The starting point for Inversion is similar to the beginning of every disaster film. The main character is going about his daily life when out of a sudden, everything literally starts falling apart. It’s common for films to give a glimpse of life before the disaster, but it doesn’t normally happen in video-games. That is possibly the reason why it feels compelling to play through these last moments, before civilisation collapses.

It’s also a fantastic way to make the player care about the characters. The characters themselves are likeable because they have physical limitations; it’s not your typical shooting video-game full of meat heads. The characters get hurt throughout the story, and it will realistically slow down their performance in combat.

It’s safe to say that the first hour or so of Inversion is quite tame compared to what comes after. Obviously, the two main characters Davis Russel and Leo Delgado don’t yet have access to the gravity equipment. Nevertheless, it’s a good way for players to familiarise themselves with the use of standard weapons. Aiming feels quite difficult at first, since enemies move about quite often, and there are lots of tremors. The sniper is fiddly to aim, but it makes sense since it is a powerful weapon. It’s recommended to set it to auto aim and turn down the level of sensitivity, letting it automatically lock onto enemies.

Forget flying pigs. Inversion is all about the flying cars.

The cover system works exceptionally well. Pressing a button will lock the character to a surface, and standing near the edge will make it possible to perform a variety of actions, such as swiftly moving to another cover. There is rarely a moment where the cover system doesn’t help the player avoid dangerous situations. It’s just a cover system but it makes the shooting sections much more enjoyable.

One of the features in Inversion is the cooperative mode. There’s a few opportunities for both players to help each other out, such as one of them giving the other a boost up a locked gate. It’s a standard decision, but playing with a human player will make it possible to revive each other.

The main reason for playing Inversion is the insane gravity elements, however. It all kicks off in the beginning when objects suddenly start floating in the air. This is the sort of scenery seen throughout the story and surprisingly enough, it never fails to impress. It’s truly fascinating to see whole buildings being ripped apart and floating in the air. This also provides situations where characters are flying around, or even shooting enemies in a different angle.

The characters manage to get their hands on a neat gadget called Gravlink at some point. This ingenious tool will even out the odds when fighting against the mysterious Lutadores gang. These ruthless scoundrels started killing and kidnapping people on the day that society collapsed. There are different types of them, and each requires a different approach in combat. Fortunately the Gravlink has a few abilities that will help both characters.

Even tea time is a different experience, in the world of Inversion.

One of the main uses for the Gravlink is to lift objects up in the air. Another ability makes it possible to grab floating objects and smash them into the environment or even enemies. This makes it possible to include simple puzzles mechanics, such as a situation where the player must throw objects at weak wall sections, in order to create a path. It feels satisfying to use the Gravlink gadget, since the intuitive controls are very easy to get to grips with. There’s other abilities that get unlocked as the story progresses; the gadget requires energy though, so it is best to use it only when necessary.

Inversion also has a multiplayer section with four very different modes. One of the best modes is the traditional deathmatch mode. It’s exhilarating to get stuck into shooting anything that moves. It gets even more exciting when making use of the Gravlink, to shoot enemies floating in the air.

Hourglass mode is confusing at first, but it becomes addictive once the player understands the rules. It consists of two teams that are trying to protect their bases. The team that manages to stop the base from being invaded, for a certain amount of time, will win the match. It’s a take on the classic multiplayer mode, where players need to capture a flag. It works really well with the gravity elements, since it means players can use the Gravlink, to distract players guarding a base.

King of Gravity is one of the least enjoyable modes for various reasons. It’s reminiscent of hunting for the skull in Halo, but with the Gravlink gadget instead. The issue is that the one holding the Gravlink will only earn one point after defeating another player. It’s difficult because of the fact that there is room for a total of eleven other players. Any player that holds the Gravlink automatically becomes public enemy number one, making it a difficult mode that only highly-skilled players are likely to enjoy.

No resting allowed in multiplayer.

Lastly there is the Gravity Control mode, which is another one that doesn’t exactly work out in practise. Basically, players that earn a kill streak will get access to a special gravity gadget. The chosen player that manages to activate it will crush everyone else to death, and earn death points. It’s fun in a certain way, but anyone that doesn’t quite understand the concept will end up confused. It also means that skilled players will most likely keep continue to activate the gadget, making it just about impossible to win a round.

Playing these modes will make it possible to earn lots of rewards, such as new clothes for characters. There’s also other incentives that should keep players coming back for more online action.

Inversion has a lot of ideas that will surely keep players hooked throughout the main campaign. It’s clear that a lot of work went into thinking of ways to manipulate gravity. This makes it possible to create a few interesting sequences where players will need to use gravity to succeed. The multiplayer is also a fun experience, even if some of the ideas used in certain modes don’t feel quite right. It’s not a video-game that is going to shake up the third-person shooter genre, but Inversion is still an enjoyable title that players should pay attention to in the next few weeks.

The Silent Hill game series sates a particular hunger for me, as I was a huge fan of this style of horror games as soon as consoles could support them. It came to the forefront for me once Resident Evil (my previous favourite) began to take a more action-oriented approach to things. Meanwhile, Silent Hill attempted to remain as true as ever to the original formula by barely iterating over the span of eight games. I find myself pleased that there are still people who insist on maintaining some of the classic styling of the series, but at the same time, I am concerned.

Silent Hill: Downpour is the latest in the series and once again, the production of the game has been farmed out to a team who have no experience in this game style. So will this bring a fresh approach to how we play Silent Hill, or is it going to be a disappointing experience? Keep reading, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Welcome to Silent Hill….
Our protagonist is named Murphy Pendleton, a convicted criminal who is in prison, but you are not sure why. Following a riot in the prison, several inmates are scheduled for relocation; Murphy is one of them. However, during the bus journey the driver has to slam on the emergency brakes as the road disappears from in front of him. The bus crashes, Murphy is freed and so begins our descent into Silent Hill.

Atmosphere is something that has to be handled expertly in these kinds of games to give the player a truly scary experience. Of all the problems that Downpour has, it at least has the redeeming feature of having a fairly spooky atmosphere. Some feels a little borrowed from other horror games such as Condemned, but it still manages to keep a firm grasp on making it an original experience.

This is unusually bright for Silent Hill Downpour

As always with Silent Hill, the majority of the tense feelings are built up by using the radio. For those of you who have never played a Silent Hill game before, the radio is an item used to give the player an idea that danger is close. As enemies approach, the radio will start to howl with static, which I must admit had me on edge sometimes. At a few points the scares actually had me jump out of my seat, which is no easy task, cause I don’t scare too easily. Maintaining a good sense of atmosphere is certainly aided by the level design. Rooms look dank, hallways are long and terrifying, and the fog is thick and creepy.

Despite having a great atmosphere, there are things that get in your way of enjoying it too much. The first time you have to use the combat system, any feelings of fear and unease will soon become rage. Even though combat has always been a sticking point in the Silent Hill games, no one seems to have bothered to update it. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, which was my game of the year a few years back, saw the combat as a weakness and removed it all together, which worked a treat. Instead of that, Downpour leans into the crummy combat controls and makes the game almost unbearable at times.

As if using the weapons wasn’t bad enough, picking them up can be a task all by itself. Weapons are not labelled when you are in a position to pick them up; all you can do is just that. This is infuriating when you think that what you are picking up is an item of significance. Instead you are picking up a broken beer bottle and you have just dropped the fire axe you were using into a place where you can no longer reach it!

The game does, however, give you the hint that maybe it is better to run away from the enemies rather than take them head-on. I am not sure about anyone else, but if I am given a weapon I usually try to take on the enemy. It could be that my play style is at fault here, but my gut reaction says otherwise.

They did, however, bring some of the elements of escaping enemies into the game during these bizarre chase sequences. You are running away from what I can only assume is a hole into Silent Hill which tears the flesh from your bones the closer you get to it. The idea is to run away from the enemy and try to slow it down by tearing down objects into its path. To me it feels like they have shoe-horned this part of the game in, purely because it worked in a previous title. Unfortunately it comes across as frustrating rather than an interesting game mechanic.

Run away and live to fight another day!

Something the game attempts to make an interesting skill to perform is balancing across platforms. I will give them this, that it certainly looks interesting, and definitely gives the feeling of height and vertigo, but I have fallen off and died more times than I can count. There was a particular segment in which I reloaded my save around ten times before I managed to get across. This could just be user error, but you would think I would have learned after the second time, let alone the tenth.

I appreciate the lengths that Silent Hill goes to in order to give a rich story full of information about the world and its inhabitants. Newspaper clippings and other such pieces of information are littered through the game, each of them with the ability to give you a little more from the story. On the downside, you have to view them from the book you use to read the map, which has limited viewing perspectives. So, instead of letting you use the control to view any part of it as you want to, there are fixed areas with which the camera will display from, making reading that extra information a chore. Since the material is quite interesting, it is a really a toss-up as to whether you want to go throw the hassle of using the annoying controls.

In Silent Hill games, the enemies are typically one of the most important parts of the game. So, finding out that there are very few enemy types in the game is a little disheartening. I wouldn’t mind so much if they were all excellently designed, but they are pretty generic when you boil it down. There are no variances in how to kill them either. You just swing or shoot away until they drop to the ground; then you beat them until they stop moving, or at the very least are twitching uncontrollably.

This is of course with the exception of the Shadow, an enemy which can only be seen under the UV light you attain in the game. The way to kill them is to hunt down the mannequin that they are being projected from and beat… actually, I guess that is kind of the same too.

As if the game didn’t have enough material to deal with, there are a series of side quests that were designed clearly to pad the game out unnecessarily. None of them are all that fun to play through, even although there are some cool moments. Your reward for completing them is usually a health pack or two, followed by some shotgun ammo. Useful, but not really worth the time you spend on them.

One thing I find particularly annoying for games in this day and age is when there are serious performance issues. Silent Hill is sadly full of them. Practically every time there is an abundance of fog on screen (which is a lot of the time) or the saving logo appears, the performance locks up. This can be especially annoying since you can be involved in a fight during these lapses in performance, which can, and have, cost me my life and some progress in the game. During my playthrough I even had a save point trigger while close to an enemy that has killed me several times on continuing.

Something tells me we are not in Kansas anymore...

If you have made it to the end there is at least a little bit of good in store for you. Well, that is of course if you have the correct ending. Most of the varied endings are quite interesting and are a reasonable pay-off for putting so much time into the game. However, others are a little bit of a slap in the face. If you are a real glutton for punishment, you could start your second play though and complete the last of the side quests. I am not that way inclined…

What was that!?
Silent Hill is a cerebral experience, brought to you in part by terrifying visuals and eerie scripting. Let’s not forget the audio side of things, though. The sounds and music of Silent Hill are huge parts of what makes the game work on such a core level. Two things managed to shake my confidence in this regard: firstly it was announced that the nu-metal band Korn would be creating the theme tune for the game and secondly, the series composer, Akira Yamaoke would not be reprising his role.

Now, I don’t hate the band Korn (in fact I am a huge fan of their latest album); however, if you cast your mind back to previous outings in which they have performed some sort of soundtrack you will find a bad omen. They provided a song for the movie Lara Croft and the Cradle of Life, and the theme song for one of the biggest flops in gaming history, Haze. The worst part is I don’t particularly like the song they have written, but fortunately it doesn’t feature prominently.

Now, I am a big fan of Silent Hill and its music, so having someone new take the helm on scoring the games did upset me a little. That being said, I think that Daniel Licht does a pretty decent job of  things. His compositions are very different from anything in the previous games, grounding it all in a very earthy, industrial style. Parts of the game reflect this really well, but at other points it seems to be a little much. His music certainly gives the creepy vibe, but just not in the same way. I would definitely recommend giving the soundtrack a listen.

Admittedly the sound does work quite well in the game, as there are a few moments where I have found myself a little jumpy, but there is a reliance on this type of audio scare in some parts. The ambient sound effects do quite well in maintaining an air of discomfort though, especially when the scenes take place indoors. It would have been nice to hear a little more put into the general ambiance, but other than that I found the sound design quite effective at setting the mood.

When it rains, it pours...

Today’s weather… foggy with a chance of rain
As with all of the Silent Hill games, the key is to make it look pretty while it is dark. Downpour achieves this for the most part. The character models are not bad to look at, but the animation is a little iffy at times. With that said, some of the enemy animations detract a little from the scary vibe that the game is trying to put across, and there is nothing worse than being dragged screaming out of the experience by impromptu laughter.

The game is at its best when it is showing off the scale of the level design. Some parts of the game are incredible to look at; one mention should be the monastery, which is beautiful to see in its half-destroyed state. With a great mixture of lighting and water effects brought out by the frequent storms, even the duller parts of the game begin to take shape and look better. The weather effects in the game do a pretty decent job of conveying the atmosphere too. Downpour isn’t just a name; the rain becomes torrential at points and makes things downright creepy. To add to this you have some pretty cool lighting effects from the lightning.

On the downside, it is really, really, really dark… all the time. Sometimes you can barely see a few feet in front of you.

Don't be shy...give me a hug!

Light at the end of the tunnel?
Silent Hill: Downpour, to be absolutely blunt, is not a great game. The controls are frustrating at the best of times; both the action controls and even trying to navigate the notebook give a slight rise in my blood pressure. The story is actually compelling the further you dive in, but that of course means you have to slug your way through the rest of it to get any pay-off. Even with a pretty good selection of different endings, I am not even sure I can justify my time. I didn’t hate it, but it was hardly the highlight of my year.

The worst thing is that there are times when things look as if they are going to shape up, and that you are going to get that Silent Hill experience you so desperately want. Unfortunately you only ever get close, and never quite there.

I don’t like to give things a bad review, because I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. So, after playing through the game, I went onto YouTube and watched someone else playing the game through, and the interesting thing was I enjoyed that more. Now whether that was because of the person playing the game, or that I personally didn’t have to deal with the mechanics is unclear.

If you are a Silent Hill enthusiast then I think you should pick Downpour up, because the story is pretty good, but for anyone else I think it is just a no.

It’s vital to start by saying that Crysis 3 will use an enhanced version of the “CryENGINE 3” engine. The development team promises it will result in even better visuals. The main character is still Prophet and the story starts twenty years after Crysis 2, in 2047. There’s a world domination plot and it’s up to Prophet to save the day. It’s the typical action plot with some sci-fi references to make it less generic.

Crysis 3 will include sandbox-style mechanics to give players the freedom to explore. The story will take Prophet to different environments, where players get to see all kinds of natural wonders. New York City has become a nanodome (Liberty Dome) and is split up into different zones, known as the Seven Wonders. This will provide situations where the player needs to constantly adapt, by employing different tactics. There isn’t any further information released at the moment regarding what players can expect from this sequel.

The suit is back!

The short demonstration takes place in the New York city Chinatown district. It’s been 20 years so it’s not a surprise that the city now looks like an urban rainforest. It’s fitting that the name of the level is “Hell is right around the corner”, since it really looks like Chinatown has been hit by a bomb. The first aspect that most players will notice is the HUD interface. It’s minimalist with only essential information, like an ammo and health bar, being fed back to the player. Yet it also has stylish see-through shapes, to remind players of the fact that the main character is wearing an advanced Nanosuit combat suit. This is potentially not the final version of the user interface but it’s looking promising.

One weapon stood out during the demonstration and that is the bow gun. This handy tool is used to hit enemies from a long distance. It’s an interesting idea considering the emphasis of guns in previous Crysis video-games. Regular guns also make a comeback, and it’s even possible to control alien weapons. You can really feel the kick of each weapon, when it’s being fired, just by the sound it makes. Enemies are literally ripped into shreds when using some of the weapons. It felt exciting to witness all the carnage that was going on the screen.

Fighting enemies isn’t exactly done in the same manner as in previous Crysis video-games. The sandbox level design means that enemies will not just stick to a specific area, making it similar to how a predator hunts its prey. Prophet can use cover and truly make use of the environment to stalk alien Ceph enemies, and silently take them out. He can also take advantage of higher areas to take out enemies more easily. It’s just a glimpse of what is possible when it comes to tactics. At one point, Prophet even hacked a turret, and programmed it to attack enemies, which was just a distraction to slip by. This is the sort of situation that will make it possible to play in different ways. Players are even encouraged to analyse each combat situation, rather than rushing in guns-blazing.

The old school hunting of new school enemies...

Crysis 3 doesn’t show any major improvements or differences over Crysis 2 thus far. It is a lot darker already, however; and this is not just because the demo level occurs during night-time. It’s also noticeable that the level design has seen some changes, with a lot more emphasis on uneven surfaces. It’s difficult to explain but object size also feels more realistic. The attention to finer details, such as grass blowing in the wind, proves that the team is putting their all into it. It’s a bold claim to say Crysis 3 will look even better, but it seems like Crytek is already hard at work to prove it.

This short demonstration was a fantastic way for Crytek to introduce Crysis 3 to the world. Anyone paying close attention will see many smaller details that all point to it being a promising sequel. Crysis 3 might look the same on the surface, but it should all change as each feature gets explained in detail over the next few months.

Usually, when a new TW game is released, the sun is shining and the temptation to go out on the course for real is high for any golf lovers. Not so this year, with the release being closely followed by the most consistent downpour we’ve had for several months. Even a trip to the driving range is down at the bottom of the list for things to do with my weekend, so I’ve taken the opportunity to play my golf from the comfort of my armchair instead. The question is: how does it compare?

I am Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods 13 gives you the opportunity to create your own persona and work your way up from amateur to the world’s number one, taking in all the best golf courses on the way. Fortunately, as someone who played last year’s game I was welcomed into this year’s career mode with 50,000 XP to boost my golfer’s attributes. This gave me a nice little start but made the early amateur events (on the default pro difficulty) incredibly easy.

Also, despite importing my TW12 golfer I still had to design and create my golfer from scratch again. Thankfully the editor is as good as ever, so if you want to create a genuine likeness you shouldn’t have too many issues; or you could simply use the game face option and import a photo of yourself.

The Career mode takes a familiar form, as you go into each event and face a training game against one of the world’s top players, followed by a sponsorship event. This is usually a challenge-style game that requires you to hit a certain score through a set number of holes, and is followed by the actual tournament itself. The training and sponsor event are entirely optional but do allow you to complete Skills Challenges, achieve targets towards Course Mastery, unlock new equipment and earn XP, Coins and Status Points.

XP, as ever, is used to upgrade your golfer’s stats in Power, Accuracy, Workability, Spin, Recovery and Putting. The upgrades will cost more XP the more you add, so initially a point may cost just 100XP but when you get into the 70’s they will be costing you 2500XP instead. This means that you can get to a good standard quite quickly, but to become great takes a bit more time and effort.

Coins are used as the game’s currency to buy additional courses and pin-packs. This is one of the subtle changes to this year’s version, as pins were previously earned by hitting score targets on the course, much like the old trophy balls of earlier games in the series. Now the pins are used to boost your player’s attributes like increased accuracy or extra driving power. This has a secondary effect on the basic mechanics, as the ability to boost your shot by repeatedly tapping A is now not there at all; although, the spin that you can apply once the ball is hit is available on the lower two difficulty settings.

Where's that bucket and spade when you need it?

Pitch and putt
The other key single-player component is the Legacy Challenge, which sets out a massive 53 different challenges based on the story of Tiger’s career. This kicks off with his (very) early training and his first ever TV appearance as a toddler, leading right up to the present day and even beyond into his (he hopes) future glories, culminating in the ultimate goal of equaling Jack Nicklaus’ major record.

The challenges are relatively varied but come in two basic forms. First off we have mini-games which act as training on the various components of the sport. These range from the quite playful, such as chipping into your mum’s handbag in the garden, to the very straight-forward putting green. Secondly we have the bigger competition challenges, which require you to play a certain number of holes hitting a score target in a match play event, or maybe even a round of battle golf where the winner of the hole gets to take a club out of their opponent’s bag.

In the background throughout are the Skills Challenges and Course Mastery. These are slight tweaks rather than major overhauls to the fundamental aspects of the TW franchise dating back to before this generation of consoles. Skills challenges are essentially the new Trophy Balls and take the form of hitting birdies, eagles, fairways and greens. There is an added bonus in that you can earn Status Points for your Country Club by completing Skills Challenges.

As is the way in the modern world of social networks and web presence you can link your accounts on EA Sports Challenge with Facebook, Tiger Woods Online and your console account, so that you can work on the Skills Challenges wherever you are. It’s a nice touch but personally I miss the Trophy Balls; maybe it’s a sign of my age.

Course Mastery has basically followed on from last year where you have silver and gold targets on each course, which might be a set number of birdies or getting round under a set score for example. Once you’ve achieved the set targets you earn Mastery on the course, which will get you coins to purchase the downloadable courses and ultimately unlimited plays on those downloadable courses.

Rickie Fowler sporting his "get ready" suit

The general mechanics of the game haven’t changed a great deal from previous iterations. The left stick is used to swing your club while the right stick is used to adjust things like stance and strike which allow you to add draw, fade, loft and spin to your shots. This basic setup has been tweaked ever so slightly from last year, which gives you a bit more freedom to be creative on shot setup.

The swing meter itself has changed slightly as well; in fact we have the return of the swing arc for the first time in about four years, all be it in the form of a a single white line rather than the blocky approach of yesteryear. This is accompanied by a feedback meter that comes up after the shot is played, showing you the line of your swing and grading your backswing and downswing. Backswing is measured as underswing where you haven’t gone far enough back to overswing but where you’ve gone beyond a standard swing. Overswing adds a power boost but can affect your accuracy if you’re not careful. Downswing is graded on pace or smoothness of the swing from slow to fast. Again, fast can give your shot a power boost but is also likely to affect accuracy a touch.

This arc changes slightly for putting, where the box and bar system of last year has been replaced by a sort of graph on the floor, which has a white section for under power and a red section for over power. Putt previews are back, although you can only use one per putt. The Caddie option has also been retained for all shots, where you can get the suggested shot setup off the green and a nice little target circle to aim at when on the green.

Course for concern
The Tiger Woods series of games have always been pleasing on the eye and this year’s effort is no different. The golfers themselves have been lovingly recreated by EA Sports right down to Rory McIlroy’s bird nest haircut, and some of the more flamboyant outfits sported by the world’s top players. Likewise, the attention to detail on the courses is simply incredible. Every bunker, every bush and every tree from the world’s best courses are here and, as in real life, every blade of grass is cared for. This is to the point that when you take a close look at the lie of your ball, you feel as though you could actually pick the grass out of the TV.

The weather effects are also really well created on-screen, with rain lashing down onto the course and causing spray from the ball, as well as a slower roll when on the green. As the wind gets up your golfer’s clothes, they even visibly flutter; as do the flags around the course. It all looks amazing.

Just one of the truly amazing looking courses in TW13

Off the course there is the now customary EA Sports front end presentation with slick, easy to navigate menus set against a still from one of the many courses. Although it doesn’t trigger automatically, those famous hole fly-by’s are still there in glorious detail.

Fore!
Golf is not exactly a loud sport by nature and in TW13 it’s more about subtlety than in-your-face, up-beat music. Clubs whoosh as you go through your downswing, and that ping when you catch the ball right is captured perfectly and gives you the feel of being out on the course. You can also hear the birds sing and the leaves rustling in the trees on windy days, adding to the atmosphere.

Elsewhere the crowd will cheer, applaud or groan at the appropriate moment, while menus and tournaments have a soft musical background, lifted straight from the TV tournaments. As you get to some of the bigger tournaments, the TV presentation continues into the commentary.

Unfortunately, that commentary is decidedly average overall, having not really moved on in this generation of home consoles. It quickly becomes repetitive and generally offers very little to the atmosphere; although, I do like the fact that it only comes into play in the bigger tournaments.

Foresome
TW13 has the usual wealth of multiplayer options that can be played both locally or over Xbox Live and PSN. Locally you can have up to four golfers using a single control pad too, so there are no excuses for not getting your mates round for a nice friendly game.

The more creative game modes on offer are the likes of Bingo-Bango-Bongo, which rewards the first player to hit the green, the closest to pin and the winner of the hole, leading to some cheeky under-hits to ensure you get the second shot on a hole first. There’s also Battle Golf, which allows the winner of the hole to remove a club from his opponent’s bag or replace one removed from his own.

I wonder how much Evergreen they used on that lawn?

Online there are the usual lobbies and quickmatch options to play in the same Head to Head matches, as well as online Tournaments which see you playing your round of a set event alone and your score being recorded in competition with other players. These Tournaments are only open for a certain amount of time, and allow only limited attempts to get that competitive score.

The major new addition this year in terms of online play is the Country Club. This is essentially the addition of community-based gaming, allowing you to join either a public Club or set one up with your friends. The Status Points briefly mentioned earlier (given at the end of a round on all the game modes) are used to increase the stature and notoriety of your chosen Country Club. In return for this you receive a coin boost to allow you quicker access to the Pin Boosts and Downloadable course.

The other thing that being a member of a Country Club allows is the option to play Head to Head and Tournaments within the Club, rather than across the entire Tiger Woods community. This leads to a Club leader who has bragging rights and authority over the rest of the Club members.

Birdie or bogey?
Tiger Woods 13 is simply brilliant, and is something of a rarity by EA Sports in that the subtle changes of this years version make a big difference to the overall game. Graphically it looks a bit better and the sound is much the same, but the tweaks to the swing meter, and even more so the Putt meter, make control of shots far better overall.

In addition, the introduction of the Tiger Legacy Challenge adds a considerable amount of depth and playability to the single-player game, while the Country Club adds a similar layer to the online modes. The only drawback for me is the removal of those beautifully collectable Trophy Balls. Usually with one of EA Sports’ big yearly franchises the final decision will depend on when you last bought a copy of the game, but not here. Even if you have last year’s version (which I do), this is the easiest BUY IT! I’ve ever given.

So why is yet another vengeance game worth any attention? Or is it? Though it may be the same idea rehashed, this game is still pretty fun, and good-looking too. In fact, one of Bloodforge’s greatest strengths is the new visual twist it puts upon the ancient ideas of mythology.

A world of myth and legend…
The game begins on an unfortunate day for our poor hero. Crom comes home from deer hunting to find his village under attack from strange enemies Crom recognizes from a dream. He leaps into the action to save his wife, whom he wisely advises to take refuge in a burning hut. Of course, in typical revenge story fashion, his advice does no good and Crom ends up killing her by mistake.

The story never becomes very engaging. It’s the typical ‘vengeance for dead wife’ tale, which has been told again and again in every medium. It’s not all bad. The dialogue is actually very smooth and fun, and the character’s banter is at least somewhat intelligent. It’s simply average.

A bloody good time
The game is two parts Devil May Cry, two parts God of War.  The levelling up system, which focuses on killing enemies to gather their blood, and ‘offering’ the blood to earn new moves, is very similar to the demon orbs method of DMC. The rank system, where the player is rated after every battle for how unique the fight was, is another DMC-esque system.

Bloodforge has a battle system with multiple layers. The first is focused around blood. The more enemies Crom kills, the more blood he collects. The blood is, first and foremost, a tool to use in battle. It fills the blood meter and can be unleashed to allow Crom to go berserk.  During berserk mode, he can rage-kill enemies in disgustingly creative ways.

A brand new definition of 'blood sucker'.

There are also other, more magical methods such as Rune powers. These are bought with blood offerings. By offering the blood, Crom earns the support of a specific God or God’s abilities, and can use them in battle.

For the simpler ‘Crom smash’ method, the player must mash buttons to keep combos going. This is a game which rewards button mashing. Hitting ‘X’ and ‘Y’ repeatedly and in different combinations leads to different moves, but the important part is to continuously tap the buttons without fail.

The camera can be wonky, especially during scripted battle scenes which show Crom tearing his enemies apart. Sometimes the player sees this from over Crom’s shoulder; sometimes they see it from under a rock wall twenty feet away. There is also an issue with jumping in battle. If Crom leaps too close to an enemy, he can become caught on their head. This can lead to Crom floating midair for ten seconds as the player curses as the screen.

Myths in HD
In this world, the colors grey and red dominate. A cloud-laden, mutely coloured landscape runs from horizon to horizon and that monotone is only broken up by blood. Every battle Crom has spills even more blood upon the ground, so that the player is eventually running through a dimly lit, dark world, leaving bloody footprints behind.

It would almost be scenic... y'know, without all the blood.

The designs in the game are gorgeous. These concepts have, of course, been covered a hundred times before, but Bloodforge has a grittier, dirtier feel. Enemies are truly grotesque and gods are intriguing and aloof. The art itself is one of the better points of the game with concepts that include a nice mix of mythological influence and new inspiration.

The songs of heroes
The game opens with a robust and invigorating score that had me feeling pretty heroic myself.  The soundtrack definitely fits the epic feeling of being a warrior on a quest.

Though Crom is no Beowulf, the music at least is reminiscent of ancient heroes challenging ancient foes. There’s a lot of drumming and chanting. During battle, the music is more intense and metallic, adding to the blood rage that’s surely flowing through your veins. It fits the mood well.

The storytellers were right about you…
It’s a premise that’s been done again and again, but let’s face it: it’s a fun premise. It keeps popping back up because it’s really enjoyable when done well. Epic quests to kill Gods never get old. Bloodforge may not be exemplary, but it is a slightly different look and feel to the revenge quest. For 1200 Microsoft points, it’s at least worth a shot.

Many £40 games now feature a story that you can play through in less than ten hours, with no online content, so it makes sense for people to trade in to fund another gaming purchase, in an age where recycling is king.

Although broadband speeds are improving, we are not quite ready for downloading games that are 30GB plus in size just yet, but maybe developers and marketing companies have come up with their own silver bullet, with the words “episodic gaming” written on the side to destroy their enemies once and for all.

The underrated Alan Wake dabbled with this, but a fickle gaming public didn’t quite get on board with the whole concept. Maybe Remedy were right when they said the industry isn’t ready for episodic games and actually it was simply ahead of its time. The big question now is, are gamers ready in 2012 to consume games like television?

Step forward Telltale games, who have had considerable success with the likes of Back to the Future, Tales of Monkey Island, Sam and Max, so it is of no surprise to see them dip their toes in the waters of episodic games again with the Walking Dead game.

Based on the comic book universe created by Robert Kirkman, the game adaptation is a five-part episodic series that concentrates on characterization and emotion, rather than action like games such as Left 4 Dead. To download all five episodes, it will end up costing you anything between £15 and £20, depending on where you purchase your PS3 or Xbox Live points. Is this so bad?

Intense narrative-driven episodic gaming at its finest.

Call me old-fashioned, but all stories should contain a beginning, a middle and an end. The idea of only purchasing a beginning feels kind of wrong. Maybe I’m being a purist, but to buy a film, book or TV series in segments just doesn’t seem right, but you could also argue that you would have purchased the original Walking Dead comics in exactly the same way.

The most cynical would also tell you that every gamer is already playing an episodic style anyway by playing for a few hours, getting to the end of a mission and saving your progress. So, what’s all the fuss about?

After all, many people are reading this with a pile of games by their side that they will never complete. All thanks to growing responsibilities, and the ability to find a spare four hours gaming is nothing more than a distant memory.

Despite all the positives, the harsh truth is no matter how many people download the first episode of a game, the sales will inevitably decrease for each subsequent instalment. Anyone that has invested 22 hours of a TV show only to see it get cancelled, will be very cautious about allowing this format into gaming too.

1.21 Gigawatts of episodic gaming, Great Scott!

There is something quite sad about a world of unfinished stories, but rather than dwell on the negatives, I have to say that it’s refreshing to find that Episode 1 of the Walking Dead is a fantastically intense opener. It’s grabbed my attention quicker than many top titles this year, and has also impressed the hard to please critics.

All too often, the biggest problem with digital downloads are the inflated prices, but I feel they have marketed the Walking Dead at just the right price. Even a frugal gamer like myself will find it hard not to be tempted by a game of this calibre for only 400 MS Points.

If the idea of episodic gaming makes you shuffle in your seat uncomfortably, or even if you agree that the world isn’t wholly ready for it just yet, I suspect that this, along with many other experiments, will be thrust upon gamers over the next 12 months. This will be to establish just what works and what doesn’t with digital distribution, before decisions are finalised with next generation consoles on the horizon.

Sure, ultimately it’s about how they can make us all part with our hard-earned cash, but it’s great to see innovation and creativity leading the way with the very cool Walking Dead opener. The game, arguably, has better characterisation than the TV show, and that can only be a good thing.

Supernatural monsters? Check. Buckles to be swashed? Check.
In Risen 2: Dark Waters, you play as The Nameless Hero who is trying to recover after the events of the first game by drowning himself in bottle after bottle of rum. However, the reappearance of a friend from the first game sends you off on a quest to go hunt down the big supernatural baddy Mara, who is raising the titans of the earth to bring about the end days. It begins with you being kicked out of the Inquisition so you can go undercover. The plot later on becomes less focused, allowing you to attack multiple objectives at once, which gives you a nice choice of what to tackle.

I actually really enjoyed the plot (something vital for a singleplayer RPG) and was caught up in it, laughing at some of the lines and loving some of the set pieces. However, it isn’t top of the range; some of the writing can be a little off, especially with some of the very English swearing patterns.

The game writing is good for another reason: it feels like a game about pirates rather than just a fantasy RPG with some parrots stuck on top. You’ll spend your time taking part in drinking contests, digging for treasure, robbing tombs and fighting swashbuckling sword fights in every situation possible.

I also enjoyed many of the characters. When you start to build up a crew, the character interaction is very Mass Effect-esque, with each one having their own take on the current events and locations as well as giving you pointers if you need them. These are told rather well, as opposed to them simply telling you your quest objectives.

Venturo - Inquistor, Marksman, Bro

Now, what this strange motion you make with your foot? A kick you say?
The meat of the game is focused on you adventuring around several expansive areas completing quests in order to advance the game. It actually feels very much like a singleplayer MMO in terms of its controls scheme. As said before, Risen 2 has shed the fantasy of the original, and so the areas you’ll be traipsing around range from colonial style forts and towns to pirate hideaways and ancient native temples.

You don’t choose a class when you start; instead you earn Glory that can be spent to upgrade individual stats such as Cunning or skill with blades. This leads to a rather free form approach to upgrading, and allows you to upgrade exactly how you want. Personally, I have no truck with voodoo so I didn’t put a single point into it. Luckily I didn’t feel like I needed it at any point during the game. In contrast though, skills such as Cunning seemed to me to always provide the easiest way to any objective.

In addition to your stats you also need to gain talents. They are bought from skill trainers and range from things such as learning how to kick (a skill most master in early childhood but not for our hero), to more complex feats such as improving your voodoo or mastering critical strikes and the like. Each skill is vital for some purpose and it makes sense to buy them all as fast as possible; sword damage doesn’t matter if you can’t power attack with it. Early in the game, you really struggle to find enough cash to pay for many of these talents.

In fact, the early game is ridiculously hard. It was in fact a little off-putting and almost turned me the entire game. Part of this comes from a terrible combat system. It feels incredibly floaty when you’re fighting, yet also punishes you horribly if even for a moment you lose concentration. In addition, all the basic sword fighting tricks such as parrying or power attacking are locked, meaning your first sword fight is going to be a pain in the backside.

There is some nice variety among the weapons, especially once you’ve unlocked the musket which handily bridges the gap between melee and ranged. It also kinda breaks the game though; once levelled up the musket becomes a deathstick, easily capable of downing everyone and everything. There are also one or two boss battles, but these are rather easy to play through. In fact, I downed the first boss when he was 10 feet away from me and before he landed a single blow.

I actually really like the pace the game doles out new ideas and equipment. At no point did it feel like I’d had a whole bunch of new stuff just piled onto me. You also have plenty of time to explore each area and it makes it very obvious when you’re about to leave, so you don’t go boating off to another island until you know you’ve finished off. There is also plenty of gear and weapons to go out and buy; although, you soon realise each island has a best item in each category and the rest are cheaper alternatives.

Just like being in the Caribbean
The graphics of Risen 2 are a little bit hit and miss. Outdoor scenes look really good, with the sunlight streaming through leaves in the jungle scene or reflecting off the cobbles in the various towns. In fact, I do like the designs for the areas and there are some very pretty views that are now sitting in my screenshot folder. Unfortunately, character animations are exceptionally wooden which can be a little off putting; especially when your character does the exact same hand gesture after almost every line in every conversation. It’s just a little thing but it’s really obvious after you play through the entire game. The game also crashed a few times during play, so save often.

Which brings me onto another point. Unlike other games which clean up any autosaves and quicksaves, Risen 2 creates a new file EVERY time. This can lead to some quite impressively-sized save game folders which is a massive pain.

"And we can put the beach bar..there"

Worth singing a sea shanty about
Sound is actually one of Risen’s glories. It has an excellent score that ties into the gameplay perfectly. It reaches a fever pitch during the plot points, but the incidental music while wandering around the town is still pretty good. As mentioned before, the voice acting is great and really fitting for the settings, apart from one or two actors who use the same voice for everyone.

The treasure under the ‘X’
Overall, I really enjoyed Risen 2. It was a game I really got into, wrapping myself in its story and world while avoiding the little niggles the technology brought up. Overall I think the game is great way to spend your time. However, at the moment it costs about £40 off the UK Steam store, which is a little unreasonable in my opinion.

The report box on your screen reads: ‘fishing trawler destroyed’.

Welcome to Naval War: Artic Circle; a game about intelligence, simulation and blowing up innocent fishermen.

In the dark future, there is only resource war
Naval War is set in the near future, at a time when resources are running low and the situation is heating up. Russian and Scandinavian ships come to blows over fishing rights and demands for fuel, whilst diplomats sit round the table arguing over tolls and tariffs. Into this situation, NATO starts a naval exercise in the North Sea, a threat Russia doesn’t take lightly. As you expect, it soon turns into an all-out naval war with each country bringing its full might.

It’s an exceedingly plausible setting and none of the mission’s individual stories are far-fetched; it doesn’t quite reach Tom Clancy scale madness. In between the missions, there are some rather nicely drawn conversations, with each speaker’s portrait popping up. They have a sense of humour to them, quoting Bad Boys 2 among other things, something I really wasn’t expecting when I started playing.

Get used to this view; it is all you'll be using

There are two single-player campaigns (one from each of the sides) which play through the same events but from the two viewpoints. These missions nicely ramp up, starting with a small selection of units in a small area and ending up with full scale, combined arms warfare across the entire North Sea area. There are also several symmetrical single missions designed for multiplayer play, but that can be played through by a single player. It would be nice if the game included a mission editor but by the sound of it, the developers are already making an editor they plan to release which may tie into the Steam Workshop.

Welcome to the Danger Zone
If you hadn’t realised by the publisher Paradox Interactive, Naval War is a realistic simulation. In this case, it’s of combined air/surface warfare, granting you access to units ranging from motor torpedo boats up to aircraft carriers, and from tiny UAVs up to huge four-engine bombers. From these various realistic weapons of war you need to deploy them at the right time, balancing fuel and ammo concerns and choosing just when to deploy all the sensors at your disposal. It sounds terrifying, but it’s actually really slick and intuitive to get into.

In all the missions, you are granted a selection of units. You don’t have to bother with the production or resources gathering, so it’s only down to you to direct your units to where they need to go. Time is soon a resource you need to deal with, especially as switching loadouts on airborne units can take up to an hour in the game (although you can speed up gameplay to get past long waits). You can also adjust nearly everything about how a unit behaves, from how it deals with spotted enemies to how fast and at what altitude it flies.

I mentioned in the introduction about bombing fishing boats, and it illustrates that your greatest weapon in Naval War is information. When you find units via radar or sonar, they appear as unidentified contacts until you get closer or eyes onto it. Most missions include objectives to not shoot down civilian targets, and so it is vital to properly identify before launching your defences. It’s especially tense when you know that somewhere out there is a submarine and your legion of sonar buoys just aren’t doing the job.

Now the slow pace of the game does bring a slight problem. Missions can last several hours and a mistake at any point can ruin your game. Another problem is a few bugs, such as only being able to launch Tomahawk missiles in one great go rather than individual, and the game’s design causing your firewall to block communication between the menu and the actual game.

Best stay in the War Room..
If you’re coming to this game for an amazing visual experience, you’ll find it lacking. Most of the game is played in a 2D outline view, a bit like Defcon with coloured outlines floating across the map. You can toggle up a 3d camera that primarily tracks the selected unit but it doesn’t look fantastic. The unit models are great, with a lot of work having gone into the texturing, but the world is plain with no 3D graphics for towns or forests. It can make it difficult simply working out where you are in 3D mode, making it more of a vanity feature.

However, I found the UI to be really nice and clear, making it exceptionally easy to use. I actually found it really intuitive, able to orchestrate operations within a few minutes of starting to play.

Off hunting for fishing boats again...

No shouting, explosions or loud music
Naval War is a little quiet though. It’s all about muted warfare, with a little ambient background music and the occasional sound effect. They do the job of making you feel like you’re in a war room, moving pieces around a map. I recommend you put your own music on while playing.

The Naval Captains went in two by two…
Naval War supports multiplayer and it has the potential to be great fun. However, there are two problems. The first is that the community is very quiet; there are the occasional games but most of them are private or only show up once filled. The other thing is just the sheer length of the missions, which make them a little awkward to play with another person. Another thing is that the missions are all one on one; one player plays NATO, and the other the Russians.

Objective achieved: review written
Overall, Naval War Arctic Circle is a great simulation game. It will appeal to people with memories of the early ‘90’s game Harpoon, as well as anyone who’s looking for a game they can sit and play while catching up with a TV series in the background. Its well worth the price, so pick it up and fight over some fish.

Finally though, the release of the latest game from the Tom Clancy stable is imminent. Those who had kept their copy of Splinter Cell (or got in quick enough last week) will have been able to experience a taster of what the new Ghost Recon multiplayer will bring to the table when the game hits our shelves this summer.

I was one of those people, and I like what I’ve seen.

We have been able to trial two game modes over the past few weeks, with Saboteur having been added to the excellent Conflict. Saboteur is, essentially, a capture the flag style offering that sees a single bomb in the centre of the map. The two teams have to try and get, then transport it to a specific location and detonate it in the allotted game time. Conflict, which is the far busier and, in my opinion, better option, sees the two teams attacking each other with randomly generated objectives appearing at various stages of the game.

The objectives can be quite varied but usually will see the teams looking to defend a particular point on the map, or find and transport an item from point A to Point B. Both modes are designed, in true Ghost Recon fashion, with teamwork firmly at the forefront of thinking as bonuses are given for acts of teamwork. This means that simple kills and completion of the objectives is not essential to coming out on the winning side so long as you stick together and come to the aid of your colleagues when they are under fire.

Both modes offer us different looks at the same two maps. Pipeline is a disused Oil Refinery that has a distinctly red/brown look to it with some stone buildings and corrugated iron shacks sitting around the tin of the disused refinery. Towards the centre of the map is an open square surrounded by high points ideal for snipers. It is an area that is often the hot points of objectives and navigating through using the cover points available can be a challenge. If your team works together, this particular area is ideal for an ambush and excellent for building up those kill streaks.

It's all about the teamwork.

The second map is called the Mill and sees you in an old village with a water-mill at its centre. This map has far more colour, and cover comes in the form of abandoned vehicles, old barns and foliage. The Mill seems to have far more open space and is also played more on the same level. Aside from a small quarry to its centre, there is little in the way of vantage points. I found makes it a harder area to do well on, but is in no way less enjoyable.

In this beta we have been able to choose from one of three classes with a very low level of customisable loadouts. The standard Rifleman is your basic grunt with slightly better armour than the other options, but very general in terms of weaponry. The default setup is an AK-200 rifle, a GSH-18 hand gun and Frag Grenades. Either side of the rifleman we have the Engineer, set for closer range combat and the Scout, set for longer range attacks. Having said that, it is the Engineer who has access to the UAV, a remote-controlled scouting device that is by far the best item in the demo. Once deployed, you move it around the map and it shows up the location of enemy units.

This is where teamwork pays off. If you have a group of people who are chatting on the mic and working together, and a good combination of the three classes (including one engineer who utilises the UAV), then success becomes infinitely more likely.

Optical Camo is cool!

The Scout also has some cool technology at his disposal with an optical camo suit, which activates when you are still. This makes you almost invisible to your enemies until you move or fire your weapon. I have fallen victim on more occasions that I care to count and it is another very good gameplay mechanic in certain scenarios.

Take the Pipeline Map, for example, and the central area I mentioned earlier. Those high points around the opening are perfect for deploying a sniper who, if he is skilled enough, will remain practically invisible while he takes out soldiers with carefully executed head shots. Throw an Engineer into that team who keeps some distance from the action and deploys the UAV to highlight the opponent forces, and you are well on your way to a very strong showing.

As a Beta, there have been a few issues experienced in terms of ridiculously slow load times, freezing and even crashes in places. There were a few occasions when I have been standing, shooting a guy directly in front of me, only for the very same person to mêlée kill me from behind at the same time. Still, the overall opinion of Ghost Recon Future Soldier’s Multiplayer is positive.

The most enjoyable of the games I’ve played, have been with vocal players keen to work as a team and this does mean that when playing with randoms, you’re going to be at the mercy of the community but early signs are good in that respect too.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is scheduled for a May 25^th release, and I honestly cannot wait!

The Act!
This was one of the best titles at the Chillingo section and one that everyone wanted to try. The concept behind it is simple but highly entertaining. The story is about window cleaner Edgar and his quest to get the girl of his dreams. Story is a big selling point for this application, since it’s all interactive. It’s often said that life is but a rather long theatre play, and it’s up to the characters to make the most of it; an appropriate reference considering that players are in charge of Edgar’s life-changing decisions.

Each act of this interactive experience is a new act In Edgar’s life. Controls are very easy to get used to; swiping right will make the main character actively engage in whatever situation he’s presented with. In a certain act, Edgar had to get close to his lady crush, but it won’t work if he tries to rush it. Swiping left will cancel out any active movements and hopefully not fail the current chapter.

Welcome to the dangerous world of dating.

The app can recognise different types of finger swipes and translates them as on-screen animations. Performing actions with the right timing is the key to completing each act. Another act asked the player to start laughing, when a group of doctors did the same action. Stopping the laughing animation when they did would make it less likely to fail. It’s all about looking for signs on-screen and seeing when is the best time to perform actions.

The Act is a treat to the eyes with its use of traditional animations. Each new act brings new locations and characters to interact with. The controls also work without any problems, and overall it seems like an enjoyable experience. Anyone interested should look out for The Act on iOS devices this summer.

Air Mail
Air Mail, put simply, is a flying simulator with some tweaks to make it accessible to a wider user group. The main aim of this app is to complete various types of challenges. This may be quite obvious, but delivering mail is one of them. The number of challenges is impressive, however, and there’s a few interesting ones to try.

Fly an airplane from the comfort of your iOS device.

It’s also possible to just fly around the tropical island setting. There’s three types of controls to pick from before going airborne, and the one that was easiest to play with made use of tilting technology. It makes for an enjoyable experience and is the one recommended for most players. Anyone looking for a challenge can pick the advanced controls, however. These make it possible to perform tricks, but it’s much harder to control the plane as a trade-off. At times the touch screen wasn’t so user-friendly, but it still worked to a certain degree.

Air Mail is a simple app but it has plenty of content to keep players motivated. It will launch on iOS devices at some point this spring.

Shaun the Sheep: Fleece Lightning
It’s common for companies to make use of existing characters in video-games. This app makes use of Shaun the Sheep to introduce beloved characters from the cartoon, to the world of racing.

The striking visuals are something that players will immediately notice, which is not surprising, since it includes artwork from the famous Aardman. The app consists of levels set in different locations, and it’s only possible to play further levels by doing well in the ones already unlocked. This is not a new idea, but works in ensuring that the player will keep coming back for more. It’s also possible to create levels, but sharing with other players isn’t a possibility as of yet. Hopefully it’s a feature that gets added in future upgrades.

The levels are similar to retro racing video-games such as Micro Machines. Obstacles blocking the path provide a welcome challenge, and each level is completely different from each other, since objects get placed in different patterns. Later levels introduce objects to help players, such as ramps, since they get progressively harder. There’s a few control schemes but the one that worked best involved touching down on the screen. Other control methods weren’t as effective and made it harder to control the character.

Shaun the Sheep : Fleece Lightning is a fun app for everyone that likes the cartoon. It’s also easy to play for hours thanks to its competitive nature. Fortunately, there’s no need to wait on this one, as it’s out now on the App Store.

Commando Jack
There’s already many tower defense video-games out there, but there’s no harm in releasing another one. Especially when developer Colossal Games is attempting to revitalise the genre. The story follows hero Commando Jack on his quest to annihilate the invading alien forces.

What differentiates it from the competition is that it’s more of a last stand. There is no need to constantly move to new rooms, and it is much more action focused. There is an impressive selection of weapons to pick from, that are used by switching to first-person view. Each works in a different way, and upgrades are available. The weapons are easy to handle and it’s interesting to try to see which is better at defeating each enemy type.

Equipment such as turrets are also employed on the field. Using credits is the only way to deploy them, so it’s wise to think carefully about what to use. Fortunately there are different types of difficulties for every kind of player, and it’s not just the level of difficulty that changes. The level layouts are different with each difficulty setting, which provides players with a reason for trying to play through each map more than once. The number of enemy waves also changes with each difficulty.

Commando Jack needs you to fight the alien invaders.

Then there is a perk system that allows players to pick one special ability. This turns it into a tactical decision since each has a unique purpose. Swapping each ability with the right timing will enable the player to reap bigger rewards, such as gaining a lot more credits. One of the best parts involves seeing how enemies react to objects placed on the map, as they will have to change routes and it’s all part of strategies that players can use.

Commando Jack has a strong visual style that is reminiscent of watching older monster films, and there’s quite a few locations to choose from which are all based on cities. The team is confident that it will change how players perceive the tower defense genre. It’s a bold claim, but Commando Jack is already looking promising. It’s currently scheduled for a spring 2012 release on the App Store.