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We were lucky enough to have staff on hand at San Diego Comic Con this year to cover some great Xbox Live Arcade games including several games from Microsoft …
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We got the chance to play Renegade Ops at the Sega Arcade down at San Diego Comic Con and we have to say the game is looking fantastic. Developed using the same engine as Just Cause 2 Avalanche Studios’ Renegade Ops is a twin stick shooter involving a black ops team specialized in vehicular combat–their goal: stop the terrorist agenda of Madman Inferno. Players take control of one of four different operatives each with their own vehicle and special ability. Players can join up alongside a buddy locally or up to three other players online.

A dynamic mission system gives players primary and secondary objectives to score points and advance the story which is voiced over entirely and accompanied by crisp comic-styled panels. Players compete competitively for points and cooperatively for mission completion all while  completing objectives in the most over-the-top, explosive way possible. Renegade Ops came about when Just Cause 2 developers turned the camera top-down and started messing around with the vehicles, so expect all the same fun with explosions, action and chaos. Read More

Orcs. They’re green, they’re smelly, they’re rude, and they cheat at poker, so they must die. But it shouldn’t stop there, their transgressions upon humanity are so notorious that they shouldn’t just die, they should be punished for having lived. No game features as much orc-centric punishment as Orcs Must Die! from Robot Entertainment. Use sadistic traps and powerful weapons to sort, punish and mow down waves of brutish creatures in this real time strategy turned fast paced action game.

At first glance Orcs Must Die! is a game of strategy requiring much thought. It requires players to manage space with different traps dealing different amounts of damage and have various affects on enemies. Tar traps slow and magma tiles burn, spike traps impale and archers perforate, and when conducted properly the trap symphony comes together in a comical crescendo of devilishly delivered death. However the action is just as player focused as it is trap focused. Our hero’s faithful crossbow can dole out headshots or hectic rapid fire and can supplement his repertoire with other weapons like one that shoots ice and one that can lay down a powerful firewall. Orcs Must Die! is a hybrid title like no other.

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Pinball FX2 fans rejoice, there is another tournament going on. This time it will feature everybody’s favorite wall crawler, Spider-Man. From July 29 – August 12 players will be …
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First person shooters typically use the right trigger to fire; for various styles of attacks, beat ’em ups often use X, Y and B; Radiant Silvergun has different weapons mapped to A, B, X, Y, left and right bumper and right trigger. In short, its heavy on the guns. Radiant Silvergun, developed by Treasure, will be joining Guardian Heroes (also developed by Treasure) in the Saturn-to-XBLA port ship. Much like Guardian Heroes, Radiant Silvergun also has some older mechanics that work surprisingly well despite being difficult to acclimate to.

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Worms and Worms 2 Armageddon have both been well received on XBLA, so naturally Team 17 had to bring their only true departure from the traditional Worms formula to the XBLA, …
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Those looking to change their gamertag but not willing to shell out the 800MSP are in luck. Next week (8/2 – 8/8) there will be a discount for the …
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Originally thought to be a PC/PSN only title, we are now getting word that All Zombies Must Die will be coming to XBLA at a later date. Developer Doublesix …
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Many young players will see Guardian Heroes and have no idea it’s actually a port from the Sega Saturn. This anime-styled brawler supports three 2D planes rather than a fully traversable 3D plane, tons of characters to play and unlock, a branching story arc with several different endings and encounters which, if opted out of to go down a different path, will never be experienced. This fast-paced HD-ified port brings some old mechanics into the present. The good news? It doesn’t feel a bit dated.

The controls are fairly intuitive, with X standing in for light attacks, Y for heavy, and A for a quick dodge back. B is reserved for special abilities—in the case of our Mage demo, that was magic. Those straightforward controls were balanced by a unique addition: the left bumper and left trigger, which jump planes toward and away from the player. Navigating planes takes a little getting used to, but it soon becomes second nature. (Though the adjustment period is a little more extensive when you’re trying to do this in the heat of combat.

In the interest of time, we skipped through the dialogue of the story—we were in a bit of a rush to see the meat of the gameplay. The story was told in pretty typical old-school fashion though: portraits of the characters would pop up on the screen and the camera would shift to them. It certainly feels very retro; it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but gamers that have gotten used to rich cinematics and other “modern” accoutrements may feel a bit estranged.

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It’s no secret that we loved Double Fine’s hybrid action/tower defense title Trenched. After E3, we sold all our stock in Mayo producing companies and went all in on …
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