Tower defense games have become something of a passion of mine over the last year. After being turned onto the genre with 2007’s Desktop Tower Defense and falling head over heels in love with PixelJunk Monsters and FieldRunners, I’ve become something of a ravenous beast when it comes to the consumption of little army men running through my defense grid. Which brings us to… Defense Grid. Not my smoothest transition, I know — but the video above should make up for any failings in literary style on my part.

Defense Grid: The Awakening is the first tower defense game I’ve seen that had me panicked about the system requirements — it just looks that good. Launching on Steam later this month for $19.99, Defense Grid promises 20 varying environments, 10 different towers, 8 hours of campaign mode, multiple strategic solutions to each stage, and of course, Steam achievements. Oh — and those system requirements? Turns out they’re not as bad as I thought. I think we can all scrape together 1.8 CPU and 512 RAM.

Mmmmm…. Tower defense…

Jim S Squires, esq here. Myself and Ted Ryan Newsome Hewson had a most excellent adventure yesterday. No, we didn’t get to travel back in time and help stop Hitler. Even better — we went to the future (which was conveniently located in downtown Toronto). What did we see? What did we play? Put on your safety helmets and shin guards, kids. You’re in for some lengthy exposition on this biggest PlayStation games to come out during the upcoming holiday season!

Continue Reading »

Few titles this fall have that certain ring to them. That “I need to know what the fuck this is right now” vibe. Thankfully, the fine folks over at Destineer saw fit to deliver a title that us clamoring to know just that.

Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ is a vertical shooter set in the world of fairy tales. Playing the role of the little lady in red, you’ll be tasked with ridding the world of monsters by any means necessary (and by that we mean BIG GUNS). A second playable character is available in Momataro, the hero of Japanese folklore. Together the two will battle undead versions of the three little pigs, Santa Claus, and more.

The appeal of Zombie BBQ is not unlike that of American McGee’s Grimm, though the gameplay seems far more traditional here. Forced vertical movement like you see in similar space-themed shooters is likely to keep the game moving at a good clip, while BBQ’s touch screen only controls should help keep things feeling as frantic as one would like to see in a vert.

Looking forward to giving this one a good once over this Halloween. Here’s to hoping they pull it off with a style befitting crazy-ass zombie fighting heroines.

Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ will be shipping around Halloween exclusively for the Nintendo DS.

Not too sure how many of you have heard of this one.  It’s flown under my radar all year, but now that it’s surfaced?  I’m moist with anticipation (and wet snowpants).

Stoked is the first snowboarding game produced in conjunction with Absinthe Films, the company behind a multitude of kick ass snowboarding videos (check out a sample of their work here).  Absinthe is a company that knows how to make the sport look downright epic, and that’s exactly the sort of thing you’d want to experience when you lose yourself in a game.

Stoked is set to feature five real world mountains,complete with dynamic weather and environments.  Going down a mountain during a heavy snowfall?  Expect that snow to stay on the ground and change the terrain, providing you with a completely fresh experience on a familiar track.

The environments aren’t the only thing that’ll be dynamic in this title.  Your characters animations will evolve and adapt to your play style.  It’s a small touch, but a neat idea that I don’t think anyone has tried before.

Multiplayer is said to be seemless as well, with online friends popping in and out with you exactly where you are on the mountain.  Think Burnout Paradise, only colder and without a glove compartment.  Combine all of this with real riders and a real drought in the snowboarding genre (we’ve had one since the launch of the 360) and Stoked might just have what it takes to be a staple in the diet of any couch-riding cool boarders out there.

Expect this one to ship exclusively for the Xbox 360 this November, courtesy of Destineer and Bongfish Studios.

Up until a few days ago, I had never even heard of Prototype. But with the obvious comparisons to Crackdown in full play, it’s not hard to get a little excited.

The game is still very early on, but nonetheless already looks impressive. Word to the wise, it helps if the person running the demo knows how to play the game well. Just sayin’.

…it would probably look something like Blood Bowl. Based on the table-top strategy game from the late 80’s and set in the Warhammer universe, Blood Bowl will feature some pretty vicious orc on elf action in a hundred yards of rectangular turf. Not a whole lot of details so far, but what we do know is that the game will feature two different modes of play. The first will be your standard football sim a la Madden, while the second will be a painstakingly accurate recreation of the actual table top game for all of you pen and paper strategy nuts.

Check out the first 6 screenshots below. This one should be hitting the 360 and PC’s by end of year 2008 courtesy of Focus Home Interactive and Cyanide Studios.

I’ve always wondered why games like Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy haven’t yet made their way to next gen consoles. It may sound like an odd suggestion at first glance, but combine online playability with fresh downloadable content and you have a recipe for online trivia brilliance. That’s why I was so excited when I’d first heard about Scene It making the jump to pixel nation.

Unfortunately the details on this title are a bit confused. According to the PR rep at X07, there are no plans for downloadable content and the title should be retailing for $59.99 USD despite coming with four custom controllers. The fact sheet, however, indicates planned downloadable content, a $69.99 estimated price point, and online multiplayer. I’m more inclined to believe the fact sheet, so that’s the story I’m sticking to unless I hear otherwise.

As mentioned, the game ships with four custom controllers. It can be played with a standard 360 controller, but with these little one-hand-wonders in your house, why would you want to? The controllers have a pretty solid feel, and overall the game is exactly what you’d want it to be. There’s a solid variety of trivia, five different game modes, and gameplay so accessible your Grandma can get Scene on.

Cinephiles rejoice - Scene It is coming this holiday season.