The tower defense genre has always been one of my favorite ways to kill time when gaming. There’s something that is just so satisfying about building the perfect line of defense and watching your maze of death take care of everything. While this genre has previously been relegated to modifications and other derivative works (WarCraft III custom maps, etc.), now digital distribution services like Steam allow game developers to create fleshed out, full fledged titles. Orcs Must Die is one of these full fledged tower defense titles.

As the name implies, Orcs Must Die involves building a series of traps so that wave after wave of oncoming Orcs meet a grisly end. This sounds entertaining on paper but, as gamers know better than anyone, the proof is in the play. To see if Orcs Must Die is worth your money, hit the jump. Read more… »

This review of Dungeon Defenders must begin with a short study of M. Night Shyamalan’s film, Lady In The Water. It’s a worthy comparison in its own way. Both game and film feature casts of characters who must defend their precious jewels from evil (in the film it’s a lady and in the game it’s an actual jewel).

One character in Shyamalan’s film also serves as a metaphor for the game as a whole. It’s Reggie the Guardian, that guy with one super buff arm and one regular arm. Translate that into Dungeon Defenders; from one side it seems to have true strength as a co-op RPG. Take a look from another angle, and it’s a rather bland tower defense title.

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This is the second week of my personal, three week journey through blood and horror. Beginning with a review of the highly anticipated Dead Island, this month started off rather well. If you liken it to a plot in a good B-movie horror flick, this would be around the time we get a twist. Whether it’s a good one will surely depend on your point of view.

While horror films are lauded for their incongruous material, that’s not something you really want to see in a video game. Not when incongruity means poor design, lack of depth and self mutilation. On that note, I have to say I feel my review of BloodRayne: Betrayal is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.

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With Diablo 3 and Torchlight 2 right around the corner, there is no better time to fill that desire we all have for an enjoyable dungeon crawler than right now. Crimson Alliance sets out to do just that. And in all honesty, it can — if you let it.

This co-op action RPG for the Xbox Live Arcade is a throwback to titles like Gauntlet and  provides the most basic elements of your typical dungeon crawler. This isn’t a bad thing, but it is up to you to decide if that will provide enough content to your liking. For me, it did.

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I admit that I barely heard of Digital Reality’s SkyDrift, an aerial racing game available on Xbox Live and PSN, just a couple of weeks before it launched. However, what I’d seen impressed me. For a downloadable game, SkyDrift looked like a truly polished title. I had high hopes for this aerial racing game, and luckily most of them came true.

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When DeathSpank released on PSN and XBLA last summer it received no shortage of praise. Headed up by legendary Monkey Island designer Ron Gilbert, that title combined the strengths of adventure games with those of hack and slash titles like Blizzard’s Diablo seies. While there were some problems with gameplay execution, DeathSpank won gamers over with an irreverent sense of humor.

While The Baconing might not bear the moniker of its predecessors, DeathSpank is back. The hero to the downtrodden has put on too many undergarments and has thus brought on the apocalypse. He must cast the thongs into the fires of Bacon to stop the end of the world. Yes, it’s that typical sense of humor you’ve come to expect of the series. I wish I could say that the same quality was there. But that would be a straight up lie.

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Moonshade is mysterious; Moonshade is deadly. At least, that is what she boasts. So fast you won’t even feel it, she says. So quiet … ah, enough of the hyperbole.

Moonshade is part of the assassin class in Certain Affinity’s upcoming action RPG for Xbox Live Arcade, Crimson Alliance. The final character trailer released today shows her getting her deadly on with rapid knife throws, magic blades and some out-of-screen knockouts. Of course, Gamer Limit has it for you. Of course, it’s after the break.

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Meet Direwolf in the new trailer for Certain Affinity’s upcoming XBLA exclusive, Crimson Alliance. Like all other maladjusted wizards of yore, he was shunned, treated like a pariah. But that didn’t stop him from building up his wizard powers.

Oh no, it only fueled him more to a point where he can now kick wholesale ass. Gamer Limit has the trailer for you, of course.

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Grasshopper Manufacture is back with a strange new downloadable title. This time around the Shadows of the Damned development house is teaming with Digital Reality to bring an action-platformer to XBLA and PSN. The European developer and Grasshopper have worked together before, on the yet to be released horizontal shooter Sine Mora.

After the break we have a gameplay video of legendary Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka unveiling Black Knight Sword at Grasshopper Manufacture’s event at Gamescom in Germany. Let’s just say if you like marionettes, you’re in luck with this one.

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Chris Hecker (Spore, Quake) announced Thursday the price for early beta access to his latest espionage game, SpyParty, will be $15. This gets you access to the early beta, access to the forums and discussions, as well as the complete game once its released. Players who sign up through the game’s site will also have a chance to lay down $50 or more for their name to be included in the credits once the full title is released.

$15 dollars is a justified price, Hecker says, as it “has become the de facto price point for AAA Indie Games.” Is SpyParty a AAA indie game and is it worth $15 dollars? A good number of people certainly think so. Last time Hecker checked in on the numbers, there were more than 700 gamers already signed up and ready to go. That’s only a few months after he opened the sign up. Not convinced?

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Sony announced the the first annual PSN PLAY event Friday, vying to replicate the success Microsoft has had with its annual The Summer of Arcade sale. PSN will offer four games at retail, with a fifth game free to players who purchase all four. Pre-orders start Tuesday, August 9; and the event will last until Monday, September 19.

Sony goes further, giving players a free PS3 theme along with an unannounced “special gift” with each pre-order. Playstation Plus members will also get a 20% discount off every purchase during the event. This sounds like a good deal on the surface. But, I tell you, my wallet is terrified. Let’s break it down and do the math.

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Way Forward and Majesco are bringing back femme fetale Rayne with BloodRayne: Betrayal. Wednesday, they released new screenshots of this side scrolling, hack-and-slash blood fest. Gamer Limit has them here for you.

Back in June, we got our hands on this game at E3 and recommended that you keep your eyes on this downloadable title for Xbox Live and PSN. Whether you’re into side scrolling hack-and-slash and gore, or a fan of the franchise. Did we mention that it has a knock-out art style? It does.

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