R.U.S.E., from developer Eugen Systems, takes all the loved systems from board games, throws them in a blender with standard RTS elements, and adds a dash of speed, blending the whole thing together to make a game that will be familiar on the surface, but reveal a deep and fresh experience for RTS fans. If Risk was played in real time and took place during World War 2, you would have R.U.S.E. I was fortunate to play a few games in the title's recent multiplayer beta and I came away pretty blown away by what I played.

The way that R.U.S.E. plays and looks is vastly different than most RTS games out there. The objective of the match is to take your opponents' HQ or to gain more points than your opponents. You will do this by building bases, deploying units, and destroying the enemies' bases and units. Each unit you perish or building you capture adds to your point total. Take the enemy HQ or have the highest point total and you win. While this sounds familiar, the way the game goes about it makes for a faster-paced game than other RTS. Every building in the game is immediately built once your engineer arrives at the location you set the structure at. This means the closer the building is to your HQ, the faster it will be built. As you expand your base, you can place Secondary HQs closer so that your supply trucks and engineers can get to their destinations faster. Each supply depot (resource nodes) in the game is preset on the map, so you'll have to capture them to start a steady stream of income to your base. Supply depots have limited resources, though, so you won't be able to turtle it out and let your resources gather. Once they deplete, you'll need to capture your opponents' or branch out to others to keep the cash flow incoming. This limited economy per game also affects the other part of R.U.S.E., your units.

Having a limited economy means you can't just spam units; that will make you bankrupt very quickly. Instead, you need to carefully plan your strategy, build the right units and smartly position them. Each unit has their pros and cons, and is able to traverse different environments. Infantry are faster on roads, but can setup ambushes in forests and towns; tanks can quickly move over any terrain but have trouble in forests. This dynamic features heavily in your strategy, as a cheaply produced infantry unit can take out a medium tank in an ambush, or a strategically placed artillery gun can rain death on your opponent as they struggle to maneuver tanks around the forest you placed it behind. Using the map and the right units for each situation is a big part of the game's strategy.

But the game wouldn't be called R.U.S.E if there wasn't some dirty dealing or deception involved, and it's the main hook and a big influence on the game's tabletop feel. As you wage war, you will gain ruse cards that offer different effects to deceive your enemy or rally your army. Maps are divided into sectors and you'll play your ruse cards in these sectors to initiate their effects. There are 10 ruse cards in all to use: Decryption reveals all enemy orders, Spy Plan reveals all enemy units, Radio Silence hides all your units, Dummy Building builds a dummy building that your enemy thinks is real, Camouflage Net hides all building and units, Decoy Offensive builds decoy tanks, infantry, and aircraft to fool the opponent, Blitz speeds up all units, Terror makes the enemy much more likely to flee, Fanaticism makes your units stay and fight instead of fleeing, and Reverse Intel shows light units as heavy and vice versa. These cards can turn the tide of battle if need be and are very useful in tricking or distracting the other player. I had another player place a dummy building next to one of my supply depots and it prompted me to quickly build an armor base and produce tanks. After I attacked the dummy building and realized it was a fake, they had already captured two supply depots and had a few tanks approaching my base. Because I wasted money building that armor base I couldn't retaliate in time.

With all this card dealing, back stabbing, and fast-paced combat, R.U.S.E is a perfect fit for competitive gaming. The developers realized this and built a robust stat tracking system into the game, which builds an online persona for each player, adding experience for every game you play, win or lose. It tracks everythings you do and shows your ranking in all the game modes. Looking at my game persona, I see a ranking system for 1v1 and 2v2 Championship Leagues, so Eugen Systems knows what kind of experience they are shooting for and we'll have to see how they implement leagues or tournaments. It will also feature achievements for players to gather.

R.U.S.E is shaping up to be a very fun and competitive multiplayer game a la Warcraft 3 mod, Defense of the Ancients, or the original StarCraft. The game's combination of fast-paced gameplay and board game aesthetic lend itself really well to this type of gaming culture. No word on the single-player mode though, but Eugen Systems has stated that it will be a deep and full-featured campaign. It'll be interesting to see how the ruse cards will play into deceiving the computer, but the game is set to be very multiplayer focused and wears that badge proudly. R.U.S.E. is set for release on June 8, 2010.

The official demo for Just Cause 2 made its way to Xbox Live this week, and GamerNode was there to give it a try.  The long and short of it: insane stunts made easy.  The demo shows off a lot of the main gameplay mechanics that will no doubt be manipulated differently throughout the story to achieve some of gaming's most outrageous action.  Here's a little taste of what Avalanch Studios has planned for this game.

First of all, the story is similar to a South American version of the Martian conflict from Red Faction: Guerilla, and the controls are pretty similar too.  The basic idea behind JC2 is that an oppressive government has risen to power on the island of Panau and it's up to this small band of revolutionaries to liberate the island for its people.  You join up as Scorpio, though it doesn't really seem like you have a good reason to.  It's probably just 'cause... oh c'mon, it had to happen.  So of course the only way to liberate this island is to destroy everything with a government symbol on it, including government officials and military officers, who are a little like the bosses from Crackdown. In the demo, players will have to fight their way through a labyrinth of enemies in order to reach some super-jacked, bearded guy in a uniform who goes down pretty easily with a grenade launcher.

But that's only a peripheral part of what this game is about.  The story is clearly not going to be the star here, as JC2 obviously shines brightest in its open-world sandbox gameplay.  The mechanic that makes this an original sandbox experience is the grapple, which acts just like a very long-distance hookshot to pull players rapidly towards pretty much any surface, including vehicles and buildings.  Enemies, or innocents, can also be grappled and pulled towards Scorpio, but the fun with this equipment absolutely comes from the ridiculous stunts that can be performed with it.  An example scene: You shoot a propane tank, then grapple onto the top of it, which then rockets you into the air where a chopper is trying to gun you down.  You whip out your SMG (courtesy of the black market store, accessible throughout the game), shoot the passenger of the chopper, use your grapple to pull yourself away from the exploding propane tank and onto the bottom of the chopper. You proceed to flip onto the front of the chopper and shoot the window out to take out the pilot.  He doesn't go down so easy, so you whip around the side of the vehicle are prompted to press three random three random buttons in order to throw him out of the aircraft and get in the pilot's seat.  But as soon as you enter the chopper, you realize it's on fire, and you have to bail, so you press A and deploy your parachute out the door, pulling your body away from the exploding chopper and into the air.  You manuever your parachute towards the road, shoot a motorcyclist on the way down, then grapple onto his motorcycle, all without touching the ground.  Wow. (Btw, after many a try, I was actually able to acccomplish this insane feat.  The game makes it easier than you might think.)

This anecdote from the demo honestly best expresses what this game is all about.  There's also the option to stay earthbound and steal a tank to infiltrate an enemy military base, blowing up absolutely everything in your way, which is also incredibly satisfying, but we've seen this kind of gameplay before.  Where JC2 will certainly excel is in the airborne stunts, the death-defying jumps, and the mind-blowing vehicle hijinks.  And what's even better than that?  This game is absolutely massive.  The demo itself spans enough land to continue exploring for hours, and the end of the demo shows that this large space is actually only about a twentieth of the whole map.  This was easily the biggest demo in scale that I've ever played.

Get ready for a wild ride, coming to March 23rd to PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

It's not uncommon for modern videogames to pay homage to the great masterpieces of previous generations, and after a web demo session with U.S. publisher Atlus for 3D Dot Game Heroes, we sure are happy that they do.

From Software's 3D Dot Game Heroes is an action-adventure title that puts players in control of The Descendant of the Legendary Hero, sent by the king of Dotnia to recover the age-old magical blade from its woodland resting place and use it to recover the sacred orbs that keep the land at peace. To do this, the new hero must travel to all corners of the world and vanquish the monsters of seven puzzle- and monster-filled dungeons, collecting new items and equipment to help him along the way. For those who still can't draw the parallel, a small fairy will join our adventurer and assist in whatever ways she can.

Yes, you guessed it. The game borrows heavily from the Legend of Zelda franchise, specifically the Nintendo Entertainment System's The Legend of Zelda, and it looks great doing so. After the historic exploits of the Legendary Hero, the King declared that Dotnia take a step into the future, and make the jump from classic 2D into the third dimension. The game captures this concept magnificently. The world and characters look like traditional 8-bit graphics that have literally sprung up out of the 2D plane and filled out into 3D space. Everything in Dotnia is made up of colored cubes and uses simple, low-frame animations as a parody of the pixelated sprites of yesteryear. But even though the visuals (and catchy, bleepy-bloopy soundtrack) scream, "throwback," it's not difficult to see that 3D Dot Game Heroes makes very good use of the PS3 hardware with things like shadows and reflections, particle effects, and all of the technical trappings of the current generation.

Before jumping into the game, which is expected to last anywhere from ten hours into the twenty-something range depending on the side quests undertaken, players will have the opportunity to create a custom hero in the game's editor. The cubic grid allows players to place the 3D-dot building blocks along the x, y, and z axis, cutting, pasting, and adjusting colors as they see fit. Each character is allowed a custom, seven-color palette, which is quickly and easily swappable to perfect the hero's look, and will require seven variations for animations such as walking, attacking, and celebrating newfound treasure. These designs will be fully tradeable via USB upload/download, and Atlus is planning a 3D Dot Game Heroes website where players can exchange their creations online. Unfortunately, this functionality will not be tied directly into PSN, and the multi-step sharing process will involve a trip to the computer. Of course the game disc will offer a very healthy selection of default characters to choose from, as well... including Santa Claus.

From there, players will pick one of three slightly different classes -- one with stronger magic, one a better swordsman, and one in between -- and set out on the journey. It is impossible not to recognize the similarities to The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past: The camera defaults to a familiar, almost-top-down perspective. Secondary weapons, which are mapped alongside the attack button, include a boomerang, bow, bombs, and other time-tested equipment. A row of red hearts apples represents the player's health, with green ones for magic displayed below. The hero's sword grows and becomes more powerful (sorry, no projectiles) when his health is filled to its maximum capacity. A special item will allow for fast travel from point to point on the world map. There are many more similarities, as well; the feeling of the classic franchise just oozes out of this game.

That's not to say that there is anything wrong with this fact; from what we can see so far, there is plenty about 3D Dot Game Heroes that is fresh and unique. First, the game has a clever, humorous, and nostalgic script. It looks to be entirely self-aware, and the writing extends the 8-bit homage from Zelda across that entire era of gaming. One of the most exciting aspects of the game will undoubtedly be anticipating the memories Dotnia will drum up next. Even the loading screens, which an optional install will all but eliminate from the game, feature Dot-ified renditions of over 100 classic pieces of videogame box art, many of which are new for the North American version. We saw a handful of them and played a little game of "guess the box art" during the demo. It was a good time. Other little Easter eggs are sprinkled throughout the game world, and minigames based on tower defense and Breakout, as well as a twitch-response dash race, will allow players to take a break from the main adventure whenever they like.

In terms of the main gameplay, the dungeon's puzzles will not be limited to the same old tricks players have grown accustomed to over the years. Atlus assures us that the puzzle-heavy design includes many that are only possible as a play on this game's particular art style. They've also confirmed that all of the dungeon bosses can be revisited and re-slain. About 24 swords are included in 3D Dot Game Heroes, most of which will require extra player initiative to locate, and all of which will have differing attributes and special characteristics that will make them unique. The blacksmith can provide upgrades to the hero's sword, as well. He can widen or lengthen the blade, improve its spin and piercing attacks, increase its damage output, etc. Alternatively, the hero may choose to simply beat his enemies to death with a magic book that captures them in the game's bestiary. And when all is said and done, there will be two new difficulty levels, and a New Game + mode to enjoy Dotnia all over again.

3D Dot Game Heroes is scheduled for release on May 11th, exclusively on the PlayStation 3, with a classically low price tag of $39.99. Keep an eye out for GamerNode's full review as that date approaches, and look forward to what promises to be a great fusion of old and new in 3D Dot Game Heroes.

Alien, Predator, and Alien vs. Predator are some classic sci-fi/horror movies with a tradition of very mediocre videogame remakes. However, a demo released today for the upcoming Aliens vs. Predator game for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC hints at what may be the first really good game in the series.  I downloaded the demo on Xbox Live today to check it out, and here's what I found.

The demo was just for online multiplayer, and all the games were 8-person team deathmatches in the same arena, a ship or base that has been infested by all kinds of Alien goo. In each game, 2 of the 8 players can choose to be the Predator, and the rest can be either a mix of 2 human and 4 Alien or vice versa. Each species has its own advantages and disadvantages, and plenty of awesome, just beautifully gruesome execution moves. I'll start with the Predator.

Playing as the Predator is easily one of the most badass experiences I've had playing video games in a while. The Predator has the thermal vision, the shoulder rockets (which have to be picked up in the level), the sweet hand-daggers, the cloaking ability, the jumping across the stage ability, and the execution move where he rips off the head of a human marine, taking the spine with it, then quickly caressing the spine before tossing the head aside. WOW. I felt like Rebellion, the game's developer, actually managed to do justice to the Predator from film. Most of the Predator's lethality, however, doesn't lie so much in the executions, as those take a while and leave you vulnerable to attack as they are carried out. He's most deadly because of his swift and powerful attacks that can knock other players over, and the stealth mechanic that allows you to sneak up on enemies. Again, just a Schwarzeneggar full of fun playing as the Predator.

Now the Alien also has its fantastic elements, although they are decidedly more creepy and vicious than they are gruesome and powerful.  When you're playing as the Alien, you clearly have a leg up in versatility, as you can climb on any surface, meaning walls and ceilings, and can sprint probably twice as fast as the other species. The Alien also has its fair share of executions, including one involving that little mouth inside its regular mouth, and it has a solid melee attack as well. But the key with the Alien is to sneak up on the enemy either by running up behind them super fast or by maneuvering through the environment to flank them and quickly execute them before they can react. Like the Predator, I felt like Rebellion really did justice to the Alien of film, which allows players to actually feel like they are stalking some unknowing human prey.

Speaking of human prey, that is exactly how playing as the marine feels. You might think this is sort of a let-down, but like the previous two species, it plays its role well. How does the game accomplish this, seeing as how marines are the only species with guns (including an assault rifle, shotgun, sniper rifle, chain gun, and flamethrower, all available as pick-ups throughout the level)? The component that really cranks up the horror factor is the marine's radar, which, like in the movies, just shows a series of blinking blue dots where the enemy is, and beeps at a higher pitch the closer they get. When I played, this made for a number of "just kill me now" moments, where the radar starts beeping wildly and you know he's right on top of you, but you can't see him, and then all of a sudden you hear a screech and the marine looks down to see an Alien tail sticking through his stomach. Crazy freaky, and also crazy sweet.

This game isn't without its flaws, of course. Some of the controls are mapped in weird ways that make it difficult to execute what should be basic moves, like melee, and the marine can't sight with any of his weapons except the sniper rifle, so it's all effectively hip fire. The mechanic that allows the Alien to transfer surfaces is cumbersome and difficult to use, and often takes you onto a wall or box you didn't intend to mount. And probably the most basic issue is just that entering and exiting games takes a while, which in the day and age of multiplayer systems like that of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, is tough to excuse.

Overall, though, I was really pleasantly surprised by the ability of Rebellion to take three extremely different gameplay approaches, throw them all into one ring, and actually have the battles come out pretty balanced. Only time will tell how that really plays out once players get used to using the different species, but in its introductory stage, each species is empowering in its own way, and recognizably true to its roots. No further information about the campaign was gleaned from this demo, but if the gameplay elements are similar, it also has a lot of promise.

Aliens vs. Predator will be out on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on February 16th, 2010.

Fans of the Battlefield series with an Xbox 360 and a connection to the internet were treated today to a first look at multiplayer in EA DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company 2.  Details about the game have slowly been leaking out, and private betas have long been in motion, but the gaming audience at large got its first taste of what is to come March 2 on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

I was among them, playing only a few very lengthy games, but certainly enough to get a good feel for the multiplayer mechanics.  It plays very much like other recent Battlefield games, like Battlefield 1943, as it also runs on the Frostbite engine. However, unlike 1943, BFBC2 is set to take on Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with its modern weaponry and accessibility to high-tech, present-day vehicles, including tanks, ATV's, small boats, jeeps, and even helicopters.  From the few times I managed to scramble into a chopper before anyone else on my team could mash the B-button next to it, I noticed there are multiple positions to switch between, including pilot (yea, you fly it), one of two gunners, and a seat looking out either door. RPGs can take choppers and tanks down fairly easily if the pilot doesn't maneuver quickly enough, and the difficulty of actually locating and hitting individual targets from either vehicle gives a good sense of balance to the gameplay, so foot-based combat is just as effective.

Speaking of foot-based, players are given the option to start on foot as one of four classes, Assault, Engineer, Medic, or Recon.  Assault is your basic assault-rifle-wielding, grenade-launching class, while the Engineer sports submachine guns, an RPG, and a vehicle-fixing tool.  The Medic fires a light machine gun, dispenses health packs, and brings downed players back from the brink, while Recon comes equipped with a ghillie suit, sniper rifle, motion sensor, and some good ol' C4 explosives.  All of these classes can be upgraded, but only by playing as that class, which earns you class-specific upgrade points needed to unlock better weapons and gadgets for that class.  Oh, and all classes have your basic grenades and combat knife.

Although it is inaccessible in the demo, there appear to be some upgrades that would become available at later levels like better armor, better sights, and even an M1 Garand for those who just can't leave the orginial Battlefield games behind.  The upgrading and ranking system seems really extensive, not unlike the recently released MAG. And perhaps this is no coincidence, as the gameplay feels quite a bit like MAG, too, with its heavy-feeling movement and HUGE HUGE levels.  If the other levels are anything like the one offered in the demo, Port Valdez, this game promises to be incredibly expansive, as it needs to be in order to accomodate the vehicle-based gameplay.

The gameplay so far is a base attack/defend battle, much like Battlefield 1943.  If you are picking up the common thread, then you realize there are a number of similarities between the multiplayer offered in 1943 and in Bad Company 2, but I personally couldn't be happier about it.  What was done well has been transferred over, and some new things have been added and clearly polished to a shine to make the game graphically and mechanically competitive with other shooters out today.  This demo is sure to keep old fans and new fans busy through the end of February, until they get their hands on the actual game.

The magical wand-waving world of interactive medical drama is coming back in Trauma Team for the Wii, and Atlus has given us a few first looks.  Via webinar, Atlus was able to show off three of what will be six very different medical/sort-of-medical disciplines and characters that comprise the game, this time putting a heavy emphasis on the storytelling aspect of the while staying true to the gameplay elements that drew in fans of Second Opinion and New Blood.

So, a quick overview of the characters (follows left to right on the picture above). There's Maria Torres of the First Response Squad, where there's sure to be some fast-paced ambulance action, Gabriel Cunningham, the strangely Spike Spiegel-esque Diagnostics Doctor, returning Naomi Kinishima of Forensics, though now with a decidedly darker attitude, CR-S01, the no-name phantom of Surgery, Tomoe Tachibana, the polite-but-thorough head of Endoscopy, and Hank Freebird, the silent type, of Orthopedics.  All of these characters will have their own stories, intertwined at parts, but playable completely separately. Players will learn about the characters largely through the comic-strip-style animated scenes, but also through full voice acting of these and other peripheral characters (Phoenix Wright fans will be happy, as this game's storytelling heavily resembles that of the attorney at law).

As for the Atlas demo, we were given two brief previews of Endoscopy and Orthopedic Surgery, and a lengthy walkthrough of a point-and-click adventure in Forensics.  Endoscopy is fairly reminiscent of other games in the series, where players will jump inside the body of a patient with an array of tools and attempt to assess and repair internal injuries like hemorrhages and blood clots.  The Wii remote will be use to point at different problem areas to suck up, spray on, or reveal afflicted surfaces, and to travel throughout the inside of the patient's body to discover other ailments.

Orthopedic surgery was also similar to previous games in the series, but with a few important tweaks.  First of all, the difficulty has been toned down considerably to make the game more widely accessible to different types of gamers.  That isn't to say challenge isn't available, as there are still difficulty setting that can be dialed up or down, but the normal difficulty level has certainly been revamped.  In this mode, like in the others viewed during the demos, the character will have hearts of health at the top of the screen that go down if a certain process or movement is not performed correctly, like hammering a pin into a bone to keep it in place. However, most of these actions were fairly forgiving, including the process of carving out a specific shape of synthetic bone to replace damaged or missing bones.  From what little of the demo was offered, orthopedics looks to be an intense and meticulous part of gameplay.

Lastly, we had a chance to see a lengthy demo of Forensics, spanning a whole mission from beginning to end, and lasting about an hour.  This segment of the game is a nod to CSI and other crime dramas as the majority of the action requires gathering and interpreting evidence, and fairly frequently answering multiple-choice questions regarding that evidence in order to further the story.  What starts out as a very simple case moves quickly from the crime scene back to Naomi Kinishima's office, were the player uses a recorder, a computer, the victim's corpse, and the victim's personal effects to start unraveling the mystery.  This does seem to be a tedious process at times, due to the large amount of seemingly disparate clues and the amount of dialog related to each one, but fans of the series and of very detailed storytelling, complete with medical and scientific details (just like the real thing!) will certainly enjoy the Forensics episodes. All of the clue gathering does ultimately pay off, as you end up using every single clue to find out whatever it is you are trying to decipher, and an animated cinematic at the end wraps up the episode nicely.

So there's a lot to like as far as our first look at Trauma Team goes, especially when it comes to the diversity of gameplay. And having only seen half of the character specialties, there should be twice as much variety, and hopefully twice the medical drama intensity that this series is fondly known for when it releases on the Wii this April.

Some games are supposedly "not meant" for American audiences, but that doesn't stop us from clamoring for their release. In the case of the fifth (and final?) entry in the Sakura Wars series, Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love, we're finally witnessing an attempt to bring the series Westward, despite its localization-unfriendly content. An indomitable franchise in Japan, the Sakura Taisen (as it's known in its native country) saga is one that typically does not garner interest from the typical gamer outside of Japan. Now that it's here and primed for release in a country that typically shuns the quirky, will it make the grade? After spending an extensive period of time with a preview build, I'd say yes, most certainly. NIS should have a hit on its hands if this outing finds the appropriate audience.

If not? Well, that could spell disaster, as the Sakura Wars series panders to a very unique niche of gamer outside of the "norm." Each prior game paired elements of graphic novels -- or dating sims, whichever you prefer -- with epic battles between the giant robots we typically attribute to that of Japanese animation.

As the male protagonist Shinjiro Taiga, you'll be charged with entertaining and keeping the women in the game happy -- a daunting task if you're not accustomed to the way of the dating sim. Having had extensive experience myself, I found these interstitials to be the most entertaining, as every move you make when interacting with these ladies can change the course of the game. This visual novel-esque mode of play is known as Adventure mode, and Taiga can move around New York, the setting for this installment, via LIPS (Live and Interactive Picture System). Through four types of interaction in LIPS, you're given a set amount of time to make your decisions as well as manipulate a central Action Gauge. These gameplay elements affect how your companions feel about you, and their stats, such as trust, will deplete or flourish accordingly. This works out extremely well -- you'll put much more thought behind your actions, almost as you would in real life, simply to influence these ladies enough to boost their stats later on.

When you're not romancing a gaggle of lovely ladies, giant robot battles play out in a manner similar to previous Zone of the Enders endeavors, with stat bonuses based entirely on the choices you made during Adventure mode. In contrast, Battle mode is all business. Hop into a STAR and partake in traditional turn-based combat that implements the ARMS system first seen in the third installment of the Sakura Wars series. While a good portion of battles are ground-based, you will also spend a glut of your time in the air with smooth air combat. Rather than switching out from two-legged mechs, however, battle units can transform into jet mechs in the blink of an eye to seamlessly transition from one stage to the next. Each playable character possesses a special move and turns are governed by an action gauge. This is standard procedure. We've seen this many times before. If you've ever piloted a mech in a turn-based title before, you'll find yourself feeling right at home here.

So Long, My Love isn't an entirely alien departure from the norm when it comes to traditional JRPGs, at least when it comes to battling. The fear that it could not work well in America is due in part to its many Japanese puns that seem difficult to translate properly, but I found that the jokes worked quite well and the script fit the characters beautifully. All that should convince Western gamers not to pick this title up is the fact that the Adventure mode so closely resembles a dating sim and will turn plenty of prospective players off. That genre hasn't experienced much success over here, and I highly doubt that So Long, My Love is going to turn that notion on its head, despite its slick and colorful presentation or the fact that it will be available for both Wii and PlayStation 2 upon its release.

The fifth installment of the epic series does not disappoint and resonates with me, though I am a prior fan of visual novels and games in the same vein that Adventure Mode follows. It should be interesting to see who takes a chance on this relatively unknown series in the West and if it makes the splash that I think it should. If not? We just may need to start a war.

It seems Zipper hasn't lost its touch. After six SOCOM games, they have made the move to the PS3, and are bringing their next multiplayer game, M.A.G. with them. I was able to get some time with the open beta and am happy to say the game delivers on its namesake.

M.A.G. (which stands for Massive Action Game) takes place in the near future where militaries can no longer leave their borders and have been reduced to less than impressive numbers. To circumvent this, countries hire PMCs (private military corporations) to carry out contracts for them. These PMCs are now fighting amongst themselves for the contracts and only three remain: the high-tech Raven, army veteran Valor, and foreign militant S.V.E.R. Upon starting the game, you are required to choose a faction, create a character, and rush to the battlefield to aid your employer.

There are no tactical advantages between the factions; only the equipment you use changes. Raven has high-tech weaponry and gadgets, Valor has modern equipment, and S.V.E.R. has impromptu guns and rocket launchers. Balance freaks need not worry, because these are merely cosmetic differences and only evoke a sense of PMC-specific pride from the players. I regularly encountered players who would hail their team or tell me how much my own company sucked. It evoked a very MMO-like feel, something that is sewn into the rest of the game's very fabric.

Your character gains experience from kills and capturing objectives, a la Modern Warfare 2, and each kill or objective pops up with an XP indicator as well. Where this difference ends is how M.A.G gives you a greater degree of character development. For each level gained, you are given a talent point. You can then spend this talent point on your character's talent trees. Each tree specializes in a certain attribute, such as assualt, demolition, medic, or even paratrooper. Spending points in any given talent tree will unlock new weapons, attachments, and character abilities, like increasing sprinting time or faster bomb defusal. If you thought Modern Warfare 2 was breaking down the barrier between RPGs and shooters, M.A.G is attempting to blow the door wide open.

After you outfit your character, you can jump straight into the Shadow War. M.A.G.'s big feature is its 256-player matches. The four game modes each support a different player count, so if you feel overwhelmed by that many players, you can dip your feet into slightly less shark-infested waters. Suppression/Sabotage support 64 players, Acquisition features 128, and Domination is a full-on 256-player fragfest. Each game mode is another battlefield for the war, and there are multiple battles being fought at all times. Depending on where you are needed, you are dropped into a queue awaiting deployment. If you choose Sabotage and your team is about to lose their territory in this game mode, you will be transported to that front to defend and try to repel your attackers. It's completely persistent and even if you aren't logged on, your team can lose territory. You'll want to fight to keep this territory as you gain XP advantages for fighting on home turf.

One question you may be asking yourself is, "how does Zipper Interactive intend to keep that many players coordinated and working as a team?" Well, their FRAGO system is a step in the right direction. The FRAGO system awards players for completing objectives set for them, or for joining game modes in which they are needed most. Contracts will also be placed on certain game modes, adding an XP bonus if you join them. Your squad leader or platoon leader can also mark an objective that they want taken or protected and you will earn a bonus for following orders. Basically, if you want to level up faster and become an officer yourself, you'd better follow orders or help out your team. It's a promising feature that is already keeping people in line and adhering to their roles. 

To further keep players focused, teams are split up into 8-man squads. You can talk to these squadmates no matter where they are on the field and they will act as your immediate team. At level 15, players can apply to become squad leaders, and they gain the ability to mark objectives for the FRAGO system and talk to other squad leaders. They also gain buffs that are applied to their squad, such as faster reloading or increased health. This keeps squad leaders with their squads, and players next to their squad leaders. Why would you want to run off and lose the ability to take a few more bullets to the face? These buffs and responsibilities grow with each officer rank. Platoon Leaders have more buffs, can call in tactical strikes and equipment drops, and can relay orders to all squad leaders, while the Officers in Charge have buffs and tactical drops that can change the course of the battle and can relay orders to the Platoon Leaders. A very organized, military-focused ranking system awaits those who want to dive deep into the game.

M.A.G. is doing a lot to break down the standards of online FPS and make a game that feels persistent and MMO-like, while not losing any of the action or excitement that is standard in shooters. It's an interesting combination and we'll have to wait and see how players react to this innovative hybrid of a game. From my time with M.A.G. though, PlayStation 3 owners should have another feather to place in their cap of great exclusive games come January 26.

That is indeed the basic story behind Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Atlus' newest addition to the SMT franchise. In this unique role-playing experience, which can aptly be categorized as arcane science fiction, players will find themselves exploring an alternate dimension where demons prepare to destroy the world as we know it. In the demon's eyes, humanity poses a threat of armageddon to itself, so the process may as well be hastened. According to the developers, the demons are at the same the story's external antagonists and a representation of humanity's destructive flaws.

Strange Journey puts a unique spin on classic JRPG mechanics, making players form a party, level up, fight in turn-based battles, use skills and items, swap equipment, etc. over the course of a 40-to-50-hour adventure. Missions tabs on the game's menu screen present the next steps in the journey, as well as approximately 60 side quests players can embark on. The special Demonica Suit the main character wears allows access to new areas by adding special "unlock" apps to its interface, and "sub-apps," which each take up a specific number of the suit's 10 slots, will provide special effects and bonuses for the party. Non-usable "forma" is another important part of the game, and is found via exploration of the game world. An area scanner points to new forma on the overworld map, which can then be collected and brought to the weapons dealer in town to produce new equipment for the party.

What really sets Strange Journey apart from the standard RPG is its focus on demons; demon collection, negotiation, fusion, and trading (the game's demon compendium lets you output passwords to give specific demons to friends) are all central to the game's mechanics. In fact, only one member of the 4-character party is human, so it will be wise to diversify and improve the group by enlisting the help of various demons and investing time in their development.

Whenever players encounters a demon, they're given the opportunity to talk to it and avoid a fight or even gain a new ally. Brief dialog choices and the effects of alignment on the interaction determine the outcome, and if the demon doesn't like the player, the fight is on. During combat, all commands are given at beginning of each round, to be executed all at once following the menu selection process. Because of this, battles play out quickly, and strategy is required to anticipate the results of mid-round actions. Of particular interest are the elemental strengths and weaknesses of all characters, which must be discovered by trial and error and can be exploited via the demon co-op system. Whenever an attack is made on an enemy using an element it is vulnerable to, all of the player's party members whose alignment matches the attacker will get a bonus attack for that round. By involving the three components of skill type, enemy weakness, and character alignment in the demon co-op formula, Atlus has created the potential for a great deal of strategy in how to be most effective in battle. At the same time, an "auto mode" button is included for fights with weaker foes who require no effort to vanquish.

From what I saw during Atlus' convenient web demonstration earlier this week (which was awesome in an E3-in-my-living-room sort of way), Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey doesn't look like it will be slacking with the SMT name, and seems expansive and immersive for a DS title. Look for it to hit North American shores on March 10, 2010, each copy shipping -- in true Atlus style -- with a soundtrack CD included in the box.

EA and Visceral Games have made quite a splash with Dante's Inferno, with both the game itself and the outlandish marketing campaign. During my time at GameX 2009 in Oaks, PA (just outside Philadelphia), I had the opportunity to get my hands on the demo for the Xbox 360 version of the game, as well as getting to speak with Dennis Yu of Electronic Arts about the ideas behind the title. You will find the video interview here.

WARNING: The following preview is about a mature game. As such, it will talk about many of the elements that make the game mature. Anyone that isn't usually privy to mature content should not continue. You have been warned...

Dante's Inferno is a new game, but it should feel very familiar to fans of God of War, Devil May Cry, and Onimusha. You will be surrounded by enemies, and you will mash buttons to create combos and eliminate these enemies. What sets Dante's Inferno apart from the others lies in the presentation. This game will creep you out, more so than possibly any other game before it.

The demo I played was the Lust level from this year's Tokyo Game Show. The stage obviously bears imagery referring to its name, but it does so in such a way that it makes you sick to your stomach. The very first thing I saw in this demo was a sultry demoness who rose from flames in the ground, moaning and groaning as if she were "in the act," then revealed her "private area," which happened to be a giant spiked tentacle. I then took control and started battling. There is a lot of button-mashing, the X button for normal swipes with my giant bone scythe and the B button for projectile attacks with my crucifix. It's almost mindless to a fault, as I was just hoping that my attacks would clear the path and I could continue on.

What disturbs me the most about this world is that everything is sexual in nature. The posts around the elevator leading to the boss battle are all phallic. I had to break a snake's fangs in order to raise its head and reveal a platform, but once the platform was exposed, the area behind it looked exactly like the female genitalia. This attention to visual detail set the mood perfectly, as this was a world where I was surrounded by sexual imagery... and was not even remotely enjoying it. It was creepy, it was gross, and in regards to what they were trying to achieve, it was perfect.

The grossness factor only got worse. The boss fight of the demo was against a giant, demonic portrayal of a topless Cleopatra. Her main attack was summoning little demon babies with sickles for hands to attack you. Fighting them was one thing, witnessing their summoning was another thing entirely. They emerged from Cleopatra's breasts through the nipple and crawled to her shoulder, where she scooped them up and placed them against me. I was caught so off-guard by this that I lost half my health before I realized the fight was still on. It was one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen, gaming or otherwise, and it's not something I'm likely to forget about by the time the game releases.

Though it was nightmarish in presentation, the game ran like a dream. As I played, the game never hiccuped or stuttered, easily maintaining  60 frames per second no matter how crazy the on-screen action. The controls were comfortbale, though monotonous, with a button layout that felt natural to me. 

Dante's Inferno will be a unique game when it hits the Xbox 360 and PS3 on February 9th, maybe not for its gameplay, but for creating an environment of pure discomfort and disgust that will keep the player engaged, no matter how uncomfortable they are.