Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes lets Star Wars fans young and old live out the sweeping galactic adventures of the Clone Wars. For the first time ever, players can fight as their favorite Jedi and clone troopers from the preeminent animated television series – from familiar faces like Anakin Skywalker to new heroes like Clone Captain Rex. A brand-new storyline, which bridges the gap between season one and two, takes the player on a multi-faceted adventure to stop a mysterious techno assassin’s destructive plot. Built around two-player cooperative action, the accessible controls and family-friendly gameplay bring Star Wars fans across generations together like never

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited

Dungeons & Dragons Online™: Eberron Unlimited™ (DDO Unlimited) is the free digital upgrade to DDO, the most exciting MMO with the best combat. DDO Unlimited raises the level cap to the natural D&D? limit of 20, introduces a new class, and makes subscriptions optional with unlimited free play. Set in the vast and dangerous online world of Eberron, gamers discover hidden treasure, pummel monsters, and look to evade traps left behind by an ancient race. By leveraging the most active, most realistic combat system of any online game, DDO Unlimited players deliver and feel every blow that goes into a baddie's demise

Fallout 3 Broken Steel / Point Lookout

Point Lookout opens up a massive new area of the Wasteland – a, dark, murky swampland along the coast of Maryland. So hop on the ferry to the seaside town of Point Lookout, for the most mysterious and open-ended Fallout 3 DLC adventure yet.

STORY: Buy a ticket and hop onboard the Duchess Gambit, as Tobar the Ferryman takes you to the strange seaside town of Point Lookout. What secrets does the dilapidated boardwalk hold? Who lives in the sprawling mansion? Why is the Punga Fruit so important? And what horrors lie in the depths of the murky swamp?

Point Lookout is the most open-ended DLC yet, and allows you to explore a huge, swampy wasteland any way you’d like. A completely new quest line allows you uncover the town’s hidden secrets and wield powerful new weapons like the Double-Barrel Shotgun against the swamp’s dangerous, and deformed, denizens.

Wolfenstein

Set within a near-fictional, historical WWII setting, players take on the role of the heroic OSA agent BJ Blazkowicz as they are thrust into the unknown and unexpected to battle against combat troops, otherworldly forces, and the dark science created by a supernatural Nazi force hell-bent on world domination. Wolfenstein offers players an action-packed experience as they investigate the powers of a dark parallel dimension, join with resistance forces, and employ an arsenal of conventional and otherworldly weapons in attempts to annihilate the Nazi war machine. Ensuring a deep variety of action, Wolfenstein provides gamers with an assortment of interlinked missions that drive an intense, story-driven combat experience; while the Wolfenstein multiplayer experience continues the world-renowned tradition of class-based team objective gameplay with a full arsenal of conventional and supernatural weapons for addictive online warfare.

Aion

When a new triple-A massively multiplayer online game is announced, there is usually a lot of hype about what it will offer and how it will differentiate itself from the other titles vying for players’ time and monthly subscriptions.

Aion, from NCsoft, has had some additional pressure put on it in addition to the hype. Consider that NCsoft has had a couple of MMOs start out and then falter and close (Auto Assault and Tabula Rasa), and while City of Heroes/Villains is still going strong, the North American market for Lineage 2 is a little shy (the game, though, is a huge hit in Asia), so if NCsoft needs a hit MMO, it appears that pressure falls squarely on Aion and the development team.

The closed beta session ended today, and the game will launch a new version with a ton of new content and some changes for when it goes to open beta at the start of September. The game will release September 22 – if all goes according to plan.

With all that in mind, and knowing the game may be a slightly different beast with the next version, it’s still applicable to do a preview of the game. What Aion brings to the MMO table is a game that will be challenging, is beautifully crafted and has stories steeped in lore for the player who wants to feel some immersion.

Aion is the story of a world shattered, with two races growing up separately with a racial hatred of the other side. The Elyos are pure and light, with white wings (once they have ascended to level 10 and become a Daeva – more on that in a moment), while the Asmodians are a bit darker, with clawed feet and fingers and black wings. The game does have a robust customization selection in the character creation so while there are some physical attributes particular to each race (as well as armor that is bit more finite in looks at the start), you can create your own look for your character.

There are four profession archetypes, that each break down into two sub-classes: warrior breaks down into gladiator and templar, priest goes to cleric and chanter, scouts can become rangers or assassins, and mages can choose the path of sorcerer or spiritmaster (pet class). There are beginning towns that have a series of quests designed to introduce the game to players as well as get them to level 10, which is when players ascend to the rank of Daeva and get their wings, as well as determining what class they will play through the rest of the game with that particular character. As your character advances, you buy skill books to learn the skills commiserate with your level and class.

The wings truly offer an interesting dynamic to the game. First off, they are not a form of transportation that can take you all over the world. The wings are on a timer and can be zone specific – in that you can fly in some zones, but not in most of the land quest zones. However, you can still glide by double-tapping the space bar and this can help you traverse hostile territory faster, or even chase down a running enemy, if you can find a bit of a hill to use as a launching point for the glide mechanic.

The game itself has base elements that are standard with most MMOs. You get a series of quests designed to draw you through the lore of the game as well as level you up. You level, you get better skills and better equipment. There is also a harvesting and crafting element to the game that will give players who want to take a break from the fighting something to do.

In combat, you can chain attacks. One attack may open a secondary chained skill and allow you to evolve the damage to a higher level.

But Aion’s glory is also a warning post for the player base – this is not a world where a player can waltz through it with hardly a thought for strategic elements or group dynamics. The Shattered World is a harsh place where beauty can host peculiar wildlife that will do you in quickly and effectively. Yes, with skill you can fight a couple of levels above you, but get careless and mobs half a dozen levels lower will attack and might kill you. In addition to experience debt, there is also damage to the soul, which can accrue and cost a pretty bit of coin to heal. The more soul damage you have, the slower you recover and move. Grouping, when possible, is advised and a good group can make for a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Silent Hill: Homecoming

From the instant the air raid siren sounds, a chill went up my spine and the atmosphere seemed to engulf the very air I breathed. The world around me slowly morphed into a creepy sepia colour, with bloodstained walls, steam punk surrounds of rusting metal and cogs with wallpaper made of stretched skin, it was then I knew I was back in the familiar surrounds of the game known as Silent Hill.

You play as Alex Shepherd arriving back in his hometown of Shepherds Glen which is known to players of earlier Silent Hill games for its unsavoury past, from what you believe is a stint in the military. The weather is foggy and it’s eerily quiet as the general population of the town seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Feeling alone isolated and confused, you morph from the real world to the “otherworld” on a regular basis and don’t know what the hell is going on, gradually piecing together the story through flashbacks and jolted memories.

Of course there is more to it than what the hand full of people left in the town is letting on, as you travel down the path of deception, sacrifice and insanity meeting old friends, family and weirdo’s wondering why there are so many deformed and mutated creatures wanting to tear your head off at every turn. You need to find your father to shed some light on the situation whiles constantly chasing after your little brother Joshua as the little snot just wont stand still and he keeps leading you deeper into trouble.

Apart from the skinless feral dogs and the giant bugs most of the enemies have that distinct Silent Hill look about them. For those unfamiliar with the “Silent Hill Look”, this means the enemies look like a blind mad scientist has dissected and dismembered several humans and animals, placed the internal organs on the outside and sewn them back together with complete disregard of where the head, arms and legs are meant to be. Then replaced some limbs with sharp implements and brought them back to life Frankenstein style. Some creatures will make you jump, some can be avoided and others just wont let up and require different strategies to put them down for good.

If you slash at certain enemies that have skin (like the pendulum headed Schism) with the knife or axe they receive an open wound, and when they eventually die their bodies stay on the ground and do not miraculously disappear like in some games adding a bit more realism. Along with the action there are also many puzzles to solve to receive various items, open tombs and doors or escape from buildings.

The combat system mechanics are easy to use on the Playstation 3 (PS3) version. R1 brings up the weapons select screen, L2 gets you into combat stance and automatically locks on to the nearest enemy while R2 fires. The control pad is used for quick swap between shotgun, rifle, handgun and axe as well as turning your torch on and off. When you run out of bullets or just want to save them for the boss, you can equip the knife using quick and strong attack combos or if you choose, the slower crowbar and axe. The L1 button gets you into the inventory to use your health drinks, first aid kits and the health serums or any items like keys and plaques that you pick up along the way. You pick up maps for each building and main areas of the game that shows save points and mark where you have been making it easy to navigate your way around each area.

There were a few annoying parts like when faced with multiple occultists only one at a time would fight while the others stood idly by and although most cut scenes can be skipped over there were some boss fights where you had to endure the same monologue from certain characters without the ability to skip through the ramble. It would also have been a nice touch if the six-axis controller (PS3) had been used in some parts of the game, like when you have to turn valves.

There was another unfortunate thing that was no fault of the game creators, because Australia does not have an R rating for games, Silent Hill: Homecoming was delayed so some scenes could be altered to pass through the old ladies on the classification board. This meant some scenes go black where normally you would have seen horrific detail. As much as I am against censorship (I wont go on a rant about War and violence on the news shown in prime time etc), for me this did not matter because sometimes what you can not see and what is hinted at can be more horrifying if left up to your imagination.

BattleField 1943

There is no shortage of first person shooters set in World War 2, so there may be a few people who are thinking why should I bother with Battlefield 1943. Which is a pity as Battlefield 1943 is a stand out member of this genre.

To start with it has to be noted that the game is in many ways limited, there is no single player campaign, with the only single player aspect being the tutorial level. There are only 4 maps, of which only 3 at the time of writing are accessible, with the 4th “Coral Sea” air campaign map becoming available when 43 million kills are reached. However what Battlefield 1943 does do within these limitations it does well.

In terms of gameplay on first glance the game appears to be quite limited as there are only 2 factions (the Japanese and American) factions and you are restricted to choosing 1 of 3 classes; Infantry, rifleman, and scout. Each class has its own set of weaponry and special abilities and you can only switch to a different class when you respawn, or if you pick up an equipment pack containing a different class’ weaponry.

While this may seem quite constraining when compared to other shooters when you can use whatever weapons you want, this does force you to adapt how you play to suit the equipment and map. A scout is a bad choice for close quarters fighting, but in the hands of a master is a deadly assassin killing off soldiers from a distance with no recourse. While the reverse is true for the infantry, deadly at close quarters but easy to pick off from a distance.

However, what really adds depth to the gameplay in Battlefield 1943 is the use of vehicles and equipment. In terms of vehicles it is possible to commandeer landing crafts, jeeps, tanks and airplanes, with the aircraft being in particular demand throughout the game. This often leads to a mad rush to the free aircraft at the beginning of a game, with several players hoping to be one of the lucky ones to take to the skies.

With the exception of the single seat aircraft, each vehicle can also take at least 1 passenger. Passengers can either man the weapons on the vehicle or shoot their own weapons whilst in motion. There are also static weapon emplacements spread around the map, which take the form of “forward” facing machine gun turrets and anti-aircraft batteries which can move round 360 degrees but cannot fire below the horizon, making them potentially devastating against aircraft, but leaving the operator vulnerable to ground attack.

The most devastating combination of fixed emplacements is probably in the Mount Suribachi base on the Iwo Jima map. If the guns protecting the base are properly utilised they can devastate enemy attacks and easily fend off air assaults. The base is vulnerable to a sneak attack from the rear however. In addition to fixed gun emplacements, a solitary radio bunker is placed on each map which can be used to call in air strikes, if these are timed and guided wisely can cause mayhem to closely grouped enemy soldiers and vehicles.