Source: Kotaku

The effects of the experiments have taken their toll on Katorga 12 and its inhabitants. They’re now horrible creatures, mutated by the power of E99, and they’re coming for you. Singularity’s first impression is striking, taking influence from games such as Bioshock and Metro 2033, the world of Katorga 12 is detailed, haunting, and rich with character. Art-deco elements mixed with Red Army propaganda give Singularity a distinct look and sense of place. It’s just a shame the early environments later give way to some generic industrial warehouses. At times, the world can feel a bit contrived. Backwards R’s and N’s on your objectives give the game a “Russiany” look, I suppose, but it’s forgivable when you realize it’s all in good fun. Singularity isn’t trying to be Tolstoy, more like a Hollywood blockbuster’s Russian counterpart. Jerry Bruckheimervich, if you will. Somewhere along the way, history is altered. An evil man has seized power and taken over the world. It’s now up to Renko to travel through time to set things right.

Singularity sits on a foundation of solid first-person shooting mechanics. The ubiquitous pistol, shotgun, and assault rifle are naturally part of your arsenal but weapons which tie into the game’s time-travel motif are the standouts. The Seeker, a rifle that fires bullets you control as they travel through the air is pure masochistic fun. Other weapons like the sniper rifle have the ability to slow down time so pesky headshots are a thing of the past. In addition to the fun weaponry, Singularity relies heavily on a time mechanic afforded by the TMD or Time Manipulation Device.

Those mad Russian scientists managed to wield the power of E99 and create a handy (and portable, no less) weapon that can either turn back the wheels of time or move them forward. Use the TMD to age locks into dust allowing doors to open, turn enemies into ash, and restore broken staircases to their former selves. The time mechanics are, unfortunately, limited. It would have been nice to see more freedom in who or what you can move through time but, as it is, the game has a set library of objects that are susceptible to time manipulation. Mild puzzles are also sprinkled in for good measure but don’t go beyond simply figuring out how to traverse the environment. I felt like the time mechanics had so much potential, I wished the game had more of an emphasis on these puzzles. As the game progresses, upgrades to the TMD keep the action fresh and the game incredibly well paced. In another nod to Bioshock, the world is littered with upgrade stations which allow you to trade in currency for enhancements to yourself, your weapons, or the TMD itself. While Singularity doesn’t offer the dual-wielding of TMD and guns as Bioshock 2 did for plasmids and weapons, the action doesn’t suffer. The steady upgrades ensure that, even though you’re fighting the same enemy types throughout, the methods are constantly evolving and keep things feeling new.

As Renko leaps between the 1950s and the present, you’ll dispatch plenty of Russian soldiers along the way. The occasional boss battle against a gigantic monster keeps things leaning back into the realm of sci-fi. While these encounters offer some of the game’s more dramatic set pieces, it’s a shame they fall prey to the same “shoot-the-giant-glowing-spot” syndrome.

As a whole, Singularity isn’t a particularly long game. Most will get through it in a little under eight hours. It’s right in the sweet spot between offering just enough and overstaying its welcome. Fans of story-driven games will have a hard time putting it down. Bioshock-esque audio logs, notes, messages from the past which are rendered legible by the TMD, and a headache-inducing time twist really flesh out the narrative. In the end, a moral choice offers a variety of endings depending on which route you take. While the ending itself is interesting regardless of your choice, it was another area where the story felt contrived. None of your choices throughout the game up until that moment factor in to which ending you receive. It felt forced that suddenly the game introduced a moral choice when, all the while, you’d been doing what you thought was right.

Despite being a single-player focused game, Singularity does offer a decent multiplayer offering. While the standard deathmatch pitting human soldiers against the monsters of Katorga 12 is a fun, class-based distraction, it’s not likely to pull you away from your current online game of choice. Extermination is another game mode that, once again, pits humans versus creatures but is more objective-based. As the soldiers, it’s your duty to restore beacon points and protect them while they charge. As the monsters, it’s your job to stop them. If a team works well together, Extermination can actually get quite addictive. Soldier classes range from the typical medic, spec-op, and heavy units while the creatures offer a little more variety. The multiplayer isn’t the main draw of the game but it’s worth putting in for a weekend and seeing what it has to offer.

Singularity isn’t the most original game but it still manages to do a few things very well. The world of Katorga 12 is not the next Rapture but it’s damn close. Added to that, a time-travel mechanic, great shooting, and mind-bending story all work to shape a rich experience that’s worth seeing through to the end.

Bioshock 2 is set ten years after the events of the original. Much has happened since the fall of Rapture and the end of Andrew Ryan. In his place, Sofia Lamb, Ryan’s philosophical opposite, has taken over. Rather than supporting Ryan’s belief of complete independence from the system, Lamb embraces a more socialist view of uniting as one for the greater good. Her daughter Eleanor has been bound to you. As a prototype Delta unit Big Daddy that’s been separated from his Little Sister, the quest to reunite with her takes him through some of the oldest parts of Rapture. Returning to the underwater dystopia feels good and familiar, like a song you used to love or your Mom’s home cooking. My early concerns that this would somehow feel like a cheap cash-in on the Bioshock name were gone within the first few minutes once I realized the world is interesting enough to keep players content with exploring through another ten-hour experience.

Bioshock 2 addresses many of the issues contained in the first. The original was great, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t perfect. Everything in the sequel feels much more streamlined. Shooting is vastly improved. Players can now duel-wield between plasmids and firearms, making the combat far more efficient, fun, and open to experimentation. But the shooting overall, the sheer mechanics of aiming and firing, is much sharper. It feels more like a competent shooter which is, I assume, one of the reasons they added the multiplayer component— but more on that later.

As the Delta unit makes his way through Rapture, he’ll come across Little Sisters with their respective Big Daddies gathering Adam, the city’s all-powerful substance that drove people to madness. Players must defeat these “Mr. B” bodyguards and determine how to deal with the Little Sisters. The first Bioshock dabbled with the same morality structure of killing and harvesting them for a lot of Adam or saving the girls for slightly less. Depending on the player’s decision, the outcome this time around is much more than a different movie at the end of the game. In fact, Bioshock 2 encourages the adoption of the Little Sisters as the game’s best mechanic of gathering Adam was easily my favorite part of the experience.

Occasionally, Delta unit is tasked with protecting his adoptive Little Sisters as they gather Adam. During this time, Splicers, the crazed citizens of Rapture, will be attracted to the location, gunning for the girls. Fending them off, setting traps, and utilizing the game’s enhanced weaponry was addictive and, simply put, a blast to play. These horde-esque moments punctuated the action and were a fun diversion from the Bioshock formula. A strategy begins to emerge as Delta unit preps for the next Splicer onslaught, it’s great.

The game shies away from actual boss battles and with good reason. I imagine many would be hard-pressed to find people who absolutely loved the final encounter in the original Bioshock. The closest players will find to a boss in this game are the numerous run-ins with the Big Sisters. If a Big Daddy was the thing to fear in the first game, the Big Sisters are the equivalent. While not as tough as the Big Daddy seemed in the original, Big Sisters are grown up versions of Little Sisters who have taken to wearing a similar set of armor as their former bodyguards.

On the subject of difficulty, I found Bioshock 2 to be a wholly easier game than the first. Playing both games on Normal difficulty was a vastly different experience. I consider myself a moderately good player, nothing spectacular. I was surprised to see the Playstation trophy icon pop up for never using a Vitachamber (the game’s respawn system) as the credits began to roll. Meaning I never died during Bioshock 2. Whether or not other players have the same experience isn’t certain but it needs to be said that perhaps this is a more mass-market design. The game has its difficult moments, that’s for sure, but I was often so overpowered that, by the end of the game, I could take on pretty much any situation without fear of losing my progress.

Exploration has also been given a more streamlined approach. Gone is the ability to travel back to previous areas and while many will see this as a negative, at the very least it keeps the narrative moving forward. One word of advice— be sure to explore all possible areas within a level before moving on as the game moves along a train-track that only goes one way. While it feels inflexible, I myself didn’t have a need to back-track in the original Bioshock unless the game required it. The structure in Bioshock 2 is just as enjoyable. I still found myself obsessively searching every filing cabinet, every corner, and every Splicer for goodies before moving on.

Unfortunately, the environments of the game aren’t as varied to the same degree with which Bioshock fans are accustomed. The first took players to gardens, frozen fisheries, and everywhere in between. The sequel tends to exist within a lot of similar-looking offices, hotels, and apartment buildings. That’s not to say these levels look bad or were lazily conceived, it just didn’t have the same sense of variety. This could be a result of simply being a sequel and some of the magic of discovery is gone.

There are a few issues that went untouched. For the life of me, I don’t understand the need to make me tap right if I want to use a health pack. In a way, I see the strategy involved of waiting until my health gets lower before using a pack and risking death or playing it safe. But the system allows for Eve to be refilled automatically once it reaches zero if the player has a hypo available. It just seemed like an anachronistic design decision I wish had been rectified when crafting the sequel. In addition, the story of Bioshock 2 isn’t quite as strong as it could be and often feels shoe-horned into the experience.

Not only were fans hesitant to accept a sequel could be a good thing, but online multiplayer also didn’t seem to jive with some of the Bioshock diehards. But yet again Bioshock 2 surprises.

Set years before the original Bioshock timeline, the multiplayer has its own narrative, piecing together the civil war that erupted during the Ryan-Fontaine rivalry. Players can enter into a variety of multiplayer staples such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, a Little Sister-centric version of Capture the Flag, etc. In addition, the game takes cues from online heavyweights and incorporates a leveling-up system with perks and better weapons.The online is a fun distraction worthy of a long weekend. It isn’t going to replace player’s online standbys like Battlefield Bad Company or Modern Warfare but once players are dropped into a game throwing plasmids and shooting at fellow Rapturians, it can be a lot of fun.

Overall, Bioshock 2 is full of surprises. In many ways, the streamlined structure, improved gameplay mechanics, and faithful double-dip into Rapture paid off. The pacing is pitch-perfect, allowing me to even consider it to be the superior game over the original. While I wish some moments had been retooled to allow for greater difficulty, the game is not without some challenge and the harder modes only encourage the brave to play through it again. I realize I’m probably in the minority when I say that I prefer Bioshock 2 to the original but, story aside, it’s a better game in terms of mechanics and on the whole a far more enjoyable experience.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – March 2nd

Lips: Party Classics – March 2nd

Major League Baseball 2k10 – March 2nd

Toy Soliders – March 3rd

Resident Evil 5 Alternative Edition – March 9th

Final Fantasy XIII – March 9th

Scrap Metal - March 10th

MotoGP 09/10 – March 16th

Prison Break: The Conspiracy – March 16th

Metro 2033: The Last Refuge – March 16th

Supreme Commander 2 - March 16th

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening – March 16th

Resonance of Fate - March 16th

Perfect Dark – March 17th

Clash of the Titans – March 19th

Just Cause 2 – March 23rd

How to Train your Dragon – March 23rd

Game Room – March 24th

Mega Man 10 - March 31st

Resident Evil 5 was first unleashed on gamers in March of 2009. Almost a year later, Capcom is giving players another reason to re-enter the world of survival horror. Love it or hate it, Resident Evil 5 was a more action-oriented experience rather than a return to the series’ trademark horror stylings. The DLC pack “Lost in Nightmares” is a much-welcomed return to the franchise’s roots now available through the Playstation Network and XboxLive. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine are back in a creepy mansion, looking to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and it’s founder, Ozwell E. Spencer. The episode is a closer look at a side-story only glimpsed in a cutscene during Resident Evil 5.

The setting is a complete dose of nostalgia. Capcom has taken special care to bring the original game’s Arclay Mountain mansion into the current generation. Every turn creates another feeling of deja vu. It doesn’t feel recycled or lazy in any way, quite the contrary. It feels more like wearing your favorite pair of jeans or eating your favorite meal. Even though you may have experienced something like it before it feels familiar and, for a die-hard Resident Evil fan, it’s good to be back.

Jill and Chris explore the mansion looking for Spencer, running into various puzzles and some recognizable death-traps. It’s not a very long experience, most players will be able to complete the episode in a little more than an hour but it’s a great ride while it lasts. The developers behind Resident Evil have proven they still have what it takes to create a new, horrifying creature. Lurking beneath the estate is a new enemy, a giant monstrosity dragging some kind of large anchor, waiting to impale Chris and Jill at a moment’s notice. While the duo start off with a small arsenal, they are quickly stripped of their weapons, which really heightens the tension.Moves like this- pitting players against these hulking enemies, in a dungeon without conventional weapons, is genius. It forces players to work cooperatively with their partner to trap them. Not only that, it keeps the sense of terror alive in a series where too much firepower has taken away all the scares.

Lost in Nightmares stumbles a bit when players complete the chapter and realize there wasn’t a whole lot to do. The time spent exploring is almost entirely devoid of enemies, in fact there are only about ten or so apart from a boss battle. It felt like there were some missed opportunities. At one point, Chris is walking down a hallway lit by flashes of lightning. Dogs can be heard outside. In typical Resident Evil fashion, I was expecting something to come crashing through the windows but, to my dismay, nothing happened. There were a lot of moments like this where I kept wishing there were more enemies, zombified or not, to dispatch.

As I said before, the time spent in the mansion is short. However, it is spent going through a nostalgia-inducing good time and, for under $5.00, it’s an incredible deal. The DLC also comes with additional trophies/achievements as well as new characters for the Mercenaries mode, Excella Gionne and fan-favorite Barry Burton. Series purists are likely to declare this is what next-gen Resident Evil should have been from the start. While I wish the episode were longer, it’s definitely given me more hope for the next RE installment and I’m eagerly awaiting the next DLC, “Desperate Escape” coming in March. Both DLC packs will also come with the “Gold Edition” of Resident Evil 5, set to release this Spring.
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• Xbox 360 Elite Console
• Final Fantasy XIII video game
• Xbox 360 250GB Hard Drive
• 2 White Xbox360 Wireless Controllers
• 1 Xbox360 Wired Headset
• 1 Ethernet Cable
• 1 Standard Definition Xbox 360 Composite A/V Cable

We are still a little disappointed to see that Microsoft has still not included any high-definition cables with their expensive Final Fantasy XIII bundle! None of the other bundles have included this as well, however any HDMI cable will suffice for your TV’s connection. The inclusion of 2 Xbox360 controllers and the Wired Headset should be a huge plus for any gamers out there who are in desperate need of an Xbox360, or a new one for the matter of fact. The newer consoles that have been released since last year are said to have the newer and quieter BenQ drives which have hopefully fixed the ‘three red rings of death’ issue that has plagued Microsoft since the inception of the Xbox360. Even more so, additional content will be available via download which will include custom avatars and hopefully some new and cool DLC for all those Final Fantasy junkies out there. It has also been noted that Microsoft will not be adding anything to the console itself, as it will remain the plain white version, however rumors have sparked that custom faceplates will be available as an added accessory in the near future.

Do yourself a favor, if you need an Xbox360 (or a new one) head to GameStop now and pre-order! These units will be sure to sell, and at $399 are probably worth the price. Final Fantasy XIII, the 2 Xbox360 controllers, and the Wired Headset are almost $200 alone, giving you a brand new Xbox for approximately the other $200. Of course this unit has the biggest hard-drive to date, and will definitely be sufficient for all your high-definition video gaming, movie watching and music lovin’.

With a release date of Tuesday March 9th, Microsoft and Square Enix are expecting huge sales for Final Fantasy XIII. The game first became available in Japan on December 17th, and has sparked raving reviews and a new calling for all Final Fantasy fans out there. Unfortunately this will be the only bundled version of the game available outside of Japan. As most of us gamers already know, game and console bundled packaging are usually only reserved for highly anticipated game titles, and Final Fantasy XIII is surely right up there. It’s a good thing that Sony and Microsoft aren’t overdoing the game bundling, as most often people get pretty mad when they just bought a console and then their favorite game is bundled with it the next month. Often these rumors are kept pretty quiet, but the news for Final Fantasy XIII has leaked.

Fallout New Vegas Trailer – Frank Sinatra & Ron Perlman?!

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Pictures courtesy of Play3.de

Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack 2 - February 2nd

Chime - February 3rd

BioShock 2 – February 9th

Dante’s Inferno – February 9th

World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars – February 9th

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce – February 16th

Alien vs. Predator 3 - February 16th

Tropico 3 – February 16th

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom – February 17th

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing - February 23rd

Deadly Premonition – February 23rd

Risen - February 23rd

Lazy Raiders – February 24th

Many of us have probably seen the Mass Effect 2 advertisements popping up all over our TV, our internet browsers, and our e-mails as BioWare wen’t pretty heavy on the advertising for the game. Mass Effect 2 has also been a very popular topic of discussion on forums and boards across the internet, clearly portraying it’s following by hundreds of thousands of fellow gamers. In a world filled with dozens of races, planets, political alliances and rivalries, it will most definitely be hard to put down the controller at times. The world of Mass Effect sucks you in and there is no other video game like it.

An interesting feature, Mass Effect 2 lets you continue your save from the original Mass Effect, granted that your game saves are on the same hard-drive (Xbox 360 or PC). Choices and decisions that players made during the original run of Mass Effect will have clear implications on the world in Mass Effect 2. When transferring your game, you are given the ability to choose which save you want to use, and the consequences of using it. For those who are new to the world of Mass Effect, you can of course just start a new game and customize your character accordingly. The beginning gameplay will bring you up to speed, and let you know what you missed in the prequel. Mass Effect 2 is so customizable, you can choose everything from your characters facial features, to their combat style. An event early in the game will help explain all of this in some logical context so that you will not feel confused or let down.

As aforementioned, most if not all of the quirks in the original Mass Effect were corrected in the release of the sequel. Thank you BioWare for listening to us gamers! It often boggles us that the video game manufacturers do not often read critics and gamers reviews to help to fix and make the appropriate corrections. BioWare has, and events such as never-ending elevator rides, the receiving and hoarding of dozens of useless weapons and armor, and the uncontrollable driving of the Mako (your terrain exploration/combat vehicle) have all been corrected in some way, shape or form. We don’t want to give away any spoilers, but the inventory management system, planetary exploration systems, and elevator rides are a bit different than the original Mass Effect gamers may be used to. Definitely all for the better, as these were most notably the biggest three complaints from the previous game. On another note, we were also a little disappointed to the fact that Mass Effect 2 is simply a one-player game. It would have been nice if some sort of multi-player gameplay mode or battle mode was entrenched within the game.

Mass Effect was strongly built around the relationships of the world it was set in. From love triangles, to political alliances, to earth-shattering enemies, Mass Effect had it all. As with the prequel, you will be spending a lot of your time in dialogue with your crew members and other members of the Mass Effect world. We must stress that it is pretty imperative within the game to ensure that you have comforting relationships with your crew members. We know that sometimes it can get pretty extensive, but you really should spend the time to talk to each character and person especially in between game missions. This game may not be for those who just like to battle it out and shoot ‘em up, please remember that this is a Role-Playing Game, and you must spend a good amount of your time talking to other characters, exploring other worlds, and hunting around for secrets and easter eggs – not just shooting up the bad guys. Each of the in-game characters and NPC’s have their own distinct backgrounds, personalities, strengths and weaknesses. It is truly interesting to explore each one, and see the pros and cons that come along with each. Certain characters may not talk to you or give you different responses depending on whom is in your party. Sometimes your own teammates may quarrel, and as the leading Commander, you are going to have to step in and do what’s right (or wrong).

Mass Effect 2 isn’t for the light-hearted and for the younger aged children. The content has been rated mature by the ESRB. There is plenty of graphic violence in combat, drug references, sexual content, and strong language used. With that said, the average teenager gamer and above will probably enjoy this game immensely due to its galactic realness. Any and all Stars Wars and especially Star Trek fans will love this game, as it is strongly reminiscent in many ways of the Star Trek legacy.

With the enhancements made in the release of Mass Effect 2, the gameplay modes have strongly adapted towards a ‘shooter’ game, instead of strictly being an RPG. Yes, Mass Effect 2 is classified as an RPG game, but the slightly enhanced gameplay mode does make you feel like you are playing an FPS game. When you shoot an enemy with one of your many weapons, body parts may fly off, blood may spatter, but after some time, the bodies do disappear such as they did in the first Mass Effect. As with most RPG games, you will be able to pause the game anytime mid-battle to make inventory, weapon and ability changes. Shot accuracy also plays an important role as it does in most games, with head shots inflicting the greatest damage while body parts will inflict less damage. Cut scenes also often depict important events within the beginning, end or middle of a mission, overall adding to the cinematic effects of the game which are truly outstanding.

In conclusion, the Mass Effect world is nothing but ordinary, and with the launch of the sequel, Mass Effect 2, gamers will be undoubtedly happy with almost every element of the game. The graphics are nothing but incredible, the soundtrack nothing but enthralling, and the combat and gameplay mode have been enhanced enormously to add not only more realism, but more dramatic and coercive elements to the gameplay. The following for Mass Effect has been so huge that comics and novels are even now in production which will further iterate stories and scenarios that will go beyond the video game. One thing is for sure is that the dynamics of Mass Effect combine for an outstanding gameplay experience for all. Make sure you pick up a copy of Mass Effect as soon as humanly (no pun intended) possible. Your friends and family may not see you for the next few weeks, but hey, its definitely worth the $59.

Bayonetta (January 5th)

Genre: Action - Developer: Platinum Games – Publisher: Sega

Bayonetta™ is a cinematic, stylized action game from the creative mind of renowned game developer Hideki Kamiya (creator of the Devil May Cry series), featuring a stylish and sexy heroine poised to become the next video game icon. In this epic battle, Bayonetta faces off against countless angelic enemies ranging in size from small minions to gigantic behemoths bringing to life a game of one hundred percent pure action. (Xbox.com)

Darksiders (January 5th)

Genre: Action - Developer: Vigil Games - Publisher: THQ

Deceived by the forces of evil into prematurely bringing about the end of the world, War—the first Horseman of the Apocalypse—stands accused of breaking the sacred law by inciting a war between Heaven and Hell. In the slaughter that ensued, the demonic forces defeated the heavenly hosts and laid claim to the Earth. Brought before the sacred Charred Council, War is indicted for his crimes and stripped of his powers. Dishonored and facing his own death, War is given the opportunity to return to Earth to search for the truth and punish those responsible in Darksiders. Now, hunted by a vengeful group of Angels, War must take on the forces of Hell, forge uneasy alliances with the very demons he hunts, and journey across the ravaged remains of the Earth on his quest for vengeance and vindication. (Xbox.com)

Divinity II – Ego Draconis (January 5th)

Genre: RPG - Developer: Larian Studios - Publisher: cdv Software Entertainment USA

Many years have passed since the darkness of Damian’s armies was repelled and he was banished from the world of Rivellon. While men enjoy their first years of real peace, Damian breaks free from his bonds and returns to take vengeance. And with him come the dragons. InDivinity II – Ego Draconis, you are the only one who stands in the way of evil. In this new installment to the award winning Divinity series, face your destiny and become one of the world’s most mysterious and powerful beings, a Dragon Knight. Fight as both, human and dragon, use your powerful battle tower as a base of operations, create creatures to support you in battle, and delve deep into a story that unfolds depending on your choices. Your decisions determine the fate of Rivellon. (Xbox.com)

Army of Two: The 40th Day (January 12th)

Genre: Shooter - Developer: EA Montreal - Publisher: EA

Army of Two™: The 40th Day has been built from the ground up with a focus on an incredible cooperative experience. The result is a bigger, better, more organic and immersive co-op experience that lets you put your best two-man tactics to use whenever and wherever you want. A carefully orchestrated series of mysterious catastrophes is dragging Shanghai, China to the brink of ruin, and now the Army of Two must fight their way through ravaged city districts as they try to beat the odds and uncover the secret of the 40th Day. (Xbox.com)

Vancouver 2010 – The Official Game of the Winter Olympics (January 12th)

Genre: Sports - Developer: Eurocom - Publisher: Sega

In Vancouver 2010™ – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games, the world’s best athletes are back to defy the odds with heart-stopping feats of athletic greatness in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. In 14 of the fastest, most spectacular Olympic Games events, up to four players compete to reach the pinnacle of their sport and claim a gold medal for their country. On ultra-realistic courses modeled after Vancouver 2010 Olympic venues, experience the competitive thrill first-hand with jostling controls, a first-person view helmet-cam, and changing weather conditions. (Xbox.com)

Dark Void (January 19th)

Genre: Action - Developer: Capcom - Publisher: Capcom

Dark Void is a new sci-fi action-adventure game combining an adrenaline-fuelled blend of aerial and on-foot combat set in a parallel universe called “The Void.” Take on the role of Will, a pilot on a routine air cargo flight dropped into incredible circumstances as he crashes in the Bermuda Triangle leading him to be trapped in the Void. Will soon finds himself swept into a desperate struggle for survival at the head of a group called The Survivors. Trapped in the Void, these resistance fighters are battling to hold off a mysterious alien race that plans to threaten Earth. The unique combination of in-air and on-ground combat creates a thrilling new gameplay dynamic to the third-person shooter experience. Taking 3-D action to a whole new level, the vertical combat system ofDark Void allows players to dangle from thousand foot drops as they take cover and take out enemies from above and below, bringing a whole new sense of vulnerability and thrill to the player. Defying gravity in vertical combat is only half the battle as, over time, Will is upgraded to a powerful rocket pack allowing for fierce in-air combat. Fly through the void at unparalleled speeds shooting down anything in your path. Blasting away at massive bosses has never been this much fun as Dark Void offers a unique grip system made up of a variety of grip-based mini-games including skyjacking UFOs mid-flight. (Xbox.com)

Mass Effect 2 (January 26th)

Genre: RPG – Developer: BioWare – Publisher: EA Games

Two years after Commander Shepard repelled invading Reapers bent on the destruction of organic life, a mysterious new enemy has emerged in Mass Effect 2. On the fringes of known space, something is silently abducting entire human colonies. Now Shepard must work with Cerberus, a ruthless organization devoted to human survival at any cost, to stop the most terrifying threat mankind has ever faced. To even attempt this perilous mission, Shepard must assemble the galaxy’s most elite team of specialists and command the most powerful ship ever built. Even then, they say it would be suicide. Commander Shepard intends to prove them wrong.