Dark Sector
Platforms: Xbox 360 – Developer/Publisher: Digital Extremes/D3
Genre: Shooter/Action - Single and Multiplayer
Reviewed by: Josh Whitley (glitch)

Introduction:

Dark Sector is a game that caught my eye about a year ago when I saw some early game play footage on the web. The brief clip looked like a hybrid of Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War, but with the twist that your character brandishes the Glaive from the 1983-fantasy movie Krull. Being that I enjoyed all of those things, I decided I would check it out when released.

The game hit shelves in late March, but I was busy at the time and decided to hold off on the purchase. I then saw a positive impression posted by a friend on the Wii60 forum, so I eventually checked Amazon and found the game had already been reduced in price. Now usually when games get a price cut three months after release, it’s a sign the game lacks in quality. But at half price or less, it’s also not a lot of risk either. I lucked out and found a private seller with a sealed copy for $20 plus $4 shipping. At nearly a third of the original MSRP, I figured there was little to lose.

Having played through Dark Sector twice now, I can say this is a title defiantly worth the time, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Read the rest of the review here.

-glitch-

Microsoft + Square just dropped a megaton at the end of Microsoft’s E3 press conference with Square Enix’s CEO Yoichi Wada announcing that Final Fantasy XIII will also be coming to the Xbox 360!

We also got release dates for the other Square titles coming to 360. The Last Remmant will be released worldwide on November the 20th this year. Infinite Undiscovery will be released on September 2nd in NA, September 5th in Europe and finally September 11th in Japan and Asia. Star Ocean: The Last Hope will be coming out some time in Spring 2009 with no exact date.

All in all i can’t think of a better way to end a E3 press conference.  Discuss this HERE.

- Walker

I’ll keep this short: The long awaited Too Human demo is now up on Xbox Live waiting for you to go download it. The game has been in development forever, and there’s been hype building for over a year now. Several recent articles have surfaced with conflicting opinions on the game, and we’ve had a thread going for a couple of days now talking about it.

So we’re asking you to download the demo, play through it, and share your impressions here.

Source

-glitch-

Speculation has been wide about Microsoft’s plans for the Xbox 360 since leaked ads started showing up a few weeks back with a reduce price. The ads only showed a reduced price on the Xbox 360 Pro model, leaving some to wonder if the Arcade and Elite SKUs would see a similar reduction. Microsoft has now officially announced their plans, and confirmed the longtime rumor of the 60GB unit.

The current 20GB Pro unit has officially been reduced to $299 “while supplies last”. As soon as the current SKU is gone, Microsoft will be rolling out the new 60GB SKU to replace it. This new Pro SKU will premiere at the previous MSRP of $349. Does this tactic sound familiar…?

In any case, new 360 customers will get a larger hard drive, and the $50 price drop will surely sell a few extra systems. During a season when hardware and software sales alike are typically slow, Microsoft hopes this will boost revenue in preparation for another exciting holiday season with Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 hitting later this year.

The Arcade and Elite models will not be effected by the shuffle of the Pro. At this time, we’ll have to wait and see if there is a true, across the board price cut later in the year. Personally, I don’t think we will see any further price cuts, from any of the big three for twelve to fourteen months. In any case, it will be entertaining as always to see how this new SKU fairs during the holiday market.

Source

Discuss

-glitch-

So SEGA announced a multi-platform RTS yesterday called Stormrise. Catching my eye was the games plot, which is set in what is presumably the distant future where human evolution has split into two warring factions. A step away from the typical “alien invasion” theme, the premise sounds interesting in that one faction has retained the technological aspect of humanity, while the other has developed into an adaptive tribal culture. Also mentioned is the feature of leading your army into battle from the field, instead of an arbitrary third person fixed camera view.

Stormrise is under development by The Creative Assembly, who brought the Total War series to the PC. Total War has had some highly praised entries over the years, so it looks like SEGA is giving their new console RTS the full court press. The game is due out for the Xbox 360 and other platforms in 2009. I’m not a big RTS fan myself, but I am a fan of good games. This looks like one we should keep an eye on. 

Check out the official press release from SEGA and share your thoughts in our forums section.

-glitch-

Fallout 3, the highly anticipated multi-platform title from Bethesda, has essentially been banned down under. It seems The Office of Film and Literature Classification has refused to give the game a rating, which means by law retailers will not be allowed to stock the game.

If you haven’t been keeping up on gaming news over the last couple of years, know that this is nothing new. Previous titles to be denied ratings in Australia include Dark Sector and Grand Theft Auto IV. In the case of those games, the developers went back and edited the game creating Aussie-friendly versions. This did not stop gamers from importing unedited copies however, so it is likely Fallout fans will also import the game. It’s also possible Bethesda will later edit the offensive content and produce a version with a 15+ rating.

Maybe I’m nit-picking here, but do you see any mention of interactive software in the name of the organization that issues these ratings…? Also, as several sites have mentioned, films can be issued an 18+ rating, but not games.

Source

Discuss

-glitch

Microsoft and Lionhead Studios have come up with a rather interesting offer for those planning to purchase Fable 2 when it is released later this year. If you pre-order a copy of Fable 2, you can go and download a Fable 2 “pub game” pack from Xbox Live Arcade. You can then play the minigames to earn gold, which will later be transferred to your actual Fable 2 game.

The benefit here is you will have the opportunity to purchase items right off the bat without having to grind away in the game. But the motive is obvious: Microsoft and Lionhead want to rack up more pre-orders and boost first day sales. Personally, I think this is a really neat marketing gimmick, though I doubt I will participate.

For more information on the pub games, check out the source here and share your thoughts in our forums area.

-glitch-

Bungie has always had some weird obsession with the number 7. So much so that every 7th day of the 7th month is heralded as Bungie day. Last year we were treated to some lovely free Bungie flavoured gamer pics and theme, which was only up on market place for 1 weekend, keeping it super exclusive to the ones who managed to grab it in time. This years a real treat as they’re giving us their new upcoming Halo 3 map Cold Storage, completely free. For those that don’t know, Cold Storage is a remake of Halo: CE’s Chill Out and you can check out a few images of it, in the gallery below. If that wasn’t enough there will also be free gamer pics and theme, although whether its the same as last years we won’t know until its released. The Legendary Map pack will also be getting a reduced price of 600 MS points.

I’ll be the first to admit i’ve not played Halo 3 in a while but i’ll certainly be downloading this on the day and giving it a whirl. Feel free to discuss this at our forums, HERE.

- Walker

Source

Rock Band 2 was officially announced today. IGN reports Harmonix is shooting for a September release on the 360, with other platforms seeing a release later on this year.

Details on the upcoming release mention that all existing Rock Band instruments will work with the sequel, and there will of course be newer upgraded versions for those who never picked up the original. Also worth noting is that all Rock Band DLC will be playable in Rock Band 2, providing backwards compatibility. Harmonix also stated we can expect to see more online interactivity with the new release.

Check out the full story at IGN here, then share your thoughts in our forums section.

-glitch-

Ninja Gaiden 2
Platforms: Xbox 360 – Developer/Publisher: Team Ninja/Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: Action - Single Player
Reviewed by: Glitch/teh_ace_playa (Thomas)

Introduction:

We all know Ninja Gaiden. Some of us love it, due to it’s incredible combat and challenging gameplay. Others of us tend to get too angry at the game’s skill requirement. The latest installment in the franchise still provides the player with the excellent combat and insane difficulty, but falls short on many other fronts. Most any gamer will be able to point out how severely unpolished this title is. Faults aside, this is still a solid title and fans of the series will be pleased.

Read the rest of both reviews here

-Thomas