun and to realize their destiny they must cross the ocean and continue their quest. The final scene shows the Patapon and Zigoton tribes working together to build an ark to cross the ocean.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl(大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズＸ,Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu Ekkusu?, lit. “Great Melee Smash Brothers X”), often abbreviated SSBB or Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by Sora and published by Nintendo for the Wii console.Brawl was announced at a pre-E3 2005 press conference by Nintendo president and Chief Executive Officer Satoru Iwata.Masahiro Sakurai, director of the previous two games in the series, assumed the role of director for the third installment at the request of Iwata.When development of the game began in October 2005, various second and third party Nintendo developers collaborated on Brawl. The game was released on January 31, 2008 in Japan, March 9, 2008 in the United States, June 26, 2008in Australia, and June 27, 2008 in Europe.
Brawl’s roster of Nintendo characters has grown in number from that of Super Smash Bros. Melee, and is the first in the series to feature third-party characters.Like its predecessors, Brawl is a departure from traditional fighting games, notably in its simplified move commands and emphasis on ring outs over knockouts. It includes a more extensive single-player mode than its predecessors, known as The Subspace Emissary (SSE). This mode is a plot-driven, side-scrolling beat ‘em up featuring computer-generated cut scenes and playable characters from the game. The game also supports multiplayer battles with up to four combatants, and is the first game of its franchise to feature online battles via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
The game was met with generally positive reviews,with critics praising the game’s entertainment value, despite issues relating to Brawl’s loading times and graphics.The game’s musical score was composed through a collaboration between 38 renowned video game composers,and was lauded for its representation of different generations in gaming history.It received an aggregate review score of 94% on Metacritic and 93.3% on Game Rankings.Brawl has sold a total of 4.85 million units as of March 31, 2008.
Ninja Gaiden II is the sequel to Ninja Gaiden released worldwide on Xbox 360 in June, 2008. It was developed by Team Ninja and published by Microsoft Game Studios, marking the first time a Team Ninja developed game was not published by Tecmo. While sharing the same number as the Nintendo Entertainment System game Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, it is not a conversion of that older title. The game will not be released in Germany, due to lack of a USK rating.
Gameplay
Ninja Gaiden II keeps most of the core elements of its predecessor, Ninja Gaiden. Protagonist Ryu Hayabusa (voiced by Josh Keaton) engages the world in a third person over-the-shoulder perspective, beginning the game with basic, low-level abilities and weapons that can be upgraded as he progresses by discovering or buying items. Ryu can interact with the game environment by running along and jumping off walls, swinging from pole to pole, or running across water. Unlike its predecessor, which used a city designated as a hub, Ryu travels around the world, ranging from New York, Tokyo, the familiar Hayabusa Village, the Aqua Capital (with an environment similar to the canals of Venice), and regions of non-human origins, such as the Northern Purgatory, Lifeblood Shrine and Niflheim in a progressive stage-by-stage setting, reminiscent of the style of the original Ninja Gaiden platformers. Aside from fighting enemies, Ryu will need to find keys and solve puzzles in the various environments, so as to progress through the game.
In-game cut scenes serves as the narrative to the story, and dragon busts can be used to save player progress, permitting gameplay to be resumed at a later time. Certain busts enable the player to record films of gameplay and upload the videos onto Xbox LIVE for users to download and watch. Ninja Gaiden II uses the same scoring system, based on the player’s speed in clearing encounters, the number of kills achieved, the number of unused magic spells (or ninpos) remaining at the end, and the amount of essence collected. Players can compare their scores on online ranking boards.
version of the 
Killzone 2 is an upcoming science fiction first-person shooter for the PlayStation 3, currently in development by Guerrilla Games and to be published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the third installment in the Killzone franchise that began on the PlayStation 2 with Killzone and was continued with Killzone: Liberation on the PlayStation Portable. First announced at E3, 2005 in Los Angeles, California, Killzone 2 is set to be released on 25 February 2009 in mainland Europe excluding the UK and Ireland. For the UK, Ireland and the rest of the world the release date is 27 February 2009.
se. It is being developed by Volition, published by THQ and is due for release on October 14, 2008.
e. Six new above-ground, and four new below-ground districts will be seen in the new Stilwater, and some new projects located around the city include a graveyard, trailer park, university, marina and a nuclear power plant. The land also features many underground segments- enormous caves, which attract tourists from all around. A prison island has also surfaced off the coast of Stilwater, completely isolated from the world, very similar to Alcatraz Island. A hidden sex cave has been rumoured to inhabit in Stilwater, and it is stated that the player may find a sex doll there and use it for a weapon. Expansion is seen in the far-west of Stilwater, which includes a trailer park, and an expansion to the Suburbs district. The new Stilwater is said to be 150% of the size it was in Saints Row.
itically acclaimed best-seller Gears of War, and was announced by lead designer Cliff Bleszinski during the 2008 Game Developers Conference on February 20, 2008. It is currently scheduled for release in November 2008 and will use a heavily upgraded version of the 
date is set for August 5, 2008.
’s Rainbow Six: Vegas. It was announced by Ubisoft on November 20, 2007. The game was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 18, 2008 in North America and March 20, 2008 in Europe, except in Germany, where the game was delayed.The Microsoft Windows version, however, was delayed until April 15, 2008.It has been released in Japan on April 24, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and on May 29, 2008 for the 
s and 
e Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by Sora and published by Nintendo for the Wii console.Brawl was announced at a pre-E3 2005 press conference by Nintendo president and 
me a Team Ninja developed game was not published by Tecmo. While sharing the same number as the Nintendo Entertainment System game Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, it is not a conversion of that older title. The game will not be released in Germany, due to lack of a 