“This is an ambitious and completely unique feature that has never been attempted before for football videogames. The game will feel and play differently each week. With adidas Live Season if Ronaldinho has a great match on the weekend you’ll feel the difference when you pick up the controller as his in-game attributes increase.”

Heh, that’s really sweet! Even more, it seems a “global network of football scouts” will keep an eye on every player, providing “accurate and in-depth player and team data each week.”

Unfortunately, the service will be offered to PS 3, Xbox 360 and PC gamers, but will only be available for Barclay’s Premier League, La Liga BBVA, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A and Mexican Primera Division. Well, that’s life, I guess I can’t have the weekly stats of my favorite players in the local parking lot championships…

I have broken down my list of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning beta impressions by positives and negatives to keep things simple and provide you with a balanced (and biased) point of view (it is my blog, right?). Everything is summed up in the conclusion paragraph.

In no particular order, my top 10 likes and top 6 dislikes are:

Positive Beta Impressions

1. Stylized graphics - I love the look of this game from the textures to the models to the lighting to the environment to everything else. To my eyes, they look nothing like World of Warcraft, which is much more cartoon-like. If anything, WAR’s graphics are closer to Lord of the Rings Online (except everything is more dark and depressing). They are no-where near as realistic as Age of Conan’s graphics, which is probably why you can play this game on an older PC.
2. War is everywhere - From the moment you step into this game, you will feel the tension with your racial pairing. They don’t throw player enemies at you right away (though you can join a scenario if that’s what you’re looking for), but the PvE areas are set up with hodgepodge war camps and fortifications, persistent sieges, and even allied NPCs that are engaged with enemy NPCs. It feels as if you’re in the midst of an ongoing battle.
3. Simple questing - This questing system was tailor made for me. The red lakes (aka, polygons) surrounding quest locations on your map might kill the fun for some explorers, but I played WoW with Thottbot/WoWHead permanently open in the background because the directions and objectives were usually too vague. I don’t think a WoWHead for WAR will be necessary (unless you want to know which mobs drop which items).
4. Public Quests - Okay, these are just awesome… Each PQ has three stages that increase in difficulty and coolness. Not only do they give great XP, but the renown rewards are some of the best items you can get in that particular chapter.  I do have a negative impression though (see below)…
5. Scenario queuing - I love that I don’t need to travel to a capital city to queue up for some quick and dirty PvP action. You can queue from anywhere in the world. The ability to do this may become annoying when people start disappearing in the real world from groups and such, but I think it’s up to the individual players to keep a list of who is reliable or not and join groups wisely. To prevent the queue system from becoming a death-cheating system, you should not be able to join a scenario while engaged in PvP combat.
6. Scenarios in general - You can join solo or with a group and get some nicely balanced RvR. Well, balanced in terms of numbers anyway. More skilled players and more coordinated teams will definitely have the advantage over random pickup groups, which is just how it should be. I also like the variety of scenarios. There are many variations on capture the flag, but they’re a lot more creative than the battlegrounds you’ll find in WoW.
7. Flight masters - These guys give you the ability to travel to an ally’s zone without having to first unlock a flight point. Given that most of the war is spread across multiple continents, this is a necessity that has been done very well. Simply travel to a war camp and you can join friends in any of the racial pairings after a short flight cinematic and loading screen.
8. Battlefield objectives and keeps - BOs give you a reason to participate in open-world RvR throughout each of the tiers, and it starts right at tier 1. Zone control plays a big part in pushing toward your enemy’s main fortress, which is one step before capital city siege.
9. Cut cities and classes - My impressions on this are almost entirely negative but for one silver lining: horizontal expansion. At least these cuts give Mythic an opportunity to expand horizontally (more content and options) rather than vertically (more level caps and gear treadmills). I hate the WoW model and will promptly quit WAR if they ever introduce a level cap increase that promotes mudflation.
10. Smaller groups - I really like the 6-man group size because it allows for smaller guilds or groups of friends to have fun in the game. Content also scales for smaller group size pretty well (except zergs). The smaller size also allows for a wider variety of class combination, which makes PvE and RvR much more dynamic than DAOC, where there was only one perfect setup per realm.
11. I could go on… and will into the future.

Negative Beta Impressions

1. Four missing classes - Regardless of whether or not Mythic could make them fun, closed beta testers (non-Mythic employees) had not seen the four cut classes since August of 2007.  I believe Mythic gave up on these classes way before we heard about it, yet they strung us along anyway, just to keep the hype machine going. How could they get our metrics if we weren’t even given access to them to test? Closed beta testers heard about these class cuts along with the public, which means we weren’t kept in the loop at all. On top of all this, greenskins lost their Choppa, which was a fan favorite… It may have been necessary from Mythic’s point of view, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
2. Four missing cities - Non-internal beta testers got their first look at Altdorf in June 2008 and they promptly closed the testing phase after a few hours of mayhem and confusion. We weren’t given a chance to see Altdorf again until the city cuts were announced (again, we heard at the same time as everyone else). The cutting of these cities had nothing to do with us, and was solely due to Mythic rethinking their game design and biting off more than they could chew for release. I am and will probably always be a bigger fan of their original design that included six cities rather than the redesigned, “focus-driven” / “rotating” city model. Given what I’ve seen of Altdorf and the Inevitable City, I’m not even that impressed (well, I am, but not blown away like I think I should be). Greenskins won’t launch with their capital city either. I would have much preferred that they scaled back their designs on these living cities, so that all six could have made it in. They have tried making up for it by putting more emphasis on fortresses, but I’m still pretty meh on that.
3. One city for capture - I firmly believe that the new city capture model will make things way more difficult for gamers, especially on a balanced server. With a balanced population and skill spread, which is what most people want on a server, the advantage will always go to the defender because of higher ground, fortification, and NPC support. Having to capture and hold two fortresses will be nigh impossible in my humble opinion unless one side overwhelms the other due to numbers and/or skill. If that’s the case, that faction will always have an advantage and the other side will become perpetual losers. City siege will be extremely rare (way beyond Mythic’s expectations imho), which is pretty strange considering it’s supposed to be the bread and butter of their endgame. The longer it takes to siege one of these cities, the less interested I think people will become. Can you imagine the amount of coordination it’s going to defend an entire zone and fortress while you’re trying to capture the second one required to unlock a city? I haven’t tested how this will play out in the game because we were never given free reign to an entire campaign from start to finish. These are just my perceptions.
4. The PQ grind (a lack of scaling) - Maxing out influence in the first few PQs you encounter in WAR is pretty easy; it usually takes 2-3 complete runs (depending on group size). However, later PQs take many completions to max out; like 7-9. After a while, PQs just feel like another grind. Once the game becomes established and fewer allies are XPing around you, PQs will be extremely grindy because solo players will only be able to complete stage 1, and then have to wait for the PQ to reset because they aren’t powerful enough to continue. They’ll also miss out on all the lottery items and additional XP rewards because they’ll never progress past stage 3.   Adversely, PQs also become grindy when you have more people around than intended. It’s no fun killing dozens of mobs per second, gaining 1-5 influence per due to the massive size of your group. Due to the miniscule influence gain, you’ll be forced to repeat the PQ many more times than is optimal. The biggest drawback to PQs in WAR is that they don’t scale to the amount of participants, which is pretty much unavoidable in an open-world environment unless Mythic were to implement complex respawn systems.
5. Class balance - I won’t argue that balance is a daunting task when you have so many classes, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work your hardest to get it right. Even though the game follows a rock-paper-scissors and class mirror balance model, certain classes definitely outshine others, even when their mirrored counterparts do not. A perfect example is the Witch Hunter and Witch Elf. The WH is one of the most feared classes in the entire game, while the Witch Elf is but a minor annoyance.
6. Zergs - The siege game of WAR (cities, keeps, fortresses) will almost surely come down to zerg vs. zerg warfare and I absolutely snore at combat of this scale. Not only are zergs laggy (the worst performance I experience in WAR is when many enemies are on my screen), but you will die to them almost instantaneously if you step out of line for the briefest of moments (getting nuked by 10-20 people is unsurvivable). Also, the more people you group together, the more mindless they generally become. Skill and tactics deteriorate and zerg battles usually turn into a massive standoff that lasts for hours. Maybe some people enjoy this, but I do not.  Some of the end-game scenarios and city siege phases are upwards of 40vs.40 or 72vs.72. Make sure you have a sweet gaming rig and/or turn all the effects off, because your system will be severely tested. I don’t think their listed minimum specs will handle fights at the zerg scale very well at all. Here’s a video to show you what I mean…

Zergs in Action (Keep RvR) from The Greenskin on Vimeo.

Conclusion

The biggest drawback for me is that the game is really designed for large-scale RvR - Keeps, fortresses, cities - and some of the end-game scenarios are designed for 24-72+ players. This kind of PvP is not my cup of tea. I dislike zergy matchups in all genres of games from RTS to FPS. I’d much rather play an 8v8 match in TF2 than a 32v32. I will rarely siege a city, keep, or fortress in my future WAR career because it doesn’t appeal to me at all due to the zerg potential.

However, I will still be playing WAR. The main reason is that I should be able to find ways around these zergy fights. I’ll hopefully roam around in my group of 6 or 12, tagging battlefield objectives or out of the way keeps, engaging any evenly matched enemies we come across. I will avoid zergs like the plague, perhaps skirting around the perimeter, picking off any midless zergling hoping to join his hive-mates.  For me, city and fortress siege just won’t happen. I’ll let everyone else bang their skulls against the walls and jump in once the fortifications have toppled.

Every time I get angry about the missing classes or cities, I keep telling myself to concentrate on the horizontal expansion. These features will eventually be implemented, and hopefully they’ll help mitigate against mudflation. If I ever hear Mythic is releasing an expansion like Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, or Trials of Atlantis for Warhammer Online, I will promptly put my account up for auction. I have no taste for level caps increases and gear treadmills.

So that pretty much sums it up. In short, I’m looking forward to WAR’s fall 2008 release, but that doesn’t mean I won’t hold them accountable on this blog for mistakes I think they’re making or about to make. I hope this game provides me with years of entertainment, but the moment it stops being fun, I’ll pack things up and move to greener pastures (likely out of the MMORPG genre altogether because nothing else looks even remotely interesting).

Waaagh!

Team Fortress 2 will have some major updates and the details are all out. The updates will include a new community map, a new Goldrush map in Badwater Basin, 35 achievements, two unlockable weapons and also the cool Arena mode. The TF2 Arena maintains class diversity of TF2 but also focuses on combat between two teams. It also features smaller maps that make the rounds short and fast yet highly competitive. The Arena mode would be the best mode if you were planning on a 3 vs. 3 match. The two new maps are Lumberyard and Ravine. To know which is the third weapon, we may keep guessing or just wait it out.

Via: FileFront

It’s time to dive right into it! I’m going to begin by giving my general first impressions of the game then I will take certain features, mechanics, systems, and parts of the game one by one and give my quick thoughts. As the day unfolds and perhaps even into tomorrow and throughout this week I’ll continue expanding upon my thoughts, share videos, and provide you all with any information I can.

NOTE: I will be taking questions and answering them in a Q/A blog post today if necessary. Feel free to ask questions.

First Impressions

Warhammr Online: Age of Reckoning is exactly what I hoped it would be when I learned that Mythic was creating another MMORPG. The design direction and scope are true to what was promised. This is a game all about RvR and it illustrates that point almost every minute of gameplay. Many developers set out with the goal of creating a game with PvP and PvE but few succeed; most will have one or the other or have one be nothing more than an afterthought. WAR is designed to include both PvE and PvP from the beginning and does so in a way that the player can contribute to the realm war, and thus be considered as RvRing, by doing both. That’s one thing I find so great about WAR, no matter what you do it contributes to the realm war.

More specifically now, the game has a lot of polish. I feel like I have been playing a finished product. Aside from some problems, which I’ll go into later, there have been very few times that I say to myself “This game needs more time in beta”.

Look and Feel of the world - is it a real world? Does it look cool?

High Elf Lands - Beautiful

The artwork and the scope of details put into this game are amazing. I’m constantly stopping and admiring the landscapes and the architecture. From beautiful vistas to desolate battlefield wastelands to something as simple as a bell tower, this game has details layered upon details. It has the perfect ‘Warhammer’ feel that fans of the tabletop and pen/paper games will pick up on and be familiar with from the first minute.

The world is a true world, unlike recent games like AoC which instance and redundantly instance themselves. If you’ve been following the game you’ll know that there are tiers for each racial pairing (Example: Greenskins vs. Dwarves) and these tiers (1-4) are enormous zones/regions. They are not redundantly instances and you will spend 10+ levels in them without zoning even once. The ONLY time you zone is when you cross over into another tier whether it be running to it or taking a flight master and of course entering a Scenario. Open-world RvR areas are seamlessly connected and not only feel like, but ARE, a part of the actual world. HUGE kudos to the Mythic teams that put this together.

Combat - RvR and PvE

Combat in WAR is what I consider to be ‘traditional’ pacing. Generally speaking, it’s not much different from EQ, WoW, LOTRO, DAOC, etc. It feels like the time spent in combat however is a little more sometimes. Killing level 1 NPC’s on my Shaman can take several spell casts and melee hits whereas in a game like WoW most level 1 things are dead with a few attacks. Mythic has spent a lot of time increasing the time RvR fights take. They don’t want anyone to be 1 shot, 2 shot, or for combat to be so quick that players lose the tactical opportunities to think about what move they should use next (although really this time is not more than a few seconds, it came seem like a long time for someone who is a veteran mmo gamer).

I don’t want people to misunderstand what I’m saying and start spreading the word that “omg WAR combat is so slow and boring!” because it’s anything but boring and ’slow’. Let me clarify further by saying combat is fast pace but the fights are drawn out longer.

Leveling up in general - is it fast or slow? Quests centric or what? what’s the REAL deal?

Leveling up in WAR is awesome. You have SO MANY choices. You can exclusively quest ala WoW or mix in some RvR ala DAOC or exclusively RvR. You can mix in Scenarios, Open-world RvR, PQ’s, dungeons, grinding, normal quests, and level well. The leveling in WAR feels standard to me. There are 40 levels in the game so I tend to think of each level as 1.5 the size of an oldschool WoW level. If it took you 30 minutes to get from level 3 to 4 in WoW it’ll take you 45 in WAR. Basically it feels 1.5x slower - hopefully that makes sense?

Leveling up renown ranks goes pretty quickly as well. If you mix in a healthy number of scenarios and participate in sieging objectives and keeps then you will gain ranks VERY quickly early on - so fast that you cap your renown rank for your level. It slows down a lot later on but never to the point where you feel like you’re not accomplishing something.

Public Quests

Altdorf Docks

What a fantastic addition to mmorpgs. The way these public quests are implemented will absolutely be copied by developers for future mmorpgs; of that I have no doubt. Allowing players to come together in a location and work towards a PQ (they’re like mini-events) to earn experience, influence, items, tome unlocks, and more without it feeling like a grind is nothing short of innovative and dare I say revolutionary. Although the idea of a “quest that everyone works on together” isn’t necessarily ‘new’, the way Mythic has implemented these is unlike anything I’ve played before. When I first experienced a PQ I sat back and thought, “Now why didn’t anyone think of that before?”.

These Public Quests are EVERYWHERE. Seriously. There is one in every race’s chapter 1, then they start increasing in numbers to something like 3 PQ’s in chapter 2 and it only gets more involved from there. Every keep is a PQ to kill the Keep Lord. Dungeons are full of PQ’s. City Sieges are PQ’s. Mythic has taken this simple idea and applied it everywhere applicable - just short of overkill in my opinion.

One major thing that I like about these quests is how easy it is to just jump in and participate, earn loot, and leave without any of the usual hassle. There’s no LFG or worrying about loot drama. You have zero commitment to stick around or feel like you’re going to miss something because you have to leave.

There is one slight negative that I have experienced in the system and it has to do with how loot is distributed for contribution. In almost every PQ that I participate in I will rank in the top 5 - that’s not bad when there are 30-40 people there in some of these. But that doesn’t mean I get loot. That means I get a bonus to my dice roll that the game automatically generates. This dice roll creates an almost true sense of randomness in who receives loot. I could have earned a +300 to my dice roll but only roll a 100. The guy who came in 20th could roll a 999 and win loot. That would mean the guy who contributed almost the least was able to take loot from someone who contributes the most. Of course this system IS truly fair, and I have been both helped and hurt by the random nature of the dice, but it bothers me to see my consistent top contribution perhaps not valued enough.

Scenarios

Many people will know Scenarios as ‘Battlegrounds’. These are instanced PvP(RvR) encounters that you queue up for (from anywhere in the world with the click of the a button) and play in with even and balanced teams. Where these depart from the usual BG is their diversity. There aren’t just zone control and capture the flag maps here. There are sieges, blood bowl, a Team Fortress 2 style tug of WAR, king of the hill, and more. There are LOTS of these Scenarios (At least one per racial pairing tier) and they are all different. That’s key right there for me because I have always hated running the same 2 or 3 battlegrounds over and over and over ad nauseum. In WAR I can queue up for whichever one I feel like playing then go off and do whatever I want, when the queue pops up I can take it and play, then when the match is over be sent back to my EXACT place in the world.

Scenarios are also a great content ‘filler’. Graev and I would be questing out in the world and have our queue up. We would be getting a little tired of our particular quest or maybe even PQ when the scenario window would come up and let us know it’s time to play. We would hop in and be able to take a break from whatever else we were doing just long enough that we can go back fresh. Scenarios, since they give exp, are also a great way to level and round out a tier.

Open-World RvR

T2 Empire Keep Siege

This is where the RvR truly shines. Starting in Tier 2+ (Tier 1 only has objectives) there are Keeps that you can siege out in the RvR areas (I call them Frontiers still - DAOC habit) and other objectives to take. Each of these RvR areas (a big area in each tier that gets bigger as the tiers go up) has a Warcamp that will offer RvR related quests. These quests + the objectives + the keeps + fighting players = amazing RvR fun. There is just so much action going on all the time! Last night we were on our level 14 Goblin Shaman/Squig Herder duo playing in the Dark Elf Tier 2 lands and Destruction had 2 Warbands (roughly equaling 35 people between them) defending one of our keeps that was under siege by Order. They had broken down the doors with rams and Hellblasters and for a few minutes I thought we were done for until we were able to somehow break their front line and get them on the run. Once they were running our army pushed into their territory and seized four of the batlefield objectives. We then made our way to their keep and began our siege.

It’s experiences like the one I shared above that keep me going in a game like this. It’s all about the open-world RvR and the real sense of territorial conflict going on. It gives me something else to play for besides leveling up or getting gear. I know that my goals are the same as everyone else on my realm because that’s the point of the game - dominate. I can’t wait to get off these Core servers and on to an open-rvr server where I don’t have to wait for my enemy to voluntarily flag or step into a RvR area - that will be REAL RvR.

Class Balance

Inevitable City

Okay, this deserves its own section because this is my biggest gripe about Warhammer Online. There are still some serious balance issues in the game that need to be worked out before launch. Some classes are overpowered and some classes are underpowered. There are even some cases where classes severely under perform for half of the game and then magically get fixed as they level up. I find none of the above acceptable in a RvR game. I’m not usually one to cry foul or start whining about balance but these are some serious issues. I could write a novel on all the imbalances I’ve encountered in-game but for now I’m going to bullet point these things to present them clearly. Here are a few I can think of off the top of my head:

• Runepriests heal too well early on (and possibly later) compared to other healers. Don’t misunderstand me, they’re primarily a healer and SHOULD heal the best, but they heal so well that they can have a full group beating on them for over a minute and survive (around level 14). I have experienced situations where Runepriests run in circles while they have 6-10 people hitting them and they don’t drop below half HP.
• Shaman and Archmage are too squishy for most of the game. I die in a few hits on my Shaman to TANKS. I see Archmages dying just as quickly. This archetype does not deal enough damage nor heal well enough to justify the lack of survivability.
• Warrior Priests are just plain overpowered. Simply put, they just don’t die. WP’s can get near 70% mitigation, 6000 hit points, approach 30% disrupt, 300 toughness, with very strong heals at level 31.. Their survivability is heinously lopsided.
• Squig Herders need help. Their melee mastery tree is nearly worthless. Shadow Warriors I’m sure are in a similar situation. I don’t play either of these classes and I think they need an increase in damage and their masteries looked at again.
• Sword Masters do too much damage for being a tank. Three shotting a Shaman and killing a Squig Herder in 9 seconds should not be acceptable.

The balance issues are many and if they’re not fixed they will be a problem at launch. Mythic knows this path is a slippery one and screwing up here can be the beginning of disaster. In the interview I had with Mark Jacobs at E3 he told me they have a much better way of detecting these imbalances than they did with DAOC. Let’s hope so.

How does the game run? Are there CTDs, crashes, lag etc?

The game runs like a dream right now. I’m not sure if the beta debug code is still in or not but I have no complaints. I get fantastic framerates with little stalling or hiccuping. I notice a tiny slowdown in capital cities for a few seconds but it’s almost not worth mentioning. In major RvR battles I will notice a stutter here and there but for the most part it’s smooth.
I get the occasional CTD - about once a day - but know people who got them constantly before yesterday’s mini-patch. A lot (I mean a ton) of people started experiencing CTDs after patch 3.3 so the problem DOES exist even if I’m not one of the unlucky ones. System ‘crashes’ and other nasty errors have been nonexistent for me (thank the good lord for that) and overall server stability have been good.

One of my biggest technical problems has been over the past week when a lot of people are in an area I begin experiencing server-side latency issues. Casting a spell and having it complete but not go off for a few seconds or swinging my weapon and not seeing numbers or damage appear is frustrating. It eventually all catches up but it throws off the flow of combat. This could be because the servers have been stress tested more than usual lately so I’m not worried. I know I’m not alone in this because general chat suddenly erupts with “Anyone else getting lag?”.

If I had to assign a number I would say that the game is running at 96% right now for me.

–

That’s the end of my Part 1 impressions. I will be posting A LOT more today and this week going into more detail on the specifics. Hopefully Part 1 has given you an overall sense of my thoughts on the game. I have movies, a Q/A (give me your questions!), screenshots (about 60), and of course more writeups on the way.

Topics I want to hit in more detail include but are not limited to: Questing, Capital Cities, RvR, Siege Weapons, Keep Sieges, and specific class writeups.

Update #1: Screenshots are up. For now you can visit the Photobucket page to see them. I’ll link to them here in Impressions Part 2. Movies and ChaosCast are uploading.

Wondering what games are expected to hit store shelves next month? Here is what you can expect for the month of September, assuming there are no delays.

Infinite Undiscovery - 09.02.08
RPG - Rated Teen

Features (from Xbox.com) :

Mistaken for a renowned hero, Capell is thrust into a conflict to sever the chains that bind the moon to his world in INFINITE UNDISCOVERY. Traverse a seamless, expansive world with a party formed from 18 characters. Rise against the wicked Order of Chains in fierce real-time combat, but beware … not all battles are won by force. The most obvious solution is rarely the right move. Shatter the chains and release the Order’s grip on the world.

Rapala Fishing Frenzy - 09.02.08
Sports - Rated Teen

Features (from IGN.com) :

Developed by Fun Labs in close collaboration with Rapala, the world’s largest manufacturer of fishing lures and #1 fishing brand in the world, the title supplies heart-pounding fishing action in over 20 tournament events.

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise - 09.02.08
Virtual Pet - Rated Everyone

Features (from Xbox.com) :

Return to magical Piñata Island in Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Unfortunately, not all is well on the island, as Professor Pester and his gang of Ruffians have wiped out Piñata Central’s computer records, posing a threat to parties everywhere. Rebuild the computer database and thwart Professor Pester’s evil plot by sending piñatas at full candiosity to parties all around the world. Build and maintain your piñata gardens—using your creativity and imagination to attract, trap, protect, train, and manage more than 100 different piñata species.

Warhammer: Battle March - 09.02.08
RTS - Rated Mature

Features (from Xbox.com) :

Prepare for the Battle March invasion! Command the armies of the mighty Empire, the marauding hordes of Chaos, or the unruly Orcs and Goblins as they clash in a battle that will determine the fate of the world in Warhammer: Battle March. Experience the action and strategy of a real-time strategy game without the necessity of tedious resource management, with six fully playable armies (Empire, Chaos, Skaven, High Elves, Orcs and Goblins, and Dark Elves), plus additional controllable races, Champions and Heroes.

FaceBreaker - 09.03.08
Sports - Rated Teen

Features (from Xbox.com) :

The renaissance of the arcade boxing genre is upon us. Created by the same team that developed the award-winning Fight Night Round 3, FaceBreaker offers irreverent fun, immersive gameplay, and eye-popping stylized graphics.

In this in-your-face, arcade world full of ego-wielding characters, each boxer comes to life with unique attributes and distinct personal style. Pit Romeo, a Latin lover known for his pelvic thrusts, against Molotov, an oversized Russian demolitions expert with a penchant for fighting dirty, to see how Romeo’s back-handed slaps fare against Molotov’s illegal use of explosives. Add a little personal motivation to your fight by uploading a photo of your face to create a realistic likeness using Photo Game Face, and go toe-to-toe with a real-life friend or foe.

NFL Head Coach 09 - 09.03.08
Sports - Rated Everyone

Features (from Xbox.com) :

In the NFL, the right coaching decisions combined with focused preparation can turn a last place team into a championship contender. NFL Head Coach 09 gives you the opportunity to make the decisions that can turn your NFL franchise into a champion. Do you have what it takes to be an NFL Head Coach?

NHL 2K9 - 09.08.08
Sports - Rating Pending

Features (from IGN.com) :

An updated arsenal of highlight reel-worthy superstar moves, blocked shots, stick-handling moves, hit-by-puck collisions, and an enhanced skating engine make up for an exciting and all-new hockey experience complete with more than 1,400 new gameplay animations.

NHL 09 - 09.09.08
Sports - Rated E10+

Features (from Xbox.com) :

Welcome to the future of sports video gaming with NHL 09. With all-new Be A Pro mode, step onto the ice and play an entire career as yourself through a dynamic camera angle in two compelling game modes. As a single player, earn your own hockey card progressing from the AHL to the NHL, or play the first true massively multiplayer online console sports game, allowing you to assemble a team with up to 50 friends in the new EA SPORTS Hockey League. Playing with 11 live players online or storming the ice on your own, evolve your game and have a legendary career with NHL 09.

TNA iMPACT! - 09.09.08
Wrestling - Rated Teen

Features (from Xbox.com) :

TNA iMPACT! is the exclusive Total Nonstop Action wrestling game based on the top-rated weekly television show, TNA Impact! Choose the wrestling style, custom move set and clothing to construct the ultimate champion. TNA drenches the player in moves and match types that allow amazing acrobatic and aerial feats along with the bone-jarring crush of hard-hitting impacts. The game features top wrestling talent such as Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Rhino, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Sting, Christian Cage, Abyss, and more to deliver all of the excitement and action of the television show!

Zoids Assault - 09.09.08
TBS - Rated Teen

Features (from Xbox.com) :

When war broke out between the world’s two main superpowers, the Guylos Empire and the Republic of Helic, the effects rippled across the globe, dragging other nations into the fight. Two such nations were Maroll and Jamil. During the war, Maroll’s attacks on the neighboring Jamil were devastating, and even a decade after the war had ended, Jamil’s economy and infrastructure hadn’t fully recovered. Animosity, paranoia, and mutual mistrust between the two nations hindered their ability to find common ground and complete their peace talks. For ten long years, the two nations found themselves in the middle of a cold war.

Now, in Zoids Assault, after a mysterious explosion at one of Maroll’s military bases, two covert ops teams are sent into Jamil territory, their exact mission details never disclosed. Somehow, the events of the present are inextricably linked to the past, to the final days of the war, ten years ago.

Rock Band 2 (game only) - 09.14.08
Music - Rated Teen

Features (from Xbox.com) :

Harmonix and MTV Games are taking the groundbreaking music platform that forever changed the face of music video games to the next level with the release of Rock Band 2.

Rock Band 2 builds upon its foundation as the first music game to introduce co-operative band gameplay, multiple instruments, a robust online multiplayer experience, an unrivaled offering of downloadable content, and raises the bar by delivering an entirely new level of depth, connectivity, and authenticity.

Baja: Edge of Control - 09.15.08
Racing - Rating Pending

Features (from IGN.com) :

In Baja, players will conquer more than 100 square miles of the toughest terrain Mother Nature has to offer, including the steepest mountains, thickest mud and deepest canyons ever created. With more than 40 vehicles in eight classes, including Trophy Trucks, 4×4s and buggies, Baja features a full array of upgradeable options with hundreds of authentic parts that affect each vehicle’s performance. Players will put their off-road machines to the test in near-vertical Hill Climb challenges, head-to-head Open Class races, circuit races and the ultimate off-road endurance challenge: the Baja. Baja’s open worlds extend thousands of miles across all landscapes in races that can last up to four hours. The game’s revolutionary vehicle physics deliver unprecedented life-like handling, and a support management system allows gamers to monitor and repair realistic vehicle damage as fenders fly, tires are blown, suspension is stressed and engines overheat. Baja supports four-player split screen multiplayer capability, 12-player online and LAN as well as multiple-screen panoramic view.

Armored Core For Answer - 09.16.08
Action - Rated Teen

Features (from IGN.com) :

In the distant future, massive urban development and pollution have critically damaged the planet. There is widespread fear that the end of the world is approaching. The League corporations, a military superpower, control the planet’s infrastructure and have forced most of the world’s population to live in huge aerial communities, called Cradles, to avoid the contamination. The ORCA, a rebel resistance still residing on the surface of the polluted planet, have amassed a formidable arsenal and are mobilizing to attack The League’s bases to put an end to their iron grip on the planet. As a mercenary armed with cutting-edge military robot technology, choose your side and defeat the other factions by harnessing the power of the deadliest and most gigantic weapons ever created by mankind.

Battle Fantasia - 09.16.08
Adventure - Rating Pending

Features (from IGN.com) :

There was once a time when the world was engulfed in darkness. Mankind fought six battles to save their world, but lost every single one. All hope was lost for humanity, but one day the darkness was finally driven back by the swords of four heroes. Light returned to the world, and with it came peace and serenity. The world was then divided into two major countries: The Magic Kingdom and the Steam Empire. The people prospered like never before. But in recent months, rumors spread among the people that the darkness was returning. However, fate has once again brought together warriors from all over the world. Some fight in the relentless pursuit of justice. Some fight due to their conviction and faith.

Developed by ARC System Works, creators of the highly popular Guilty Gear series, Battle Fantasia utilizes RPG-stylish elements and blends them with high level gameplay. Players will also be able to pick between 12 beautifully illustrated characters by Emiko Iwasaki, and battle it out in front of gorgeous high-definition 3D environments.

Pure - 09.16.08
Racing - Rated Everyone

Features (from Xbox.com) :

The action sports off-road racing game Pure has been developed by Disney Interactive Studios’ award-winning development team, Black Rock Studio, in Brighton, England. Pure takes off-road racing to a new level. Featuring vertigo-inducing massive aerial jumps and spectacular airborne tricks in photo-realistic real-world locations all over the globe, Pure delivers heart-pounding action unique to the genre. Experience pure adrenaline and emotion as you execute incredible aerial tricks and death-defying massive jumps.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - 09.16.08
Action - Rated Teen

Features (from Xbox.com) :

The saga continues in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, casting players as Darth Vader’s “Secret Apprentice” and unveiling new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. Set in the era between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope, players must assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi, and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway - 09.23.08
FPS - Rated Mature

Features (from Xbox.com) :

Delivering on the franchise’s compelling story, unrivaled authenticity and intense squad-based action, Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway drops you into the largest WWII airborne operation: Operation Market Garden. The Allies were fresh from their victory at Normandy and had a simple plan to get some trucks up a highway and be home by Christmas. But it didn’t happen as planned.

Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 09 - 09.23.08
Hunting - Rating Pending

Features (from IGN.com) :

Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2009 puts players in bone chilling, pressure-packed hunting situations as they seek out savage animals in the world’s most dangerous locations.

Players will face raw danger as they encounter the fiercest animals on earth, including lions, grizzly bears, jaguars and more. Accurately modeled Cabela’s equipment in the game means the firearms, tactics and gear are all realistic and precise – but this won’t always help in the face of an unpredictable, open environment packed with avalanches, elephant stampedes, and piranha infested waters. If you do miss a shot and fail to stop a charging man-eating animal, you will be forced to fight it via a melee defense – but pay attention; it’s likely another nearby animal will join the attack.

LEGO Batman: The Videogame - 09.23.08
Action - Rating Pending

Features (from Xbox.com) :

In LEGO Batman: The Videogame, play as Batman and his sidekick Robin as you build, drive, swing, and fight your way through Gotham City capturing escaped villains including The Joker, The Penguin, and Scarecrow and putting them back in Arkham Asylum where they belong. Then jump into the story from the other side and play as Batman’s foes! Enjoy the power you wield and battle Batman while spreading chaos throughout the city. There’s no rest for the good (or the evil!).

Warriors Orochi 2 - 09.23.08
Action - Rated Teen

Features (from Xbox.com) :

The worlds of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors are about to collide in Warriors Orochi! Without warning, the venomous Serpent King Orochi has descended from the skies and used his unworldly powers to kidnap the strongest, wisest, and most courageous warriors from ancient China and feudal Japan in a scheme to test his might.

Disney Sing It - 09.30.08
Music - Rating Pending

Features (from Xbox.com) :

Disney Sing It is a new video-based karaoke game featuring a mix of popular fan-faves and the hottest new Disney talents. The first game in this rockin’ new franchise features songs and videos from Hollywood Records artists, Disney Channel Original Series, and Disney Channel Original Movies. Players can belt it out to some of today’s chart topping tunes and have a blast along with their friends and Disney stars!

Guilty Gear 2: Overture - 09.30.08
Action - Rating Pending

Features (from IGN.com) :

A 3D action spin-off in the Guilty Gear franchise in which humanity must battle the awesome power of biological weapons known as Gears. Guilty Gear 2: Overture features refined mechanics, multiplayer action, dual language capability, tactical melee action and more.

Legendary - 09.30.08
FPS - Rated Mature

Features (from Xbox.com) :

All creatures of ancient myth, legend and lore are real. They’ve just been sealed away for thousands of years inside Pandora’s box, waiting … for you … in Legendary. When a thief named Deckard is hired to steal an ancient artifact, he unwittingly triggers a war between man and myth.

Griffons rule the skies, werewolves tear the innocent limb from limb, and cities are held under siege as creatures we’d dismissed as imaginings of our ancestors prove to be very real and very angry for being held prisoner for untold millennia. As the only person able to return these creatures to the box, Deckard finds that he must work with a shadowy secret society to save civilization before it is torn apart by tooth and claw.

Silent Hill: Homecoming - 09.30.08
Adventure - Rating Pending

Features (from IGN.com) :

Silent Hill: Homecoming marks the sixth story in the Silent Hill mythos, and introduces a new protagonist to the mysterious town. The story follows Alex Shepherd, returning to his hometown of Shepherd’s Glen to investigate the sudden disappearance of his brother and the strange occurrences taking place around town. Shepherd unravels a tale that takes him from his boyhood home to the fog-shrouded streets of Silent Hill, facing the darkest horrors of his soul to find his missing brother.

This game features all-new graphics that bring the fear and terror of Silent Hill alive like never before. Alex must survive the terrible denizens of Silent Hill using an all-new enhanced combat system that provides a wide array of attacks and counters. Along the way, Alex will encounter a variety of weapons to battle these horrific monsters and solve deadly puzzles, discovering the darkest secrets of Silent Hill. Silent Hill: Homecoming also features an all-new soundtrack by acclaimed series composer Akira Yamaoka.

Aug. 18, 2008 - Fans of ’80s platforming action have something to shout about this week-namely, the Virtual Console? debut of a true classic: Mega Man?. Whether you’re experiencing this vintage robot adventure for the first time or reliving the fun of your NES® heyday, you’ll find all of the game’s side-scrolling thrills intact. Meanwhile, players with a passion for sinking the perfect shot can rule the table with a new WiiWare? pool title or conquer the links in a challenging, globetrotting golf game.

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii? Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii? owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points? to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

WiiWare

Midnight Pool (Gameloft, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Suggestive Themes, Simulated Gambling, 800 Wii Points): Take a trip across America to make your dreams come true in a pool tournament worth millions. Visit the most colorful bars and meet seven of the coolest players on the circuit, from country music star Travis to Alison the biologist and John the sheriff. Learn the tricks of the trade through tutorials along the way, while advanced players can take on challenges to show off their trick-shot abilities. Keep things interesting with three sets of rules.

Virtual Console

Mega Man (NES, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): Join the blue bomber in his first-ever adventure as he battles the evil Dr. Wily and his robotic henchmen to restore peace to a troubled world. Mega Man is a super-robot created by the genius scientist Dr. Light. When Dr. Wily goes rogue with an army of six of his own devious robot masters, it’s up to Mega Man to put a stop to his nefarious plot by traversing a series of stages rife with enemies, traps and perilous platform challenges. At the end of each stage, conquer one of the robot masters and claim his weapon as your own, using it to your advantage in subsequent fights.

NEO TURF MASTERS (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 900 Wii Points): This is a golf game that was first released in 1996. The player picks one of six available golfers and competes on a number of golf courses around the world, including Japan (Fujiyama Oriental Golf Club), America (Grand Canyon Golf Course), Australia (Blue Lagoon Golf Course) and Germany (Baden Golf Course). The game features two modes of play. The first is Stroke Play, in which the player attempts to get the best score by playing all 18 holes. The second is Match Play, in which two players compete to see who can win more of the 18 holes. Grab a friend and get ready to hit the fairway.

The era that brought Star Wars back to its core fantasy roots in Bioware’s excellent Knights of the Old Republic and the promising (but incomplete) tale of The Sith Lords on the PC and Xbox finally gets the pen and paper treatment in the latest edition of the Star Wars RPG.

The Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide sets the bar high for continued products in Wizards of the Coast’s Star Wars SAGA line by providing an excellent and well constructed overview of the mid-republic era.

While many players seem to favor the romantic conflicts of rebels and empire I’ve always been far more a fan of the far past of George Lucas’ universe. Partially, I think because Lucas himself is not around to despoil it with furry teddy bears toppling elite shock troopers and Rastafarian space klutzes. The Knights of the Old Republic setting portrays the galaxy far, far away during a turbulent time.

Early in the setting the Jedi hold sway but they aren’t the stale, stoic Jedi of the prequel trilogy. The order is disparate and scattered and one of many force using factions in the Republic. There are countless pressures and numerous foes who can stand up next to the Jedi in power so running a game in this era definitely feels more balanced and easily allows players to mix and match character types with ease.

The KotOR Campaign Guide does everything a guide to running games during this time should. It introduces new races from the fiction that are in prominence during this time frame, granting players even more options. It introduces technological equivalents to the beloved modern Star Wars tech like the predecessors of R2 and C-3PO, the Corellian YT-1300 and everything casual fans will know from the films but that were not around hundreds of years before The Phantom Menace.

The history of the era is well defined and laid out. Factions like the Mandalorians, Sith and Republic all get sections of the book devoted to explaining their role in a KotOR campaign and optional classes, powers and abilities unique to the era and the time. Characters from the two games and even the Dark Horse series are liberally ingrained throughout the book. Ever wonder what Darth Traya’s stats were? What about Zayne Carrick or Master Lucien Draay and his Jedi Covenant? Along with the descriptions you also get explanations for how to integrate these concepts into your games.

The best thing about the book has to be that it introduces an era where the players need not feel cramped by the “Big three” roaming around saving the universe. The Jedi Civil War, Mandalorian Invasion, Sith War and Dark War all provide great backdrops for just about any sort of Star Wars game without hamstringing you regarding the role your character will play in helping Han, Luke or Leia save the galaxy or fending off the Yuuhzan Vong invasion.

If there is a failing in this product it is simply that it can’t please everyone. The ancient Sith era, and the happenings of the old Tales of the Jedi comics are mentioned but not truly highlighted here. This is a book about the more recent Old Republic tales. Nomi Sunrider, Freedon Nadd and his uprising get mentions, but entities like Darth Bane are nowhere to be found in these pages.

Fans of the older era are best left finding a used copy of the classic D6 Tales of the Jedi source book and converting that information themselves. There is also a lack of information on Jedi and Sith artifacts, though Sith Alchemy and the special lightsaber crystals represented in the video games get game rules to reflect the variance in lightsaber tech during the KotOR era.

There are a number of additional campaign guides coming soon, including the delayed The Force Unleashed book that promises to open up the Jedi power base a lot. If Wizards’ staff can maintain this level or usefulness and quality in these products they will be easy to recommend.

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Oh joy, I thought as I watched Mario leap up repeatedly to that third coin block, signifying that my download was just about complete. Another total waste of 800 points on a pointless mobile phone conversion from GameLoft. Yet, as with TV Show King, said developer has proven that it knows what it’s doing when it comes to the Wii - this is a surprisingly great pool sim with plenty of character and is well worth the paltry 800 points it costs to download.

For some strange reason the game features a Southern US theme - all its venues have the feel of vaguely sleazy bars you’d do your best not to offend anyone in, lest they rip your teeth out with a pair of rusty pliers. Yet all the competitors - ranging from a redneck cop to a country-rock star - are more than happy to challenge you to a match inside. There’s a standard Arcade mode, and a strange story mode, which has very little story to speak of as you jet around the various venues, the stakes and the difficulty level rising with each match you complete. After each game you’ll get the opportunity to try a trick shot challenge, with the rewards reducing the more times you fail. US and UK 8-ball variants as well as the 9-ball game are included, and you can turn the aiming line assist on or off, as well as choosing whether you want remote speaker sounds or rumble as you take your shot.

The motion controls are generally fairly sensible - you jab the cue ball forward to take your shot once you’ve lined it up with the d-pad, with the only bit of awkwardness coming when you have to reach down to press the 1 button to fine-tune your aim. Here you adjust the angle of cue to table with the remote, and use the pointer to pick the exact spot where you want the cue to strike the ball. You can even pull off those clever jump shots this way, while the ball physics and the effects of spin seem spot on.

Throw in some useful tutorials, plenty of unlockable characters and new venues, and you’ve got a game that’s terrific value for money. It might not be earth-shatteringly brilliant, but it’s easily better than the pool game on Wii Play, and if you enjoyed that, then you’ll likely have a great time with this. Shame about the lack of online play, but if you’ve got a friend round, you could do a whole lot worse than spend an hour or two playing a spot of Midnight Pool.

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I'm sure many of you have been following the lead up to this new Xbox 360 exclusive and the day has finally come when you could possibly get your hands on the prize. Yes, Too Human shipped today to North American outlets.

Take on the role of  the Cybernetic Norse God Baldur as he battles his way through hordes of mechanical creatures to stop the desctruction of mankind. There are endless combinations of armor and weaponry at your disposal that can be leveled up and improved using found items. The RPG-style character customization available is something new and shiny for you to play with.

It would seem that Chris has taken the time to color his armor and have it match unlike my character who could star in a kindergarten play. That might be a little drastic but you get the idea. I'm too interested in having the biggest, most lethal sword. I did just say that. Shut your mouths.

For more information on Too Human, check out xbox.com