The PC indie hit is coming to Xbox 360 Live Arcade!  Enjoy exciting first-person brawling action, brought to you by the folks at Atlus.  The game will be available for XBLA March 31, 2010.

While you wait, why don’t you check out the fresh new screenshots, posted in the gallery below?  Or, you can check out a video in case you missed it.

[Source: Atlus]

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If you’re looking forward to the Ultimate Edition of Zeno Clash for XBLA, then you’ll enjoy this video, which shows off the new attacks found in this updated version.

“Initially, ACE Team had offered to demonstrate the new moves in Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition in person for the Atlus staff,” chuckled a grimacing Aram Jabbari, Manager of Public Relations and Sales for Atlus.  “We all thought they were kidding when they talked about cool-sounding moves like the ‘headbutt’ and ’spin kick.’  After a week in the hospital, I’m happy to say that fans can expect to find those and equally punishing new attacks in Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition, and that the moves deliver the same satisfyingly visceral feel as all the other injury-inducing first-person melee combat Zeno Clash has to offer.  In other good news, the doctor says the swelling on my head will go away in about a month or so.”

For more info on the game, which is set to release March 30, 2010, exclusively for XBox Live Arcade, check out http://www.zenoclash.com, or scroll down for an ACE Team roundtable interview, discussing frequently asked questions about the upcoming title.

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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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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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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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The Rainbow Islands series spun off from Bubble Bobble as a sequel, opening the door to a brand new franchise. Following the “true ending” of the original Bubble Bobble game, the game was an adventure involving human forms of the iconic dragons Bub and Bob, escaping from rapidly sinking land masses via rainbow. It might sound silly, but it garnered mostly positive critical reception and received several sequels. The latest of which, Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure, was recently released via WiiWare and the Xbox Live Arcade. While it manages to capture most of the magic that made its predecessors memorable, much of the whimsy is dwindling with this next-gen update.

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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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The popular XBLA game, Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers, will be releasing two more expansions and expanding to PS3 and PC in 2010. Wizards of the Coast just released their first expansion to the LIVE game in October and scheduled the next to for spring and summer of next year. Like their first expansion the next two expansions will include new planeswalkers, cards and challenges.

The PC and PS3 releases won’t be simultaneous. The PC version is planned for the summer of 2010, and the PS3 version for the fall of 2010. The PC versions also comes with a special gift that is currently unannounced. So if you don’t own a Xbox 360, but have been interested in Duels of the Planeswalkers Wizards of the Coast won’t disappoint! You’ll be seeing more content and new platforms very soon.

[Source: IGN]

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Sparkster is looking good for his upcoming 2d side-scrolling update tentatively titled Rocket Knight. From the environments to the characters to the stylistic smoke effects, the screenshots released by Konami are enticing appetizers for the XBLA, PSN, and Steam release. Check them out after the break.

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Console wars aside, here’s something I like about Nintendo’s Wii Store: they don’t store your credit card info.  Yeah, this can be a bit of a pain (or maybe it’s all part of the fitness plan, since it makes you get off the couch to find your wallet if you want to load up on points), but it also means security.  Both Sony and Microsoft, on the other hand, do keep your credit card on file, and I found it particularly annoying that your PSN account will default to the first card you use without giving you the option of using another form of payment.  Apparently, Microsoft has also given many people trouble as well, making it nearly impossible to cancel a Live account, and even going as far as to change the card billed monthly without your consent.

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I admit that before the release of Trials HD on the Xbox Live Arcade, I was a Trials newbie. I was blissfully ignorant of all the joyous hours of gaming it has brought many of you; readers, peers as gamers, and everyone who has ever attempted a high score within the game. Though my backlog is ever-growing, I knew I had to get in on the big secret as to what makes this game such an exercise in frustration, addiction, and complete satisfaction when you land the perfect time. I’m sure it goes without saying that I soon discovered what makes this game tick, and I wasn’t let down in the least.

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Whether you are a regular reader or a new visitor, we want to see our new registration system kick off today that we have set in place this week. If you can see on the right hand side of the page at the top of the sidebar, you can now login and register for Spawn Kill. So in effort to support our new registration system, we’d like to ask you all to register and drop us some comments! Being a registered user will net you a reminder whenever we post up a new contest for our readers in case you miss out. We’ve decided to kick it off by doing a little giveaway for the Xbox Live version of Worms 2: Armageddon that came out a few weeks ago.

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Spawn Kill has been through it all with Hasbro’s Family Game Night series. We’ve covered every single one of the games from Scrabble to Battleship to Sorry, and now that the series has come to an end, we’re going to be quite sad to see it over. It was still a lot of fun though, right? Our coverage of Family Game Night draws to a close with the final installment to the game room, Sorry! Sliders…that is, unless we can bribe EA to bring us more. Until then, though, kick back and let us bring the magic of the Family Game Night series to you!
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In a desperate attempt to escape the sweltering heat of summer, you might want to hit up XBOX Live Arcade for some fun and distraction. While big AAA titles might be few and far between this time of the year, there’s plenty of other avenues to pursue for your digital entertainment. In this case, there’s a slew of awesome looking games coming out over XBLA and not one of them will cost you more than 1200 MS Points, which my calculator tells me is about $14.99 USD.

Check out the rest of the story for all the games coming out, starting July 22nd.

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