Scarygirl is a fairly typical blend of side-scrolling 3D fun, with a uniquely psychedelic art design complimented by decently implemented gameplay and traditional platforming charm.  While it may not be a groundbreaking or sensationally must-have experience, Scarygirl does elevate itself above most other subpar adaptations of popular non-video game franchises. That’s right, Scarygirl is actually an adaptation of a flash game which is in and of itself based on a popular graphic novel. Scarygirl’s  first foray into the gaming community is a solid one to be sure, but I found myself wishing it could have been a tad more compelling.

You take control of the titular Scarygirl, an adorably creepy orphan who has been brought up by a giant octopus and an esoteric rabbit (who gets on onion highs and shares his trippy trances). She’s been suffering through some pretty gnarly nightmares featuring a strange, big-headed man and she must journey to the Big City to seek out this mysterious interloper and unlock the secrets of her sinister past. For a lead character, Scarygirl possesses the appropriate amount of charisma and quirk, a tenacious little monster who can transform into an actual terror once enough foes are vanquished. Enemies and side characters are equally eclectic, ranging from talking eggs, toy cats, and ego-maniacal chihuahuas.

Gameplay boils down to a tried-but-true platform based combat where traversing the levels, defeating swarms of kooky enemies and collecting gems is the name of the game. Scarygirl is gifted with a tentacle arm that serves a multitude of functions; whip-like melee weapon, grappling hook, lasso, and even a helicopter (for chasms and cliffs and such). This singular appendage is the cornerstone of the Scarygirl experience, helping to both defeat enemies and survive the environmental hazards thrown at you when endeavoring to reach level’s end. Coupled with the ability to temporarily defend attacks and grapple/toss enemies at one another without a thought, Scarygirl has plenty of tricks up her sleeve while handling with great precision (once you get the combos down).

Exchange your hoarded gems with ambling salesmen for new moves and weapons to attach to your tentacle. Moves include things like squeezing the life out of foes and bouncing them into the air like a pogo stick while new weapons like Chinese fans and Rage Hook mean you have some options when dispatching your enemies. These enemies often swarm you from both sides, and will pounce from all directions as soon as you let your guard down. Often, this means you get saddled with some cheap hits and unfair damage, but as you collect more heart containers this doesn’t prove as big of a problem although I personally found the sucker punches to be frustratingly annoying.

While each level had great designs and a unique look, gameplay eventually devolved into trying to get from point A to point B with little variety in the middle. Enemies were varied and their attack patterns switched up from time to time,  but really all Scarygirl boiled down to was the sum of its parts; beat up the badguys, find the gems, and get to the end. Don’t get me wrong, with its spooky atmosphere (with a pretty groovy soundtrack) and zany cast, Scarygirl has a lot to offer in terms of characters and world, I just don’t know if the gameplay will keep players invested enough to see things through to the end. Maybe the game’s drop in/ drop out co-op will level the playing field and encourage players to share the world of Scarygirl with a friend, but for me it was an appreciated but ultimately non-essential addition to things.

Interested terrors can try out the demo for free, or lay down 800 MS points and purchase the full game  on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

One thing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has going for it are the brains behind its creation. While Big Huge Games are no strangers to success, partner  38 Studios is a new company with a lot to prove. This means that thinking outside the box and looking for ways to differentiate itself from the pack  leads to innovative tweaks to your typical sword and sorcery formula. You also have Todd McFarlane (yes, THAT Todd McFarlane) designing everything from armor to weapons to creatures while the story and lore is being penned by renowned fantasy author R. A. Salvatore. Oh, and Ken Rolston is leading the team as executive designer. Does he sound familiar? He should, considering he was lead designer on Elder Scrolls entries Morrowind and Oblivion. So, Reckoning has the pedigree, but does it have the actual game to back it up?

After choosing your race (One of four groups breaking down to Humans, Light Elves, Dark Elves, and Nomads), your looks, and your skill set you realize that you are, in fact, dead. Not to worry! Thanks to the wonders of Gnomish science, you’ve been brought back to life as a veritable blank slate, with no memory of your past and a destiny that, unlike everyone else in the Kingdoms of Amalur, is yours to write as you so choose.They throw a lot of lore at you in a short amount of time, and none of it seems all too new. You’ve got evil immortal elves waging war with all the mortal races, and your return from beyond the grave signals a change in the world.

Blah, blah, blah, it’s not necessarily riveting stuff, but from the time I spent with the demo, it’s obvious the developers are trying to craft a distinct world entrenched with a deep history and richer cultural dynamics. With only forty minutes to explore the open world portion of the game, I found myself rushing from NPC to NPC trying to play through as many quests as possible, so it’s tough to decide whether anything really resonates. There at least seems to be some interesting people and agendas at play in this world, and the handful of quests I embarked on were either interesting spins on genre favorites or new territory altogether.

Combat is a fascinating mix of magic and hack-n-slash, something the developers compared to “Oblivion meets God of War“. As a third-person title, your character is front and center at all times, chaining moves (you earn more complex ones as you level up) between primary and second weapons in order to create combos. You can also throw magical attacks into the mix. I played with a nice lightening spell and a promising shadow cast, which confused my enemies for a few seconds. Fighting was fast and fun, and when I gained enough “Fate Energy” (or something) I unlocked a temporary sort of God-Mode where I tore through enemies and utilized weaponry summoned from another realm. Quick time events are thrown into moments like these, which lead to brutal kills and awesome finishing moves.

All the other staples of a great roleplaying experience are there. Weapons can degrade and also evolve through smithing and enchantment, while the world is full of fantastic loot for you to add to your arsenal. The skill trees (broken down into the areas of Might, Finesse, and Magic) look to have a ton of variety to upgrade through, while the Destiny system (your characters Class and bonuses) can be leveled up and swapped out at any time. So, if you get bored playing the Thief, you can turn around and start leveling up the Warrior if you so choose. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a wonky camera (you have to fight the damn thing at times to get anything done) and a tendency to bug out when you get thrown into bigger fights. Conversations aren’t exactly riveting, and the cartoony style of the game (akin to the new Star Wars MMORPG) might not appeal to everyone.

Reckoning is still very much a dark horse for me, an unknown quantity that could rise to become an entertaining romp through the RPG genre or fall flat on its face and fade into obscurity as an experiment that should’ve been shelved. Honestly, only time will tell.

Sometimes, I forget what a wonderful thing Xbox LIVE Arcade is. When the right kind of content is released, it can be quite an incredible place, a platform for getting your hands on independent content crafted with love, care and a certain amount of hands-on flair that is hard to find in many of the major mainstream releases these days. Bogged down with marketing strategies, multiplayer servers and user demographics, too many below average titles get the exposure they don’t deserve. With Arcade, smaller yet better honed experiences get a chance to be played at a (mostly) reasonable price. Trine 2 reminded me of why I consistently fall in love with titles that stray from the beaten path, because they often stumble upon something quite magical.

Trine 2 is a 3D side-scrolling fantasy game, a sort of action/physics puzzler with heavier emphasis on the puzzling. The sequel to a rock solid title released 2009, I couldn’t help  finding myself wishing I had gotten my hands on the original. Don’t get me wrong, this entry does a great job of both providing some backstory to get new players invested while proving more than capable of standing on its own, I was intrigued with the world presented and wanted to go back and see the game’s heroes origin story. Alas, I’m getting a tad ahead of myself.

In Trine 2, you get to play as a trio of heroes selected by an ancient artifact known as the Trine to save the kingdom. These individuals (a thief, a mage, and a knight) came together once before to defeat an evil menace, and in the process became the stuff of legend. Some time has passed, and the heroes have fallen back into their respective lives only to find the Trine beckoning them together once again. The story is simple and effective, proving to be more an excuse to move things along as opposed to the cornerstone upon which the whole experience turns. What really gets you invested are the characters and how they interact with each other.

First, you have Amadeus, a nervous wizard who specializes in summoning mystical blocks (akin to Companion Cubes) out of thin air and levitating nearly anything on-screen. Then there’s Pontius, an overblown knight with a penchant for getting into trouble. He’s a combat specialist who wields either sword and shield or his two handed sledgehammer. Rounding out the team is Zoya, a quick footed thief whose ranged archery attacks and grappling hook make her quite the killer combo in either combat or puzzle solving. The banter and relationships that develop are endearing and do much to engage the player with the world. With this colorful cast of adventurers and their clever commentary, there’s never a dull moment.

Gameplay boils down to properly utilizing these heroes in the myriad of elaborate environments the developers constructed for players to traverse. At any point, you can swap between these heroes and you must use their specialized abilities to overcome the sizeable obstacles that end up in your path. When goblins attack, pull out Pontius to deal some heavy damage, while a fallen log will prove no match for Amadeus’s levitation spells. Is the key to a door floating above a spike pit? Have Zoya sever the rope bridge with an arrow, then grapple onto it with her hook. Even better, upgrade your hero’s skills by outsmarting the environment and retrieving hard-to-reach enchantment stones to earn skill points. Soon, you’ll be able to levitate enemies, freeze your foes, and create even more possibilities in terms of combat. Be careful, though; each hero has a life meter which if depleted will make that individual unavailable until the next checkpoint.

Visually, Trine 2 is surprisingly stunning. The developers really fill the screen with some fantastically colorful vistas, elaborate creatures and magical atmosphere. Light seeps through windows in dusty motes, dragons breathe fire with a billowing intensity that causes the air to blur with heat, while enchanted water gushes and flows with sparkling clarity. The color palettes and level designs are both creative and unique, creating a vivid world that always seems to surprise in ways that are akin to James Cameron’s Avatar.

With a three player co-op system, some clever achievements, and an uncanny ability to appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers without pandering or alienating anyone, Trine 2 has a lot going for it, especially considering it’s what some might consider to be a “mere” Arcade title. Trine 2 really does have something for everyone, and it’s a nicely sized game which should prove to keep players engaged for hours on end, or minutes at a time depending on your schedule. While it might not be reinventing the wheel or anything, this game is a really well made entry and a title worthy of a playthrough or two.

You may have reached the ultimate conclusion of Ezio Auditore de Firenze’s adventures in Assassin’s Creed Revelations this holiday, but if you’re still stabbing your enemies with the pointy end in the game’s multiplayer then have I got some news for you. Come January 24th, players will be able to drop 800 MS points to download the new Mediterranean Travel Map Pack and gain access to six brand new maps to assassinate through. Don’t believe me? Read on, fair assassin:

Players can journey to the majestic holy city of Jerusalem, the opulent imperial district of Constantinople and the colorful mercantile district of Dyers. Fans of the franchise can also revisit favorite Italian Renaissance maps from Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood specifically requested by Assassin’s Creed players to be included in the pack. To start, players will explore the historic city of Firenze (Florence), then travel to the mountains of San Donato and visit nighttime Siena with its carnival lights, talented performers and deadly hiding spots.

So, in a few weeks time you’ll be able to kill off your favorite historic constructs in this creatively comprehensive list of striking new locales. I can hardly wait. See you in the Animus!

All you MW3 players who bought into the Elite’s premium content plan, it’s time to find out just what your are getting this season and, perhaps more importantly, when.  Activision has  announced that their money-making combat powerhouse Modern Warfare 3 will gain an incredible 9 months of consecutive DLC’s starting January 24th. Here’s the thinking from Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing:

“With the Call of Duty®: MW3 Content Season for Call of Duty Elite we are delivering on our promise of more new content, more often, and with more variety than ever. With three studios collaborating on the first season, the breadth and depth of material on tap is truly extraordinary. It’s rare you can successfully execute both quantity and quality, but thanks to the expertise of our developers, the reach of Call of Duty Elite and the passion of our fans, we intend to deliver.”

Here’s how it all breaks down: At the beginning of each month, January through September, CoD Elite members will receive their free content drops. By season’s end, these drops will be reaching at least 20 in total. Activision will release five different content drops over January, February, and March. Non Elite members will still be able to buy this exact same content come March via MW3 Content Collections (thanks fourzerotwo).

This all kicks off with the release of two new map packs. Here’s the skinny on Liberation and Piazza:

The first two Content Drops will be multiplayer maps—also playable in Modern Warfare 3 Survival Mode—that throw combatants into a war-torn Central Park and an Italian seaside village. Liberation is a vast, militarized landscape, ripe for long-range sniper and LMG fire, with mounted turrets on either end that lend power to anyone brave enough to expose themselves in exchange for deadly firepower. Piazza is the idyllic Italian getaway that is anything but, where tight corners and branching pathways pose great risk at every turn. Close-range combat dominates in Piazza, where attacks from behind, above and below are an ever-constant threat.

Crossovers are a funny thing, capable of bringing together the best and worst that a franchise has to offer. Characters you have grown to love are thrust into the same universe, and suddenly a whole world of brand new possibilities are yours for the taking. What would happen when your favorite heroes teamed up to fight the darkest villains two universes are capable of conjuring up? How would they react? Who’d fight who? More importantly, who would win? Marvel Vs Capcom has managed to till the very rich soil of two classic franchises to spectacular effect over the years, most recently with the welcome appearance of Marvel Vs Capcom 3 less than a year ago. For some reason that’s beyond me, the Powers That Be have seen fit to release an updated version of the game to audiences. Is it worth the trouble?

First off, what does one get when they pick up Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3? They get the original game, albeit it tweaked in a few respects, but with a total of 12 brand new characters for fans to send into the ring. Marvel and Capcom get to add 6 new fighters to each of their sides, bringing the total roster of video-game and comic-book personalities to 48. That’s an unholy amount of variety when it comes to combat configurations, with new faces like Frank West, Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange and Phoenix Wright bringing their own styles to the fray. The original game is incredibly diverse and entertaining with its primary cast, but every one of these newcomers are well-enough designed and balanced to cause a significant change in the title’s fighting landscape. From Phoenix Wright’s courtroom and “Objection!” based combos to Rocket Racoon’s trap based shenanigans, each character (not to mention their insanely zany attacks) is beautifully rendered and executed.

Apparently, a few balance issues that plagued the original game have been addressed and attack levels tweaked in order to level out the playing field. The game is still incredibly gorgeous and handles extremely well with its intuitive “Normal” and “Simple” control schemes. According to some, button mashing is now encouraged in certain areas and the HUD has also seen an updated redesign. I couldn’t find any sort of tutorial mode, merely a practice arena where I could pummel unresponsive AI to death, something I found a tad frustrating. Also included are some new cinematics, artwork and other such associated bonus goodies to be unlocked the further you move along the ranks. This is basically Marvel Vs Capcom 3 with some new bells and whistles, a rock solid title with impeccable pedigree and an incredibly fun game to play if fighters are your thing. I’d definitely recommend this if you somehow missed out on the first iteration, but if you’re an uber fan of Marvel Vs Capcom 3 I can’t argue against getting your hand on these new upgrades and characters.

Space. The final frontier. In an age of space marines and alien invasions, it’s sometimes easy to forget the sheer joy involved in exploring the cosmos. I’ve felt recently that I’ve lost touch with my inner space adventurer. It was time to veer off the beaten path of established space faring franchises like Halo, Mass Effect and Starcraft in the hopes of seeing what else was out there. In the darkness of the Xbox LIVE Arcade, I found Fusion Genesis. At its core, this game is a twin-stick shooter that allows you to take command of dozens of different vessels, customize countless aspects of their configuration and operation (not to mention your own skills and special abilities as a pilot) and take off on a multitude of adventures through an ever evolving patch of the universe inhabited by A.I. and human combatants alike. This game aims high for an Arcade title, which might explain why it might stall.

In the far-flung future, humanity is at a cross-roads. A united federation of alien races has helped us to become a spacefaring powerhouse, but the human race is on the brink of civil war. We have broken up into numerous factions and colonies, while two opposing governmental forces keep sniping back and forth despite the fact that hostilities might spark an intergalactic conflict. As a meager lab assistant, you are tasked with protecting a precious Sentient artifact from those wishing to exploit the technology for their own nefarious ends. The story mines some well-tread territory, but the developers have smartly crafted an experience that lets the players have the choice of buying into the universe or ignoring the specifics completely.

The overarching plot may not have exactly gripped my attention (dialogue and character chatter pop up in text form, getting lost in the HUD and fast-paced battles) , but the game’s writing is self aware and benefits from some solid wit and character. There’s a large variety of crazy colorful figures trying to either recruit or destroy you, and lots of entertaining scenarios and missions for you to take on. I’ll hand it to the designers, they really knew how to cram an enormous galaxy of  conflicting personas into the mix. The game world is surprisingly large with numerous star systems for gamers to explore and shoot their way through. Some can be sought out and uncovered by just zipping around looking for trouble, while others appear only in conjunction with specific missions. The visuals are an entrancing mix of 3D backgrounds and foregrounds that soar by as your ship progresses in a top-down middle plain, while battles prove to be a visual feast  as lasers tear through nebulae and asteroid fields as ships of varying sizes zip around or explode in a dazzling burst of destruction.

From the start you can choose to allow your game to connect with other players all over the globe, their ships floating into your game and allowing you to team up, attack, or simply ignore. This real-time interaction creates this cool ever-changing population of users within your game and really fosters this sense of an inter-galactic community. You can also switch your connection to invite-only or even just go it alone. The NPCs already active within the game are able to ensure an almost equal sense of a well-populated world on their own, but its always fun to come across another player willing to trade intel or goods. It can be a lonely universe out there.

Fusion Genesis is quite a strange little beast of an arcade title. The game operates as a twin-stick shooter, one analogue stick controlling our movement while the other both engages and directs your plasma/laser/missile fire. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find menu after menu dedicated to  manipulating almost every aspect of your game experience. Upgrade your weapons and your skills, buy dozens of new ships and unlock countless new classes, tweak how your A.I. partner reacts to enemy engagements, choose how to interact with other players who can constantly invade your play session at a moment’s notice. The sheer amount of choice involved with crafting the perfect character/ship with which to explore the cosmos is staggering.

The problem here is that a lot of these incredibly interactive aspects of your experience are either loosely explained or otherwise ignored. There’s a simple tutorial level to iron out the basics, but beyond uncovering how to navigate, boost, shoot and mine, I had no instruction on anything else I could do in the game. There’s no instruction manual or tutorials to speak of, which is a huge mistake considering how much this game has to offer. I’m sure after a few more hours of trial and error I could figure out how to properly optimize the efficiency of my A.I. Sentient (a robot helper who does everything from shielding to shooting to doing the shopping), but there was this huge disconnect within how to navigate the menus while a lack of context with how resources and skill points relate to gameplay meant I was worried with how to allocate my experience points.

This is a title with a lot of potential, but I couldn’t help but feel detached and adrift as my skill levels increased and I gained access to new abilities and weaponry without the faintest idea of how to use them. If you have the time, Fusion Genesis is a surprisingly deep title that should reward players who invest in uncovering all its secrets. You are encouraged almost constantly to pursue new areas of exploration and are rewarded on a regular basis with loads of cool ways to go about your space sojourn. With such a pretty galaxy to explore and cool interstellar combat to engage in, you might find this to be an entertaining way of scouring the galaxy

Here we are again with yet another storied comic book franchise (looking at you X-men: Destiny) getting the video game treatment. Peter Parker and his alter ego Spider-Man are no strangers to consoles nor the gamers who  play them. In fact, Spider-Man has actually been lucky enough to rise from movie tie-in mediocrity to become a great sandbox title on last-gen platforms. The recent titles to bear the webbed crusader’s name have been less than stellar at times,  but of late our friendly neighborhood web slinger has been making a bit of a comeback.  His latest foray into the virtual world proves that at the very least, Spidey has some life left in him yet.

Spider-Man Edge of Time is a promising blend of the Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 universes. The story is penned by well comic and television writer Peter David, who actually helped to create the Spider-Man 2099 series upon its launch.  When the brilliantly diabolical CEO of a technology firm (voiced by Val Kilmer of all people) in the year 2099 decides to go back in time and alter his company’s history, that era’s Spider-Man sets out to stop him. Unfortunately, though his efforts are valiant, Spider-Man 2099 fails and the Amazing Spider-Man’s reality is rewritten into a darker form. Still ever the hero, Peter Parker teams up with his future counterpart to right the timeline back into place, even if it means his death at the hands of a mutated Venom. It’s all very timey-wimey and quantum mechanical, but this is Spider-Man, so just roll with it.

Once again, Parker finds himself in a cinematically driven forward moving narrative a la the recent Shattered Universes design and structure. This isn’t a sandbox or side-scroller, but instead a third person beat-em-up with bits of platforming and puzzle solving thrown in for good measure. One of the game’s biggest selling points is the presentation, which is stellar. Surprisingly well-crafted cinematics blend in seamlessly with in-engine cutscenes, while an intelligently designed camera leads to some great framing and some really cool perspectives on the action (kind of like a much lighter version of the Uncharted franchise). The writing is spot on thanks to David’s involvement with all the humorous dialogue and zany science you’ve come to expect from a Spidey adventure. Environments and characters are solidly crafted and the developers throw in enough variety every few levels to keep things from getting stale.

The actual gameplay centers around your Spider-Men in both timelines taking on groups of varying enemies and environmental hazards with their own unique combat strategies. Spider-Man 2099 likes to utilize holograms and brute nano-enhanced strength while Amazing Spider-Man enjoys crazy web attacks (web fists, hammers, and javelins appear) and benefiting from his fast-moving Spidey sense which allows him to literally run circles around his foes. Both can also engage in Temporal Paradoxes which slow down time and allow you to build up your combo streak and earn even more points to then spend on upgrading attacks, defenses and health. One cool thing is that thanks to quantum mechanics, changes in either timeline can affect environments and scenarios in both eras. It’s a bit of a gimmick, but the fact that it doesn’t take you out of the action and in fact enhances it means the gimmick turns out to be kind of  entertaining.

The upgrades available are useful and fun, encouraging players to really dig into different ways of fighting. Only trouble is that for all the great combo streaks and powers you can unlock, most battles tend to devolve into button mashing scenarios. The controls don’t always translate to the combos you want and enemies tend to either bunch up or pick at you from afar which leads to a lot of confusion when deciding how to approach fights. Spider-Man can also crawl almost every wall and web sling around the room, but you often forget about these strategies when the enemies keep pummeling you on the ground. The whole control scheme/combat design feels a bit rushed and kind of falls apart when you try to get creative which is a real shame considering the slew of powerful attacks at your disposal.

While the enemies are switched up, there’s a certain point where the fights get repetitive and that’s when the developers throw in some web swinging portions, quick time events, puzzles and interactive cinematics. These moments come in at just the right time and serve to breathe some fresh air into the otherwise stale linear nature of the game. That being said, later on playing through seems a bit of a chore, but the developers again try to keep things vibrant with Challenge sections. Unlike X-Men: Destiny, which through you in a room and told you to pummel people to death, Edge of Time gives you the option to pursue specific goals within certain fights. Complete the fight without taking a certain amount of damage, do it in a specific number of seconds or even without touching the ground, these little creative nougats are both enjoyable and rewarding. Trouble is, they appear few and far between and in a flash they’re over.

In the end, Spider-Man: Edge of Time is a decent enough entry into the franchise, a nice middle of the road title that does most things right without bringing anything truly groundbreaking to the table. For all the sparkling presentation and clever dialogue, the redundant fights and repetitive enemies keep bringing things down. The story is clunky but fun, while the world is one worthy of spending some time in. It’s obvious the developers care about Spidey and his mythos, and for that I have to give them kudos. Pick this one up and give it a whirl, if only for a bit of flashy fun.

I was bored.

RAGE occurs in a far-flung future where the Earth has been hit by a nasty meteor hellbent on exterminating all life. Your character, nameless automaton that you are, was shoved in a bunker and gifted with certain genetic augmentations so that when the planet was habitable once again, you and your fellow survivors could reclaim the world and ensure humanity would avoid extinction. Turns out, this was a bit of a premature move. Upon getting to the surface, you find a vast wasteland that is happily infested with tough-as-nails inhabitants scratching lives out for themselves in a world infested with mutants, bandits, and some strange governing body known as the Authority.

Where do you come in? Well, you get to…uh…go on fetch quests, repair some stuff, shoot lots of mean people and drive your heavily armed dune buggy whilst blowing up countless other heavily armed dune buggies. Yeah. Awesome. If all this sounds sort of familiar, it’s because it is. This is Fallout 3 meets Borderlands, only without the deep backstories, huge arrays of weapons, and deep choices. You shouldn’t come to RAGE for original plots and unique mission structures. This is as by-the-book as you can get, thanks to your voiceless protagonist and a Wasteland’s worth of troublesome NPC’s just waiting to shove you in harms way.

Combat proves all kinds of entertaining though. With enemies who are tenacious and self aware enough to utilize cover correctly, you’ll have your hands full keeping off bandits and monsters intent on wearing your innards for garters. They also react to gunfire in some entertaining ways, taking hits to legs before falling over/hopping around or getting winged in the shoulder and spinning about from the force of the bullet. Be sure your foes are really dead before looting their bodies, because some will keep on shooting from the ground as they drag themselves to safety. There are a whole host of great weapons falling into the typical Pistol/Assault Rifle/Sniper/Shotgun configuration and each can be loaded out with special ammunition to increase damage and accuracy.

The world of RAGE is one of beautiful destruction. Whereas the Capitol Wasteland appeared grotesque and stagnant, RAGE is a case of nature laying claim to what humanity has taken. Humans survive in makeshift outposts constructed out of old junk and deserted facilities like gas stations and oil rigs. The graphics showcased are brilliant with blazing lighting and deep textures, and character models are so lively you’ll hardly believe your eyes. Make no mistake, this is one of the most eye-poppingly amazing visual feasts ever seen on consoles. One of the amazing things are the character animations, as each individual is capable of getting their point across through a wide variety of facial animations, body language and rock-solid voice acting. The characters and visuals are a high point to me, and are a prime example of creating a deeper game world by upping the players immersion factor through compelling NPC’s.

My main qualms with RAGE are not what I consider standard. The game is well designed, well balanced, visually engrossing, and in possession of a capable set of combat mechanics. It’s just that I’ve seen all this before; the post apocalyptic wastes of Fallout 3, the dune buggy battles of Borderlands, and all the typical weapon upgrades, battle arenas, crazed bandits and silent protagonists in between. I’m cool with blending elements of other games so long as something amazing and news comes out of it, but here all that seems to happen is some minor cherry picking from other established post apocalyptic franchises. For all its visual flare and solid structure, RAGE is a dated beast which doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. That might be okay for some (and it’s hard to really qualify it as a criticism per say), but for me it just wasn’t enough.

I’ll be perfectly honest here: I did not expect to like Ace Combat: Assault Horizon all that much. I’ve tried flight simulators in the past, and all that they’ve led to are panicked calls to the control tower and massive, flaming crash epicenters filled with wreckage and my own anguished screams. A good friend of mine has been trying to get me into the Ace Combat series for years, but I just haven’t been all that eager to take the plunge, if only for my horrible track record with anything that doesn’t keep its wheels on the ground. I also heard that this is a very strange franchise, filled with wacky alternate universe plots, absurd scenarios, weird boss battles and an overall poor translation across the pond (It’s a Japanese franchise after all). Suffice it to say, I was kind of startled when I found myself playing this newest title for hours on end.

Assault Horizon isn’t another numbered entry in the Ace Combat franchise, and for that I think it benefits. Unlike the other titles, this game takes place in our world during (yet another) conflict between a Russian rebel movement and U.S. military forces under NATO control. The game borrows heavily from the recent Call of Duty games and other modern warfare shooters to create a suitably wartime atmosphere, only in the skies. It seems a bit gimmicky at first, but once you get entrenched in the combat scenarios and fast paced dogfights you really start to appreciate the high stakes of a real-world conflict. As Colonel Bishop, you lead your Warwolf squadron in battles all over the globe, from the deserts of Africa to cities like Dubai, Paris, and Miami. A Russian coup is in progress, and the rebels have access to a devestating bomb code-named Trinity. Your job is to track down these terrorists and protect the populace from their attacks. Along for the ride are several other members of your unit, who you take control of from time to time in order to operate Apache helicopters, stealth bombers, Black Hawk turrets and more.

The story can get a bit convoluted at times, but always manages to find its way back on track again. There are some cool characters, political power plays and suitable excuses for some gnarly combat missions, but it’s also the sort of stuff you’ve come to expect from most current military shooters. While it’s nothing to write home about, the story gets the job done with a main campaign that clocks in around 8-10 hours, which is nice in an era  where you can blink and the game’s over. There are a nice variety of missions including bombing runs, low-altitude radar avoidance objectives, convoy protection, helicopter gunner, city invasions, and your typical aerial dogfights. The latter are the bread and butter which stitch the entire experience together and can get a little tedious at times. In between new objectives the game throws more enemy planes at you, and the individual defense/offense back and forth of these dogfights can reek of laziness when all you want to do is move to the next really cool objective.

The gameplay might seem daunting at first, but only until you get some practice under your belt. Your planes are outfitted with machine guns that are limited only by overheating, hundreds of missiles and several dozen pieces of whichever “special” ordinance you choose as your alternate fire at the Mission Start screen. The controls are very accessible and you have three different viewing options ranging from third to first person if you prefer. Plane-to-plane combat is a breeze to pick up as you soar through the air firing machine guns and missiles with ease. Where things get really cool are the intense Dogfight modes, where you enter into a sort of on-rails shooting match with another plane and you struggle to maintain a missiles lock as you soar between buildings, through canyons or underneath crumbling skyscrapers. Awesome camera work and a fantastic kill-camera (with a variety of cool angles which don’t get stale) really sell the Dogfight experience. Add the great handling of each unique airplane coupled with some intense battle damage, an incredible sense of speed and precision and you have the makings of an addictive jet-fighter experience.

Visually, the games is actually stunning. Accurate reconstructions of famous cities and structures, beautiful and diverse landscapes as well as dynamic weather patterns all manage to immerse you in the task at hand. There was this great moment where, after drudging through a thunderstorm with a MiG on my tail, I broke through the cloud cover and arced through crystal blue skies. I couldn’t see the battlefield below the clouds, and for a moment I just kept climbing whilst enjoying a gorgeous view through the canopy. Damage dealt to planes is a great sight to see, and sometimes when you destroy an enemy craft you can even witness the pilot ejecting/falling to his death. The HUD and data management all seem realistic and well done, and things like objectives, bombing trajectories and allied forces are all marked sufficiently so you never get lost on the enormous maps.

Assault Horizon also boasts co-op and multiplayer modes which seem to fit the bill of a challenging aerial combat experience. Co-op is a welcome addition to the main campaign as in later levels and at higher difficulties it just pays to have a wingman. Split up and take out the enemy faster or watch each other’s back to ensure you aren’t distracted from a particularly narrow bombing run. Multiplayer supports a new mode called “Capital Conquest” where teams of 8 defend or attack cities like Paris or Washington in jets, helicopters or bombers. Each have their own submissions and objectives to complete but all types can be on the battlefield at the same time. Also along for the ride are standard Deathmatch and Domination modes.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is an solid mix of military shooter and aerial combat simulator that blends into quite the fighting animal. With a stellar presentation and simple controls, it’s both a safe investment and an exhilarating adventure. While some of the fights get repetitive and the story can feel like its dragging on, the immersive visuals and clever integration of multiple approaches to combat was more than enough the keep me coming back for more. With the complex “Capital Conquest” mode and ability to bring friends along for the ride, the game really provides something for everyone looking for a new way to spend their time on the battlefield if they’re tired of being stuck on the ground.