Orcs. Must. Die. That’s the premise for Robot Entertainment’s aptly-named Orcs Must Die!, a tower defense game with third-person action gameplay.

In this downloadable Xbox Live Arcade and PC title, you play as a cheeky, yet clumsy war mage apprentice who’s part of an Order. Unfortunately, said Order was wiped out by, you guessed it, orcs, and as such, you are the last and only hope in defeating the hordes of fortress-invading orcs (and other creatures) and protecting Rifts. These Rifts are basically portals, and if too many enemies enter them in a level, then it’s game over. To help protect the Rifts, you’ll get to lay down various offensive and defensive-based traps within the game’s 24 levels, which all have a fortress setting.

While playing, you control the aforementioned war mage in third-person view as you run around, place traps and fight enemies. Deploying traps cost money, which are earned by killing enemies. Besides the flood of both sword and bow and arrow-wielding orcs, you’ll be up against other creatures like Ogres (which have high amounts of health and armor), Kobold Runners (which are faster-than-normal critters that head straight towards Rifts), Gnoll Hunters (which are fast creatures with high amounts of health and armor that hunt down the player), Hobgoblin Shaman (which revive dead enemies back to life), and Hellbats (which are flying creatures that shoot fireballs and avoid floor traps).

Enemies come in finite number of waves (highest is 12), and they’ll pour in one group at a time or all at once through one or more entrances. After every wave you complete you’ll be given a few seconds to place traps before the next wave starts. There’s no time limit after every third or so wave, so you have all the time in the world to place traps and plan ahead at those points. The amount of traps you can equip is limited to the number of trap slots available to you in a level, and the level design and enemy types will dictate the traps you use.

There are 19 traps in all with some including spiked tiles, swinging maces, sticky tar pits (which slow down enemies), fiery brimstones (which burns and damages enemies over time), steam traps (which levitate and immobilize enemies), wall grinders (which sucks in and grinds up nearby enemies), and spore traps (which makes enemies temporarily fight for you). You can even drop in bow and arrow-toting archers and sword-bearing paladins who are able to shoot enemies from afar and deal damage in close-quarter combat, respectively.

In addition to traps, you can also engage directly in combat yourself and kill enemies with weapons and magic spells via the R trigger. You can wield a crossbow and bladestaff (which is essentially a sword), and can cast elemental-based magic spells like fire to burn enemies and wind to blow them away. All weapons and magic have secondary abilities (which is done via the L trigger) as the crossbow, for example, let’s you stun enemies, while the fire spell lets you create a wall of fire. However, casting magic requires mana, which recharge over time, and weapons and magic spells/equipment take up trap slots.

The combined third-person combat and tower defense elements make OMD! very fun to play. The gameplay is enjoyably quick and engaging, and it’s satisfying seeing your traps gorily slaughter hordes of enemies, especially when the traps are grouped together to create an awesomely diabolical and ridiculous ultimate defense system. Being able to place rows of floor spikes, tar pits and fiery brimstones one after another, and then adding projectile-based arrow walls above said floor traps while dozens of archers stand by is, needless to say, amusingly great.

And, really, that’s what’s most fun about this game (and in any tower defense game): being able to use any combination of traps and creating a super, impenetrable defense system. It’s feels great seeing enemies incapable of getting passed your traps — but not so when they actually do break through.

The biggest problem with OMD! is that it can sometimes get too chaotic and unmanageable when trying to fend off enemies who pour in from multiple entrances simultaneously. In a few certain levels, which are noticeably more difficult than the rest, you sometimes don’t have sufficient amount of money to place enough traps. Because of this, you’re forced to frantically scurry back and forth between entrances to deal with enemies, which can get out of control. In most cases, while you’re busy killing enemies at one entrance, there’s already a flood of enemies pouring in from another entrance to the point where killing everyone before they reach the Rift is just too difficult.

Even if you do have enough money to place traps to help you out, you likely won’t be deploying anything until after you defeat an entire wave of enemies since your main focus by then will be to just chase after everyone and kill them off as quickly as possible with your weapons and magic. Plus, not only is it too hectic and time-consuming to place traps while in the midst of combat, but you can’t actually attack while selecting and deploying traps (which is done via the controller’s shoulder buttons).

As a reminder, it’s only just a few levels that are difficult and frustrating (at first), but they are difficult and frustrating enough that they partially hamper the enjoyment of playing OMD!, especially when trying to get a high/perfect level completion rating. What would make things easier is if the game paused the action or slowed down time when selecting and placing traps; this would give you time to calm down and think. Alternatively, it would be nice if there wasn’t a time limit, or if you had more time to place traps after every wave, since it’s not fun being rushed. It would also be helpful if you earned a bit more money from kills and/or if there was an option to enter a top-down/isometric view of an entire level so traps could be immediately placed anywhere without having to physically run to a location.

Any of these implementations would make OMD! a lot less tense and frustrating. While the game’s challenge could diminish as a result, the game would still be fun regardless since the joy of OMD! is having time to build that ultimate defense system and utterly conquering, not rushing to place traps or chasing down enemies who break through your defense(s).

The good news, though, is that the majority of levels are enjoyable and manageable, and thankfully, they don’t get too difficult as you progress through the game. When you do complete a level you’ll almost always unlock a new trap, which is rewarding. It’s also fun playing around with different combination of traps and figuring out which work well together. For example, you’ll get good results placing tar pits under a swinging mace. Also, you’ll be influenced to use certain traps depending on both the layout of the level and enemy types. Spring traps, for instance, work well in levels with death pits, and archers and steam traps are good against levels with Hellbats.

It’s great that the game nudges you to switch up traps since early on I was getting into the habit of just using floor spikes and arrow walls. I also ended up grouping traps together in specific spots instead of laying them out across a level. While this was effective, it was also a bit disappointing since a lot of levels weren’t being utilized, in terms of space. Also, some traps, like wall grinders and wall blades, seemed to be useless most of the time since they didn’t have long enough range.

Besides the aforementioned traps, there are also environmental traps/weapons in some levels including a mounted crossbow, chandeliers, spiked logs, and cauldrons full of boiling oil and acid. These traps are nice additions, but some aren’t as useful as they should be mainly because they don’t have a wide enough radius to kill a large number of enemies at once. Spiked logs worked well and mounted crossbows worked really well against Ogres, but the cauldrons full of oil and acid didn’t seem that helpful. To be fair though, I rarely took advantage of the environmental traps since they were easily forgotten during the heat of battle. Plus, you have to make sure traps like chandeliers hit enemies in time, which is a bit challenging when you’re, you know, busy battling a flood of enemies. Again, this is where a slo-mo/pause mechanic would have helped.

Aside from environmental traps, there are also upgrades available for your standard traps. Upgrading a tar pit, for example, will give you an extra sticky tar pit that slows enemies even more, while enhancing a fiery brimstone will make enemies burn longer. However, it’s disappointing that most upgrades just reduce purchase cost and it takes a while to upgrade just a single trap (in one playthrough I was only able to upgrade around eight out of 19 traps). Also, you can’t upgrade traps while you’re in a level; instead, you have to either complete the level or go back to the level selection screen, which is a tad bit inconvenient. And speaking of the level selection screen, it would have been helpful if it included screenshots of levels for memory sake.

Interestingly, the game features another upgrade system that allows you to gain player and trap augmentations via “weaver” cards. There are three card types — “Steel,” “Elemental” and “Knowledge” — and each offers different enhancements; Steel focuses on traps and “guardians” (i.e., archers, paladins), Elemental focuses on the player and magic, and Knowledge combines both Steel and Elemental upgrades. Depending on which path of a card’s skill tree you choose, you’ll end up specializing in one area for that level only, assuming you have enough money to purchase an upgrade. So, for example, choosing the traps’ path via the Steel card can make all of your timed traps reset 20% faster or can make all of your piercing/cutting traps cause a bleeding effect. On the other hand, selecting the guardians’ path via the Steel card can add a stun ability for paladins, or can grant guardians both increased health and health regeneration. As for the Elemental card, you can earn things like a flame crossbow and “holy” sword/bladestaff, while the Knowledge card can grant things like increased running speed or provide Rifts a defensive lightning strike ability.

Overall, the weaver augmentation system is a great addition that helps make OMD! more fun and interesting. However, you may not take advantage of the weaver upgrades that much since they’re expensive and require money that could otherwise be spent on traps that actually kill enemies. Furthermore, by the time you get enough money to place a ton of traps, weaver upgrades don’t become that useful since your traps will be taking care of everything by then. Still, though, it’s hard to complain, and the weaver system is appreciated.

With that last bit in mind, there are some elements to the game that feel smart and thoughtful. For example, you can distract enemies who are too close to a Rift by getting near them, which is helpful. You can also pick up health potions and coins from dead enemies at times, place traps far away, and take shortcuts in levels via portals. It’s also great that downed archers and paladins come back to life after every few waves so you don’t waste money replacing them. And then there are small blue orbs that float between Rifts and entrances that seemingly provide visual guidance. It’s these small things that make a big difference, and it feels like the game’s developers really took the time to test and play their game.

On the other hand, it would have been nice if the game included more level variety. As much fun as the levels were, some could at least have taken place somewhere else other than inside a fortress (like maybe in a courtyard?). Also, adding co-op would make OMD! much more fun and could definitely fit into the game.

Other gripes, though minor, include the inability to re-access the trap selection menu after you’ve placed traps in a level prior to the start of the first wave. So if you already set up traps but want to swap out and equip different ones, you’ll have to restart a level, which is a bit inconvenient. The trap selection menu also provides a list of enemies that are in a level, so you have an idea of what traps to use. The only slight downside is that you can’t access the enemy list once the first wave begins, so you’ll have to rely on memorizing what types of enemies there are. Another gripe is that attacking enemies can get physically tiring since you have to rapidly press the R trigger to constantly attack; it would have been nice if you could just hold the R trigger, instead.

Additionally, there’s a problem with Ogres. Every time one hits you you’ll get stunned, but the stun effect lasts way too long, which means an Ogre will keep whaling on you as you stand there helplessly. Fortunately, you can escape and run away the very second you’re OK — I mean, the very second you’re OK — but if you have multiple Ogres hitting you, then it almost always means death. This, as you can imagine, is unfair and annoying.

With all the flaws though, none of them are deal breakers, and OMD! is still a fun game that contains a pleasant sprinkle of humor, as well as charming and cartoony visuals and art style. The game also offers incentives to keep you playing more than once. There are three difficulty settings that can be tackled, and you can retry a level to get a better level completion rating and, thus, earn more skulls to upgrade traps. Also, you’re able to retry a level with traps that weren’t available at the time, which is great.

OMD! is a surprisingly fun game that offers high replay value, and the third-person tower defense gameplay is a blast. Setting up a combination of traps and then seeing enemies getting pulverized by those traps is fun and satisfying. What isn’t fun is dealing with an overwhelming flood of enemies with insufficient amount of traps. It can get too chaotic and unmanageable at times, but thankfully, this isn’t the case most of the time. Overall, OMD! is highly recommended, and hopefully there will be a sequel since a lot could be added like co-op, more diverse environments, and more spells and over-the-top traps.

Already an awesome game, Tropico 4 will new dlc that should keep you busy building a Caribbean paradise. The downloadable content is available now and it adds more fun to the city building game. This dlc is probably preparing the world of Tropico 4 for their up upcoming “Modern Times” that will make the game become more futuristic. Below you can see the screenshots as well as details.

• Building: Cement Factory (accelerates all constructions on the island)
• Character Trait: Constructor (free cement factory, construction workers gain skill faster)
• Character Outfit / Vanity Item: Engineer helmet (for male and female avatars)
• Mission theme: The largest city in the Caribbean – build a huge city across the whole island while fighting all kinds of disasters
• Decorations: Tropican flagpole, Small park, Flower bed 2, Flowering tree 2, Constructor statue

Our friends over at Kalypso have released some nice screenshots of their upcoming Legends of Pegasus. This game looks fun and is set in a futuristic world in which mankind has made tremendous progress colonizing space. As a real-time and turn-based strategy game, Legends of Pegasus will allow players to expand our civilization to other planets in our galaxy as well as building factories, laboratories and shipyards, researching new technologies and designing new spacecrafts to keep on exploring new galaxies.

Below you can see all features as well as the new screenshots of Legends of Pegasus.

Features of Legends of Pegasus:

• 4X SF setting: eXplore! eXpand! eXploit! eXterminate!
• Unique mix of turn-based and real-time strategy gameplay
• Stunning 3D graphics
• Three races and twelve playable factions
• Hundreds of technologies to research in a dynamic and extensive tech-tree
• A living universe, filled with numerous non-player civilizations
• Easy to learn, but difficult to master, the game can be enjoyed both by new gamers and by hardcore 4X veterans
• An epic single player campaign
• Multiplayer features
• Extensive modding options

Screenshots

[Exploding Rabbit]

First-person shooters are hugely popular these days and the Call of Duty series is currently the king of FPSs. Other shooters try to copy the CoD formula, but they have never been able to dethrone the king.

Previous CoDs including Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops have each earned a whopping $1 billion in sales, and with both titles touted as the biggest entertainment launches in history, the next CoD, Modern Warfare 3, has much to live up to. This is especially true with whole MW 3 vs. Battlefield 3 war that raged the last few months, as well as the Infinity Ward departures in 2010 that saw the IW founders/CoD creators fired, resulting in some staffers quitting.

So with that last bit in mind, Sledgehammer Games helped IW develop MW 3, which is a direct sequel to MW 2. In the threequel, Russia invades the U.S. and Europe resulting in World War III, and the main antagonist this time around is Russian terrorist Vladimir Makarov (you may remember him from MW 2’s infamous airport level). Like in previous CoDs, you’ll jump in the shoes of different soldiers all around the world like “Frost” from U.S. Army’s Delta Force, “Yuri” from Task Force 141 and “Burns” from U.K.’s S.A.S.. Price and Soap, the main characters from MW 1 and 2, are also back, and like the aforementioned games, there’s a bunch of set pieces packed in as well.

From the get-go, MW 3’s six or so hour single-player campaign puts you right into the action. After a few brief cutscenes and some flashbacks of the events leading up to MW 3, the game wastes little time in letting you gun down enemies. As you fight alongside A.I. teammates, who will almost always accompany you and whom you usually have to follow, you’ll play through various levels set in different parts of the world. You’ll shoot your way through 17 levels that range from a London subway, an African village, and hazardous gas-filled streets of Paris to Germany’s ruined streets and buildings, a bunker in wintery Russia, and a fortress in nighttime Czech Republic.

The variety of levels and environments are great, even if they’re linear like in previous CoDs. While there’s really only one route to take in each level, this is partly compensated with fun gameplay variety and action-packed set pieces (more on that below). So not only are there on-foot shooting levels, but there are also various gameplay sequences that let you use certain weapons and vehicles. For example, in certain sections you get to be the gunner of a chopper, tank and AC-130 aircraft; drive a raft and an underwater vehicle; call in A-10 gun run support; and remotely operate a turret-equipped UAV and unmanned ground vehicle. There’s also some stealth gameplay like a sniper level, as well as one awesome moment that let’s you basically become a “Juggernaut” as you wear heavy bullet-absorbing armor and wield a light machine gun.

All of those gameplay moments are fantastic and keep the game fun and interesting. There’s never really a dull moment since the game changes things up at a nice rate. On top of that, the overall experience is supplemented with solid, familiar controls, smooth 60 frames per second gameplay, and thrilling set pieces that you’ve come to expect from the CoD series.

From beginning to end, MW 3 is filled with that familiar high-octane action complete with explosions, bravado, gunfire, and bombast. It’s like a Michael Bay action movie, and there’s a lot of explosive set pieces thrown in for good measure including slo-mo door breaching, buildings/monuments exploding, and vehicle chase sequences. Yes, for CoD series’ veterans, you’ve already seen these before, and, thus, the awful familiarity keeps the set pieces from being truly out of this world, despite them being spectacular in nature; nevertheless, though, they’re still great eye candy and new CoD players should find them amazing. Even as someone who’s played previous CoDs, there are still a few set pieces that manage to wow and surprise. One that really stands out is an airplane level that has you shooting enemies in zero G. There’s also another moment where you have to shoot two guys in a car in slo-mo while you ram them with your vehicle. And driving a military raft on NYC’s Hudson River with jets flying above and missiles raining down causing warships to explode all around you is pretty awesome as well.

In terms of the game’s weapons, MW 3 has plenty including assault rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, sniper rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades. With an abundant supply of guns and ammo lying around from enemy corpses, the weapons, overall, feel satisfying to shoot. Thankfully, unlike some shooters, you usually won’t be shooting enemies far away like little ants, and any pesky foe that is at a distance or hiding behind cover can be taken out more easily thanks to a mechanic that lets you instantly and precisely aim at enemies by quickly tapping the aim trigger on the controller. This is a great feature that eases the frustration of shooting hard-to-aim enemies and every shooter should include this kind of aim-assist.

Meanwhile, the game’s story is similar to previous CoDs as it’s somewhat split into multiple paths when switching between different military teams throughout the game. For example, the U.S. Army’s Delta Force is focused on fighting the invading Russian terrorists, while Task Force 141 is primarily focused on finding and killing Makarov. At the end of the day, though, your goal is to still kill Russian terrorists regardless of what team you’re playing for, and, overall, the story seems less convoluted than MW 2’s; however, it’s still a bit hard to keep up with the story with all the heavy talking that’s done during the CG cutscenes.

During in-game moments, your NPC teammates are also a tad bit hard to hear since their voices are slightly lower than normal, even when the game’s volume is maxed out (the background noise didn’t seem to be the issue). The biggest problem with game, though, is that both the visuals and gameplay are pretty much exactly like MW 2’s. There are no noticeable graphical improvements, whatsoever, and the gameplay is just like every single non-WWII CoD game. It’s a big disappointment for sure, and the game’s copy-and-paste feeling may cause more harm than good, but, ultimately, MW 3 does become more likeable and enjoyable the more you play since the gameplay is still that same, fun action-packed experience.

There are, however, two problems that can’t be overlooked. Like from previous CoDs, the first issue is that there are seemingly unlimited enemy respawns (at least in some areas), while the second issue is the fact that your NPC teammates won’t advance forward until you advance first (i.e., you seemingly have to cross an invisible line in order for your squad to move up). On top of that, these two problems are interconnected and it seems that the enemies stop respawning once your teammates advance forward to a certain point, which, again, ultimately means you have to advance first. For a game that puts such a strong emphasis on following your teammates, it’s contradictory having to advanced forward all by yourself. What’s more, sometimes there isn’t a good opportunity to move up since enemies keep respawning.

Additionally, most of the game’s aforementioned stealth sections are cheap, contrived and way too easy. Like previous CoDs, there are parts in the game where you have to sneak around enemies, but what this really entails is simply following your teammates around who tell you what to do and when to move; most of the time you don’t even have to be aware of your surroundings to make it through part of a level undetected. While the stealth gameplay in MW 1 was the same and not a problem (since it was the first MW experience), this has quickly become predictably too artificial in subsequent CoDs, including MW 3.

Excluding the stealth missions, having to follow your teammates around instead of leading them isn’t a big issue as it might seem since the scripted, cinematic nature of the game feels cool. Plus, it helps that your teammates seem helpful and feel kick-ass to be around with.

As for MW 3’s versus multiplayer, it’s the same great, fast-paced and rewarding experience from past CoDs, except with a few additions and tweaks. First and foremost, “killstreaks” have been replaced by “pointstreaks” which let you earn killstreak rewards without actually killing anyone. So completing objectives like capturing territory/flags will count towards your killstreak reward, in addition to, of course, just good old fashion killing. Additionally, depending on which “Strike Package” you choose, your killstreak count won’t reset upon death.

The aforementioned Strike Packages groups killstreak rewards into three categories: “Assault,” “Support” and “Specialist.” Selecting Assault will give you destructive-based killstreak rewards just like in previous CoDs. Some are familiar like the Predator Missile (controllable missile), Attack Helicopter (attack helicopter that flies overhead and shoots down enemies), and AC-130 (be the gunner of turret/missile-equipped AC-130 aircraft), while news ones include Strafe Run (a row of five attack helicopters that fly across a given area shooting down enemies), Reaper (shoot laser-guided missiles via a Reaper UAV), Assault Drone (remote-controllable turret/missile-equipped ground-based drone), Juggernaut (wearable heavy bullet-absorbing armor), and Osprey Gunner (be the gunner of an Osprey aircraft while delivering care packages). Dying with the Assault package equipped will reset your killstreak count.

Meanwhile, the Support package contains more defensive-based killstreak rewards that are meant to help out your teammates. Some include Counter UAV (scrambles enemy mini-map), Advanced UAV (displays both enemy location and direction on mini-map), Ballistic Vest (deployable heavy armor that you and your teammates can pick up and wear), and Recon Drone (small, flyable remote-controllable helicopter that marks and identifies enemies). While these may sound lamer compared to what you get in the Assault package, there are thankfully more offensive-based rewards like Remote Sentry (remote-controllable turret), Stealth Bomber (stealth bomber aircraft that rains down bombs along designated path), EMP (disables all enemy electronics as well as any aircraft in the sky), and Escort Airdrop (Osprey gunship that delivers care packages while shooting enemies nearby). And, to top it off, not only can you rack up your pointstreak count by, say, capturing territory/flags, but your killstreak count won’t reset upon death. This is a fantastic, much-welcome change to the CoD series that gets rid of the utter frustration of the inability to get a killstreak reward because of the constant dying like in previous CoDs. It also helps more causal players, who may not be good at getting kills, experience killstreak rewards. The only caveat is that you’ll end up getting the aforementioned top-tiered destructive-based rewards near the end of a match since they require more kills/points than the Assault package; because of this, you may not even get a reward.

Finally, there’s the Specialist package, which is very interesting since it rewards you with additional “Perks” instead of air support or equipment. Perks, like in previous CoDs, are enhancements/special abilities that can be equipped to your character. Some, which offer even more abilities in their upgraded “Pro” versions, include Sleight of Hand (faster reloading; Pro version: faster weapon-swapping), Blind Eye (undectable by air support and sentries; Pro version: faster rocket launcher lock-ons and extra bullet damage against air support and sentries), Marksman (identify enemies at longer range; Pro versions: hold breath longer for steadier aim when firing scoped guns), and Hardline (decreases amount of kills you need to earn killstreak rewards by one; Pro version: every two assists count as one kill).

While you can have up to three perks by default, the Specialist package allows you to have even more perks for every two kills you get without dying. So getting six kills in a row will result in three additional perks, while getting eight straight kills will net you all, if not, almost all perks. Additionally, destroying enemy aircraft will count towards your killstreak count, which is a really nice, helpful touch, but you’ll lose all of your extra perks if you die.

Speaking of dying, “Deathstreak” perks also return which activates when you die a certain number of times in a row. Dying five times, for example, will let you temporarily see the position of the last enemy that killed you, while dying six times will let you blow yourself up with C4 when incapacitated, which hopefully kills the person that shot you down. Like the Support package, deathstreaks make MW 3’s multiplayer experience less frustrating, and are a nice way of helping out less skillful players.

In terms of MW 3’s multiplayer modes, some of the familiar ones include Free-For-All (players kill each other for points), Team Deathmatch (two teams kill each other for points), Domination (capture and hold territories), Sabotage (plant bomb in enemy’s base to win), Headquarters Pro (capture and hold base to win), Mercenary (various game types randomly selected with no parties allowed), and Search and Destroy (defend/destroy objectives with no respawning and online chat).

New game modes are also included such as Kill Confirmed and Team Defender: the former is basically deathmatch except you have to collect enemy dog tags in order for kills to actually count, while the latter requires you to hold the flag the longest to score points. These game types, as well as the “Advanced” and “Community” ones, are great, natural inclusions. Some of said Advanced game modes, which add in-game modifiers and are ideally for more experienced players, include Barebones (disables killstreaks), and Hardcore Team Deathmatch and Hardcore Domination (enables extra bullet damage and friendly fire). Meanwhile, one Community game mode seen so far is “Drop Zone” which involves players holding a drop zone in order to score points and care packages.

Most game modes allow up to eight to 12 players in a single match, with “Ground War” supporting up to 18 players for more big-scale battles. There are 16 maps in MW 3 and the size of most feel just right. They’re not too big and not too small, and you won’t have to run very long to get to the action. With that in mind, thankfully, there aren’t many places to camp (i.e., hide and kill people in a “safe” spot) for very long before you’re found, especially with the instant respawns and handy “kill cams” (upon death you get to see a short replay video of where an enemy killed you through his/her eyes). That doesn’t mean you won’t die, though, whether it be from campers or enemies that are prone. The latter can be annoying since it’s hard to see players lying down, especially in the shadows or at a distance.

Like in any multiplayer game, MW 3’s multiplayer can be brutal at times, but what will keep you playing is the bevy amount of customization options and unlockables. When creating a character, you can choose from a variety of primary and secondary weapons including assault rifles, submachine guns, light-machine guns, sniper rifles, shotguns, riot shield, handguns, machine pistols (can dual-wield), and rocket/grenade launchers. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages (for example, submachine guns are better for close-quarter combat than long-ranged combat), and weapons can be leveled-up the more you use them. At certain levels, various weapon enhancements and attachments can be unlocked like reduced recoil, increased range, red dot sight, rapid fire (increase fire rate), silencer (gunfire prevents you from appearing on mini-map), extended mags (increased ammo capacity), and thermal scope (enemies appear as white heat signatures through a scope). You can even change weapon color and reticules ala Black Ops.

In addition to an assortment of weapons and add-ons, MW 3 also has various types of equipment and explosives, both old and new, including semtex (sticky throwable explosive), throwing knife, bouncing betty (land mine that shoots up in the air and explodes), concussion grenade (slows and disorientates enemies), scrambler (disables enemy radar based on proximity), EMP grenade (disables enemy electronics), and “trophy system” (turret-based device that shoots down enemy projectiles like grenades).

The variety of weapons and equipment are great, but what makes the multiplayer really shine is the player progression system. It’s very rewarding leveling-up and gaining experience points as you earn new ranks, weapons, attachments, perks, accolades, emblems, and player titles (or ”Callsigns”). You can also accomplish in-game “Challenges” that include things like killing “X” number of enemies with “X” weapon to earn experience points. The highest level you can reach in the game is 80, and, like in past CoDs, you can enter “Prestige” mode multiple times once you hit the level cap. When this is done, you have the option to reset your character back to level one, which will make you unlock everything all over again. Aside from doing this just for bragging rights, this time around you’ll earn “prestige tokens” that unlock rewards like double experience points for your character/weapons, extra custom class slot, and more titles and emblems.

MW 3’s versus multiplayer offers a very rewarding and addictive experience with high replay value. Even as someone who was planning to stop playing after accomplishing personal goals, I ended up coming back for more, regardless. One of the only minor gripes is that nearly everything from the start is locked out including, but not limited to, game modes and even the ability to create a character. It’s understandable to lock out certain things like weapons early on, but it was off-putting to see how many things I couldn’t access until I reached a certain level. At least, though, it’s pretty quick to unlock said things, and, thankfully, there are pretty solid pre-selected character loadouts that are available from the start, so it somewhat negates the feeling of being held out on.

Aside from MW 3’s versus multiplayer, there are also “Special Operation” co-op modes including “Missions” and “Survival.” In Missions, you can tackle various mini-missions either by yourself or online/split-screen with another player. There are a total of 16 missions and they range from rescuing embassy staff being held for ransom to capturing the Russian president while playing as a terrorist on a hijacked plane. Other missions include clearing out a Russian submarine and defusing a bomb, and collecting samples of nerve agent gas in Juggernaut suits while equipped with light machine guns.

The coolest missions, though, are the ones that put a real emphasis on co-op instead of simply having two players running and gunning side-by-side. For example, one mission starts off with you and your partner in the same chopper shooting down enemies in a town below. But then, at some point, one of you has to go on foot through the enemy-infested town, while the other player provides gunfire support from a chopper above. There’s also another similar mission where one player has to work their way through a level while the other player shoots enemies through the eyes of turret-equipped surveillance cameras.

As you can imagine, these levels, and more, are much more fun when played with another player since they feel designed for two people. For instance, in co-op teammates can revive each other when incapacitated, but in solo play there’s no revive option or even an incapacitation mechanic. If you do manage to die, you’ll have to restart an entire mission all over again since there are no checkpoints (even if there’s two people and just one of you dies, you’ll have to redo an entire mission anyway). This can seem harsh and stupid, but thankfully missions are pretty short and you can memorize enemy patterns to help get through a level more easily (for example, “X” number of enemies will always appear in “X” location).

The missions, overall, are great additions to the single-player campaign and versus multiplayer. They provide a good mix-up of gameplay, and it’s great how completing missions lets you level up, earn ranks, and unlock weapons and gear for “Survival” mode.

Survival mode is new to MW 3, which pits you against waves of enemies like bomb squads, attack dogs, attack choppers, and Juggernauts. The goal is to survive as long as possible and up to two players can play either locally or online. To help you survive the onslaught, weapons, equipment, perks and killstreaks rewards can be purchased with money that you earn from killing enemies. Some of the things you can buy once you’ve unlocked them via your character level include guns, grenades, weapon sights/scopes, bullet-absorbing body armor, sentry gun, self-revive ability, predator missile air strike, extreme conditioning perk (sprint longer distances), and coolest of all, Delta Squad and Delta Shield Squad air support in which weapon-equipped NPCs drop in via choppers to lend a helping hand. It’s these inclusions that make Survival mode, which has been done to death before in other games, more interesting.

Overall, MW 3 is a fun, great and polished game with solid gameplay and a good amount of content. The single-player provides a top-notch action movie experience, while the multiplayer offers addictive, rewarding gameplay that will keep you coming back for more. The biggest problem with MW 3, though, is that it’s too similar to previous CoDs. From the graphics to the gameplay, it’s disappointing how little has changed and the “been there, done that” feeling definitely drags the game down. But, ultimately, it’s not enough of a reason to skip the game, and with the little additions and tweaks done here and there, MW 3 is still worth picking up and playing. Let’s just hope, though, that the next CoD really changes things up.

Outcry ensued when folks learned that 2K Marin’s upcoming XCOM reboot was a shooter instead of a real-time strategy game like the original. But, folks can now calm down: an XCOM RTS game is in the works.

It’s titled XCOM: Enemy Unknown and it will be a turn-based strategy game, reveals Game Informer. As if that wasn’t good enough news, the game will be developed by Firaxis Games, the team behind the acclaimed Civilization series. And, not only that, XCOM: EU will be released this fall for the PC and home consoles (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3).

“It’s been a dream of ours to recreate X-COM with our unique creative vision. We’re huge fans of the original game and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-envision a game that is as beloved as X-COM,” Firaxis’ president Steve Martin told GI. “We were careful to keep XCOM: Enemy Unknown true to the elements that made X-COM such a revered game while delivering an entirely new story and gameplay experience for both die-hard X-COM fans and newcomers to the franchise.”

Featuring turn-based combat with a mix of “real-time strategic view,” XCOM: EU will have players controlling a gun-toting anti-alien unit in “destructible tactical environments.”

More details are promised in GI’s upcoming February issue, which is said to hit next week. In the meantime, let’s see what we can do about the Syndicate reboot.

Following rumors/leaks earlier, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment officially announced the sequel to Lego Batman: The Videogame which will see the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder teaming up with other superheroes from the DC Universe.

Titled Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, the TT Games-developed sequel will star Batman and Robin, as well as Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern as they try to save Gotham City from Lex Luther and the Joker.

Within Gotham City players will able to explore new areas and use vehicles like the Batmobile and Batwing. There will also be new gadgets and suits like Batman’s Power Suit and Robin’s Hazard Cannon, in addition to new abilities like “flight, super-breath and heat vision.”

“Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes builds upon the action and cooperative gameplay experience established in our best-selling LEGO videogame to date, LEGO Batman: The Videogame,” TT Games’ managing director Tom Stone said in the press release. “We’re offering fans a rich and expansive Gotham City environment filled with cool characters, great customization options and plenty of surprises that families, young gamers and DC Universe fans can enjoy together.”

WBIE’s senior vice president of development and production Samantha Ryan added, “Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes further extends and combines both the Batman and LEGO videogame experiences to create very fun gameplay. Fans of all ages are going to enjoy the action and light hearted humor that TT Games and LEGO provide.”

Lego Batman 2 will be out this summer for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, Nintendo DS/3DS and PlayStation Vita.

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Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes brings in Dark Knight’s super friends [GamesRadar]

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO Group Announce LEGO® Batman™ 2: DC Super Heroes [BusinessWire]

If you ever wondered how awesome it would be to play the very classic Grand Theft Auto: Vice City online well your prayers might be answered. The mod team at GTA: State of Liberty have announced that they will eventually be releasing a modification to the game that would let you play online. Up top you can see the video of this project and all it’s awesomeness. Check them out and give them some support for this might be the best online modification for Vice City.

Electronic Arts revealed some impressive and interesting statistics for their recently-released Star Wars: The Old Republic. According to the press release (via Destructoid), the MMORPG reached over 60 million in-game hours with more users playing as Sith Warriors than Jedi Knights:

• Over 60 million in-game hours – roughly equivalent to watching all six Star Wars movies over 4 million times
• Over 850,000 Sith Warriors and over 810,000 Jedi Knights created
• Over 260 million quests completed
• Over 44 million PvP battles
• Over 9 million space combat missions completed
• Over 3 billion NPCs killed

Additionally, EA touts that the game is the “fastest-growing subscription MMO in history.” With impressive statistics and claims like these, it makes you wonder if TOR will be a WoW killer.

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