Quick Look: Angry Birds Star Wars (Gameplay Video Included)

It’s hard to believe that the whole Angry Birds phenomenon started with an addictive mobile game and quickly took the world by storm, spawning sequels, tie-ins, merchandising, and quite a lot of money for developer Rovio.

After the recent Angry Birds Space, the studio continued exploring the universe and has now released Angry Birds Star Wars around the world for both mobile devices as well as for Windows-powered PCs.

Angry Birds Star Wars practically combines two of the most popular franchises on Earth into a single package that can either rule the galaxy or disappoint with its lackluster Force tricks. Is this the great game we’re looking for or should it be frozen in Carbonite? Let’s have a quick look.

Angry Birds Star Wars impresses right from the get go not just with the hilarious splash screen, that shows the famous birds as characters from the TV series, but also with its theme song that smoothly combines the classic Star Wars theme with the more playful tunes of Angry Birds games.

After that, once you actually start the game, you begin a sort of retelling of the events from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, where a plucky young Luke Skywalker (the red bird) under the guidance of Obi Wan Kenobi (the black one) start their journey against Darth Vader and the forces of the Empire (the pigs).

You’re then treated with a pretty classic Angry Birds experience, as you need to fling birds at the unlucky pigs who made their homes on some very unstable structures.

As you progress, you unlock special powers for your birds, like a lightsaber for Luke, as well as special bonus levels with only R2D2 and C-3PO that take place in space and feel, as you can imagine, like stages from Angry Birds Space.

Overall, the whole game is quite fun and a treat for many Star Wars fans, not just Angry Birds ones. Check out a gameplay video with the first few stages above.

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Quick Look - Doom 3: BFG Edition

 Doom 3 was the original “gotcha!” horror experience, as its gameplay was paced around terrifying surprises and monsters that came out of all sorts of locations in order to get the jump on the player.

Now, id Software and Bethesda are bringing back the experience with Doom 3: BFG Edition, a remastered version of the original Doom 3, complete with new content and its expansion, not to mention the classic editions of Doom 1 and 2.

Does this classic game withstand the test of time or do its scary mechanics fail to surprise players? Let’s have a quick look.

Right from the beginning, you notice Doom 3’s old school pacing. This is a game that can easily take 10 to 15 minutes making the player walk around a facility on Mars before actually giving him a gun and thrusting him into the action.

Nowadays, if the player isn’t killing something in the first few minutes of a game, then a game gets called boring or tedious.

Still, once Doom 3 gets the player immersed into its action, you’re reminded why this is one of the best first-person shooters of all time and one of the most atmospheric ones. The tight corridors and spaces of the Mars facility manage to feel claustrophobic all on their own, without factoring in the lighting or the other effects that accentuate your creepy experience.

Shooting still feels solid and the monsters are as aggressive as ever. This isn’t a game where you snipe your opponents from a distance. This is one where you always check behind your back and every dark corner, as you never know when you’ll be dealing with a possessed human or a demonic beast.

Sadly, despite the efforts of id Software to overhaul the graphics and textures, on the PC at least Doom 3: BFG is showing its age, as textures look pixelated while characters models are filled with jagged or pointy edges.

Check out the Doom 3: BFG Edition in action in the video above.

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Quick Look: Awesomenauts

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After working on the popular Swords & Soldiers, Dutch developer Romino Games is back with a brand-new game, in the form of Awesomenauts. 

The title is a sort of spiritual successor to the previous historical strategy game, this time taking players into the future and tasking them with guiding heroes throughout new environments during the tough wars waged in the asteroid mining industry.

With the same stylized, cartoonish visuals and the promise of a bit more action instead of strategy, Awesomenauts looks quite interesting.

Does it deliver on its name or should you skip this new Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game entirely? Let’s have a quick look.

If you’ve played Swords & Soldiers, then Awesomenauts won’t feel that different, as Romino retains many of the trademark features from its last project.

First up are the stylized visuals that make you actually feel like you’re watching a cartoon and not playing a game. The graphics are quite smooth and the character design is very good, so you’ll soon fall in love with the array of heroes you can control.

While Swords & Soldiers tasked players with taking care of a base and slowly building up troops to assault the enemy, Awesomenauts puts you right into the action, thanks to its battle arena-type gameplay.

As such, you just guide your hero through a 2D level in order to destroy the drill of the enemy faction. Until you reach your goal, you need to defeat the defenses of your opponent as well as his own heroes. Thankfully, there are AI-controlled minions constantly spawning from your base, which should provide a distraction while you execute your attacks.

You can control an array of heroes, each with their own special powers and play styles, and it’s recommended that you learn their strengths and weaknesses because you’ll face off against many of them during battles.

The mechanics are decent but you do get the feel that the AI-controlled heroes are a bit too powerful and always know when to dodge your attacks. Thankfully, once they’re swarmed with your minions, they can be taken down quite easily.

Basically, Awesomenauts delivers a cartoonish, 2D battle arena experience and, while that may not sound that interesting for veterans of the genre, the result is pretty good.

For a look at Romino’s game in action, check out the video above.

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Toejam & Earl Creator Works on Innovative, Quirky New Project

Image comment: Sony bound Image credits: Sony

Video game developer Greg Johnson, best known for the Toejam and Earl video game of the early ‘90s, is apparently working with Sony on a new video game that is described as charming, quirky and emotional.

A job posting for the position of lead designer at HumanNature, Johnston’s company, says that the development studio is working with a big Japanese publisher on major project and a post from Johnson himself states that the company he is working for is Sony.

The game is described as follows: “The game is sweet and charming and very quirky. It targets a cross-gender audience and a broad age-range in the US, Japan, Korea, and Europe. It also happens to push the boundaries of interactive emotional A.I. and visual story-telling.”

The lead designer job requires someone who has imagination and loves innovation and who can work on such varied aspects as User Interface, open-ended game structure, goal-oriented quests, state-based Artificial Intelligence and reward systems.

It also requires those who apply to actually care about making the world a better place and mentions video games like Animal Crossing, Scriblenauts, Little Big Planet, Beyond Good and Evil and Ico.

Johnson added to the description of the game by saying, “It’s also super innovative in the area of emotional AI and personality simulation. It designed for both male and female players, and will be marketed in the U.S. and in Japan.”

Sony might be already looking for developers to create video games for the home console that it will probably officially announce before the end of the year, but the new Greg Johnson project might also be linked to the underperforming PlayStation Vita.

The mention of Little Big Planet in relation to the new project might also mean that it will bear the Play. Create. Share label that Sony has been recently pushing for its more social gaming experiences.

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2013 Dodge SRT Viper Coming to Forza Motorsport 4 as DLC in Summer

Image comment: 2013 Dodge SRT Viper Forza Motorsport 4 screenshot Image credits: Turn 10 >>

Turn 10 Studios has just confirmed that the all-new 2013 Dodge SRT Viper will be coming to its Forza Motorsport 4 racing game this summer, allowing owners to experience the new American sportscar, both during races and in the Autovista mode.

Forza Motorsport 4 has delighted millions of Xbox 360 owners with a top notch racing experience last year and, since its original release, the game has received a wide array of new cars through downloadable content.

After the Alpinestars pack that appeared last week and the upcoming Porsche add-on that will be out in May, developer Turn 10 has revealed that the summer will bring the all-new 2013 Dodge SRT Viper to Forza Motorsport 4.

“The announcement of the SRT Viper is fantastic news for fans of this true-blue American supercar and there’s more good news to boot: The Viper will be coming to Forza Motorsport 4 this summer. This downloadable content will include both a drivable version of the SRT Viper as well as a Viper Autovista experience which, in true Autovista fashion, is designed to give you a stunning view of this incredible machine, as well as insight into its history and production.”

While the Viper will certainly prove to be a major contender for the best cars in Forza Motorsport 4, thanks to its 8.4-liter V10 engine that produces 640 HP, the Autovista model is also going to delight players.

Like with other cars in this special mode, players will be able to interact with the sportscar using either the standard Xbox 360 controller or the Kinect sensor.

Unfortunately, there are no other details available about the pricing or the release date of the Viper DLC for Forza 4.

You can, however, admire the stunning sportscar through a batch of screenshots and a video below.

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Sony, Warner Bros. and Paramount Interested in Need for Speed Movie

- Run movie

A report suggests that video game publisher Electronic Arts is already talking to a number of important studios about developing and launching a Need for Speed movie, with Sony, Paramount and Warner Bros. currently ready to bid on the project.

John Gatins, who is best known for producing Real Steel, Dreamer and Flight, is the man handling the pitch for the movie and he is also expected to write the screenplay once a studio is attached.

A seven figure sum is expected to be offered for the Need for Speed movie, which has been compared in terms of potential with the Fast and the Furious franchise.

The most recent Need for Speed video game was The Run, which aimed to blend the racing with Quick Time Events and a strong narrative.

The Run could have been the Driver of video games but it offered from poor execution and from a lack of content to keep players occupying.

It’s not yet clear what the narrative of a Need for Speed movie might be.

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Skylanders Leads Nordic Game Chart

Northern leader

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, the mix between real world collectable toys and virtual experiences from Activision Blizzard, has managed to top the Nordic game chart for the fourteenth week of the year.

FIFA Street, the trick oriented football game from EA Sports, has taken over second position in the top ten while the last place on the podium was occupied by Battlefield 3, the first person shooter from DICE and Electronic Arts.

The rest of the top ten is made up of:

4. FIFA 12
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
6. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
7. Mass Effect 3
8. Kinect Star Wars
9. The Sims 3: Showtime
10. SSX

The Sims 3 leads on the PC, FIFA Street is the best game on the PlayStation 3 while Kinect Star Wars is the first game powered by motion tracking to be number one in the Xbox 360 chart.

Skylanders only managed to take number one position on the Nintendo Wii.

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Street Fighter X Tekken on PS Vita Gets New Videos, More Details

Image comment: Blanka appears in Street Fighter X Tekken on PS Vita Image credits: Capcom

Capcom has just unveiled some more interesting things about its upcoming Street Fighter X Tekken on the PS Vita, showing off its story through an animated video, its gameplay through a short trailer, and confirming details about cross-play between the Vita and the PS3 editions of the game.

Street Fighter X Tekken has already appeared on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but Capcom is now getting ready to debut the fighting game on the PlayStation Vita handheld platform, which will include 12 new fighters.

In order to justify their introduction, a new animated video (which you can check out below) has been made available. Its story motivates the appearance of fighters like Blanka, Sakura, Lei, Christie and more in the game.

If you want to see the new fighters during actual gameplay, then you can admire another trailer below, which shows some of their matches.

Capcom also presented some great news for owners of the game on the PS3 - after buying the PS Vita edition, they’ll get the 12 Vita characters for free on the home console.

What’s more, online cross-play between the two versions of the game is possible, so PS3 and PS Vita owners will be able to battle each other during multiplayer matches.

Last but not least, a special patch has been released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Street Fighter X Tekken, which fixes quite a few issues relating to sound and adds tournament support that provides a faster gem selection mechanic.

“An improvement patch for the online sound issues should be live now, along with the addition of the tournament support patch for faster gem selection. The team is also still working on solutions to the various infinite combos that have been discovered, and plans to keep the game alive throughout the year with further downloadable updates, like gems, features and the 12 Vita characters.”

Check out the two videos below from the Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken.

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Grand Theft Auto V Out in October, According to Developer’s Resume

Rockstar Games may finally release its long awaited Grand Theft Auto V game in October, at least according to the resume (CV) of one of its employees.

GTA V is definitely one of the biggest titles that will appear in the near future, although it’s unclear when that might actually happen, given Rockstar’s reluctance to pin a release date on the open world third person shooter.

While some say we’ll get to see the game next year, a new piece of evidence has appeared, claiming that GTA V is coming this October.

According to the resume of Rockstar North Character Animator Alex O’Dwyer, via Joystiq, Grand Theft Auto V is set to appear in October, 2012.

His CV, which has since been taken offline, mentions the variety of games he’s worked on, their platforms, and their actual release dates. GTA V, as you can see in the image above, is listed for an October launch.

Rockstar has yet to comment on this leak, but don’t expect a confirmation or denial anytime soon, given the company’s tendency to ignore rumors and speculation.

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New Unofficial Grand Theft Auto V Details Appear

Another major batch of details concerning Grand Theft Auto V, the next installment in Rockstar Games’ open world series, has appeared on the web, this time from a supposed friend of a former Rockstar employee, who shares info on the protagonist, the story of the game, as well as a possible May 2013 release date.

Grand Theft Auto V is definitely one of the most eagerly awaited games of all time, with developer Rockstar taking its time to make sure everything’s just right before even revealing the first actual details.

We already saw a major leak happen late last year, shortly after the first video of GTA V appeared, and now a new batch of details has made its way onto the web, thanks to the GameSpot forums, via The Examiner.

The post is supposedly written by a friend of a former Rockstar Games employee and shares all sorts of details about the upcoming game, including a few spoilers about previous titles from the company.

Check out all the details below from the forum thread, which has since been deleted.

1. The protagonist will be one character, and one character alone. His name is (as some rumors said) Albert De Silva. He's a half Hispanic man who was once part of a crime family in Vice City. He decided to settle down and have kids in Los Santos. He has one son called Kevin De Silva who is your stereotypical CoD player. He's lazy, useless and shouts racial abuse online and is really into FPS games. Kevin does admire his Dad though.

2. Multiplayer will hold 32 people on the Xbox and PS3. I wasn't told how many were able to be on the PC. Just like in RDR, players will be able to form Gangs. These gangs are not ranked through XP anymore, but via Reputation. Instead of gang hideouts, you can do jobs that range from robbing a launderette to breaking into a military base and stealing state-of-the-art weaponry. The Gang leader has much more control over his or her gang by being able to rank members of their gang and setting more specific objectives to specific members of their gang. Gangs can have their own territory but this only applies to areas inside the city of Los Santos.

3. The map is about 5x as large as the GTA IV map and the City of Los Santos takes up just under half of this area (so it's a bit bigger than 2 GTA IV Liberty Cities). The map is (like most GTAs) separated into three different sections.

4. Planes are flyable, they range from World War 2 fighter planes to Private Jets.

5. Cars and guns are customizable to an extent, for example, you can customize a gun to have a suppressor on it and you can install nitrous into cars.

Here's some stuff you might like:

1. The protagonist is the "rich guy" from the GTA V debut trailer. You get to learn more about this man in the second when he talks about his troubles. You only see the protagonist twice in the trailer. First time is the side of his face and second time is when he is driving a Deceptor (Audi R8). The people robbing the jewelry store are just with the protagonist. He is driving the van ready to get away.

2. Gunfights are more realistic. When you are shooting a gun out of a window of a car, depending on how fast it's going you will have troubles aiming due to shaking cameras.

3. The game is due in May 2013. A more specific date has not been decided because the game is still needing 6 months to be fully developed. They will have a playable demo at E3.

4. Police chases are now way more than either running or driving. Depending on how wanted you are, police may bring out riot shields and flash bangs. 5. When someone reaches 4 star wanted level, there will be a radio warning on some stations.

6. Radio stations now do traffic reports that are actually correct. So if you don't know what route to take, you can check the traffic reports on your phone or the radio. 7. The in-game TV now has many more channels

8. The protagonist DOES NOT die unlike in the last two Rockstar games.

9. The underworld actually has a working economy that you can contribute too by buying and selling drugs, weapons and illegal cars in single player.

10. The protagonist can take drugs which will have some effects. But smoking weed on the street walk will lead to getting a one star wanted level.

11. Police cars will go after you if you're obviously breaking the speed limit. Having high speed crashes will also damage your health.

Wanted levels:

1 star - police follow you on foot and try to make an arrest. No sirens, no car chases (unless you are speeding).

2 star - police will still attempt to make an arrest. If a weapon is drawn then the police will begin opening fire. Police will use stun guns if a weapon is not drawn.

3 star - Chases begin and the police don't care how they stop you, they just want to do it.

4 star - road traps, radio stations and much more hostile police.Even when you have evaded them, they will still search for 24 in-game hours for someone matching your description.

5 star - shoot to kill, arrest only if it's made very possible. Even when you have evaded them, they will still search for 48 in-game hours for someone matching your description. Few missions become unavailable if you are wanted.

6 star - military vehicles come after you. Even when you have evaded them, they will still search for 72 in-game hours for someone matching your description. Some missions become unavailable if you are wanted.

The report is a bit shaky, as the poster claims that his friend is now free of any liability because he no longer works for Rockstar, but any non-disclosure agreement signed by an employee continues even if he or she no longer works for the company.

As such, until Rockstar offers any actual details, the info above should be taken with a massive grain of salt.

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Download Dragon Age II 1.0.4 for Mac OS X

BioWare has rolled out patch 1.04 for Dragon Age II on the Mac. Ported to Apple computers by TransGaming's Cider Portability Engine, Dragon Age II is a fantasy RPG (role-playing game) set in a mythical world.

In Dragon Age II, players assume the role of Hawke, a human mage, warrior, or rogue. A lowly refugee, Hawke arrives in the city of Kirkwall to become a legend over a turbulent decade of political and social conflict.

Describing the latest patch, BioWare’s Rob Bartel explains that “This one's smaller than our previous two, clocking in at around 25 fixes.”

“Some of these address critical issues such as crashes or save game corruptions while others simply add to or improve the Dragon Age experience, unlocking a bunch of new follower banters in our Legacy DLC, for instance, or offering better handling of ambient audio when switching between followers,” says Bartel.

In Dragon Age II 1.04, the effect of the Sunder ability now persists properly when saving and loading the game. This affects all platforms, not just the Mac.

Gamers who opt not to log in will no longer be presented with recurring Lost Connection errors, while certain ambient audio will no longer cut in and out when switching between characters, BioWare says.

On the Mac, players can now disable the snap feature for area-of-effect attacks by holding the 'Shift' key. The same goes for Windows gamers.

The patch delivers improved resource loading and memory handling in conversation, so as to address a number of sporadic crashes reported by some users.

“The bulk of the resulting crashes were occurring in the conversation after the Isabela sex scene in Hawke's Estate and a conversation with Aveline in the Viscount's Keep, after she was promised the job as Captain,” explains BioWare. This problem should be resolved in Dragon Age II 1.0.4.

Also on desktop platforms, the patch improves handling of login, messaging, and authentication during periods of server disruption.

Mac users can download the patch through the game's software update mechanism.

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Download the Free Angry Birds Space Guide iOS Apps

The Daily is announcing its fifth custom publication since its inception in February 2011 – Angry Birds Space Guide App for iPhone and iPad.

Heavily promoted by Apple when the iPad 2 debuted last year, The Daily is offering fans of the Rovio-developed puzzler an exclusive first look at Angry Birds Space, an all-new version of the game.

Available both on the iPhone and the iPad, the Guide offers a first glimpse at the new characters (birds and pigs) and gameplay, exclusive photos and features, and even provides readers with a behind-the-scenes of the Angry Birds Space game.

Speaking of which, the actual game will make it onto Apple’s iDevices on March 22, Rovio said.

The Finnish studio worked exclusively with The Daily to provide content for custom-designed pages in the new custom issue of the iPad magazine. Exclusive content includes:

- Insider information on the new features in the game
- An introduction to the new bird characters
- Behind the scenes with the developers in Helsinki
- Video of the lead artist drawing the new characters – and teaching The Daily how to do it
- Educational information about space and links to cool space apps
- Information on space tourism at work
- 360 degree photo of the Milky Way.

Ville Heijari, VP of Franchise Development at Rovio Entertainment, commented, “This is the ultimate guide to Angry Birds Space. If you're an Angry Birds fan looking to understand the ins and outs of the new game, or just looking for an amazing multimedia experience around space and Angry Birds Space, you're going to love it."

The Angry Birds Space Guide app is free for owners of an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) or iPad (any model). It requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Download The Daily's Angry Birds Space Guide for iPhone (Free)

Download The Daily's Angry Birds Space Guide for iPad (Free)

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EndWeekGame: February 24

Andrei Dumitrescu: I seem to be caught in a Paradox Interactive designed strategy trap that I cannot get out of at the moment, which basically means that I will be sharing my gaming time for the weekend between Crusader Kings II and the A House Divided expansion for Victoria II.

Crusader Kings II is the more interesting of the two projects, both of them developed in-house by the company, mainly because it has a focus that no other strategy game shares. It is more concerned with families and the interplay between various powerful figures than in the actual states, which are flimsy at the moment.

This makes the game much more personal and every decision I make, from imprisoning a traitorous brother to launching an invasion against a cousin from a long-lost branch of the family, is filled with regret and with care for the long-term prospects of our dynasty.

A House Divided is at the other end of the grand strategy spectrum, with powerful nation states that maneuver around the world in order to catch others unaware and basically turn them into colonies, which is as much fun as it sounds.

Andrei Dobra: Even though I said last week that I’d spend some time with games like Alan Wake for the PC or The Darkness II, I ended up going through the multiplayer mode in the Mass Effect 3 demo.

While I was quite skeptical at first in regards to the Galaxy at War cooperative mode from the sci-fi shooter, I ended up loving the multiplayer action after playing several rounds, especially with my engineer character.

Even with complete strangers, the online matches feel great and, if your squadmates at least know what they’re doing, you’ll be in for quite an experience.

In between Mass Effect 3 matches, I hope to squeeze in some time for other activities such as Syndicate, which was just released this week by EA and Starbreeze, and probably Alan Wake on the PC, just to see if it’s worth my full time until the final version of Mass Effect 3 is released.

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Quick Look: Shank 2 Co-Op Survival Mode (with Gameplay Video)

Shank 2 was just released earlier this week and we’ve already taken a quick look at its single-player campaign, which now features refined combat and less annoying boss fights.

Now, it’s time we checked out the all-new cooperative Survival mode, which replaces the story-based co-op experience we have seen in the original game. Is this horde-like mode a step into the right direction or should it have some sort of narrative, like in the first Shank? Let’s have a quick look.

I loved the co-op in Shank 1, as it allowed me and various friends to try out our skills against the hordes of enemies, while learning some more about the backstory of Shank and his mob problems. When I heard the new game scraps the story-themed experience for one based on waves, I wasn’t that excited.

After going through a couple of matches, however, I have to admit that Klei Entertainment did deliver a decent experience.

You start off by choosing your character, although at the beginning you only get to pick between Shank and Corina, and then configure your arsenal, selecting a heavy weapon and a long range one. After this, you’re thrown into action on a multi-level environment where you need to protect three stashes from waves of opponents.

Enemies start off pretty weak, but slowly increase both in number and in power, culminating with massive brutes every five or so waves. In between these enemies are ones who plant bombs on your stashes. Unless you kill them before they plant the device, you’re then forced to defuse it while, hopefully, your buddy keeps enemies distracted from your vulnerable self.

The other big feature of the Survival mode is the shop, which allows you to exchange in-game currency for things such as a health-boosting tequila bottle, a decoy that lures enemies away from you, or even things like turrets or miniguns. This adds an extra bit of strategy to the co-op experience, as players need to be careful about their cash and invest in bonuses when the time is right.

Besides the bomb defusing and the upgrade shop, however, it’s the same Shank experience, with combat feeling smooth and responsive. Things can get hectic once you progress through the levels but, once you get a feel for the experience and collaborate with your buddy, things aren’t that hard.

For a video of Shank 2’s co-op mode, check out the video above

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Quick Look: Syndicate Co-Op Demo (with Gameplay Video)

Syndicate delighted plenty of strategy fans back in the 1990s and now Electronic Arts, in collaboration with Starbreeze Studios, is bringing back the franchise in the form of a first person shooter.

While we have been pretty impressed with what we’ve seen up until now thanks to videos and screenshots, it’s time to actually try out the shooter, as the two companies have released a demo that lets players engage in the four-player cooperative mode.

Right from the beginning of the co-op mode, you’re treated with a small video that shows off gameplay and a variety of situations in which you’ll find yourself, like healing squadmates, helping take down enemy defenses or using your special abilities to extract implanted chips from defeated opponents.

However, while the video is quite interesting, it doesn’t actually highlight what buttons you need to push or how you can pull off these maneuvers. As such, right when you start the actual match, after choosing your character, its loadout and special powers, you have no idea how to play.

There are on-screen prompts to heal companions or hack terminals but, besides that, you’re pretty much on your own, hoping that control schemes from other shooters, like Call of Duty or Battlefield, still apply in the cyberpunk future of Syndicate.

As far as actual gameplay, the title is pretty entertaining, although it gets a bit dull over time. You just go from open area to open area, start by killing off simple opponents while taking care to avoid the gunfire of the bigger enemies, like sergeants or special commanders. These tougher units first require you to get close and disable their shields or protections, and then shoot them with everything you got.

In case you’re taken down, you have a limited period to crawl to safety or towards your nearest buddy. If they fail to heal you, your body remains on the battlefield before it’s rebooted by a friend.

Unfortunately, Syndicate doesn’t really try to promote this teamwork, as even if there’s only one single living member of a squad, the game just sends enemies towards him, meaning he’ll either be quickly overwhelmed or he’ll forget about his squad mates while fending off the adversaries.

If everybody dies, you’re taken back to the last checkpoint, of which there are quite a few, at least in the Western Europe scenario available in the demo.

For an almost complete playthrough of the Syndicate co-op demo, check out the video above.

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Rumor Mill: Next Assassin’s Creed Takes Place During American Revolutionary Period

A source has claimed that the next installment in the long-running Assassin’s Creed series from Ubisoft will take place during the American Revolution historical period, although it is not clear whether the main character will actually be a revolutionary.

The source, which claims to have inside knowledge of the development process for the video games, has told CVG that the French publisher is aiming to deliver a first look at the next Assassin’s Creed at some point before the end of the current fiscal year, which means before March 31.

Ubisoft has put up a poll asking fans of the franchise to tell the development team when they would like to see the next game take place and the American Revolution was one of the options offered.

The mythology of the game universe also states that the Apple of Eden is now in the hands of George Washington, the man who led the forces of the newly independent United States of America during their battle against England.

A piece of downloadable content that was released for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, called the Da Vinci Disappearance, also had a number of coordinates pointing to New York as a possible destination for the series.

Ubisoft has already promised that the next Assassin’s Creed video game will wrap up the core story of the franchise and will give gamers all the answers that they have craved since the first game, starring Altair was launched.

The company has also promised that it will be the biggest in-game world seen in the series and it seems that the main character will no longer be Ezio.

It is not clear whether a move to the American Revolutionary era will also mean major changes for the core mechanics of the series, although a move towards more firearm-dominated combat is inevitable.

An official announcement from Ubisoft will surely happen before the E3 2012 event in June.

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Incoming 2012: Street Fighter x Tekken

Street Fighter x Tekken might just be the game that ends the second revival of the fighting game engine, and both Capcom and Namco Bandai seem keen to create a cross-over event that will capture the interest of both sets of fans.

Because Capcom is creating the game, the main control scheme will be six-button powered, with the Tekken characters able to use four of them in order to deliver their own traditional combos.

The developers have also sought to enhance the tag team mechanics, mainly allowing for more possibilities to switch fighters and creating a super attack mechanics which allows all characters taking part in a match to share combo meters, in order to make the various special attacks more accessible.

Capcom also promised that the game would have a plot with details, with the two fighting game universes clashing together, and with a separate storyline for each character included.

Capcom currently plans to launch Street Fighter x Tekken on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, the PlayStation Vita handheld and the PC on March 6 in the United States, and three days later in Europe.

Why it matters:

Years from now, Street Fighter x Tekken might be looked back upon as the game that killed the two franchises as commercial forces for a period.

Capcom and Namco Bandai are gambling big on the game, hoping that fans will be interested in getting Street Fighter x Tekken and its mirror game rather than pick up two classic series installments that arrived separate from the two companies.

If the game is successful, it could spawn a whole new crossover series and might provide fighting game enthusiasts a new classic title to test their skills on.

The full Incoming 2012 series of articles can be read on Softpedia right here.

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Virtual Farm 2 Final (Portable)

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Quick Look: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Demo (Gameplay Video Included)

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning wasn’t on the radar of a lot of gamers up until recently but, considering it’s coming from the minds of visionaries like Ken Rolston (designer of Elder Scrolls III and IV), R.A. Salvatore (writer of DemonWars saga or Star Wars: The New Jedi Order), or Seth McFarlane (creator of the Spawn comic books), it’s more than worthy of people’s attention.

Now, a free demo has finally been released across the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms, so we decided to take a quick look and see if these great minds, plus the talent at 38 Studios and Big Huge Games, have resulted in a great experience.

It’s always hard to make a demo for an open world RPG like Reckoning, but the developers decided to give players a chance to play through its opening sequences and then spend 45 minutes in the first major area of Amalur doing whatever they wanted.

This turned out to be a great idea, as you can experience the story and then try out different play styles, from the offensive warrior, to the sneaky rogue or a powerful mage. All these three ‘classes’ are showcased to you right in the opening sequences, although you can freely switch between them just by selecting your weapons and armor.

This is Reckoning’s claim to fame, as your character died before the start of the game and, thanks to the Well of Souls, you’re revived, only without a fate that binds you to a predetermined path. As such, you can freely choose what you want to do and how you want to do it.

As you play and level up your character, you can spend experience points on attributes from three areas: Might, Finesse, or Sorcery, while choosing different Destiny cards that give you all sorts of bonuses.

In terms of gameplay, Reckoning is definitely an action RPG, reminding players of games like Dragon Age 2 instead of grittier titles like Skyrim. The moves are stylish and acrobatic, with an art style reminiscent of World of Warcraft or Fable.

The inventory system is a bit awkward, as you need to jump from menu to menu to menu until you get to see your items. What’s more, you can’t select by clicking your mouse, as you are required to press Enter or the Space bar instead.

Besides the inventory, however, Reckoning is looking like a pretty great title, so you can’t go wrong by trying out the demo. You can check out the first 20 or so minutes in the video below.

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Quick Look: Asura’s Wrath (Gameplay Video Included)

As most Western gamers, we here at Softpedia weren’t that interested in Asura’s Wrath, a third person hack and slash game made by two companies from Japan, Capcom and CyberConnect2.

Fortunately for us, after trying out the demo that was just released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, we realized the error of our ways, as we were treated with one of the most outlandish and over the top games we ever experienced.

As with most Japanese games, we expected quite a lot of quirky things to be found in Asura’s Wrath, just like we experienced in titles like Vanquish, Bayonetta or Yakuza 4. Our expectations, however, were blown out of the water right from the beginning, as the demo kicks off with Asura, the wrathful protagonist, fighting a giant statue-like god.

You’re immediately thrown into a cinematic encounter, which forces you to loosely aim and fire some sort of projectiles into the enemy and must then react to a quick time event in order to actually inflict some damage.

One thing leads to another and players find Asura being squished by the god’s butt. Tables and body parts quickly turn, however, as a memory of his daughter sends Asura into a vengeful state that sees him grow extra arms. These prove to help considerably, as he must then resist the attacks of the enemy and his Star Wars-like spaceship, which is summoned almost out of thin air.

The battle becomes even more over the top, with Asura using other types of attacks against the giant statue, culminating with a massive move that sends the huge god into space. That’s not all, however, as the god, now in Earth’s orbit, calls forth another, even bigger god, who proceeds to crush Asura with his finger.

I could go on and on about what actually happened, but you really need to see it in order to believe just what goes on in the demo of Asura’s Wrath , so check out the gameplay video below.

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