Rising this summer is the sequel to zombie apocalypse favorite, Dead Rising. As announced at Microsoft’s X10 event, Americans will be chopping their way through the undead masses in Dead Rising 2 on August 31, while Japan and Europe will get their copies a few days later on September 2nd and 3rd, respectively. In case you haven’t heard, there is no Xbox exclusivity, so PlayStation and PC players will have no excuse not to get their hands on the living dead this time around. Interested in the classic? Check out Spawn Kill Favorite: Dead Rising for a taste of why this zombie romp is a must play.

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Want some freakishly bouncy-bright cuteness in your Arkanoid? UK developer Strawdog Studios have announced a game to fit the bill. Space Ark, releasing in the spring, has you bouncing animals around to collect various items. You know how you bounce around a ball to break bricks in Arkanoid, yeah, the cute little animals are the balls. (more…)

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Wii fan or not, one cannot deny the influence of the Zelda franchise in our gaming world. And, as we all know, the larger the franchise, the more rumors that seem to surround potential sequels. Joystiq has reported, based on information posted on Japanese message board 2Chan, some very interesting rumors that have led to much speculation. The most intriguing of these rumors were the inclusion of time travel and that the Link in this game is the Hero of Time from Majora’s Mask. This has led many to believe that the new Zelda may be a direct, or hell, indirect sequel to Majora’s Mask.

Other information that has been leaked is that the new Zelda may stray from the traditional overworld and dungeon gameplay. It is also probable that Link will be left or right handed based on the player, the sword used will develop and abilities will unlock as the game progresses, and there will be horseback combat. Oh, and Hey! Look! Listen! could be your sidekick, Adelle, Adella, or Aderu, (the female beside Link in the pic) probably won’t be with you during the whole quest but will communicate to you through your new sword.

So, what are we to make of these rumors? Pshaw, I don’t know! I do know that when this thing eventually releases, lord knows when, we’re going to be hearing so much about “If only it were in HD” and “Zelda Wii is a game that goes beyond the last-gen graphics” and “If only I could play this with traditional controls…” All I can say is enjoy the excitement of the potential of this game now because by the time it comes out, you might be too busy defending or downing it to care.

[Source: Joystiq]

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For those of you who dream of rolling delicious virtual sushi with your DS or Wii, prepare for the Southpeak Games’ and Asylum Entertainment’s Miniclip Sushi Go Round and its delicious, freshly served website www.sushigoroundthegame.com. Though the site is jam packed with game details, screenshots, and downloadables, one reason why, no THE reason why you should visit the site is to experience the flash game that inspired the upcoming Wii and DS games. A few minutes with Sushi Go Round and I think you’ll agree that it should be a natural fit for the DS console. I’m a bit more skeptical about the Wii version, but I guess we’ll see how it plays out after the March 16th North America release date.

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It’s Wednesday and time again for more Xbox Live Arcade titles to be rolled out. This week’s releases include Square Enix’s Death by Cube and Konami’s Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment. With Death by Cube adding a little depth to its speediness and Vandal Hearts adding speed to its in-depth tactics-rpg gameplay, this week’s releases will be sure to leave you a little light in the pockets.

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The Nintendo GameCube was not as disappointing to me as it was for many gamers. Due to some of the things going on in my life during the time of its release (College, marriage, becoming a parent, etc.) I didn’t have time to play every game released. One of the largest complaints about the Cube was that it did not have the number of quality games that the other systems had. Though this may be true, I found many treasures in my GameCube library. For instance, the purchase of Pikmin 2 led to the most charming game experience in my career as a gamer.

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Less than a month since the release of 0 Day Attack on Earth, Square Enix, the game’s publisher, has dropped some DLC for us titled “London Map Pack.” The 560 Microsoft Point expansion allows you to battle invaders among the cityscape of London, adding to the included Tokyo, Paris, and New York. Also added is new invaders, the ability to select a higher difficulty setting, and a boss battle.
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I’ve used the term “video game crack” to describe three games in my life: Peggle, Oblivion, and Nintendo’s Animal Crossing. In 2006, I picked up Animal Crossing: Wild World on a whim, partially intrigued by my brother’s obsession with it and also desperately wanting a game to show my wife that the cash dropped on a new handheld was worth it. By the end of the summer in 2006, my family had three DS Lites, three copies of Animal Crossing: WW, and an enormous debt to a entrepreneurial raccoon. Yes, it was SO worth it.

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Arguably the most exciting moment from Spike’s Video Game Awards was the debut of the first Halo: Reach video. The footage of Bungie’s prequel to the Halo trilogy reveals some of the story with, in my opinion, the most interesting moment being when a character declares “…You can leave that lone wolf stuff behind…” I can’t wait to see what is coming to the Halo universe in terms of teamwork and co-op play. The storyline behind Halo: Reach, in case you’ve not stayed in the Halo loop, is that it “charts the story of Noble Team in their heroic stand to defend the planet Reach, its people and secrets against a ruthless assault by an alien collective known as the Covenant.” Though no definitive dates have been announced, Halo: ODST owners can expect to take part in the Reach beta in the spring, while the full game release is slated for the fall of 2010. Check the video out after the break.

[Source: Press Release Email]

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A while ago, I stumbled upon a gem of a game called Puzzle Quest for the Nintendo DS. An intriguing concept, the combination of role-playing game with puzzle was immediately addicting. Not only for me, but for my Dr. Mario addict, casual gamer of a wife. Though my affections for the little portable system have since diminished, the RPG and puzzle game mashup has been purchased, and played through again, for my 360.

Earlier this year, when Square Enix announced that, in collaboration with PopCap, they would be releasing a puzzle-RPG title that would use elements from Bejeweled Twist, I knew Gyromancer would find its way onto my Xbox. PopCap plus Square Enix definitely equals “yes, please” in my book. Obviously, one cannot help but compare the game to the excellent Puzzle Quest, but how does it stack up?

Immediately, it was apparent that this title was a lot shinier than Puzzle Quest. Though it still has the cardboard illustrations for characters that are just there for illustrative purpose, the atmosphere of the game, the cleanness of the illustrations, the music, the experience was impressive.

In fact, upon boot up, I was addicted. The story was interesting, in the beginning, and the gameplay was crack. Seriously, if you haven’t played Bejeweled Twist, the puzzle backbone of Gyromancer, try out the flash version here because it is really fun. By just looking at a screenshot you might mistake Twist for the original Bejeweled. However, the mechanics of the game change significantly based on how you move the jewels. To create matches of three or more jewels, you do not swap the gems, but instead rotate a group of four clockwise. At first, it was really frustrating that you could only rotate in one direction, but I got used to it and, later in the game, it was infuriating when the rotation direction was changed.

But this is a puzzle-RPG game, and it cannot survive or be successful based on the puzzle aspects alone. You are Rivel, a mage that is chasing after a rebellious group called Temperance. This group is led by a man named Qraist, who is essentially the bad guy of the story. However, that’s about it for narrative. It is dull, uninteresting, and brought me out of the game. The story is a tacked on element to Gyromancer and truly makes the RPG element of the game weak. Not only was the story tacked on and dull, it was annoyingly superficial. For example, one of the characters dies, and comes back to life, three times. Eyes were rolled. Three times.

So, is the puzzle aspect the only saving grace of Gyromancer? Not exactly. Though the story elements are extremely weak, the questing and gameplay are interesting and fun. You want grinding? Gyromancer has it. You want random battles? It’s there. You want adventurous journeys? Yep. How about the ability to summon badass creatures with unique abilities? Well, read on, because Gyromancer does do some of these things right.

There are ten basic levels, one final boss level, and a challenging endurance level called Challenger’s Door. In the basic levels and boss level, you are given a bit of the story at the beginning and then you play. The story does not come back into the picture until you have beaten the level. In the beginning you are given an overview of the map, a shot of where you are trying to get and then, finally, you are shown your begin point. You move your character along a path and you will encounter monsters along the way. Some of the monsters will be stationary on the map, some will move as you move, and some will be hidden in treasure chests (“monster-in-a-box!”). As you move on to increasingly difficult levels, the creatures will advance as well.

To destroy these monsters, you have in your arsenal three creatures of your own. Once you are in a level, any damage to your monsters is permanent until you leave or beat the level. As I battled it out with my enemies, I began to feel a disappointment with the gameplay. It took me a few battles to realize that I was missing the competition of Puzzle Quest. In Puzzle Quest you make a move and then your opponent moves. Not so in Gyromancer. You make your moves and try and build up the levels for your monster to cast spells automatically (yes, you don’t select what happens) to place ability gems. Opponents will spew out their own bombs to screw with your attack. They do not make moves, attacks are just placed based on your moves. Once their attack gem has been placed you have to get rid of them within so many turns or they will do damage to your creature.

While in battle you have the option to cast spells that you collect in your travels. There are only four spells in this game. All of the spells effects last for one turn and they will allow you to do things such as change the direction in which you rotate your gems, place your ability gems immediately, and unlock locked gems. The bad thing about this is, once you are out of whatever spells, you have the option to buy them from the marketplace for a mere 40 Microsoft Points each. Microtransactions indeed.

You level up after winning so many battles. Your creatures level up with you, even if they weren’t used in the battle. Your creatures will eventually reach their level caps and you will need to summon new creatures in the Summoner’s Den to continue on successfully. You find new creatures on the map in the form of gyro codes. Your found codes can be used in the Summoner’s Den. You must pay to summon the new creature and you must get rid of one of your three to make room for your new warrior. Each creature has an affinity color or a color from which they gain power. Ideally, you want to have a variety of colors in your array of warriors.

This is where the grinding comes in because somewhere near the middle of the game, you must do some serious leveling up to continue. It was in this grinding that I became bored with the game. I wanted every battle to feel like it meant something. However, it seems like every battle was a vicious little reminder that there was another game out there. A better game.

All in all there are plenty of worse games out there. In fact, Gyromancer isn’t a bad game at all. Only a few moments of grinding were tedious for me. The battles were addictive and challenging. The creatures were interesting and fun to unlock. I think it’s the fact that I wanted so much more. I wanted a good story. I wanted less randomness in the battles. I wanted a game that I would want to come back to.

Title: Gyromancer Publisher: Square Enix Developer: Square Enix and PopCap Games Platform(s): XBLA (Reviewed), PC Release Date: November 18, 2009

Doin It RIGHT: -Addictive and Challenging Gameplay -Interesting Creatures -Graphics and Music Create an Awesome Atmosphere	Doin It RONG: - Paper Thin Story - Unnecessary Grinding to Advance - No Real Enemy to Strategize Against in Battle
FINAL SCORE: 7.5 / 10

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What!?! A shooter leaving the stale taste of World War II behind? Although this isn’t the most original move for a war game franchise, I am intrigued by a new take on a market dominated by, well, that other company. Medal of Honor, scheduled to be released in 2010, promises to be an authentic war experience that follows one of America’s most elite soldiers (yes, gettin’ those bloody Brits outta my war stories!). Your elite character is from a group of soldiers called Tier 1 Operators that are described as those soldiers “who take on missions no one else can handle.”

EA has also announced that their DICE studio (of the Battlefield series) will be responsible for developing the multiplayer aspect of the game. Is this good news? Are they putting the new Medal of Honor’s multiplayer in the right hands? Comment and let us know!

[Source: BusinessWire]

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Steam just got Serious. Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter that is. Available for $19.99, Devolver Digital has brought the frantic classic with updated visuals for your downloading pleasure. You will be able to tackle the fifteen levels with friends or by your lonesome and up to sixteen players can fight cooperatively or against each other online. Here’s a quick link to purchase the game. Click it now.

Salivate over the high-def serious screenshots below, if that’s your thing.

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If your are looking for some dinosaur shooting fun or if you want to punch a raptor, Activision has released a demo for Jurassic: The Hunted on Xbox Live. Despite not being able to hop into the epic story mode, in this demo you will get to experience the survivor arena. Pitted against dino baddies, you are behind a shoddily made barricade trying to see how long you can survive. Experience a variety of weapons and the punch-a-raptor in the face melee. Download, have some fun, and try not to take this too seriously. (Why am I more bothered by shooting down my childhood dino-buddies than the MW2: No Russian mission?) This free demo is only available to XBL Gold subscribers and has not been announced for the PS3.

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Ah, marriage. Once a gamer friend, Mr. or Mrs. Couple has now been tied in the bounds of matrimony and you are wondering if you should still get them the same types of games as in years past. Or, maybe, you are married to a non-gamer and are looking for a way to bring them into gaming this holiday season. Also, avid gamers marry other avid gamers and buying a gaming present for a love that has the same interests as yourself can be difficult. Never fear because Spawn Kill’s Holiday Gift Guide for Married Gamers is here, detailing games that would be excellent gifts for those married game players in your life.

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BioWare has announced yet another piece of DLC goodness for their barely-two-week-old RPG Dragon Age: Origins. Return to Ostagar will, surprisingly enough, bring you back to Ostagar and allow you to take revenge upon the darkspawn and quest for King Cailan’s lost armor and weapons. Coming to PC, Xbox 360, and PS3, the Return to Ostagar DLC will be released before year’s end for $5 (400 MSP).

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