[Game News] Breach is Out Now for XBLA

I recently got a download code for Breach, a fairly adequately anticipated XBLA first-person shooter that uses an innovative engine to create some pretty impressive destructible environments. I’ve been playing it a bit before I review it, as I’m trying to really gauge just how I feel about it. Anyway, while I’ve had my hands on it for a week or so now, it is finally available to the public on XBox Live Arcade. Here is a portion of the press release:

“We are proud to release an original title that has the quality and innovation of
a major retail game at a price anyone can afford,” said Peter Tamte. “By using technology
orginally built for Six Days in Fallujah, Breach offers features no one else can
match at any price. Our destruction and cover systems will forever change the way
games are played.”

Breach is unlike any other game. It is the first military shooter to use precise
and massive destruction to change the very nature of multiplayer combat. Combined
with an advanced cover system where players can use cover even while it is being
destroyed around them, Breach enables real-world tactics never possible before
now. Breach offers this destruction and active cover system all in a package that
costs less than US$20.00

To learn more about the game, head on over to the official website. Look for our review by February 1st.

[Game Review] Disney Epic Mickey (Wii)

System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Junction Point Studios
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Release Date: November 25, 2010
Genre: Action Adventure

I can’t tell you why, but something about this game had me more than just a little bit excited before its release. It was very strange, because I’m not generally interested in anything Epic Mickey had to offer. I’m not really a huge fan of Disney. I’m not one who cares greatly about decision/consequence gameplay. And the game’s biggest selling point to hardcore gamers, having Warren Spector behind production, didn’t excite me in least because I had no idea who that even was.

Still, I couldn’t help but getting hyped up for what I had convinced myself was going to be the next great Wii game. And then it actually hit store shelves, and the flood of reviews stating it was merely “average” or simply “good” caused my interest to wane immediately, and the game fell off of my radar until Christmas, when I received it as a gift from Santa Claus.

I can now confirm that the game is merely “good,” as many other critics have stated, but there is something special about Epic Mickey that makes the experience much more satisfying than I had expected.

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[Mobile Game Review] MiniSquadron (Android)

Operating System: Android
Played on: HTC Evo 4G
Developer: Gray Fin Studios
Genre: Arcade
Cost: $2.99

I’m sure at least one other person has noticed that the Android Market is finally starting to build a decent catalog of mobile games. It took way too long, but it’s finally starting to happen. Games like the recently reviewed Radiant HD, the soon to be reviewed Game Dev Story, Angry Birds and Guns n’ Glory, and many others have finally given me something to do while waiting in line at the BMV or ignoring my World Literature lecture.

MiniSquadron is an arcade-style, 2D sidescrolling aerial dog-fighter (an airplane game with guns) that offers plenty of innovation, exciting game modes, and tons of different planes to unlock and use to blast your enemies into smithereens. If you have an Android phone, listen up. This review’s for you.

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[Game Review] Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Platformer

The Donkey Kong Country series is, without a doubt, a staple memory for just about anyone who owned a Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The gameplay was rock solid, the music was outstanding, and the graphics were the absolute best you could find on any system. If you were old enough to play Donkey Kong Country when it came out, it probably still stands as one of your top SNES titles.

We’ve been waiting for a follow up to the series for quite a while now, and it is finally here in the form of Donkey Kong Country Returns. Nintendo has been bringing back a ton of old franchises lately, with games like New Super Mario Bros, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Goldeneye 007, and the upcoming and highly anticipated Kid Icarus game for the 3DS. It’s only fitting that DK should get the same revival, and who better to helm such an important project than Retro Studios, the team that put gamers behind Samus’ visor for the critically acclaimed Metroid Prime trilogy.

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[Game Review] Goldeneye 007 (Wii)

System: Wii (also on: Nintendo DS)
Developer: Eurocom
Publisher: Activision
Genre: FPS

Fans have been clamoring for it for ages now, and it’s finally here. This game is a remake of the classic Goldeneye 007 video game released on the Nintendo 64 in 1997, and without a doubt revolutionized the FPS genre on home gaming consoles forever. It was that N64 game that would lay the framework for titles like Halo and Call of Duty, paving the road for their success.

And now, in the form of this Wii game by the same name, Goldeneye 007 exists again, modernized and completely rebuilt from the ground up to take advantage of the Wii hardware. Developed by Eurocom, most known to Wii games as the devs who crafted the excellent Dead Space: Extraction, this modernized classic can be one of two things: a cheap cash in, or the real deal. Ladies and gentelemen, I’m here to tell you that not only is this game genuinely great, it may even be the best FPS the Wii has to offer.

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[Mobile Game Review] Radiant HD (Android)

Operating System: Android
Played On: HTC Evo 4G
Developer: Hexage
Genre: Arcade/Action

I’m not going to lie to you, because you don’t deserve that. The Android platform has been really slow out of the gates as far as gaming is concerned. There is a vast level of difference between what you can find on the iPhone systems and what is available for Android users, with iPhone gaming options being far better.

However, with emerging developers like Hexage, who have a solid catalog of outstanding Android games available (Radiant being one of them), that gap is finally starting to close and Android users are finally able to get some decent gaming fixes on their phones.

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[Game Review] Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii)

System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Good Feel
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Platformer

Not since Kirby Canvas Curse have I been so excited for a game so adorable. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Kirby, but it hasn’t been since his 2005 dual-screen debut that the pink ball of fluff that is Kirby has had a starring role in anything truly fresh and unique.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn pits you in a world crafted entirely from string, yarn, buttons, zippers and fabric thanks to the heinous and evil work of an evil sorcerer with a magical sock. Wait, what? Yeah, it’s as whimsical and childish as it sounds, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing. I like realistic violence and gore as much as the next guy, but I love adorable, whimsical, imagination-driven tales twice as much. And thanks to Kirby’s brilliant art direction and impressive storybook-esque narrative approach, this is a game that’s had my full attention since its announcement.

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[Game Review] Minecraft (PC)

Developer: Notch
Publisher: Mojang Specifications.
Platform: PC

There is a game out there that successfully combines genres in gaming that I previously thought were not able to be blended. The game in question, Minecraft, is an indie game by programmer “Notch.” Notch is a swede developer who recently put forth the alpha version of his brainchild, and in the span of only a few months went from unknown indie dev to unknown indie dev MILLIONAIRE. But enough about Notch, you want to hear about Minecraft.

Imagine taking the build-ability of Legos, zombie/monster horror and survival, adventure games, and mix in a delightfully pixelated world and you’ve got Minecraft. Minecraft has several modes for you to enjoy, from the classic mode where you spawn in your world with unlimited resources at the tips of your fingers with which to construct whatever you see fit.

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[Game Review] Alan Wake (Xbox 360)

System: Xbox 360 (Also on PC)
Developer: Remedy
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: Action Thriller

When Alan Wake was first announced, gamers were ecstatic. It looked to be a unique, refreshing and innovative story-driven game with a fantastic premise, creepy environments, and some very good ideas. Then the game, for whatever reason, failed to find a publisher. Remedy had a decent amount of support and hype behind their game, and I never quite understood why no publisher had scooped up the rights for what was clearly a very promising title. The game fell out of the media’s eye and off of the gamers’ radars, presumably falling into development limbo.

After some amount of time passes without hearing any word on Wake, it explodes back onto the scene with news of finally securing a publisher, and that publisher was Microsoft. Armed with a new partner, Remedy was finally ready to release their game.

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