Action

Guardians of Middle-Earth, the latest Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game to aim for the Xbox Live Arcade scene since Awesomenauts, wastes no time jumping into the action. We talked at length about the game in our preview from E3, but Monolith explains further how they manage to carefully select what elements of MOBA are strongest here. “We wanted to get players in and out of the game quickly”, designer Scott Compton told us in a roundtable press conference, “We wanted to get players in and out of the game quickly. 45 – 60 minutes is too long of a game.”

This Lord of the Rings MOBA was built from the ground up to be about the action and overall have shorter match times than other games in the genre. To achieve this, the foundation had to be set with the controls. While the answer to how a MOBA would work on a console has been of some debate lately, Monolith claims they had a rather easy time with it. Compton told us that “putting the player in direct control was a really satisfying experience. Using the left stick and “driving” the character around on the battlefield, rather than clicking and orienting your character that way.” Using rectangular, wedge and circle attack radii all aimed with the left stick, the game achieves precision even without a mouse. Read More

Ubisoft have announced a video game tie in for the upcoming release of The Expendables 2, heading to XBLA this summer. The game, which is based on the over-the-top action film set to hit cinemas in August, allows players to take on the role of four of the world’s most crusty legendary mercenaries: Barney Ross, Gunner Jensen, Hale Caesar and Yin Yang. Players must rescue an extremely valuable, kidnapped billionaire, in an adventure which concludes right where the new movie begins. Gameplay appears to be a standard 4 player twin stick shooter which is said to be playable both online and offline. Check out some more screenshots after the jump.

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Monday Night Combat, the class-based, third person online multiplayer shooter from Uber Entertainment has had it’s price permanently reduced this week. The game will now set you back a mere 800 MSP …
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There are a myriad of reasons — some massive, others minuscule — for wars throughout history. Wars ranging from the disagreement you had with your mother to World War II to the intergalactic alien space combat we’re likely to experience in the near future. No wars have been particularly fun until video games came along, removing the consequences and the guilt of war. Yet still wars are brutal, sad, scary sort of affairs, no matter what your role is in them — and then there’s Happy Wars.

Happy Wars’ pseudo cell-shaded art style (mixed with a bit of watercolor, perhaps) hearkens back to the days of Cel Damage and Jet Set Radio. The zany visuals and overall lighthearted presentation prove war isn’t always depressing and vile. White is pit against black in this 15 vs. 15 multiplayer action game in an effort to capture towers and destroy the enemy team’s castle. Players can pick from a warrior, mage or cleric class and acquire new skills as they level up and attempt to out-maneuver the enemy team.

Our demo was cut into thirds, with a tutorial and gameplay rundown to start, an explanation of the deeper features of the game following that, and lastly a match played to completion on the game’s desert themed level. Read More

Few things are more impenetrable than the mighty castle. Around the 10th century or so, major countries defended their population from sieges with these massive stone structures. Typically castles were constructed several miles apart in strategically superior locations. In CastleStorm, they’re right next door to each other.

Perhaps the real estate was good at the time or maybe the world of CastleStorm is just ridiculously crowded but things get cozy in this 2D tower defense. Your castle has a massive ballista on the front of it, which you use to mow down waves of ground forces and lay siege to the enemy castle. If the one-size-fits-all weapon weren’t enough, you can also dispatch your own forces and use magical abilities to affect the battlefield. Destroy the enemy castle or capture their flag to secure victory.

Real time strategy and the second dimension have blended before with games like Grim Grimoire and Swords & Soldiers, but it’s not the most common of sub-genres. That said, CastleStorm blends the RTS with even smaller genres including artillery shooters (Worms) and tower defense. The resulting smoothie is not only delicious, it offers a unique flavor. Read More

When one sees this new trailer for Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, you might have to double-check that you didn’t blink, in case you missed any second …
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Monolith Productions, the team behind the recent Gotham City Impostors is looking to the MOBA genre for their next title. They also have a huge license behind them for …
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You might have thought Double Fine had forgotten about XBLA, with their Kickstarter fame all we’ve heard XBLA-wise is rumblings of new Iron Brigade content. Now Sega is publishing their brand new game entitled The Cave, conceived by Maniac Mansion creator Ron Gilbert. It’s an adventure game with puzzle and platforming elements but not in a traditional sense and more Metroidvania-style exploration. You’ll assemble a crack team of spelunkers each with different abilities and personalities. You can switch between any of the three characters on the fly or use 3-player local co-op. The characters include a scientist, a knight and a hillbilly…because why not? Ron Gilbert had this to say about The Cave:

“The concept of The Cave has been bouncing around in my head for many, many years, and then the little voices that tell me to do things said it was time to make the game,” added Ron Gilbert. “I’m thrilled to be working with amazingly talented folks at Double Fine and ecstatic that the team at SEGA believes in adventure games and quirky ideas.

Catch some screenshots after the jump, the game will be out some time in 2013.
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You might know Haunted Temple Studios as the developer of the upcoming action-strategy game Skulls of the Shogun, but you won’t see that name attached when the game is …
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Awesomenauts comes out next week on May 2 and we here at XBLA Fans couldn’t be more stoked. Ronimo Games has posted a new trailer for the game that …
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