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Some players were lucky enough to get their happy on a little early yesterday. On Thursday, April 9 at 5:00 pm PST/8:00 pm EST, Happy Wars for Xbox One …
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It could be said that time has not been kind to the humble shoot-em-up. Over thirty years ago, games like Space Invaders, Defender, Asteroids and Galaxian were drawing mullet-sporting teens in stonewashed skinny jeans and tight leather jackets to amusement arcades like moths to the glowing neon lights that would hang above the entrance. Today, such arcades are a rarity; mostly replaced by shops or trendy bars and often pulled down entirely, whilst the teenagers of 2015 queue all night outside their local grocery store to buy the latest copy of Call of Duty minutes after its launch.

The shoot-em-up genre has never been keen to go quietly into the night, however, and every generation of consoles has had its fair share of classic static, scrolling and roaming shoot-em-ups for players to consider. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a couple of days with Project Root, an upcoming shooter from Argentinian developer OPQAM that is positioning itself as the definitive next-generation take on this classic genre.

Project Root claims to feature a unique open world aspect in addition to crisp controls, cutting edge graphics, a comprehensive upgrade system and a truly exceptional level of challenge. The game isn’t scheduled for release for a few more weeks, but my experience with it over the past couple of days leads me to suggest that it may yet need a little work to live up to the lofty expectations set by the forebears which it aims to emulate.

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Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, the 2.5D action game coming out later this month, will not be the only entry in the Chronicles series. Ubisoft recently announced two future titles that will take place in India and Russia; these games will feature new protagonists and distinctive settings. Stylistically, the games will stand on their own. The setting in China, for example, is heavily influenced by 16th century China melded with a more modern ink aesthetic, creating what Art Director Glenn Brace calls a “romantic, impressionist vibe.” He goes on to discuss the importance of rich, bright colors in India and how Russia, which takes place in the 20th century, makes use of the advent of “photography, graphics, poster art, [and] constructivism.”

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The April system update rolled earlier this week, adding even more features to the Xbox One. Party chat has been improved to make resolving common problems easier. The new …
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We take a look at Ares’ abilities and a successful build to use in arena mode. Check out gameplay showing how to play him and vs him in this mirror match up. He can be incredibly powerful and fun to play in arena, offering a lot of damage from a tanky-CC guardian that has offensive incentives to buy aura items for his team. Smite is currently in alpha on Xbox One and should move into beta in May.

If you play Smite on PC or Xbox One we would love to know some of your favorite Gods and builds for them in the comments.

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R.B.I. Baseball 15 was developed and published by MLB.com. It was released on the Xbox One on April 1, 2015 and is priced at $19.99. A review code was provided by Major League Baseball.

When MLB.com decided to bring back the classic R.B.I. Baseball series, the developer had a decision to go one of two ways. They could have swung for the fences and attempted to hit a home run by building a game that would rival The Show and really showcased the product that MLB.com represents. With its first rendition in R.B.I. Baseball 14, Major League Baseball was caught looking at a called third strike. In other words, MLB.com just kept alive the horrors baseball fans on Xbox systems had come to expect thanks to the 2K series of games.

Last week, MLB.com released its second attempt at bringing baseball back to Xbox users with R.B.I. Baseball 15. With Opening Day upon us, and just like Cubs fans before the season starts, all Xbox gamers could do was hope that MLB.com would release a game at least decent enough to be called a “single.”

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If you’ve been playing the Smite alpha on the weekends you have likely earned a solid amount of gems. For those unaware, Hi-Rez has unlocked all gods and allowed players to earn gems for their win of the day bonuses on the weekends during the alpha. There are three skin bundle sales on the Xbox One. You can find them by clicking on any of the skins listed below. It’s a great way to spend those gems and get a high bang for your buck.

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The Giana Sisters are back for another adventure; this time up to a four person multiplayer race in local co-op or online matches. As a game inspired by Micro Machines and Speed Runners, Giana Sisters: Dream Runners is a race to place first and leave everyone else in the dust. Obstacles look to impede your path and your opponents aren’t going to stop racing if you stumble.

Five characters are usable to navigate the maps but only 4 versions of Giana will be available at first. Eventually a ninja and a robot will also be unlockable. The developers wish for the races to be fair so all characters will have the same skill set.

Players will be able to dash, twirl, crouch and use something called gem boost which speeds up a character for a short time at the cost of all gems on hand.

Sound intriguing? Check out the trailer after the jump.

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Resident Evil Revelations 2 was developed and published on Xbox One and Xbox 360 by Capcom Entertainment Inc. The last episode was released on March 17, 2015 and the complete season is available for $24.99 on Xbox One. XBLA Fans’ Michael Cheng purchased a copy out of pocket for review purposes.

Alas
We’ve finally reached the end of the crossroads, and it’s been a long journey. You can find reviews of individual episodes at the Resident Evil Revelations 2 hub, which gives finer details on each leg of the campaign. If I were to score to just the campaign, it would be “Try It.” The campaign is somewhat short but fair at its current price tag, and it has a bunch of interesting concepts filled with exciting highs and lows — and a few other concepts that just didn’t work very well. It is not, however, the only gameplay option available.

Resident Evil Revelations 2‘s Raid mode is an arcade-like experience featuring players hunting down hordes of enemies in an arena-like setting while trying to survive and ultimately reach a goal. Players level up from killing enemies, which allows drops of higher level weapons and weapon parts and gives skill points to upgrade perks that increase character durability. It’s similar to a role-playing game in which you play to see your character grow stronger, tackle harder levels, progress forward and hopefully beat the toughest challenges. Raid mode is addicting to play through and features 15 playable characters (two are DLC characters and one is unlockable from an extra episode) and six different weapon types with multiple weapons in each category. I’ve put over 200+ hours into it, which is much more time than I spent on the campaign. Raid is not without its faults, however, as you’ll find out below.

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You’ve no doubt heard the saying “it’s not rocket science” before. Well, when it comes time to choose your class in the new base defense game, Fortified, that saying takes on a very literal meaning. In Clapfoot Games?? new multiplayer game you’re probably going to want to go with the Rocket Scientist.

Set in the 1950s with an urban sci-fi feel, Fortified features four classes; the first of which is the Rocket Scientist. This redheaded little lady was the first character Clapfoot developed, and maybe that’s why she’s arguably the best.

While at PAX East, XBLA Fans had a chance to play Fortified and spoke with Technical Artist, Henrique “HB” Barbieri, who made it very clear that when given my choice of character we should go with the Rocket Scientist. So I did.

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