The glory in making a game with copious references to bacon is that, no matter how many games have done it before, it never fails to be entertaining. Even if other games have made the bacon references more unique, more hilarious, or simply more insane, it’s hard to turn your nose down at a game and say, “You there! How dare you make bacon references at me?”

The same could be said of the online shooter, a taste that is perhaps not as widely loved as bacon, but is becoming nearly as common. Monday Night Combat, the latest bacon-obsessed, comedy-infused online multiplayer shooter, fits perfectly into this situation. Its basic mechanics have been done better elsewhere, but who are we to say, “You there! How dare you give me hours of riotous enjoyment?”

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Castlevania is a series of many faces. The franchise debut was one of the first true frustrating platformers, Simon’s Quest hosted one of the first platformer/adventure hybrids, and Symphony of the Night coined the term “Metroid-vania”: a theme the series has been running with for quite some time.

But Harmony of Despair, Konami’s newest offering, isn’t quite like anything they’ve offered before. Think of it as Platformer Phantasy Star Online. Does Konami pull off this unconventional genre combination? Read on to find out.

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For my older brother and I, Duke Nukem 3D was a staple of our childhood. Not only was it one of the first FPS games that I became completely enamored with, but it was also quite possibly the first time I saw a pair of tits, virtual or not. With superb gameplay and a script that kept any prepubescent boy laughing for hours, it was sheer genius in our eyes, and as we all know, it has become the stuff that legends are made of.

Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project first released on the PC in 2002, ten years after the original sidescroller first saw the light of day on IBM PCs. Now, after nearly a decade, the King has made his way to the XBLA. Is it hail-worthy after so many years have gone by? Read more… »

This may sound strange, but some of my fondest childhood memories come from the little arcade closet at my local movie theater. No matter how bad the dates went, or how cheated I felt by a movie, I could always rely on the flashing lights and the *Plunk!* of a quarter to make me feel at home.

One of the staples of the movie theater arcade, at least in my town, was the over-the-top aquatic racer Hydro Thunder. Well, some years and several cities later, I’m back to playing Hydro Thunder, except this time it’s rocking the subtitle Hurricane and it’s in my living room on my Xbox 360. Read more… »

Say what you will about Eidos’ befallen heroine, but you have got to give the girl credit – whenever you think it’s game over for the once-untouchable mascot, she comes fighting back with something that defies the notion of what one would expect from a Tomb Raider game.

For those expecting a continuation of Underworld, avert your eyes now! Not only does this barely resemble a Tomb Raider game, but it seems to look more like a dungeon crawler – for those eagerly awaiting Diablo 3, this could be deemed as a worthy distraction until the damn game is finally released.

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Would you eat a unicorn’s poop? That’s just one of the many bizarre moments experienced by the player throughout the course of DeathSpank, an Xbox Live Arcade release from Ron Gilbert (creator of the Monkey Island series, which I adore) and Hothead Games, the company that developed the Penny Arcade games.

Unsurprisingly, it is that type of humor that is the main selling point of DeathSpank, which was marketed as Monkey Island meets Diablo. In the end, this is a remarkably accurate description of the game, though this doesn’t always work in its favor. When DeathSpank is at its best, it’s riotously enjoyable, but there’s always some sort of issue that crops up at the most inopportune times, not unlike a sudden and poorly designed escort quest. Yep, this game has one of those too.

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Remember when I told you guys about the Red Faction made-for-TV movie coming to the SyFy channel? Today, SyFy let a few more details squeak out.

Now titled Red Faction: Origins, the made-for-TV movie will arrive within the same window as the upcoming game Red Faction: Armageddon (March 2011). Origins, described as a “pilot” movie, will tell the tale of what events occurred between Red Faction: Guerrilla and Armageddon. Read more… »

Every time I hear the phrase “art game”, I throw up in my mouth a little bit. Don’t take that to mean that I believe games should avoid making a statement or attempting to make us feel and think – quite the contrary. It’s because whenever that phrase is invoked, all meaningful critique of the game in question stops and everyone gets wrapped up in some Roger Ebert meta-nonsense. Meanwhile, the game sits forlornly on the sidelines as the Internet discusses everything but the important and salient points.

Can’t a game be artistic without having to be an “art game”? Can’t we just enjoy stellar gameplay and appreciate a masterful presentation at the same time? The answers are yes and yes. Never have I been more convinced of this fact than after journeying through PLAYDEAD’s indie platforming opus, Limbo.

Read on for the official review; I’ll be here brushing my teeth.

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Last month’s North American release of Deathsmiles on the Xbox 360 has provided a sign that shmup fans may no longer have to deal with expensive Japanese imports to experience Cave shooters. Following the recent iPhone release of Espgaluda 2, Cave has announced that it is planning a full English localization and worldwide release of Guwange on Xbox Live Arcade.

Cave has recently revealed a trailer for their next vertical bullet hell shmup, Akai Katana (or Red Katana in English). Unfortunately, the trailer does not show any gameplay footage, but does show off some nice character art and narrative. Read more… »

We all knew that Plants Vs. Zombies was all set to hit the Xbox Live Arcade sometime in the near future, but what we didn’t know was that it will include never before seen multiplayer modes. At the current moment some version of Co-Op and Versus mode is confirmed, thanks to the above achievement screenshots.

I sincerely hope the versus modes are full on plants versus zombies, as opposed to just a simple mini-game. It could work with one player choosing specific zombies and lines to attack from, and tasking the other player with building plants to defend their house, then switching roles after a round.

Whether these modes are locally enabled, or only over Xbox Live is yet to be seen! Read more… »

The developers at Zombie Studios had a lot to say about the universe of Blacklight: Tango Down before the game was released last week. It was meant to take place in a dystopian near future where countries were falling apart, viruses were running wild and turning people into zombies, and soldiers utilized futuristic technologies to do combat with one another.

This may indeed be the story, but it is fairly absent from the game. This state of affairs is indicative of the overall impression Blacklight: Tango Down makes: great intentions, but not enough delivery.

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Today Microsoft confirmed that the Xbox Live Primetime MMO trivia game 1 Vs. 100 will not be returning for a third season.

Dave McCarthy, General Manager, Microsoft Game Studios stated: “When we started on this journey, we knew we were creating an entirely new genre of entertainment that would be a continually evolving concept. We’re very proud of the ‘1 vs 100′ team and their accomplishments, and are excited to apply what we’ve learned to future programming.” Read more… »