New Games Review

Gears of War 2 Limited Edition

2008-10-31T00:28:00.000-07:00

Detail Gears of War 2 Limited Edition

The wait is over, Gears of War 2 has arrived. Ever since the original was released, fans have clamored for this sequel. Developed exclusively for the Xbox 360 by Epic Games, Gears of War 2, which has already garnered several awards, picks up six months after the events of the blockbuster original Gears of War. Players are thrown back into the role of Marcus Fenix, leading the battle for humankind's survival against the Locust Horde.

In addition to innovative third-person tactical action gameplay and unsurpassed high-definition graphics, this Limited Edition version Gears of War 2 includes several collectible extras that make it a must-have game for the Xbox 360.

Gears of War 2
Players:
Offline: 1-4
Online: 10

Gameplay Modes:
Single player, competitive multiplayer, cooperative multiplayer, system link multiplayer, online multiplayer with voice support.

Format:
16:9 Widescreen on HDTV 480p, 720p, and 1080i.

This limited edition package includes collectible extras like a hardbound book and a DVD. View larger.

Gears of War 2 offers stunningly realistic, vast environments to play in. View larger.

The enemies in Gear of War 2 are huge and downright nasty. View larger.

Sequel to the Blockbuster Original, With Collectible Extras
Developed exclusively for the Xbox 360, Gears of War 2, which has already garnered several awards, picks up six months after the events of the blockbuster original Gears of War. Players are thrown back into the role of Marcus Fenix, leading the battle for humankind's survival.

This limited edition version features several extras, including a Collectible SteelBook DVD case, "Beneath the Surface: An Inside Look at Gears of War 2," a 48-page hardbound book with exclusive art and a foreword by Design Director Cliff Bleszinski, and a DVD with making-of-the-game footage as well as artwork and commentary. You also get an exclusive gold-plated Lancer Assault Rifle that you can use during online play.

Huge Environments, Bigger Gameplay
For those who loved Gears of War, Gears of War 2 builds upon it in every way, but with several major enhancements. There are more weapons, bigger vehicles, and more action. The enemies are more dangerous, and the total experiences is more immersive than ever. And with a revolutionary tactical combat system, the game will require not just fast reaction times and shooting skill, it will also challenge you to devise a strategy that will work against the enemies who exhibit smart AI.

Jaw-Dropping, Realistic Graphics
Just as Gears of War did the first time around, Gears of War 2 ups the ante for graphical prowess. Combined with the sweeping vistas and evocative locales of Sera, where the story takes place, Gears of War 2 offers jaw-dropping graphics that are made possible through advances in Unreal Engine 3. New visual effects include ambient occlusion, dynamic shadows, improved character lighting, the ability to render hundreds of on-screen characters simultaneously, improved water physics, additional blood and bullet decals, advanced destructible environments, new weather effects, and the introduction of fluid objects.

Immersive, Gripping Story
Taking place six months after the end of the first game, Gears of War 2 returns the cast of characters of the original, including Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, as well as several newcomers.

Novelist and comic book writer Joshua Ortega, who assisted with the writing, has created a story that is big on character development and personality. With a new in-game conversational camera system and multiple story arcs, the story is presented in a gripping cinematic style where characters gain an emotional depth that matches their realistic graphical representation.

More Characters, Upgraded Vehicles, Badder Weapons
Those who were impressed by the original Gears of War will be in for a real treat. New characters such as Tai Kaliso, weapons like the burst pistol, and huge vehicles like the COG Centaur tank will give players a whole new dimension and scope of gameplay in both single-player and multi-player modes.

Multiplayer Action with Xbox LIVE!
Gears of War 2 features a multiplayer mode that allows up to 10 simultaneous players for outstanding multiplayer fun. Taking full advantage of the Xbox LIVE service, which boasts 10 million gamers, Gears of War 2 features both competitive and cooperative multiplayer gameplay. Setting up games is simple with LIVE, and you have the ability to drop in and out of co-operative campaigns at any time.

Everything you loved about multiplayer in the original is back, including the classic death matches, but with this sequel there is an added emphasis on teamwork. New multiplayer game modes will require better coordination in order to win. The game also features voice support, so you can communicate with other players around the world -- whether you're on the same team or trash talking!

Gears of War 2 won several awards at E3 2008, where it was first presented, including Overall Best Shooting Game and Overall Best Graphics Technology of E3 2008 from IGN, as well as Best Action Game of E3 2008 from the Game Critics Awards.

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Playstation 3 80GB

2008-10-31T00:23:00.001-07:00

Includes PlayStation 3 80GB system, Dualshock 3 wireless controller, free PlayStation Network membership, internet ready Wi-Fi, and 80GB of hard disk storage for all your games, music, videos, and photos. Every PS3 comes with a built-in Blu-ray player to give you the best high-definition viewing experience and pristine picture quality. Plus, the PS3 can play your entire catalog of CDs and DVDs.
Detail Playstation 3 80GB

Fallout 3

2008-10-31T00:19:00.000-07:00

Detail Fallout 3

The third game in the Fallout series, Fallout 3 is a singleplayer action role-playing game (RPG) set in a post-apocalyptic Washington DC. Combining the horrific insanity of the Cold War era theory of mutually assured destruction gone terribly wrong, with the kitschy naivety of American 1950s nuclear propaganda, Fallout 3 will satisfy both players familiar with the popular first two games in its series as well as those coming to the franchise for the first time.

The Cold War goes Next-Gen

Welcome to the nation's capital.
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The Brotherhood of Steel is a powerful ally.
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Customize characters with your Pip-Boy.
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The Story: Vault 101 – Jewel of the Wastes
For 200 years, Vault 101 , a fallout shelter, has faithfully served the surviving residents of Washington DC and its environs, now known as the Capital Wasteland. Though the global atomic war of 2077 left the US all but destroyed, the residents of Vault 101 enjoy a life free from the constant stress of the outside world. Giant Insects, Raiders, Slavers, and yes, even Super Mutants are all no match for superior Vault-Tec engineering. Yet one fateful morning, you awake to find that your father has defied the Overseer and left the comfort and security afforded by Vault 101 for reasons unknown. Leaving the only home you've ever known, you emerge from the Vault into the harsh Wasteland sun to search for your father, and the truth.

Key Features:

Limitless Freedom! – Take in the sights and sounds of the vast Capital Wasteland! See the great monuments of the United States lying in post-apocalyptic ruin! You make the choices that define you and change the world. Just keep an eye on your Rad Meter!
Experience S.P.E.C.I.A.L.! – Vault-Tec engineers bring you the latest in human ability simulation – the SPECIAL Character System! Utilizing new breakthroughs in points-based ability representation, SPECIAL affords unlimited customization of your character. Also included are dozens of unique skills and perks to choose from, each with a dazzling variety of effects!
Fantastic New Views! – The wizards at Vault-Tec have done it again! No longer constrained to just one view, experience the world from 1st or 3rd person perspective. Customize your view with the touch of a button!
The Power of Choice! – Feeling like a dastardly villain today, or a Good Samaritan? Pick a side or walk the line, as every situation can be dealt with in many different ways. Talk out your problems in a civilized fashion, or just flash your Plasma Rifle.
Blast 'Em Away With V.A.T.S.! –Even the odds in combat with the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System for your Pip-Boy Model 3000! V.A.T.S. allows you to pause time in combat, target specific body parts on your target, queue up attacks, and let Vault-Tec take out your aggression for you. Rain death and destruction in an all-new cinematic presentation featuring gory dismemberments and spectacular explosions.
Mind-Blowing Artificial Intelligence! – At Vault-Tec, we realize that the key to reviving civilization after a global nuclear war is people. Our best minds pooled their efforts to produce an advanced version of Radiant AI, America's First Choice in Human Interaction Simulation. Facial expressions, gestures, unique dialog, and lifelike behavior are brought together with stunning results by the latest in Vault-Tec technology.
Eye-Popping Prettiness! – Witness the harsh realities of nuclear fallout rendered like never before in modern super-deluxe HD graphics. From the barren Wasteland, to the danger-filled offices and metro tunnels of DC, to the hideous rotten flesh of a mutant's face.

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Fable II, Limited Collector's Edition

2008-10-31T00:17:00.000-07:00

Detail Fable II, Limited Collector's Edition

Beginning as a penniless street-urchin your destiny is to become Albion's greatest Hero. But will your power lie in kindness or cruelty? Choose your own path to glory and experience how those choices change you and the world forever. A new life, a unique adventure - every time!

Limited Collector's Edition includes:

Bonus DVD - Includes new 'Making-of Feature' with Peter Molyneux and the team at Lionhead Studios and art gallery
Bonus In-Game Content (Requires LIVE account) - Includes "The Hall of the Dead" Dungeon, "The Wreckager" Legendary Cutlass Weapon and Spartan armor and energy sword
48-hour Xbox LIVE Gold Trial Card - With Xbox LIVE Gold, players can show off their individual hero by inviting friends into their unique version of Albion or they can visit their friends' Albion, and earn additional gold, experience and renown to take back into their own

Click the above images for a larger view

Game Overview:

Fable II will be a true sequel to the wildly successful original that sold more than 3 million copies, offering even more choices and building on the core gameplay theme of Fable where players’ every decision continually defines who they become. Fable II is an action role-playing game that truly allows players to live the life they choose in an unimaginably open world environment.

Fable II - Limited Collectors Edition
Players:
1 Player
2 Player Co-op

Save File Size:
10 MB

Format:
16:9 Widescreen on HDTV 720p/1080i/1080p

Audio:
Custom Soundtracks
In-Game Dolby® Digital

Roads Are For Chumps - Explore the landscape and openly roam the countryside in a world 10 times the size of the original Fable.Click to view larger

Share the Experience - Dynamic co-op play allows for friends and family to join your games at any time online and off, and share your world.Click to view larger

It's All Up to You - Man or woman, good or evil, career and family or just you and your faithful canine companion - live life your way.Click for a larger view

Set 500 years after the original, “Fable 2” will provide gamers with an epic story and innovative real-time gameplay, including a massive amount of freedom and choice to explore a vast collection of dungeons, catacombs and caves in the world of Albion.

Features:

Choices, consequences: Fable II expands upon the scope and depth of the Xbox® classic by creating a wider, more complex kingdom of limitless choices and consequences. Players can play as a man or woman, get married, have children, and live a life of their own design—all leading to different consequences.

A land far, far away: Revisit the newly expanded world of Albion more than 500 years after the events of the original, where you are free to openly roam the countryside. For the right price, every house, hut, dungeon, and castle is for sale. See how the world grows and changes in incredible and unique ways in response to your decisions, as you rediscover Albion as if for the first time.

Fight with ease: The new combat system allows players to truly master hand weapons such as swords and maces, ranged combat weapons including crossbows and guns, and an entirely new magic system. Mix combat styles and become everything from a master swordsman to a skilled ranger to an evil magic wielder, each utilizing a different single button on the Xbox 360® controller.

A hero's best friend: Your canine companion acts as friend, compass and protector. Feed your pooch and he will love you unconditionally, creating a bond that sets up emotion-filled journeys throughout the magical world.

Experience the world together: For the first time in any next-generation RPG game, experience the expansive and immersive world with friends, using the new and exciting Dynamic Co-op Mode, bringing the long-awaited multiplayer function to the world of Fable II.

External mini-games earn in-game gold: Lionhead Studios Ltd. provides an unprecedented experience to gamers through Xbox LIVE® Arcade. Start earning in-game currency for Fable II later this year, even before the game's release to retail, by downloading and playing an Xbox LIVE Arcade title consisting of three mini-games. The Xbox LIVE Arcade title will allow gamers to purchase weapons, armor, and more for their hero. This first-of-its-kind experience can only be found on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

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2008-10-31T00:14:00.001-07:00

Detail GAMES Fable II

Fable 2 is the anticipated sequel to the popular original that sold more than 3 million copies. Created by famed game designer Peter Molyneux, Fable 2 for Xbox 360 features an epic story that picks up 500 years after the first game. It offers an open world environment giving players a massive amount of freedom to explore and play as they please, with every decision made contributing to the game itself.

Fable 2
Players:
Offline: 1-2
Online: 2

Gameplay Modes:
Single player, offline cooperative multiplayer, online cooperative multiplayer.

The new combat system lets you master different fighting styles. View larger.

You are free to roam the world of Albion any way you like. View larger.

Every Choice Has Its Consequences
Fable 2 provides players with a truly immersive experience where a virtually limitless number of choices can be made, all of which have their own consequences, making each game unique. When you start the game, you choose either to play the role of a boy or girl, and depending on your choices, the hero will grow up to be tall or short, good or evil. Players can get married and have children; female player characters will become pregnant, which will then be reflected by their physical appearance.

Early in the game, players are presented with a stray dog for a best friend, who will need to be fed and loved, and will accompany the player throughout his or her life. Depending on the player, the dog will change appearance and assist him or her in various ways, such as alerting of impending dangers and attacking enemies.

Players inhabit the world of Albion and are free to roam the land to as they please. Players can use different expressions to communicate with others, such as taunting and laughing, and even belching or farting.

As the players grow, so does Albion, reflecting the choices that were made earlier in the game. Every house, hut, castle, and dungeon can be purchased if the player wishes. Players can buy up all the land in a town and can become mayor, king, and even emperor of the entire land.

Fable 2 presents a dynamic and free-roaming world that doesn't demand a player to take any one set path. At the same time, players seeking a plot line will find an epic story and quest that they can follow if they wish, along with many side adventures.

Fight Using Different Weapons and Magic
Fable 2 introduces a new combat system that allows for mastery of hand weapons, such as swords, long range weapons such as cross-bows and guns, and, of course, magic. Players improve at each discipline with time, and can combine different combat styles when they fight. Other advanced design features include tactical positional advantages that can bring new strategic elements into combat.

Bring Other Players into Your World
Fable 2 has a multiplayer mode that allows you to bring other players into your own world. Consistent with the rest of the game, the actions of these other players can be permanent and affect your world. You can explore and fight together with these other players, share treasures, and even fight each other.

Note: Fable 2 will not ship with Online Co-op mode. An update with this functionality is rumored to be released shortly after the launch of the game.

Xbox LIVE Arcade Mini-Games
Gamers can play minigames through Xbox LIVE Arcade and earn currency that can be used in Fable 2 to purchase weapons, armor, and other items for the hero.

Fable 2 is rated M for having mature content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.

Depending on your choices, the protagonist can turn out wildly different -- male, female, good, evil, and more.

From the Manufacturer

Overview:

Fable II
Players:
1 Player
2 Player Co-op

Save File Size:
10 MB

Format:
16:9 Widescreen on HDTV 720p/1080i/1080p

Audio:
Custom Soundtracks
In-Game Dolby® Digital

Roads Are For Chumps - Explore the landscape and openly roam the countryside in a world 10 times the size of the original Fable.Click to view larger

Share the Experience - Dynamic co-op play allows for friends and family to join your games at any time online and off, and share your world.Click to view larger

It's All Up to You - Man or woman, good or evil, career and family or just you and your faithful canine companion - live life your way.Click for a larger view

Features:

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World of Warcraft

2008-10-31T00:07:00.000-07:00

Fans of World of Warcraft, prepare for Blizzard Entertainment's next installment -- World of Warcraft: Wrath of King Lich. In this latest expansion, something is afoot in the cold, harsh northlands. The Lich King Arthas has set in motion events that could lead to the extinction of all life on Azeroth. The necromantic power of the plague and legions of undead armies threaten to sweep across the land. Only the mightiest heroes can oppose the Lich King and end his reign of terror.

The tuskarr, a walrus-like race of nomadic fisherman, inhabit the icy Borean Tundra. View larger.

Half-giant warriors, the vrykul, once inhabited the land. View larger.

You'll enjoy exploring Northrend and all its environments and dungeons. View larger.

Explore Northrend and battle the Lich King with World of Warcraft's first hero class character -- The Death Knight. View larger.

One of many new environments, Dragonblight is an arctic wasteland surrounded by dense forests. View larger.

Many strange and terrifying creatures inhabit this frozen continent. View larger.

Enter the Death Knight
This expansion adds a host of content to the already massive existing game world. Players will achieve soaring levels of power, explore Northrend (the vast icy continent of the Lich King), and battle high-level heroes to determine the ultimate fate of Azeroth. As you face the dangers of the frigid, harsh north, prepare to master the dark necromantic powers of the Death Night -- World of Warcraft's first Hero class. No longer servants of the Lich King, the Death Knights begin their new calling as experienced, formidable adversaries. Each is heavily armed, armored, and in possession of a deadly arsenal of forbidden magic.

If you have a World of Warcraft account with a character of at least level 55, you will be able to create a new level-55 Death Knight of any race (if on a PvP realm, the Death Knight must be the same faction as your existing character). And upon entering the new world, your Death Knight will begin to quest to level 80, gaining potent new abilities and talents along the way. This expansion allows for only one Death Knight per realm, per account.

New Environments in Northrend Await
Journey through the remote, diverse lands of Northrend and explore Dragonblight, Grizzly Hills, Borean Tundra, and Howling Fjord. Named for bones of perished dragons and majestic shrines to the fallen creatures, Dragonblight is an arctic wasteland surrounded by dense forests.

Not everything is frozen in Northrend. The lush mountains of Grizzly Hills are the ancestral home to the furbolgs, who have grown accustomed to relative peace. Although their tranquility is being challenged by trappers, goblins, and ice trolls, Grizzly Hills remains a vast and dangerous wilderness.

The southwestern tip of Northrend is home to the sprawling Borean Tundra. The Horde has established a dominant presence in this icy portion of the continent and has formed a bond with the tuskarr, a walrus-like race of nomadic fisherman. Magical energy is afoot in the region, and it has caused increased tension.

High above the Great Sea at the southeastern tip of Northrend lies the Howling Fjord. Ancient mythology holds that a race of half-giant warriors, the vrykul, once inhabited the land, founding a prosperous civilization. They mysteriously vanished, leaving deserted villages and abandoned temples. In present times, the Alliance and the Horde have come to Howling Fjord to confront the Lich King. Strangely, this has prompted the return of the vrykul, who are attacking the Alliance and Horde settlements. Howling Fjord presents a difficult challenge on two fronts: withstanding the vrykul's onslaught and battling the evil Lich King.

A Multitude of Monsters
Strange and terrifying creatures inhabit the frozen continent of Northrend, such as Nerubian Viziniers, Plague Eruptors, Shoveltusks and Flesh Giants, to name just a few. Half-spider, half-humanoid, the viziniers utilize sorcery and high intelligence to emerge as the rulers of Nerubians' underground kingdom. The Plague Eruptors are walking corpses created by the Lich King's evil experiments to spread horror and chaos across the living world.

Massive curved antlers make it easy to identify the Shoveltusks. These grumpy beasts are very dangerous, territorial, and best left alone. The Flesh Giants are nothing short of nightmarish abominations. Cobbled together from the pieces of giant body parts, the Flesh Giants employ tremendous strength to carry out the Lich King's wishes.

The World of Warcraft: Wrath of King Lich expansion pack allows you to engage in epic siege warfare. The pack presents the first Hero class and allows you to transform your Death Knight's look with character customization that even include hairstyles and dances. You'll enjoy exploring the Northrend and all its environments and dungeons, filled with some of the deadliest creatures -- and greatest treasures -- on all of Azeroth.

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