Pads & Panels

How I tried to play Hunted: Demon’s Forge, but couldn’t take it

By Bill Jones

Hunted: Demon’s Forge mostly flew under the radar for me until its release, but once it got here I was strangely compelled to play it. The characters and art style did absolutely nothing for me, but the idea of a more melee-centric co-op experience akin to Gears of Wars but placed in the realm of a fantasy dungeon crawl sounded like it could have been awesome. Not to mention, Bethesda, the game’s publisher, was kind enough to send along two copies for review, to cater to the title’s co-op nature.

So when I asked who else wanted in, Eric took the bait. It took about a week to coordinate, but we both hopped online one night and decided to give it ago. And based on the preliminary results, I’ll be happy if we never decide to play it again. (more…)

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Chris Park spent all of last week running around Los Angeles to cover the Electronic Entertainment Expo. He started Monday, June 14, with Electronic Arts’ E3 Press Conference. Though E3 didn’t properly open at the Los Angeles Convention Center until Tuesday, EA took an early opportunity to show off many of its upcoming games, in this case at The Orpheum Theatre. Park reports…

The first title shown was Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, the Criterion Games-developed racing title. A proper mix of Burnout and Need For Speed, Hot Pursuit is scheduled for release Nov. 16, 2010, and returns to the high-speed and intense chase racing of the previous titles. While little more information on the title was revealed, a major function called Auto Log was introduced. It acts as an online hub connecting friends. Tracking stats and progress, Auto Log looks like an extension of what Need For Speed: World plans to do for free-to-play online games, only this time on console. (more…)

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It’s been way too long since we posted an edition of Trailer Madness. We guess that’s why we’ve got more than 10 videos comprising this post. You can always watch the videos as they’re uploaded on our YouTube account. Otherwise, we’ve got the latest recap of videos we’ve posted there, and highlighting this edition is Lost Planet 2‘s “Gears of War” video. Capcom also sent a Super Street Fighter IV promotional trailer our way. We’ve got two trailers apiece for Risk Factions and Shiren The Wanderer, and a whopping three videos for Blood Bowl. Things are rounded out this edition by new videos for bittos+, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for iPhone, Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll and Napoleon Total War. Enjoy!

Lost Planet 2 “Gears of War” Video

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Title: “Combustible” and “Snowblind” Multiplayer Map Packs for Gears of War 2

Platform: 360

Publisher: Microsoft

Developer: Epic

Review by: Bill Jones

Epic has declared this weekend “Double XP” weekend for Gears of War 2, and the game currently has two multiplayer map packs up for purchase, both running 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Combustible and Snowblind have a total of seven maps between them. Pads & Panels has the breakdown for those still on the fence. (more…)

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Title: Gears of War 2

Platform: 360

ESRB Rating: M

Publisher: Microsoft

Developer: Epic

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Gears of War 2’s main fault is also its strongest point – it doesn’t deviate much from the formula of its predecessor.

Gears of War 2 feels like a standard sequel – slightly updated graphics, a few tweaks to the problems of the first and a couple new, small tricks. It is a bummer that the game does not try to innovate a bit more, but playing it safe and correcting the problems of the first isn’t the worst route Epic could have taken with this title. (more…)

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Microsoft added eight titles to its “Platinum Hits” line today, with a new box style and the slogan, “Greatness is Earned.” The Platinum Hits collection comprises more than 45 titles, which retail for as low as $19.99.

The new titles joining the lineup are as follows – Gears of War, Forza Motorsport 2, Mass Effect, Viva Pinata, Army of Two, Battlefield Bad Company, Burnout Paradise and EA Sports Fight Night Round 3.

For more info, http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/platinumhits

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Jonathan, the winner of our Rockstar swag contest, was kind enough to send us a picture of his daughter decked out in the Chinatown Wars t-shirt, holding a Gears of War 2 soundtrack and and in front of an Onechanbara poster we sent his way. (We tossed in a couple of extra things!) That’s a lot of M-rated game products for one little girl, but she is holding a sticker of the child-friendly and very awesome Ninjatown game, so…yeah. He said he sent the photo of his 4-year-old because he isn’t exactly photogenic, which we can relate to. He also pointed out that her name, Natalia Rahne, is a reference to both Black Widow and Wolfsbane. We have a feeling Jonathan is checking out the Wolverine movie this weekend, and hopefully getting his daughter into the hobby. Thanks for sending in the photo, Jonathan.

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Product: FPS Freek

Website: www.kontrolfreek.com

Tested with: Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 & World at War, Gears of War 2 and more

MSRP: $9.99

Review by: John Gustafson

The world of gaming peripherals has been a mixed bag over the years for home consoles, with promises of revolution and new experiences only to leave gamers skeptical and mistrusting of any product that doesn’t come straight from the big three. (more…)

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